Track and Field Toolbox

Summer Training for Cross Country

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This article was provided by Complete Track and Field

By Scott Christensen,

Coach Christensen is a highly regarded distance coach. His high school teams have been ranked in the national top 10 eight times.  He has coached 13 Minnesota State Championship-winning teams and 27 individual Minnesota State Champions.  Coach Christensen has also spent 14-years as a USATF Level II endurance lead instructor and currently serves as lead endurance instructor for the USTFCCCA Coaching Academy.

As the track season winds down in the spring, the distance runners enter a time that sport scientists call the transitional phase in the annual plan.  Track is an unusual sport in that there is no one time that all of the athletes are finished with their season.  An athlete that finishes up with a junior varsity meet or a sophomore championship meet may end their season more than a month earlier than the athlete competing at the state championships.  And of course the very best runners may go on to run at an all-star meet or USATF Junior Nationals.  It is just not a clean ending for everybody.  The transitional phase serves to re-align the training program of all of your distance runners while also providing a time for regeneration and relaxation before summer training for cross country runners starts.

How much time should I take off from training coach?  This is a frequently asked question once a runner competes in their last track meet.  The answer is not intuitive.  The fact is the runners with the lowest training age need the most time off to regenerate, while the runners with the highest training age usually need much less time.  A young runner should take three to four weeks off from training, while the older runner two to three weeks.  Note that there is a difference between summer training for cross country and just running.  Training is consistent everyday running.  If the athlete gets bored during this regeneration period and is anxious to run a little bit then they should feel free to step out and run a few “easy miles”.  Just no structured training or set mileage patterns.

MORE:  Hill Training workouts for Cross Country Runners

Around the third week in June is the time most good cross country programs get organized for their summer training.  For most teams in this country that means about eight weeks of summer training camp before the actual cross country season officially begins.

Because there are so many components to a middle distance training program during the competitive season, it is necessary to set up microcycles of 12 days.  Since not quite as much anaerobic work is need in spring long distance and fall cross country these microcycles are set up as complex nine day training periods.  During the summer when general preparation is the target training, it is easy to set up microcycles of seven days which fit the calendar nicely and allows both coach and athlete to easily monitor summer training mileage.

If you are setting up an eight week summer training program then a good number to choose for a total distance goal is 400 miles or 50 miles per week on the average.  This total would be appropriate for those athletes with a training age of two or greater.  If you are planning on giving a t-shirt or other reward this would be the magic number.

Coaching Resource: The Training Model for High School Cross Country

The first three weeks of the summer training for the cross country plan should be very basic with nothing more than workouts done at the aerobic threshold or what can be accurately described as “gossip pace”.  The first week should contain six runs of five miles each day.  Advance mileage over the next three weeks in accordance with the “20% rule”.  That is, never increase the weekly total by more than 20%.  After three weeks of general mileage, you should prescribe two workouts per week that go beyond the training effect of aerobic threshold runs.  These would be strength and power runs.  For the next five weeks do a hill session once per week.  Select a hill to repeat run that is far enough away from school to add a three-mile warm-up and end with a three-mile cool-down.  The hill itself should be about 200-250 meters in length and should be of a sufficient grade to tax the body’s strength component.  Run the hills as hard as one can and then jog to the base and repeat.  For power, aerobic power is the training component and this is the definition of VO2 max.

On the fourth week set up a two-mile run for time on the track or accurately measured flat stretch of road or trail.  The value each athlete records are their VO2 max velocities and will be used for the next four weeks in training.  On the fifth week break that two-mile time in half and have the athletes do three to four times one-mile repeats at their individual value with equal time rest.  On week six, using the same velocity have the athletes do seven or eight times 800 meters at VO2 max pace with equal time rest.  Weeks seven and eight can be the same sorts of workouts.  Scientists say it takes 27 weeks to fully develop VO2 max in a training period so do not wait until your fall season actually begins.  If you do, your athletes will be late for the party.

Also check out:  Peaking Workouts for Distance Runners

Beginning week four, a true long run constituting 20% of their weekly mileage total should be done, once per week in a single session.  For most of your runners that is a 10 mile run at their aerobic threshold.

If an athlete wants to run a couple of 5K races to test their fitness over the summer encourage them to that and call that their VO2 max workout for the week.

