I've seen various threads pertaining to gains in performance from running more miles.
I was wandering what performance gains I can expect from running 45-50 miles per week the last couple of years to 65 miles per week. I'm an incoming female freshman and my coach has me going up to 65 MPW by the end of August.
Of course, the increase in mileage will result in an increase in Vo2 max work, theshold runs etc.
My Prs from HS are:
10:39 3200
17:05 5k
Thanks
damn good prs. i made the same kind of change last summer and my 5k improved about 40 secs, and my 3k time about 20-25 seconds
You will of course see improvement (you'd see some by keeping the same mileage, but higher will produce more improvements). Your coach seems pretty wise in making sure to just slowly take you into higher mileage instead of jumping into high mileage abruptly and without a nice buildup from your current mileage.
you will be able to carry a faster pace in races and not be 'redlining'. When I went from high school to college and higher mileage; I was pleasantly shocked when I went by the 2 mile mark in X-C races almost as fast as my high school pr.
great HS pr's. Congrats on those.
Just build up the mileage slowly/safely. Mix in trail running and stretching. I would say you will see some nice gains like 15-20 seconds off the 3200 time come track season.
my build-up is scheduled:
week 1-45 miles Long run of 10 miles
week 2-49 miles Long run of 10 miles
week 3-54 miles + strides 2 days/week Long run of 11 miles
week 4-50 miles " " " Long run of 11 miles
week 5-54 miles + drills with the strides, LR of 12 miles
week 6-58 miles " " ", LR of 12 miles
week 7-60 miles Add fartlek w/ others above, LR of 12 miles
week 8-56 miles " " " LR of 12 miles
week 9-60 miles Add tempo run 4 miles LR of 13 miles
week 10-63 miles Tempo run (Tuesdays)+ hill repeats(Sat)
week 11-64 miles Tempo run + 6 x 150@ Mile pace+hill repeats
week 12-65 miles Tempo run (Tuesday)+ (Sat)+hill repeats
Week 13-65 miles Tempo run (Tuesday) + 6 x 1000@5k pace
*My long run will top out at 13 miles but pace should pick up gradually over the xc season.
It seems pretty gradual and thoughtful. I hope I can handle the extra work withhout injury. My HS coach was always afraid to add too much mileage for fears of a stress fracture. i've never been injured so maybe he was right.
Looks pretty good. If you haven't been injured off of 45-50 miles per week, you should be ok with this build up.
Good luck.
Okay, I have to ask: with regard to your college, were you recruited? Ivy? Got scholarships?
Those PRs are, as has been noted, mighty impressive!
schedule looks good. Makes ure you are getting your calcium and protein as they are very important to the female runner. Try to eat/drink something with protein within 30 minutes after your tough workouts and long runs. It helps.
I would lift light weights 2 times a week.
Good luck. You are going to tear it up with that schedule!
Mileage alone tells you nothing.
From where you are you could increase, decrease, or maintain your weekly mileage levels to get or set up new bests.
With good coaching you should anticipate about a 7% improvement over a 2-4 year time frame (<420 1500/<920 3000/~16 5k).
Times put her among the elites, especially the 5k time (in fact, her 5k time would suggest a better--potentially *much* better--3200 meter PR awaits...).
Yah, or maybe that's her max speed and she should be going longer. What do they have for women's college distance?
On weeks of 50+ miles, add in some second runs. I find adding one second run for every additional 5 miles helps you not do too much on the recovery days. So, for a 50 mile week, add one morning run. For a 55 mile week, have 2; 60 mile week, 3 morning runs...and 65, 4 morning runs. It makes the mileage much more managable the first time.
Just RUN baby.
Thanks Will.
Yeah, I get to 60 mpw and higher by adding 2 days of doubles. 7-8 in the morning and 3-4 in the afternoon.
i was a good bit slower than you in highschool (11:05 3200) but ran similar mileage and made the same jump when i entered college. one big thing to consider and be cautious of, is pace of runs. over the summer i handled the mileage fine but i ran it at my own pace. it is harder when you start running with the team. female distance teams, especially good ones, can be very competitive. i am not sure where you are going to school, but make sure you don't get caught up in the hammering sessions that can happen on "easy days." i ran all my recovery days easy and by my sophomore year i could run the same pace for my highschool 2 mile time in the 10K.