So in July of 2019 I started running frequently, maybe 10-15 miles a week. By December I was running maybe 20 mpw. My highest ever miles in a week was 25 miles, so I'm not particularly logging in many miles. My whole childhood however, I played a multitude of sports (tennis my main one) and I also ran CC in high school for 3 years so my aerobic fitness was naturally a little above average. This past summer I was running consistently 15-20 mpw, adding in either a speed session or a hill session once per week. I wasn't running a lot, mainly because I have slight tendonitis in my ankle, but I was still getting in some decent work. Fast forward to 3 weeks ago, I ran a 17:59 5k which is a PR by 1 minute 40 seconds.
I was pleasantly surprised by this, as I didn't imagine sub 18 was possible, but here we are. I have been wondering ever since what my time could have been if I had been running 30mpw rather than 20 all summer. Coaches of mine (I ran college CC for the first time this year) were surprised at how well I performed since I haven't run since HS and my PR's weren't especially impressive. Now that I have run a pretty good time (for me) for a 5k, I am motivated to start logging in more miles and break 16. I believe in my heart that if I up my mileage I will be able to do this within 12 months. What kind of things should I do to achieve this (other than the obvious increase in miles)?