Is 60 mpw decent for high school guys??

My 2 cents...

Every runner is different. Some kids can run a lot of miles injury free and enjoy the sport, some don't enjoy running that many miles, some get injured if they run higher miles, some excell more on lower miles, and on and on and on.

IF you want to run more miles and if your body can handle it I'm sure you would progress faster toward your 16 min goal. However you have to look at yourself and figure out if your body can handle it and if you'd still enjoy the sport as much running 80 miles for example.

Personally I ran about 40 miles a week in hs. I got injured every time I pushed it up to 50 so I just kept it at 40. My body just wasn't ready for the higher miles - in part because I started running later than most and it took my body some time to adjust and also I was a very late maturer so I still had a middle school's body when in hs. That said I still ran quite fast and when I hit college my body was ready for higher milage and at that time I really improved.

Conclusion? Higher mileage will make you faster, but only if your body is ready for it.

Years ago as a sophomore in HS I was average at best. During the summer I had jogged maybe 4 miles per day. I was a nonfactor at XC district meet (middle of the pack) and qualifying for state was a distant dream.The next summer before my junior year I did the following training: 6 miles per day Monday through Friday. On weekends I ran a total of 26 miles that were broken up into 3 or 4 runs (one of them at least 10-12 miles). On days I felt great I ran faster. On days I was tired I ran slower. Malley's 'Summer of Malmo' reminds me of the approach I took.The following fall I qualified for state and finished 2nd. Surprised everyone including myself.

advice anyone wrote:

I am 16, currently going into my junior year of high school. In summer training now most of my weeks average out to be about 60 miles( sometimes a little less because we do sand runs and we just started some speed workouts) Is this sufficient to have a descent season. I'm not a spectacular runner, mile pr is 4:55, 2 mile is 10:25. I'm not trying to win footlocker or anything I just want to be able to run low 16's during xc season, possibly high 15's if possible. Is 60mpw sufficient?

may want to supplement more miles in place of the sand run

skerzinblockin wrote:

may want to supplement more miles in place of the sand run

I disagree, the sand run very likely has a specific purpose that more miles might not be able to replace.

But back to the point... as has already been said, you just gotta listen to your body to find the right amount of mileage. On average, 60 mpw is good for a sophomore and many juniors... but it might be more than enough for some seniors, and might be not enough for some freshmen... it all depends on the individual.

I agree with the below. I too was not able to get much past 50mpw thru most of HS. By my senior year, I was able to do more. But it's about a lot more than just miles. Weights, plyometrics, strides, some hills during base building (not insanely fast, just for form and tuning) are all things that I should have focused more on in HS. If I had done that, I may have been able to train more than 50mpw and be better than I was!

My coach just likes sand running for some reason...

I have always had my doubts because I've never heard of any other top programs running on the beach...is sand running really worth it in the end?

advice anyone wrote:

My coach just likes sand running for some reason...

I have always had my doubts because I've never heard of any other top programs running on the beach...is sand running really worth it in the end?

Use Google to search for "Cerutty," "Elliott," and "sandhill."

advice anyone wrote:

I am 16, currently going into my junior year of high school. In summer training now most of my weeks average out to be about 60 miles( sometimes a little less because we do sand runs and we just started some speed workouts) Is this sufficient to have a descent season. I'm not a spectacular runner, mile pr is 4:55, 2 mile is 10:25. I'm not trying to win footlocker or anything I just want to be able to run low 16's during xc season, possibly high 15's if possible. Is 60mpw sufficient?

60mpw is not bad mileage and perhaps sufficient for a HS junior, assuming it's quality mileage. You should be doing a solid long run (12-14 miles) with a good pace every 7-10 days. I would also incorporate hill repeats, tempo runs, long and short grass intervals, and fartlek workouts. You've got to do the strength work if you want to improve. To that end, the long run is essential

how do you expect to run 16:00 if thats faster than your 2 mile pace? Training going well eh?

gtnjr wrote:

advice anyone wrote:

My coach just likes sand running for some reason...

I have always had my doubts because I've never heard of any other top programs running on the beach...is sand running really worth it in the end?

Use Google to search for "Cerutty," "Elliott," and "sandhill."

:)

Or, if you are really lazy you could take our word for it... but it would be better if you learned for yourself, the benefits of running in the sand is worth it, especially if you are going to be running on muddy courses (hint hint).

Proud Sit-And-Kicker wrote:

Sit and kicker's end up dragging and slobbering once somebody takes them out in .55.

I believe I can run in the 16 range because my 10:25 2 mile was done in early may. Had I qualified for postseason races and had the opportunity, i am confident I could have lowered that time significantly.

