I need to set some goals. I'm really clueless, but I heard that 20 minutes on the 5-k is the standard for a varsity letter. I can run the mile in about 6:30-7:00 right now, and I have from now (late February) to September to get ready. Is that enough time? What would a 20-minute 5-k translate to as a mile time?
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Training for cross-country and...
- Thread starter SuperFob
- Start date
5k is 3.1 miles, you do the math. Where I come from, Varsity 18 minutes and some change minimum. You have a good start, do some distance (4-7 miles), some hills, and some intervals. I cant remember what we did back in CC days, if I remember right, we were encouraged to do an easy 4-6 mile run once a weekend, then we would do a hard day monday, easy tuesday, hard wednesday, easy thursday, and then we would do a distance day friday. You'll have to look around or talk to you coach for specifics, but I think thats a pretty good spot to start.
Well, we generally didnt count distance days as hard days unless we built intervals into them. Its really hard for me to tell you what exactly to do for a hard day seeing as I dont know what shape you are in etc. Obviously you will pick up as time goes on. Distance intervals (ranging from 800's to 200's), time intervals (usually from 5min-30seconds), and hills (hard as you can up the hill, 6-12 reps depending on hill) were generally cycled through.
I dont know if this will help you, but I can tell you what some of our intervals consisted of. When we would do distance intervals (usually on a track) we would do things like 2x800, 2x600, 4x400, 4x200 sometimes. Another particularly painful day I remember was 16x400's. Time intervals were a bit different and we didnt do them as much. We would do sort of "ladders" with the time, 5 min on hard, 5 min easy jog, 4 min on, 4 min off, 3 min on, 3 min off, 2 min on, 2 min off, 1 min on, 1 min off, 2 min on, 2 min off, 3 min on, 3 min off, 4 min on, 4 off, 5 on, than cool down. Oh yeah, typically I would shoot for being like 10%-15% ahead of my goal race pace on each interval.
I would go talk to the CC coach. He/She should be able to give you better advice on workouts. Until then, if you are feeling the burn, chances are you are probably doing yourself better than doing nothing, so I would just go out and see what you can do on some intervals and/or hills. Start off with a rough idea of how many you want to do and then take it from there.
I dont know if this will help you, but I can tell you what some of our intervals consisted of. When we would do distance intervals (usually on a track) we would do things like 2x800, 2x600, 4x400, 4x200 sometimes. Another particularly painful day I remember was 16x400's. Time intervals were a bit different and we didnt do them as much. We would do sort of "ladders" with the time, 5 min on hard, 5 min easy jog, 4 min on, 4 min off, 3 min on, 3 min off, 2 min on, 2 min off, 1 min on, 1 min off, 2 min on, 2 min off, 3 min on, 3 min off, 4 min on, 4 off, 5 on, than cool down. Oh yeah, typically I would shoot for being like 10%-15% ahead of my goal race pace on each interval.
I would go talk to the CC coach. He/She should be able to give you better advice on workouts. Until then, if you are feeling the burn, chances are you are probably doing yourself better than doing nothing, so I would just go out and see what you can do on some intervals and/or hills. Start off with a rough idea of how many you want to do and then take it from there.