I'm a high school senior, not super great but not terrible either. I'll be attending a D1 university in the fall and unfortunately this means I wont be able to run for their team immediately. Although I do still plan on running and competing on the schools club XC and track teams, which even do many of the same meets as the actual college team. So, after track season ends, I plan on resting a week, then doing more mileage and doing a lot of it over terrain as opposed to on sidewalks like I've always done, to deal with the hills and XC surfaces better. Then club team for fall and spring club track. My training would be primarily distance and especially 5k-8k, although I've definitely considered steeplechase but I've never really hurdled. Anyway, is it reasonable to have the goal of walking on the XC team during my sophomore year after having a whole additional year of hopefully solid training in? The only 5 mile race experience I have is a turkey trot where I ran 29 flat about three weeks after cross country season got out. So I figure if I really emphasize distance training and focus on the 8K, I could hit 27 this fall, and then work my way down to 26 and 25 over the winter/spring/summer. I would have to be around 25 flat to walk on. Reasonable? Possible? Advice? Even if I don't make it sophomore year, it would then still be a goal for junior year to definitely reach.
PR's:
400: 55.9
800: 2:07
1600: 4:40
3200: 10:02
5k XC: 16:55, in better shape than this now.
5 Mile Road: 29:00