I have a big problem at my school.

I have a similar problem except I've had the same HS coach all the time. He's also a very good one, the only problem is, in my opinion, we don't run enough miles. I'm a senior and he assigns me 40-45 miles in singles (6 days a week) My team is really lazy and go really slow on runs, like 8 minute miling and some guys even stop and walk during the runs. So I started making up excuses for skipping practise like 'I have a dentist app, I'm sick, I'm injured, I forgot my trainers etc.' or just didn't show up. So, I did the runs by myself and run 7 days and run doubles 3 days a week and now I'm running 60-65 miles. My coach asked me why I was skipping so much runs and I just told him why, that we run too slow so now at practise if we're going too slow, I just quicken the pace and sometimes someone will run with me, sometimes no one does, I don't really care anymore. Some guys on the team think I'm a d*ckhead but f*ck 'em, I'd rather be running 4:15 and 9:13 and then fit in be cool.

No where in you post do you mention having a conversation about this with your coaches. Start there. Maybe bring along your summer training log, and a potential plan with goals.

If you want to get faster, you should do whatever it takes. The guy above made some good points. If it takes you adding more miles after practice is over, or doubling up miles, or doing workouts behind your coaches back, do it. Research stuff on your own, write your own workouts, do his shit ones but do yours better. If you want to run for the team there are ways to pull it off. If your teammates don't take it seriously don't run with them, it won't be worth your while. There is nothing wrong with doing that if your coach is actually as inadequate as you have expressed. Good luck.

Describe your training over the summer.

I ran in HS and college - saw more than a few instances of people who trained over the summer, but they essentially trained in such a way as to peak in the first race or two, then either didn't improve or declined over the course of the season. Meanwhile, team mates improved from the start of the season through the state meet and beyond.

In college, we were always concerned with guys who raced really well at the beginning of the season. Upperclassmen talked about this when I was a freshman and said to pull back on the reins a bit in training and racing. In my opening collegiate race (3 miles) I equaled my HS 2 mile best at mile 2, then went on to drop ~40 seconds on my previous best 3 mile time. I pulled back a bit on effort in training and went on to run very well in my freshman year, but over 4 years witnessed a number of guys run blazing times in the early meets only to fade when it counted most.

You can always add miles on the weekend, do longer warmups, longer cool downs or put in doubles.

I wouldn't rely on coaching yourself or via letsrun. Many times with young guys, they need guidance on when to pull back and when to step it up ... at the appropriate time. Typically, most young guys need to be told to hold back more often than not. Coaching/training yourself is only a good idea when you are getting really good results on your own; when you can reproduce them repeatedly and when you really know what you are doing.

HS Junior, talk to your coach and work something out.

In HS I also had a different coach every season. None of them had a background in coaching runners. As a senior my coach insisted that when it rained we stay inside and play basketball instead of running outside. This was Oregon where it rains a lot.

As a 1500m/3000m runner I improved from 4:11/9:43 as a sophomore to 3:52/8:29 as a senior. To do this I supplemented my HS workouts with my own morning runs and also ran a total of 26 miles every weekend (broken into 3 or 4 runs).

I was always respectful to the coaches, but ultimately felt responsible for my own success and made it happen. I was able to figure out how to train thanks to Runners World (this was late 70s) back when they had some great articles. Today you have a wealth of information available to you on the web.

No excuses. Just do it.

I never considered extra running going "behind a coaches back". Our longtime coach trained the runners to just be good in our conference or area but I was more ambitious so I did all the workouts with the team and then would add on another 3 or 4 miles on the days we didn't run that much. I also did a couple 9-10 milers on the weekend. The coaches thought it was great when a runner trained hard in the summer and wanted to do extra. I even ran roadraces with the assistant coach.

I don't think you would need to do this with a long time successful coach, but a lot of schools just fill a position with anybody they can find to take it. They would be more than happy to take the credit if you run more on your own and get faster. Try to talk a couple of your buddies into running with you and the whole team will get better.

A lot of you have suggested that I talk with my coach.

