Illustrative planning examples: The session types and days below are placeholders. Coaches choose the runs, repetitions, intensity, recovery, and days off for their athletes, season, conditions, and school or club requirements. Replace any row that does not fit your program.
Start with the week’s fixed commitments
Put the meet, travel, facility access, staff availability, and school commitments on the calendar first. Then decide which athletes will train together and which need a different assignment. A shared meeting time can still have several group plans.
For each planned session, record the group, meeting point, supervising coach, session instructions, and the distance or duration the coach has selected. For repetitions, include the number of reps, recovery, and individual targets. Leave those fields blank until the coach has chosen them.
Sample week 1: A Saturday meet
This example shows where a coach might place planning and review tasks around a meet. The session labels can be moved or replaced.
| Day | Coach-selected session | Planning and recording task |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Group run, other assigned work, or day off | Confirm attendance, training groups, meeting points, and the week’s meet schedule. |
| Tuesday | Planned workout for each group | Fill in reps or duration, targets, recovery, and the coach responsible for recording results. |
| Wednesday | Coach-selected run or day off | Check completed entries and resolve missing or duplicate runs. |
| Thursday | Group assignments based on the current plan | Confirm the meet roster and communicate any changes to Friday’s or Saturday’s schedule. |
| Friday | Coach-selected pre-meet session or day off | Share arrival times, transport details, course notes, and each group’s meet-day instructions. |
| Saturday | Meet; separate assignments for athletes who are not racing | Record results and completed running consistently, including any warm-up or cooldown the coach assigned. |
| Sunday | Coach-selected assignment or day off | Review the week’s recorded work and note changes to consider for the next plan. |
Sample week 2: No meet on the calendar
Without a meet, the same planner can organize practices, individual assignments, and staff coverage. This example leaves the choice and placement of workouts to the coach.
| Day | Coach-selected session | Planning and recording task |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Group run or other assigned session | Publish the week, group assignments, and any individual changes. |
| Tuesday | Planned workout, run, or day off | Make the instructions and targets available before athletes begin. |
| Wednesday | Coach-selected assignment | Review completed sessions and ask about entries that need clarification. |
| Thursday | Planned workout, run, or day off | Confirm staff coverage and record the actual work completed. |
| Friday | Coach-selected assignment | Share weekend locations, routes, supervision, and individual instructions. |
| Saturday | Coach-selected group session, individual run, or day off | Record actual distance or duration using the team’s agreed units. |
| Sunday | Coach-selected assignment or day off | Reconcile the weekly log before preparing the next week. |
Turn the sample into group assignments
- Name each group. Identify the athletes and the coach responsible for that session. Use your current coaching decisions to set groups.
- Write the session in full. Replace the placeholder with the selected distance or duration, repetitions, intensity, recovery, and location. Record individual differences where needed.
- Give athletes usable targets. If you use a reference PR for intervals, check that it is the intended mark and choose the effort yourself. The interval pace calculator converts those inputs into target times; review them before assigning the workout.
- Plan the handoff. Specify who starts the session, records times, checks attendance, and reviews results when more than one coach is involved.
- Review before reusing. Check meet dates, athlete assignments, and session details before using a previous week as a starting point.
For a worked target-setting workflow, see setting individual interval paces. For practice capture, see timing multiple runners.
Review what was recorded
Keep planned work and completed work separate. An empty entry needs clarification; it does not tell you whether an athlete missed the session or simply has not logged it.
- Check that distances use the intended units and that each run appears once.
- Agree on how the team records warm-ups, cooldowns, and outside runs so weekly totals can be interpreted consistently.
- Record changes to the assignment and the work actually completed.
- Read athlete comments and effort ratings alongside the session details, and follow up directly when something needs clarification.
- Write a short coaching note about the adjustments you have chosen for the next week.
Build the week in PaceCommand
Schedule workouts and assign them to the relevant training groups. Athletes can view assigned sessions and log outside runs and effort ratings; coaches can review mileage, completion, and results. Keep each group’s instructions current when the plan changes.
Explore PaceCommand for cross-country programs, or use the track practice plan template when organizing running groups at the track.