|
CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING BASICS .......... let's start with the basic truths:-
Not everyone finds it easy to keep running for several minutes without a short rest! IF YOU ARE NOT FIT .... IT WILL MEAN A FEW STOPS AND STARTS The 'actual thought of running a long way' can be quite a challenge mentally! NOT EVERYONE IS SUFFICIENTLY STRONG WILLED TO DO THIS EVENT On a wet day cross country will ask one question! Why we do it?! WELL ..... WE ALL ENJOY RUNNING THROUGH PUDDLES AND MUD ....... DON'T WE!? But seriously ...... the real reason why we don't do enough running is because everyone is a bit lazy .... yes ..... including lots of our teachers who find it difficult to enthuse about running. BUT if you set yourself some very achievable targets and pick them off one by one running over mixed terrain and in varying weather becomes exhilerating, especially when you find a group of like minded friends who you can run with. BUT HOW DO WE MOVE FORWARD? ALWAYS WORK WITH AN EXPERIENCED COACH First principles: Get used to steady running Always run with someone else who you know. a) Just start at a pace which you find easy and you don't get out of breath too quickly (maybe just above walking pace). If you need to stop, don''t worry ... have a short rest, consider if you were going too quickly and start again when you are ready. Repeat this every other day for 10 days minimum. You will be surprised how quickly your body gets used to the exercise! b) Try to build up the number of minutes you can run at this pace without stopping. c) When you can run for 12 minutes like this start to varying the pace by going slightly quicker for two periods of one minute during the 12 minute run. d) Start to take a rough measurement of how far you run in this 12 minute period and at the end of each week for the first 4 weeks run the same (flat route) noting how much further you get each time. e) Now's the time to vary the time/distance of your runs. Within the next month you should be increasing the run time to about 18/20 minutes and/or the speed at which you run. Introduce Interval Training sessions on a track or on some good quality grass area: Include some interval training sessions in your programme once a week .... what's that you may ask!???? With others run quite strongly (definitely NOT SPRINTING) for a minute and then rest for 2 minutes either stationary or preferably by jogging back an agreed start point. Repeat this SIX times. As you get better at this type of training slightly increase the time running strongly by a further 15 secs or decrease the 'rest' period by 15 secs. See how you progress. |
Looking for a group to train with?
|