How did you make the jump from good to elite?

High School Running Distance

11 years ago 12/01/2012 10:44pm EST

I'm a junior in highschool and I'm really looking to get a lot better this track season and next cross season. I was wondering how some of you guys went from being solid runners to big name guys. I run at a school with a very good xc/distance program so it's not like I'm by myself, in fact I'm only the fourth or fifth guy on the team. My coach and I have already talked about me upping my mileage next Summer, and I'm really gonna work on my speed a lot on my own this offseason going into track. Any notes or stories would be much appreciated.

11 years ago 12/01/2012 10:53pm EST

re: what about you?

Just stay so healthy so you don't miss big amounts of training

11 years ago 12/01/2012 11:17pm EST

re: what about you?

Raise your mileage gradually. Maybe 1-2 miles a week but keep building. Every fourth week drop back to about 60% of wherever it is that you are at to get some recovery.

I was never elite but by going from 40 mpw to 65-70 over a year, I dropped three minutes for 10k and my 5k dropped by over a minute and a half.

11 years ago 12/01/2012 11:34pm EST

re: what about you?

You need 4 months straight of good, solid, uninterrupted training.

11 years ago 12/02/2012 12:46am EST

re: Kicker

Kicker wrote:
Raise your mileage gradually. Maybe 1-2 miles a week but keep building. Every fourth week drop back to about 60% of wherever it is that you are at to get some recovery.
I was never elite but by going from 40 mpw to 65-70 over a year, I dropped three minutes for 10k and my 5k dropped by over a minute and a half.

I'm in a very similar boat. Going from 40-60 mpw helped me drop 3 mins off my 10k in a little over six months. Even more importantly, though, is the consistency. I started running every single day. Didn't miss a run for 3 months. Running doubles most of the time, and even some triples.

Yeah, it's only 60 mpw but just getting out there as often as I could and never, ever overdoing any single run allowed me to be super consistent and that in turn allowed me to really improve.

11 years ago 12/02/2012 6:44am EST

re: it's a rowboat, to be sure

I was an average runner but then switched to ultras. That is how I became elite.

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How did you make the jump from good to elite?

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