I’m the PR guy at our local community college. When I was hired, the college was starting a cross country program. The AD gave me the job because he thought I knew a little about running. I blindly accepted and, mainly because I work for free, I still have the job three years later. I would like to do a running camp this summer for high school cc runners in the area. I have access to on-campus housing, an indoor pool and weight room. Our facilities here are pretty good. I want to hold the camp for two reasons – to expose high school runners to our program and to help develop better endurance athletes in the region. High school cc is an afterthought in most of our nearby communities. For example, our local high school cc program, which competes in one of the toughest regions in Georgia’s largest classification, runs about 18-20 miles a week in season.
What kinds of activities/workouts/programs would you include in a week-long camp?
Do some distance. I worked with a HS CC team this year and the coach’s long run was 5 miles once a week. It’s tough to imagine kids dropping in a 5k but I bet doing some actual distance training would help.
I’d incorporate some distance as well as speed workouts, get them out on any nearby trails or woods. Maybe have some of the runners from the college team participate as well to give some insight on what worked for them in HS and making the step up to running in college.
I want distance to be a big part of the schedule. But even two-a-days would only take up just a short period of time throughout the day. What about the rest of the day? That’s what I’m having trouble with. I’m thinking workshops/discussions/demonstrations on stretching, cross-training, nutrition, etc., but I’m struggling with exactly how to fill up the schedule. If I can get some kids to come in, I want to keep them busy most of the day for an entire week. There will be some downtime and recreational activities, but I need a little help with covering non-running but running-related activities/workouts.
The first year we had a program, I let the kids know when we hit 25 miles for the week. They were amazed. When I told them the best runners in the conference were running 60 and 70 miles a week, they folded. Couldn’t believe it. I didn’t bring anyone off that first team back for the second year of the program. Not a one.
My kids have gone to a number of swim camps (come to think of it I went to a swim camp about 35 years ago . . . )
No tips on the actual workouts but keep in mind that you’ll have to keep the kids busy/entertained for 18 hours a day so most of your hours will not be actual running. So, set up some lectures on nutrition, weights & stretching, injury prevention/treatmetn and sports medicine, maybe get a shoe store to come in in talk about equiptment, lots of strategy and tactics drills, etc. The swim camp I went to had daily films and talks on famous swimmers - setting aside an hour or so a day to teach the history and lore of running would be great. Basically, stuff relatated to running that will not have the kids running 60 miles a day. Then you can do some pure fun stuff like movie night or free swim in the pool etc.
That’s what I’m looking for – the rest of the stuff to fill out the day. I have some resources on campus to do a movie night and things like that. And I have some people nearby who could come in for presentations on tactics, training philosophy, nutrition, etc. And I like the idea about the history/lore of running. I’m starting to get a mental picture of what I want to do. If anyone has any other ideas, send them on.
FWIW - my kids’ impressions of the camps they went to were mostly governed by the non workout activites, basically, if they were bored during the day, the camp sucked, no matter how good the workouts and coaching were. One of my daughter’s did go to a cross country camp while in middle school that was not well run. The running was fine but there was lots of unstructured downtime during the day. It actually had an effect on her decision to concentrate on swimming in high school rather than running. You have alot of responsibility
MOST of your kids will be showing up mostly out of shape, looking for a miracle week to make them much faster. You’ll either spend the week injuring most of them, demoralizing most of them, or teaching most of them. I’d choose the latter.
If there was some way you could require they show up with a minimum base, that would be different. But at this point a 5K race on day one… and then a daily run (mostly easy, a little hard) based on ability (important or you’ll have 3 fast kids and the rest hurting themselves trying to keep up) is the most you should put them through. I’d fill the rest of the day with FUN active things (water polo, ultimate frisbee… keep them moving), and with learning opportunities. They’ll only take so much lecture… maybe turn them loose on a short research project (you could randomly assing topics) and have them present to the group. Or give them two sides of a debate to research and then have at it with you as moderator. Or find someone who can really teach… give them some principles up front and then ask them (and guide them) to think about how they should be applied.
Each kid should leave camp with a customized training plan for the rest of the summer that will have them showing up with a good base to the first day of XC in the fall. For most of your kids, that’s going to be primarily a boost in volume in a low-risk (injury) context… though they ultimately probably won’t submit if you don’t give them a little bit of speedwork. How much they play by the rules on their own will be directly linked to how well you sold it to them at camp.
