Training and racing 25 November to 7 December

25 Nov Monday: 4 x 40 seconds on grass, barefoot at Tidelands (of course we ran there and back)
26 Nov Tuesday: 4-5 mile recovery
27 Nov Wednesday:  5 x 400 about 95% with 5-6 minute recovery (girls did 4)
28 Nov Thursday: 4 miles easy
29 Nov Friday: Travel to Fresno, jog course at Woodward Park
30 Nov Saturday: State Meet
1 Dec Sunday: rest
2 Dec Monday (now down to 3 runners): 5-6 x 400 on track 5 minute break 95%
3 Dec Tuesday: 4-5 mile recovery
4 Dec Wednesday: 4-6 x 400 on track at 85% with 3 minute recovery
5 Dec Thursday: Easy running or rest
6 Dec Friday: Easy running or rest
7 Dec Saturday: Footlocker Regionals at Mt. SAC


End of Cross Country Season for all hands

Workouts 18 Nov - 24 Nov

Mon Nov 18:
8 x 400 Special Endurance-2 (5 seconds faster than current 1600 pace) 3-min recovery       
Tue Nov 19: 4-6 mile recovery           
Wed Nov 20: 500 - 400 - 300 : Special Endurance 1 (Fast): 15 minute recoveries
Thu Nov 21: 3-5 mile recovery run          
Fri Nov 22: jog 3 miles, strides, stretch     
Sat Nov 23: CIF Finals                          
Sun Nov 24: Rest or easy recovery Run 3-5 miles

Workouts 11 November - 17 November

Mon Nov 11: 3-mile jog, strides on your own
              
Tue Nov 12: League Finals
Both boys and girls won their league finals

===========================
 
Beyond League for CIF group:

Wed Nov 13: 4-6 mile recovery run          
Thu Nov 14: 5 x 300: Special Endurance 1 (fast!)
Fri Nov 15: 4-6 mile recovery run          
Sat Nov 16: VO2max... 4 x 800 on track
Sun Nov 17: 4-6 mile recovery run   

Workouts 4 Nov to 10 Nov

This week we had two groups: Those pointing for CIF/State and those who will end their season at the league meet. There was more of a taper for the league group.

Monday Nov 4: 5 x 1000:  VO2max on Track ... 3-4 min recovery

Tue Nov 5: Went to Balboa/Morley... hilly 4-6 mile Fartlek

Wed Nov 6: 
CIF Group: 4-7 mile recovery/Long run 
League Group - 5 x 300 fast on grass     

Thu Nov 7
CIF Group: 8 x 350 at near max effort on grass at Sunset Park
League Group: 3-4 mile recovery 

Fri Nov 8
CIF group: 4-6 mile recovery run
League Group: 10 x 400 Tempo pace on grass at Sunset   
 
Sat Nov 9
CIF group: 10 x 400 on grass at Tidelands, Intensive Tempo (85% PR + 3 sec)
League Group: Easy 25-30 min or rest       

Sun Nov 10: 5 mile Recovery Run
League Group: Easy 25-30 min or rest                  

Workouts 28 Oct - 3 Nov

Mon Oct 28: 6 x 400 Extensive Tempo (4 for JV)
Tue Oct 29: Race Madison (no threat) - Varsity Girls did tempo during race + 4 CIF hills after the race.     Boys had good meet against Hoover (not in our league)
Wed Oct 30: Easy Recovery
Thu Oct 31: 8 x 400 Special Endurance 2 (5 seconds faster than current 1600 ability) 3 min rest
            Was very good workout ..  did on track

Fri Nov 1: Easy Recovery
Sat Nov 2: 4 mile tempo run
Sun Nov 3: 5-8 mile long run

Oct 21 - Oct 27 Workouts

Mon Oct 21:
8 x 400 (Special Endurance-2 -- VO2max pace - 4 sec) 75 sec jog 
Varsity boys did a different workout
one mile at VO2max
3/4 mile at VO2max - 2 seconds
1/2 mile at VO2max - 3 seconds
1/2 mile at VO2max - 3 seconds


Tue Oct 22: SPEED! 12 x 30 meter flys
Wed Oct 23: 4-6 mi Recovery Run 
Thu Oct 24: Easy 30 minute run(Mt. SAC Group)- others 800 meter hill reps Pomona
Fri Oct 25: Mt SAC Invite Others 30-40 minute Recovery
Sat Oct 26: Mt SAC group Easy Recovery or rest .. others 30 - 40 minute base run
Sun Oct 27: Mid distance base run 5-7 miles

