Going solo!

Don't skip out entirely on a track season... It is still early March and maintaining high mileage well into November with the added collegiate workouts would be nearly impossible. I could almost guarantee you will end up injured, burnt out or both. Get on the track this spring and do some interval work, maybe some short tempos. Train as if you are going to be racing a 1600/3200 and do a few time trials. End this "season" in mid May, take some easy down time until June and then go at it from there. College XC is a whole different ball-game than what you are used to, especially since you need to peak well into November. This is just my opinion but I wish you all the luck with whatever you choose.

agreed. track is very important for development. dont skip out on those set of systems. and don't try to maintain relatively high mileage for very long periods of time.

i tend to agree.at my first race (home opener / fund raiser) which was a 5k road race, at 2 miles i equaled my h.s. 2 mile track pr, then went on to pr for 5k.i ran the full track season my sr. year in h.s. then took a week off/easy and started training for college cross. i bumped up the mileage and did a lot of ~30 - 40 min faster paced runs, knowing that i would be racing 8k - 10k. despite what my college coach thought about me, i made the traveling squad and ended up being 4th at or conference and district meets. anyhow - race a lot in track or do road races if you can, bump up the mileage and do plenty of strides and fast runs - but don't forget to recover on your recovery days ... it is ok to run very, very easy on recovery days.

ex dIII runner wrote:

Don't skip out entirely on a track season... It is still early March and maintaining high mileage well into November with the added collegiate workouts would be nearly impossible. I could almost guarantee you will end up injured, burnt out or both. Get on the track this spring and do some interval work, maybe some short tempos. Train as if you are going to be racing a 1600/3200 and do a few time trials. End this "season" in mid May, take some easy down time until June and then go at it from there. College XC is a whole different ball-game than what you are used to, especially since you need to peak well into November. This is just my opinion but I wish you all the luck with whatever you choose.

Maybe I'm confused here, but I thought one of the best ways to get stronger aerobically was to run higher mileage. Why would this lead to me burning out? What I had meant by just running was doing high mileage, one or two longer workouts a week, a long run once a week or so, and just building. Why would I do the shorter, faster stuff on the track if I'm doing strides and longer reps?

And any thoughts on doing a marathon/half marathon?

(1) yes, and the thought is don't do a marathon. In college if you keep up the training, you should work up to good halfs first. The marathon is terrible for your body.

(2) you will never reach your potential as a distance-RACER if you don't work hard on the shorter stuff. As in 800m to 2 mile (i.e., track races). Sure you can run solid longer races without it, but you won't have the kick, etc... Don't give up your chance to develop speed while you're young. Once you start getting a little older and let it go for too long, it's gone forever...

Yes, you get stronger by running higher mileage and that is the aerobic benefit you will gain from July-Sept.. Running base from March-September is way too long, I am sure anyone with a solid running background will agree with that statement. I mean when was the last time you had an 8-9 month season, hopefully never. Also if you are thinking of training for a marathon before a collegiate xc season you have to be out of your mind. You will come into the season beat up from the marathon training and the race itself. Run some quick stuff this spring, one or two 5ks this summer to stay sharp and you will be ready to roll in the fall.

Could you explain why having that big a base would be bad? If I take easy days, and am still feeling good when the season starts, how would that not be beneficial?

Thank you for all your help.

It's not that having a big base would be "bad" in the sense you are using it; just not very useful. There are a few reasons behind this, like the above poster said you do not want to miss out on some speed you can gain during the spring season. Even though it wont be much of a season due to the lack of racing, the training can be more beneficial since you will not have to worry about racing every week (bi-weekly in some cases). This can keep your leg speed sharp and a chance to get some real quality speedwork (speed does not kill) I know exactly where you are coming from using the thought that since some base is good more must be better but that is not necessarily true. You only gain a benefit up to a certain extent (using the example that is Geb or whomever runs 140 miles, why don't I just run 240 miles so I can be better than him) unfortunately it doesn't work like that. You need to vary what you do to avoid injury, burnout, overtraining. The workouts you are going to be doing will be quite extensive so you want to show up to the season with a good base but well rested because the season does wear you down, anyone that has gone through a college xc season regardless of division would agree with that. If you show up running high mileage from lets say April (after your buildup) through September you will not be at your peak in November. I mean in the end it is up to you, it just would not be a good idea. Wish I could explain it better but just trust the people that are posting here and have gone through it before.

