Freshman who needs help going from 5:30 to 5 in the 1600

My daughter went from 5:25 to 4:55 in one year same race to same race. I'd advise to just train hard every day. Have fun, run relaxed. Don't worry about pace or workouts. Just make sure your form is the best it can be: powerful, strong, you want to think and look like you're an Olympian. Make sure you're putting all your power into your stride. In terms of "mileage" she ran 3-4 miles on days without workouts. Never has run longer than 40 minutes. But all runs are at 6:45-7:25/mi pace.

Run 5/6 days week. Easy (mile pace+~3mins) 30-40 mins. There is a lot to be said for frequency when working on a new skill.

And you sort of have 3 hard days in a row. Spread them out...

Just keep working hard, I think you can break 5. Helped a kid to do just that last year when he came off injury and in a few weeks ran 5:38. He ran 4:58 and 4:56 in trainers in the spring

also knew a kid who ran 5:26 indoors as a freshman, covid cancelled his spring. Junior year he frontran a 9:22 and just ran 4:20 the other day as a senior. Clearly he was a talent in disguise, and was over 70 mpw for a while but if you work you might surprise yourself. Maybe you’re a talent in disguise too…

That progression goal is totally realistic for a freshman that’s new to the sport.

First off, you’ll want stronger consistency. You just aren’t gonna get to your top running form basically only running on half of your days. Let’s try 5 days of running, 1 day of biking, and 1 day off per week.

Its usually pretty normal for highschoolers to have pretty poor economy/mechanics, where they look like they are sprinting at 5:00 pace. You want to get those mechanics in place by doing faster stuff. Doing 3-4 x150m or 5-6x100m after your easy runs is a good way to get more efficient and therefor faster. Start at around 4:50-5:00 pace for these, and be going at a 95% effort by the end. Focus on good form and breathing technique.

Id also cut your tempo down to 20 minutes with a good 10 minute warmup and cool down. 25 minutes is a bit long for an underdeveloped miler.

Train hard every day?

All your power into your stride?

Op this is terrible advice.

So just continuing your exact training you'll prob improve as you are young and presumably new to the sport. Most important is to be consistent, have fun, and listen to your body. Staying healthy will help you have better prs long term.

When you feel ready, begin converting your Saturdays to an easy run. And vary what you do for workouts too.

Are you serious? This is the advice you don't want to hear. I apologize. I have 25 years coaching, still have NCAA D1 records, and have produced more than enough D1 athletes. You are young, push your body. Don't over-think. What I would say is don't listen to a "renewed marathoner" they have no idea what it takes to run fast.