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GAINING SPEED
Running Cross Country
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Dear Coach Eileen, I've been coaching a boy 10 years old and a girl 12 years old for the last 2 years in cross-country and also in spring track. I'm looking for some new info on increasing speed. They're plenty fast but they want to get faster. The boy's 3k time is 12:58 and he runs 5:52 in the mile.The girl's time in the 4k is 18:37 and best mile is 6:02. They both finish in the top 15 of their races which I think is great, but they both want to do better. I stress that having fun comes first! We do tempo runs, long runs (5 miles) and intervals on hills. Do you have any other suggestions? Steve Dear Steve, Wow, these kids are fast, really fast. Most high school cross-country runners haven't even achieved those times, especially the girl's 6:02 mile. But I guess instead of finishing in the top 15 in their races, they'd like to win. I'm not sure how many miles they put in a week, but the long 5-miler should be the limit on distance for now. The reason is that bones are still growing and the growth cartilage at the ends of the bones is softer than adult cartilage and more vulnerable to injury. They can build strength and endurance, which translates to speed, with other sports such as biking, roller-blading, swimming, or soccer. You can also have fun and build speed with circuit training. Here's a sample of what you could do: Run 800 meters easy, do 30 ab crunches, complete 4 chin-ups, then 15 pushups, and 15 fast squats thrusts with jumps. Then run another 800 meters at tempo pace. Perform 10 bench dips, do 15 lunges with each leg, 30 low-back extensions, and 5 feet-elevated pushups. Run 800 meters again at tempo pace. Strides are also an easy way to add some speed to your workouts. Finish an easy run at a park where there is flat, even grass, or a dirt trail. Strides are those 100 meter or so pick-ups that we typically do just before a race. Don't do so many of them that it becomes a hard day. As you stated, having fun comes first. We want these kids to have many successful years in high school and college cross-country and track. Eileen Portz-Shovlin
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