New Distance Runner

[mitch112]

Next year will be the first year that I will run cross country. I am trying to walk on to my college men’s cross country team because they do not have a big track program there. It is only distance and I am someone who really enjoys running and setting goals for myself. I have never run cross country before because I played soccer then ran spring track. I run the 400 hurdles in 59s and the 400m in 53s I can run a 2.10 800m. I have never ran the mile in competition before but in practice I run about a 4:55 mile without any real training. I was just wondering what people thought I would be able to run the 5k in next year at school. I will be starting my distance training after the spring track season. I will train all summer with the college coach’s workouts. So I was hoping that can you guys give me any tips on what I should do and what you predict my times will be next year. Thanks so much.

[cmartin2k5]

You've got decent leg speed, so the talent is definitely there to be a competitive XC runner, but your 800 time is a lot slower (relatively) than your 400, so the big issue is going to be how much training you'll be able to get in. I've recommended this to other people, but the best way to get faster in distance is to just keep increasing your weekly mileage by about 10-15% each week. If you stick to that, you shouldn't get injured (you'll be sore, though), and your base will get better really fast. As for what you can run, it's all going to depend on how good you can get your base by the start of the season, but breaking 30minutes for an 8k is a good place to start. Good luck to you.

[Beanfontaine]

i can see u defintately running anywher from 15:50 to 16:20 easily if you take ur training serious.

i dont know about increasing your mileage 10-15% every new week. reason is it can take up to 10 days for one days worth of training/running to take effect and close to 49 days for a weeks worth. within that time its best to maintain consistant mileage for a little bit over a month and a half before increasing it 10-15%...or best to do is have a time based schedule. Go out and run for 60min a day and run based on how you feel physically. If you want to run nice and slow..run nice and slow, if you want to run fast, run fast. And over time your body will adapt to this schedule and youll be getting more mileage covered within the hour and naturally due to this your weekly mileage will increase automatically. Its a natural increase in mileage that your body controls on its own rather than your body being forced to run the extra mileage because you planned for that week to have more mileage.


of course thats just my critique on the situation.

[Slinke]

^^^ terrible comment. that really doesnt help him very much. i can see anyone running any time really, it all depends on the training. just making some assumption and telling him that's what he can run isnt a good idea. with training anyone can run those times, stop stating the obvious.

[NJ5k]

Running an hour a day every day and arbitrarily setting the pace is probably a bad idea.

[Greatness]

a couple of my teamates have about the same prs as you so. they run about mid 17s for a 5k. Like someone said though your 800 kind of slow for your other times. a good summer of distance training could change that and you might even go faster than mid 17s for 5k

[Beanfontaine]

Running an hour a day every day and arbitrarily setting the pace is probably a bad idea.


ok wutever..it worked fine for me.

[izzm]

i dont know about increasing your mileage 10-15% every new week. reason is it can take up to 10 days for one days worth of training/running to take effect and close to 49 days for a weeks worth.
This isn't accurate. For example, if it takes 10 days (lets say it does, it can actually take much less) for a day's training to take effect, then it would take 7 + 10 for the week's training to take effect. That is 17 days. Perhaps, I'm not understanding you, though.

[Beanfontaine]

^^^ terrible comment. that really doesnt help him very much. i can see anyone running any time really, it all depends on the training. just making some assumption and telling him that's what he can run isnt a good idea. with training anyone can run those times, stop stating the obvious.


well he asked what we think he can run next year so ... i dont know i thought it would be nice to answer his question. really running an hour a day is not much different than running 7-9 miles a day. just take certain days at a generally quick pace and others at an easy pace. that way on the fast paced days you may cover 8-9 miles while the easy days you cover 6-7. wuts wrong with that. If you want to complicate things go ahead.

[izzm]

Running an hour a day every day and arbitrarily setting the pace is probably a bad idea.

It really isn't that bad of an idea for a beginner's base phase. Listening to your body is never a bad idea, and during a beginner's base phase, he will improve best by learning to listen to his body. This is a base building phase, to be sure, and not a phase for workouts.

[Beanfontaine]

This isn't accurate. For example, if it takes 10 days (lets say it does, it can actually take much less) for a day's training to take effect, then it would take 7 + 10 for the week's training to take effect. That is 17 days. Perhaps, I'm not understanding you, though.


ah yea your right. i used a completely different formula from yours.

[DCtrack]

Just run more. You will have to slow down considerably in order to not get injured or over-trained. Just know it will happen and adjust accordingly. I do not see you getting under 16 in the next two years quite honestly. It is not that easy. You need to stay healthy and gradually bump up your mileage. Workouts are not as important for xc as they are for the 400 or the hurdles. They are important, but they are the icing on the cake. Definitely take it easy on the workouts over the summer. Slow to moderate mileage, tempo runs, and short uphill sprints with full recovery. That is all you need this summer.