Game version
Chatty run: run with a friend or a parent and tell stories. If you can talk, you are at the right pace.
Easy Day Check-In
Plan your week so hard days are followed by easy days or rest.
By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated October 30, 2026
Set up
Write down this week's runs with your coach or parent.
Core: 8. Compare only with your own last run.
- Ages
- 11 and up
- Time
- 10 min
- Space
- Yard or field
- Bring
- Notebook
- Level · skill
- Developing · Aerobic Base
The steps
How it works
- Write down this week's runs with your coach or parent.
- Mark each as easy, hard or rest.
- Make sure no two hard days sit side by side.
- Run today's easy run for 10 minutes and check you could talk.
Coaching point
Hard, easy, rest.
Safety: Keep it easy: after a hard day comes an easy day or a rest day, with at least one full rest day a week (two for younger runners). Other sports are welcome too.
Make it fun
Play it, don't drill it
Challenge
Pick a time: Less (5 minutes), Core (8), More (12). Compare only with your own last run.
Story
You are on a gentle adventure to find the best view.
My best
Beat your own count
Compare only with your own last run. Only your own number counts: today against last time.
Practice makes progress
Print it now, or save it free
Free for families and teams
Save this drill to your child or team, free
Sign up and the free cross country week for this age opens in your child's planner, kept to healthy limits. A coach can send this drill to the whole team as homework, and parents see every session logged.
14 days free for a family, no card · Running a team is always free
Does your child's coach know about this?
An email from you to the coach, with the words ready. Nothing is tracked and nobody is rewarded.