Cross Country Training Programmes

Sometimes it's tough finding the information we want to answer our inquiry questions...and what we have found out is there doesn't seem to be a lot of information on kids training programmes for Cross Country running.

What could we do? Could we look somewhere else or use another source of information?

I'll give you a hand. I've managed to find some information on kids running programmes. Some of it is not for cross country but just running. So you will need to think about what you have learnt so far and how it might apply to cross country running.

Here is the info...

Weetbix Tryathlon - This has a running programme in it.

Kids Rock - ING Running - This is a great resource that I think might answer many of our questions.

And here is some information I foudn on the Athletics Southland website.

Warming Up – Warming Down
Warming up and stretching should be a part of every athletic activity, practise as well as competition. A proper warm up will take 10 to 40 minutes and the time needs to be structured into the event or session planning. (Senior athletes can take an hour or more in their warm up and event preparation.)
First, have the children jog easily for 3 to 10 minutes (depending on age and time available). Make sure it is an easy jog – youngsters tend to turn this into a race that defeats the purpose of pre-race preparation. Walking is better than running too fast – you don’t want the athletes to be puffing at any stage. Purpose is to raise the body temperature slightly and warm up the muscles (including the heart, which of course, is a muscle.)

Active Stretches for Warm Up.
Examples of activities that can be incorporated into a pre-competition or training active stretch routine. Start with easier activities and increase the intensity as you go.
Toe and heel walks
Lunges
Backward runs
Skips – gentle, fast and for height.
Sideways runs, both to left and right.
Bouncing up on down on the spot using the ankles.
Leg swings, both side to side and forward-back.
Fast but relaxed 20 to 30m stride out sprints.
Sprint technique drills (high knee walk, high knee run, butt kicks). Running over mini hurdles.
Arm drives. (Arm running action while the athlete is standing still making sure effort drives arm back, not forward, and arm kept close to 90 degree angle at elbow with pivot at shoulder, not elbow. Can be done standing and sitting
Arm windmills.
Games such as soccer, frisbee chasing or touch football to add variety. (bring required equipment with you or encourage children to bring a ball or Frisbee).

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You can even devise a warm up routine and do to music.
Whatever you do, try to make it fun, make it varied and make as much of the activities specific to the event to be done (i.e. emphasise running activities prior to running races, skips and bounds before jumping etc.) A fun way to warm up is play “snake” or follow the leader – the group lines up single file behind the leader who does series of warm up type activities on the run with everyone else copying as they run behind like a “big snake”. Activities are limited only by the imagination of the leader and the teacher. Children take turns in being leader. Any activity that prepares the muscles for what is ahead, warms the children up and is fun is good.


Warm Down
Make time for a warm down – a gentle jog or walk after training or racing will help recovery. It’s important that the warm down is gentle – don’t let the kids race their warm down.
While static stretches have been proven counter-productive prior to activity they still have a place post activity. This is the time to improve flexibility by incorporating static stretches into the warm down. And as stretches need to be done when the muscles are warm, straight after the warm down jog is ideal. Stretches should be held for at least 15 seconds (ideally longer) and each stretch performed 3 times.
The following stretches are from George Blough Dintiman from his book “Speed Improvement for Young Athletes” (National Association of Speed and Explosion, 2002).
Neck: bend forward at waist with hands on knees and gently roll head. (Important – gently!) Hamstring: stand with knees slightly bent and bend over to touch ground or as far as possible. Hold to 30 seconds.
Quads: stand on right leg, holding left ankle with right hand. Try to straighten right leg (as opposed to pulling leg up with hand.)
Calf: stand about 50cm from a wall or fence and lean forward with the front leg bent. Move hips forward keeping heel on ground until stretch is felt in calf.
Achilles: Stand as for calf, but have both legs bent. Keep both heels on the ground and lean forward to stretch lower part of leg.
The following stretches are from Brian McDonald, a noted British coach.
Biceps: Stand tall, feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Hold arms out to the side parallel with the ground and the palms of the hand facing forward. Rotate the hands so the palms face to the rear. Stretch the arms back as far as possible. You should feel the stretch across your chest and in the biceps
Upper Back: Stand tall, feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Interlock fingers and push hands as far away from chest as possible, allowing upper back to relax. Stretch should be felt between shoulder blades.
Shoulder: Stand tall, feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Place right arm, parallel with the ground across the front of your chest. Bend the left arm up and use the left forearm to ease the right arm closer to you chest. Stretch should be felt in the shoulder
Shoulder and Triceps: Stand tall, feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Place both hands above head and then slide both hands down the middle of spine. Stretch is felt in shoulders and the triceps
Adductor: Stand tall with you feet approximately two shoulder widths apart. Bend the right leg and lower the body. Keep you back straight and use the arms to balance. The stretch is felt in the left leg adductor.

