Hello, I'm a bit new to posting on this website so please forgive my ignorance concerning any rules or etiquette. Anyway, I'm a male freshman XC runner who's just finished up the season, and I've been extremely disappointed about my times. I have fairly good genetics regarding long-distance running, and I've been doing cross country since eighth grade (I only ran the 1.5 mile race then), but I just haven't been seeing any improvement in my 5k race times. I generally stay in the 18:30s range.
1st invite: 18:02 (time error)
2nd invite: 18:33
3rd invite: 19:16 (2nd place was 19:37)
4th invite: 18:37
5th invite: 18:35
Now, ignore the times for the first and third invite as there were external circumstances not relating to my ability which both negatively and positively influenced my times for those races. I have a good coach that incorporates consistent speed training, distance runs, and recovery days into our practice, and we tend to stay within the range of 20-25 miles per week. Although I've been practicing hard and sleeping consistently, I haven't seen much of a budge in my 5k times. Last year, I saw drastic improvements almost every race, and while it was a little foolish to except major improvement over and over this season, I wouldn't expect this standstill (I'm not sure if this can be considered regression). I've seen definite improvements in my speed over the season, and I've been feeling pushed by the endurance training. Is this just a matter of needing to increase my training? Is there something else I need to incorporate into my training?
At the beginning of this season, I was really optimistic, but it feels like the effort I've put in has really been a waste.