One of those top national caliber individuals who has volunteered to contribute his summer training log to MileSplit is Loudoun Valley High School (Purcellville, VA) rising junior Andrew Hunter, who is coming off an outstanding outdoor track season which he won the Penn Relays 3K in a national sophomore class record of 8:16.31 and finished a close second in the New Balance Nationals two mile with a PR of 8:53.81. See what Hunter has been up to this summers as he seeks another state cross country title in Virginia, while also vying for his first Foot Locker Nationals appearance as one of the top returnees from last fall's South Regional. Hunter's blog shares with us his weeks of summer training after his national runner-up two mile finish at New Balance Nationals.
ANDREW HUNTER (VA) TRAINING BLOG
Week 1 (6/22-6/28) - Week 2 (6/29-7/5) - Week 3 (7/6-7/12) - Week 4 (7/13-7/19) - Week 5 (7/20-7/26) - Week 6 (7/27-8/2) - Week 7 (8/3-8/9) - Week 8 (8/10-8/16) - Week 9 (8/17-8/23)
Week 1 (6/22-6/28)
My first week back from an awesome track season began very easy. I only ran 6 days this week as I took Sunday off. All of my runs were at a very easy pace with some light strides a few days of the week. As we all know, the first week back is quite challenging because you’re going from being lazy to becoming active once again. I also began to add back my strength and mobility routine after my runs.
6/22- no running
6/23- 40 minutes. Weights, hurdle mobility. 5.5
6/24- 40 minutes. Light core and pushups. 5.5
6/25- 40 minutes. Weights, hurdle mobility, agility drills 5.5
6/26- 45 minutes with 6 wicket sprints (strides over short hurdles to work on good form) and 5 minutes barefoot running. Light core, pushups, and glute work. 6.25
6/27- 52 minutes with 6x100 meter strides barefoot. Weights, hurdle mobility, and agility drills. 7.15
6/28- 50 minutes, progression the last 3 miles at a quicker pace. 7.5
Week 1 Mileage Total: 37.4 miles on 6 days of training.
Summer Total: 37.4 miles
Week 2 (6/29-7/5)
After a very easy first week back, I knew I was ready to run some longer runs to slowly get back to my normal training level. One thing I’m doing differently this summer is barefoot running. After every run I try and get in 5-10 minutes in the form of strides or just running on our turf field. This is the best way to prevent injuries and is something I can do every day. My runs are starting to become more comfortable as I am running more every day. But, I’m still running easy because it’s a long summer.
6/29- 52 minutes easy with 4 barefoot strides. 7.25
6/30- 50 minutes with 6 light barefoot strides and a total of 5 minutes barefoot. Weights, latter agility, and hurdle mobility. 7
7/1- 50 minutes hilly with barefoot running/strides. Core, pushups, glute work. 7
7/2-45 minutes- went out in 25 minutes then progressioned back in 20. 4x15 second barefoot strides post run. 6.85
7/3- 50 minutes- 4 barefoot strides. 7
7/4 50 minutes very hilly. 7
7/5-50 minutes with 6 strides. Weights, hurdle mobility, and agility drills. 7.25
Week 2 Mileage Total: 49.35 miles on 7 days of training.
Summer Total: 86.75 miles
Week 3 (7/6-7/12)
This is my first week back adding a longer run to my weeks training. It isn’t as long as what my long run will be, but we will progress slowly as the summer goes on. I’ve continued to run barefoot and my strength routine is done 3 times a week. My easy 45-55 minute runs are always done on hilly courses. This makes it harder and, with no up-tempo workouts under my belt, it creates more of an up-tempo feel. I did do a few pickups in my Tuesday run to remember how tempo pace felt. Note- Wednesday and Saturday runs are done on a cross-country course.
7/6- 65 min run. 5 min barefoot. 9.05
7/7- 47 minutes. Weights, agility drills, hurdle mobility. Barefoot strides. 7.25
7/8- 46 minutes with 6x1 minute pickups @ tempo effort. 7
7/9- 48 minutes very hilly- worked the hills. Weights, hurdle mobility, agility drills.7
7/10- 48 minutes with 6 strides with jog back recoveries (barefoot) 7.25
7/11- 46 minutes with 4 barefoot strides. 7.25
7/12- 50 minutes at Franklin park. 3x200 post run on grass. Weights, hurdle mobility, agility drills. 7.25
Week 3 Mileage Total: 52.05 miles on 7 days of training.
Summer Total: 138.80 miles
Week 4 (7/13-7/19)
My fourth week back was very eventful as I ran 2 up-tempo workouts and increased my long run. As I start to increase training by adding up-tempo-stuff I need to let my recovery days be full recovery days. I can run slower on these days so when I have an up-tempo day, I can complete them feeling relatively fresh. Rarely do I have only one-recovery day in-between two up-tempo workouts. This was only done so I could run my 1000 meter repeats at Franklin Park which is where our Saturday practices are located.
