Jack Aho Overview: After ending my track season on a high note at the Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle, Washington on June 18th, I took a week and a half off of running. I started summer training with easy runs just to get back into the swing of running again. I didn't start doing workouts until my 3rd week of training. Most workouts we do in the summer are longer, tempo based workouts or fartleks. For each week of training we use a minutes system instead of a mileage system. Once I am up to full mileage I will usually get in 380 minutes a week. We always make sure to get in a good stretch after our runs and usually get in three strength routines a week. I started weight training on my third week of training and usually try to lift once or twice a week. During the summer we have a cross country camp at 7:30 AM on Monday-Thursday. During the week we meet at different locations and try to run on trails as much as we can.
Week 4 of training 7/18-7/24
Monday 7/18:
11.4 miles (long run)
5 strides
Tuesday 7/19:
1 mile warm-up, 4xmile workout, 1.5 mile cooldown (6.5 miles total)
4x short hill sprints and core routine
This workout consists of alternating pace each quarter mile. The first quarter mile is easy, the second quarter is medium easy, the third quarter is medium hard, and the last quarter mile is hard. My times for each of these miles varied from 6:00 to 5:50. This is only my second week of workouts so I made sure not to overdo any reps. Two of the reps ended going up a longer hill to simulate hills on an XC race.
Wednesday 7/20:
8 miles easy with 8x100 sprints
Core routine,
form/agility drills
Thursday 7/21:
1.5 mile warm-up, 3 mile workout, 2.5 mile cooldown (7 miles total)
Weight Lifting (bench, rows, weighted lunges, squats, shoulder press)
For this workout we did 10x500 meter repeats. This was the first interval workout we did all summer. This workout felt really good. I got into a good rhythm of hitting these intervals at 5k pace, getting a little faster at the end.
Friday 7/22:
4.6 miles with Matt Aho and Grayslake Central alum Suneed Ahmed (Carthage College).
Saturday 7/23:
8.15 miles with Matt and Eli Minsky. This run was super hot, so the pace was pretty easy.
Sunday 7/24
Rest Day. I usually try to take Sundays off of running if I can to let my body recover.
Weekly Mileage: 45.65 Miles
Week 5 of training 7/25-7/31-
This week I attended the Wisconsin Cross Country Camp of Champions along with 8 other teammates (4 guys, 4 girls). This is my third year attending the camp. I always look forward to this camp because it allows for great team bonding. Each day consists of a morning training session, afternoon training session, running related seminar (ex. nutrition, race strategy, etc.), and a game of ultimate frisbee (which I look forward to most). The camp does a great job of keeping you busy the entire day. This week I got to meet a lot of awesome people!
Monday 7/25:
7 miles
Tuesday 7/26:
8.5 miles in the morning; 4 miles in the afternoon (12.5 miles total)
4 strides, weight lifting
Wednesday 7/27:
6 miles in the morning; 1.5 miles in the afternoon (7.5 miles total)
9x400 workout at varying paces, gradually getting faster and with no watches. This workout was entirely based off of feel, so I made sure to be smart about how many repeats I did
Core, yoga
afterwards
Thursday 7/28:
6 miles
Friday 7/29:
5 miles
Saturday 7/30:
4.25 miles easy. This was the last day of camp so I made sure to get in an easy run after a long week.
Sunday 7/31:
4 miles. The mileage this week was a little lower so I made sure to get in a run on Sunday.
Weekly Mileage: 46.25 Miles
