Why do so many high schoolers not run much faster in college?

You guys keep answering a question from a troll. 90% of guys improve in college yet you keep explaining why more don't improve. I don't know how you can expect more than 90% to improve.

Can't use Epo and roids in college so easily

Got there freshman year. Had to hear the "don't smoke weed" talk from the AD. Asked who DID smoke weed, nearly every single dude raised their hand.

Not me. I wasn't into that. But, I DID have longer hair than anyone. So guess who got popped for testing constantly, including on Dec. 27 one year? Yeah, me. Eff them, and this was a D1 ya'll adore.

Guys, I'm on my way to D1, and did a few TTs this spring:

4:28

9:51

Last fall I ran a 16:24 on a hilly course, and I ran a 26:11 8K GPS'd on my phone on a golf course last Saturday night. I'm running about 50 miles a week, 10 mile long run, sort-of tempos, and sometimes a few 400s at 55 with 30 seconds rest.

Thoughts?

For many, the idea of competing in college is much more attractive than the reality of competing in college.

I also understand when 19-20 year old that runs a 4:20 mile and is on a 5% scholarship realizes that it makes way more long term financial sense to focus on school and work, rather than chasing an impossible dream.

Most people on this board don't understand that in the grand scheme of life, running is not that important.

College will be weird this year I think wrote:

Guys, I'm on my way to D1, and did a few TTs this spring:

4:28

9:51

Last fall I ran a 16:24 on a hilly course, and I ran a 26:11 8K GPS'd on my phone on a golf course last Saturday night. I'm running about 50 miles a week, 10 mile long run, sort-of tempos, and sometimes a few 400s at 55 with 30 seconds rest.

Thoughts?

I'd build up to 70 this summer and maintain that for as long as possible. Email the coach at your school and ask his or her thoughts on summer base training. I'm surprised some guidance hasn't been sent already unless the coach plans on redshirting you or thinks there won't be xc in the fall.

Successful College Coach0123456789 wrote:

For many, the idea of competing in college is much more attractive than the reality of competing in college.

I also understand when 19-20 year old that runs a 4:20 mile and is on a 5% scholarship realizes that it makes way more long term financial sense to focus on school and work, rather than chasing an impossible dream.

Most people on this board don't understand that in the grand scheme of life, running is not that important.

Most college runners aren't stagnating because of work and class load, its all the other stuff - parties, campus activities, social life in addition to trying to be a top student.

Kvothe wrote:

Successful College Coach0123456789 wrote:

For many, the idea of competing in college is much more attractive than the reality of competing in college.

I also understand when 19-20 year old that runs a 4:20 mile and is on a 5% scholarship realizes that it makes way more long term financial sense to focus on school and work, rather than chasing an impossible dream.

Most people on this board don't understand that in the grand scheme of life, running is not that important.

Most college runners aren't stagnating because of work and class load, its all the other stuff - parties, campus activities, social life in addition to trying to be a top student.

I fizzled out with two years of XC eligibility remaining when I had to find a way to better pay for school.

We didn't Q for NCAA's those two years. Yeah, I've often wondered if I had stuck around if we would have!

Those are not real D1 times. You won't be qualifying for nationals or competing at Iowa State indoor or Stanford outdoor. Guessing you are attending a school that most here have never heard of. I have 3 guys going D1 next year and a few going D3. Only 1 should have gone D1. The real D1 guy ran 9:10 but the other 2 ran 9:35 and 4:28 both in their junior years. One D3 guy ran 4:30 and one ran 1:58.

Not enough have absorbed the wisdom from wejo:

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2006/09/wejo-speaks-why-i-sucked-in-college/

Parties

Pizza

Pvssy

shoey the guy wrote:

Those are not real D1 times. You won't be qualifying for nationals or competing at Iowa State indoor or Stanford outdoor. Guessing you are attending a school that most here have never heard of. I have 3 guys going D1 next year and a few going D3. Only 1 should have gone D1. The real D1 guy ran 9:10 but the other 2 ran 9:35 and 4:28 both in their junior years. One D3 guy ran 4:30 and one ran 1:58.

"Real D1". Except at conference, regionals, and nats you line up and race whoever shows up be they d1 or nirca teams. The clock doesn't care what singlet you have on your torso. Real runners treasure newspaper race results more than your bestest d1 boy trophy.

Not true. Your team won't make prenats in XC or Joe Piane or Nuttycomb. Your team won't get to run at Iowa State Indoornor Stanford outdoor and neither will you. Check the schedules of NAU or BYU or Wisconsin or Iowa State or Oregon and see if you will ever compete against them.

I don't understand the question in the title. If you are a high school runner, you haven't yet run in college.

So I guess that's the answer. High school runners "don't run much faster in college" because high school runners don't run in college at all. If they did, they wouldn't be high school runners.

shoey the guy wrote:

Not true. Your team won't make prenats in XC or Joe Piane or Nuttycomb. Your team won't get to run at Iowa State Indoornor Stanford outdoor and neither will you. Check the schedules of NAU or BYU or Wisconsin or Iowa State or Oregon and see if you will ever compete against them.

I was an east coast guy. Our big xc meets were Paul Short and something at McAlpine usually. I was in the same race as the ncaa d1 champ a few times, but he went to liberty, not stanford. Would my experience have been better being crammed into a plane to fly to god knows where and trying to study in a hotel room, maybe?!?

I ran at a D3 school with a lot of guys who peaked in HS. The biggest factor is that a lot of guys didn't have to deal with failure until they got to the next level. Lot of guys PR every race in high school, but when they run their first indoor mile (which is almost always slower than what they ran the previous spring), they lose their momentum.

The ones that want to improve do. Reminds me of a quote by a former UAB basketball coach in the 80’s who was asked how many of his athletes actually graduate, he replied “Everyone that wants to”

No. I coach high school boys. About 1/2 run faster in college, about 25% run the same time, and about 25% never match their high school times. Most slowly bump up mileage after high school from 50 to as much as 90 miles by senior year of college. Life is different in college and some people just peak earlier. One example was a guy who ran 9 flat and 15 flat. He never broke 8:30 for 3k or 25:30 for 8k. Another guy who ran 4:18, never broke 4:20 in college. He was frustrated that he put in much more work but couldn't even replicate his high school performance. One former 400/800 guy made the Olympic marathon trials this year but can no longer run 50 in the 400. He was a 4:10 miler in college.

Because unless you’re getting a scholarship college running is a waste of time. Most aren’t so most don’t prioritize it. In high school though the motivation is to be good enough to get that scholarship so its prioritized. However, when you graduate high school you’re expected to be a responsible adult. That means working and focusing on developing a career. If you’re not financially benefiting from running in college it’s doing neither of those. Therefore it’s a waste of time and energy.