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With the state tournament approaching, how do you prepare your runners for sectionals, regionals and state meets? Due to the rigors of running and the volume of miles building up throughout the season, do you do anything differently as the season winds down to keep them in top shape or to ensure less wear and tear?
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With the state tournament approaching, how do you prepare your runners for sectionals, regionals and state meets? Due to the rigors of running and the volume of miles building up throughout the season, do you do anything differently as the season winds down to keep them in top shape or to ensure less wear and tear?
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Ryan Keen
Scecina Cross Country
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Our season begins with seven to nine miles on distance days and 1,000-meter intervals. We increase the interval distance to 2,000 meters in late August and early September. When the tournament begins, we are back down to 1,000-meter intervals, at a faster time, with less recovery, and we trim back the mileage on our distance runs, while looking for a quicker pace per mile. We also look at each individual runner and how their bodies recover from these workouts and races as well as other stresses they may endure; such as midterms, or other school activities, and adjust accordingly.
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Karl Knerr
Brebeuf Cross Country
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We collaborate on training for the entire 95 runners on the girls and boys team, with a goal of top performance at sectional. As we approach the tourney and develop our sectional entry list, we are able to determine individual workouts for our top runners that will ensure their best performance in sectional. We compete in one of the toughest sectionals and without question the most difficult regional in the state, so we have little room for error when it comes to advancing to the next level. We begin with summer base, early season strength, and late season speed. We want all of our runners at their fastest when the tourney begins. As we concentrate on our team having their best race at sectional, we scale back on distance and increase speed workouts. The key is planning and finding that individual plan for each runner so they are at peak performance and have the opportunity to advance to the next level.
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Dennis Scheele
Noblesville Cross Country
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Because of the number of injuries that our program (girls) has sustained over past seasons, it was necessary that we moved to an alternative training practice. One thing that we implemented this season is a regiment that includes training on stationary cycles. This season we have dedicated a minimum of one day a week to cycling. The main reason is to take some pressure off the girls’ legs. While we still have injuries, I do feel as though it is paying dividends. The seriousness of our injuries seems to be less. We will continue cycle the remainder of this season. After this season we will evaluate this training method.
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Greg Hill
Triton Central Cross Country
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Ah, the magic of peaking at the right time. This is unique to the group of runners you have each season. Many factors play into whether we get the kids running their best at championships time. Some years we are more successful than others; I find that being a small school with roughly six to 10 runners in a given year, it is crucial to stay healthy and injury free – which means we have to balance the right amount of hard effort and rest to finish the season strong. A big key is focus on quality workouts rather than quantity. We cut back the mileage but increase the intensity of workouts. Finally, we try to create educated runners. They are instructed in training philosophy, nutrition, mental focus, and whatever we believe will assist them in becoming their best.
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