Season Kickoff Cross Country Practice Plan (90 Minutes)

Meet at the same spot you’ll use all season (track corner, gym door, or parking lot edge). I take attendance fast and learn names by pairing kids up and having them introduce their partner.

Cover three non-negotiables before anyone runs: where the bathrooms/water are, the route boundaries, and the rule that no one runs alone today.

• Cues: “Pods stay together.” “Talk test = easy.” “If it hurts sharp, you tell me today.”
• Watch for: who looks lost or nervous—put them in the middle of an easy pod later, not on the edge.

Quick preview: warm-up routine, drills + strides, a short hill technique block, then an out-and-back that’s based on time, not distance.

Use a 30–40 yard grass lane with 4–6 discs marking start/finish. Everyone jogs easy to the lane together.

Run it as a follow-the-leader flow: 2 minutes easy jog, then dynamic moves down and back (leg swings holding a fence if you have one, walking lunges, ankle rolls, arm circles).

• Cues: “Tall posture.” “Quiet feet.” “Breathe through your nose for 10 steps.”
• Common issue: kids bounce and reach on lunges.
• Fix: shorten the step and have them pause for one second at the bottom with the front knee stacked over the ankle.

If you’re on a hard surface, keep the warm-up mostly in place (marching, swings) and save the running for grass/trail.

Set two parallel lanes on grass (so lines stay short). Drills go one direction; walk back on the outside to keep traffic clean.

Sequence: A-march (1 rep), A-skip (1 rep), high knees (1 rep), butt kicks (1 rep), then 4 x strides over 60–80 meters with full walk-back recovery.

• Cues: “Knee up, toe up.” “Elbows back, not across.” “Strides are smooth—finish relaxed.”
• Watch for: feet landing under hips during strides (not reaching out in front).
• Common issue: kids sprint the last 10 meters.
• Fix: put a disc at 60m and tell them they must be slowing down by the disc, not speeding up.

Adjustment: if they’re coordinated, add one more stride; if they’re sloppy, cut a stride and repeat A-march/A-skip with better posture.

Quick water, then assign pods by conversational pace, not by who says they’re “fast.” I usually start with three pods: easy, medium-easy, and steady-easy.

• Cues: “If you’re unsure, start easier.” “Leaders, your job is to keep it easy.”
• Watch for: friends trying to force themselves into the fastest pod—move them now, not after they blow up.

Tell them the regroup points: cone check at ~6 minutes out, another at ~12 minutes out, then a turnaround based on time.

Find a gentle hill with a clear start line and finish line (10–20 seconds of running). Put two discs at the bottom to create a start chute and one disc at the top as the finish.

Start with one walk-up demo: show short steps, tall chest, eyes up, and arms driving back. Then run 4–6 reps at controlled effort with full walk-back recovery.

• Cues: “Shorten your stride.” “Run tall.” “Quick feet, calm face.”
• Watch for: consistent effort—rep 4 should look like rep 1, not a sprint and a survival shuffle.
• Common issue: leaning from the waist and staring at the ground.
• Fix: tell them to “shine your logo up the hill” and pick a target tree/sign at the top to keep the head up.

Adjustment: if the hill is steep, cut reps and keep them slower; if it’s mild, add one rep but keep recovery full.

Jog as pods to the route start. This is where I remind them: today’s run is easy and we regroup at the cone checks.

• Cues: “First 5 minutes should feel almost too easy.” “Pods, count heads at every stop.”

If you’re near roads, assign one runner in each pod to call “car” and move the group to the side early.

Run the out-and-back by time. Place a disc at the start/finish, and if possible one at each cone check (~6 and ~12 minutes out). Pods leave together and must stop briefly at each check.

At the first check, I ask one question to each pod: “Can you talk in full sentences?” If not, they slow down immediately. At the second check, I look for posture and breathing—shoulders down, arms swinging back, no frantic face.

• Cues: “Talk test.” “Relax your shoulders.” “Light feet under you.”
• Watch for: the pod staying together—if one kid is surging, the leader pulls them back.
• Common issue: kids turn it into a race on the way home.
• Fix: at the second check on the return, I make them restart with 60 seconds of super-easy jogging before continuing.

Adjustment: stronger kids extend 2–4 minutes past the second check before turning; newer runners turn earlier but keep moving the whole time (run/walk is fine).

Everyone finishes together at the start point, then we do a very easy 3-minute jog and 2-minute walk on grass.

• Cues: “Breathe down.” “Shake your arms out.”
• Watch for: anyone limping or rubbing shins/knees—pull them aside right after mobility.

This is also when I praise the behavior I want: pods staying together and kids who kept the pace honest.

Circle up on grass with enough space to lie down. If you have bands, hand them out now. Keep it moving—new runners get stiff fast if they stand around.

Run a simple circuit: 30 seconds each, 2 rounds: calf stretch (knee straight, then bent), tib raises against a fence/bleacher, glute bridge, side plank (both sides), bodyweight squat to a bench/line.

• Cues: “Heels down in the stretch.” “Toes up for tib raises.” “Knees track over toes on squats.”
• Common issue: knees cave in on squats and bridges.
• Fix: put a mini-band above the knees or tell them to “spread the floor” with their feet.

Connect the dots: these are your shin splints and runner’s knee insurance policies—do them well, not fast.

Keep them for two minutes, max. Give the next two weeks in plain language: most days are easy runs, we’ll add short strides a couple times, one hill technique day per week, and one controlled faster segment day per week.

• Cues: “Consistency beats hero workouts.” “If you’re sore, you still show up—tell me and we adjust.”

Remind them to hydrate, eat something within an hour, and bring water + running shoes tomorrow.