110 miles a week for College Athlete?

Coming from another collegiate athlete I think you should just go for it. This is probably the only time in your life where you can commit yourself to running so seriously, so if I were you I'd like to have finished it knowing I did everything I possibly could to run as fast as I could. You know your body and commitments better than I do, and if you think you can do it then I think the risk is worth it. If you're worried about injury maybe increase mileage to 100mpw at first, and then 110?

I just listened to a podcast with Simon Heys of Wilmington. He runs about 110 per week and just won DIII Pre-Nats. if you’ve been healthy averaging 90 per week, I think gradually increasing to 110 makes sense.

Go for it!!!! Remember injuries are from under recovery not over training

You can do even more if you are ambitious, organized, and determined. Here, my Senior year of college. It helps if you've gotten most of your school credits out of the way. Going into Nationals I was undefeated and set the record on everywhere I ran. The only thing that slowed me down was a fall that dislocated my shoulder the week of Nationals. Tough luck. Put some ice on it and get back in the game, Son.

1976 XC season (senior year)

(week)(mileage)(day before mi) (result)
8/14 72
8/21 73
8/28 78
9/04 52
9/11 110
9/18 116 20 1st 5 mile TT 25:03
9/25 116 8 1st 5 mile XC 24:21.6
10/2 130 20 1st 5 mile XC 24:39.2 CR
10/9 125 18 1st 6 mile XC 29:01 CR
10/16 145 20 1st 5 mile XC 24:01
10/23 130 20 1st 5 mile XC 23:54.7 CR
10/30 103 10 1st 5 mile XC 24:19 CR
11/6 131 20 1st 5 mile XC 24:03
11/13 130 15 1st 10k XC 29:34 CR
11/20 82 9 20th 10k XC 29:07 NCAA
11/27 77 2 12th 10k XC 30:44 AAU

Makes better sense to start at 52 then bump it up to 110.

"Don't waste good time" -- John Ngugi

How would you break up a 20 mile day pre race?

