2025 Summer/Off Season
Summer Training
Thunder XC Summer Training
Summer training is vital to our program and individual success, please do not ignore or underestimate the importance of the work we do during the summer!
- June:
- We run Monday-Saturday with Sundays always being an off day
- Begins Monday, June 9th
- Morning practices starting between 8:30am meeting at Rocklin High School in front of the football stadium
- Weekly training plans will be sent out on Sundays
- The goal for this month is to develop a base and to be consistent with running
- July:
- CIF mandated 2 week period of 0 practices or communication between athletes, families, and coaches
- A running schedule will be provided for these weeks
- July 1-14: Dead Period:
- Starting July 15th we will begin meeting twice a week for hard workouts ( Mondays and Thursdays)
- Mondays and Thursdays practice will start at 7pm to begin acclimating to running in the heat
- The rest of the week will be morning practices with the team captains
- August:
- Practice times will be 4:30pm-6:30pm
- During the school year will do 6am practices on Fridays
- We will have 1 League meet that will take place on Wednesday
- Season Officially begins Monday, August 4th (week before the school year starts)
- Practices will be Monday-Friday
- All our races will be on Saturdays
Training Plans:
- Weekly training plans are sent out on Sundays
- Our training plans are designed for Monday-Saturday with Sunday being an off day
- For new runners, alternative training plans will be provided to help your body acclimate to running on a consistent basis
- It is our goal to work with each athlete to ensure proper training and to prevent injuries.
Any questions please reach out to Coach Ferraro: jferraro@rocklinusd.org
Running Purchasing Information
Here are a list of resources that I highly recommend you all use when getting shoes, running watches, recovery methods, or even just general knowledge about our great sport. If you have any questions about what I have listed below please feel free to reach out to Coach Ferraro: jferraro@rocklinusd.org Lastly, you are not required to buy from any of the places I list, nor buy any of the equipment I talk about, these are intended to be informational and educational.
- Running shoes: Running shoes are vital to our sport and it’s important to get the right shoe! The following websites/places I have listed are resources that I personally used when I was first starting out my running career.
- https://www.runningwarehouse.com/
- Running Warehouse has multiple resources and articles to help you determine which shoes are best for your feet
- Online retailer only, there are no physical stores but have a great return policy
- https://www.fleetfeet.com/?https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fleetfeet.com&gad_source=1
- Fleet Feet is an amazing place, it is a running store only and all the employees are very involved in the running community and very knowledgeable of the different brands and styles of shoes
- Fleet Feet also has an unique foot scanning tool that will analyze your feet and help give recommendations to find the best shoe for your feet!
- https://goldcountryrunandsport.com/?https%3A%2F%2Fgoldcountryrunandsport_com%2F&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvb-zBhCmARIsAAfUI2sIXgFzAr0B9zMgin0O49LJmt5EK2TrzRuPOwcnHY2SXrqgGt0bAxwaAoNpEALw_wcB
- I personally have not worked with them as the company didn’t get much momentum until after I graduated from high school but I have heard many great things about them and their work.
- GPS Watches: I highly recommend in investing in a GPS watch, as it tracks numerous metrics we will commonly use during the season.
- Basic GPS watch metrics:
- # of miles you are running
- How fast you’re running (your pace)
- Your overall time during that run
- Track each mile time during your run
- Extra Features on a GPS watch:
- Heart rate
- Tracking personal splits
- Back-to-Start feature:
- EX: You are running somewhere new and turn around to come back the way you came but are unsure; the watch uses GPS to guide you back the exact way you came.
- Multi sport features: Biking, Swimming, etc
- Garmin is the most commonly used brand for GPS running watches and they have multiple versions: Forerunner, Fenix, Vivoactive, etc
- Garmin also has a factory outlet store of certified refurbished watches for significantly less: http://g.factoryoutletstore.com/
- As of June 17th the website appeared to be down for maintenance so if the link is not working you can also just search “garmin factory outlet store”
- Foam Rollers/Other recovery tools:
- It is crucial to your health and success in this sport to take care of your body and to continue to take care of your body even on our off days.
- Foam rollers are a great muscle recovery toll that can help loosen up tight muscles and keep the blood flowing.
- There are different types of foam rollers, your traditional foam rollers and hollow foam rollers.
- Traditional foam rollers do a good job of breaking that surface level muscle tightness and is good for first timers
- Hollow foam rollers basically have foam glued over a PVC Pipe and gets deeper into the muscle and can really break up tight muscles, but the first few times you do this, it might be a little painful but I assure you that it’s worth it
- Lacrosse balls:
- Great for getting out knots and can target even deeper than the hollow foam rollers. For individuals with leg hair, if you are to use a lacrosse ball I highly recommend wrapping it in sports tape so it doesn’t pull on your leg hair
- Golf ball/foot rollers:
- If you have plantar fasciitis or commonly have tightness in your feet, I highly recommend rolling your feet out on a regular basis.
- Golf balls are preferred just because they are small and can target specific areas of your feet and dig deep whereas a regular foot roller will just lightly loosen the foot up
- Ice Baths:
- Taking an ice bath might not be the most exciting thing to do but can be extremely beneficial towards recovering your whole lower body.
- You only need to be in the ice bath for 10min and a max of 15min
- There are too many recovery tools to list so if you’re wanting to learn more contact either Coach Bayer or Coach Ferraro
XC Gear / Equipment
Mandatory gear:
- Running Shoes
- Athletic Clothes
- Water bottle
- Bag to bring to practice/meets
Highly recommended gear:
- Running hat
- Sunglasses
- Stick/handheld muscle roller
- GPS running watch/timing watch
- Anti-chafe lotion
- Sunscreen
- Snack for after practice
- Racing flats/Racing shoes that are not your main pair
Other:
- Stretching rope/band
- IcyHot/Biofreeze
- Warmup tops and bottoms
- Change of shoes for before/after practice
- Sandals, flip flops, etc
Weights / Lifting
Please always try to workout with a partner and have a spotter, there are some exercises where having a spotter is crucial for your safety. Understand that everyone is at different strengths and everyone starts somewhere so we are to be encouraging of each other in the weight room and not judging what weight someone is using.
- Pull Ups: 2 sets of 8 reps
- Can be with or without a resistance band)
- Barbell RDLs (Romanian DeadLifts): 2 sets of 10 reps
- Hold the bar at your hips, slightly bend your knees, and hinge at the hips forward, the bar should straight down your legs, go down until you feel a deep stretch in your hamstrings, then hinge upwards to get to the starting point
- When you’re hinging down the bar should almost be touching your legs the entire time (Feel the Steel as I like to call it)
- Your back should be flat, not arches or hunched over
- Knees are having that slight bend the entire time, even on the way up
- Your upper body should act like a door hinge
- Barbell/Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 6-8 reps
- Make sure you have a spotter! If you do not have a spotter and cannot find one make sure you are doing weight you know you can lift
- Barbell Back Squats: 2 sets of 8-10 reps
- Have a spotter for this one or have the safety arms on the squat rack
- Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 2 sets of 8 reps
- Standing Weighted Single Leg Calf Raises: 2 sets of 10 reps each leg
- Using a dumbbell or kettlebell hold the weight in the same side hand that you’re doing the calf raise. Find a ledge to stand on and have half your foot over the edge and find something to hold onto and slowly go up and slowly come down.
- Core: 3min of core work
- Could be planks, V-up, etc