Tips for training for a sophomore

1. HAVE FUN!

2. Make sure your EASY runs are EASY

3. Start being consistent with your training (if you haven't already)

4. Increase volume to a sustainable amount (do this in small baby steps)

5. Add in some threshold work

6. Learn more about different training philosophies

Thanks, I was thinking about increasing volume. Currently doing a little over 30 mpw, with maybe 6-8 of those as quality. I'm gonna try to go up to maybe 60 miles by July and then slowly increase the ratio of quality to non-quality miles. Any thoughts?

Have fun

Stay healthy

Plan training based on your goals

State meet, Regionals, Conference Champs... How many weeks away from now, what does it take to Qualify?

Good luck, have fun, people improve at different rates, some people also drop huge PR's almost out of nowhere.

"I regularly do 400 reps in the upper 1:30s range, on trails. So I definitely think I could get a low 60s time with a bit of training for it...."

TF you should have both a HS team and a following club track schedule in your state, leading up to a few different state/regionals/nationals/junior olympics meets in the summer. i can't believe both teams are nonexistent, no coach, or no ability to enter by yourself. if anything, enter as yourself running unattached.

if there's any reality to this, my suggestion would be, in this long "offseason" you suggest exists, join rec/JV teams in some sort of running sport, hoops, soccer, lacrosse, something where you have to work on conditioning and athleticism. the normal summer plan for beginning XC is building slow mileage. last thing i think someone with your profile needs is more and more slow miles. to me playing a sport either for your school in the winter/spring -- even if TF doesn't exist -- whips you into shape and works on your burst. or play a sport this summer.

Keep on with your 400s at 5k race pace and extend to be 20 of them with 60-90 sec walk rest once per week . Add easy runs 50-80 min long at 70:75 % of your max heartrate.Do one threshold interval per week too. Good luck!🇸🇪🧙🏼‍♂️🇸🇪

Yeah, I could have joined a track team but it's not that there wasn't a team available, there were other reasons too. I'm trying to do some races in the offseason though. And, I don't care about track that much, I really prefer XC. But yeah I get what you're saying, build speed in the spring and use that for XC in the fall.

Do you recommend this kind of training year-round or just in a transition-to-racing or race specific phase?

What about a long run or doubles? I know typically that’s not the domain of a high school sophomore, but I’m just curious.

dude, with your modest times and even seeming regression, the last thing you need to do is play a 2-3 month sport and then go dormant. your times, to me, suggest someone who needs to get in basic sports shape. running for a couple months then backing off for 10 months won't help that.

first, there are ways of extending out XC season if you hate TF. there are regional and nationals races on through the winter.

second, setting aside whether you find it "fun," a lot of XC people do TF to both maintain running shape and then try to get even faster in the spring to help get ready for fall.

third, failing that, take up a winter/spring/summer sport and work on getting in better overall shape and honing athleticism.

otherwise, i am seeing where there is like a subspecies of kid on here who can talk a big game, know things a noob really shouldn't, and seem to use them more as a flex like showing their report card, or as excuses, than as part of some competent year round plan to actually get better. do you want to get better or do you want to throw around terms from books.

Bro I have been running since last XC season. All offseason.

oops forgot to put in my display name. Oh well