Oct 14 - Oct 20 Workouts

Mon Oct 14: 5 x 130 meter grassy strides at Pomona
Tue Oct 15: Dual meet with Crawford
Wed Oct 16: 4-7 mile Recovery Run
Thu Oct 17: Photo Shoot at the Del Rocks, quick strides on beach 
Fri Oct 18: Long VO2max reps
Sat Oct 19: 6 x 200 hill repeats Pomona    
Sun Oct 20: Recovery 30-40 minutes

Oct 7 - 13 Workouts

Mon Oct 7: Sunset Park 4 x 400 tempo pace
Tue Oct 8: Race with Christian/Clairemont (both both and girls won both)
Wed Oct  9: 4-7 mile recovery run
Thu Oct 10: 5 x 1000 meters at VO2 max pace
    Ran to Glorietta Bay Park and ran first 4 from there to Tidelands (measured with GPS)
   5th was run back towards the school. Cool down along Glorietta to Pomona to School
   About 7.5 miles covered.
Fri Oct 11: 6 - 10 miles Long Run
Sat Oct 12: 6 x 150 Special Endurance 1 on grass barefoot near max effort lots of recovery (5-8 min)
   Did at Sunset Park... Sunset is 180 meters long so we took off 30 meters.
   Sun Oct 13: 4-7 mile Recovery Run

Sept 30 - Oct 6 Workouts

Sept 30 Mon: Easy Recovery or long run
 Oct 1 Tuesday: .. 10 x 400 Intensive Tempo intensive tempo (85% of PR 400 + 3 seconds) 2 minutes between
Oct  2 Wed: 4-8 easy
Oct  3 Thurs: 4 x tempo 400 on grass at Sunset Park
 Oct 4 Fri: --- Saints Invite on CIF course
Oct 5 Saturday - Recovery Run
Oct 6 Sunday - Longer run to reach mileage goals for week  

Sept 23 - 29 Workouts

Sept 23 Monday: Base 4-8 miles
Sept 24 Tues: Race Pace ...  8 x 560 meters on grass at Tidelands
Sept 25 Wed: 4-8 mile recovery run
Sept 26 Thurs: Sunset... 4 x tempo 400's on grass
Sept 27 Fri: South Bay Invite ... for those not going to Stanford
Sept 28 Sat: Stanford Invite
Sept 29 Sun: Easy Recovery and/or long run
 

Workouts Sept 16 - 22

16 Sept...Monday
Because of the meet on Tuesday, had a light workout on Monday consisting of 4-6 Tempo 400 meter runs on the grass at Tidelands.
  
17 Sept...Tuesday Meet with OLP (for girls) and Saint Augustine (for boys).We won both meets with boys going 1-2-3 and 4 and girls 1-9.
Here are the results on Athletic.net.
    
18 Sept...Wednesday
Easy running because of yesterday's meet

19 Sept...Thursday
Mt. Carmel Group: Recovery Run
Others: Long Run

20 Sept...Friday:
Mt. Carmel Group: Run to Sunset, 3 tempo 400's Run Back
Others: Coronado "Hills" - 3 sets of 3 30 seconds charge on grass up Pomona Park Hill

21 Sept...Saturday
Mt. Carmel Group: Had a great day.. Erik won the D2 boys Junior race, Girls placed 10th out of all schools. Here is a link to the results.
Others: Recovery Run

22 Sept... Sunday: Easy base depending on last weeks intensity. Except for Erik who ran a triathlon, which he won.

Sept 9 - Sept 15 Workouts

9  Mon -- Ran 1.5 miles to Tidelands
Dynamics and strides
5 x 1000 meters at VO2Max 5 minutes rest in-between
Ran 1.5 miles back to school
Excellent workout... everyone looked good

10 Tues -- 20-30 min light Tempo run Include four 30-40 second bursts at race pace
11 Wed -- Uniform Hand-out...4-7 mi recovery run
12 Thurs -- Time Trial 400 meters on track : Followed by 6 x 400 Tempo on track based on 120 - 130 % slower than Timed 400

13 Fri -- Strength, Coronado Dunes
Ran to Sunset Part for warmup.... Then ran about 20 minutes of dunes by time not distance.. so different groups ran different distances... jog back to school.