Summer is also a time for the coach to regenerate and relax.  Make sure that occurs as well.  Fall is not that far way and the meat-grinder starts all over again.

 

Complete Track and Field: Summer Cross Country Training

 


Assessing the Athletic Lifestyle of a Distance Runner

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This article is provided by Complete Track and Field

By Scott Christensen

More and more scientific studies on distance runners have shown that proper recovery facilitates faster physiological adaptation and enhances endurance-related performance. By ignoring recovery today, it all leads to tomorrow’s poor practice session and, eventually, poor recovery habits that are tough to break. It also reinforces attitudes that can lead to under-recovery injuries. However, by taking advantage of planned recovery and making it an integral part of a comprehensive training program, athletes can experience the gains that elude them when they work hard, but do not have the proper rest and recovery integrated into their plan. With this in mind, today’s focus is the athletic lifestyle of the distance athlete.

A coach can only pester and prescribe so much when it comes to rest and recovery. Much of the recovery process takes place away from the coach’s eye. Successful distance coaches have successful runners. These types of cross country runners make rest and recovery important to them because their coach has educated them in its importance and has guided them into a lifestyle that makes great performances possible.

This daily way of life is known as the athletic lifestyle and it is guided by the need for a distance runner to recover from workouts to be successful. The athletic lifestyle involves many things such as sleep, nutrition, hydration, supplementation, rest and an ability and desire to say no at times when an opportunity comes up that disrupts this way of life.

Cross country coaches need a starting point in establishing professional relationships with their runners. They also need a means to check on them and asses their progress part way through the process. Just talking back and forth can work, but that makes it hard to move on at times.

Self-assessment inventories, questionnaires, scales, and comparative ratings can be used to mine new information from runners if they promise to respond in a truthful manner. Then, the coach can look over the results and be satisfied or figure new ways to solve problems.

So much of rest and recovery in distance runners, and thus improvement, is based on runners’ willingness to commit to the athletic lifestyle. What do the runners feel about this way of life? Can they sacrifice for new rewards? Do they even understand what it all means?

The Athletic Lifestyle Worksheet is a self-assessment tool that runners can take and the coach can then measure their responses and gain a final score. The responses measure a global thought process with each athlete as well as sub-categories that may need improvement.

Below is the Athletic Lifestyle Worksheet followed by an explanation of the responses that show the relation of the statement to rest and recovery issues. Note: Links to download the Athletic Lifestyle Worksheet and Explanation of Responses are below.

Name: __________________________________

Athletic Lifestyle Worksheet
Answer true (T) or false (F) as it pertains to you. There are no right or wrong answers, just answer truthfully.

_______ 1. I often skip breakfast.

_______ 2. I seldom think ahead to bring a sports drink or sports bar to practice that day.

_______ 3. I usually eat dinner (or breakfast) within 2 1/2 hours of the conclusion of practice.

_______ 4. I usually have my personal water bottle (full) with me at practice each day.

_______ 5. I usually eat red meat three to four times each week.

_______ 6. I believe the iron supplement in vitamin tablets, and that in red meat is the same.

_______ 7. I usually eat carbohydrates for breakfast & lunch, and protein for dinner.

_______ 8. I usually drink milk with dinner.

_______ 9. I usually go to bed at the same time each night (within 15 minutes).

_______ 10. I usually get up at the same time each morning (within 15 minutes).

_______ 11. I often take naps after 3 pm.

_______ 12. I often take naps that last > 90 minutes.

_______ 13. I usually take a 30mg zinc supplement each day during the season.

_______ 14. I usually take a 20mcg (800 IU) Vitamin D supplement each day during the season.

_______ 15. I usually sleep 8-9 hours each night during the season.

_______ 16. I often spend time before going to bed on my cell phone.

_______ 17. I usually use a foam roller as part of my after-practice routine.

_______ 18. I am short on time today. Recovery and cool-down is what I would cut short.

_______ 19. I always carry, use and refill my water bottle throughout the school day.

_______ 20. I own a self-massage stick and use it frequently after practice and at home.

_______ 21. I am overly stressed today. Running a workout may not be a good idea.

_______ 22. I am usually aware of my rest and recovery needs away from practice.

_______ 23. I usually believe “living in the moment” is important to me.

_______ 24. I usually adjust my lunch to the afternoon workout demand for that day.

_______ 25. I count on my family to prepare my dinner each evening.

_______ Total

Scoring: True Responses: 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. Score 1 each.

