First Day of Summer

For those of you that have been "resting" since track ended, what better day to start Summer Running than the first day of summer? Today is June 21st; the first day of practice is August 19th. That means there are 59 days until practice starts. Make a goal today! Here are some suggestions:

1) A good, old-fashioned mileage goal. For a brand-new high school runner, that may be 175 miles or 200 miles. For a more experienced runner, that may be 350 miles (I would recommend the top goal would be 400 miles).

2) A goal to run a particular number of days: 50 is not only a nice, round number, but it happens to allow one day off per week between now and the first practice. I think all returning runners could have that as a goal. New runners may want to shoot for 40 (allowing a second day off per week).

2a) Your goal could be to complete a set number of runs, rather than days. This is useful for those of you that may want to do an occasional double (a future topic that will be covered). 59 runs in 59 days is achievable for returning runners.

3) A goal to have a particular weekly mileage by the end of the summer. New runners could aim for a 30-mile week; veterans could shoot for 50 (even 60, if you are prepared). Note that you cannot make a big jump to hit the final total - my recommendation is to increase mileage by no more than 10% per week, and to increase no more than 3 weeks in a row (2 for beginners) before backing off for one week.

4) A goal to increase your long run until it is a certain distance (6 or 7 miles for rookies, up to 12 or 13 miles for older kids). Again, this needs to be done gradually - rarely should you add more than a mile to your longest run, and don't increase your long run more than 3 weeks in a row.

These are just some examples. There are limitless possibilities - figure out what motivates you to get out the door in the summer, and set a goal that will promote that motivation.