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Tip: If you coach assigns threshold pace, Just Do It - NikeRunning.com

Published by
ross   Oct 6th 2011, 1:11am
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Good high school cross-country coaches are always finding ways to get in a threshold stimulus for their athletes.  Sometimes it's the cruise intervals made famous by Jack Daniels, sometimes it's a three or four mile threshold run and sometimes it's running a race controlled to get the threshold stimulus, rather than running it all out.  Regardless of the method your high school cross-country coach employs, the most important thing for you to remember is that if you run the threshold workout too fas, you're basically racing…and that's a bad thing.  Most high school programs have carefully planned schedules with enough meets to ensure that you're ready to run your best at the end of the year while making sure not to "over race."  If you're assigned a threshold run for practice and you decide you want to hang with a teammate who is 20-30 seconds faster than you during races, you might be able to do it, yet you're not running the intended workout; you're racing rather than running a controlled, aerobic effort.  


So when in doubt, simply ask yourself this question: "Am I running controlled?"  If the answer is yes, then you're probably running threshold pace.  But if the answer is no, then slow down and run a pace that is challenging, yet controlled.  Run threshold pace, don't race.  Just do it.

Jay



*Coach Jay's advice is provided as general training information. Use at your own risk. Always consult with your own heath care provider for questions relating to your specific training and nutrition.

Interested in Coach Jay's General Strength Videos and other training tips? Check out the NikeRunning.com Training blog.

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And don't forget, if you have a training question for Coach Jay, email him here:[email protected].



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