False Responses: 1, 2, 6, 8, 11, 12, 16, 18, 19, 25. Score 1 each.

22-25 points: Exceptional Athletic Lifestyle

19-21 points: Very Good Athletic Lifestyle

16-18 points: Good Athletic Lifestyle. Could use improvement

13-15 points: Average Athletic Lifestyle. Needs improvement

10-12 points: Below Average Athletic Lifestyle. Come on!

9 points and below: Does not really understand the Athletic Lifestyle

Explanation of the Athletic Lifestyle Worksheet responses:

One has heard from day 1 that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It may or not be for the general public, but for distance runners it is crucial. All night long during deep sleep most of the blood glucose was processing in the liver as stored glycogen. We want to keep it there as fuel for the run later in the day. It is important to ingest carbohydrate into the body in the morning so blood glucose quickly returns to normal.

Following an endurance workout, it is important to ingest carbohydrate for the first 60 minutes to help progress recovery. Running is an appetite killer for many people but eating sports bars and drinking sports drinks is usually well received. The recommended ingestion rate is about 1.0-1.5 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight over the first 60 minutes of recovery. That is about 80 grams (average male body weight) or roughly 320 kilocalories.

The body is in need of nutrient following an endurance workout. Carbohydrate and fat for energy, and protein for bone and muscle re-modeling and repair. The time window for most effective recovery and absorption of nutrients is 2-4 hours following the workout. The meal should be a mix of all three nutrients and should total 3-4 grams per kilogram of body weight.

Hydration is a major factor in recovery following an endurance workout. External water sources are usually not easily found. Sharing a water bottle also means sharing viruses.

Simply put, the element iron is necessary for a hemoglobin molecule to hold oxygen to the red blood cell. While the average person only has about four grams of iron in their entire body it is essential to keep the level as high as possible. Red meat is the best source of iron for the body. Iron found in red meat is called heme iron and since it has already been absorbed and processed by another animal it is most readily absorbed by humans as they eat the red meat of the animal containing the iron. Iron supplements found in vitamins, etc., is called earth iron and has not been processed by another animal and is not readily absorbed. Humans absorb about 85% of heme iron and 18% of earth iron that they ingest.

Carbohydrates are energy particles and proteins are structure particles. A person needs energy for the day’s activities including running. The body re-models, repairs, and grows tissue only in a deep sleep. Dinner is closest to bedtime so protein is best eaten later in the day.

Calcium and iron are two elements that are absorbed by the body in very similar ways. In the digestion process. The presence of both calcium and iron leads to competition between the two, and their total absorption both suffer. It is better to drink milk with carbohydrates (breakfast and lunch) and orange juice, which contains Vitamin C and helps transport iron, in the evening with dinner.

Humans, like all animals have deeply rooted body rhythms. There is no better example of this than sleep patterns. Sleep is the very best recovery tool so getting into a sleep routine is crucial.Adjusting to about the same length of sleep every night is important to recovery for distance runners. Binge sleep is not an effective recovery tool.Taking naps in the late morning or early afternoon my aid in recovery for a distance runner. Taking a nap after 3 pm merely disrupts the night-time deep sleep rhythms.

Naps are effective in recovery, but 90 minutes is much too long and is a sign of acute sleep deprivation. Naps should be 45 minutes or less.
Zinc has been shown to shorten the length of an upper respiratory tract infection (common cold) if taken on a regular basis. Roughly speaking, for most people, the symptoms of a cold are present for half the time if zinc is high in the immune system. If one waits until the symptoms of a cold to actually appear, and then start zinc supplementation, the symptom time has not been shown to shorten.

Stress fractures are a real concern for distance runners. Metatarsal fractures are the most common and tibia fractures are second. The body must repair stressed bones every night during deep sleep and sometimes it cannot keep up. The amount of calcium in the body is not usually the problem in not keeping up with re-modeling. Vitamin D shortage is usually the issue.

Not only are sleep rhythms important but total length of sleep is also important in recovery. Growth hormones are only released from the pituitary gland during deep sleep. These are the hormones that promote tissue repair, re-modeling and tissue growth. They need lots of time.

