Is this a reasonable goal?

Whatdoyouthink wrote:

I'm a hs freshman male, and want to break 17:30 in the 5k in xc (at altitude, in Colorado). Currently, my PR is only 18:47, but I was injured for two weeks late September. My peak mileage that summer was 30. I'm planning on running 40-45 mpw late summer. In case you want to know, I'm 5ft-10.5in and 128 lb. Do you think I can get to 17:30, and what should I be doing to get there?

Yes, possible. Recommendation is to get a certified coach that has a lot of experience with HS kids. In Colorado, one option would be "Tinman" (also known as coach Schwartz). If your parents are willing to support you and believe you have a future in running (D1 potential, etc) let me know and I'll show you how you could get in contact with him. He is the current coach of Aidan Puffer, and Grace Ping and has coached Drew Hunter in HS if these names ring any bells. His price is $200/month, but if the improvement means you get a D1 contract instead of a D3, the college money will easily pay back the investment.

There would also be the possibility of a post-collegiate career, either with the so-called Tinman Track club (sub-elite, next to a full-time job) or the Tinman Elite (elite, full-time pro).

I don't think it's possible to get to 17:30 as early as this fall, unless you have just started out in the sport. Shaving off minute and half in the 5k is pretty difficult feat itself, and to do it in the span of 5 months is even more so. For what it's worth, I never even improved by 1:30 over the course of my 3 year HS career. I'm sure with the consistent training and mileage it will be possible for you, but I don't see it as a realistic goal in such a short frame of time. I can see you improving about 30 secs this year.

johnfromSJ wrote:

I don't think it's possible to get to 17:30 as early as this fall, unless you have just started out in the sport. Shaving off minute and half in the 5k is pretty difficult feat itself, and to do it in the span of 5 months is even more so.

Chill bro. We are not talking here about getting from 15:00 to 13:30, it's just 18 high to 17:30. It's an incoming Freshman, you think he has been running for years with solid workouts? Chances are, he didn't. He did a bit of running here and there, couple of races and that's it. So he can easily improve that much.

Key is GOOD coaching. Tinman coached Ping, a girl, to a 16:44 as 12-year old, you are underestimating what these kids can do on EXPERT COACHING.

My reasoning was one: my PR was from late October, so the time frame is more like a year than 5 months. Two: if I can stay healthy, not get injured, then I would do better by default, as well as I have grown an inch already. Three: upping mileage will lead to bigger prs if you don't get injured. I just don't have the experience, so I'm not sure how to go about things such as avoiding getting hurt.

Well, I'm not sure I do have D1 potential myself, but I think it is possible to make it there but to be anything special within D1 I don't think so.. Just because of that, I wouldn't see it reasonable to ask my parents to pay that much. My high school coach seems pretty good, but I'm at a 3A school with no great success. I will look into advice from known coaches such as Tinman, though