 not only the summer training, but also the fall training to actually take this aerobic development, this aerobic base, and make it fast with intervals. Good morning, YouTube family. We're jumping right into the studio. That's right. In real time, when you're watching this on Sunday, I'm actually away from internet. So this is pre-recorded on Thursday. Basically, once a year we go camping with a family, but because I don't have internet, that doesn't mean you don't get a daily vlog, all right? So I still want to bring you a little bit of value today. And yes, I have not forgotten about the 5K training plans, okay? But my goal, well, okay. I said this three weeks ago, 1627 5K guy down to a 1446 guy. So I kind of watched Mark work his magic with me as a walk-on at CU. He dropped my time considerably, and then I have some experience coaching my brother to a 10th place finish at Footlocker. So that was good. I feel good about my 5K coaching background. And of course, so these training videos on this channel would be step by step by step. That's right. My goal was to create a series of videos, probably about a half a dozen that really went into detail for 5K training, one playlist for high schoolers, and then one playlist for just truly beginner 5K runners who have never run a 5K. But because of my foot, as it heals up, it's still healing, I can't go out and film those high, high quality videos yet. So that is coming. Once I'm out of the boot, I will begin to work on that series of videos. Therefore, this blog today is supplementing that series of videos to plant the seed, especially, okay, for the high schoolers out there, because guess what? It's mid-June. In fact, it's a little past mid-June. So now is basically the time to start thinking about running, if you're not running yet in high school, for your summer training as you prepare and get ready for a cross-country season that really gets going in late August, early September. So you should know that, yes, I am a student of Arthur Lideard, a very famous coach who is no longer alive, but he coached in the 60s and 70s. And I'm just a big proponent of his approach to aerobic development. Really more so than many, many other cross-country coaches out there. I actually don't emphasize anaerobic training or interval training at all through the summer months. It's really all about laying that aerobic foundation. And if you want to learn more about aerobic development and why I emphasize it so much first, go check, you got to go watch this upper right hand corner vlog that's about to pop out. I talk about cardiac efficiency, developing your capillary beds in your lungs, your resting heart rate, all of these different factors that work into why I emphasize aerobic development in June, July, and most of August. So go watch that upper right hand corner. And now this outline of mileage that I'm going to share with you is for high schoolers who really want to run fast and race fast, which is hopefully everyone out there watching if you're in high school. But I also realize like sometimes you're just out there to have fun in cross-country, which we should all be having fun. But if you are competitive, maybe your team is shooting for a league championship. Or who knows, maybe even a state championship, this volume of training is designed for those folks who want to run fast. And I'll also just say at the beginning right now, I don't know your history. I don't know your past. So everything I share with you in a minute, take with a grain of salt because you may be a brand new cross-country runner. If so, don't do what I'm about to share. Or maybe you're very, very experienced and you train at high, high volumes, hopefully under the guidance of a coach. And so anyway, everything I share, you have to take it into the context of your history as a runner. Like maybe you've been running since you were in fifth grade. If that's the case, then you might be able to run a little higher volume. And also keep in mind your injury history, okay? If you've stayed completely injury-free, your entire middle school or early high school running career, that's a good thing. And again, you can work that into the equation for figuring out your summer training as far as volume is concerned. And one more point, guys and girls train at different volume levels, all right? We're built differently physiologically. And so guys, you usually will train 10, maybe 15 miles per week more than ladies. Just want to make that clear and I will point that out as we're going through this volume. Now as we dive in, I'll also mention that if you're a freshman in high school, you're going to be running less than a senior. You should be at least. You should not be running the same amount as a senior in high school because you're at a different stage of development physically. So the numbers you're looking at on the screen are actually written for seniors, juniors. If you're a junior that has stayed healthy and you feel confident that you're ready to make that next step, you might be able to do this volume. But again, take everything with a grain of salt, keep in mind your history. And then freshmen and sophomores, I would recommend subtracting basically 10 to 15 miles from the numbers you're looking at on the screen, okay? And the numbers on top are for the guys. And then down below are for the ladies and we will break all of these down again. Ladies, you're going to be training at 10, maybe 15 miles less per week from the guys, which is fine. It's just, as I already mentioned, we're built differently. All right. So I hope you were able to take two weeks off at least after your track season. Everybody's track season ends at different times, whether it's late May, mid May, early June. So you see in red there, the first two weeks of June have zeros simply because I recommend 14 days of no running after the track season. Now that doesn't mean you sit on your couch and you don't do