sub 26 XC 8k

You should be doing 90-110MPW unless your body cannot take it. Thats base building. Not 65 or 70. Close fast and keep splits and CR's for those splits (IE, 1.0 to go, 2.5 to go) if you do not have a GPS watch. Also, most GPS watches are off so add back on average 3-4 seconds per mile to what the GPS watch says. That means a 5:00 last mile is probably 5:03 or 5:04.

I did 100MPW before my junior year in NCAA X-C and broke 25:00 for 5 Miles regularly and 31:00 for 10K. The next year I ran 50MPW over the summer and did not break 25:30/31:45 until November. By then it was too late to think I had a good year.

Get as many miles in as you can stay healthy for.

Bump

Don't sweat it if you don't break it. I ran a 4:11 and 1:53 in high school and didnt break 26 in the 8k last year

Try Hard Go Far wrote:

reed: I think it will be fairly difficult for you to break 26 in an 8k, unless it is on a track, which I'm assuming it's not. You ran 15:46 on a track meaning that you would have to run the last 3k in 10:13 (5:27 pace for the last 2 miles). Not to mention your track prs for the 1500m and 3k are very slow compared to the 5k pr (in my opinion). I would think you would need to be running about 15:00 for a track 5k to go sub 26 on an average cross country course.

the 8k course i plan to go for sub 26 at is flat with a fast running surface. no grass aside from first/last 100m, all packed dirt.

also, my PRs can be pretty much ignored. i was probably in 4:15-4:18 shape when i ran that 5k, and my best 3k was actually 9:27 (last 7.5 laps of 5k PR). i was in about 9:10 shape for 3k probably.

and to suggest that you need 15:00 for 5k before running sub 26, that's not true at all. 15:00 would get you closer to 25:20s probably.

I'm sweating it because I'm trying to walk on d1 and xc isn't my thing haha. I understand sub 26 on a xc course could be a potentially ambitious goal which is why I'm asking people to look at my training and see if I'm on a reasonable track towards a time around 26:00.

I'm sweating it because I'm trying to walk on d1 and xc isn't my thing haha. I understand sub 26 on a xc course could be a potentially ambitious goal which is why I'm asking people to look at my training and see if I'm on a reasonable track towards a time around 26:00.

Definitely attainable (OP), especially if you build your endurance up. 55-60mpw is fine for an incoming Freshman, just be smart with your training. At lower mileage you need to emphasize threshold type efforts (don't just do easy miles), I'd recommend two tempos/week...one 3-4miles @5:20-5:30pace, the other 6-8miles@5:35-5:50pace. I actually broke 26 for the first time with a 5k PR of 16:21 (mile pr 4:22) from the previous year. Went through the 5k enroute in that race in 15:45ish. Went on to run 25:30-26:00 in most of the races that season. I kept my summer training pretty simple...basically 45-55mpw (I was injury prone)with the two above mentioned tempos/week. I also did some cruise intervals (8x1600 w/1min rest) beginning in the middle of August.

Thanks for the response. That's the approach I'm taking that you described.

Bump

Looks okay so far, keep us updated OP.

Sub 26 is my goal this year as well. Last track season I ran 15:50 but really felt I was in 15:30 shape, it was on about 40-50 miles a week. This summer I have built up to 70 + for the last three weeks and now am taking a down week of 60. I have never felt this strong aerobically before in my life. I do one 30 min fartlek a week, and a quality long run of 14 miles, averaging anywhere from 6:10-6:20 pace. noting to hard before the season starts. I'm aiming for chile pepper, and conference. current prs which were all done on 50 miles a week or less...mile-4:30, 5k-15:50, 8k-27:10. think I have a shot?

Hard to say for sure until you start doing some quality workouts. 14mi at 6:10-6:20 is good, but what pace do you typically do your other easy runs at? My guess is you get to 26:20-26:30 with the possibility of going sub 26.

I wasn't as speedy as you in the short stuff (2:01 800m Hs), but I managed a pair of 26:02 8ks my freshman year. My mileage was about 35 per week, all between 4:50 and 7:00. I'll admit that I was/am a slacker. You should bump your mileage up as others here have suggested. There is no real substitute for hard work.

my easy runs are progression runs averaging around 6:20-6:30. Today I did a 5 mile time trial on a hilly dirt road in flats and solo'ed a 26:58, I haven t done any quality work outside the more millage, but I'm excited cause I really think I can do it with more quality and spikes, competition later in the season! let me know how your doing OP

6:20s is too fast for your easy runs unless you're never doing workouts or not doing over 50 mpw

you should slow down your easy days to 7:00 and add a couple miles to each day. you'll feel much fresher for workouts.

the guys on my club team that ran 25:50s all ran about 70-90 mpw around 7:15 pace, with long runs of 16-18 usually.

workouts would be fartleks, mile repeats around 5:10 pace, and tempos anywhere from 5:50 to 5:30 pace

well Im not really doing any high quality workouts yet...just more milage so I don't want to be fresh this early in the season.

Based on you being able to already being able to go sub 27, I think you'll be very close to breaking 26 this season and if you get a good couse you'll break 26 if you've set up your training correctly. Keep it up!

I'm currently in a period of adjusting to about 60mpw and I am working on getting it up around 65mpw. Over the past few weeks I've been transitioning to two 4mile tempos per week and a 13mile long run. Eventually I'll up the long run to at least 14 and will probably add a mile to one of the tempos. I've been putting a lot of stress on my body from this transition and am probably only in 27:20 shape currently. I've only done 4 tempos up to this point. But since I'm trying to walk on and my school doesn't start until September 25th I have up until October 1st ish or so before I'll be racing an 8k. In 2 months I think I can shave off 80 seconds off my 8k guesstimated time.

my coach is limiting me to only one tempo a week, until school starts. But my focus is on the chile pepper race in Arkansas. Its an 8k this year and everyone says its a fast course so that and conference.

as for the adjusting period I feel like im a couple weeks ahead of you, not to brag. but don't worry I felt exhausted at the end of those weeks, but when I took two days easy before this time trial I felt like a million bucks. Good luck on season man and keep me posted on how training going

Yeah I am for sure. You're also doing your mileage faster than I am by about 20sec/mi faster than I am, but that's probably because I am doing an extra tempo and I am in Nashville which is as hot, humid, and hilly as heck. I will move to long intervals (at least 1600m and up) with short recovery in a 3-4 weeks which will replace one of the tempos. I will probably only have 2-3 8ks this year and I will almost definitely be done by October 25th at the latest, so the next 6 weeks are critical for my season. If the course is fast then I'm guessing you'll be somewhere between 25:40-26:15. But hey don't let me put a limit on how fast you can run!