8 to 10 weeks to get in 14:40 shape. (LOG)

Be sure to keep your form throughout your training. If you're trying to improve that much in two months, you're going to be exhausted at times and cutting it really close to being injured. Do whatever you have to do, form drills, mental checks in the middle of your runs, but don't start running with bad form towards the end of an exhausting run or workout. It's better to have to run the last couple miles of your long run slow (or not at all) in order to keep your form than it is to let your form fall apart.

isaiahr23 wrote:

Jeez what college is this.. 14:40 walk on? Anyone sub 15 in high school should definitely be on scholarship unless you're going to Colorado or something.

Not debating 14:40 is a tough walk-on standard, but no, everyone running sub-15 is not on scholarship, not even close. Unless you mean sub-15:00 for 5k on a XC course, then maybe. I think you underestimate how many scholarships (and roster spots) most schools have for XC (other than those that specifically target XC) because of Title IX.

I ran for a team that never even made it to NCAAs (we were twice the first team with at large points that didn't make it). If you weren't close to 9:20 3200m on the track in HS (Daniels table gives equivalent as 15:07 5k), coach wouldn't even bother submitting the forms to allow you to try and walk on. The only 2 men we had on scholarship were footlocker finalists.

The first thing I noticed was ( "My right hip goes extremely numb."). If I was say your private coach, just as if I was a private coach to Ches, or Grant Fisher) I would pull you aside and ask, what was that again? I would want to know everything and all things about this hip numbness. The first worry is sciatica. I just mention the big boys names above trying to stress how important protecting your body is and your health. Imagine if Grant ran a long run tomorrow and told the Stanford coach..my hip keeps getting extremely numb. His coach would not say, ok jump up 20mpw to deal with that. You are as important as them and you have to take care of your body at all costs. I could go on but I'll shut up now.

An answer to a bunch of those questions:

I am already enrolled, yes.

He gave me a general time period for when he wanted me to try out, which is around the time of Thanksgiving. I'd have to run a 14:40 this year to make the team, as that's what most of the incoming freshmen are running.

I do already run doubles except for my long and pace/speed/tempo days. Most runs include a set of 8-10 strides at about 100-150 meters each afterwards.

I actually just added a whole bunch of strengthening routines to my training calendar. Varying from core strength, hip strength, shoulders, etc. that will be performed depending on what the workout is each day (i.e. Leg Strength could follow a pace workout whereas core strength could follow an easy workout).

Thanks for your comment, tips, and encouragement!

I understand what you're getting at. I actually started seeing a sports masseuse and will continue to see him periodically. He's pretty much pinpointed what's going on (one hip is higher than the other, locked ankles, etc.) and we hope to work these things out so I can fine tune my training. Cheers!

Lawwee! wrote:

The first thing I noticed was ( "My right hip goes extremely numb."). If I was say your private coach, just as if I was a private coach to Ches, or Grant Fisher) I would pull you aside and ask, what was that again? I would want to know everything and all things about this hip numbness. The first worry is sciatica. I just mention the big boys names above trying to stress how important protecting your body is and your health. Imagine if Grant ran a long run tomorrow and told the Stanford coach..my hip keeps getting extremely numb. His coach would not say, ok jump up 20mpw to deal with that. You are as important as them and you have to take care of your body at all costs. I could go on but I'll shut up now.

Form check is always a must with me! ESPECIALLY towards the end of a run.

Cheers!

Yeah, I definitely know the odds are stacked against me. But if I didn't think I could do it, I wouldn't. Thanks for the encouragement and for the well-wishes!

As much as I don't want to be a downer, I have to admit that I am a little put off by this idea of trying to get down from 16:00 to 14:40 in half a season. Not just because it is wildly improbable. My problem is the short-term, get-fast-quick mentality. I conceptualize our sport as being about dedication to patient and disciplined self-improvement in a culture obsessed with shortcuts.

I probably shouldn't be so grumpy. After all, I'm glad to see the OP dedicating himself to working hard these next two months, and I'm all about lofty, impossible dreams. But this empathy makes the 2 month time scale all the more galling. OP, you are selling yourself and your dreams short with this counterproductive short-term focus. Improving as a runner takes time, and requires not just fiery ambition but also patience, maturity, and realism.