I do a 12-14 mile long run every Saturday

I consider myself to be much more of an endurance/ strength runner so with 60+ mpw, is low 16's unrealistic?(on courses like Mount Sac, i'm from California)

advice anyone wrote:

I believe I can run in the 16 range because my 10:25 2 mile was done in early may. Had I qualified for postseason races and had the opportunity, i am confident I could have lowered that time significantly.

I do a 12-14 mile long run every Saturday

I consider myself to be much more of an endurance/ strength runner so with 60+ mpw, is low 16's unrealistic?(on courses like Mount Sac, i'm from California)

No, it's not unrealistic if you are an endurance/strength runner. Shoot for 16:30 at Woodward and 16:15 at Mt. SAC... you might end up even faster than that, but I think those would be good goals at least for now.

I think sub 16 with the right training is definitely a possibility

Marc Bloom, in his Harrier xc newsletter, would survey the Foot Locker finalists and ask about their training. He's no longer publishing the Harrier but I had a chance to see that particular issue the last 2 or 3 years. My recollection is that very few of the guys were doing much more than 60 miles per week, although there were a few. What you don't know is how fast they were doing those miles and how difficult the terrain was, etc, and what sort of workouts they were doing as part of their training. 60 miles a week can mean anything from jogging to doing intense workouts, tempo runs, hill runs, etc.

My kid was a very successful high school runner and never ran over 55 miles per week, and he was always getting asked about his workouts and mileage. But he would always tell people that what worked for him wouldn't necessarily work for them - he did the same training as several teammates and none of them ever achieved his degree of success. One thing that always stood out for me about my son, however, was his consistency. Most of the kids would be erratic over the summer and the winter, but he was always rock solid, almost never missing days except for taking a break at the end of track season for 2 weeks. He also was super careful about diet and sleep and all those 'little' things, and a lot of the other kids were not.

60 miles a week sounds great to me, if you can handle it without injury and without burnout. Make sure to do a long run once a week, in the 12 - 14 mile range, as part of those 60 miles.

My kid also ran a lot on sand, including sand dunes. I'm a believer.

Good luck.

advice anyone wrote:

I believe I can run in the 16 range because my 10:25 2 mile was done in early may. Had I qualified for postseason races and had the opportunity, i am confident I could have lowered that time significantly.

I do a 12-14 mile long run every Saturday

I consider myself to be much more of an endurance/ strength runner so with 60+ mpw, is low 16's unrealistic?(on courses like Mount Sac, i'm from California)

Try to average 60mpw consistently throughout your junior year. If that goes well, try to graduate the mileage to 70mpw going into your senior year. The previous poster makes a very good point about quality mileage and workouts. Running low 16:00 for 5K is most definitely possible, but your workouts have to include all the major components.

In terms of the pace during distance runs we switch off between easy and hard days usually ranging from 6:20-7:20 pace. I recently did a 10 mile run in 65 minutes(6:30 pace the whole way through) so i feel my endurance is pretty good.

Thanks for the advice I will definitely try hard to break 16 this year

Are kids really that fast these days or are the courses in California short or pancake flat? The benchmark course back in the day for CT HS runners was Wickham Park. If you broke 16:00 there you were an absolute stud and likely state champion (or top 2 or 3). Breaking 16:00 likely meant you were a sub 4:15/9:00 guy on the track.

When I hear things like a 10:25 guy wanting to run 16low in cross... all I can think about is "you're nuts". Focus on breaking 17:00... then 16:30. That seems a lot more realistic at this stage.

Its similar for college cross country. "Everyone" in the south and west runs 25:00 for cross country. I'm used to VCP (old school course)... where 25:00 meant you're likely flirting with 14:00 on the track. Meanwhile, I see lots of these college kids with "25:00" cross PRs running not able to break 15:00.

Thoughts?

advice anyone wrote:

I consider myself to be much more of an endurance/ strength runner so with 60+ mpw, is low 16's unrealistic?(on courses like Mount Sac, i'm from California)

I guess I would have to ask what sort of times you have run in xc previously - you list a 3200 track time. Mt. Sac is a tough course with the 3 big climbs. The regular season meet at the Mt. Sac Invite is a 3 mile course, not 5k, and the guys that are going to be winning the state championship are going to be running low 15's or even high 14's there on the 3 mile course. On the 5k course at Mt Sac that they run at Foot Locker West, the guys that are going to qualify for nationals are going to run 15:20's and 15:30's. Most of those guys are low 9 min or even sub 9 min 3200 runners. That should give you some idea of where you might stand. I'd say you have a lot better chance at an easier course like Stanford, a golf course type course.