2025 Fall Cross Country & Racing Season, September 2, 2025, Week 1, Day 2, a hard day on Tuesday!

2025 Fall Cross Country & Racing Program, Mileage, Week 1, Day 2, September 2, 2025, a hard day for a Tuesday!

The last holiday of the summer is the labor day weekend. In many places across the country, many of you have begun fall racing!

SPAR European Athletics Cross Country Championships News: Battocletti in, is Gressier?

2025 Fall Cross Country & Racing Season, December 3, 2025, Week 14, Day 5, Friday is an easy day!

#TheJourneytoCompete, Interview #4: Drew Bosley, Swoosh Track Club, explains it all, racing indoors, racing cross-country, Drew Bosley, former NAU star, talks cross-country!

Our program will be built around a tempo run with some hills on Tuesday, fartlek on Thursday, race day or repetitions on Saturday, Long run on Sunday and easy days on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You can juggle around if you need and also consider keeping Saturdays an easy day in weeks you are not racing! Ask you coach before adding something to your daily training.

Tuesday, warm-up, Tempo run of 20 minutes on flat surfaces, safe and with good footing, run for 20 minutes at 20 seconds per mile above 5k race pace, so if you race at 5:30 pace, tempo is 5:50 per mile, then, 10 minutes easy running, 4 x 3 minute hill, 4 x 2 minute hill, 4 x one minute hill, jog to repeat hill, slow cooldown.

#crosscountry #crosscountryrunning

In this hot weather, remember to hydrate. 2-3 liters a day of water, watch out for carbonated beverages, and caffeine (in moderation). Do not take sports drinks with caffeine, ginseng and things that you have not discussed with your coach and family physician. Those drinks can cause heart issues. They are not a joke!

Cross Country experiences of Sifan Hassan

On Sunday, August 31, 2025, Eliud Kipchoge, at age of 40, finished ninth in 2:08.31 in the TCS Sydney Marathon.

Sifan Hassan came to Holland as a political refugee with her family in 2008. Sifan ran a half marathon in Eindhoven, her first race in 77:10 for a win. In 2013, Sifan became a Dutch citizen, and won the European U23 Cross Country Championships in 2013. In 2015, Sifan Hassan won the European Athletics Cross Country senior title.

In 2015, Sifan won the bronze at the 1,500m in Beijing WC. In 2017, Sifan took the bronze at 5,000m in London 2017. In 2019, Sifan won gold at the 1,500m and gold at the 10,000m in Doha! In 2023, Sifan collapsed with fifty meters to go in the 10,000m in Budapest 2023, taking silver in the 1,500m and 5,000m. In the Tokyo Olympics (2021), Sifan won bronze in the 1,500m, and gold in the 5,000m and 10,000m. In Paris in 2024, Sifan took bronze in the 5,000m and 10,000m and won a crazy tough Olympic marathon. Sifan has won the London marathon, and placed third there as well. A versatile athlete, Sifan has European and Dutch records at the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m, plus world record at one hour run (2020). This weekend, Sifan Hassan will race the marathon at the TCS Sydney Marathon in Sydney, Australia.

Both of these great athletes began their running with a solid cross country background. How do you see your cross country experience?

On Sunday, August 31, 2025, Sifan Hassan won her third World Marathon Masters marathon at the TCS Sydney Marathon in 2:18.33, becoming the first women to break 2 hours, 20 minutes in Australia! This was her fourth marathon win in six marathons!

Sifan Hassan won the 2025 TCS Sydney Marathon, photo by NN Running team

#SummerMileage, #hillrunning, #RunBlogRunSummerMileage, #running, #crosscountry,

In his sophomore year of track, Steve Prefontaine did not make the state meet. He was embarrassed and upset with himself. That summer, he planned, with his coaches, a ruthless series of training runs over the summer. He not only did mileage, he made himself stronger. He made himself tougher. That fall, Steve Prefontaine was ready for his junior season of high school cross country.

Steve Prefontaine, during summer of his sophomore year in high school, photo courtesy of Marshfield High School/TFN News

Will. you be ready? Follow our daily training suggestions, and daily athlete stories and you will be ready to race in the fall!

NIKE Pegasus PLUS, photo courtesy of NIKE running

The NIKE Pegasus PLUS may be the perfect NIKE shoe for summer and fall high school running. It is light, sturdy and built for miles! I would recommend it for speed days, fartlek days, hill days and if you have just one shoe, a good trainer/racer. Nike is back on track with this shoe, part of the Pegasus 41 evolution. I recommend two pairs of training shoes for the fall, such as a NIKE Pegasus PLUS and a NIKE Vomero 18 (shown below) for easy days and long days. The Pegasus PLUS is well constructed, can handle dirt and mud and gives you a stable, comfortable ride without overdoing the cushioning. As always, we do not recommend that you buy your running performance shoes remotely, but go into a real live running store. If you need a suggestion, email me at [email protected] and I will help you find one!

One of the shoes we are liking in Summer 2025 is the Vomero 18! Check it out at #NIKERunning

The Nike Pegasus PLUS is a great entry shoe for high school cross country. You should consider it, and learn more about it at nike.com. It is light, cushioned, a good summer mileage shoe. If you need a little more cushioning, try the Vomero 18. The Vomero 18 has more cushioning that the Pegasus PLUS. If you like NIKE, I would suggest high schoolers use the NIKE Pegasus PLUS for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I would suggest the Vomero 18 for Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I always suggest two pairs of training shoes. Why on Vomero 18? It is a cushioned shoe that feels great and is good on the roads and trails.

If you need a more cushioned shoe, try the Vomero 18 and the Vomero 18 PLUS, for great cushioning, a more sophisticated ride. Check them out at your local NIKE retailer or NIKE running store.

Do you want to be a better cross country runner than you were in the past? Focus and follow our training. It is all about the consistency.

For Great Summer reading! Self Made Olympian by Ron Daws, A Clean Pair of Heels by Murray Halberg, Pre! by Tom Jordan, Quicksilver, The Mercurial Emil Zatopek, by Pat Butcher, The Destiny of Alain Mimoun, by Pat Butcher (a monograph)

Remember, one day at a time!!!! #SummerMileage, #CrossCountry,

Author

Larry Eder

Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys.

Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."

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