Our CC camp in high school was always the highlight of the summer. Many kids would be on the team because of the fun stuff we did/fun people, and running came second. I’ll bet if you can make it fun with the other activities, they would be less turned off having to run 5 miles. Anyway we had it at a summer camp so it had great facilities. Games I remember playing include the basic capture the flag at night, basketball, board games, harassing the girls team, etc. But the highlight of the camp was camp olympics at the end of the week. There would be 4 person teams. First there was a “talent/song” portion with points for best song you made up and performed/danced and costumes. Then there were probably 8 or so stations with silly activities like basketball shooting, swimming, “cracke whistle relay”, eating gross stuff, etc. At the end there was some what of a scavenger hunt with clues/puzzles that always ended in some really messy food thing and eating something gross. Anyway I don’t know if that helped at all or if you want more details. Maybe I’m just being nostalgic. The point was I remembered the games much more than the running we did. And this is coming from a kid who would have dreaded a 5 mile run his freshmen year.
I think you’re getting some good ideas. I did a lot of swimming camps, and did a lot of the activities others have suggested.
If there’s one thing I’d add, it’s think about what things you can do that will help them change how they think about running and working hard into something that’s *fun. *Good running movies are excellent *(*maybe balance movies about really great runners with inspirational stories about average people who did something admirable with running), as are drills that are silly. I think relays can be great for building a team atmosphere. Also maybe slow runs, where no one is allowed to get lost. Or partnered treasure hunts, with fast and slow runners paired up. Kids rarely understand holding back, but all running together is fun. Encourage talking on these runs.
Won’t take up much time, but I think that getting them to talk about what they like about running is good, too.
I have already considered that, Josh, and you’re right – most of the kids would come in without much fitness. They just don’t run much during the summer. We have a few really good ones who do, but most do not. Their schedule is cross country in the fall, then soccer or track in the spring. When soccer/track ends in April or May, they don’t do much of anything until cross country season starts in August. That’s what my freshmen did last year and it was an eye-opening experience for them when they had to run an 8K meet two weeks after we started. I want to show the kids what it takes to get good without getting them hurt or injured. That’s a big concern of mine. I want them to be in shape for cc season, not recovering from injury.
Something to consider is developing a formal set of goals you have for what you want the kids to come away with (whether you share that with the campers or not is up to you). Just giving them a week of decent workouts is actually the least significant thing you have to offer them. Focus on instilling knowledge and a love for the sport as well as just plain conditioning.
The swim camp I went to long long ago as a freshman in high school was run by one of the top coaches of the day and I doubt any sports camp could have been run better. We did train hard for the week but what was most valuble to me was I came away with a wealth of knowledge of how to train, stroke technique, race tactics and even an understanding and appreication for the sport and its history. In 7 days I went from being a kid who could swim pretty fast to a real complete “swimmer.”
Another point, whatever you do with the kids, keep in mind they will be getting tired so they’ll need to “rest” but avoid just sending them to there rooms for hours on end. So, think about scheduling the activities during the day with rest and recovery in mind. ie, the history, tactics etc lectures might be best placed right after a run so they can stay off their feet for a while then march them around later to loosen them up for the afternoon run.
Also, aside from just boring them, a group of high school kids left on their own can cause quite a bit of havic. “idle hands do the devils work” is a basic moto of any camp director.
one of the things I remember from my running camps was how much pool running we did. Maybe because pool running is less likely to injure poorly conditioned runners, while still working on fitness. Also because the process of getting to the pool, changing, working out, changing, getting back to lunch, etc. is a huge time suck as well. But from that, we were given tips about alternative workouts to do in case of injury. And the actual pool workouts focused on getting the heart rate up. So you could bookend with discussions on heart rate training and/or injury prevention/rehab/alternative workout. An idea that fits your constraints and eats a lot of time.
A running camp can be tough when the kids aren’t in running shape to begin with.
You will obviously have 2 run workouts per day even though for some of the kids the 2nd workout will need to be mostly technique/strength drills only (because they won’t be in shape for 2 real run workouts).
Get them in the pool every day between the 2 workouts. That’s great rehab for the legs as well as aerobic conditioning they may not realize they are getting. Hold a mock swim meet for bragging rights. Have them break off in to 2 or more teams. One fun idea is a t-shirt relay. First athlete starts with a big cotton t-shirt on, does the length or lap, then the t-shirt must be worn by the next athlete before they start.
Education and workshops about running will be good. Perhaps you can get an instructional DVD teaching POSE or something. Then have a panel discussion or lecture about the presuppositions behind POSE, where their ideas are controversial.
Bring in a guest lecturer that has as much credibility as a runner as you can dig up. A local HS hero that went on to do well in a college program perhaps?
How about a guidance counsellor or college coach coming in to talk about scholarship opportunities for runners?
popcorn and movies! Maybe the movies can be running flicks.
Here’s a workout idea. 2 or 4 person teams doing an orienteering challenge. Even in an urban environment it can be done and doesn’t need to focus on the navigation skills as much as getting to all of the checkpoints and back first.
