I know I've asked similar questions to this, but please bear with me.
As a freshman at my university, I decided to join my school's club xc team. However, as I've found out more about it, I've become a little unsure as to whether or not I want to continue with it.
I've been running 4-6 miles per day over the summer, as per their training schedule, with a long run of 7-8 miles on the weekend. So, this means running an average of 50-55 minutes on a normal day.
This first week of practice, we've been running 30-40 minutes, just to get everyone acclimated to the club, but they've been at a much faster pace. My easy pace (that I've been running most of the summer) is around 10:00/mile. I'm not sure the exact pace I've been running with the group, but at 40 min today we were at about 4.19 miles.
I asked one of the board members of the team (there is no coach, it is run by upperclassmen) how long average runs are, and she said they are usually 40-45 minutes. The team meets every weekday, with three training runs and two speed/pace/tempo runs. Weekend runs are on your own. There are about 5 or 6 races that team members can run during the season if they so desire.
So, I'm somewhat concerned about the fact that the team's runs are shorter than my normal runs. I am worried that I'll lose endurance, and also that I'll be burning less calories, because I *do* also run to keep my weight in check. However, would running faster balance out the fact hat the runs are slightly shorter? Is 40-45 minutes rather than 50-55 really that much of a difference?
I do want to do this club, but I'm wondering if I should only do some of my runs with them, and then run a longer time on my own. Should I just continue running with them and not do any extra than what the team's training plan calls for? I don't want to lose endurance/fitness/etc..I am still planning on doing a long run every weekend, but if I continue with this team, my average daily runs will be shorter than what I used to be running. Will this be detrimental at all?
If you have any questions after reading this novel of a post, please ask me to clarify because this might be a little jumbled. I'm just looking for advice as to whether this club will help me or if I'm better off just running on my own. I'd like to compete and I think the social aspect will help me make friends, but I'm just looking for some opinions on it as well, especially on not running as long as I have been for a while now. I want to run a half marathon or marathon in the Spring, so again, I am concerned over the shortened duration of the runs.
ALSO, how much soreness is normal after running? When I was running on my own I never felt sore after runs, but now that we've been running faster, my legs feel TRASHED. Is it okay to run on sore legs?