With the demands of three seasons (cross, indoor, outdoor) in the span of 9 months and a lack of proper aerobic base to produce successful distance runners it is blatantly obvious why the US is not competitive at the world level.
Samantha, 100-120 miles a week is mandatory for a successful female distance athlete, if no one is doing it shame on them all. Deena curretly is and has very few peers in this country. Paula and Catherine and the Japanese women all are high mileage then again they kick our asses repeatedly at every distance. Do not go to a school that doesn't have other athletes willing to do the same otherwise the environment will stifle your awesome attitude.