CRH CC Pre-Season Conditioning

CHOATECROSSCOUNTRY
SUMMERTRAININGINTRANET

Summer Running Program

For the purposes of tailoring your summer conditioning program to your individual level of fitness and experience, we will assign you and all of your teammates to one of four distinct groups, or training flights, just as we will do in the fall. These groups do not correspond to varsity or JV squads in any way, but rather reflect your ability to handle (quantitatively and qualitatively) a particular level of training. You will find during the season when we are all together that this will provide a useful way to vary the team workouts for individuals according to ability, injury status, etc.

Read the following descriptions and decide which best decides where you are now in terms of your fitness and overall running experience. (Choose a group based on an honest assessment of what your body is capable of handling right now, not where you want to be a few weeks from now; individual runners will be able to move from one flight to another during the season.) Once you determine which group you belong to, you can follow the daily workout schedule for all those in your training flight as detailed below.

If you are a total newcomer to the sport and are starting your training from "square one" you will be assigned to alpha flight. Nearly everyone starts here at some point.
If you have run before but are beginning training again after a long layoff, you will be assigned to beta flight. If you haven't run seriously since last fall, this is probably your flight.
If you are an experienced runner and you have already begun your training, have been running consistently this summer, and have achieved a reasonably high level of fitness, you will be assigned to gamma flight. Those in this group tend to be returning varsity harriers, those coming off a successful spring track season, et al.
If you have been engaged in serious training and racing all summer without a significant break, you are in the elite delta flight. It is quite possible that only one or even none of you are training at this level during the summer. We hope to have a group of you here by late October.

By the way, there is a fifth flight, actually: omega flight refers to Choate Cross Country alumni. Someday all of you will end up here!

The following training schedules are optimized for runners in the four training flights described above. All are based on weekly cycles beginning on Monday. Whenever you start your summer training is "Week One" on the schedule; proceed in order through the workouts listed until you arrive on campus in September.

If you have more than five weeks before the beginning of school, use "Week Five" as the basis of subsequent weeks and add variety to the schedule as you see fit.

ALPHA FLIGHT TRAINING SCHEDULE

Week One
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
20 minutes easy	20 minutes easy	20 minutes easy	rest	25 minutes easy	25 minutes easy	rest
Week Two
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
25 minutes easy	30 minutes easy	30 minutes easy	rest	30 minutes easy	30 minutes easy	rest
Week Three
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
30 minutes easy	30 minutes including three 3-minute pickups	35 minutes easy	25 minutes easy	30 minutes including three 3-minute pickups	35 minutes easy	rest
Week Four
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
35 minutes easy	40 minutes including two 5-minute pickups	35 minutes easy	35 minutes easy	40 minutes including two 5-minute pickups	35 minutes easy	rest
Week Five
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
40 minutes easy	45 minutes including two 5-minute pickups	55 minutes easy	40 minutes easy	45 minutes including two 5-minute pickups	55 minutes easy	rest

BETA FLIGHT TRAINING SCHEDULE

Week One
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
20 minutes easy	20 minutes easy	25 minutes easy	rest	25 minutes easy	30 minutes easy	rest
Week Two
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
30 minutes easy	25 minutes easy	35 minutes easy	rest	30 minutes easy	35 minutes easy	rest
Week Three
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
35 minutes easy	30 minutes including three 3-minute pickups	35 minutes easy	30 minutes easy	35 minutes including three 3-minute pickups	40 minutes easy	rest
Week Four
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
35 minutes easy	15 minute warmup 6x400meters jog 400meters interval 10 minute warmdown	50 minutes easy	35 minutes easy	40 minutes including two 5-minute pickups	45 minutes easy	rest
Week Five
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
40 minutes easy	15 minute warmup 6x400meters jog 400meters interval 10 minute warmdown	55 minutes easy	40 minutes easy	40 minutes including two 5-minute pickups	60 minutes easy	rest

GAMMA FLIGHT TRAINING SCHEDULE

Week One
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
30 minutes easy	40 minutes easy	30 minutes including three 3-minute pickups	40 minutes easy: hills, if possible	30 minutes easy	50 minutes easy	rest
Week Two
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
40 minutes easy	35 minutes including two 5-minute pickups	40 minutes easy: hills, if possible	15 minute warmup slow intervals: 6x400meters 10 minute warmdown	35 minutes easy	50 minutes easy	rest
Week Three
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
40 minutes easy + 5 Phase IIIs	30 minutes including three 3-minute pickups	40 minutes easy: hills, if possible	15 minute warmup slow intervals: 6x400meters 10 minute warmdown	30 minutes including three 3-minute pickups	40 minutes easy: hills, if possible	rest
Week Four
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
45 minutes easy + 6 Phase IIIs	35 minute fartlek	50 minutes easy	15 minute warmup slow intervals: 6x400meters 10 minute warmdown	40 minutes including two 5-minute pickups	55 minutes easy	rest
Week Five
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
45 minutes easy + 6 Phase IIIs	40 minute fartlek	60 minutes easy	15 minute warmup slow intervals: 8x400meters 10 minute warmdown	40 minutes including two 5-minute pickups	60 minutes easy	rest

DELTA FLIGHT TRAINING SCHEDULE

Delta flight runners will train with an individually-tailored training schedule devised in consultation with a coach.

GLOSSARY OF TRAINING TERMS

easy - running at conversation pace; more than jogging

fartlek - literally "speed play," varying the pace of your run from an outright spring to a slow jog, but without stopping

interval - the time in between the faster segments of a speed workout; it is essential to keep running then, since this is actually the time when your cardiovascular system gets fitter

Phase IIIs - hands behind the back, hill sprints, lifting your knees, leaning into the hill

pickup - a gradual acceleration to race pace, framed by an easy run before and after

rest - no running on this day

slow intervals - like we do them in the fall; be sure to do them in sets of 4, keep running during the interval and be sure to check your pulse (120 is the target number) before you start the next one

warmup - at least 10-15 minutes of easy running before a speed workout

warmdown - don't blow it off! a slow, easy run at the end of a speed workout, designed to clear lactic acid and other waste products from your system

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