I’ve dropped my 2m time from 10:30 to 9:30 over the last year (sophomore to junior year). So far this summer I’m averaging roughly the same mileage (50) at roughly the same pace (low to mid 8s) as a year ago. Last cross season I was running 18min 5ks and hope to be in the 16s this year. Should I be concerned that my training hasn’t leveled up or be happy that I keep logging with consistency? This summer feels the same as last summer effort wise, despite going into the summer 1min faster.
I got no good advice I'm just posting this so this thread shows at the top so people who can give advice see it
Keep the same mileage, unless your coach specifically wants you to increase it. Most kids on my team were able to run 15 and 16 minute 5k's all season off of 30-40 mile weeks. The secret was that they had been doing it for 3-4 years. It's just a matter of stacking months and months of quality training.
I would recommend adding in 5-10 minutes of core on your own at home each night. More and more, coaches are realizing that a strong core not only helps you become faster, but it dramatically reduces your chances for all kinds of injury.