Have a field day with this one grammar police, I typed it quick.

Don't listen to these guys! They failed their running careers by only running 50 mile weeks their whole life!

Run the high mileage and take a down week when you need it.

It is obvious you cannot read a post to save your life. I am not saying DO NOT run high mileage, just DO NOT start that high mileage starting in March/April. That would elongate the season further than most 17-18 year olds can handle. Next time you want to come on here and lend "advice" make sure you read the post in its entirety. As for me "failing" in my running career, I would say that couldn't be further than the truth.

There is a lot to be said for the shorter faster stuff. Follow the Simmons model - train everything, simply increase the volume.

Run some "B" races where you race without backing off or tapering. You learn a lot from racing ...

to the op, search for "summer of malmo" - it should work just fine for you - it is the type of advice that you need.

Do people feel that the summer of malmo is an effective training plan?

Anyone?

if you plan on running in college the collegiate coaches are going to be more interested in your track times than any 1/2 marathon or marathon.

You have plenty of time to do that stuff.

In my last year of high school back in NZ, there was this kid who trained for a half marathon that was a month prior our national xc champs. He ran 1.10.07 then went on to kill everyone in xc because he was so fit. He got in amazing shape and went to world xc and juniors (steeple). However he broke his foot not long after and has never really gotten back into running since. I have often wondered what he would have been like if he kept running or if i did similar training because my training was completely different. I was doing 40 miles a week, short track workouts and hence was never very tired but was still fit enough and still won national titles and bet him at world xc.

What I am trying to say is there are plenty of types of training that work. If the training you are doing is working for you then dont bother changing it (although I think 90 miles is too much for someone at high school). I can assure you your training will increase when you get to college but if your coach is smart it will be gradual so you adapt to it.

Comicbookguy is right. College coaches will look at your track times. Be prepared to run the 10km if you give them half marathon times. You can still train high milage and run fast on track. Check out some Lydiard stuff if this is what you are interested in doing.

Ok so i kind of have experience with this. My senior year of high school i quit outdoor track (first week of apirl) because of the new coach, etc. Not knowing what i was doing i just did 1-2 workouts a week until xc, 50-60 mpw, and ran 9 road races in 8 weeks (june-august). I did run one 8k on the road so i had an idea on time goals for xc. In xc i ran a little slower than that and at regionals i went through 8k a little faster than my road mark and set 10k pb by ~1:00.

My sophomore year outdoors i redshirted, so i decided to do base basically until xc so about now until end of august. I did 90 mpw and usually did a hill workout every week. Ran 3 races outdoors (5k, 1500/800 for fun, 3k) and 2 i think in the summer (5k, 10k). XC i was faster but my legs felt flat at conference. Not sure exactly why but i think the coach's workouts had a little something to do with it because most of us felt the same.

Oh and i got a lot faster every year.

Why don't you train and have a "regular" outdoor season entering races independently? Maybe you go to less meets, but I'm sure you could get into a number of meets and race 1600/3200s like you would have with your school.

I would view this as a more beneficial scenario for you in terms of building strength/experience/speed; attracting college attention; giving you more frequent goals to focus on; giving you more frequent indicators of progress, etc.

It is great you can handle a good amount of mileage, but that's not the only thing you need to be able to do. I think you would look better running some good track races against your peers instead of running a marathon. If your intent is to compete in college, there no NCAA marathon...