This plan is the best of what Connor Winter did at the the University of Colorado, while winning 2 National Titles, and as a professional training for cross country. This is a summer cross country training plan for a 17:00 - 18:00 5k runner.
The whole objective of this program is to slowly introduce strength work throughout the first 4 weeks. Then, we progress into more volume in workouts over the next 8 weeks to familiarize the athlete with the challenges of college cross country on grass and hilly course.
A few IMPORTANT training details:
1. THRESHOLD EFFORT. This is based off of roughly 10 mile- half marathon effort. For a college cross country runner, that is in the 4:50-4:40 range. These paces can be adjusted based on how hilly a course is, weather, sickness, and the fitness level you're at when you tackle the threshold workout. However, you have to always come back to dialing in on the correct effort-- which is 10 mile race pace on that given workout day.
3. Any other given training effort (10k, 5k, 3k, mile, 800, etc) is the effort on that specific training day. So, for example, if I say 6x30 seconds at mile effort and that is done on a slow cross country course, the PACE will be slower than if you did those same reps on a track. It's crucial that you are always dialing into the right effort under the circumstances you're facing that day.
4. RECOVERY RUN. Pace between 7:30-7:00. Obviously this is a HUGE range because recovery is so different for everyone. However, I always tell my athletes, the slower the better. It's okay to jog, it's okay to run slow. This is where you grow and absorb the hard training sessions.
6. STRIDES. Strides can be done on a track/road/trail wherever you are for your easy day. These should be effort based as well--unless on a track and then you can run around the appropriate pace assigned.
7. LONG RUN. They should be done faster than an "easy run" but not in the "tempo zone." Adjusting to terrain and feel.
8. HILLS. Not the same pace as you would run on a track. Adjust according to the grade and terrain of the hill. Using the effort as judgement.
Hammer & Axe Training was born out of a vision shared by a handful of elite distance runners. We found in our training that we ran our best when we committed to training our speed and strength equally. A focus on strength made us durable, strong, and prepared for the adversity that racing brings. A focus on speed made us confident, efficient, and ready to move when the right moment arrived. We wanted to bring this feeling of speed and strength to as many runners as possible.