14-15 Sat Sun - I left it up to each runner how many miles to run this weekend. Monday was a high-quality day that required a couple of easier days. However I think some of our team didn't run easy enough on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday was harder for some than meant to be so by Friday many of our team were a bit tired, and the dunes weren't exactly a walk-in-the park.
That said we're in the most intense part of the season's training. It's tough for runners who didn't participate in our summer training group or who didn't train on their own this summer, but, as I've said all-along... Cross Country championships are won during the summer, not in the fall.
This weekend if you're burned-out a bit, take a day off or an easy day plus an easy run. If you're fine, one day should be recovery (Sat) and one day, a longer run.

Week of Sept 2 - Sept 8 Workouts

Monday..Sept 2

20-25 minute Tempo run Distance based on ability
Between 4-5 miles

Tuesday Sept 3 ...ran to Pomona Park via 5th-Glorietta Blvd- Pomona Ave, dynamics done at Pomona Park.
The quality part of the workout was 6 x 170 meter fast hill reps from sidewalk along Pomona to 8th street. Recovery was walk/jog back down. Cool down was an easy 2 mile run back the same way we came out. Distance, including reps, WU, cooldown.. around 5 miles.

Wednesday Sept 4
Recovery Run... 4-7 miles depending on level

Thursday Sept 5.. Went to Morley... Ran 1st 2 miles of league course as warm-up. Ran last mile of league course at race pace. Ran 4 x CIF hill. First two steep way, last two other way. After a water break we ran 5 downhill grassy fast strides. Finished with core. Distance about 5 miles

Friday Sept 6 ... Recovery Run 5-7 miles

Saturday Sept 7 ... Special Endurance 1
Ran 2.5 miles to Tidelands Park.
When we arrived at the park our normal grassy workout area was filled with hundreds of cars. Seems there was a car show going on. Anyway I found an alternate 150 meters grassy course with my trusty GPS which we ran 5 times basically all-out barefoot.
A 1.5 mile easy run back to the school  covered nearly 5 miles for the day including dynamic warmup.

Sunday Sept 8  Long Run on your own 20% of currently weekly mileage

Week of Aug 26 - Sept 1 workouts

Monday Aug 26 TempoRan to Tidelands (1.5 miles)
Usual warm-up.
Those who raced Sunday (Erik and Austin) -- Wound-up running 9 miles easy (started from school)
For those who didn't race Sunday - Some did 5 mile tempo others did 4 x 4 minutes of CRUISE REPETITIONS with 3 minutes between. Note... if you follow the link just mentioned a Cruise Repetition is different than a Cruise Interval.... see the bottom of the linked page for a Cruise Repetition description... we also do Cruise Intervals from time-to-time.

For those who needed to run a qualifying time .. 1.5 mile time trial
Others: ran the 1.5 miles and some did another base 1000 meter run.
Ran back to school (1.5 miles).

Tuesday (Aug 27): LongRan to Glorietta Bay Park for dynamic warmup (2.3 miles).

Then long run or recovery run as was appropriate for the summer training group.
Those who still needed a 1.5 mile time trial ran the time trial from the park toward the bridge, measured by GPS.  A few of the summer runners and better new runners ran the 1.5 mile course and continued on to run a lap around Tidelands... these runners covered around 6.7 miles.



Wednesday (Aug 28)
I changed this workout from the original 800 meter reps to a Special Endurance session of 6 x 300 fast with a 3-minute break. We did it at Pomona Park and alternated the direction each time. New runners ran loops around the park to Maria Place so they while the "summer" group was running the 300's

Thursday (Aug 29) Recovery run for all

Friday (Aug 30)
Ran to Sunset Park ..  warmup

For those racing 2 x 400 meter starts --  many hit the beach for a swim afterwards
Others 1.5 mile tempo back to school ..  for some it was a time-trial

Saturday Aug 31
Some will Race 1.5 miles at the Cougar 6 mile relay
Others ... on your own base distance to try and catch up
   
Details of the race... as submitted to the Coronado Eagle
Saturday was the opening day for Cross Country invitational meets around the county, with three big events for coaches to choose from. They included the Wolfpack Invite at West Hills High School, the Vaquero Stampede at Lindo Lake, or the Cougar six-mile relay which was jointly hosted by Escondido High School and California State University, San Marcos. 

We went to San Marcos where we entered varsity teams in both the Boys and Girls relays as well as two JV Girls' teams, one JV Boys' team, and three boys in the spill-over 1.5-mile race. The relays consisted of four, 1.5-mile loops around the Cal State San Marcos campus with the start, finish, and handoff points on their track. Although there were two competitive divisions, both were run together and the results sorted out after everyone finished.

