what is the minimum amount of runs of at least 5 miles a week should a HS athlete do when training for the 5k during competition season?
what is the minimum amount of runs of at least 5 miles a week should a HS athlete do when training for the 5k during competition season?
It depends on how many practices they are doing and what level they are at. A good high school runner should get 50-70 mpw. So that means a lot of runs over 5 miles. For the past three weeks the high school team has been running two-a-days. 3-5 miles slow in the morning, then a workout or 6-10 miles at night. Sunday they have off, and Saturday is a single day. During the season they will taper slightly, so they'll take off the morning runs when a big meet is coming and run easy at night, but still maintaining mileage.
I should also mention that this is the first year the coach is having them do this much. Most of them are coming into the season with low summer mileage, but they are very talented and are handling the workload very well. By low I mean like 200-400 over 11 weeks. Hopefully through this season they will develop a love for running and continue their high mileage throughout the winter. If this is so, I can expect them to rise to the top of their Division and dominate for years to come.
There is no single, correct answer to your question. Every runner is different, and there are different paths to success. Bob Kennedy won Footlocker after a season of running no more than 30 miles per week.
Having said that, I would think that a competitive high school team would be covering at least five miles a day in practice, with the possible exceptions of the days before and after races. Whether that five+ miles is in the form of a continuous run or in the form of repetitions is up to your coach.