summer 5k training

"I started feeling a lot more comfortable and relaxed during the second part of the week."

You aren't listening to any iPods during these runs? I hope

not! In my opinion, and this is from experience, you're making a fatal mistake if you don't take the time to know your body. What does that mean? Have you looked at a muscle chart of the human body? Know it, memorize it. In theory one of the reasons athletes get injured is because they don't know their bodies. Your putting in the effort but lets say if you get a twitch in your hamstring, can you at will relax it so that the twitch goes away? Take at least fifteen minutes during those runs to focus on your breathing are you diaphragm breathing? How many steps in and out? Tense? Relaxing the tension? Now I want you to think back when your ran that 2:00 pr in the 800, mentally focus on that lactic acid buildup. What would happen if you put yourself in the same scenario (during training) and gradually ran past the lactic acid buildup for an additional 25 yards? You gotta take the pain Knapp and no napping.

I like to call the above "prophylaxis from complacency".

Haha no way I'm listening to an iPod during my training runs. What I was trying to say is that I was back in the groove of things and the training became a lot more natural, like how I was feeling before I took the ten day break.

So far my training has been going fairly well. After shaking of some tendonitis in the last week and with the weather finally cooling off (90+ now down to 75 when I'm running).

So far my mileage has been:

wk1: 50

wk2: 58

wk3: 48 (took 1 day off this week)

wk4: 47 MILES SO FAR (GOING TO RUN 70 MILES) (HAVE ANOTHER 3 DAYS OF RUNNING LEFT)

I plan on backing off the next couple days because I am running a 5k road race on Saturday. I have done all my miles in single runs and while I HAVE NOT incorporated an actual long run, 6 of my runs have been at least 11 miles. My last 4 training runs have been:

7/7: 11miles 6:57 pace

7/8: 12miles 7:15 pace

7/9: 12miles 6:39 pace

7/10: 12miles 6:44 pace

These runs were all pretty comfortable and on 7/7 I picked the last 2 miles up to 6:45's even with some of it being up hill.

-My goal for the 5k road race this Saturday is 17:00 minutes. Is that too conservative or too optimistic? I have not done any speed work, tempos or intervals since June 6th when I ran my pr of 4:22 in the 1600m and after that I took a 9 day break with no running before I started back up again.

-When should I start back up with my intervals, tempos and speed work if my high school xc racing season starts on August 24th and ends with state on October 27th?

-Is my goal of 15:30 achievable?

-Should I start to incorporate doubles and is 70-80 miles good for my summer mileage before I back off to 60-65 during the xc racing season?

Thanks in advance for your responses

You can start incorporating doubles anytime you want. I'd also start working in a tempo a week as well as strides at least once a week if you're not already doing them. Probably up the strides to twice a week by the end of the month. If you want to do some tempo or cruise intervals now you can, but I'd wait until next week after your race.

I won't be a predictor, I'm only good at it with my own kids that I work with, but others, fuhgeddaboutit.

70-80 is fine with a back-off to 60-65. Good luck, you're looking good so far.

looks good so far keep it up man

Sounds like a plan!