I once cut 1:27 in two races, or about 10-14 days. from 20:30 to 19:03
I once cut 1:27 in two races, or about 10-14 days. from 20:30 to 19:03
Mine was going from a 22:09 to 18:44 from freshman year to sophomore year. Had no base before freshman year and ran 25 - 35 mpw before my sophomore XC season.
Almost two minutes, 19->17. It happened when I first went from 25 to 50+ mpw back in high school.
Track workouts were usually 10X400m/200 Rjog or 4 X mile/400Rjog ~ Hills were 10 X 300-400m hill, easy walk/jog down for recovery. Each was run as fast as possible to the point where I didn't feel like I could do another repeat.
I went from 35:04 in xc my freshman year hs to running 20:00ish that spring in a road race. I also lost 90 pounds in that 9 month span which helped.
A friend of mine was fat when he started running in high school but was extremely talented and hard working. His first 5k was over 28 minutes. Within a year he broke 16:30. Only broke 16 twice though and now he's fat again.
17:25 debut at 19 (40 mpw)
16:15 at 20 (after 60 to 75 mpw for 8 months)
Did not improve in 5K for next two years (but did at all other distances), and then did not run a 5K for three more.
Then out of the blue 15:28 at 25 (70 to 85 mpw)
8th grade turkey trot after xc season: 21:00
Freshman Year counties xc course: 17:49
Beat that!
The summer before 9th grade I ran 2-5 miles about 4-5 times per week. So probably 10-20 mpw.
9th grade XC - 19:09
9th grade winter = 40-50 mpw
9th grade summer = 60 mpw
10th grade XC - 16:40
The key was hard/easy training and adhering to a Lydiard schedule both of those periods. Long run of 1:45 and several 10 milers each week.
Hard workouts were 5-8-10 miles hard or 3:00 hard/3:00 at 6:00 pace. Also did a lot of weight training and calisthenics and pushups/situps for muscular endurance.
I went from 16:54 5k my sophomore year on about 30-40 miles per week to 15:30 my junior year of high school off of 70 mpw at a very slow pace.
1548 to 1451. Was a 800 miler type. Put some more miles in and tempo work. Pretty quick drop
~3 min
20:30-17:22
fresh-soph year in hs
14:04 to 13:18. It was a long time coming though.
the year isn't over yet, but i went from 17:03 to 15:46 in 2 races. still clinging onto hope for a 15:29 by the time that year is up though
I'm not sure if this meets the criteria but I pr'ed on the cooper river bridge run. It's about a 200 foot drop from the tallest bridge
I got some 50 MPW in before college and ran 15:55. However my training has been in conflict with leg complications and other BS so I'm not sure how accurate that statistic is. I think I could've trained not in greater in volume but with more consistency and raced better as well.
Mileage is very important, but it varies and should not be the one thing you have your mind set on.
Last year I went from 32:05 in January to 22:42 in late September. I took it seriously and lost 80 lbs. also went from a 9:37 mile to a 6:01. Got injured but bounced back and did a 5:59 solo. Hoping for 5:50 next month. Also working super hard to break 20 in the 5k this year. I'm 6'6 225.
90 seconds in 2013. Not that it was a competitive time in the first place.
My freshman year, first year of running, I went from 19:40 in August to 17:04 on the same course in November
18:41 as HS freshman to 16:35 as HS sophomore. I started running in the offseason and grew/thinned out a bit my freshmen winter. Ran 20 mpw average before frosh year and 60 mpw average before soph year.