Cell phones emit blue light that stimulates the central nervous system. Talk, and the thought behind it, both stimulate the frontal cortex of the brain. One should relax before going to sleep, not be stimulated.

Foam rollers help muscles relax and blood to move back to the core. Both are involved in recovery following a distance run.
Warm-up and cool-down are essential to what happens tomorrow and the next day. Cut the work short if time is an absolute issue, not the other essentials.

Most distance runners are obsessed with water intake. There are certainly geographic areas where they should be. For others, it is estimated that about 20% of distance runners show up for practice each day in a hyponatremic condition. They have too much body water and their sweat is way too dilute. Dilute sweat is ineffective in cooling the body.

Self-massage sticks are handy to have at practice and at home to use in pushing blood through muscles and pushing metabolites out after hard practices.

There are days one should just not run a workout. A light jog maybe, but not a workout that adds more stress to the systems. Runners are encouraged to “listen to their body” and then do not follow through when it tells them something.

Rest and recovery is a small part of practice. Most of this happens away from the team at home. Recreation needs to be adjusted. Being an athlete is not about what you have been given, but what you are willing to give up.

There is nothing more in the moment that sports. The carryover of this thought process to other areas of life is important to becoming a successful athlete and person.

Some people digest food more quickly than others. Carbohydrates are digested more readily than fats and proteins because they are water soluble. The digestive system needs blood, the muscular system needs blood. There will be conflict if they are operating simultaneously.
It is nice to have food prepared for us but that is not always possible. There is a tight 2-4 hour window where food must be consumed for effective recovery. Learn how to cook a few simple dishes. It is fun!

Here is a great coaching resource from Coach Christensen: The Training Model for High School Cross Country

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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For your convenience, you can download in printable format the Athletic Lifestyle Worksheet and Explanation of Responses using the links below:

Click here to open (then save to your computer): Athletic Lifestyle Worksheet

Click here to open (then save to your computer): Explanation of the Athletic Lifestyle Worksheet responses


Distance Coaching: Workout Fundamentals

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This post was provided by Complete Track and Field, a tremendous resource for track and field coaches.

By Scott Christensen

Training distance runners is similar to other rewarding endeavors in life in that it seems rather daunting to begin with, and then stays challenging throughout.  The athletes themselves are in most cases strongly self-motivated, task-oriented, and inquisitive, while the training is based on scientific principles.  If the coach is not a strong people-person and well-schooled in science, the learning curve can be steep.  Important in this process are the workout planning fundamentals.

For these reasons a good distance coach cannot be just a good distance runner themselves, but more importantly a person eager to learn and apply scientific theory to the development of interesting, effective, and sequential training workouts and schemes.

All mainstream distance races from the 800 meters to the 10,000 meters are characterized by having a comfort zone component and a critical zone component to them.  The former is approximately the first three-fourths of the race and the latter is usually the last one-fourth of the distance.

The comfort zone is mainly aerobic in nature and is influenced heavily by the runners’ individual ability to handle and utilize oxygen from the moment these once atmospheric molecules leave in the blood from the heart, until they are actually used during aerobic respiration in the mitochondria of the muscle cells.

The critical zone is mainly anaerobic in nature and is influenced heavily by the runners’ individual ability to tolerate increasing levels of both hydrogen and lactate ion build-up in the blood and inter-cellular fluids of the body.  Both the comfort zone and critical zone must be trained to their fullest extent if a distance runner is to be successful.

The aerobic energy system is most effectively trained with continuous run workouts that are paced at velocities slower than race pace, but with a distance that is longer than the race.  These are the typical workouts that all distance coaches prescribe for their endurance athletes.  For example, 800 meter runners need 4-5 miles of continuous running, milers need 6-7 miles, and two-milers and five kilometer runners need 8-10 miles of frequent continuous distance to be considered skillful.

However, a runner cannot start with theses distance in training.  The coach needs to bring increasing distance along slowly.  The benchmark starting point is usually three miles of continuous effort at the start of a season.  How quickly a runner can get consistent at the mentioned continuous efforts for the desired racing distance depends on the strengths, weaknesses, and experience of each person.

Aerobic energy system training also varies by velocity as long as it remains slower than race distance pace.  Long and short easy runs make up much of aerobic training.  Runs are considered easy if the athlete can maintain a conversation during the effort and they seem to recover in 24 hours.

