Every so often I look back at my years of AAU and middle school track and field/cross country running and wonder how I was so successful at such a young age. The summer going into my 8th grade year has always been such a thought in my head. My PRs that summer were 4:32 for 1500m and a 9:54 for 3k on the track. These are of course not other worldy times for a 13 year old kid (although I thought they were at the time), but this next part is what astounds me the most.. I never averaged more than about 15-20 miles a week. Sometimes not even above 10, and wildly inconsistent as well. Some weeks I would run 2 days, some weeks i'd run 4-5 or sometimes not at all. Thats hardly enough to even call mileage or "training" for that matter, that's just called being a kid!
The real question that I wonder about is this though.. why did I never substantially improve after a huge increase in mileage the next year going into my freshman year? I was never injured, I wasn't a fully grown 8th grader (5'4 around 110 lbs), and I never started any bad habits such as alcohol or drugs. In 4 years I have essentially dropped from a 10:35 3200 to a 9:42 and a 4:51 mile to a 4:29, and that's from increasing my mileage from 15mpw to 40 mpw, as well as growth (5'11 140lbs) and consistent running.
Is there something I missed?
Feel free to ask questions, I feel like this could be an interesting discussion.