Running Skills

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The key to distance running is efficiency – using as little energy as possible to run as fast as possible for the distance. Wasted energy slows the runner, and as in sprinting, tension wastes energy. Efficient running and good running technique go together.
“Good technique won’t guarantee you’ll be a good runner but bad technique guarantees you won’t be”.
This is a quote from Peter Coe, father and coach of Seb. Whereas teachers/grade managers will not have much influence on young runner’s training, they are in the best position to help on running technique every training session.
Things to look for.

1. Head looking straight ahead, not up or down.
   
2. Jaw relaxed, not clenched.
   
3. Shoulders low and loose, not hunched.
   
4. Elbows greater than 45o, i.e. not tight or the arms at an acute angle – hands should swing through
   at around hip height. Arms swing from the shoulders, not the elbows.
   
5. Hands and wrists totally relaxed, no clenching of fists.
   
6. No bouncing – if an athlete bobs get them to think about gliding along.
   
7. Hips forward – no bottom sticking out or bending at the waist. Hips, shoulders and head should
   be in a straight line – runners in the picture are showing good form. Note straight line of head,
   shoulders, hips and relaxed angle of arms. See also picture page 3.
   
8. No over-striding – foot must land under hips and not ahead of centre of mass, which provides a
   braking action
   

Starting.
Make sure front arm is opposite side to forward leg, i.e. if left foot is the front one, right arm is forward.

Tactics
During warm ups athletes should be focussing on the event ahead. They should think about tactics, the opposition, their and the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses. Focus must also include the course. If possible, the warm up should include a jog over the course or as much of it that can be covered. Most events have a map of the course. Encourage your athletes to familiarise themselves with it.

Get them to take note of the best places to run as they go around on the warm up. For example, it may be better to take a corner wide where the distance may be further but they can run faster or not be caught up in heavy traffic. Note the best ways to approach an obstacle such as a jump or bank. Check where the ground is firm and where the soft muddy patches are. Sometimes going through a puddle gives firmer

underfoot conditions than going around it – so get them to check it out before the race. And have them imagine the course with other runners on it. The shortest way could also be the most congested. You don’t want them held up by a bottle neck at a jump or narrow track where passing is impossible.

Course knowledge helps set tactics. Knowing there’s a downhill coming might allow a runner to surge then get their breath back on the slope. Or a strong uphill runner could put a surge in prior to a hill, confident of ability to maintain the pace while other runners who also surged are wiped out by the climb.
A runner must need to know where they are in relation to the finish. Putting in a big effort at the end is of little use if too early and they run out of everything before the line. Or conversely, go too late and finish feeling too fresh, knowing that with a bit more effort they could have improved a number of places.
Work out these aspects with your athletes while they are getting ready to race. Have them do their thinking and planning before the gun goes off, including possible options should things change. Once the race has started the mind should be on the race – on tactics, the opposition, holding form – not on wondering where they are, which is the best way to go or what’s around the corner.


Starting.
It often pays to start fast to avoid the risk of being boxed in, getting tripped or to get a good position. As covered in The Running Machine chapter we have enough ATP for 10 – 15 seconds of activity so a fast start can be sustained for a few seconds without going into oxygen debt.


