Are the top HS boys really doing 80-100mpw?

Some are, some aren't. There are top HS boys out there running 40-60. There are top boys out there running 80-100. There are top boys out there running 60-80.

It all depends on what is best for them individually, and what their coaches believe.

I know a few high school guys that do about 50-60 and run 14:50-15:10 range

Not all of them.

Some of them run 40, 50, 60 an even 30

Kol j wrote:

Not all of them.

Some of them run 40, 50, 60 an even 30

There are not any high school elite runners running 30 a week.

or 40

Someone who knows wrote:

Kol j wrote:

Not all of them.

Some of them run 40, 50, 60 an even 30

There are not any high school elite runners running 30 a week.

None of them are. They are running 50+

I knew a guy in high school that ran 30 miles a week and ran 4:12 for a mile and 15:20 XC 5k. Obviously he wasn't elite by some standards but he was pretty legit. That's the biggest exception I know. I do generally agree that most top high school guys are doing 60+. I actually know quite a few personally that ran 70-90 pretty regularly.

Someone who knows wrote:

Kol j wrote:

Not all of them.

Some of them run 40, 50, 60 an even 30

There are not any high school elite runners running 30 a week.

Not true. The ultra talents can get away with it. I coached a kid who averaged about 25-30 mpw at most in high school and was a Nike qualifier and New Balance all american. Some kids just have it.

You'd be surprised.

Remember that every individual is unique. Some of them need faster mileage and lower volume to get the most out of their training, some need slower mileage but higher volume. There is no "one size fits all" training.

There are whole teams that do great off of 30-60 mpw over multiple years, including national qualifiers and trophy winners. Same with individuals. There have been plenty of individuals that have gone under 9:00 or 4:10 with only running 30-50 mpw.

What works best for some won't always work best for others. Everyone has different needs. Saying that everyone has to run 60+ or 80+ mpw to be elite is ridiculous. The reality is that 99.999999% of HS athletes simply don't have the talent to be "elite" in HS no matter the training, and those with the talent sometimes need more mileage and sometimes need less. There is no magic workout or magic amount of mileage to make anyone elite.

Of course there are.

With 51 speed a kid needs 25-35 miles/week to run 1:52/4:05/ 8:55

No US HS records have been set by anybody running regularly over 70 miles/week since 1980. The reason for this is as the HS records come down,

developing speed side capability is inescapable.

A purposeful 35 miles week can beat the hell out of a lazy 70 mile week.

And all the miles in the world can't make you national class at the HS level if you can't split at least a 54.

I think it basically comes down to the two-types of runners...Fast twitch v. Slow twitch.

A high schooler that is 'wired' to run 50-52 seconds for 400 meters and enjoys running distance will always have a leg-up on the kid who can't break 56 seconds to save his life.

BUT...that slow-twitch kid, if he's got the mentality and love for it, can certainly put in the miles and close the gap and in a lot of cases beat the fast-twitch kid.

I think with both types of athletes you need to have a great balance of high mileage (this is relative), leg speed development (year-round), and the proper amount of hard, race-specific training.

I tend to believe that the more you do something the better you become at it. So, the goal should be to run more from year to year. Freshman guys would run less than seniors in most cases. And with the idea of increasing your running (mileage) from year to year, you would increase your quality of work from year to year, etc.

If I coached high schoolers, or had a son that ran, and they came to me and wanted to be great at running and loved it and were passionate about it, I would have no issues with them building up over 4 years of high school to 80-100 miles per week in the off-season. They have to build up to it, they have to want to do that kind of mileage, and they need to have proper guidance of the whens and whys of what they are doing.

I am on a pretty good HS team (multiple time state champs,etc.) and our top guys ( 15:45-16:10ish, 9:40-9:50 3200 in track) will get up in the 70s-80s over the summer, with the rare 90 mile week for some. Those guys are definitely fast, but not national-class by any means. They'll be top 10ish in the state sure, but they're not going to nationals.

This mileage isn't held for most of the season though, I think this year only 1 really got above 80 mpw for more than like 3 weeks and his 90 mile week was kind of dumb, our coach didn't tell him to run that much.

However, I could definitely see the top guys in the nation (sub9 guys in track) getting at least that mileage, if not more.

Matt jonsrud and Phil Reid were two CA state champs in the mile in the recent past.

Reid was from the section I coach in.

Both those guys ran 4:10 and became state champs of the hardest state in the nation off of 30mpw.

Unfortunately they both went to cal poly slo with the hack coach mark conover and never developed much.

But it can be done.

Hats off to them a high week to me is 35 cant imagine practically doing a half a day.

My teammate ran a 1:50 800 at 30 mpw

Who will be stronger long term?

The kid benching 300lbs in hs or the kid doing quality 150lbs bench press?

When talent falls short, mileage can--possibly--make-up for your shortcomings.

Aren't all the low talent kids doing 100 a week and making their dreams become reality?

CA hs coach wrote:

Matt jonsrud and Phil Reid were two CA state champs in the mile in the recent past.

Reid was from the section I coach in.

Both those guys ran 4:10 and became state champs of the hardest state in the nation off of 30mpw.

Unfortunately they both went to cal poly slo with the hack coach mark conover and never developed much.

But it can be done.

Your runners also weren't prepared for college training based off of 30mpw in HS. Coaches in HS who think low mileage will keep their stars in the sport long term are delusional. Most low mileage HS runners are out of the sport within 2 years of HS. They can't handle the transition in training.