Reaching Peak Shape for the Biggest Meet

The biggest meets of the cross country season are the Big South Conference Championship, the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship and the NCAA National Championship. All of these meets occur one weekend after another during the end of October and early November. These races hold the  highest level competition and the the most meaningful races for HPU to perform our best at.

In order for us to be at our peak shape for these races, we build and train hard throughout the season. It is impossible for any runner to run his/her best at every meet of the season. In order to be strong at the end, we have to train through meets that occur during the early and middle parts of the season. When I say "training through" the early season meets, I mean we may be a little sore for a race from a tough workout 2 or 3 days prior to the meet. If we let up and had a whole bunch of easy days leading up to every race, it would take away from how fit we could be at the end of the season when it really matter.

Leading up to the Big South Conference Championship, our team takes the whole week leading up to the race fairly easy. We have easier workouts. Instead of running 10 miles a day, we may only run 7 or 8. We also stop weight training in the gym. This allows our legs to feel fresh and ready to go on race day.