This format gave Coronado's Erik Armes, a transfer student from Okinawa, the chance to run head-to-head with some of the faster runners in the county. His event included last year's top performer at the CIF Finals for all divisions, Stephen Fahy, from La Costa Canyon High School.  No one expected anyone to run close to Fahy on the leadoff leg for the boys' varsity race, but about halfway through, the two front-runners were Fahy and Armes.

At that point they both turned on the after-burners and sped through the first mile in around 4:24. At the top of a hill leading down to the finish they were side-by-side and stayed that way to the handoff, each recording the best 1.5-mile splits of the day of 6 minutes and 54 seconds. Erik handed-off to Kingston DeLaurentis who, in all of the excitement, added to Coronado's lead by running his first mile in a little under 4:40. That proved to be a bit too fast and the last hill took its toll. Still, his overall split was 7:47 (5:11 mile pace) which was the second fastest leg of the day for us.

Kingston handed off to Chris Leary and Chris to Austin Mathis for an overall finish of fifth place among the likes of distance powerhouses such as Torrey Pines, La Costa Canyon, Rancho Buena Vista, Poway, Del Norte, Cathedral Catholic, Rancho Bernardo, and several teams from out of the San Diego area.

The Coronado Varsity Girls' Team consisted of three All-CIF runners, Hannah Downey, Aeron Yim and Rachel Steffen, as well as freshman Kayla Bierschbach, who was the top South Coast League middle school distance runner last season.  They finished second in Division II behind Cathedral Catholic.

Our two Girls' JV teams finished second and third in Division II with Cathedral Catholic again being the spoiler. The second place team consisted of Jasmine Rippey, Vanessa Tortolero, Sydney Lay and Renee Phillips. The third place team consisted of Andria Olmo, Kerry Desmond, Ella Strum and Haley Chasin. The Boys' JV team finished second by only three seconds behind Valley View High School out of Riverside. That team consisted of Caleb Garber, Jason Leary, Brett McKim and Ben White. In a regular race most of the JV runners would be on the varsity squad but the relay format only allows four competitors per team. The three boys not on a relay team were Caleb Woodson, Patrick Clark and Aaron Loeffler.

-------- Start of new 9-day micro cycle

Sunday (Sept 1) all
on your own ... Base distance to meet individual mileage goals.

Monday..Sept 2

20-25 minute Tempo run Distance based on ability
Between 4-5 miles

Tuesday Sept 3 ...ran to Pomona Park via 5th-Glorietta Blvd- Pomona Ave, dynamics done at Pomona Park.
The quality part of the workout was 6 x 170 meter fast hill reps from sidewalk along Pomona to 8th street. Recovery was walk/jog back down. Cool down was an easy 2 mile run back the same way we came out. Distance, including reps, WU, cooldown.. around 5 miles.

Wednesday Sept 4
Recovery Run... 4-7 miles depending on level

Thursday Sept 5.. Went to Morley... Ran 1st 2 miles of league course as warm-up. Ran last mile of league course at race pace. Ran 4 x CIF hill. First two steep way, last two other way. After a water break we ran 5 downhill grassy fast strides. Finished with core. Distance about 5 miles

Friday Sept 6 ... Recovery Run 5-7 miles

Saturday Sept 7 ... Special Endurance 1
Ran 2.5 miles to Tidelands Park.
When we arrived at the park our normal grassy workout area was filled with hundreds of cars. Seems there was a car show going on. Anyway I found an alternate 150 meters grassy course with my trusty GPS which we ran 5 times basically all-out barefoot.
A 1.5 mile easy run back to the school  covered nearly 5 miles for the day including dynamic warmup.

Sunday Sept 8  Long Run on your own 20% of currently weekly mileage

Week of August 19 - August 25 workouts

Before we get to the workouts check out this trailer for a Bob Larsen documentary coming early next year called "City Slickers Can't Stay With Me."
Who is Bob Larsen you ask....?
Here's the link:
http://www.boblarsenfilm.com

Aug 19 Monday: Tempo -- Warmup  2.4 miles to  Glorietta Bay Park.  After dynamics some ran a Tempo Run from the park down Glorietta Blvd, under the bridge, around Tidelands Park, back to the school (4.6 miles) for a total of 7 miles.  Some of the newer runners ran from Glorietta Bay Park to the bike path at the end of Glorietta blvd before the bridge  in 3 segments. Segments were Glorietta Park to Tennis course (3/4 of a mile), Tennis courts to Golf Course Entrance (.67 miles), Golf course entrance to end of Glorietta at bridge (.47 miles). Then an easy run from there back to the school (1.2 miles) for a total distance of around 5 1/2 miles.