Drafting.
Two runners side by side create more than twice the air resistance than a lone runner. Running just behind someone else saves energy, particularly into a head wind.


Concentrate.
A loss of concentration, even for a brief period, can be critical. We have all seen races where someone loses concentration for a moment and finds themselves 100m or so behind the people they were running with. And at the end of the race
are still 100m behind, so they ran
the bulk of the race at the same
pace as the others but were beaten
by 100m. Concentration also
includes focussing on running
technique and running relaxed.
When the mind wanders off the
body often does likewise.
Hills.
Have your athletes learn to push
over a hill – many runners ease up
at the top, but a runner who keeps
the effort up over the top can often
get a jump on opponents and still
regain their breath on the downhill.
three metre advantage that opponents will have to get back on the uphill. The increase in speed means a slight increase in effort on the flat, but for the others trying to close the gap on the uphill it means a big increase in effort.

A slight surge on the flat approaching a hill will often give a two or

Passing.
When passing, always make it aggressive and determined. Passing slowly only allows an opponent to tuck in behind and get dragged along. Passing should be done with a quick acceleration that opens a gap opponents won’t be able to make up.
Finishing.
Over the last 500 metres or so, many runners are thinking of the future rather than the here and now – they have their mind on the finish line, not on the race around them. This is when they can be taken by surprise. All too often they are trying to save some strength for the finish and don’t want to put in extra effort at this stage. A surge now could have them not reacting, opening up a gap that they may never make up. Runners need to be aware and react should someone increases effort or better still, put the surge in themselves. It can tell the rest who is calling the shots, which may give a psychological edge.
Make sure your athletes do not slow down as they approach the finish. Have them always run through the finish line, imagining the line is 5 metres further back than it really is and keep driving for it. And as they go for the line, they should not look around or to the side. Concentration must be on that finish line. 

Training for Crosscountry
Children are generally naturally fit. They are aerobic creatures with light body weight and a higher maximal heart rate than adults. This means their capacity to utilise oxygen in relation to bodyweight is higher than an adult’s which makes aerobic training worthwhile. But they do not have a high anaerobic capacity (see page 15) so it is pointless developing the anaerobic system.
On the other hand the nervous system is highly sensitive. Coordination is not developed, limbs are often disproportionate and muscle strength is relatively speaking considerable less than an adults. This adds up to reduced biomechanical efficiency – most kids are inefficient runners.
The outcome of all this is aerobic training will make gains in fitness but not the same as it would in an adult, anaerobic training will be of minimal benefit but skill training will be worthwhile. (See page 9)
What’s aerobic? Page 15 explains the terms and how they work but for teacher or coach it’s simply a matter of applying the “conversation test” – if a runner can’t carry out an ongoing conversation he or she is running too fast. Once talking stops the pace becomes anaerobic.
Training therefore should be slower than race pace (but can be longer than race distance) and faster than race pace but only for minimal distances. So if the children are simply going for a run, whether 5 minutes or 45 minutes, keep the pace at conversational level. This means making sure they do not turn a training run into a race (which is what some will definitely try and do). You may need to ensure they all go at the pace of the slowest for at least some of the time.
However, to develop running skills a certain amount of faster running is required. But keep this to very short distances – 30 to 60m – which is as far as most people (children and adults) can sprint before starting to puff (run anaerobically).
With a little imagination training sessions can meet these objectives and still be fun. Some thoughts -
 Group run - the entire class runs around a field or open spaces but slower children cut the corners, keeping everyone mostly together. You may have an area or if lapping a field some of the laps

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where everyone runs together at the pace of the slowest – and to ensure it is aerobic, get them to sing as a group.
 Fish – write out a series of activities – from the serious to the frivolous - onto a small scrap of paper and put them in a box or hat. Each child picks out (fishes out) a piece of paper and the entire group or the child must follow the instructions. Examples of group activities:

•   Everyone runs fast to the fence
  
•   Everyone does 4 push ups
  
•   Everyone does 6 star jumps
  
•   Everyone runs easily around the field together
  
•   All jog to the nearest tree (or building or whatever) and sprint back here.
  
