Hello letsrunners,
I am a serious DII collegiate runner with decent but not great PR's of 15:07, 8:44, and 32:04 (10k XC). My career thus far has been full of a few ups, but mostly downs, but I have always stuck with it. I have one season of XC left and 3 seasons of track, but I don't know if I can force myself through the rest of my eligibility. I really wanted to go have a great XC season this year, so I decided I would try to take my training to the next level. I typically run ~85 miles/wk, but this summer I built to 100 (May-June buildup, 100mpw starting in July). I thought I was doing everything right - eating, sleeping, strides, core, taking easy runs easy, 3rd week as a down week, etc. - but I have recently been having some problems. After some encouraging training early in July, recently my legs have been toast this past week. Also, my left leg seems to freak out when I try to go faster than 5:30 pace and tightens/loses power (this has been going on for 3ish weeks). It kills me because I have all the determination and work ethic in the world, but I am afraid that my body may be telling me that it has had enough. What should I do? I haven't told my coach yet because I'm unsure of what he would say. Has anyone been in a similarly discouraging situation and pulled it out? Any input is appreciated.