2011 Cross Country Season Recap

Well I was really pleased in how I finished my senior cross country season! My district meet was on October 28, and I came in 3rd place overall and completed the 3 mile course in 16:57 which was a Personal Record! My team also came in 2nd place overall which I was very happy about. Last year I came in 10th place at district and our team came in last place, so good improvements! Then we had our regional meet on November 5th in San Antonio. I didn't have as good as a performance, but I ran the 5k course in 17:35 and came in 79th place out of about 180 runners.

After my regional meet, I took a well needed off week from running and just did some cross training with P90X. The next week, I began training for Indoor track with my personal coach. She had me on a very rigorous schedule. Her plan for me that week was to run about 60 miles in 6 days with running twice on 3 of them. However, it did not turn out well. Mentally, I was prepared to push my body, but my body and muscles were not. The most I have ran in the past was 50 miles a week, so trying to run 60 with no running the past week took its toll on me. After 4 days of training, I developed a super tight left calf and an inflamed Achilles tendon. So much for staying injury free! So, it has almost been 4 weeks since that has occurred and I am still recovering. My calf is all better, but my Achilles is still bothering me a bit. I should be able to start running again within the next week or so, but I am probably not going to end up running indoor track since I have lost 4 weeks of training. I might end up running a meet or two in February, but I rather build up a strong foundation for outdoor track. I still have been using P90X and the One on Ones to stay in shape though. I know my upper body and core have gotten stronger, but I have probably lost some endurance and leg strength since I haven't been running.

I also have ordered the P90X2 Deluxe Package!!! I should be receiving it in a week or two, and I am super excited! I love the fact that it is going to be based more on athletic performance, so it should be a great supplement along with my running.

2011 Cross Country Season

I have not posted in a while, so figured I should do one today! I have almost finished up my last high school Cross Country season. I have been religiously training since June, and I got up to running 50 miles a week in August which is a huge improvement from only running 35 at most last year. I have by far improved the most this year due to an increase in training. A typical training week for me right now will look like this:

Sunday- Long Run (10-13 miles)
Monday- Easy run or Tempo run, depending how I feel (8 miles)
Tuesday- Speed workout (Alternates every week, but usually will either be: 10x400, 8x800, 4x1600, or a ladder of 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 meters. Usually around 6-7 miles total)
Wednesday- Easy run or Tempo run (will do opposite of Monday) (6-8 miles)
Thursday- Easy run if I did Tempo run yesterday, or Hill repeats (6-8 miles, or rest day if racing on Friday
Friday- Rest Day if racing on Saturday, or easy 8 miles
Saturday- Usually will be race day

In addition to running, right now I also do cross training/supplement workouts twice a week, which consist of P90X and One on One workouts. I believe it is very important to have a strong core, which will help prevent injury and give you good form. I also like doing pushups and pullups which will be my other workout for the week. Right now I don't really care about working arms because they aren't really necessary for running, and pushups and pullups work the arms some too. When I'm not racing I will do supplement workouts 3-4 times a week.

My races for Cross Country are usually either 3 miles or 5K. Often times it is somewhere in between, which is one reason why I love my new Garmin Forerunner 210! It tells me my mile pace, mile splits, and average pace for my runs. Here are my race results so far this season:

AISD Invitational on August 26: 3 miles in 17:29
Lockhart Invitational on September 3: 3K in 11:24
St. Andrews Invitational on September 10: 5K in 18:14
Pflurgerville Invitational on September 16: 3 miles in 17:14
Cedar Park Invitational on September 24: 5K in 17:59
IBM Uptown Classic on October 2: 10K in 37:11 (No Cross Country race this week so I ran a local road race)
Westlake Invitational on October 8: 3 miles in 17:16

Sadly, I am missing the Vista Ridge Invitational this Saturday because I am going to visit Texas A&M University, so my next meet will be the AISD District meet on October 28. I am hoping to compete for 1st place, but I will see how it goes. My team is also looking really strong this year so I think we will be able to get 1st place in District as a team. Then I will have Regionals on November 5, which will most likely be my last high school cross country meet. After the season is over, I will take a well deserved recovery week, then I will start training because this year I am also running indoor track which I am really excited about. My mileage will probably go up to 70-80 miles a week, so I should see really good improvements. The key is to stay healthy and injury free, which I have pretty much done a good job of. I typically get sick once a year, and I have never had an injury.

I will keep yal posted on how my season ends!