Prove me wrong: High School Athletes SHOULD NOT be doing 5 mile tempo runs

Curious the boards hate this take, yet, they love double threshold. The biggest take away from double threshold is that consistent work at Threshold is more important than the volume of any one workout.

Did double thresholds of 5 miles twice a week almost every week prepering for xc and ran 14:43 so I guess it's OK

Yeah, double thresholds are great for collegiate and professional runners

Our coach had varsity guys running 6 mile tempos when I was in HS (early 2010’s) his memo was that if you could run 6 mile tempo @ 6 min pace controlled then you could run 16:30 for 5K. Usually us top guys were running them @ 5:20-5:30 per mile. We had multiple guys running 15:30 & sub 16 every year & were state contenders every year. First year of college you will be racing an extra 2 miles in 8K so what’s wrong with preparing your top guys for the long tempo runs they will be doing in doing college? We would also do some pretty insane 15-16 mile long runs.

Haha did it as a 10th grader

Yeah, anyone can do it. That 11-year old Norwegian kid did it. I used to do it in the 90s following the Oregon System. What's your point?

I mean you said it's great for college and pro runners but my point is that it's also great for high school athletes, as opposed to what the original author wrote

It is great for college and pro runners. It's not great for high school runners because they are not doing the requisite volume to benefit from it. If you're doing double thresholds on 50-60 mile weeks, you are not going to develop into winning form. High school is about 5km fast. We're talking sub-14:00 for 3 miles. Sub-14:40 for 5km. If you're running 14:40 for 3 miles, drop the double thresholds and start working on efficiencies at high speed with solid volume. Let me know if you need help. I coached a girl under 15:40 for 3 miles.

I didn't ran a 14:40 for 3 miles, I ran 14:43 for 5k and 31:18 for 10k as a 10th grader so yeah I think i'm fine

Debatable, I don’t see why a good junior-senior HS runner(16:30 & below) wouldn’t benefit from doing double threshold. The most important things for HS runners to develop are running economy, strength, aerobic, & threshold. Ofc it’s different for every athlete depending if they want to focus on 800 or mile but if we are talking 5K then those will be the most important.

I get where you're coming from, and it's true that there's no one-size-fits-all approach. Balancing training intensity and recovery is key. Shorter tempo runs can help prevent burnout and ensure athletes enjoy the sport. Quality over quantity matters in the long run! 🏃‍♀️👍

Some people are really lacking in talent. I ran about 7:20 for mile when I tried out for the track team as a freshman. Three years later I was averaging 60 miles a week with 6-8 miles of lactate threshold one day and an event specific workout on another day, and my mile time was almost 3 minutes quicker and I was running low 16s for 5k.

Meanwhile in Kenya teenagers are doing 30k “tempos” lmao

Good, keep working. If you can get under 14:00 and 30:00 you'll be on your way!!! How will double thresholds get you there?

Siri - show me a bunch of US high schoolers sidelined with injuries.

there is a reason why almost all US high school sub 4 milers didn't have great pro careers. they all got burned out in high school.

no high school runner needs to be doing 5 mile tempo runs on August 1st.

I’ll take your help/coaching!

5 mile tempos can be great or overkill. If your tempo is a minute slower than date 5k pace, five miles is great. If you are 20-30 seconds slower, YIKES!

double threshold completely unnecessary in HS. At the high end, 50 to 60 miles per week is sufficient, and double thresholds just aren't necessary at that mileage. different when you are at 90-120 miles per week trying to get in the neighborhood of 20 quality miles per week.

fwiw, i don't think I've ever assigned a 5 mile tempo. 5 miles of threshold intervals, sure. By the time we might be ready for them, we are into the season with a Tuesday meet every week and invitationals every other weekend. No room or need for that straight 5 miler at that point.