5k XC Summer Training Program

First thing i would do is ask your coach for what she wants you to do because she might have a specific plan on whats happening after official practice starts and what she might want you to have done previously. If you cant get one from your coach or that your coach isn't experienced, i would just stick with a plan from a book or online, like daniels running formula (you can find a pdf somewhere) etc.

Search LRC for SOM.

summer of malmo is meant for high mileage and doubling. I doubt that someone who's highest week every is 34 will be able to hande the reccomended 70+ mpw

Please tell me where 70+ mpw is recommended?

Are you allowed to do what you want for summer training or do you have a coach to guide you? The good news is that you can run sub-17:00 off of 2:16 800 speed. But you need some more miles because, like you said, the times fall off as you move up in distance.

If you're allowed to do your own training then I say build up the mileage as much as you can within reason. You don't need to go from where you're at to doubling. You don't need a ton of workouts and can wait for the fall to add in speed workouts.

I would build up to the 40-50 mile range or so. Get back to 20-25, get up to 30-35, then hang out in the 40-50 range. 1.5 workouts/week -- do a weekly threshold/tempo effort (think continuous with decent volume or short rest with good volume: 3-6 mile tempo or stuff like 5-10 x 1k @ T on short rest), and then alternate some tempo running in your long run every other week. Do strides 2x/week to stay sharp. You can even do a light session every couple of weeks like some 200s/300s. Get in a weekly long run. Start with an hour. Build up to 90:00.

So a 40-50 mile week might look like: M- off, T- 5-6 E + strides, W- 8-10 x 1k @ T (1:00 rest) (8-10 total), T- 7-8 E, F- 5-6 E + strides, S- 5-6 E, S- 10-12 (alternate 3-4 @ GMP every other week in back half of the run).

Something like that would help you build strength so that when you start doing VO2 stuff in the fall you're able to hold it in races.

Summer of malmo is intended to be relatively high mileage plan. Malmo commented on a thread on LRC and seems to think that 70 mpw is low mileage. According to malmo himself, the goal of the plan is to focus on high mileage and to double as many days as you can. "Some of you may be running over 100 miles per week for the first time, other still think that running 70 mpw is a lot"

Hate to break it to you but you’re not breaking 17 this season if you haven’t even broken 20

So how would you advise I follow a training plan similar to SOM, with lower mileage?

My team has a summer camp but I will not be attending it because I can't due to my schedule also last year's training was lack luster, which is led by my head coach. My assistant coach who I believe is a better coach told me he would create a training plan for me over the summer that I can follow, but I have yet to hear from him.

Also I have a question regarding the long runs, I don't know if I can ever build up to an hour and 30 minutes for a single run. For the majority of my mileage is it not beneficial to break it up? For example instead of going on an 8 mile run, running 4 miles in the morning and 4 in the afternoon?

There is no mileage recommendation in SOM other than "more." You can ignore the troll with all the downvotes.

Don't worry about 90-minute long runs, either. Total volume should be your primary focus this summer.

I would reach out to the assistant again and see what they can put together for you. I really don't think you need to worry about doubles until you're up to ~10 miles/day average in singles. You can certainly add in short doubles but you just need to focus on getting in the miles. As far as the long run goes, I'm not saying 90:00 weekly. I put that in as a cap/what to build up to. Your early summer long run should probably start at around 7-8 miles (up to 1hr) and build from there. A lot of 10 mile long runs. If you're consistent there one or two 80:00-90:00 runs (12-13 miles) won't feel bad at all.

But 8 miles for you is more/less a long run now. I don't see a huge benefit in breaking that up as 4 & 4. You need to turn 8 miles into an easy run and build some strength. That can happen with the 4 & 4 but I wouldn't start with that.

Also one other question I think my actual aerobic fitness is a lot better than it seems however, I am very terrible at running and trails and hills, how should I go about fixing this. A week or so before my prelim and finals this track season I ran 9 miles on the TRACK and held 7:40 pace, however if I were to run on trails I believe I would struggle even holding 8:40 pace. So for a while during my track season I completed a lot of my long runs and mid-long runs on the track because I better challenge my aerobic capacity, but I realize this is very impractical and is just holding me back, how should I proceed?

Also, I should add that I experience hip and knee pain usually when I run trails, which was another reason why I would run on the track because I wouldn't experience those same aches while running on it.

My advice is that you think too much and are missing the absolute basic - focus on increasing your mileage.

The fact you are even talking about aerobic capacity, the fact that you are not good at running on trails, doubles, etc. when you run 20 miles a week and have a 20:00 5K PR tells me you are totally missing the point.

Sorry for being harsh but just wanted to cut thru the BS and be honest with you.

Don't do your easy running on a track. Roads or trails are fine. If you're on a slower surface, you'll run slower at the same effort compared to a track. Same deal if you have some hills. You can get the same stimulus at different paces if the effort is the same. We're talking about easy running anyways. Just run & get in the miles.

This guy is right.

Dude obviously trails and hills are gonna be a slower pace than a mondo track surface, that doesn’t mean it’s any less beneficial so long as you're going the same effort. I'm a 14:09 5k guy and I literally do my easy runs on hilly trails and it gets up over 9 minute pace sometimes. Hills and trails are GOOD for you and make you faster even if the watch reads slow.

Just shut up and run and stop worrying about the pace. Easy effort most days. One long run a week. Add in a workout or two per week for a few weeks. That’s it.

AFTER* a few weeks

I have been coaching HS for over 30 years, My advice is to slowly up your mileage over this summer. Embrace the hills and trails, they will build a lot of strength that you will need for XC. I would suggest you start out running 5 days a week with a long run of 8+ miles and have a goal to build your long run up to 12 miles before you start back to school. Focus on running slowly and build your endurance.

I realize that this sounds as if I am running on the track for the sole reason that I run faster on it, but that's not the only reason. Whenever I run on hilly terrain and trails my knees and hips begin to ache pretty badly, is there anyway I can combat this? Also thanks for the blunt advice that's what I need, I don't want any BS. What I am taking away from this post is not to worry to much about my exact training right about now but rather focus on mileage and slowly increase it week by week, while maintaining a down week every few weeks to prevent injury. Please tell me if there is anything else which I am missing.