D1 Dreams

I think that you're worrying too much about the little things for someone who runs 23 miles per week.

Right now I would recommend just focusing on getting your mileage up and running good workouts. I don't think you need to incorporate anything else in to your daily life, just run more. Run 35-40 mpw, and if you can handle that fine, slowly bump that number up. I know high school girls who have run very well off of 70-80 miles a week. I'm certainly not recommending that you go off and do that, but if you really want to run for a decent D1 program you'll have to run a lot more than you're running.

Frankly, worrying about cross training and nutrition and all of those things when you're running 23 miles a week is like buying a $3,000 road bike for your first ever bike race. Right now you just need to run more. Paying attention to nutrition, lifting,and cross training is good, but they will only generate incremental improvement compared to running more.

Your mileage is pathetic. Full. Stop.

Quit your yoga, quit your lifting, quit everything, until you find the time to run at least 35mpw. Then maybe start thinking about incorporating lifting, then maybe some cross training and yoga. I hope you're not spending 2 hours a day at a Yoga studio - if you can do it on your own for 30 minutes then that's fine, but right now you really need to focus on getting your mileage up to a respectable level.

That being said, you are running some good times with your mileage. I see some potential, especially your 5:23. You're a sophomore so you've got a lot of time. Slowly build up to 50mpw in a year and see where that leads you.

Big plus one on this.

Do you have coaching at your high school? You're pretty low mileage, even for a high school sophomore. Slowly and intelligently raising your mileage is the way to go. You'll see massive improvements as you increase your mileage to a very reasonable 40 to 45 mpw.

Good luck. Also, don't get ahead of yourself on d1 versus d2, etc. Unless you're looking to make running a career or expect to be highly competitive at the top of D1, pick your school based on academics first. Use sports as a way to pick the best school for you after you have it narrowed down to a handful of schools based on academics. You have a year before you need to start seriously thinking about this anyway. For now enjoy running and high school in general.

I'm sorry but she is a SOPH GIRL IN HIGH SCHOOL. Show a little heart.

And are you saying she should just drop everything and just run?? She's doing those "little things" to make her better. Weights and strength keeps her injury free. And she can't just jump up to 35 miles right away without injury or burnout. Also, running 50 mpw works for some but not others. Maybe show her what a week of training would look like.

But seriously, the yoga helps with recovery. The strength training helps with STRENGTHING obviously and avoids injuries. Some of the top hs xc teams cycle almost everyday which is CROSS training.

Maybe rethink your "philosophy."'

Like I recently stated, I'm on WEEK 3 of my training, why would I suddenly jump to 40 miles when I have until February of running? I'm gradually building up to that, is that so wrong? Or should I just run 40 miles next week and for the next 3 months? And on the strength training, why in the world would I drop that? It's make me stronger and preventing injuries? I'm sorry but your plans make absolutely no sense.

Keep doing what you're doing. You still have a lot of growing to do at this age, and there is no need to drastically change anything if you are seeing steady improvement. Increase your mileage to 30-35mi/week this school year. 6-8 mi long runs should be sufficient for now. Cut back on the yoga if you need more time for your miles and schoolwork. The strength training you're doing is impressive and a very smart decision! Get your sleep at night. See the doctor as needed, and have your your iron, calcium, and vitamin D levels monitored. You're doing great!

Perhaps they did sound a bit harsh, but they have a point. The main aspect of your training should be your running, where lifting and yoga are supplements. I wouldn't worry about the yoga much for now until you're running more, because 23 mpw really isn't a lot. 3 lifts per week in November is also quite a bit, but if it works for you, go with it I guess.

You can be really strong/flexible from lifting, but if you're only on the road for 3 hours out of the entire week, you won't get the strength you need to come close to your mile/2-mile potential.

I'm confused, what should my training look like? Should I make the jump to 30 miles next week and increase from there? (And no, our coach does not help much for winter training)

It's funny you ask, because I was originally going to suggest working to 30mpw but deleted it from my post before replying. You could work up to 30mpw over the course of a month or so, no need to rush. I'd just add a mile to one or two of your runs each week until you get there. Just have fun with it, hopefully you have some teammates to run with, people with whom you can enjoy the process.

You're doing a lot of good things, keep those up. If you stay relatively injury-free with your strengthening program, stick with it and bump up the intensity when it gets too easy. I'd say focus on slowly building mileage rather than trying to incorporate cross training. Running will do you more good if you don't get injured. Also be sure to get enough sleep (8+ hours) every night. Good luck!

Come on, I complimented her in my post, saying she shows potential.

I am also a HUGE fan of yoga and pilates. But I am confused as to why she's doing all this extra training, but running so little. If she's a HS sophomore, I assume she's busy juggling studies, clubs, maybe a musical instrument or two. I am just saying she should run the bare minimum first (IMO 35 mpw), and then worry about the cross training.

It is only because you are showing some good potential (particularly the mile) with your very low mileage that I am being mean to you. And no, do not bump up to 40mpw within a week.

If you read my post again, I said you should aim to build up to 50mpw or so by the end of next year, so you have quite a lot of time to slowly build up your mileage. But again, your focus should be on building your mileage.

