Preseason Training Blog: Jamestown's Meghan Ford


Jamestown (ND) High School junior Meghan Ford is ready for a massive year in cross country. North Dakota's defending Class A champion in cross country, she scored two outdoor state championships in the 1,600 meter (4:55.24) and 3,200 meter runs (10:38.12) this past spring and was on the cusp of qualifying for Foot Locker Nationals and Nike Cross Nationals in 2018. Ford is focused on training with purpose. Check out what her workouts have been like recently.

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Week 1 - Week 2 - Week 3 - Week 4

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Week 4 (August 26th - September 1st)


Monday, August 26th- Lifting and 12x 400s (5 miles total)

Before school, we had lifting at the high school. After school, we had an interval workout. I ran a mile and a half warm-up before doing our warm-up drills. We had 12x 400s with equal rest at the track. I felt amazing today and didn't feel too strained, until around the 10th or 11th 400m. Once we finished the workout, we ran an 800m cool-down. I went home and stretched and rolled out before eating a ton of food. 

Tuesday, August 27th- 7-mile easy run

After school, we met for practice at Pipestem to go on an easy run on the trails. I averaged 7:11 per mile for the 7-mile run. After practice, I did my ab circuit. I always either do an ab workout from the Nike training app (10 min core crush) or Colleen Quigley's 5-minute ab workout. After I did abs, I stretched.

Wednesday, August 28th- Lifting and file and wheel (6 miles)

I had a lift this morning before school. School on Wednesdays always starts later, so I decided to go on a nice, easy 3-mile run from my house. The weather outside was perfect, so it was a great start to the day. After school, our practice was a file and wheel run at the park. We totaled about 3 miles from the practice. After practice, I stretched and rolled out (of course). 

Thursday, August 29th- 4-mile tempo

Our practicewas a 4-mile tempo from the trail head of the North Ridge Trail at Pipestem Dam. We didn't run today's tempo as fast as we normally do because we have a race tomorrow at Valley City. I didn't feel great today, but I would rather feel bad today than feel bad tomorrow! Once I finished my run, I rolled out a bunch and stretched to get ready for tomorrow!


Friday, August 30th- Race Day (6.5 miles)

Today's race was only about a thirty minute drive from Jamestown. We ran at a meet in Valley City. There wasn't nearly as much wind as there was last week, but I thought the course's footing was much worse than our home meet. I think the course was slow, but I felt much better than my last race so I improved my time by 30 seconds. I missed sub-18 by 1 second!! Our 1.5 mile warm up, 5K race, and 2 mile cool-down brought my total mileage for the day to about 6.5 miles. Before getting on the bus to go back home, I rolled out and stretched.

Saturday, August 31st- 2-mile easy run

Today I only ran about 2 miles just to shake out my legs. I was feeling a little antsy later in the day so I rode bike 5 miles and then did some yoga and my ab circuit. 

Sunday, September 1st- 9 mile long run

The weather was really nice today for my long run. I started at the beginning of a gravel road that runs near the reservoir and followed it until I hit 4.5 miles to turn around and head back. My average pace was 6:57. Once I finished, I stretched and did my ab circuit.

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Weekly Total: 40 miles


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