7/13- 70 minute long run. 10
7/14- 51 minutes- 6 strides and 5 minutes barefoot running. Pull ups, core, hips. 7.25
7/15- 50 minutes. Weights, agility drills, and hurdle mobility. 7.35
7/16- 53 minutes slow and hilly. (headache) 7
7/17- 56 minute fartlek workout. 2x(4 minutes, 3,2,1) with recovery half of the up tempo rep (2,1:30,1, and then 2:30 in-between sets). 8.5
7/18- 50 minutes with 5 strides. 7.25
7/19- 50 minutes with 5x1k at Franklin (hilly loop) averaging was 3:12 for each rep. 2 mile warm up and cool down. Weights, hurdle mobility, and agility drills. 7.5
Weekly Mileage Total: 54.85 miles on 7 days of training.
Summer Total: 193.62 miles
My fifth week back was lots of easy mileage with one hill workout and a long run. I did my strength workout twice this week. I wanted to complete it three times a week but I rested Saturday for my long run the next day. My long run has continued to build up in time. The hill workout Wednesday was on a 225-meter grass hill. I did 10 reps at mile effort with jog back recoveries. I have continued barefoot running on easy/recovery days as well as strides after my runs.
7/20- 75 minute long run. 11.43
7/21- 55 minutes slow- 5 minutes barefoot with 4 strides. Hurdle mobility 7.5
7/22- 55 minutes hilly- last mile all barefoot on turf. Weights. 8
7/23- 50 minute total hill workout. 10x225 meter hills averaging 37 seconds with jog back recoveries. 7.5
7/24- 52 minutes with 6 strides and a total of 5 minutes running barefoot. Weights, hurdle mobility, agility drills. 7.5
7/25- 56 minutes slow and hilly- 4 strides 7.5
7/26- 56 minutes with 4x200 on grass at the end of run. 8.1
Week 5 Total Mileage: 57.53 miles
Summer Total: 251.15 miles
My sixth week of training began the start of 60+ mile weeks. I hit 60 miles for the first time and it felt great. My body is capable of doing much more and that’s very exciting. This week I had a long run, tempo cut down, and a hill workout. As the summer training increases so will the intensity of workouts. But, I will continue to easy run most of my summer miles. I have continued barefoot running/strides and my strength and mobility routine. My 3 mile tempo Thursday will slowly build up to 5-6 mile tempos. And the hill workout I did Sunday was the same as last week’s just at a harder effort on the last 3 reps.
8/5- 50 minute run. 7
8/6- 60 minutes- 8 strides and barefoot running. Weights, hurdle mobility, agility drills. 8.75
8/7- 70 minute workout. 7x1k repeats averaging 3:08 with 1:30 jog recoveries. Followed with 5x30 second hill reps with jog back recoveries. 18 minute warm-up and 12 minute
cool down. 10.5
8/8- 45 minutes easy with the team. Weights, hurdle mobility, agility drills. 6.25
8/9- 50 minutes. 8 strides over wickets.
As the summer winds down and the school year begins to creep up on me, my summer mileage continues to increase. My last 2-3 weeks before school starts will be my highest mileage weeks of the season. This week I had my longest run yet and my longest tempo run as well. On Wednesday, I did a very hilly 5 mile tempo. It went very well considering the course I was running on. I was sore from lifting weights so this week I only lifted weights once but continued my barefoot running routine.
8/10- 85 minute long run. 12.65
8/11- 60 minutes easy with 6 strides. Weights, hurdle mobility, agility drills. 8.45
8/12- 57 minutes easy in pouring rain- 6 light strides. 8
8/13- 67 minute tempo workout. 5 miles at 5:35 pace on a hilly course. 20 minute warmup and cooldown. 9.25
8/14- 60 minute easy run. Barefoot strides. 8.45
8/15- 45 minute super easy run. 6.25
8/16- 65 minutes easy- 5 wicket strides. 8.85
Week 8 Total Mileage: 62 miles
Total Summer Mileage: 434.82 miles
I reached my highest mileage week so far during my ninth week of summer training. I’m two weeks away from my season opener and feel very aerobically strong and ready to run fast. I had a fartlek workout Monday and a Critical Velocity workoutThursday. The fartlek went great because I felt good and was able to push the pace and have it feel easy. I’ve backed off on the weights but will pick them up next week. Also, I did my first double Friday as I split my 8.65 mile run into two runs. I did this to reach my mileage goal for the week in a way that was a little less stressful than running it as a single run. I also wanted to see how it feels to run twice in one day, and I liked it a lot. I can see myself doing this more in the future to make runs easy but still reach my mileage.
8/17- 85 minute long run. 12.75
8/18- 65 minute fartlek 2x(4 min, 3 min, 2 min, 1 min) with recovery as (2 min, 1:30 min, 1:00 min, and 2:30 in-between sets) 15 minute warm-up and 18 min cool down with 5 minutes barefoot. Light core, weights, and hurdle mobility. 9.5
8/19- 55 minutes- 4 barefoot strides. 8.5
8/20- AM- strength work. PM- 55 minute run with strides. 8
8/21- 70 minute CV workout. 7x1k averaging 3:09 on Franklin Park loop with 1:30 jogs for recovery. Followed with 5x30 second hill sprints. 18 minute warm-up and 12 min cool down. 10.25
8/22- 38 minutes in the am with core and hip strength. PM- 22 minute run. 8.65
8/23- 53 minutes slow with 4 strides. 7.5
Week 9 Total Mileage: 65.15 miles
Total Summer Mileage: 499.97 miles
