The Workout

Cruise Intervals – 6 x 800, 8 x 800, 8 x 1000 (depending on the age and fitness of the runner)

I prefer the cruise intervals over the tempo runs for most high school runners; it is a great team building workout and the workout is set up for everyone to succeed.

The Summer

Prior to the first time our team runs this workout, there is a slow summer build-up of mileage. This workout is not attempted until our team has maxed out our minutes of running.

The Varsity Workout

Our top runners will run 8 x 1000 with 40 – 62 seconds of rest.  The different rest allows us to run our top 7 – 10 runners together, and gives the runners some flexibility to adjust their practice based on how their body responds.  We are fortunate to have a grass campus with some room to run, and our track is circled by our cross country course.  The breakdown of the 8 x 1000 workout is the first six 1000’s are on the course, and the last two 1000’s are on the track (standing recovery between all intervals).  All of our workouts are “waterfall run”  — run slow to fast, meaning that we always run our final intervals at a greater speed than our initial intervals.

The Specifics [Read more…]