I will do anything to run a 15:29 5k in XC

Homie

You ran 4:19

Put up 50 mile weeks and you’ll crush 15:30

You have 51 speed in a 400 and a 4:19 mile, and you aren't under 16:00??!!

As the other poster said I would guess you could run 15:30 with decent training based on that alone. For reference, I have a guy who ran 15:53 last cross season and has current PRs of 53/4:29.

You can probably run 15:30 off of 40-45 mpw. What does your coach say?

Well my coach does plan on bringing my mileage up to 50 and peaking at 60 during the summer, but I feel like I’m just really good at speed endurance, so I’m going to have to work a lot harder to get good at endurance stuff. I also don’t really know where I’m at currently. I have progressed a lot from last track season. Where I ran 53, 1:59, 4:44,10:30

I don’t really know where I’m at when it comes to longer stuff because the head track coach and sprint coach will not let me run a 3200m. I feel like I would be right around 9:35. As I can keep up fine with our 32 guys in workouts.

I agree that your other PRs are good enough for 15:29. More miles is going to help a ton. Talk to your coach. Tell him that's your goal, and ask what his plan is to help you there.

With a bigger mileage base, I think it's just going to come down to learning/practicing how to hold the pace and race at that pace. Sounds like you might have fast teammates, so lean on them for advice and believe in yourself. Work on building confidence throughout the summer and in the early season races.

Run as many easy miles as you can and run as many easy/moderate intervals as you can. Do intervals 5 days a week if your body can handle it. Prioritize intervals over mileage

Summer of Malmo was meant for people like you.

Run an hour or so every morning, mostly easy. Run another 30 minutes or so later in the day, really easy. (Or reverse that if you like your primary run to be late in the day).

Once a week do some manageable but faster work. Once a week do a manageable tempo.

The key is to keep everything well within your limits. The easy running should be really easy. The workouts should be super doable. Don't chase anything. No times or rep numbers or anything. Just let the paces come to you.

Did I mention the mileage should almost all be easy? That part is important.

Got to get your mileage up higher

avoid urge to do summer road races

what kind of course running in?

this is where people need to realize

all Xc courses are different

times matter but they are relative to that course.

you can’t compare times on different courses. You just can’t.

I’m assuming your time goal is a home course.

Of course has hills make sure your hill work is good

make sure you got fast good spikes or flats

it's funny what perspective can do. this kid will do anything to break 15:30 in xc next season. meanwhile the rest of us are thinking how can he not break 15:30? like come on son, shoot for the stars a little here. sub 15:00 not out of the question at all.

honestly kid, if my consciousness somehow took over your body in some sort of trading places bizarro world, i'd be scheming to break 14:30 in XC and then 4:00 in track. sure maybe i'd come up a little short and go 14:45/4:05, but i promise you 15:30 is too conservative.

love the humility though.

aside from getting volume/mileage up, i would very highly recommend you get your ferritin checked.

You should still focus on track for the rest of the season. I would think that your times would get you to the state meet unless you are in a really competitive state. Run all summer and you'll do fine. Just don't go crazy trying to put in too many miles and get injured.

+1

After your outdoor season is over, start base building for XC. Forget about mile-5k (VO2) workouts. Focus on mostly easy mileage, 1 threshold/tempo workout/week, strides 2x/week, & a good long run (with quality every other week). Something like that. You have a ton of speed. Don't focus on time. Put in the work & the time will come.

I ran 15:28 a couple weeks ago. You should crush that time with a 4:19. I doubt I can run faster than 4:30.

The training I did:

70 mile weeks

Threshold workouts twice a week (20x400 @10k, 5x6 min on/1 min off) and a long run, the rest easy miles, a couple doubles

Key workouts were: (was barely hanging on for these sessions)

- 3x1600 @5k with 400 jog

- 2k, 1k, 1k @ 5k with 400 jog

Your times suggest that either you are aerobically very underdeveloped, or you may be a 400/800m or pure 800m guy. More mileage should easily lead you to 15-low if the former; but if the latter, you may struggle to break 16. The only way to know is to give it a shot and see how it goes.

There are definitely hard courses and it’s generally pretty muddy towards the end of the year. But the state meet and some other course are pretty flat with just 1-3 good hills, so I don’t think course will be preventing me.

Okay… thanks I’m not really sure about sub 15 though. That would be a massive improvement. What training would you recommend to someone like me who is a lot better with speed endurance. I’m willing to try anything and really push it this summer. Should most my miles be easy and just kill workouts or more moderate and how much mileage should I do? I trust my coach as were consistently one of the best schools in our state so I know coaching won’t be a problem. I will also definitely get my ferritin checked during the summer but I don’t think that was a problem last year I just haven’t really been good until now. Thanks for the feedback

I actually had a similar PR is HS. As other have noted, you're endurance being improved will help. It's probably not the workouts themselves, but the long run. I'm not even going to comment on speed workouts cause you have excellent speed, and you should still practice that, but for the tempo/strength type workouts I'd make sure I'm getting 5 miles a week a tempo effort. For reference before I ran 15:26, I did 5 x mile averaging 4:59 cutting down from 5:10-4:45 the first 4 miles then right on pace the last rep. I also did a 5 mile progression averaging 5:25 (5:10 last mile). Your long runs should be at least 70 mins, but in general I'd shoot for 11 miles, no more than 90 mins no matter how slow the pace.

What's your current long run? You even long run bro?

I forgot to add, I was doing averaging 35-40 mpw with my LR ranging 9-12 miles.

Excellent advice!

First, take a break once track is over. A week or two off can be important since you will be racing 5ks until November. At least start by running easy. Increasing your mileage is good, but you should also do some threshold and sub-threshold running over the summer once you introduce quality running.

Something like a four mile tempo with some fast hills or reps on grass at the end would be good. Don't sweat the pace, just go by effort and the "talk test" i.e. can you talk while doing the workout. A weekly long run working up to 12-15 miles where you run the last half or third progressively faster is another staple that can benefit you. No need to go too fast on it though, sub-threshold pace is good enough. Try to get people to run with because it makes it all easier. The Summer of Malmo that others suggested is a mindset and approach to consider.

yeah i get you aren't sure about sub-15. but i've coached a handful of kids with similar talent, which is why i think shooting for sub 15:30 is like...cute? like you really have no idea what you are capable of and that's refreshing.

anyway, will you be training with your team and coach over summer? don't want to give too much advice here and step on your coach's feet.

in regards to ferritin, there's no reason to believe you are depleted, but for someone with your talent there's a good chance you'll be running in college if you choose to and having a historical record of your ferritin may be quite valuable eventually so you know when you do and don't feel like you're at your best.