Week 4 Training Blog: Humphries Excited By Improvement

The Flower Mound (TX) dynamic sister duo of Nicole Humphries and Samantha Humphries enter their junior high school cross country season as two of the top performers in Texas and ones to watch on the national stage. The sisters had their best cross country performances yet last season, with Nicole and Samantha clocking 5k personal bests of 17:39.30 and 17:39.98, respectively. They also made for two legs of Flower Mound's national record-breaking indoor 4xmile squad that ran for a new American high school best of 19:37.78 at New Balance Indoor Nationals. Coming off of such successful 2021 seasons, Nicole and Samantha gear up for what's to come this fall. We asked the Humphries sisters to document their training for four weeks as their junior cross country season begins to ramp up, and the fourth and final week is told by Samantha.

Week 1 - Week 2 - Week 3 - Week 4

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Monday, September 5 -- 5 miles

Today was Labor Day, so we had no school. I slept in a little bit (but not too late since it gets so hot) and ran with an old teammate/friend. The run was easy at a conversational pace so we could catch up with each other and enjoy some unfamiliar scenery. I spent the rest of the day hanging out with my friend, spending time with my family, and catching up on some school work. Above all, I prioritized relaxing and enjoying the day off to prepare for the week of training ahead.

Tuesday, September 6 -- 6 miles

Today was another typical Track Tuesday at 7 a.m. back at school. The workout built upon the previous weeks by running 2ks instead of 1,600ms. We did a fast 400m, followed by 3x2k with a minute rest in between and closed with another fast 400m with a mile warm up and cool down. The workout was the same volume as before but allowed us to simulate the beginning, middle, and end of a race and work on maintaining a threshold pace for a little bit longer. I felt great in this workout and still felt controlled on the added fifth lap. In the afternoon, we went to the gym to cross-train and do strength training. I slept well after a long day of hard efforts.

Wednesday, September 7 -- 5 miles

I ran a casual 5 miles today to recover from yesterday's workout. Today was a fun run since we had a pretty big group taking it easy with us and had some funny conversations. After the run, we did hurdle drills and some quick core exercises. It was an easy day at school, and I had no homework to do after school. With my free time, I went to the mall with my friend for a little and then came home to eat dinner, take a relaxing bath, and get some sleep.

Thursday, September 8 -- 6 miles

At 7 a.m. practice, we headed to the local park to run on grass for the second workout of the week. We ran to the park to warm up for a mile and did our dynamic drills once we got there. The workout expanded upon the previous grass workouts by adding a few more reps to get stronger and more comfortable with the effort. This time we did 12x200m up a hill with about a 500m jog back to the bottom. We had a solid pack of boys this time to stick with and push us. I felt stronger and smoother than the last time we did this workout, as I was focused on getting a good workout in since we are not racing this weekend. After a mile cool down back to the school, I spent some time stretching before getting ready for the day. I had a math test that I breezed through since I was prepared, and I once again had no homework. Following school, we went to the gym to cross-train for additional cardio, did strength training, and replaced worn-out running shoes with new ones.

Friday, September 9 -- 4 miles

I got 30 extra minutes of sleep thanks to beloved 7:30 a.m. practice. At practice, we ran 4 miles at an easy pace to recover. We were joined by Coach Cook on the run and had some nice conversations. Afterward, we did 6x100m strides to keep the body engaged with that system. Besides a pop quiz in chemistry, it was a really easy day at school that got me through to the weekend. At night, we had another weekly team dinner full of pasta. I went to bed early to get a good amount of sleep before a long run early the next morning.

Saturday, September 10 -- 9 miles

Today we had a long run since we got the week off of racing. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to meet some teammates at the school to get a long run in at 6 a.m. We were running early so that we could make it to our home meet to cheer on the rest of our teammates and help with the meet. Today's long run was the best run I had all week because it felt much easier than a typical long run. I ran my farthest long run of the season of 9 miles, and I can feel myself getting stronger each time I do one. Although it was dark when we started running, the weather was beautiful, as it is finally starting to get cooler in Texas. The team did great at the meet with a lot of PRs, and the meet ran smoothly. For the remainder of the day, I hung out with friends and rested up.

Total Mileage -- 35 miles