Best training methods for 8K/5miler?

only 50mpw for d1? You need to be at atleast 80

jbkewjkrbewr wrote:

only 50mpw for d1? You need to be at atleast 80

I respond better to more intensity vs mileage. Also it would be idiotic to go out and start running 80 mile weeks. I would break my legs. Besides, it's not a top tier school, and a lot of the guys on that team run around 50-60 per week.

Any HELPFUL advice?

50 mpw and climbing is fine. The question is how far under 9:30 did you run for 3200m during track?

As for the taper question, how does it work at your school? Some places you arrive the third or fourth week in August and then run off the first weekend in September. Part of the tryout is that you have to run the time/place after running the first 10 days of practice.

I would taper either the week before you show up for practice or the week before you run the race but not both.

frank. wrote:

jbkewjkrbewr wrote:

only 50mpw for d1? You need to be at atleast 80

I respond better to more intensity vs mileage.

If you've only ever run 45 mpw to this point, that's fine, but you need to set your mileage goals higher unless you're okay being mediocre. 50 miles a week will not cut it in D1, the "I respond to intensity" excuse works in high school but soon you will be racing guys who run 70-80+ with as much if not more intensity than you.

I'm not sure I'd taper, since that might make the season tricky. You might want to pull back slightly a day or two before the race to freshen the legs though.

My usual college summer would build up bit-by-bit ~5-7 miles a week with a 4th week a bit lower to recover.. (It looked a lot like "summer of malmo" though I only hear about that now.) I might do something like this for where you are now:

50-55-60-50 .. 55-60-65?

That leaves you at Labor Day, which I assume is the week of your race = two training cycles and some time to freshen the legs that week.

Personally, whenever I get above 60+ mpw, I add at least 2 days of doubles.

You don't mention quality workouts, which you'll want to add soon. Hill efforts, tempo, and longer intervals (e.g., 1200 or mile repeats) were always helpful summer workouts. If you give a bit more on current and goal pace, I'd be happy to give a few more ideas.

You need to work up to 80mpw if you're gonna race 8k in D1 (80.4672mpw if you race 5 miles)

"the "I respond to intensity" excuse works in high school"

Everyone responds to intensity. Most in HS are too lazy or too out of shape when they start running to see how they respond to mileage. Now that you have run a few years, you need to face up to the idea that very few in college are too lazy to see how they respond to mileage. I repeat, if you ran 9:10 or so off of 40 mpw, and are now running 50 mpw, you will be fine this fall on all but the best teams. If you ran 9:55 on 40 mpw, not so much.

This is definitely good advice.

As far as taper, I would consider a mini taper. So maybe 4-5 days of reduced mileage and intensity either right before the race or right before the beginning of practice (in the event you start practice and then have the tryouts race).

If your mileage builds to 70 or so, that would mean about 10 miles a day. In the mini taper I'd run 4 to 6 miles in each of those days. Strides on 2 of the days, and then just relax.

frank. wrote:

I am running an 8K race in the beginning of September in an attempt to walk on to a D1 XC team. What are some good workouts to do to get ready for it and should I taper at all? I'm running 50 mile weeks right now with some tempos and a few road races here and there, but the mileage gets higher every weeks.

In August, start doing some work at the 8k pace you think you'll need to make the team, say 6 x 1000m with 200-400m recovery once a week. Start with the 400m rest; this suggestion is more about race pace work than hurting. You want to show up just sharp enough to make the team.