Discussion: interscholastics

i have 5 weeks to train for nationals and i was wondering if any one has any good ideas for leg strength. I live in Texas with not many Hills, so if anyone has ideas..please post

John Girton
La Porte Orienteering Team

Bleachers, overpasses, weight room, swimming

I wouldn't expect big physical gains in that short a time, but there are some things that you can do to improve. The above-mentioned activities are certainly good ideas for physical training (although I doubt swimming would help running up hills any outside of the general benefits to aerobic capacity).

First and foremost, get a hold of some maps of the terrain you'll be racing in and study them every day. It's a lot different than Texas - so you'll have to use your imagination a bit. Think about what the features will look like. Learn to pick out linear features (trails, streams, etc.). These will be very important since your training reading contours is obviously limited.

Recognize that hills will be slow and turn that into an asset. Practice reading the map while going up hill so you can run as soon as you get to the top. A drill you might try is to read a section of the map while climbing a flight of stairs and then run back down the stairs and try to draw the section from memory.

Use your strengths. I imagine you've got plenty of thick vegetation to train in. Work on moving quickly through that to offset the time you'll lose on the climbs.

Good luck!

Bleachers, swimming, and the overpass, i think that what dylan said sounds good

if we can go the the gym...i say swimming is the best...it gets you toned for your body weight, you should start soon tho, want to be in great shape for Tylor(SO WE CAN WIN)

I would think that swimming is *not* going to improve your leg strength. If you are going to be in a pool, it would be better to do pool running.

The seeming "contradiction" is that swimming is excellent for overall body conditioning (upper and lower body muscles and aerobic exercise) and is great since knees etc are not being pounded. Unfortunately, it seems that swimming does not transfer nicely to running and hill climbing (that is, the specific leg strength and endurance for those activities).

If you are actually on a swim team, the rigor of the practices (2 hours of hard work per day and/or 2-a-days) might be able to build a nice off-season aerobic base for cross country or track season. Zan did that going into 9th grade and led to a strong CC season.

I agree that you should be moving from overall strength training (swimming) to race spacific training (running off the trails in Gilbert Park with a map so you can visualize an old race).
In 1982, while working in LaPorte, I drove over to the Gallaria and found a tall office building near by. I did some interval training in the stair well. These days, you should definately get permision before you drive all the way across town. At best you are only going to substitue hill work for speed work a few times, and it will be a very small factor in your results this year.

Those damn glaciers plowed over central Indiana and obliterated whatever hills we once had. The only hill close enough for me to use during my lunch-time workout window is a pile of dirt they dumped and landscaped while digging out a retention pond for a shopping center. It's not much over 10 meters high, but if you run up and over it a dozen times or so, you can get your thighs burning pretty good.