anything, okay? You can still be active, you know, go swimming, go biking, go hiking, but I wouldn't recommend running. Just let the body completely recover after the track season. And based on the research I've done, it's at least 15 days before you begin to lose any fitness, okay? So if you're staying just a little bit active, you're going to maintain your fitness pretty well and it's okay to lose a little bit of fitness. Nobody's winning state championships in June, okay? Say it just, it's all about that long-term outlook when doing your summer training. And through this summer training, it's all about consistency and yes, consistency. I couldn't quite fit it on the board there is the key word. So what do I mean by that? Making sure that you're staying healthy and making sure that you're ascent to your peak volume of training, which for guys is 50 mile, senior guys is 50 miles. So for freshman sophomores, that's going to be about 35 to 40 at the most. And then for ladies, you're looking at senior ladies, you're looking at 40 miles per week at the most, okay? And again, keeping in mind your background, your injury history, all of that. And okay, I'll also just mention the surface that you can run on. If you live in downtown Seattle or if you live in downtown Chicago or Atlanta and you don't have access to a lot of dirt or grass, you should reduce your volume, okay? If you can't find soft surfaces to run on, reduce your volume. I'm telling you right now, that is really, really critical because running on pavement and concrete at higher volumes, if your body's not used to it, you will get injured. I'm like, it's like, oh, it's just so sad because I'm injured right now and I'm going through that experience and I don't want you to go down that road. Now there might be some high schoolers out there who are looking at these numbers and saying, wait a minute, I actually ran more than that my junior year or sophomore year through the summer months and that's fine. But if I was a coach, this is where I would have my athletes at in order to, first of all, again, stay consistent, stay healthy, and not over-train through the summer months because honestly, this is actually quite a bit of volume for high schoolers, okay? But again, the numbers you're looking at are for seniors. You've got to reduce for juniors. Juniors, I would drop down five miles, maybe 10, and then sophomores, I would drop down 10, and 15, and freshmen, I would drop down 15, and maybe even 20. And as far as the intensity of these runs, very easy pace, okay? Late July, I would begin to add one tempo run per week, okay? And then in mid-August, I would begin to introduce very lightweight baby intervals, specifically 300 meter repeats on grass, okay? On a nice grass soccer field, 300 meter repeats, maybe eight of them to start, maybe 10, just to begin to introduce some speed, not until truly mid-August. And then you see the fourth week of August is the time to rest. So after a huge summer of training, before the racing begins, before the intense interval training begins, I would always 100% take a down week. Depending on when your racing starts, the third or fourth week of August, where I would go from 50 miles a week, if you're a senior guy, all the way down to 15 to 20 miles for that week. And if you are feeling tired, maybe you have a little ache or pain in your body, I would just take the week off and just go to the pool and swim, okay? It's really important to hit that reset button before the intense racing and interval training begins in early September. And as far as breaking down this mileage into a seven day training cycle, I always recommend, this goes without saying mostly, but I'll say it anyway, you want one long run, I recommend a middle distance run. And then basically the rest is easy days. So a long run is 20% of your weekly volume. So if you're a senior guy, 50 miles per week, multiplied by 20% is 10 miles for your long run. Ladies, you're looking at about seven to eight miles for your long run throughout the seven day training cycle. And then middle distance is reduced from that, seven to eight for guys. Ladies, you'd be about six, five to six miles. Which is, it's basically 15% of your weekly volume. And then the rest can be easy days and seek out, okay, seek out grass. And specifically my favorite are soccer fields that are, there's like three, four, five soccer fields. Go run around those soccer fields. So if you're doing a 10 mile long run, do six miles on concrete, pavement, dirt, whatever you can find. But then just really try and seek out soft surfaces when you are able. It just, not a couple of reasons. First of all, to help stay healthy. But also to get your legs used to racing in grass. Cuz running and racing on grass cross country courses is actually really hard. It's a lot, it's a lot more difficult than dirt. And it's way more difficult than pavement. Because you're using more muscles, it's a lot harder. So anyway, that is my recommendation. Again, consistency is key word. And this was just a brief, brief overview. I know that was kind of long, but it was an overview of how I would break down my summer training for high schoolers. If I was a coach, getting ready for a 5k, and I will make more detailed videos very, very soon. For not only the summer training, but also the fall training to actually take this aerobic development, this aerobic base, and make it fast with intervals, all right? So thank you for watching. Thanks for bearing with me as I'm out camping with the family with no internet. It's amazing. And I will be back tomorrow in real time for all of you. Question of the day, what questions, high schoolers especially, but everyone. What questions do you have for me about laying a base of aerobic foundation, aerobic development, getting ready for a 5k? Sound good? Seek beauty, work hard, and love each other. Thanks for watching, see you tomorrow. Now, train now, let's get that time, is that time?