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The Best High School Cross Country Workouts

Cross country running is a simple sport, and so it makes sense that cross country runners need fun cross country workouts that they can do in any environment.  

I’m going to share the best high school cross country workouts that every cross country runner should run in the summer. Several of these workouts should also be done during the cross country season as well. If you're looking for some guidance on how to...

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Cross Country Training Schedule PDF – “No Prior Training” Athletes

One of the biggest – and maybe the biggest – concerns for cross country coaches is “How am I going to keep the new athletes injury-free?” We all know that shin splints, tight IT-bands and Achilles tendons, and tight hamstrings can all be a problem for new athletes. 

I put this group of athletes – who either didn’t run track or haven't done a sport prior to joining the cross country team – into the...

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Cross Country Training PDF - 5 Weeks of Training for Varsity Runners

If you’re a high school coach, you know that excellent cross country races in October and November are directly related to runners putting in intelligent training in the summer. 

I want to help you help your athletes with training that will a) keep them injury-free and b) have them fitter for the first important meet of the cross country season than they’ve ever been. Plus, I want to save you time in planning a progression of...

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Two-week Break Between Track and Cross Country

Almost every serious distance runner will end the track season saying, “I know I could have run faster.” Even if the season ended with multiple PRs and great races in the final two weeks, serious runners always want to make the next jump in performance, which is why summer training has always been so important for distance runners. 

But before athletes start training for cross country, they need to fully recover from the track...
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A Progression of Strides for Cross Country

What are strides? And why do cross country runners need to run strides to race faster?

Give me a few minutes and you’ll have the answer to both questions. 

Let’s go! 

A Stride is a Quick, Short, Controlled Sprint 

A stride is simply a quick, short, controlled sprint — anywhere from 70m to 150m — that’s faster than your race pace and much faster than your training paces. To be clear, this is not all...

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How To Train For Cross Country: A Comprehensive Cross Country Training Plan

Here’s the deal – most articles about cross country training plans aren’t that helpful. The training suggestions are too general, the coach doesn’t explain the “why” behind the workouts, and they don't, therefore, end up clearly explaining how to train for cross country.  

In this article I’m going to explain exactly what a summer cross country training program should include, with a simple...

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NXR and Footlocker Training Plans

This is an article is intended for coaches, yet the suggestions may apply to families who are looking for some guidance if their child is training on their own for post-season meets.  

Most coaches have questions about what to do after the team’s last in-season meet to get ready for NXR or Footlocker. They wonder what the focus of the workouts should be. Is this the time to go back to long runs? Should the post-run work be...

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