oh yeah and one more thing i shoulda added, just for reference. my junior year was my 1st year running, and my best xc time was 20:12. i was injured for a lot of the track season, but the summer before senior year i ran over 600 miles, doing like 5 consecutive weeks of 60-65 mpw, and i ran a 16:45 in mid september (i got hurt after that but it wasn't from the miles, it was from my right leg being shorter than my left). but anyways yes more miles will help you out a lot.

swimming will also help...

quote:<HR>Originally posted by ominousguy:
i'll be 17 in under a week. next fall i'll be a senior.<HR>

then you can definitely handle the higher mileage. i'd say build up to that and see where it takes you.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by mlbfan24:
oh yeah and one more thing i shoulda added, just for reference. my junior year was my 1st year running, and my best xc time was 20:12. i was injured for a lot of the track season, but the summer before senior year i ran over 600 miles, doing like 5 consecutive weeks of 60-65 mpw, and i ran a 16:45 in mid september (i got hurt after that but it wasn't from the miles, it was from my right leg being shorter than my left). but anyways yes more miles will help you out a lot.

<HR>

That's very inspirational mlbfan, I hope I'll be able to improve as much as you when I do 50-55 mpw in the summer (this season was my first year running, did around 25-30 mpw- best 5k was just under 19).

I have a question about weight training. Say I'm currently running 50 mpw. I could either weight train 3 times a week (30 minutes), or I could use the 30 minutes to run, which would be 4 miles, or 12 miles per week, making 62 miles a week in total. Which would be the better idea?

Run more miles. If you don't have a track adn have no idea how far you are running then do runs that involve timed pick-ups. Run faster than race pace for three minute intervals with three minute rests. The most important thing is to try to run 50-60 miles a week. I was a 17-18 runner in high school. After I started running in college over 50 a week my times came down dramatically. My fastest 5K was during an 8K race. I ran a 16:40 in the first 5K of my fastest 8K. The only difference between my high school training and college is the miles per week. If you want my opion, miles are everything, last season I ran 7 days a week, and during my just recently passed base building I ran 7 days a week. Track is coming so I'm phasing speed work in so I'm gonna take a day off once a week for a few weeks to let my body get used to the pounding. Also, I beleive you must do some training at a pace faster than your goal pace for short distances/amounts of time. Striders faster than race pace before and after everytime you run will also help. So will adaquate sleep, rest, hydration, and diet. Weight training is also a good idea. I take on week off for every two weeks of weight training because I try not to get too bulked up which can hurt your times. Mostly everyone mentioned similar stuff to what I mentioned, it's up to you and your coach to decide what's right for you.

http://This message has been edited by MadXC (edited 02-03-2002).

quote:<HR>Originally posted by Kick:
The Track is intended to cover team running, track and, where appropriate, cross-country.<HR>

after all, i am asking for advice concerning speed

Dan - How you break up 50 mpw can vary a lot based on personal preference, what types of training you personally respond best to, and where you are in your training cycle.

I tend to do well off longer intervals and steady state runs (tempo runs and time trials). My training has looked pretty similar for 20 years, just changing the mix slightly if I was training for a mile, a marathon, or something inbetween. For 50 mpw I would do:

Mon - 5 miles cruising
Tues - Short intervals (12 x 400 maybe)
Wed - 5 miles cruising
Thurs - Tempo or hard steady state run
Fri - 5 miles cruising
Sat - Long intervals (5 x mile or maybe 800's or 1000's)
Sun - 10 miles easy

I say "cruising" instead of "easy" just because I don't want to imply that these runs just crawl along. I do them at whatever pace feels comfortable, but this never ends up slower than 1:30 slower than 5K race pace. Also, as the season progresses I will add some light speedwork on some of the easy (cruising) days. Usually this is just 10 x 100m strides near the end of the regular run.

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http://This message has been edited by megapronator (edited 02-07-2002).