Aug 20 Tues Hills with the San Diego Track Club - We carpooled to Balboa and started with a 2 mile warm-up and dynamics. The workout was 5 times up Zig Zag Hill (steep 270 meter climb) followed by 10 x 100 strides and core. Total distance was a bit over 4 miles including running to the hill strides up and down the hill. Very good 2 days for those who ran yesterday as well.

Zig Zag (or Snake) Hill at Balboa Park

Aug 21 Wed  -  Easy recovery on your own.

Aug 22 Thur -  First day of school: Checked-in, ran to Tidelands, 1.5 mile time trial. Most of those who have been training all summer ran some more miles. New runners did core and jogged back to the school. Mileage varied but the least run was around 5 miles for the new runners: 1.5 miles each way from the school to Tidelands... warmup, and the 1.5 mile Time Trial.

Aug 23 Fri:  - 2nd day of school: Those going to the relay next weekend picked-up their uniforms. Everyone did up to 7 x 200 with full recovery. This speed workout was part of the progression we're on. It was done at slower paces for the new runners but the summer group did them at about 95%.

Aug 24 Sat - Sun : Easy run on your own to meet distance goals. A long run on one of these days is encouraged
.

Week of Aug 12 - Aug 18 Workouts

Mon Aug 12: Tempo Intervals
1.3 mile warmup to Sunset Park.
After dynamics 12 x 400 with 15-20 second break at date Tempo pace (See Daniels Tables at top of Blog). Core and 1.3 miles back to school. Total distance was 5.6 for those who did all twelve 400's.

Sunset Park 400

Tues Aug 13: 6th Street Hill with San Diego Track Club
Most of the summer training group carpooled to Balboa Park where Paul Greer's workout of the day was 5 times  up the 6th street hill between Elm Street and El Prado. The run up the hill on the sidewalk is about 10 meters short of a half-mile, the recovery path back down is a little longer than a half-mile with the loop about 1.08 miles. Warmup, run to the bottom of the hill, then back to the staging area, and the 10 x 100 strides after the hills made this a 7 mile + day for most. This was all followed by a core session... good workout day.

Wed Aug 14: Easy recovery miles on your own

Thurs 15 Aug:
Ran to Tidelands the long way (6th to Alameda, to 1st, then along the bay).  At Tidelands  6 x 60 meter all-out repeats on the grass. Each 60 was actually a part of a 500 meter + loop. Then back to school via under the bridge, Glorietta to Pamona to 6th. Distance covered was about 7 miles.

Friday 16 Aug:
Ran 2 miles from school to Pomona Park (5th to Glorietta to Pomona to the park). After dynamics we ran 3 x 1200 hilly repeats... 4 minutes recovery, plus one faster 800 meter run (stopped at 800 meter point on map below). Cool down was easy back to the school. Total distance was around 5 1/2 miles.

 

Sat - Sun: 16-17 Aug: On your own to meet weekly mileage goals... some are racing this weekend.

Week of Aug 5 - Aug 11 Workouts

Mon 5 Aug : 6-10 x 510 meters at Tidelands  Park

We had an excellent turnout for this  workout... 510 meter grassy knoll runs at Tidelands with 90 second recovery. This was the first time I used this particular route for the main workout but I really like it as it's 100% on the grass, it's a loop so I can easily get splits, and there are two grassy knolls that are crested each loop. This is an excellent simulation of some of the cross country courses we run... especially the one on the Stanford Golf Course.

For those who were there here's a chart of how fast (in terms of 1/4 mile, one mile, and 5k) your pace was, see the chart below.

Tues 6 Aug: 4-6 easy miles recovery run followed by 6-8 fast strides at end.

Wed 7 Aug:  Lactate tolerance day
The lucky 19 who came out for today's session got to participate in a lactate threshold workout.
After a 2.5 mile run from the school down 6th to Alamedia, 1st, and along the bay to Tidelands we ran either 2x2 miles or a two mile followed by a 1.5 mile threshold run on our 2-mile out and back course. After core the group ran back to the school via the under the bridge route (1.5 miles) to cover between 7 and 8 miles for the day depending on which parts of the T-course was run. Speed was dictated by the Daniels charts you can find at the top of this blog.

Thur 8 Aug: Easy Mileage on your own

Friday Aug 9: 2-mile warm-up, 3 x 300 fast, 3 x 200 fast .. full recovery

Sat Aug 10: Penasquitos Canyon run... Distances ranged from 7.3 to 11 miles.
Sun Aug 11: Easy on your own to meet weekly distance goals

Week of July 29 - Aug 4 Workouts

Mon July 29: Tempo reps at Tidelands Park
Ran 2.3 miles from School down 6th to Margarita to Bay Park Circle to Glorietta to Tidelands Park. At the park we did 12 x 400 at Tempo pace with a 15-20 second recovery between, followed by an easy 1.5 mile run back to the school. Total distance was about 7 miles.

