If you have a Coach that you trust, you should follow what they say.
If you doubt there word then find another.
If you cannot find a Coach you are happy with then you obviously need help, and from what I have seen on this forum, this is the next best place to get it.
In the meantime you can't afford to have some of our conflicting advice in your head clashing with your Coaches ideas.
Cheers.

Do what works best for you. If your times are coming down on less than 70mpw then perhaps that is the best schedule for you.

I will however disagree with your coach on his "junk" sentiment. There are no absolutes when it comes to optimal training. You cannot say with absolute certainty that 70mpw is the optimal mileage for all 5K runners, just ask Gerry Lindgren.

Find what works best for you, it might be 70mpw but it might just as easily be 100mpw. If your coach is any good and he sees you improving on higher mileage he'll let you continue.

1. I don't think that high mileage always works, but it is effective for most people.

2. Although your coach probably knows what works for you, I strongly disagree with him if he is saying that there is no point in any 5k runner running over 70 mpw. If that were the case, why is it that nearly every elite 5k runner in the world runs over 70 mpw? I know that I have run my best 5ks off of over 70 mpw.

3. I don't think that mileage should so much be gender based as it should be individual based. There are some women who thrive off of high mileage and some men who run best off of relatively low mileage.

John Kellog said "High mileage. This is the missing ingredient in American distance running. An emphasis on low to moderate mileage during the 1980s and most of the 1990s is the sole reason for our failure to produce the number of elite runners that we had during the 1970s and early 1980s. Those guys "back in the day" ran high mileage, and - surprise of surprises - the only U.S. runners who have been among the world's elite during the last decade are also high mileage runners! Our program aims to develop runners from youth to the point where they can train effectively and consistently at 120-150 miles per week by the time they reach physical maturity. Anything less than that is a cop-out and is inferior to the training used by elites around the world. Again, this is a long-term approach. There are no quick fixes to doing this correctly. It may take many years to reach the point of being able to run three weeks out of every four at 120-150 miles per week and also be able to add an ample amount of faster-paced running in there. It will pay off enormously if done correctly, but several years of only moderately good performances might have to be faithfully endured in order to get to the highest possible level. Probably 99 out of 100 Americans lack this kind of patience and perseverance, and those runners will most likely never fulfill their promise." (run the junk miles...they help)

Arthur

quote:<HR>Originally posted by runningart:
Name me one fast 5k runner who runs 70 miles and under and I'll name you 10 5k runners at least as fast who run over 100 miles at some point in their training. Run the miles.

Alan
http://www.geocities.com/runningart2004[/URL" target="_blank"><HR>

Alan
Do you have information or any links to training schedules for WOMEN who are focused on the 5K distance, not training for marathons? Seems people mostly quote what the men are doing. Any data on Marla Runyan, Lynn Jenning's old schedules, stuff like that?

How old are you? If in HS, I wouldn't even consider running more thant 70 MPW. (For that matter, I wouldn't consider it ever. )

. . . and I dropped my 5K time from 18:15 to 16:45 over the past year without increasing my mileage over 40 MPW. For me, simply maintaining mileage and intensity of effort brought my times down (both in speedwork and in races).

70 MPW is a lot for a 5K runner. I don't think it is instructive to compare your mileage to that of the world's best runners unless you have a reasonable chance of being one of them -- any more than it is to say, "You need to run your mile repeats in 4:15 since that's what great runners do." Mileage is one of many aspects of solid training, not the single answer. If you spend all your effort on raising mileage, you necessarily (as Brian notes) have a dropoff in the quality of tempo runs, speedwork, etc.