Really love running but not good at it

You'll get more out of an extra run than you will from religion.

You probably have not experienced the puberty improvements yet.

Your dad did not run 15:43 on a few weeks of 10 miles running. He had a short course or remembered incorrectly.

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Other small considerations - 8:30 - 9:00 seems rather slow, even for the "easy runs are easy" crowd.

Take breaks between seasons, and focus on speed during track while you're young.

18:00 XC is not bad for a 14-year-old who has not seen the muscular development that comes with puberty yet. See what happens in the next few years.

scopolarmree wrote:

You probably have not experienced the puberty improvements yet.

Your dad did not run 15:43 on a few weeks of 10 miles running. He had a short course or remembered incorrectly.

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Other small considerations - 8:30 - 9:00 seems rather slow, even for the "easy runs are easy" crowd.

Take breaks between seasons, and focus on speed during track while you're young.

18:00 XC is not bad for a 14-year-old who has not seen the muscular development that comes with puberty yet. See what happens in the next few years.

Sadly he has the time in the books and brings it up to this day. Of course, it's the marines so they do cardio all day 5 days a week.

Also, I run at 8:30-9:00 pace up and down hills. My max HR is around 200 so I keep it at 120-135 on easy days and don't let it get higher than 140.

ya-ok wrote:

This is why wrote:

You're doing great for 14.

You'll be breaking records in a couple more years.

Just give it time and be patient.

Don't know any 14 year olds who talk about having 'never doped' and 'don't plan on doping'.

Sounds to me like a 30-40 year old to me, with the maturity close to the claimed age group.

Mentioned that part because I was sure some smart fella would comment something like "just do d-bol" or "join the NOP" if I had just posted "I've tried everything and haven't improved." Which is true, minus the doping part.

scopolarmree wrote:

Your dad did not run 15:43 on a few weeks of 10 miles running. He had a short course or remembered incorrectly.

Relatedly, if it was a Marine PFT, those are 3 miles (not 5k), and I've heard the routes are notoriously short.

Really love running but not good at it? That describes about 99% of the runners on earth. Welcome to hobby jogging.

Feeling hopeless wrote:

Sadly he has the time in the books and brings it up to this day. Of course, it's the marines so they do cardio all day 5 days a week.

Also, I run at 8:30-9:00 pace up and down hills. My max HR is around 200 so I keep it at 120-135 on easy days and don't let it get higher than 140.

I disagree with most of the advice on this thread.

I would keep doing exactly what you're doing, make small adjustments in a gradual as you see fit, and continue doing the same thing through high school. You will naturally get faster as you get older and adapt to the training.

You don't say what grade you are in. You also don't describe your training. Is your 5k time from last fall? What was your 2mi/3200 from the spring? With good training, you should come close to that 2mi en route to 50 this Fall.

It is summer time. You should be doing long runs, long tempo / steady state runs and strides. You should not be doing intervals at all. You should be developing endurance and steady state speed. Strides will maintain or increase your raw speed. So at 50mi/wk you should have:

90min run

2x60-75min run. You should be increasing the pace through the run or hitting 30min at a very good tempo (maybe 6:20-30 for an 18min 5K runner, check Daniels pace charts)

4x35-50min easy with 4-6 strides of about 15s. Strides are quick but not all out. Controlled and as smooth as possible. As fast as you can run in a relaxed way with good form and NO strain.

I respect Marines for their toughness, but I have heard MANY, MANY Marines claim times in the Mile or 5K that just were not so. They are NEVER verifiable such as track times. They do not repeat these times on legitimate courses or on the track. So take that with a grain of salt if you are assuming you should have the same level of talent.

To answer your questions, I am going into freshman year. Middle school aged athletes do not run the 3200m. I ran a 2 mile race last winter and also a 5k in December. The 2 mile I completed in 10:55 and the 5k was 18:02. That was the last time I raced. My tempo runs are at 5:50 and my HR does not really go above 180, or about 90% of my max. I am going to incorporate steady state runs into my running after reading some things in the thread. Daniels pace charts says 6:05 is my pace, and my steady state pace is 6:22.

