LRC continues to be anti-high mileage until college. Jakob has been doing high mileage since early middle school. Mention that a US kid is doing that and the doomsayers predict instant burnout.
It’s not just that he’s done high mileage but it’s HOW he’s done it. Slow progression and mostly threshold quality work is key. In contrast, American kids are racing too much. Doing too long of races at a young age. Running hard workouts and threshold. Not developing short a-lactic speed in conjunction with high mileage. Trying to peak more than once a year….
Jakob is a once in a lifetime generational talent who breathes and lives in a professional running family environment at a young age. I don't expect all high schoolers to run high mileage at all. And that's fine.
I don't expect all high schoolers to run high mileage either. But really ambitious ones, ones who seriously aspire to get to where someone like Ingebrigsten is should pay attention to what he says.
LRC continues to be anti-high mileage until college. Jakob has been doing high mileage since early middle school. Mention that a US kid is doing that and the doomsayers predict instant burnout.
It's more accurate to say that Jakob has steadily built up to high mileage since middle school. If most runners start in HS at ~35 mpw, I think it's fair to say that it isn't a good idea for them to start running 100mpw 2 years later. For a strong HS runner, going 35-45-55-65 in HS and then 75 - 85 - 95 - 105- 115 in college is a smart progression and probably is close to what Jakob's 9 year mileage progression looks like. He just started earlier.
Uh oh, a lot of people on here won't like this! A lot of people are afraid to run 70 miles in a week.
Mileage is probably the most important thing to get faster, in my opinion. Once you're running 'real mileage' then it starts to be a limiting factor and how your week is structured (workouts) becomes more important. Someone running 90 miles per week with mild workouts will run faster 5k and above than people running 30-50 miles per week. You will find some exceptions, but I'd bet my money that the fast person running 40 miles per week would run even faster once they get to 80+. And if you're training marathon it needs to be even higher.
Uh oh, a lot of people on here won't like this! A lot of people are afraid to run 70 miles in a week.
Mileage is probably the most important thing to get faster, in my opinion. Once you're running 'real mileage' then it starts to be a limiting factor and how your week is structured (workouts) becomes more important. Someone running 90 miles per week with mild workouts will run faster 5k and above than people running 30-50 miles per week. You will find some exceptions, but I'd bet my money that the fast person running 40 miles per week would run even faster once they get to 80+. And if you're training marathon it needs to be even higher.
Actually the large majority of people on here constantly push the high mileage thing. And of course for many people it is the right idea but not for everyone.
Lagat was faster, in pre- Super Shoe era, than Jakob and he ran half his mileage! [ cue Lagat haters.....3, 2, 1]
I recently linked to an article that no one seemed to care about about Abdirazek Mohamed running 30 miles a week for a few months during his first cross country season ever and then winning the High School National Championship! I mean sure if he started running 150 miles a week I am sure he would have set numerous World Records [ sarcasm] , however... maybe for a guy like that 70 would have been enough to really Thrive and shine? [But we'll never know because he quit running After High School].
Spivey, Padilla, Webb, Lagat, Hocker and many others have run very fast mile/ 5K's off of 50 to 60 miles per week. Fact. Could they have run faster if they ran more ? maybe. The point is one does not necessarily need a 100+ miles a week to run a very fast mile or even 5K.
[Okay I hope for at least 50 👎 's with that post!]
Webb ran an awesome 10k the year before he ran 3:46 and he wasn't the most consistent runner... Watch his 3:46, I think he could've gone faster with more aggressive pacing. He was so money and he didn't even know it!
While I agree with the theory of high mileage. I do not agree with asking a young runner (high school age) to run over 80 miles per week. You would end up with 2 cross sountry members by the start of school.
While I agree with the theory of high mileage. I do not agree with asking a young runner (high school age) to run over 80 miles per week. You would end up with 2 cross sountry members by the start of school.
So true, which is why there is no American version of Jakob Ingebrigsten.
For years LRC has been against high mileage in the girls / women's side.
