High school junior

k.

My question is how do I build my mileage safely and effectively in time for the season that starts on august 11th

If you did the strength work for the IT band, it shouldn't hurt anymore once you get to 30 MPW (which really isn't much at all. Base for XC should be a lot more than that). The most important thing is to CONTINUE doing the strengthening exercises. If you don't, you run the risk of the IT band coming back. Basically, if you aren't strengthening it, it's getting weaker.

In building mileage, make sure to follow the 10% rule - add 10% of the previous week's mileage each consecutive week. Or add one mile per practice / run week after week until you get where you want to be.

Also, 'being busy' is a dumb excuse. Even if you have work or something and can't make it to a morning practice, you can still run on your own later. Otherwise you're just being lazy.

The last thing I would suggest is to DOUBLE. IF 30 mpw on one-a-days is messing with you, split the mileage up into 2x a day. You'll be surprised how doubling boosts recovery and makes you feel fresh for the next day while allowing you to run more miles than ever before.

30 mpw is a lot for me now becuase I've never done it before haha but you think I'll be fine if I start doing 30 mpw (getting there safely of course)

I did the math (kinda) and 30 mpw is about 30-35 minutes a day(I measure in minutes not miles) so how should I split that up during the day/week?

samscasino wrote:

30 mpw is a lot for me now becuase I've never done it before haha but you think I'll be fine if I start doing 30 mpw (getting there safely of course)

I did the math (kinda) and 30 mpw is about 30-35 minutes a day(I measure in minutes not miles) so how should I split that up during the day/week?

Basically, get out the door and run 4-5 miles every day. Take one day and run faster, but not even close to all out. An out and back run on the same course each week would be a good workout. The other days should be relaxed. If there are hills where you live, run over them as much as possible on these days.

A few times each week, do 5 x 100m following your run, with full recovery between. You should be able to do them every day, should you feel like it. Some days, do them progressively faster so that the last 1-2 are sprinting.

It's better to do this on grass if possible. To mark off "100m", jog 30 seconds. That's your course.

Starting in August, make one day longer, say 6-7 miles.

There's ONLY hills where I live. Some of them are huge. My coach has had me do striders in the past but I don't understand why? What do they help with? And what pace should the "everyday" runs be

samscasino wrote:

There's ONLY hills where I live. Some of them are huge. My coach has had me do striders in the past but I don't understand why? What do they help with? And what pace should the "everyday" runs be

The main point of striders is to practice running faster, in small doses. When done consistently during a period of base-building, you should find that your running form at all paces benefits from it, and should ease the transition to faster, harder work.

The pace of your "everyday" runs should be easy -- not jogging easy, but easy enough to chat away if you're running with someone. I've found that when I get "easy" right, most days my legs will be wanting to speed up toward the end of the run and I have to decide whether or not to go with it. Some days, my legs don't want any part of it, and I've learned to heed that as well.

"Easy" for you is something you will need to figure out yourself. In general, I'd say that when in doubt, err on the side of a little slower most days. You can always do more tomorrow. Your goal during the summer should be to always be able to do more tomorrow, and get out there and do it.

And, what is the length of the longest hill where you live? That would be a good spot for your once-a-week harder run. Running uphill is actually a little easier on the body because you're running more slowly for the same amount of effort.

Thanks for the explanation! I'll keep doing them and the longest hill is about 600m long and pretty steep. But there's another hill very close the other one that's about 450m and it's very steep. How would I do a hard run on it? Like jog up it and then down with no rest or just use it as a loop for the duration of the run?

samscasino wrote:

Thanks for the explanation! I'll keep doing them and the longest hill is about 600m long and pretty steep. But there's another hill very close the other one that's about 450m and it's very steep. How would I do a hard run on it? Like jog up it and then down with no rest or just use it as a loop for the duration of the run?

These aren't the sort of hills I had in mind. These are good to work into your everyday runs. Just slow down while going up and make sure that your form stays good (e.g. don't bend forward/shove hips back). You will get stronger.

For your faster run, you could do it two ways. One way would be to find a fairly flat loop and have at it. Here you want to get rolling, staying on the comfy side of the edge. Another way is to pick a hilly loop with several long hills. Then you run it and let the hills raise the effort for you. In either case, you're not looking to blow it out during the summer; you want to accumulate steady, moderate efforts.

That 600m hill would make an excellent early to mid season workout. Warm up well, then hit that hill 4-6 times hard, with a jog back down and a little more recovery at the bottom if you need it. That would be a fairly brutal max vo2 sort of workout. If you have teammates who like to talk big, this would be a good one to which to invite them.

How long should this harder effort be? Thanks so much for the advice!

samscasino wrote:

How long should this harder effort be? Thanks so much for the advice!

4-5 miles, like the other days. I'm assuming you want to keep your mileage around 30/week.

4-5 includes warmup. Just speed up during the run until you're working hard enough that you have to focus on the effort, but you shouldn't be sucking wind. If you do it over the local hills, though, a certain amount of wind-sucking is probably unavoidable. This gives you an opportunity to get used to recovering a bit past the top of the hill without slowing down much.

If you get the effort right, you should feel like you had plenty left post-run Later in the day, you might think "hmmm, my legs are actually a little tired". You should be able to do it again the next day, but don't unless you're getting paid -- everyday run + strides instead.

By sometime in August, you certainly could be doing a couple of these faster runs each week, if you are consistent in July. If you are then consistent in August, you should be quite strong in September.

Sounds like consistency is key. Thank you for your help