limits?

So I'm kind of super-jealous of people who run at the national level. I know that they arent as good as they are just because of talent- they definitely work insanely hard too. It just seems like it'd be such an amzaing experience, and I know that I probably won't even get to state level or get the opportunity to run in college. (I can't seem to break 22 minutes, and I put in the work and think about running all the time). And I do love my team and my running experience and everything, and I'm happy with it until I realize what else is out there (and I know that I still probs wouldnt be satisfied no matter how fast I was). I just sort of wonder how good I could be if I put in more miles (my coach won't let me go above 25) or if I pushed myself further (although I'm not one of those people who think that they can run ridiculous times if they work hard enough and push themselves- I definitely realize that I have limitations).

Anyway, sorry for the semi-rant, I was just wondering if anyone else had similar "dammn, I wish I was that good" moments, or how far you think effort can take you.

I was like that at the beginning of this season, and somehow I learned that XC wasn't for me. Yes, those people are great, but I think that's what they're meant to do and they are naturally gifted. Find what you love and are good at, IMO.
I found triathlon, and I'm doing Olympic Development stuff. I love it.

And btw, don't listen to your coach. 25 MPW won't cut it if you wanna be great.

I think it all depends on what kind of training you get. When I did xc over the summer, and put in 60-65 mile weeks, my 5k time increased by one to two minutes.
Then when I started marathon training, I pr'd by about a minute.
What I'm trying to say is that while I put in more miles, they were mostly junk miles, and now that I'm putting in more quality miles, my time has drastically decreased for all distances

Oh and Tri love is right. 25 mpw is far too few miles for anyone hoping to break 22 minutes

Your coach is an idiot.

Yeah. I love running so much though, so I'm definitely going to stick with it (even if I'm not that good at it). I think I will talk to my coach about bringing my mileage up to 30-35, since the reason he's really strict about mileage is because he doesn't want us to risk getting injured or burning out at all, and it doesn't seem like thats going to be an issue for me. He doesn't care about how well the team does because he wants us to be able to run after high school (and not peak during it) and for the focus to be on having fun not doing well. I think that it makes sense in a lot of ways, but it also means that pretty much no one can run in college, because their times aren't competetive enough. But the entire team runs for the social aspect (plus there isn't much talent), so the choice makes a lot of sense with our team. And my coach is amazing and really really nice...I'm kind of rambling now.
The only reason I wouldn't want to do more mileage is that I wouldn't be able to do runs with the girls team, and I love being with the team so much. Would it still be beneficial to do a 2 or 3 mile run every moring, and then do 3 or 4 at pracice?
Thank you guys so much for your replies, btw

whenhen wrote:I think it all depends on what kind of training you get. When I did xc over the summer, and put in 60-65 mile weeks, my 5k time increased by one to two minutes.
Then when I started marathon training, I pr'd by about a minute.
What I'm trying to say is that while I put in more miles, they were mostly junk miles, and now that I'm putting in more quality miles, my time has drastically decreased for all distances

Oh and Tri love is right. 25 mpw is far too few miles for anyone hoping to break 22 minutes

I broke 22 five times off that much. But most of those miles were quality.

^ and you are a guy and hannah i am assuming, is a girl lol.

^ haha nicceeee.

My freshman year I only broke 22 once...& the summer before my freshman season I was running less than 20 mpw.
Over this past summer I ran 30-35 miles per week & this last XC season I ended up breaking 22 mid-season. I was able to get down to 21:05.
So an increase in miles may be just what you need.

Yeah I agree with what everyone else is saying-25 miles is nothing, either run more than that or listen to your coach but you can't really complain about it then

More miles!!!

ONLY 25 MILES! You sound like me. Run farther.

yay. thank you guys for responding (i love responses)

i do want to run faster times, but upping my mileage would mean that I couldn't run with the girls team during practice because none of the girls run more than 25 mpw, and i dont know if i want to sacrifice being with my team. plus i might not drop that much time (enough to make it up), and could end up miserable.

i think i will talk to my coach about it (it can't hurt right?), but i'm not sure how to approach him because i don't want him to get the idea that i'm not team-oriented/i think i'm better than everyone else.

hannah wrote:yay. thank you guys for responding (i love responses)

i do want to run faster times, but upping my mileage would mean that I couldn't run with the girls team during practice because none of the girls run more than 25 mpw, and i dont know if i want to sacrifice being with my team. plus i might not drop that much time (enough to make it up), and could end up miserable.

i think i will talk to my coach about it (it can't hurt right?), but i'm not sure how to approach him because i don't want him to get the idea that i'm not team-oriented/i think i'm better than everyone else.

well, if none of the other girls do, when you get home from running with your team, depending on how many more miles you need, then just run another mile or two or however many on your own.
then on like saturday or sunday when (i'm assuming you don't run with school during the weeeknds) throw in a longer run and that will help adding some mileage.
and yes, it would be a good idea to talk to your coach, and see what he thinks when you could put in more runs. is he a pretty good/smart/tough coach? ....cuz based on what you said about him not letting you go above 25, well like whoever said above...idiot.

yeah that makes sense. thank you.

my coach is really good and smart, just not tough (he's the nicest coach ever). the really low mileage is because basically the entire team runs for social reasons- we're not very sucess or time oriented, so it doesn't make sense to have a high mileage.

he's definitely not an idiot (dont bash my coach!)

hannah wrote:So I'm kind of super-jealous of people who run at the national level. I know that they arent as good as they are just because of talent- they definitely work insanely hard too. It just seems like it'd be such an amzaing experience, and I know that I probably won't even get to state level or get the opportunity to run in college. (I can't seem to break 22 minutes, and I put in the work and think about running all the time). And I do love my team and my running experience and everything, and I'm happy with it until I realize what else is out there (and I know that I still probs wouldnt be satisfied no matter how fast I was). I just sort of wonder how good I could be if I put in more miles (my coach won't let me go above 25) or if I pushed myself further (although I'm not one of those people who think that they can run ridiculous times if they work hard enough and push themselves- I definitely realize that I have limitations).

Anyway, sorry for the semi-rant, I was just wondering if anyone else had similar "dammn, I wish I was that good" moments, or how far you think effort can take you.

I'm going to nationals this year, but honestly I do like 40-45 k per week, I just dont get how lots of mileage during the season will help. I do like 2-3 interval/ speed workouts a week so its hard to get alot of mileage

whenhen wrote:I think it all depends on what kind of training you get. When I did xc over the summer, and put in 60-65 mile weeks, my 5k time increased by one to two minutes.
Then when I started marathon training, I pr'd by about a minute.
What I'm trying to say is that while I put in more miles, they were mostly junk miles, and now that I'm putting in more quality miles, my time has drastically decreased for all distances

Oh and Tri love is right. 25 mpw is far too few miles for anyone hoping to break 22 minutes

So running more mileage gave you a larger time? I might just only run 10 miles now.

As for the OP, don't listen to your coach. If you truly love running and spent every waking moment thinking about it, you would figure out the "miles make champions". So ignore your coach and some look at some elite guy's (or girl) schedule an see what you can take from it. The internet is such a powerful tool and so is the brain if some people can actually use it.