That would be tough for a freshman or sophomore, but you really aren't even in the game until you are running 80 mpw. Clearly, that is not a prescription for everyone (which undoubtedly one of you will take it as), but for most adult males (17-18 yo) that is what gets it done.
That is what I did the summer before junior year XC (80-85 per week) and I got to 4:15 / 9:15.
I'm gonna have to disagree with you on this. There are plenty of examples of guys running 40-50 MPW and going a lot faster than 9:15/4/15. Noah Affolder, 25-40 MPW got him too 4:07, 8:47, and 14:40s for XC 5k. Justyn Knight just got second at NCAAs with his highest week ever at 60 miles.
There are plenty of guys who have talent, meanwhile the rest of us, have to make the best with what we have. A good indicator of natural "talent" otherwise known as genetics, is great success with minimal work. Most could study math every day for decades and never move beyond being good, meanwhile there are a few, who read and comprehend advanced math like most people read a magazine.
Splits Guy wrote:
I'm gonna have to disagree with you on this. There are plenty of examples of guys running 40-50 MPW and going a lot faster than 9:15/4/15. Noah Affolder, 25-40 MPW got him too 4:07, 8:47, and 14:40s for XC 5k. Justyn Knight just got second at NCAAs with his highest week ever at 60 miles.
He should be running double 10s when I was younger and ran 5ks I ran 140 mpw
While I agree with you about the sort of low mileage talent you're referring to, I think an often overlooked kind of talent is the ability to handle 80+ mile weeks and improve. Especially at a young age this is just as rare.
That sounds great and all but lacks a bit of structure. If hes doing ~70mpw I would put a 7 miler (and 4-6 strides) on saturdays and long run 13-15 on sundays every week. Monday I would also do strides :) Sometime during the week, throw in some (4, building up to 8 or so) 10 second Hills with LONG RESTS and throw in some 15-20 sec hills with LONG RESTS later in winter :D With long rests and short sprint lengths he wont build any significant amount of lactic acid and thats KEY in my opinion :) Pace sounds decent, maybe throw in a 730-800 minute pace run or two if hes feeling tired. At some point he should do some cut downs(soon)+threshold stuff (something like next month) :D:D:D:D
As a highscooler though, hes approaching the upper limit of what most people his age "should be doing" unless hes been running for years or is Jr/Sr
I hope some of this is useful, not the most knowledgeable or most experience but getting the most out of the summer and winter months is what determines his potential come race season
-PIKA PIKA