Tues July 30: Ran with the San Diego Track Club at Balboa Park ... 5 x 3 minute reps on Bridal Trail. This was followed by 10 x 100 meter strides and core.

Wed July 31 : Long run on your own

Thur Aug 1: Speed day... Ran from school to Coronado Ave to Ocean to Loma to Star Park (2 miles). At Star, after dynamics, 10 flying 30 meter sprints (full speed) were done. Finished with 2 miles back to school. Adding the jogging around the park after each sprint, the sprints, the warm-up, the cool down, and the strides around 5 1/2 miles were covered.

Friday Aug 2: I and R reps
Ran to Tidelands 6th-Glorietta-Under the bridge (1.5 miles).
Then 3 x 1000 at I (Interval pace) ... see Daniels chart on this blog. with 3 minutes between
Followed by 3 x 400 at "R: pace ... again see Daniels chart.
Followed by 1.5 mile easy back to school.
Distance covered all told (including strides and dynamics) was around 6 miles.

Sat-Sun (Aug 3-4)..  on your own to meet distance goals for the week.

Week of July 22-28 Workouts

Mon 22 July
Fartlek... Ran from School to Alameda to 1st to Orange (1.5 miles) and did Dynamics  on grass near bay at junction of 1st and Orange. Then 4 x 100 meter pickups on grass between Orange and SD Bay.  After this we followed the shoreline doing a series of pick-ups to Tidelands Park (.8 mile)  with the last 500 meters or so a pretty fast tempo run. Then easy from Tidelands, under the bridge to the beginning of the bike path next to the golf course (.35 miles). Then race pace (5k) 1/4 mile run along the bike to old toll booth. Then easy to Glorietta to the golf course maintenance shed where we did 10 x Golf Course Berm repeats (200 meters approx total). Then 1 mile of pickups to the ramp along Pomona where we ran hard up the ramp 4 times (128 meters). Then an easy jog of a little over a mile down 10th to D back to the school... Total distance was a little over 6 miles.


Tues 23 July
 Easy run for those who did the workout on Monday, 1.5 mile timed run for the ones who didn't, followed by core at Tidelands for both groups. Route was School to Coronado to Ocean to Star Park where we did dyamics (2 miles). Then 1/2 mile with a couple of pick-ups to the crosswalk at Pomona and Glorietta, the start of the 1.5 mile run. The end of the 1.5 mile run is just past the Coronado Bridge, about 5 yards. After a little jogging we did core.  The recovery group did about 5.3 miles, the others around 6 miles.

Wed 24 July - Speed Development day
Ran from school down 6th to Coronado to Sunset Park (1.2 miles)
After dynamics we ran  10 x 100  barefoot on grass at 400 meter pace.. after each 400 runners continued around the edge of the park so each "100" actually covered 435 meters for a total distance of  2.7 miles.
After a short cool down Core drills were done.
A 1-mile jog back to the school made this workout cover around 4.9 miles.

Thur 25 July - 5-8 on your own

Friday 26 July - Strength workout... Dunes on Coronado Beach
Ran from the school to Sunset Park (1.2 miles) where we warmed-up with dynamics and strides.
Then we ran from the restrooms at North Beach to the "C" in the "Coronado" dunes (see photo below) ... a distance of about .71 miles. Rested a few minutes, then ran back. The second time the boys stopped at the first break in the dunes 707 meters, walked 157 meters to the start of the "Coronado" part, ran to the "C", took a 1 minute break, then ran Coronado part, walked the 157 meter flat part, then ran the last part back to the finish. The girls ran the first part, took a short break, than ran back. Bottom line is the boys had around 4260 meters (2.65 miles)  of  dunes, the girls around 3700 meters (2.3 miles) of the same. This was followed by core in Sunset Park and a 1-mile jog back to the school. Total distance for boys was around 5 miles, for girls, around 4.6 miles. However, the dune distance was measured on Google Earth as a straight line. The actual running of the dunes was significantly longer because everyone was instructed to go for the high dunes along the path so there was a bit of back-and-forth. Impossible to know how much additional distance to add... excellent workout today.

