30mpw increase to 50mpw?

I'm in HS and have been running since late August 2023. I was pretty terrible during XC (21:08 PR) but during winter training was able to build a lot of fitness and am probably capable of something like 19 low/18 high right now, still bad but a lot better than how things were in November. However, I've noticed a significant decline in progress since the off-season ended and I went from running 35-40 mpw to 28-30. I want to try and run higher mileage this summer once track ends to try and build aerobic capacity before XC starts again. I don't know if my coach is gonna be on board however since the only people on our 110 person team running 50 mpw are top varsity athletes (8:40s 3k etc). I also don't want to get injured. Do you guys have any recommendations in terms of buildup/if I am at risk of injury from 50 mpw this summer after only a year of running? As I currently see it I can't progress fast enough on this current mileage but please tell me if I am wrong as I would love to know

high school freshman wrote:
I'm in HS and have been running since late August 2023. I was pretty terrible during XC (21:08 PR) but during winter training was able to build a lot of fitness and am probably capable of something like 19 low/18 high right now, still bad but a lot better than how things were in November. However, I've noticed a significant decline in progress since the off-season ended and I went from running 35-40 mpw to 28-30. I want to try and run higher mileage this summer once track ends to try and build aerobic capacity before XC starts again. I don't know if my coach is gonna be on board however since the only people on our 110 person team running 50 mpw are top varsity athletes (8:40s 3k etc). I also don't want to get injured. Do you guys have any recommendations in terms of buildup/if I am at risk of injury from 50 mpw this summer after only a year of running? As I currently see it I can't progress fast enough on this current mileage but please tell me if I am wrong as I would love to know

If you’re a freshman with only 8 months of running behind you and a max weekly mileage of 35-40, you’ll probably improve significantly over the summer on a steady 40 mpw at the appropriate effort with some tempos and strides. It would also reduce the risk of injuries or simply being tired all the time. Consistency is the most important thing right now. You can leave room to increase your mileage in future seasons.

That said, if you really want to bump the mileage to 50 mpw it’s definitely not a crazy number and may pay great dividends. Ask your coach and see what he thinks! As long as he’s not suggesting less than 40 per week, you should try to put some confidence in his recommendation.

Last thing and a bit irrelevant: you’re in your first year of running and have improved your 5k by ~2 minutes in the last six months, so there’s no need to go around calling yourself “still bad.” You can get the sense from these message boards that everyone here is running sub-15 and if you can’t do that you stink, but that’s just BS. You seem to have two of the most important tools, motivation and dedication, and with a little help from continued puberty there’s no reason you can’t be one of those top varsity guys 2 years from now.

30mpw increase to 50mpw?

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