Summer Miles For Championship Success

Cross country stands apart in the world of distance running. It’s a sport defined by grit, passion, and a camaraderie forged through shared suffering—things that only those who’ve raced it can truly understand. Championship success in cross country isn’t just about talent or hard work. It comes from building a culture of trust, belief, and purpose—paired with a strategic training progression that begins long before race day.

Summer training lays the foundation for the entire season. Neglect it, and you’ll lack the strength to push through the final miles in races. Overdo it, and you risk peaking too soon, burning out, or getting injured before championships roll around.

To dive deeper into what makes summer training effective, we sat down with Coach Connor Winter—a two-time NCAA cross country national champion from the University of Colorado! Connor shares key insights on how to build strength through the summer while keeping enough in the tank to run your very best when it counts most.

Interview with Connor Winter

The calendar just flipped to June, which means that many runners are starting to think about their summer training for cross country! When you hear someone mention cross country, what comes to mind? Where does the sport fall in your own running story?

“To be honest I did not really like cross country when I first started running. I was more of a track runner and played football my freshman and sophomore year of high school. After my sophomore year of track where I finished 4th in the 3200 the football coach, who was also the track coach, pulled me into his office and showed me that all the best runners were running cross country. So I decided to try it my Junior year and ended up finishing second in the state. When track came around that year my endurance had improved so much I ended up winning 3 state titles! From then on I had a much better appreciation for cross country and summer training that I began to enjoy cross country. It is such a gritty sport and there is nothing quite like having 7 guys all training together for a common goal as a team!”

At the University of Colorado, you were a member of not one, but TWO NCAA National Championship teams in cross country. What are some of your favorite memories from that whole experience? What were the greatest challenges along the way?

“I was fortunate enough to be a part of some really special teams at CU and I am grateful for the amazing high and lows each season brought. Some of my favorite memories are running 18 miles at 6 minute per mile pace on Magnolia Road with 7 guys all together joking the whole run. Ironically most of my favorite memories are tied to some kind of shared suffering with my teammates but that seems to be the way cross country goes. I have had some of my toughest moments in running during cross country seasons as well. Some of the toughest were running nationals on a torn plantar or finishing 176th at nationals one year. But through all the highs and the lows I would not trade the exhausted summers and hyper disciplined falls for anything.”

The national championship is run in late November, yet summer training can start almost 5 months earlier in late June/early July. That’s a long block of time to continually progress and stay healthy! How did you and the rest of the CU guys approach your summer training with the goal of winning a championship in November?

“We always talked about how cross country championships were won and lost in the summer. Everyone from around the country wanted to train in Boulder and so they would come out and measure themselves against us. We jokingly called them Summer All-Americans because they would come up to altitude, train more miles than they ever had before, while staying up late and enjoying the night life in Boulder while not staying hydrated or properly fueled. They would get super fit and then they would head back to their cross season either injured or severely over trained. At CU we just did base easy miles, some easy fartleks and a good steady long run each week which led to us consistently getting better. We never touched a track or did anything faster than threshold training. This enabled us to go into the season feeling strong but not fit, and then during the fall we would get after it and have a great season peaking in November.”

In your own running and coaching experience, what are some common mistakes that runners make during their summer training for cross country? Is there anything that you wish you had done differently during summer XC training in high school or college?

“The most common mistakes I see in summer training for runners are training way too hard, not having a good sleep and meal schedule with Summer break, and not doing any strength or drills to help build their endurance and running efficiency before the season. This is not an exhaustive list but these three things have the biggest impact on the season and have the biggest risk of derailing a cross country season. When in doubt my rule of thumb is to never touch the track, take your easy days easy and focus on your long runs and tempo runs to build your aerobic base. If you get all these things down then you have to make sure you can properly absorb the training through getting 8-10 hours of sleep and try to keep your wake and sleep time the same each day while properly fueling your body for the increase in training load.”

Any favorite workouts from your CU summer training that you can share? (Or, favorite workouts to give your athletes now)

“My favorite workout from my CU training was the 6 mile threshold run where we would start at tempo pace and then work down to threshold pace by the end. The high altitude long runs were a signature every couple weeks at Magnolia and Gold Hill to build grit and mental toughness needed to race cross country. For my athletes, my favorite workout is 5-7 x 3 minutes at threshold with 90 seconds rest then 30 second hills. This workout helps build your ability to clear lactic and run fast on tired legs!”

Ready to apply these championship insights to your summer training?

Connor has created a full XC Summer Training Essentials course packed with key resources and interactive learning to help you show up ready in the fall.

⬇️ Check out the Summer XC Essentials Course! ⬇️

This course includes:

• Weekly Video Calls with Coach Connor, Peer Runners, and Special Guests

• Sample Training Plans and Pacing Charts

• Nutrition Tips

• Strength and Plyometric Workouts

• Key Insights On Recovery

Learn the exact strategies and workouts that built NCAA Champions, tailored for any runner and their cross country goals.