•   Everyone skips to when I blow the whistle then jogs back
  
•   Everyone does 2 laps of the football field
  
•   Everyone does 6 hops on the left foot, 6 on the right, turns around and comes back here by doing 2-
  footed hops.
  Some of the instructions can be for the drawer only – e.g.
  

•   Whoever fishes this has to sing a song
  
•   Whoever fishes this races me (the teacher) to the fence
  
•   Who fishes this can rest for the next activity
  
•   Whoever fishes this wins a chocolate fish
  ... etc etc etc. Activities are limited only by imagination and need not be all running or crosscountry orientated – but by mixing in running with other activities a training effect is achieved while the kids have fun.
   Whistle fartlek – fartlek is Swedish for “speed play” where training is unstructured. For this, children run slowly as a group and on a whistle change the activity. You may have them sprint when they hear one short blast and go back to easy jogging on two short blasts (making sure the sprint period is just a few seconds or up to 60 metres). Or you may have them turn left on one whistle, right on two whistles and about turn on three.
   Flag to flag fartlek - place flags on the four corners of a large
  square – say around half a football field or similar area.
  Runners run right around the field outside the flags a total of
  seven times. First time around they sprint the first side then
  jog slowly the other three sides to arrive back at the start.
  Next lap they sprint 2 sides and jog 2 sides, next it’s 3 sides
  hard and 1 side slow jog then they push hard right around.
  Next lap they start with 1 side slow jog and go hard for 3
  sides, then it’s 2 sides hard 2 easy then the final lap is 3 sides
  easy and the last side a fast sprint. There is no stopping
  between laps. You can of course, make the square as large or
  as small as is suitable to the age of the children. This allows a
  fartlek session in a confined space where you can see and be close to all the children and allows them to do the effort sections at their own pace. Some may want to walk the recovery sections rather than jog. Make sure the recoveries are a recovery, as some kids will want to push all seven laps which is not what the session is about.
  

Thinking Running

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•   Go where the coin tells us - everyone runs together until the group reaches a natural obstacle (fence, building, row of trees) when a designated leader or teacher tosses a coin. Heads everyone goes right, tails all go left until another barrier is met and the coin is tossed again. Make a game by asking everyone to guess where we will finish up after 10, 20 or whatever number of minutes allocated. Nearest gets a prize. Stops for coin toss allows slower runners to catch up or get a little rest thereby keeping the group together.
  
•   Guess the pace – determine a course (lap or laps or to a landmark and back) then give a time. Everyone starts together and the person who runs the course closest to the announced time gets a prize. No one to wear a watch. Make sure the time you select is well within everyone’s capability.
  
•   Lucky spot – choose a spot in the training area without revealing it to anyone then have the children run around the area totally at random for a pre-determined time. When time is up the whistle goes and the child nearest the lucky spot receives a reward.
  
•   Relay sprints – divide class into two even teams and run them against each other as a relay. Runner can sprint to a cone and back then tag next member or you can split the teams in two and have them go back and forth. Run as many times through as appropriate. A relay ensures adequate recovery from fast sprint while children wait their turn.
  
•   Jumps – most crosscountry events have jumps so include obstacles in your activities. Can be a hay bale, bamboo stick suspended between two chairs, log or low fence.
  
•   Line fartlek - entire group jogs in a long line. Person at the back sprints to the front – as soon as he or she reaches the front the next one at the back goes to the front, etc etc.
  
•   Hills or stairs - strength is best developed on hills or if no hill is around, on stairs. So if you have access to a bank, grandstand or small hill, introduce short (10 – 30 metre of 10 – 20 stair flights) reps into your activities. Ensure the children walk back down and do not start the next rep until they have their breath back.