Summer Senior-Year of Malmo

10 and 10

9/11 110
9/18 116
9/25 116 8 1st 5 mile XC 24:21.6
10/2 130 20 1st 5 mile XC 24:39.2 CR
10/9 125 18 1st 6 mile XC 29:01 CR
10/16 145 20 1st 5 mile XC 24:01
10/23 130 20 1st 5 mile XC 23:54.7 CR
10/30 103 10 1st 5 mile XC 24:19 CR
11/6 131 20 1st 5 mile XC 24:03
11/13 130 15 1st 10k XC 29:34 CR
11/20 82 9 20th 10k XC 29:07
11/27 77
12/4 35
------------------------------------------------------------------------
9/5 AM 7 miles easy PM 10 miles moderate
9/6 AM 5 miles easy PM 10 miles moderate
9/7 AM 8 miles easy PM 3 mile warm-up; 6x800 XC @ 2:30 w/2:00 jog; 3 mile warm-down
9/8 AM 5 miles moderate PM 10 miles easy
9/9 AM 7 miles easy PM 3 mile warm-up; 3.5 miles fartlek; 3 mile warm-down
9/10 PM 3.5 mile warm-up; 10xPark Forest Hill; 3.5 miles easy
9/11 AM 10 miles easy PM 10 miles easy
9/5-9/11 110 miles
---------------------------------------------------------------
9/12 AM 15 miles hard PM 5 miles slow
9/13 AM 10 miles easy PM 3 mile warm-up; 10x400 (65) w/200 jog; 3 miles easy
9/14 PM 8 miles moderate
9/15 AM 10 miles slow PM 3 mile warm-up; 8x800 XC (2:10,2:20,2:12,2:28,2:17,2:15,2:13,2:10) w/3:00 jog; 2 mile warm-down
9/16 AM 5 miles moderate PM 8 miles moderate
9/17 AM 10 miles easy PM 10 miles easy
9/18 AM 3 mile warm-up; 5 mile time trial in 25:03(1st); 5 mile warm-down PM 5 miles easy
9/12-9/18 116 miles
------------------------------------------------------------------------
9/19 AM 10 miles easy PM 10 miles easy
9/20 AM 9 miles moderate PM 3 mile warm-up; 12xPark Forest Hill; 3 miles slow
9/21 AM 5 miles easy PM 8 miles moderate
9/22 AM 9 miles easy PM 3 mile warm-up; 3 mile XC in 14:43; 4 mile warm-down
9/23 AM 9 miles easy PM 8 miles moderate
9/24 PM 8 miles slow
9/25 AM vs Villanova 3 mile warm-up; 5 mile XC in 24:21.6 (1st); 4 mile warm-down PM 8 miles easy
9/19-9/25 116 miles
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
9/26 PM 11 miles easy
9/27 AM 10 miles easy PM 3 mile warm-up; 12xPark Forest Hill; 3 mile warm-down
9/28 AM 10 miles easy PM 11 miles moderate
9/29 AM 11 miles moderate PM 1 mile warm-up; 9.5 mile loop in 49:00 (record); 1 mile warm-down
9/30 AM 9 miles moderate PM 8 miles moderate
10/1 AM 10 mile PM 10 miles
10/2 AM 5 mile race vs West Virginia 24:39 CR
9/26-10/2 130 miles
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10/3 PM 16 miles easy
10/4 AM 9 miles easy PM 3 mile warm-up; 10x400 (63.5) w/200 jog; 3 mile warm-down
10/5 AM 10 miles easy PM 11 miles moderate
10/6 AM 10 miles easy PM 3 mile warm-up; 2x1.5 miles XC(7:00,7:06); 3 mile warm-down
10/7 AM 11 miles easy PM 7 miles moderate
10/8 AM 5 miles slow PM vs Kent State 3 mile warm-up; 6 mile XC in 29:01 (1st, course record); 4 mile warm-down
10/9 AM 13 miles easy
10/3-10/9 125 miles
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10/10 AM 10 miles easy PM 10 miles slow
10/11 AM 10 miles easy PM 3.5 mile warm-up; 8x800 XC
(2:14,2:17,2:10,2:21,2:13,2:14,2:18,2:07) w/2:00 jog; 3.5 mile warm-down
10/12 AM 11 miles easy PM 11 miles moderate
10/13 AM 10 miles easy PM 3.5 mile warm-up; 4.5 mile fartlek; 3 mile warm-down
10/14 AM 11 miles easy PM 10 miles easy
10/15 AM 10 miles easy PM 10 miles easy
10/16 AM Penn State Handicap Race 3 mile warm-up; 5 mile XC in 24:01 (1st); 5 mile warm-down PM 7 miles easy
10/10-10/16 145 miles
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10/17 AM 10 miles easy PM 10 miles easy
10/18 AM 9 miles easy PM 3 mile warm-up; 14xPark Forest Hill; 3.5 mile warm-down
10/19 AM 10 miles easy PM 11 miles moderate
10/20 AM 10 miles easy PM 3 mile warm-up; 1 mile 4:34, 4x400(66),800(2:16),400(62); 3 mile warm-down
10/21 AM 10 miles easy PM 8 miles easy
10/22 AM 10 miles easy PM 10 miles easy
10/23 AM vs Georgetown, William & Mary 3 mile warm-up; 5 mile XC in 23:54.7 (1st, course record); 4 miles slow
10/17-10/23 130 miles
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10/24 PM 14 miles easy
10/25 AM 7 miles moderate PM 3 mile warm-up; 15x400 @ 63 w/200 jog(60); 3 mile warm-down
10/26 AM 5 miles moderate PM 10 miles fast
10/27 AM 7 miles easy PM 3 mile warm-up, 3x1.5 mile XC (6:58,7:36,7:55) w/3:00 rest, 3 mile warm-down
10/28 AM 5 miles easy PM 10 miles easy
10/29 AM 5 miles easy PM 5 miles easy
10/30 AM Central Collegiates 4 mile warm-up; 5 mile XC in 24:19 (1st, course record); 5 mile warm-down
10/24-10/30 103 miles
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10/31 AM 10 miles easy PM 10 miles easy
11/1 AM 10 miles easy PM 3 mile warm-up; 10x800 XC (2:14,2:16,2:08,2:22,2:12,2:13,2:16,2:07,2:32,2:15), 3 mile warm-down
11/2 AM 10 miles easy PM 10 miles moderate
11/3 AM 10 miles easy PM 3 mile warm-up; 4 miles fartlek; 3 miles easy
11/4 AM 10 miles easy PM 10 miles easy

