The End Of Track Season And Summer Training

The end of the season is a bittersweet time for most runners.

You don’t get to see your friends after school, but you also don’t have to suffer through grueling workouts every day.

As much as you might want to relax, now is the perfect time to reflect on the previous season, plan your summer training, and figure out your goals for next year.

Reflect On Your Season

Hopefully you set goals at the beginning of your season, but you can still reflect on your performances even if you didn’t set any goals.

If your teams puts results in athletic.net see if your times improved from last year and if they improved throughout the season.

If not, ask your coach if he has your times from meets, and if he doesn’t you might just have to base it off of your memory.

Depending on the event you run the time improvements could be between .1 seconds to over a minute.

Plan Your Summer Training

We recommend you to take at least a week off to let your body recover from all of the hard workouts.

However, you should start working hard after that week, especially if you’re planning on running cross country in the fall, or if you want to break a school record or run at states next year.

Distance Summer Training

As a distance runner summer is the perfect time to increase your sprinting speed while slowly improving your endurance. We also recommend doing some weight training as most athletes don’t do enough of that.

Summer Plan

Your first month you should focus on weight training and increasing your sprinting speed, and for the last 2 you should focus on longer distance running.

First Month

Monday: Form sprinting. ( 5*100 meters until your pulse is back to 110-120 bpm)

Tuesday: Lifting

• 3 x 5 explosive squats
• 3 x 8 deadlifts
• 3 x 8 pull-ups
• 3 x 8 Shoulder press

Wednesday: Max speed training (10*60 meters all out until your pulse is back to 110-120 bpm)

Thursday: Lifting

• 3 x 8 Bench Press
• 3 x 8 Bent Over Rows
• 3 x 8 Pullup Leg Lifts
• 1 x 8 Heavy Squats

Friday: Form Sprinting (5 x 140 meters until your pulse is back to 110 to 120 bpm; learn to sprint on the curve)

Saturday: Run 2 to 3 miles at a constant fast pace. (You should try to do 6 minutes per mile, and if you can do 6 minutes per mile, increase the distance of your next run by 1 mile)

Sunday: Rest Day

For form sprinting days focus on one aspect of your form every week. (Arms, leg drive, leg turnover, stride length, etc…)

Second Month

Week 1

• Monday: Long distance (4 to 5 miles)
• Tuesday: Easy run (2 to 3 miles)
• Wednesday: Short tempo run (2 to 3 miles)
• Thursday: Easy run (2 to 3 miles)
• Friday: Long tempo run. Keep the same pace for 3 to 4 miles (If you can go at 6 minutes per mile, increase the distance by a mile)
• Saturday: Timed all-out mile
• Sunday: Rest day.

Week 2

• Monday: 6-10 x 200 all out (Wait until your pulse is down to 120 bpm)
• Tuesday: Easy run (2 to 3 miles)
• Wednesday: Short tempo run (2 to 3 miles)
• Thursday: Easy run (2 to 3 miles)
• Friday: Long tempo run. Keep the same pace for 3 to 4 miles (If you can go at 6 minutes per mile, increase the distance by a mile)
• Saturday: Timed all-out mile
• Sunday: Rest day.

Sprints Summer Training

As a sprinter you can run only 3 times a week, but you also need to lift 3 times a week.

You should lift explosively and use heavy weights. Your running program should focus on improving acceleration, coordination, and max speed.

You could try running with ankle weights as well. Check out this page for detailed information about sprint workouts.

Figure Out Your Goals For Next Year

Whether you’re happy or unhappy with your performance this year, you can always set goals and try to do better next year.

We recommend setting a couple goals:

• A Training Process Goal: A goal that’s related to the process of training. Example: “I will run at least 3 days a week, and lift 3 days a week” or “I will run every day this summer”.
• A Time Goal: This is the goal time that you want to run in your event next year. Go big! Don’t just decide to increase your time by a little bit, tell yourself that you want to get much faster and actually work towards it!
• A Big Goal: This would be your ultimate season/high school career goal. This could be going to States, getting a track college scholarship, or maybe making varsity for the first time ever. Whatever it is, make it big!

Good luck with your upcoming season, and we hope that you reach your goals!