I'll start with my high school PRs
5k XC 16:20 junior year (didn't run senior year-injured)
800-1:56 senior year
1600-4:32 senior year
3200-10:43 sophomore year (didn't run junior or senior year)
In high school I had three different coaches. One of them was the XC coach, one of them was the track coach, and the other was a friends dad who was a coach and helped us during summer and winter training.
I would describe the XC coach as moderate mileage (40-50) but very high intensity. We usually did 3 workouts a week+a long run, or 2 workouts+race+long run. He wanted our distance runs to be at a decent pace too, not just recovery (we didn't really do this too much though).
Summer/Winter training was very simple. Mileage anywhere from 40-65 mpw with a progression run a week, a long run, and strides.
Track training was low mileage (30-40) with high intensity. We were trained like 400/800 guys with 3-4 hard efforts a week.
I always felt like I was more of a track athlete, and I think my best events were the 800 and the 1600. If I went higher than 60 mpw I would get injured, and I would always get dropped on the progression runs during off season by guys I was faster than.
The question I have is how should I train. It's been a goal for me to walk on to my college team, and for that I'd need to run 1:53 for 800 or 4:16 for 1600.
I've taken a break from running, started to get back into running 20-30 mpw. I know its a stretch to say I can run 1:53, but both PRs senior year came from much easier training than I was used to. I wouldn't say I was overtrained at all, but that senior track season I rarely hit any killer sessions or high mileage and still got pretty good results.
I just dont have a long term idea of how I should try to structure my training. Should I try to build mileage to 60-70 mpw over a longer than normal period and then add workouts? Should I run low mileage and focus on 200/400 speed?
Besides race pace intervals obviously, what paces should I be hitting to get the most bang for my buck as a mid D guy? 3k? 5k? 10? Threshold? MP?
I just don't really know where to go as an athlete. I've been running with the club team and there are some decent guys there, but I want to push it to the next level and try to run for the University.