Running Periodization Adapted from Running Periodization: Training Theories to Run Faster
“
“YOU CAN’T UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF A WHOLE PROCESS BY SEPARATING THE PARTS FROM THE PROCESS, OR THE PROCESS FROM THE PARTS.”
”
PART 4: HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE PERIODIZATION
T
he high school and college crosscountry and track environment presents a unique training problem. Between the emphasis on racing and the desire for immediate results, runners’ aerobic development is often sacrificed for the sake of intensity. And that’s not ideal if the goal is to become a better distance runner. Runners and coaches need to adequately prepare for many races, sustain motivation and desire, and train with an optimal strategy. VOLUME Aerobic training volume is crucial for runners during their developmental high school and college years, if they desire to be good runners. While there is no magical number of miles to run per week to be successful, the best high school and college runners tend to be the ones who run the most, although it can take years to safely reach a higher level of mileage. Many high school runners who run in college go from a low-mileage high school program to a high-mileage college program, which often leads to injuries. If a high school runner doesn’t run a lot in high school, he or she can’t just jump into running a lot in college. There must either be a bridge between high school and college training, or better volume preparation in high school to handle the college training. College coaches who train their athletes with high mileage also need to be careful recruiting high school runners who run low mileage in high school, lest they get injured AUGUST 2023 techniques
29