Workouts for High School Cross Country Runners: Kenyan Diagonals
Coaching young runners of varying abilities can be a daunting task for high school coaches. Incoming freshmen often arrive as gangly 13-year-olds with the coordination of a newborn giraffe. While some seniors may be legal adults with plans to win state titles and earn collegiate scholarships. The Kenyan Diagonals workout is an effective way to manage the entire team while ensuring that everyone is challenged and working hard.
Kenyan Diagonals
This is a simple workout that has produced generations of Kenyan distance-running champions. The idea is to run strides along the diagonal path of a soccer pitch (corner to opposite corner) and then recover along the length of the sideline before sprinting again along the opposite diagonal. When first introduced 6–8 minutes may be sufficient. By the end of the season, some of the more elite runners may be able to maintain this workout for 20 minutes.
The pace of the stride will directly affect the difficulty and intensity of the workout as well the length and pace of the recovery portion. I usually instruct my runners to run the diagonal portion in something approaching their 1600m race pace. The recoveries are a slow jog that ends when they “turn and burn” and begin their next diagonal.
Maintaining good running form is a key element for coaches to hone in on as the runners begin to tire. Fortunately, for the coach, the entire workout plays out in front of their eyes. By placing yourself inside the rectangle where the two diagonals intersect, you can be there to give feedback and encouragement. One can easily gauge the intensity of effort through visual observation and by listening to the runner's breathing.
Your team will spread out over the course of this workout, but they stay contained in the same box. This is an ideal situation for a coach to have eyes on runners of all ability and to coach everyone without running successive waves of runners. Watch out for collisions as the runners begin criss-cross paths.
The purpose of this workout is to increase stamina. However, coaches should be careful not to confuse this with a speed workout. Yes, it’s fast, but it’s not about being fast. It’s about running under control and building speed endurance. As with most training, it’s better to call it off a bit early so as not to cause undue stress on your athletes.
Done properly this workout should not need a recovery day. It can be done once a week or once a month. When run on a soft surface, this workout helps prevent injuries and can be done with bare feet.