Summer Training
(Info and Schedules)
Download weekly summer training schedules here!
Summer cross-country training = friends, fitness, and fun!
A big part of our team's training takes place before the season, during the summer, which means tons of fun outside with friends. During the summer, we train together as a team five days a week (Monday through Friday).
Every other Saturday we have a long run together as a team in a cool location (often a local trail). On Tuesdays and Thursday we lift weights after practice, and on after Wednesday and Saturday team runs, we eat breakfast together. Sundays are a rest day.
While summer training is not required to run in the fall, it is an essential to developing fitness and preparing to race. Besides, it's fun! During summer training we get fit training in beautiful locations and playing in as much water as we can find. Check out some photos of the fun below!
Summer Training Schedule
Monday
Every Monday morning during the summer (except for the first day), we meet at 7:00 AM (note that this is a change from past years when we met at 7:30 AM) at Fernwood Recreation Site (link to Google PIN and map below) on the East bench in Layton for a trail run.
Tuesday
Tuesdays we will meet at 7:00 AM at Northridge High School at the Northeast corner of the track. We will start out doing some drills and speed development work, and then the athletes will go on an easy run from the school. When the athletes return, we will head to the weight room for a short strength workout (designed to be completed in around 30 minutes if the athletes are diligent about moving through the exercises).
Wednesday
Every other Wednesday we will meet at 7:00 AM at a different location, which will be shown in the monthly schedules circulated during the summer. On the Wednesdays when we are not traveling to another location, we will meet at Oak Forest Park in East Layton. Most destination Wednesday runs will be local (within 5-10 miles of the high school, but we may occasionally (approximately three times during the summer) venture up to Ogden or out to Snowbasin. We will provide advance notice of these runs, and encourage parents and students to try and arrange carpools to reduce the transportation burden.
On the Wednesdays we meet at Oak Forest Park, we'll have breakfast and games after our run.
Thursday
Thursdays we will either meet at 7:00 AM at Northridge High School (again, at the Northeast corner of the track), or we will have a separate boys/girls run, in which the boys and girls teams will run separately at a location to be determined by the team captains. The schedule lists the days on which we'll have a separate boys/girls run, but the locations will be provided the week of by the captains, to the athletes via the Slack channel, and to the parents in the GroupMe thread.
On Thursdays when we meet at Northridge, we will start out doing some drills and speed development work, and then the athletes will either go on an easy run from the school (early in the summer) or do a workout (later in the summer). When the athletes finish the run training, we will head to the weight room for a short strength workout (designed to be completed in around 30 minutes if the athletes are diligent about moving through the exercises).
Friday
Unless there is a separate boys/girls run scheduled (which will happen occasionally later in the summer), on Fridays we will meet at 7:00 AM at the Centennial Trailhead of the Weber River Trail near the toll road in South Weber. The trail runs west along the Weber River to Fort Buenaventura and beyond. This is always one of the athletes' favorite running location. The trail is flat, and paved after just over a mile and a half of light gravel. It is perfectly suited to standard road training shoes.
Saturday
Every other Saturday (starting with the first week of summer training) those who are available will meet at the high school at 7:00 AM to carpool to a team long run location. The locations will be shown on the full summer training schedule.
We understand if runners have other family and work commitments that might make attendance impossible. But we would encourage everyone to attend, if possible. Long runs are essential for aerobic development, and the team bonding that occurs during these experiences can't be replicated effectively elsewhere.
Sundays
Sundays are a rest day, and athletes should do no running or cross training on that day. Walking or hiking is fine, if you're so inclined, but so is taking complete rest.
Weights
We will lift weights twice a week during the summer. These sessions are scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays after our morning runs. We believe strength training is essential to athletic development and injury prevention, and encourage everyone to make a commitment to get stronger and more athletic by lifting. We will not be lifting heavy weight or exposing athletes to the risk of injury. At the beginning, no one will be putting a barbell on their back or doing a heavy deadlift from the floor. We will work mainly with body weight, free weights (dumbbells and kettlebells), and sled pushes/pulls. If you have never lifted before, COME ANYWAY, we will start you at the very beginning, and we think you'll enjoy the process of getting stronger and more athletic!
Core Training
Athletes are expected to train core three times per week. We will have three separate core sessions, Core (A), designed to be completed on Mondays, Core (B), designed to be completed on Wednesdays, and Core (C), designed to be completed on Saturdays. When possible, we will do these sessions directly after completing our runs. When not possible, we expect the athletes to do these sessions at home. No equipment is required. The exercises in each session will change slightly over the course of the summer and the season. Each session is designed to be completed in 5-10 minutes if the athletes are diligent in moving through the exercises.