Coronado Dunes Click to Enlarge

Sat-Sun July 27-28: On your own to meet distance goals for the week

Week of July 15 - 21 Workouts

15 July Mon... Tempo Intervals
Warm-up from school to Tidelands Park where we ran three tempo intervals of 2 miles, 1.5 miles, and 1 mile with about a 3 minute break in-between. The target pace was about 1-minute per mile slower than estimated current mile time. Afterward we did core and ran easy back to school. Total distance covered was around 7.2 miles.

2-mile, 1.5-mile, 1-mile Tempo Runs at Tidelands

July 16-17 ... 5-8 base on your own

July 18 Thurs: Hills at Pomona Park ... Warm up School, down 5th to Glorietta, Dynamic Stretching at end of Glorietta and 4th. Strides along Glorietta to Pamona 10sec, 20sec, runner's choice. At Pamona 7 x 200m hard up Grassy side... walk/jog back down.. Core, easy back to school down down 10th to E... Distance was 6.5 miles

July 19th Tempo Intervals at Sunset Park:  School to Sunset (1.2mi) Dynamics 10-13 x 400 at 1 minute slower than mile pace) 15-30 sec jog rest. Core... Jog back to school ... Distance about 5.5 mi.

July 20-21 (Sat/Sun) on own... long run encouraged

Week of July 8 - 14 Workouts

Monday July 8th.
Several of our runners were out of town or missing today but those who were present did our 1st VO2Max workout of the summer.
Originally I'd planned 3 x 1-mile at Tidelands but cut it back to 1 mile and 2 x 800 because after the first mile it was obvious that the original plan was a little too ambitious for the 1st session.
Warm-up was a 2 1/4 mile run from the school down Palm to 1st then along the Silver Strand Bikeway to Tidelands Park. After the 2-miles of Reps we did our usual core session followed by a 1.4 mile run under to bridge back to the school... Adding dynamics and strides to this, the total distance covered was nearly 6 miles. The course we used for the reps was the Tidelands 1/2 mile shown in the previous week's training ... for the mile we ran the course twice without stopping.
 
Tuesday July 9... 5-8 on your own

Wednesday July 10: Speed Development
Ran from School down to Glorietta Blvd to Ocean to Sunset Park.. 2.8 miles
After dynamics we ran  10 x 100  barefoot on grass at 400 meter pace.. after each 400 runners continued around the edge of the park so each "100" actually covered 435 meters for a total distance of  2.7 miles.
After a short cool down Core drills were done.
A 1-mile jog back to the school made this workout cover around 6.75 miles.

Thursday July 11: 5-8 on your own

Friday July 12: Hill Day
Today we ran from the school down 6th to Coronado to Sunset Park but kept going to Star Park via Loma Avenue where we did our dynamic stretching. This covered around 2 miles. Then we did 4 "block pick-ups" down Loma to Orange Ave., crossed at Orange to B Ave. where we did another pick-up to 10th, jogged from 10th to 9th... pick-up for 9th to 8th, then easy from 8th to 7th, down 7th to Pamona Park. This covered about 3/4 of a mile.

Pamona Hills

At Pamona we ran fast up the steep grassy part to 8th street, turned around, walked to the grass, than ran fast downhill to the playground. Then easy back to the start... We did 7 of these continuously, covering about 2 miles.

This was followed by a 2+ mile run back to the school via Miguel, Glorietta, 10th Street, and E Street.

Total Distance covered was about  6.75 miles.

July 13-14: Sat-Sun on your own... one day should be a long run of 20% of weekly mileage (counting long run). With the exception of those just starting the long run should be no shorter than 7 or longer than 12 miles regardless of your mileage.
 By the way, as we go along the "easy" and "long runs" should be getting easier and therefore a bit faster than when you started. An "easy run" now should be at a speed that would have been a bit taxing on your first day of training.

Week of July 1st - July 7th Workouts

July 1
We started off July with Tempo Reps at Tidelands. They were 6-8 (depending on level) 1/2 mile reps at a pace estimated to be 1 minute slower than current mile pace, with a 30 second rest between. Warm-up was school to Tidelands via 1st street and the bay  (1.7 miles). Cool down was under the bridge back to the school (1.2 miles). Total distance covered including strides etc. was between 6.4 and 7.4 miles, although a few new runners did only a couple of the 800's .
See map below.

Tidelands 1/2 mile

July 2-4
Because of the July 4th activities the next 3 days (Tues-Wed-Thurs) were on your own. Hopefully everyone kept up their mileage because at this point in the pre-season that is  the most important part of your training.


