Tips for the shift from high school to college running?

Do a lot of easy mileage this summer. Expect to struggle to keep up anyway when you get to campus. Don't worry about that; you will get stronger, as long as you don't run yourself into the ground trying to keep up from day 1.

Try to live like a clock the first six weeks. Study, run. Ignore all of the other new college opportunities. They will still be there later once you've figured out how to ensure that you will be around later. Find a reason to drop by office hours for each of your professors in the first few weeks. Generally, they want to help you. They are the arbiters of your success in class, so ask them how you can succeed.

Get used to the volume. College has more volume in literally any part of athletics.

Don't panic if the pace or the mileage is too much. Some coaches handle this well, some don't( i.e. our freshman did only 2 mile fast tempo runs, not 5 miles). Your talent will show through if you don't overtrain.

But first and foremost, take care of yourself. No one is there to help you.

Make sure you learn how to eat well. Not too much, not too little. Cafeteria food is generally lousy and fast food fits the college lifestyle, but is not good for you much of the time.

Getting enough sleep is also difficult.

And have your finances in order. I self financed (with a 70% track scholarship), but I had worries since I had to live over the summer (parents were a mess) and was fearful of any debt. College students are usually broke, but it is not fun to $5 left and four days until payday. I worked during school, something I would try to avoid during the school year. Plan it out. Hopefully, your folks are behind you.

Lessons I learned in my first year @ an elite D1 program:

1. Keep yourself accountable financially. I almost went broke by making impulse purchases on gaming and fast food.

2. Like one of the above posters mentioned, don't get caught up in the campus activities. They can become a barrier to arguably the most important (non-running) part of your training, which is sleep

3. Take advantage of all of the recovery tools available. The best ability is availability.

Thanks so much for the helpful responses!!

Work on volume and hit the weights over summer. In school don’t try to prove anything by racing workouts the first few months.

My AOL Instant Messenger "away message" (i.e. like a facebook status) used to read: "College running isnt just a sport it is a lifestyle."

What you eat, what you do between classes, where you study, whom you hang out with and even whom you date. If I added up all the things I did that could be classified as working out, I would have been working out 4 to 6 hours per day. Covering 20 miles on Sundays in 2 hours or less. Ab cycles every day. Weight stations 5x per week. Study tables. It all adds up.

The running part wasn't a tough transition, but everything else was. It's a big change going from living with your parents/family to being on your own. It's important to focus on your mental health, sleep, and nutrition independently.