Strength training is good, and at a D1 program you WILL be doing a lot of strength training. Yoga is also great for flexibility, stability and core strength. If you have the time to do both those things and run 35+ mpw, that would be ideal. In order of importance, it is probably 35mpw, then strength training, then yoga. But it sounds like you got your priorities wrong.

If you do make it to a D1 team, you WILL be running at least 50mpw, probably closer to 60 or 70mpw. If you have not safely built up to at least close to that, you will spend your collegiate career injured or struggling to catch up.

Your mileage right now is terrible, but you have the potential and time.

Most "elite" girls in HS are building up huge base of miles over the winter time and also competing in the indoor track season.

Looks like this girl's coach is clueless given that she's not engaged in any structured training in the off-season. Either find a local track club or carefully come up with an off-season workout plan as soon as possible.

You're doing great so far. As others say, the main thing you want to focus on is increasing the total amount you run. But do it gradually to avoid injury.

For your lifting, are you self-taught or do you have someone helping you? Lifting properly is very difficult to do on your own (not just for highschoolers but people of any age). It's a bit of an injury risk. If you don't have a coach helping you here, at least be careful and don't push it.

Here's a couple things you can add in right now that may help, if you don't do them yet.

Strides. Try to do these at least 3 days per week. What it is, is after an easy run, you do say 6-8 "strides" where each stride is about 15 seconds of running, you start from a standstill and build up to a comfortably fast pace, about your 800m race pace, hold it for a few seconds, then slow back down to a stop. You want to focus on your form, running very smooth and relaxed. You want to have tall, upright posture, not much forward lean, shoulders relaxed and down, arms swinging forward and back not side to side. Don't worry about your speed at all, just make it comfortably fast.

I really recommend doing strides barefoot on a football field if you can. I've found it helps improve form. I'm also a fan of doing a bit of barefoot jogging each week (like a couple laps around the football field at the end of the run), but I won't push that point.

The other one is, you can do some hill sprints for strength and form. Like once a week in base phase. Find a nice hill with a bit of steepness to it, and do short sprints up the hill. Walk back down for recovery. It's basically like the strides I said above, except uphill. This is good strength training and good for your form.

Like others said, everything you're doing so far is great, and it's great that you're so dedicated. But most of it is side stuff and I wouldn't get obsessed with it. Work on building up your mileage, but listen to your body and give it time to adapt and recover.

If you remember one thing, make it this: "Success comes from many years of consistent training and not getting injured." That is the big picture to keep in mind. You want to be laying a good foundation for 5+ years from now.

Also can you clarify, what has your mileage been in the past? It sounded like from your post that the most you've ever done is 23 miles with a 6-mile long run, but maybe that's not what you meant.

The rule for mileage is that you can build up pretty quickly through mileage you've hit before. But when it comes to running a new mileage farther than that, you should go more gradually.

Also someone mentioned nutrition, it's a good thing to keep track of, one big thing is iron. Lots of people who eat healthy end up not getting enough iron, especially women.

Also, sleep is really important as you start to train hard. Try to sleep enough that you don't wake up feeling tired. The more you train, the more sleep you'll need.

This past summer, going into my sophomore year, I was running 30 miles pw by the end of August. (So about 3 weeks of 30 miles then XC season started) My long run was 8 miles at 7:40ish pace. Sorry for the confusion, but I've ran more than 23. Next week I'm going up to 26 with a 7 mile long run. By the end of winter, I'm expecting my long run to be 9-11 miles and be running 40-43 miles per week as I believe I benefit more from longer distances than short intervals that leave me burnt and cause hip problems.

I mostly do this sport because I absolutely love to run. I'd rather run 5 miles than watch a movie or go out with friends. So the heart is there. I just don't have the coaching and guidance that I need.

The only reason I cross-trained this past week was because my mileage was so low and I feel like swimming helps strengthen your lungs/respiratory system.

Also, my weightlifting is more dynamic things that usually incorporate running form. For example, single leg deadlifts that end in a runner stance. Or bosu ball squats that help balance and control. My "lifting" isn't exactly maxing out but I can already feel the benefits as I've hardly done much strength in the past.

So no, I will not just "drop" it as it is already benefiting me.

I heard Taylor Werner (One of the top hs xc runners in the nation, Arkansas commit, 4x state champ) ran 65-70 miles a week as a sophomore and runs twice a day. How do you build up to that? And is running twice a day beneficial?

d1 exp gave you good advice. Follow it.

soaringforthedream wrote:

This past summer, going into my sophomore year, I was running 30 miles pw by the end of August. (So about 3 weeks of 30 miles then XC season started) My long run was 8 miles at 7:40ish pace. Sorry for the confusion, but I've ran more than 23. Next week I'm going up to 26 with a 7 mile long run. By the end of winter, I'm expecting my long run to be 9-11 miles and be running 40-43 miles per week as I believe I benefit more from longer distances than short intervals that leave me burnt and cause hip problems.

That plan sounds good to me. The lifting you mentioned sounds good too.