As far as the time for the PFT, I don't think he ever ran under 16 for the 3 mile course as it was enough to get first. However, he ran a lot of races in California as my mom was also a runner. He ran Bay to Breaker in 41:x. I'm keeping the year out of this for anonymity, and a couple 5k races. The problem I am having is my parents both didn't really develop endurance until they were in their early 20s. Claimed he ran 18 minute 3 miles until around 23 where he started to focus on it. Whether the 10 miles per week is a lie I'm not sure, but he said he claimed mountains a lot when stationed in Jap. The reason I'm so concerned is I am 6 inches taller and 9 inches taller than my father at the same age, so I believe I should at least be running those times if I focus on them.

I haven't read the thread, but you are doubling on 55 mpw? My first though is why? Can you not run 8 miles every day? Keep one run where it is and lengthen the other run.

Do 2 workouts a week and a tempo.

At 14, I think an 18 minute 5k is right about where you should be at to be honest. You haven't developed yet but when you do it wouldn't surprise me if you drop down to around 16 minutes.

The only way you're going to discover your true potential at this point is by waiting to see what kind of body you develop into. There is no way of knowing at this time.

During puberty, guys tend to get faster. What you run now is of no indicater on how fast you will be in say 10 years time so keep doing the work and let the cards fall where they may.

Relax, reset your mind and body. Take the summer and focus on volume. Easy runs... maybe one tempo a week and when progressive long run. Everything else should be easy with some strides at the end.

Start getting sharp in Sept. Race well in Oct.

Come winter, train for some shorter distances. Feel the pain of racing some 800s. Go back to your 5ks in the spring. Get used to being uncomfortable and the times will come down.

Marines do a 3mile not a 5k....

I had a guy on my HS team that sounded a bit like you. His name? Joe LeMay. He not once, out of at least 20 HS XC races, beat me, and I was only a 16-16:30 guy. His sophomore year he was running about your times, junior year maybe low 17:00s, senior year injured during XC, I believe. Track was where he started to shine in H.S. but not until his junior and really senior year. I think he was running over 10 for the 3200 still for much of his sophomore year. Look him up. And he was like 6"4', 140 in HS. Here's what became of him:

http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/working-stiff

http://more.arrs.net/runner/575

OP:

A bunch of people gave you good advice, except for the fact that you're only 14.

I would put all that advice on hold for now and just keep doing what you are already doing. I can guarantee that you'll get significantly faster just by growing into yourself.

Don't stress every detail and just let it happen. Also, you say you have an ideal body size. Don't stress over that either. If you gain 5 or 10 pounds, it won't kill you.

Check back in a year or two with your new PRs.

How many middle schoolers are running high 16s like his teammates are? How many middle schoolers have "clean diets" for 3 years? 18:05 is great for a 14 year old! Assuming he hasn't been improving he ran that fast as a 13 year old or even a 12 year old. I don't believe any of this.

Dude, you're 14, you're a giant. Just chill. Enjoy life. You'll get faster. Even if you don't, if you're enjoying life (and running), who cares. But I can't imagine you won't get faster if you just chill, get your priorities straight, run consistently, and don't burn out.

Now that I've given a serious answer, I also think this might be a very good troll attempt. Lots of exuberant responses with little suspicion of trolling.

18:02 8 months ago, about one month after I turned 14.

You're only 14....but 3 years Training age.

Just run more.

At 14 my freshman year I ran 18:13. Ran upwards of 70mi a week the next summer. Ran 17:35 soph, 16:16 jr, 15:53 sr. I kept increasing the mileage during the summer/winter. Got as high as the mid 80s. 12-14mi long runs. The other stuff, the intervals, the workouts, is all coach controlled so just do your best and try to get faster. He says run 70s 400m....try for 69s....

I was a 5'6" 140lb ate ice cream and microwave burritos all the time. Never had the talent, but worked harder than anyone.

Alan