Occasionally, it benefits the endurance athlete to run a distance workout faster than easy.  These workouts vary from aerobic power (VO2 Max) training sessions to tempo run sessions.

 

The former are workouts paced around the athlete’s current maximal two-mile pace and are usually done interval style, while the latter is a more powerful continuous effort than the long, easy runs.

An example of an aerobic power training session might be four repeat miles done at the athletes current two mile pace (ex. 10:00 two mile = 5:00 mile pace) with the rest interval about the same as the work time.

An example of a tempo workout might be 25 minutes of continuous running at about their pace for an estimated all-out 8-9 mile effort.

Both the aerobic power workout and the tempo run require a 48 hour recovery before a hard aerobic effort can be repeated.

What would be done the next day?  Perhaps, a short easy run, or some hill repeats, or perhaps something hard but short on the track with extensive recovery between work bouts would all be good choices.

The anaerobic energy system is most effectively trained with interval or repetition run workouts that are paced at velocities faster than race pace, but with a work distance that is shorter than the race.  In many cases the total work distance for the day adds up to about the race distance, but with the many breaks between work bouts the athlete is able to run fast for all of the efforts.  These workouts are introduced early in the season but do not become a frequent component of the weekly scheme until the athlete is about eight weeks from their championship race.

 

* Training Resource: Peaking Workouts for Cross Country Runners

 

Early in the season the ratio of aerobic to anaerobic workout days should be about 5 to 1.  Six weeks away from the championship race it is 4 to 1, and in the two weeks leading up to the big race the ratio is 2 to 1 aerobic to anaerobic based days.

There are two general types of anaerobic workouts:

1). the workout pace remains constant throughout the training session or,

2). the workout pace deteriorates throughout the session.

Generally, the season is divided into thirds with the first third following point 2, and then the middle third following point 1, and then the last third back to point 2 again.

Ultimately, it is the coach that causes all of this to happen for that is the person that controls the rest interval between work bouts within a session.  With that in mind, during the first third of the season the rest should get longer within the workout to maintain velocity, during the middle third of the season the rest is held the same to cause the velocity to deteriorate as handling fatigue is the focus, and in the last third of the season the rest remains the same, but it is longer with fewer bouts of running within the session to keep the work very intense.

An examples of anaerobic work that might be done early in the season might be five repeats of 400 meters done about five seconds faster than estimated current one mile race pace, with interval rest gradually getting longer to maintain this pace (ex. 3 minutes extending to 4:30).  Or, it might be seven times 200 meters at ¼ of their estimated current 800 meter time with gradually increasing rest to maintain that pace.

Examples of mid-season anaerobic work might be eight times 400 meters holding steady at three minutes rest between bouts of work.  Velocity of the work might be four seconds faster than estimated current day one mile race pace.  Or, it might be two sets of three times (six total) 300 meters with two minutes rest between repetitions and four minutes between the two sets.  Velocity might be two seconds slower than estimated current 800 meter pace.

Examples of late-season anaerobic work might be three times 500 meters with eight minutes rest between work bouts basically going as fast as one can.  Or, it might be two times 600 meters with 12 minutes rest between work bouts with the velocity done as fast as one can.

 

* Coaching Resource: Training Model for High School Cross Country

 

Developmental improvements in both the comfort zone and critical zone must be the focus of all distance running training schemes.  In some cases much of the aerobic development can be done in the off-season by a dedicated runner or the whole distance squad.  That really frees time up to work unhurriedly into the anaerobic development of the runner which should be done under the coaches’ direction.

Here are couple of great resources. Click below for more information

Training Model for HS Middle Distance

Get Every 800m-1600m Workout For The Entire High School Season

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CTFC for the Endurance Events

How To Develop Event Specific Endurance For 800m-5000m Runners


Cross Country Drills and Games

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In this post we share a mental toughness finishing drill and three games that can be used to change things up in your cross country practices.

In the video clip below Coach Ford Mastin, Head Track Coach at Oklahoma Baptist University discusses how to manage “tough practices” and how often he asks his runners to “suffer”. He explains three different games that can be used to incorporate running while not asking the players to “suffer”. He also shares a drill that he utilizes to help develop the toughness that a cross country runner needs at the end of a race.

