Preseason Training Blog: Lansing Catholic's Jaden Theis


Jaden Theis broke out in a big way last cross country season. The Lansing Catholic junior -- the younger sister of University of Michigan sophomore Olivia Theis -- scored her first Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 2 Lower Peninsula state championship, her first Foot Locker Nationals qualification and her first All-American finish, finishing sixth in San Diego. She broke 18 minutes for 5K six times last fall, and ran a personal best of 17:07.30. While injury from the outdoor track and field season, where she finished fourth in the 3,200m (10:44.90) and sixth in the 1,600m (5:02.67) at states, slowed her runway into the fall, Theis and her Lansing Catholic coach, Tim Simpson, are taking things slow as the high school junior builds back into full form. Theis wrote about her road to recovery below, along with some key insights. Check it out. 

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Week 1 - Week 2 - Week 3 - Week 4

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Week 2 (August 12th - August 18th)


Monday, August 12th: 3 miles 

I went to team camp this morning, which is held at a local retreat center (and it's also our home course!). I led a core workout in the morning. Later, I did 3x 1-mile repeats on a grass loop on part of the course. It was rather hot outside during the workout and it was also my first workout back! It was mentally challenging, especially with the heat as an added challenge. Afterwards, I stretched and foam rolled and bonded with my team. 

Tuesday, August 13th: 45 minute aqua jog, 25 minutes core

I did 25 minutes of core with some of my teammates who are injured while the rest of my team did a hill workout. It was disappointing to not be able to do my final camp workout, but I believe it was my best bet considering my current training condition. We did more team activities for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon before heading home. I aqua jogged easy for 45 minutes mid-to-late afternoon and quickly got ready to go to our team picnic to kick off the season! I really enjoy being around my team because they are all such great people and continue to motivate me and make me laugh time after time. 

Wednesday, August 14th: 50 minute bike workout, 10 minutes core

I did PT in the morning. At practice, I stationary biked for 50 minutes, where I led a 30 minute workout for a few of the girls who are new to biking (my workout was slightly longer because I had more time). I started out with 6 minutes easy, followed by 10x 2-minutes hard, 2-minutes easy (my teammates did it 6 times rather than 10) and a 4-minute easy cool down. I did some balance/core work for about 10 minutes afterwards. I stretched at night before bed. 

Thursday, August 15th: 3 mile run, 12 mile non-stationary bike (workout)

Today we did a very interesting workout! We ran at a park across town with a 1.5 mile loop. We started out by doing our typical warm up routine (plyos and lunge matrix). About half of us brought bikes (as we were instructed to do so) and paired up with someone who did not have a bike and was similar height. One person would start off running and one person would start on the bike.

The bikes were started first for the obvious reason of not running people over. When the biker lapped the runner (took me probably 11-13 minutes and about 2 times around the loop), they would switch. We did this for an hour and a half. I started out on the bike, then ran 3 miles in the running section (averaging 5:51 per mile), and repeated the biking but, instead of the other running sections, I walked while my partner biked because I am still working on increasing my mileage at a safe rate. I ended up biking 4 times (12 miles), running 3 miles hard, and walking probably slightly under a mile( I didn't measure). Man, it feels weird run after you bike! I also did PT earlier in the day and stretched (and laid on the couch for a while :)) after the workout. 


Friday, August 16th: 75 minute swim

Aha! Today, I switched it up from the usual 70 minute swim to 75! Still with a 20 minute warm up, I did a ladder workout just to make the time go by a little faster and a 5-ish minute cool down. I did around 2.4 miles in the 75 minutes. I did some light stretching in the pool and then more when I got home. I also did PT today. 

Saturday, August 17th: 3 miles of hills, 15 minutes core

I woke up this morning and headed over to a local park to do some hills. I ran a loop for 3 miles, completing the hill 12 times and averaging about 6:27 pace per mile. After my run, I did some strides and some active recovery drills and stretches. I did PT and about 15 minutes of core later in the day and, in between these, finished summer homework (insert tears here).

Sunday, August 18th: 20 minutes core 

Today was my easy day so I just did PT, 20 minutes of core and some light stretching. 

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Total mileage: 9 miles (WOOT WOOT!)