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Forget the mileage. Focus on speed. Forget the 5k's. Focus on the 800 this year. You're fast enough to run 1:55, better if you can get your 400 time lower. Next year you could try to run a good 1500. You said it yourself. You're a speed guy. No sense in trying to be something you're not. This year 400 and 800. Next year 800 and 1500. Forget the 5K.
They don't run the 800 in XC. Track is in the spring.
I'm not trying to be a cross country specialist, but I won't be racing any 800s in october, that comes in the spring and the best way for me to improve is to work on my weakness which is endurance. DOn't worry, I'll hit the speed, I believe sub 50 is a possibility in the spring.
Trial of miles. The easiest way to get fast is to run lots of miles at a fast pace. A 4:20 mile is not a speed event, it is about strength. Long, fast tempo runs build your strenght easier than anything else. You shouldn't be afraid to do 80 mile weeks, trying to get down to six minutes a mile and hammering up every hill. String together about 12 of those weeks and I'll bet that you'll get your times way down. Lift heavy weights and do core work. 800 repeats and fartlek after you get your endurance.
Junior in HS wrote:
How much should I drop my mileage in season?
I'm assuming I should drop it at least a little considering I'll be doing workouts and running with teammates and such so the pace will naturally be more intense. My peak week is 50 but I have run 48 and 45 in the previous weeks.
My team usually only runs 30-35 miles a week so should I add doubles so my mileage for the week goes up to ~40? Or should I keep the mileage high (50+) since it's only august and I'm still building endurance when State is right around Halloween.
WHAT are you talking about! Your coach does 30 for CC! 13 yr old girls do more than that. Your coach is worthless. WHY are YOU not responding to GLENN MCARTHY"S post to you on here. He knows what he is talking about. By late SEPT I'll be at 81. People who say work on your speed..you do that and I'll drop your ass way before 800m and you run 17:48 with the girls and I'll hit 15:10. Come watch me at Footlocker. Then I'll come back and destroy you in the 800 or anything above. What do you want to do...be some play around coming in at 61st place! Respond to Glenn on here.
Hey man I'm in HS and I run a 2:04 800. I'm at 50mpw and I'm going to build to 60 (which shouldn't be too hard as I'm VERY comfortable at 50).
DONT do 30 MPW. You should be around at least 50-60 if you want to make FootLocker in HS.
Unless you want to lose to people who have 2:12 800 meter speed.
One if you're a 4:25 1600 guy you should be way better than 17:00 in the 5k. I was a high 4:30s, mid 9:50s guy in high school and I ran 16:10 for 5K. Basically be consistent, try to run most days at an easy pace for you. Something like 7:30-8:00 each day. IF you feel good you can push it down to 7:00-7:15ish.
I'm not going to recommend mileage totals because I don't know your mileage history. However, you may want to consider throwing in a double once or twice a week to get a second high milage day, or split up a long day. I usually ran about 65 mile high weeks in high school with a long of 10-11 and 2 doubles.
Tempos aren't as important as pregression runs. Tempos you just start out at the gun and just hit that pace forever. What you really would like to do about once a week is just take the end of one of your medium runs and just start to bring down that pace, maybe start off slow on an 8 miler (around 8:30 pace or so, but this is total guesswork) and 3 miles in maybe bring it down to 7:30, and another 2 miles bring it down to 7 and the last mile hit 6:45. Point is not to run fast but get stronger as you go. The
Point is you're not getting 4:25 without becoming stronger. The speed is great and will allow you to go lower in the long run, but my PR for 4 was only 54 high and if I hadn't missed the entire spring track of my senior year with ITBS, I probably would have been around 4:25, doing it on strength. You need the strength to let you use your speed. A kick is useless if you have nothing left in the tank.
Still, the best thing to do is to call your coach and work on a plan with him. He knows you as a runner. Therefore, if he's at all competent, he will know what needs to be done to get the best out of you. Guys on a message board like me are at best former college runners (or maybe a coach) who know nothing about the way you run of the type of training that works for you. I am only speaking to what worked for me in high school and the year I spent running in college. Hope it helps.
Junior in HS wrote:
What should I add in to get the most out of my training?
strides after your easy runs.