Cross Country officially begins in the middle of August, but the more you are prepared for it the better it will be in the end. Running mileage in June, July, and early August will help you to build your base.

What is your base? It is what it sounds like a foundation of aerobic and muscular fitness from which you will be building your season. So, the more you can run over the summer the deeper your base will be over the course of the season. With a deep base you will be able to make bigger gains and run faster late in the season.

One of the fundamentals of building your aerobic base it giving enough effort to raise your heart rate to about 120 bpm and hold it there for at least 30 minutes. It takes about 20 minutes for your aerobic system to fully engage - warm up. After that you are working that system out and asking it to adapt.

Be sure to vary your runs: different routes, different lengths, and different paces.

You can keep track of your workouts on TeamStatsManager.com. Login using your c-dh.org email address as the user name and Athlete+Your last name (capitalized).