You may be right about replacing your shoes every 250 miles. I ran for a decent NCAA program in the 70s, most of the distance guys ran 50+ miles a week. We were issued one pair of shoes per year! I supplemented with buying my own, but other guys just used the school shoes. No wonder so many of us were hurt.
I think more like 500-1k miles. Which could be a pair of shoes a month for a distance guy.
Cross country courses shouldn't be a standard distance, they should just have a range. For high school make a course anywhere between 4.5 to 5.5K, whatever course you can layout that naturally fits the geography.
No more "on the first loop you go behind the maintenance shed, but on the second loop you cut across the football field "
I agree! To add, I'm way faster in a super shoe if I only saved it for a race. I believe runners should be strengthening their legs not only in the gym but also by training with more minimal shoes. Only when racing should you put on a shoe that takes the load off your legs when time matters. (Other than using the supershoe in a couple pre-race workouts to get used to it). Also, If a runner's legs are too fatigued to run, they shouldn't rely on a super cushioned super trainer to run anyway when they should be resting.
You may be right about replacing your shoes every 250 miles. I ran for a decent NCAA program in the 70s, most of the distance guys ran 50+ miles a week. We were issued one pair of shoes per year! I supplemented with buying my own, but other guys just used the school shoes. No wonder so many of us were hurt.
I think more like 500-1k miles. Which could be a pair of shoes a month for a distance guy.
The 250-300 mile thing depends a lot on whether it's your only pair of shoes, if you rotate them with just one other pair, or if they're part of a rotation with several other pairs. The regular compression of running in a pair so often is what leads to the breakdown most see after 250 miles. If you're giving a pair of shoes one or more days between runs, the shoes will probably last longer.
There's also whether you use a given pair for hard repeats, use them on longer runs, or use that pair on easier, shorter runs.
Never mind pairs I've retired after 50-100 miles because they felt wrong or had some defect... I'd have shoes that lasted 300 miles, some that took 500 before they were clearly done, and I have some close to 1000 that still work fine today. The lifespan on a good pair varies widely depending in part on how they're used and how often.
In many contexts at a high enough level, the amount that people are training is determined less by the quality of their work ethic and more by the limitations of their body’s ability to absorb work, and improving may be less about training more and more about training better in various ways, e.g. recovering better.
Also, the mental and emotional sides to training and competing are important and can be developed just as one’s physical abilities can.
All of you are doing way too many hard workouts every week, far more mileage than you need, and your easy workouts should be closer to Z1. None of you listened to Hadd in all the years he gave advice here before he passed.
The first time an elite coach finally bites the bullet and has their runners train more easily and cuts their mileage down to 60-80 mpw, and wins doing that, it's going to break most of you because (as they all do) you attach your egos to how fast you run, how many mpw you do, and sticking to outdated research and traditions.
We tried that, mid80s> early 90's.
The hill I will die on is that other than the very very top HS talent, MOST HS XC runners could do 1 day of hills and the next week do 1 day of 6x8, then spend the rest of their time running milage or racing on Saturday.
All of you are doing way too many hard workouts every week, far more mileage than you need, and your easy workouts should be closer to Z1. None of you listened to Hadd in all the years he gave advice here before he passed.
The first time an elite coach finally bites the bullet and has their runners train more easily and cuts their mileage down to 60-80 mpw, and wins doing that, it's going to break most of you because (as they all do) you attach your egos to how fast you run, how many mpw you do, and sticking to outdated research and traditions.
We tried that, mid80s> early 90's.
I realize there's been a lot of responses since I wrote that and you probably didn't see it, but two others pointed that exact thing out and my response is linked below.
D3 runners are so slow. My sister ran for a D3 team and I watched her run a 10k when we were at the same meet, but I needed a nap.
I actually have a take on this topic
This lowkey goes for any sport, but I see it a lot in running.
Any athlete with the opportunity to run at D3 schools like UChicago, WashU, MIT, Swarthmore, Tufts, Williams, Amherst who passes it up to run at a school like Eastern Kentucky, Alabama ANM, Troy, Old Dominion, or Bowling Green just to have the D1 title is making an absolutely awful decision.
Picking your knees up slightly is one of easiest ques to significantly improve your running economy. I can't really explain why, but for beginners it just works.
All of you are doing way too many hard workouts every week, far more mileage than you need, and your easy workouts should be closer to Z1. None of you listened to Hadd in all the years he gave advice here before he passed.
The first time an elite coach finally bites the bullet and has their runners train more easily and cuts their mileage down to 60-80 mpw, and wins doing that, it's going to break most of you because (as they all do) you attach your egos to how fast you run, how many mpw you do, and sticking to outdated research and traditions.
We tried that, mid80s> early 90's.
The hill I will die on is that other than the very very top HS talent, MOST HS XC runners could do 1 day of hills and the next week do 1 day of 6x8, then spend the rest of their time running milage or racing on Saturday.
The 1600 meters should be the premier middle distance race at the world level, not the mile or the 1500.
Terrible, but true. This intrusive thought attacks me every once in a while, usually when I'm pacing off nine meters to set up a mile time trial. Also, this is the perfect take for this thread because I both agree and want everyone standing on this hill to die a horrible death. Including, apparently, myself. Great work.
The 1600 meters should be the premier middle distance race at the world level, not the mile or the 1500.
Terrible, but true. This intrusive thought attacks me every once in a while, usually when I'm pacing off nine meters to set up a mile time trial. Also, this is the perfect take for this thread because I both agree and want everyone standing on this hill to die a horrible death. Including, apparently, myself. Great work.
I agree! To add, I'm way faster in a super shoe if I only saved it for a race. I believe runners should be strengthening their legs not only in the gym but also by training with more minimal shoes. Only when racing should you put on a shoe that takes the load off your legs when time matters. (Other than using the supershoe in a couple pre-race workouts to get used to it). Also, If a runner's legs are too fatigued to run, they shouldn't rely on a super cushioned super trainer to run anyway when they should be resting.
The elites run their workouts in super shoes, allowing them to run a higher volume of workouts.
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