A kid on my team wants to make a change

You are an idiot if you plan to tell this kid to run 100 miles per week.

Try 45.

Build up to 45-50 over the next 12 weeks. Be happy with the results. If the kid is still ambulatory and wants to continue improving, put him on a winter mileage program where he tops out at 70 seven or eight months from now. Improvement comes in small increments over time through consistency.

Plus, if you put him on high mileage and he ends up getting injured (likely) and unable to run, he will probably be emotionally f*cked up and quit running.

you didn't really say much about what he was doing workout-wise. one of the primary concerns here is that he is overweight, and the quickest way to lose weight is to do workouts that shift pace and change the heart-rate. so at first i would keep the mileage relatively low (go up a max of 3-5 each week) but have him do things like accelerations after every run, plus maybe some pickups, etc. definitely supplement with lifting because this accelerates weight loss as well. once he has dropped a meaningful amount of weight, then i would think about trying to get him into a higher mileage plan. i agree with an earlier poster who said that he is at higher risk of injury if he tries to run really high mileage while still so overweight.

plus, in the event that he gets into cornell, rojo gives anyone who is interested an opportunity to walk onto the team (there is a time trial). in the past, there have also been several people who have been cut who continued to train together and have competed unattached at home meets.

gorney wrote:

Sure man, the kid is running 2-4 miles a day right now. Why not just instantly jack him up to 18 a day? And let's do some flat-out 10M time trials just for kicks. Who cares if there's a .000000001% chance of success? After all, Gerry Jogger did it, although he wasn't overweight. In keeping with Gerry Jogger's infinite wisdom, the kid will have to live half his life hiding in self-imposed exile and learn how to answer the phone in a variety of high-pitched voices and strange accents. Lindgren's just a yappy coward with no balls to speak of.

Yappy coward with no balls to speak of? Sounds like much of this board.

Good for you for encouraging the guy. My thoughts as a non-coach is that if really does have a weight problem then supplementing with crosstraining might be something to consider.

Have him keep is current mileage and 3-4 times per week, have him alternate 45 mins to an hour on the elliptical trainer with pool running. have him do hard intervals with both of these. He can get his HR up on the elliptical which will help him drop the weight. Water running will help his stride and strength. Both will increase his fitness without the pounding. Weight training should be incorporated. if your taking a kid who hasn't done a ton of mileaege and has a weight problem, then you have to make sure all of his supporting muscles can handle the increased pounding.

Every 2 weeks, increase his mileage and decrease the cross training but keep up with the strength training until the start of the season.

you are puh c if you aren't running 60 mpw over the summer for HS XC

I made a big jump from my junior year to my senior year that involved running a lot over the summer consequently changing my body type.

I ran an 18:37 3 mile (roughly 19:15 5k) my junior year. Over the summer (12 weeks) I started out at around 40mpw (I had been running around 45 in track the previous season) and had a high week of 86 with all the last 6 weeks over 70. I ran 16:39 5k the next season. My buildup was in the pattern:

1232 2343 3454 4565

Good luck.

" learned fluent english and scored above a 2200 on his SAT's, he has plenty of friends and can probably get into his dream school, Cornell."

Any kid that can score 2200+ on a test that maxes out at 1600 is WAY too smart to waste his time running.

flashback wrote:

" learned fluent english and scored above a 2200 on his SAT's, he has plenty of friends and can probably get into his dream school, Cornell."

Any kid that can score 2200+ on a test that maxes out at 1600 is WAY too smart to waste his time running.

hahaha you my friend are what I like to call...an idiot

by trying to make me sound stupid you did nothing but make youself sound like a fool

Now I am assuming you are probably an older gentlemen who took the SAT's when they were out of 1600. Well if you dont have kids, of grandchildren or no anyone who is in high school it is still your responsibility to pick up a newspaper or turn on the news. The SAT's added in a writing section a few years ago making it at test out of 2400.

crazy streaker wrote:

I am all for conservative training methods and slowly building up because thats what I do and it has been working great. However, this kid doesnt have too much talent for this sport and for some people it is required for them to do more work to get to the same level. I am not retarded and I am not going to instantly bump him up to crazy mileage but every week or two bumping him up 10 miles isnt a bad idea IMO. Maybe thats the problem with American distance runners these days, we dont take chances. If I start him out at 20mpw which is below what he does during the season and slowly move him up he can lose weight and gain endurance.

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The kid says this is his last chance, it really is.

This plan sounds much more logical than what you stated in your original post. In your original post you mentioned about running doubles. After a couple of weeks I would start running singles and varying the mileage each day to build up endurance for longer distances. I would also work it so that by the end of the summer he is able to comfortably do a weekly long run of 8 to 10 miles. I would not go over a weekly total of 70 miles (and actually would be very cautious once hitting 50 miles per week). I know this is the last chance for your friend, but I wouldn't want to see my friend spending his last year standing on the sideline with some sort of injury. Often times runners get injured by not being patient and doing too much too quickly. Listen to your body, use common sense, and adjust as needed.

Also since he is trying to lose weight, I would also incorporate cross training (swimming, biking, etc) to burn more calories but not be so taxing on the leg muscles used for running.

Good luck, be patient, and play it smart.

i would institute more like 50ish plus cross training everyday

This kid is coming from being obese to fit so I would not even try to load him up on mileage.

Here is what I suggest:

M) 30:00

T) 45-60:00 (when able to do 60:00 add 3X 400M @ 1:15)

W) 30:00

T) 45-60:00 (when able to do 60:00 add 3X 400M @ 1:15)

F) 30:00

S) 45-60:00 (when able to do 60:00 add 3X 400M @ 1:15)

S) 60-90:00 (start at 60:00 & add 5:00/wk)