Welcome to the home of the Sandpoint High School Cross Country team. SHSXC is dedicated to Sandpoint High School Cross Country all year round.

Workouts

Workout Information

This area describes many different types of workouts that we use in our program. On each page you will find a definition of what the workout is, a reason for when and why we do it, as well as some examples of the workout itself. This is the core of the program.

Summer Running

Summer running is an important part of the season. If you come to XC the first day without running over the summer you are lowering your overall potential for the season. That said, summer running should be enjoyable. If you run 6 days a week the entire summer you will start the season strong but may fade and burnout both mentally and physically before regionals. We suggest taking a few weeks off once track is over, and start running a few times a week by the middle June. July you build up to about 4 days a week and the first two weeks of August before the season officially starts you should be running 5 days per week. A gentle progression is the approach we suggest.

There will be runs set up during the summer for fun if you would like to run in groups. We will try to organize and post 2 to 3 runs per week where you can meet teamates so that you don't have to run alone all summer. Other fun events are Cross Country camps. Click on the Information tab, and go to Events to see local camps that have a lot to offer. You will find yourself focused and inspired after attending one of these camps.

Also a word about Cross training. During the summer months you're encouraged to be active. If you like to ride your bike, then hop on and ride. We live next to an amazing lake, so go swimming, do the Long Bridge swim. Mixing cross training into your summer training program breaks up some of the monotony of running and helps you keep strong and in shape. Remember to do your core strength training during the summer as well.

Make sure to read up on our Summer Running Chart.

Warmup and Warmdown

These are extremely important to prevent injury and allow you to be fully prepared for the workouts. Warmup consists of 4 different stages: a light jog, stretching, drills and accelerations (excluding recovery and race days). Warm down will consist of 1 to 2 miles of light jogging after the main workout is complete. After warmdown we will meet together for stretching and our daily strength exersises. It should also be noted that warmups are the same for both races and practices.

Using our methodology of training, you will get roughly 1.5 to 2 miles of running just during warmup, plus 1 to 2 during warmdown. These are easy, low impact miles but raise your overall weekly milaege by 10 to 15 per week. You will see a difference when you are running 30 to 40 miles a week, but 25% to 35% of those are during warmups and warmdown.

Endurance

This is where your success during the season begins. You must build your endurance, or base, leading up to the season. We don't have a long enough season to build up a solid base if you haven't been running at all before XC begins. From your base you can move on and concentrate on building strength and speed, but endurance needs to comes first.

Strength

Your power during races is derived from the strength that you build during practice and in the offseason. Having strength in your legs from long runs and hills will allow you to be able to increase your sustained pace and be a strong hill runner. Strength that is built from daily exercises like push ups, pull ups, sit ups, weights etc help to pull your body through when you are fatigued in a race. Strength also allows you to increase your overall speed.

Speed

There will be some form of speed work every day. We are training to be faster racers, and from day one we will work on increasing speed. This is something that builds as the season goes on. Obviously we want you to be fastest at the end of the season, so we work on your overall speed over a 5k for the first part of the season by concentrating on a strong base, strength and kickbuilders. By mid season we start pushing the interval times and distances down to build a faster overall speed and the ability to finish stronger and faster than you could at the beginning of the season.


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