How to "go for broke" in college?

mike pace - made me laugh

consequences - that probably has more to do with desire than injury/durability. Also, that's true for any mpw

falafel - I might try that, thanks for the tips

stan - I ate an entire thing of double stuf oreos last weekend at the end of the season... that'll last me till the next break, let alone each day.

Unkle - Luckily, that is my situation

Nenow - I plan to get to 2 hours a day, in fact I've hit about 3 or 4 13+ hour weeks before. Hopefully I can make those regular, but once I get too tired, I ease up in favor of a little more quality. Usually this involves 30 - 40 min doubles 6 times a week.

consequences time wrote:

maybe you want to consider the rest of your life...hardly any college 100 mile per week guys are still running in to midlife.

This was me. I was a 100mpw guy in college with no injuries, but that cumulative abuse took its toll. By the time I hit 30 I couldn't run any more. Even slow jogs led to injury. I really miss it, but all I can do now is bike which I don't enjoy nearly as much.

I would be sure you are getting sufficient recovery. I'm not talking between intervals, but on a macro level. Think about the physiological process of breaking down and then building up. If you are constantly pounding miles your body has a difficult time building back up. Dialing it back and letting your body heal is key. With no healing there's no improvement. It's easy to fall into the trap of just adding miles to get better. The biggest jump I made in college was when I had to spend a semester away from the team due to a remote internship. I wasn't able to do hard training and just went in maintenance mode (50 MPW with no intervals/speed/etc) for a couple of months. I went from #8 runner to #2. I always felt it was because I 're-charged' during that off time.

Ncaa ruler wrote:

95% of college runners who are faster than you are doing less than 100 MPW.

Not true.

I know several sub 14 college guys.None are doing more than 85 MPW. I know of only 1 college guy doing 100 MPW and he only runs about 14:40. So maybe it is 100% of guys faster are doing less than 100MPW.

brokendown - I will keep that in mind, but I'm not gonna hold myself back now because it might suck when I'm older.

Flagpole - I agree

Ncaa - Joe Klecker, NAU guys, BYU guys, Portland guys, etc

Groucher seemed to do okay

Given that you trust your training and coach and will not modify it..Maybe a couple of things:

Protein intake (is it enough? )

Training fasted (dk its impact for the 5k, just an idea)

Would take a look at the kind of stretching you are soing maybe. Not so many proofs that it is useful and could be detrimental.

Highly Motivated Loser wrote:

brokendown - I will keep that in mind, but I'm not gonna hold myself back now because it might suck when I'm older.

Flagpole - I agree

Ncaa - Joe Klecker, NAU guys, BYU guys, Portland guys, etc

To be clear, I have zero regrets. Running in college was one of the best experiences of my life. and I would do it again. In fact, my son is getting ready to run in college and I'm 100% supportive of him doing so even as I hobble around the house.

That said, high mileage does take its toll but there are things you can now to extend your career that is still high level training i.e. 99% of my training was on roads whereas I have my son running almost exclusively on trails. I never rolled, he rolls every day. etc.

I don't know anything about your coach or your training, but one thing that I have noticed at both the HS and college level is that many coaches have a one-size-fits-all plan. "This worked for my guy 10 years ago who won states, was an All American, etc." Every runner is different. Some people respond better to higher mileage, others interval training, etc. So, if you feel stuck, mix it up and be very objective about what is and is not working for you. This takes time and thought but may really help. Think like a scientist and don't change 100 things at once.

maaaybe - I think my protein is good, while on campus I have meat with lunch and dinner and I'll have beans and other things with protein too. I trained fasted most of this summer and maybe it helped, but I don't know, it was definitely harder in the morning (fasted). I don't do a lot of stretching and I make sure to keep it light and if anything is sore from a particular stretch I don't do it anymore or at least for a little bit.

stillbrokendown - Thanks for replying again, I see what you were saying now. I've been thinking about how to get soft footing while back home between semesters (we have 7 weeks off this year) and it seems I either have to bike (nowhere to park) 3 - 5 miles from my house or get at most 50% on soft footing. I've been thinking about testing out that extra biking, maybe it'll benefit a tiny bit with just warm up and cool downs. Also, one of the two places near me that are dirt roads is extremely hilly and I was thinking of using that road more often, just for easy runs and maybe tempos, but we'll see. Luckily I got into training theories before choosing my college/coach and he, for the most part, does what I think is best. When I don't think it is, I may adjust it a little, but I trust him to get me fit when it matters, I've improved a lot with him already. One thing I have found that has kept me injury free for years since I started doing it is, my easy days are really easy, like way easier than most people on my team. Some days I'll hit 8:20s and others I'll cruise low 7s, but I've learned to listen to my body and I think that helps with what you're talking about.

My advice would be to focus on the mental side of things. Your physical is great, but learning how to race, how to relax, how to be confident, etc. will take you farther than any magic workout or 150-mile weeks.