Ken Cormier busted 120 miles a week in the summer.

"He may have run "only" a 15:22 5k, but in the process he beat, amongst others, a 4:06 miler, an 8:51 2miler, an 8:54 2 miler, and every other "good" high school runner in the country."

not only that he also beat another 850 2miler, and the other soph 406 miler. 2nd year in a row a 9:20+ 3200 kid won footlocker!

To the guy who asked where will he go from here.

Who cares? He is the flippin' national xc champion. Would you rather run a 15:22 5k at some bum road race/track meet when no one cares, or the national HS xc championship? Good for him for busting his ass this past year. Even if he never runs another fast step (which he will) no one can take away the fact that yesterday he was the best HS xc runner in the US. Better to burn out with a bang.

Kenny Cormier improved 79 seconds from the 2003 Western Regional race to this year's Western Regional Race (at Mt. SAC). This guy has obviously gotten serious about running over the past year and there is no question that he has alot of talent.

It will be interesting to see what he runs in track. If any indication, from the guys he beat at Footlocker, he will be under 8:50 for 3200.

We will soon see.

I heard Kenny Cormier did the 120mpw carrying a keg on his back and then drank it when he had finished.

Frank Booth wrote:

He cracked 120 miles a week and ran a 15:22. Where will he go from here? A rational view is that this is the summit of his achievement. A good recruiter would rather take someone who ran 15:xx off 50 miles a week than someone with a 15:xx off 120 miles a week. Much more of an upside.

Who has had the most "upside" in the last 10 years?

Top Footlocker finishers like Hartmann, Ed and Jorge Torres, Sage, Ritz, Webb, Solinsky, etc.

OR low mileage kids that ran almost as fast?

I think that a "good recruiter" would want the Footlocker winner no matter what he ran.

120 miles at HS age, even if it was for one week, you'd assume the other weeks would still be high...And you wonder why the U.S. has problems developing athletes. Don't care if he won a HS national, so will someone every year but how many of those winners will go on to be anything during their 20's and early 30's.

10 lapper wrote:

120 miles at HS age, even if it was for one week, you'd assume the other weeks would still be high...And you wonder why the U.S. has problems developing athletes. Don't care if he won a HS national, so will someone every year but how many of those winners will go on to be anything during their 20's and early 30's.

Yes, no wonder we have trouble developing athletes when only so few of them are willing to push their bounds and risk "burning out." Here's to Ken who is the most improved runner in the nation as well as the greatest in XC.

>>Yes, no wonder we have trouble developing athletes when only so few of them are willing to push their bounds and risk "burning out." Here's to Ken who is the most improved runner in the nation as well as the greatest in XC.

Just look at the record of the U.S. in developing athletes beyond HS and college...then look at the mileage. HS champions, as great as it is for the athlete concerned and well done to the guys/girls, are a dime a dozen, not many remember them. If they are it's usually are case of what ever happened to "xxxx", they ran so well in HS. The ultimate judging of the system is how many have gone to do well beyond HS/college. The results don't suggest many despite the huge number that run HS/college. Getting away now from the negative aspects, well done to the 2 winners, let's hope they do go on to really make it in the sport.

Great race Ken !

http://www.TrackAndFieldPhoto.com/DisplayJpg.php?041211_1849_3931_RLM&next=1

Love,

Miani

10lapper,

First, I would say that any HSer consistently running that much is a very rare bird in this country.

Second, one anamalous week will do no real harm (or good). Take my example: I had a summer after HS that I averaged 90mpw. I went 75/90/105 and alternated every week, so I had a high week, an average week and a low week, so that my average was 90. I went to a running camp and ran 118 that week, with a day off. Not for any real reason other than it was fun. I liked (and still do) running, and being in a beautiful place with lots of trails and such, it was a lot of fun. The following week, to avoid the aforementioned "over-doing-it", It was justa 50mi week with no specific workouts at all. Just a recovery week to compensate for the one weirdo big one the week before.

Again, I don't know exactly how this kid is doing it, but I wouldn't say, automatically, that he's in error. As with many things, it all depends on how you cut it.

Was this on the course in San Diego or the one where they had USATF's at? I think someone said that it is the same one, which would definetely explain the time.

El G won the Olympic 1500 in 3:35, no one complained then.

USATF-SD was held at UCSD. Footlocker was held on Morley Field, near Balboa Park, to south and several miles inland.

anyone who thinks you only need to do 50 miles a week in HS is full of shit. If you can handle it, (most people can when built up) go ahead and do 80-90 miles worth of singles plus any second runs you want. 120 might be a little much, but as long as he worked up too it and it wasn't too fast, he should be alright.

I seem to rememeber this one guy, I think his name was Dathan. He did some pretty high mileage in HS and is doing alright, despite taking a lot of heat at the time.

Once again I ask the question why are americans afraid of volume?

No one seems to question guys who do insane speed work and race all the time, but if someone cracks 100 mpw in HS, they're stupid, when actually, the opposite is true.

I was at a camp with Dathan's hs coach 2 years ago. He said dathan only got up to 80 mpw when he decided to train for the jr. world xc, other than that he was a 60-70 guy.

I wouldn't be using Chapa as a positive example of how high mileage works.

He had a shortened career bacause he was so messed up from the stupid shit his hs coach, i think he was nicknamed caveman, did to him in hs.

I would also consider what he accomplished after his 28:32 in hs a dissapointment.

Another thing, if the mielage is so good for you at a young age, whatever happened to his hs teammates that were also under 9:00.

The bottom line is that Chapa's hs coach ruined a great talent.

There are many ways to ruin an athlete or season. You could look at Derek Clayton and say, "Well he ran high mileage and look at all the injuries he had," without noting the fact that hammered almost everyday.

>>>>There are many ways to ruin an athlete or season.

High intensity and high mileage at HS being 2 of them. HS champions are a dime a dozen. They come and go. We marvel at them, then in a year or two their gone. The proof of it all is how good a career they have after college.

Of course -- but on which path are you going to find ruin? I would argue that on the path with high intensity is where you're likely to crumble. If someone in HS is running a lot of 70+ mile weeks (and it is not an extraordinary jump for them), and less than 15% of their running is hard or quality, they will not get burned. As a coach, you could certainly mess up on peaking (easily the hardest part of our sport) or give the incorrect workouts (as I did when I had my horrible stint coaching myself my last semester in HS), but they won't get burned and are less likely to get hurt.

>>>Of course -- but on which path are you going to find ruin?

As I said...both. More on the intensity side but both. Like you I believe in a progressive build-up and a good mileage base, with lower intensity at HS ages but even with mileage there is a threshold at certain ages and abilities where it becomes too much. Too much emphasis placed on being the HS champion. Let it develop if you've got future ambitions. There are athletes have started a career at 16/17 and still running well at 27 after 10 years running. IMHO it's not a bad time to start a career although not always possible as kids like to be involved in their sports any many different ages. At that stage you are increasing mileage when bodies are strong enough to handle it. Ususally those athletes have been active before then playing other sport or just simply being active in other ways. Like the Kenyans who walk everywhere as well as a number of kms to school or the school bus, play soccer madly (many Kenyan kids first priotity) etc... they are active and it does produce a good base of fitness to work off. Similarly the old drug-infested Eastern Bloc system of the 80's used to emphasise "active play" from indentified talent at younger ages and didn't fully start to specialise until about 16. HS chamionships are nice to win and a terrific achievement at the time but they mean jack in the larger scheme of things. Let it develop.

My 0.02. Interested in what others have to say.