Here is an example one of the staples of our xc training. It is kind of a combo of taking stuff from Scott Simmons book “Taking the Lead” and a workout I found in one of the running magazines done by one of the elites. We are trying to simulate a number of the things that they will experience in a race. We call it a combo workout and it includes three different training stimulus in the workout.

Warm up drills – lunge matrix, leg swings and dynamic warmup

Running warmup 15 minutes

First segment 10 minutes at tempo pace – we have a 1000 meter grass loop that is rolling that we will do this on for the full 10 minutes. We can change where we are doing this based on what we are wanting to accomplish with the tempo. This is followed by about a 4-5 minute jog down to where we will do hill repeats.

The second segment is hills and they will be determined by what race is coming up and  what we want them to get out of the hills. We have a medium length stair step style climb, a shorter section with 2 hills that we call the “figure 8 hills” because they allow them to climb and then recover down to the next climb and they just keep doing them and it is basically in the shape of a figure 8 and then we have a much longer, hard hill that will do near our state meet. We again then jog for about 4-5 minutes to the last piece.

The third segment is very similar to strides to simulate the end of a race.  We want them to change gears when they tired from the rest of the workout to feel what it feels like to do that when they are fatigued.

Cool down 15 minutes and any after practice work we will do if any.