Training Program
1500m, 3000m, Cross Country Runner Begginners Program
This program is designed for athletes whom may
train on their own and need some guidance for a running program. The
program detailed below covers all base areas:
- Aerobic conditioning
- Strength endurance
- Strength and power
- Anaerobic conditioning
- Flexibility
As you can see, the program is predominantly dedicated to aerobic
conditioning and flexibility. In the 1500m, 3000m and cross country
events, aerobic ability plays the most vital role. Hence for begginners
it must be looked at with great consideration and trained for optimum
performance come race day. Also, emphasis has been placed on
flexibility. Flexbility gives the athlete a great range of movement and
can thus have a longer stride or a higher knee lift with less effort.
This makes the running process more efficient and therefore faster.
Monday: warm up 2km jog
10 by 100m at 800m race pace/100m jog
core strength program
stretching
Tuesday: 8km long run
Wednesday: warm up: 1.5km
6 by 80-150m hills
3km jog
core strength program
stretching
Thursday: 9km long run
Upper body and leg weights
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: warm up 2km jog
3mins “on” at 1500m pace/2.5mins ‘off” slow jog
core strength
stretching
Sunday: 6km long run
stretching
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Core Strength in Sport
It
has become apparent that “Core Strength” is a vital part of
achieving optimum performance in variety of sports, in particular,
athletics and cross country. Core Strength refers to the strength of
the abdominals, lower back, upper thighs and glutes. In running, having
a strong core results in efficiency and the ability to sustain the
correct technique for long durations throughout a race. Being able to
maintain the correct technique makes the running process more efficient
and sets the athlete in a better poisition to make his or her final
sprint at the end of the race. If the athlete has run the race with
less effort than his or her competitors, logically they will have more
stamina for the finishing sprint. Essentially, they will have one up on
the competition.
Core
strength can be improved using a variety of exercises. The most common
is the “Bridge”. When bridging the athlete their abdomen in
the air with the arms at right angles with the ground and the toes
pointing towards the floor holding the body up.
This exercise improves the strength of the abdominals, the upper thighs and the upper arms.
To
further enhance core strength, the reverse of this exercise can be
performed to strenghten the lower back and upper hamstrings.
In
this instance, the athlete lies face up and supports the torso and hips
using the arms folded at right angles with the floor underneath the
back and the heels of the foot with the foot facing toe up in the air.
These
exercises can he maintained for different periods of time. A good time
to aim for for begginners is the 1 minute mark. Each week, the athlete
should try to progress by 10 or 20 seconds on their previous time.
For
an extra challenge, the athlete can attempt to lift one arm or leg and
be support by only 3 limbs. This should be done in rotation so one limb
is lifted each time for an equal amount of time. Possibly, the athlete
may begin a bridge and lift one limb off the ground in 10, 20 or 30
second intervals. Also, the athlete may lift an arm and a leg however
it must be the right arm lifted with the left leg or the right leg
lifted with the left arm for balance purposes. Again, this can be done
in intervals during a bridge. Elite athletes can bridge for 8 minutes
or more.
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