We are now fully into the summer and with that there are thousands of high school and college-aged runners out there getting excited about and getting ready for the 2018 Cross Country Season!
I’ll post frequently throughout this summer, with some tips for the high school and college-aged runners, and as always, if you have any questions please email me at thedailyrun@gmail.com.
((Even with these tips, be sure to do whatever your coach tells you to do…))
BUILD THE BASE
The most important thing you can do in the summer, as you are preparing for the upcoming XC season, is to build the base. This means putting in the easy-moderate miles, week to week, throughout the summer.
I’ve had a lot of runners say, “I prefer a more interval based summer approach…” or “I want to do as many races as I can this summer…”
Well, I’ll be brutally honest with you…THAT IS THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO. At this stage in your development more intervals, especially in the summer time, won’t help you develop as a cross country runner…and racing…well, that’s what you do throughout the entire school year (especially if you also run Indoor Track).
Build the base. Be patient. Put in the miles. This is the foundation of your year. Whatever you do without a base, is tremendously multiplied with a base.
Take care of the base and everything else will fall into place.
Phillips Running 