2026 Winter Middle Distance Training (800m-5,000m), Monday, February 2, 2026, Week 5, Day 1, Monday is about the easy day!

Hello, high school distance runners and here’s our Winter Training Guide (Jan-March) from RunBlogRun!

This is the first day in week 5 of our ten week Winter Training program, which goes up until the NIKE Indoor Championships (March 12-15, 2026, more info at https://nikeindoornationals.runnerspace.com/).

The goal is to have you in track shape at the start of Outdoor season (March in most of the country).

The NIKE Indoor Nationals will be held on March 12-15, 2025 at the NIKE Track & Field Armory. We encourage high schoolers to race indoors but always note that the Big Season is Outdoors!

Workout for Monday, February 2, 2026

Recovery days are important. All elite athletes do easy days and they have learned that easy days are key to racing well. ” You do not improve on the hard days, you improve because you take easy days and your body can recover!” Grant Fisher

Your workout: Warm-up well, 45-60 minutes of easy running, where you can talk the entire run, then, 6 x 150 meter stride-outs, cooldown.

Hydration is a state of mind. Hydration is not about drinking lots of sugary drinks, it is about getting down water, 8-12 glasses of 8-12 oz a day, carrying a water bottle, and managing caffeine intake and carbonated sugar drinks, which are absolute crap for a real athlete. Also, stay away from the so called sports energy drinks and do not combine them with alcohol. Why train your butt off and then, mess it up by putting some junk in your mortal engine?

Think before you drink.

Cooper Lutkenhaus wins his short track debut at NIKE Pro athlete, in 1:45.23, at Dr Norb Sander Invitational on 24 January 2026, photo by John Nepolitan.

Nike Pegasus PLUS, photo by NIKE communications

The NIKE Pegasus PLUS may be the perfect NIKErunning shoe for training for the winter as a middle distance runner (800m-5000m). It is light, sturdy and built for miles! I would recommend it for speed days, fartlek days, hill days and if you have just one shoe, a good trainer/racer. Nike is back on track with this shoe, part of the NIKE Pegasus 41 evolution.

I recommend two pairs of training shoes for this winter, such as a NIKE Pegasus PLUS and a NIKE Vomero 18 or Vomero PLUS (shown below) for easy days and long days. The Pegasus PLUS is well constructed, can handle dirt and mud and gives you a stable, comfortable ride without overdoing the cushioning. As always, we do not recommend that you buy your running performance shoes remotely, but go into a real live running store.

If you need a little more cushioning, try the Vomero 18. The Vomero 18 has more cushioning that the Pegasus PLUS. If you like NIKE, I would suggest high schoolers use the NIKE Pegasus PLUS for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I would suggest the Vomero 18 for Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I always suggest two pairs of training shoes. Learn more on www.nikerunning.com.

NIKE Vomero PLUS, photo by NIKE communications

Do you want to be a better cross country runner than you were in the past? Focus and follow our training. It is all about the consistency.

For Winter reading! Self Made Olympian by Ron Daws, A Clean Pair of Heels by Murray Halberg, Pre! by Tom Jordan, Quicksilver, The Mercurial Emil Zatopek, by Pat Butcher, The Destiny of Alain Mimoun, by Pat Butcher (a monograph)

Remember, one day at a time!!!! #crosscountryrunning, #trackandfieldtraining, #winterrunning, #wintertraining,

Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America’s first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: “I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself.” Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys.

Theme song: Greg Allman, ” I’m no Angel.”

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