Base work instead of track season

It's not advisable to run at 80 mph. Even if you are non injury prone, it's just too much impact and something will break.

I would highly suggest you steer clear of 80mpw. Guys your age should max out at maybe 50/60. Don't build too quickly. I would continue the tempos and no other speed work except maybe throw in some road races here and there.

The point of training is to improve. Not to be able to claim you ran 80 mpw for a couple months.

Run a race, most likely a 5k, every month or so.

Two weeks before each race, do a track workout of say 6 x 800 at what you think is 5k effort. Jog 400m in no more than 2:00 in between. This should be harder than your tempos.

The tempos (make sure you could run your tempo pace at least twice as far in a race) and strides are the main work.

If you are improving, once you control for the course, heat and so on, do not increase your mileage past 50.

I would suggest not going past 50 mpw. Maybe tops 60. Also its a long time from March to September. I would suggest taking a down week at the end of June like you would after track. Even just like 3 days off and then 3 days of easy mileage. Tempo, strides, and easy weights are your friends during this time. 1 tempo per week, 1 long run of 10-12 miles. Strides 3 days per week, light weights 2-3 days per week. I would also suggest a goal race in June like a 5k. you can do a track workout before that.

I concur with the not touching 80 right now. 60 would be ok every once in awhile probably. I'd recommend doing some road races (5ks) and the occasional mile time trial, and doing Summer of Malmo right now

You sound like a decent runner. Can you train to run the mile faster? Find some shorter races? Like Open Meets and 5k's?

I think the strength you get getting faster in the mile helps XC, then over the summer build your base.

I will pile on with not running 80 MPW. If you were already at 70 then MAYBE, but going from 40 is too much. MOST high school kids don't need (and shouldn't) go beyond 70 anyway.

You should start now with the 40 MPW, and add no more than 10% a week.

There are roughly 20 weeks between now and the beginning of August when mandatory cross country practice is likely to begin.

You should step up the mileage for 3 weeks and then back down in the 4th week and you should top out at 60-65 BEFORE August 1.

Here's two mileage plans for 20 weeks - the first one has a 10% buildup each week for 3 weeks before stepping back and then holding steady for a while. The second one has a 5% buildup for 3 weeks before stepping back. Miles were rounded DOWN, so if the calculator said 48.8 miles, it says 48.

First plan (more aggressive and riskier):

Miles per week

40

44

48

44

48

53

58

53

58

64

64

64

58

64

64

64

58

64

64

64

Second plan miles per week:

40

42

44

42

44

46

48

46

48

50

53

50

52

55

57

55

57

60

63

60

You can achieve this without doubles. It should involve two longer runs per week...one on Wednesday and one on Saturday for example.

Once practice beings with the team, do what the coach says. If the coach is having you run a lot less than you have been running, tell him or her what you did over the summer, and maybe they will allow you to run more.

Yes, you need to include a speed work session or 2 every week, or every other week. That could include long or short intervals or time trials . You just have to stimulate that turnover.

Also, I hope you are already including tempo runs in your base training.

Two facts of running:

Speed kills.

Speed is the hardest thing to get, easiest thing to lose.

Try 60 mpw for a while and see how you feel. Don't neglect speed work. At 60, you could get to 80 just by adding in a 4 mile easy (slow) run each weekday morning and would increase your risk of injury only minimally.

High school runner,

45 mpw will be fine. You can get a good base from that. 55 mpw will alow 5-6 miles per day and a longer run on a weekend day and maybe even a day off once a week. 80 mpw is an injury waiting to happen, and will do more damage than good. 45 mpw , will put you in the top 50% of high school runner's mileage. Most say one thing, and really run another. More often than not, I discovered my xc runners really were not running close per week than what they thought they were each summer.

As far as I remember, most states have a high school rule similar to this: "if your school does not have _______, then you may participate in that activity in the closest school."

I taught in a school without a marching band, and several of our students were in the marching band in the nearby high school.