Coach Mastin’s Kill Drill is designed to help runners develop the attitude and confidence that they can pass down the stretch and they can hold off runners down the stretch. The drill helps them to feel what it is like in the closing moments of a big race when one spot can make a huge difference in whether you teams wins or loses.

He begins the Kill Drill either 400 of 800 meter from the finish line. Lining his runners up slowest to fastest, he sends them off with a staggered start. You must do the appropriate math for each runner so that you know how much of a head start to give the runner lined up in front. The goal would be to stagger the runners so that they were all finishing at about the same time.

Coach Mastin also describes three different running games that he as used to help change things up at practice. He points out that when he makes their season plan, he plans no more than two hard practices per week. He only wants them to feel the “suffering” a couple of times a week.

His running games are one way that he balances the tough practices with other workouts.

1. Cage the Lion – Mark two lines 150 meters apart. Place runners on one line. Select one runner and place them in the middle between the lines. On the coaches call, the line of runners take off running towards the opposite line. The runner in the middle tries to touch as many people as possible. If a runner is touched, then he/she will join the group in the middle. The whole line will now turn around and run back to the original line. Now there are more people in the middle trying to touch. Continue playing until you get the desired amount of running in.

2. Scavenger Hunt – Place clues in different locations. Each clue sends the runners to a different location for the next clue. Vary the length of the runs to get the desired workout in. Be sure to include a prize at the end.

3. Golf – This can be played on a golf course (if you can get permission) or in a large field with some flag or cone marking “holes”. Based on the yardage for each hole assign a time that will be Par for that hole. For example, if the first hole is 350 yards you might say that you need to run this hole in 70-seconds for a par. Faster than par is a birdie. Slower than par is a bogey. Obviously the times you set will depend on the yardage and the abilities of your team.

The clip is just a sample of Coach Mastin’s presentation at a recent Glazier Track and Field Clinic. For information about how to gain access to his entire presentation, as well as hundreds of other great clinic presentation click the link Glazier Track and Field Clinics

The YouTube video below has audio, so please make sure that your volume is turned on and that you have access to the site. Note some schools block access to YouTube.


Peaking for Cross Country Runners

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Every distance coach is working hard to get his/her runners as fit as possible and be in position to run their best in the biggest meet of the season. This is no easy task as every runner comes to the season with a completely different level of fitness and natural ability. They each respond to training differently and the ability to recover can vary also. Even so we do our best to train each athlete to reach his or her Peak ability to perform at the most important times.

In the clip below , courtesy of Complete Track and Field , highly regarded distance coach Scott Christensen talks about Peaking for cross country runners and shares a few thoughts on the topic. Coach Christensen is an acclaimed distance coach.  His high school teams have been ranked in the national top 10 eight times.  He has coached 13 Minnesota State Championship-winning teams and 27 individual Minnesota State Champions.  Coach Christensen has also spent 14-years as a USATF Level II endurance lead instructor and currently serves as lead endurance instructor for the USTFCCCA Coaching Academy.

Coach Christensen begins by pointing out that many coaches think their runners are peaking when the see drops in the times, when in reality it may simply mean they are just now getting in shape after a poor summer of training. These athletes may be cutting time, but are no where near at peak fitness.

He also states that peaking is really a summation of many factors including: strength, fitness, stamina, hormones, enzymes, rest.  He reminds us that the aerobic system needs strong stimulus every 4 days and the the anaerobic stimulus needs strong stimulus every 3 days.

Other key points include the fact that physiological effects can be seen in as little as 24 hours after training: however, the full physiological effects of a training session will not be felt for up to 18-20 days after the workout.

Coach Christensen has also provided a coaching cheat sheet to us for FREE.  Just click THE ULTIMATE WORKOUT PLANNING GUIDE FOR HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY    for more info and you will be able to copy and paste 33 of Scott Christensen’s proven training progressions when you need a perfect workout! A big thanks the Coach Christensen for the generous offer.

The YouTube video below has sound, so please make sure that your sound is turned on and that you have access to the site. Please note that some schools block access to YouTube.

 

This clip was taken from Coach Christensen’s training program PEAKING WORKOUTS & STRATEGIES: DISTANCE RUNNERS (click on the link for more info)