I forgot to write in my original post that I have talked with him ( 3 different coaches 3 different times) about my concerns and none of them have offered me any really clear solution. They basically blew it off as me being frustrated at not progressing during season and just told me to run some of the workouts faster, when the problem is the workout program we have doesn't really make much sense (we run about 25-30 miles per week, half of which are easy runs). I have been able to get down to like 4:30 with this but I feel like if I could do my offseason training all the time I would be a lot better off.

Also, one of you mentioned that I may have peaked for the first race. I really don't think I did because I was doing primarily just strength building (i.e., Tempos, Hills, Long Runs and very little speed work). I dropped almost 15mpw at the start of XC because my coach insisted I do that. In hindsight I should have probably just ran more on my own during the season.

Just to clarify my situation. If any of you have any other suggestions it is appreciated.

there almost no set of bad HS workout/race situations that couldn't be made functional with the right augmentation. doubles is an easy one. using races as tempos. rupp often does hard workouts after a race. the toughest one is probably interval workouts with too-long rest periods - going faster on the repeats might actually hurt rather than help. but then again there are 23 more hours available for real work on those days too.

it's hard to imagine three coaches ignoring your request if it were made with maturity in a collaborative spirit. any communication problem starts with you.

good luck!

I find it extremely easy to believe that you have had 4 different coaches who know next to nothing about running in four years. A LOT of high school coaches in all sports are just the math teacher phoning it in for extra $$. Is there another school in your area that has a better program? Can you transfer there? Is there a running shop or running club in your area that is active and has volunteer coaches for adults? Speak to one of them and ask for help. To find them, show up at local tracks at 5:30 or 6:00 am, they will be there. There is very likely a local group of knowledgeable runners in your area. They will know that your high school program sucks and most likely be willing to help you. This really sucks when all around you are schools with super good coaching and you dont have access to it. I feel your pain. Go find someone to mentor you. Good luck!

If you want to get faster, you should do whatever it takes

What state do you live in?

You missed the upshot of "talk to your coach". If the coach knows nothing, then you can't expect anything from simply sharing your concerns. Talk to your coach about how you'd like to resolve your problem by proposing a solution, not simply asking whether the coach is willing to address a problem you think exists (but the coach clearly does not). Although you'll have to come up with that solution, you'll also want to frame your comments in a way that makes it sound like the coach has a role in what you'd like to do.

E.g., suppose more running on the weekends is something you think you need to do. Let's say for the sake of example you think 20 miles each weekend is what you need. Go to your coach and talk about how you'd like to do more mileage on the weekends, explain that you'd like to run 20 miles each weekend during the season, and then ask whether it should be 20 or maybe even 25 (any higher number), ask whether it should be with doubles, etc. Engage the coach in a conversation about what you'd like to do, but with a plan in mind. If you can figure out how to adapt practice, but effectively with the coach's blessing, then you're in a much better situation -- i.e., relative to what would exist if you basically go behind his back.

Previous posters are right, you ARE peaking for the first race. It's not all your fault, due to your coach's incompetence. But still... Quit blowing your load in the summer and start designing your own workouts during the season. Have fun during your summer break. Go to the beach, bang some babes, play a little disc. Don't worry about hitting all your miles, you're still in high school and will soon enough find that having fun with your peers and meeting girls is invariably more important than dropping 5 more seconds on your mile time.

To clarify: considering you have a shvt team with a shvt coach, it is highly unlikely that you are going to drop some serious times on the track this spring, if a scholarship is what you're looking for. This winter, take a longer rest period if your body needs it, ease your way into your base, insert some of your own runs during the season to keep your mileage up (literally just miles, doesn't have to be speedwork/tempos on top of what your coach will have you do). Take his idiocy and make it work. You are on letsrun, so you've got practically unlimited coaching/training advice. This way, you'll have more fun, be less stressed, and will be primed for beast mode during Districts/States, which is really what's important in high school.

Follow the same model for both XC and track next year, and you'll be very pleased with the results. While times are important for college recruitment, a coach would much rather have:

Runner A:

1:56, 4:23, 9:35 senior year for gold/silver district/state medals

No real standout performances in earlier years

than

Runner B:

1:55, 4:20, 9:30 senior year with perhaps a medal or two at district/state meets

156, 4:23, 9:35 junior year with flops at district/state meets

Runner A indicates talent and patience. Make it happen.