Thanks for all of your responses. My current plan is to follow one of Flagpole's schedules and build up to 60 mpw, until I start training with my team. During my week, I will do about 2 (4-5 mile) tempos , with strides/hill sprints after most easy runs, and a long run (10-12 miles). I will also be doing upper body strength work 2-3 times each week, and be talking one day off running per week by doing some cross training such as swimming.

Now, is my current plan looking good?

Also, if I ran 17:00 for a flat dirt 5k xc race last xc season, (~35 mpw), if I stay healthy, do you think I can be able to run into the 15:30s this xc season with the increased training? If not, what time should I aim for?

High School xc wrote:

Thanks for all of your responses. My current plan is to follow one of Flagpole's schedules and build up to 60 mpw, until I start training with my team. During my week, I will do about 2 (4-5 mile) tempos , with strides/hill sprints after most easy runs, and a long run (10-12 miles). I will also be doing upper body strength work 2-3 times each week, and be talking one day off running per week by doing some cross training such as swimming.

Now, is my current plan looking good?

Also, if I ran 17:00 for a flat dirt 5k xc race last xc season, (~35 mpw), if I stay healthy, do you think I can be able to run into the 15:30s this xc season with the increased training? If not, what time should I aim for?

I like almost all of your plan. The ONLY thing I don't like is the hill sprints. You are in a buildup base phase, and mileage and tempos are fine. Hill sprints come after base training. Wait until August for those. You want to do a few hilly long runs before that, then fine, but no sprinting up hills until August 1.

I know it will be hard as I can sense you are chomping at the bit here...if you must, do a 5k at the end of June, but leave the hill sprints alone for now.

You have some very good times (those were from your freshman year I assume?) on not a lot of training. Train smart and you might get really very good. One of the biggest things here is to not skimp on shoes. You should be buying decent shoes (the type you would find in a running store, not Kohl's), and you need to replace them every 300-500 miles. You get over 300 miles and start to have some little aches and pains, then it's time for new shoes. Too many HS runners get injured and ruin a season simply because they run in shoes that are shot. It can be expensive when you're running 60 MPW, but you have to spend the money for those shoes.

Good luck to you.

not gonna look good when college coaches look at that. They'll think "what if this kid ditches my team to train for marathons or something?" Skipping a season to "do your own thing" is almost never a good idea.

dsafadsfasf wrote:

not gonna look good when college coaches look at that. They'll think "what if this kid ditches my team to train for marathons or something?" Skipping a season to "do your own thing" is almost never a good idea.

His current school has no track team, brother.

Are a couple strides on flat grass after easy runs ok at this time of year, since I shouldn't do hill sprints then? Also, would plyometrics be advisable at this time of year?

And I am "chomping at the bit here" lol. Freshman year and the beginning of 10th grade, my friends and I would slack off and just run a mile or two to the park, then screw around instead of doing the actual 8 mile run (its a teenager thing). I now realize that I have missed out on a lot of aerobic base training, and am now trying to safely push myself to a competitive level.

Hitmonlee wrote:

It's not advisable to run at 80 mph. Even if you are non injury prone, it's just too much impact and something will break.

I agree. Or at the very least save such speeds for the Olympics, and consider doing the 100 or 200m. Actually, stick with the 100; trying to go that fast around the turn could cause significant injury.

A modest increase in mileage is probably plenty. Perhaps progressing to 60mpw is good.

I'm not sure I'd recommend pure base, even with some tempos. Strength work is always good to have in some degree, but in general there is better improvement if some faster work is kept in.

You don't need to have brutal sessions in there, but throwing in some stuff like 300/400s at mile pace with a good long recovery, or 1k repeats at 5k pace, again with nice recovery gives a decent stimulus for running fast without being super challenging speedwork.

A little speed development is good too. Some short flying sprints, hill sprints, and some 100-200m work at near sprint pace is generally considered worthwhile.

The truth is opinions about what exactly do to vary quite a bit between coaches, but my hunch is that a solid 4-6+ months of just mileage and tempo is going to result in a little stagnation. I think you'd be better served keeping some faster stuff in there, but with enough sanity and recovery to keep it at an intensity appropriate for out of season training, while including some speed development running to improve form, stay in touch with real speed, and improve efficiency.