Best example is how they keep predicting Katelyn Tuohy's burnout for being high mileage, but if you tell Jakob this, he would give Tuohy thumbs up.
I always thought this was interesting how protective LetsRun and other men who I know who have coached high school are over high mileage for girls who are enjoying it and not getting continually injured (like Katelyn Tuohy). While putting pressure on people to run high mileage before they are ready to can be a recipe for burnout and injury and shouldn't be forced on developing teenagers, there are also examples of women who improved later who ran high mileage in high school. Sarah Hall, for example started running 70+ mile weeks throughout high school. She said she was never forced to, and enjoyed it and thinks it was beneficial to her lifetime aerobic development. Now she's 38 and still at it.
I also listen to a lot of discussions from old farts in my running community who coach high school freaking out over kids running 60+ mpw in high school. I didn't run until adulthood, so what do I know, but I swam growing up and we were putting in 20+ hours a week of training starting at age 10-14. Talk about burnout! 60 mpw works out to what, an hour a day of running on average? IMHO there are many worse things teenagers could be than running an hour a day. As long as it is being instigated by the kid (and not pressure from adults) and the kid isn't getting hurt, what's the big deal? It seems to me that 99% of the issues I see with teenage girls and injury/burnout has more to do with fuelling/disordered eating issues than training volume issues.
Either they'll improve or they won't. They'll continue to love it, or they will burn out on it. Talented freaks will be talented freaks.
For years LRC has been against high mileage in the girls / women's side.
Best example is how they keep predicting Katelyn Tuohy's burnout for being high mileage, but if you tell Jakob this, he would give Tuohy thumbs up.
I always thought this was interesting how protective LetsRun and other men who I know who have coached high school are over high mileage for girls who are enjoying it and not getting continually injured (like Katelyn Tuohy). While putting pressure on people to run high mileage before they are ready to can be a recipe for burnout and injury and shouldn't be forced on developing teenagers, there are also examples of women who improved later who ran high mileage in high school. Sarah Hall, for example started running 70+ mile weeks throughout high school. She said she was never forced to, and enjoyed it and thinks it was beneficial to her lifetime aerobic development. Now she's 38 and still at it.
I also listen to a lot of discussions from old farts in my running community who coach high school freaking out over kids running 60+ mpw in high school. I didn't run until adulthood, so what do I know, but I swam growing up and we were putting in 20+ hours a week of training starting at age 10-14. Talk about burnout! 60 mpw works out to what, an hour a day of running on average? IMHO there are many worse things teenagers could be than running an hour a day. As long as it is being instigated by the kid (and not pressure from adults) and the kid isn't getting hurt, what's the big deal? It seems to me that 99% of the issues I see with teenage girls and injury/burnout has more to do with fuelling/disordered eating issues than training volume issues.
Either they'll improve or they won't. They'll continue to love it, or they will burn out on it. Talented freaks will be talented freaks.
Tuohy did get injured in high school and didn't get back to her best for 2-3 years, and she is among the very few elite girls prospects to have a hs peak in 9th or 10th grade, get injured, regress, and then get back well beyond her hs peak in college. In most such cases, they lose the fire and disappear from the scene.
Jakob is a once in a lifetime generational talent who breathes and lives in a professional running family environment at a young age. I don't expect all high schoolers to run high mileage at all. And that's fine.
A generational talent is roughly thrice in a lifetime, not once in a lifetime.
Tuohy did get injured in high school and didn't get back to her best for 2-3 years, and she is among the very few elite girls prospects to have a hs peak in 9th or 10th grade, get injured, regress, and then get back well beyond her hs peak in college. In most such cases, they lose the fire and disappear from the scene.
Giving Tuohy credit, she still ran prs, course records and a national record on her junior year despite dealing with an injury and set backs in training. Junior year was when her body was starting to mature too which I believe is a tricky time for every runner, you have to be careful. Bottomline, everyone gets injured at some point of their career but it is about the drive as much as the talent, and Katelyn Tuohy has proven again and again that she has both.
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