Ultimately I don't want to argue that the OP shouldn't do his best to make the team, if that's an important goal for him. Godspeed (no pun intended). But I hope that two months from now, the OP will be able to sublimate his short-term ambitions into a more patient and ultimately rewarding focus to long-term development over the next several years. I hope he can experience the true spirit of distance running as I understand it.

Many Doctors will not pinpoint sciatica right off. The very first claim is one hip or leg is shorter etc. I hope your right, but even if you are you got to get ahead of this extreme numbness in your thigh. It sounds like a nerve in right rear glute is being contacted by muscle inflammation. Anyway if it keeps up or gets worst go see top physician. Today laser surgery can get it done concerning sciatica. I hope I'm spelling that right.

Yeah, I have to agree with the guy above who is wary of the quick-fix approach. You have to believe in yourself, but you also have to be smart.

I would argue that it would take even more belief in yourself to set a goal of making the team next year or the year after rather than dropping 80 seconds off your 5000 pr in two months. The amount of motivation needed to make it or die trying in two months is less than the amount needed to train for a year, two years, three years.

I almost feel as if maybe some of the responses you've gotten here are maybe from older guys (like me) who don't want to say this because they don't want to discourage you. Want to be a good runner? Train without injury for years. That's the formula. Not months. Years. Piling on mileage, gym days, and hard workouts when you already have numbness somewhere in your body is a very bad idea (albeit one I think most of us all made, in one similar form or another, when we were 18).

Still, you seem determined, so I'll put this out there: my mid-tier DI team ran doubles on hard workout days as well as easy days, and we did most of our miles no slower than 6:30. If the school you go to is as good as it sounds, you need to keep this in mind. I wouldn't recommend it now, as it sounds as if you're already dealing with a potential injury in waiting, but you don't run often enough and your easy run pace is too slow.

And please try to still have time for a social life. Trips to a masseuse, doubles by yourself, gym sessions by yourself, that's a lot for a college freshman.

Update us, though, because I'd love to hear in two months that we're all wrong and you ran a 14:42.

Yeah, I think your goals are too lofty. Do you have to make the team right away?

I think you'd be better off doing really good training to improve. Increase your volume slightly and see if you can be a little faster on your short speed repetitions. Little things like this might make you a better runner without risking injury by deviating from your plan.

I have no personal desire to see him fail. I wish him all the best.

However the OP has stated he already has injury issues with his hip and perhaps ankles also, upping his training to what is required to run 14:40 will quite simply end in tears.

The kid is enthusiastic and that is great but the coach has misguided him by giving him a target that is out of reach and frankly unfair. Clearly, this coach does not really want the OP on the team this year.

I am sure 15:20-15:30 would be sufficient to compete, or is everyone a 14 minute 5k runner on this team?

Sorry, but I just have to ask, is this a troll job?

For starters, stop doing 17-mile long runs. Judging by your mile time and your 5 X 1 mile times, running 17 miles at slower than 7-minute pace is not going to help. Especially since it sounds as if you're risking injury. Nothing should ever being going numb, certainly not at 7-minute pace.

You need to be faster. A lot faster. And, seriously, this isn't going to happen on two months. I can say that my goal is to run a world record, but it's all bs unless I have a realistic plan to get there. You do not have a realistic plan.

Make the team next year. One guy even brought up surgery? A college freshman trying to make his xc team should never need surgery. Or visits to a masseuse. Get a realistic plan for achieving your goals.

Go f*ckin get em kid

You said that you used to be a chunky monkey... what is your height/weight now?

I honestly don't see you getting down to a 14:40 in that time interval, but, if you are going with a desperation plan - you also need drop as much weight as possible. In 8 weeks you should be able to drop 5 pounds while training. It will help.

I'm assuming that that's just someone trolling you, but don't worry about your weight, kid. A freshman in college who's running as much as you are will weigh what he needs to weigh. 18-year old metabolism plus 70 mile weeks means you don't need to go anywhere near a scale.

Do you go to Georgetown by chance? If so email me.

hoyasaxa43243 wrote:

Do you go to Georgetown by chance? If so email me.

This is a good question, do you mind telling us the school in question?

I was in a similar situation my freshman year. My words of advice: Believe in yourself and work your ass off, but don't let it consume you. Don't let it become the only thing that drives you. I let that happen to me. And I didn't make it. I was broken and didn't know what to do with myself. I didn't know why I was even at the school anymore. It took me a long time to recover from that.

So bottom line, stay driven but don't lose track of the other things in life and don't forget to enjoy your training and have fun.

Good luck!