Getting in mileage

Go to bed earlier. I've never heard of anyone doing what you're asking about so I can't say anything regarding that. The only thing I'm aware that works is AM/PM doubles. Just make it another run, by the way.

Why will you "never" get in enough mileage for fall cross country if you start your buildup in earnest on May 1st? That should give you 3-4 months to work with, no?

I agree with the challenge that you can't get up in the morning. If you are disciplined to get to bed 45 minutes earlier, why can't you get up 45 minutes earlier to get in a short run?

Do you have to stretch & go home before running again? If you run an easy 5 with your team, why can't you just tack on an extra 15-20 minutes?

How far away is home? Can you just jog home after practice a couple days a week?

I would be very careful adding in more running the way you are suggesting. But, if that were the only option, and you feel like it doesn't hurt you once you start adding them in, then I would say sure - just make it easy.

Any chance you can do a short run over your lunch break?

What about later in the evening?

I had the same issue in high school. Although my mileage stayed pretty low (rarely broke 35mpw), I would run 2-4 miles at night. Sometimes in the dark, sometimes right after dinner.

weakly interacting wrote:

I had the same issue in high school. Although my mileage stayed pretty low (rarely broke 35mpw), I would run 2-4 miles at night. Sometimes in the dark, sometimes right after dinner.

I did this as well my senior year when I actually discovered how to train properly. I had a similar experience as the OP. I'd say adding easy 5 mile morning runs is the way to go, then taper them off towards the league/district/regional/state season.

1) I wouldn't be worried about it. You're doing totally acceptable mileage for now, considering you're probably doing a lot of high-quality running during the track season. You can easily ramp up your miles over the summer when you run almost 100% easy miles.

2) If you really want to bump up the miles now, talk to your coach and/or other distance runners about getting in some more miles during the week. They might be amicable to the situation.

3) Adding in another couple miles after stretching is perfectly fine. A couple miles a day, and boom, you've added another 10 miles/week. Don't worry about stretching again - it's overrated to begin with.

4) Unlike some of the other posters, I haven't forgotten how impossible it is to get sleep in high school, despite the fact that I graduated over 10 years ago. I could never fall asleep until at least midnight. Don't feel pressured to get up early if it's just not in the cards for you. Being well rested is super important for training hard (not to mention for living a happy, healthy, well functioning life in general).

One of the top guys on our team started riding his bike everywhere just to get additional aerobic work in. Something to think about in addition to running more.