11/5 AM vs Pittsburgh 3 mile warm-up; 5 mile XC in 24:03 (1st); 5 mile warm-down
11/6 PM 16 miles easy
10/31-11/6 131 miles10 miles easy PM 5 miles easy
11/7-11/13 130 miles
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/14 AM USTFF XC 3 mile warm-up; 10k race in 29:34 (1st, course record); 4 mile warm-down
11/15 PM 11 miles easy FELL and DISLOCATED SHOULDER
11/16 AM 5 miles easy, shoulder bad
11/17 PM 3 mile warm-up; 10x440 (61,61,62,60,60,61,60,61,60,59), 3 miles easy, shoulder bad
11/18 AM 5 miles easy PM 10 miles easy...shoulder bad
11/19 AM 5 miles easy PM 3 miles easy, 3 miles fartlek, 3 miles easy..shoulder
11/20 AM 5 miles easy PM 9 miles easy shoulder
11/14-11/20 82 miles
--------------------------------------------------------------------
11/21 AM 5 miles easy PM 4 miles easy shoulder
11/22 AM NCAA XC Championship 3 mile warm-up; 10,000m XC in 29:07 (20th); 1
mile warm-down

A quote from Mike Tyson:

"During an interview with a television station, a journalist asked Mike Tyson if it was true that he got up at 4:00 a.m. to run, to which he replied "No". - At 4:00 a.m., I'm already running...

- But you are world champion, why do all this? asked the reporter.

To which Tyson responded:

"That's precisely why, at this time all my opponents are sleeping and gaining weight. If I learn that one of them is running at 4:00 a.m. too, I will start running at 2 a.m., and if someone runs at 2 a.m., I'm going to stop sleeping to train. That's why I stay on top... It's my responsibility, not theirs...".

Jakob has been running 110-120 miles for years. The key is not to overcook the buns.

i'm just always confused when I see college athletes asking LetsRun how to train. Where is your college coach at? Shouldn't he be discussing these decisions with you? 110mpw may go great for you, but the reality is none of us know you as well as a coach you've run for for the last 4 years.

I ran 70 as a freshman, 85-90 sophomore, 100 junior, 110 peak mileage as a senior. Every year I got faster in every event. Except for the 1500, I didn't run it much but didn't really get faster the last couple years and stagnated around 3:50. So 100+ is probably not the ideal mileage for a 1500 meter runner. But 5k/10k big mileage is important.

up to you, but i think a better way to improve is to change the way you do recovery/longrun/tempo/interval/etc. mileage diminishes hard at this level. when you ran reps, do you run them hard? if so, maybe you should soften up a bit and just run a lot of easy intervals like what jakob does. back in college, i always ran intervals consistently where i would run out of juice by my last 1-2 intervals, but this ultimately wore me out during the season.

Appreciate this all. In the winter I'd like to do 18-20 miles of threshold volume per week at 6-7 true threshold effort. I don't have issues with fatigue because I take recovery runs the most seriously

You are far better off capping your mileage at 80 and bringing down the overall pace

Even additional lower body strength work is a better idea than another 20 miles/week slow

110 miles/week is 15-16 miles a day. If you were to double, that's 3/4 in the morning, 11-12 in the afternoon on average. That's getting up in the morning, go jog for half an hour, do what you normally do during the day, then go on an easy 80 to 90 minute run in the afternoon (assuming you running 7-7.5 minutes/mile). During the summer or off season, this should not be hard for a college athlete. I'd know because I did it.

Not sure why there have been so many downvotes on this comment. It’s not a bad idea to emphasize quality and work on building strength and durability.

Honestly, your weekly mileage should be a byproduct of smart training rather than the object of training. Maybe build a training program around increased threshold training. Or work backwards from goal race to figure out the interval and threshold workouts you’ll need to nail to get where you want to be. If your coach is determining your training in the spring, then your winter base mileage needs to be coordinated with your coach’s plan. I like your zeal, and I hope you have a fantastic breakout season that you feel proud of. Just don’t let the tail wag the dog. Mileage will come with deliberate, effective training; don’t get hung up on hitting a certain number at the expense of appropriate intensity and adequate recovery. Good luck!