Workout Friday, July 5th... hill - Strength day
We started at the School, ran down 4th to the Golf Course where Glorietta meets the road that goes  under the bridge where we did our dynamic stretches.
Then we ran easy to Pamona Park. Along the way, we ran 10 "Golf Course " repeats on the steep berm adjacient to Glorietta. At Pamona we did 2x150 meters hard up the grassy slope at the park from the sidewalk to 8th street. The we jogged to the base of 10th (10th and Glorietta) where we ran hard twice up the 10th street hill (170 meters) followed by a jog to the beach where we ran 2 x 270 meter repeats hard on the dunes. This was followed by an easy run to Sunset Park where we did our core routine consisting of planks, crunches, leg lifts, and 8-count body builders. An easy run back to the high school topped it all off. Distance covered was around 6 miles of which a little over 5miles was easy with the rest pretty intense.

July 6-7 (Sat-Sun) on your own base miles... get one long run in over the weekend.

Training June 21 - June 30

Our training during June, after the no-contact period went as follows:
21 June (Fri).. 2 mile Warm-up, strides,etc.
   Then 6 x 150 meters up the Pamona Park hill on the grass.. jog down
    2 Mile Cool Down and Core
  
22-23 June... 2 days of base (4-5 miles) run on own (Sat, Sun)
24 June (Monday) ... decided to go to Balboa to run with the San Diego Track Club  on next day so we ran 45 minutes easy.

25 June (Tuesday): The SDTC workout consisted of 5x800 on grass with about a 2-1/2 minute break in-between. After that they did 10 x 100 meter strides and Core.

26 and 27 June (Wed-Thur): Base on-own 5-8 miles each day.

28 Friday...
From the school ran easy to 3rd, then to Tidelands Park where we did dynamics. Then we ran under the bridge and along Glorietta where we did several 10 to 30 second pick-ups increasingly fast with the last 20 seconds really fast. Then we jogged to Pamona Park. By the time we arrived there a little over 3 miles were covered. At Pamona we practiced downhill and uphill running on the grass before the workout started.

Pamona Hill Workout

For the workout we ran hard up the steep hill at Maria Place, maintained around the corner for around 10 yards, jogged to the start of the grassy downhill at Pamona then ran fast downhill on the grass alternating the steeper slope with the more gradual slope.  We did 4 of these with an Uphill Pamona 400 meter run after the first one. Expand the image to the left to see.
The Pamona uphill 400 meter run was at about 800 meter pace... see image below. Cool down was a 1.5 mile run back to the school. Total distance covered was around 6 miles. Sat and Sun were Base days (5-7 miles each day).

Pamona uphill 400 meters
 

2013 Cross Country Phase I

OK... Track is over, school is out, and we're ready to start our summer training program for Cross County. You're probably all asking "what shall I run today?" Quarters? Sprints? Hills? The answer is none of the above. I'm writing this the day before our district's two-week no-contact period starts so I can't have direct contact with Islander runners until after June 21st. I can, however, post to this blog and keep the Islander Track website updated. At this point in the pre-season you should be simply getting in base training at "E" easy pace. Ok... so what's easy pace. That depends on the runner. For example if you're a 20 minute 5k runner your easy pace is around 8:15 per mile. If you can run 5k in 16 minutes your easy pace is around 6:43 per mile. To figure your pace look at the Jack Daniels VDOT tables accessible via the tab at the top of this blog, find your current level for either the mile or 5k, and your E/L (Easy or Long) pace will be in the first yellow column. Don't worry about the rest of the columns for now... just concentrate on this pace for the next couple of weeks. We'll get to the other paces after the no-contact period. The next question you probably have is how far should I be running? Again, that depends on the runner. Beginners should probably start with 20-30 minutes 3-4 times per week. Don't worry about distance at this point ... go by time. Someone running 5 miles at 8 minutes per mile will take a lot more steps than someone running 5 miles at 6 minutes per mile... it's time spent running that's important, not the distance. If you're starting back after the recent track season, there's no reason you can't run nearly every day. As Alberto Salazar indicates in the clip on the front of our website, it's the consistency that's important. That plus a long run every week. So... run longer one day, maybe shorter (or rest) the next day. Other days should be about the same. Say 30-40 minutes MTWTF ... 1 hour on Saturday... Sunday easy or take the day off.   Also these runs are best done on  grass or over rolling terrain ... like you'll find at Morley, Balboa, or nearly any place other than Coronado (Tidelands park is grassy but not hilly). When running around town, try to stay off the sidewalk and run on the grassy parking strips or lawns. Don't forget to subscribe to this blog so future notifications  will be delivered to your email address.
-Coach Green