I began running when I was a freshman in high school in 2015. At the time, I was just a freshman in high school, and didn’t think of the sport nearly as much other than a way to stay in shape for other sports. Now, after eight years of the sport, having run at the college level, and having run for four coaches in total (I hate to say this, but I could easily rank all of them from best to worst, as well as favorite to least favorite, but I am not going to do that on here), with many ups and downs, I have gained so much knowledge of the sport and learned so much about it. Even though I gave the sport up last year, and am not as passionate about running as I was in high school and early college, I could still talk about running all day. To me, that comes from years of experience, and it also helps that I’ve run for coaches of all different levels, and all different styles, from good to bad, high mileage to low mileage, and experienced coach to new coach. Running has not only taught me plenty of life lessons, it has also gave me so much knowledge. That having been said, I definitely am one of those guys who is more of a guy who is knowledgeable about running than I was an actual runner. This article is walking proof of that.

I’ve run 5,000 meter cross country in high school. I’ve run 8,000 meter cross country in college. I’ve run 1500 meters/mile on the track. I’ve run the 800 on the track. I’ve run the 3,000m/3200m run on the track. I’ve run 4×4 and 4×8 relays. On top of that, I have run thousands of miles, probably 4,000-5,000 in my lifetime. Based on all of that, I can conclude that no two runners are the same. Some runners will run higher mileage than others. Some runners have a different VO2 Max than others. Some runners have more experience running than others. When writing up training plans, these are all factors that have to be taken into consideration. People that are new to running are obviously going to be the ones running the lowest mileage, regardless of what events they may plan to specialize in. It really all depends on experience and training age. For example, a more experienced veteran runner who is training for a marathon will likely be running in between 80 and 120 miles per week (maybe a small amount more as long as they stay healthy). Those are the types of people that have been running for several years, if not more. The ideal collegiate 10k men’s runner might be running that kind of mileage, but to me, 5k and 10k people (or cross country) will be running a little less mileage than marathon runners. I think 800/mile people will be running a little less mileage with a lot more speed work mixed in there, but again, regardless of distance, everyone is different. With my own two eyes, I have seen male college 10k runners that run 90-120 miles a week at their peak, and I have also seen male 10k runners who only run 40-50 miles per week. As a matter of fact, 2x national D1 cross country women’s champion Parker Valby of Florida runs even less mileage than that. Kids high school age or younger should not even touch that kind of high-volume mileage. The same can be said for any runner of any age that is fairly new to the sport. You simply work your way up to that level. The higher the mileage (depending on the runner), the more likely it is that an injury is going to happen in the near future. The same can be said for one who increases their mileage each week by too much of an amount (going from 30 miles a week all the way up to 55 miles in a week is way too much, for example). The same can also be said for a very inexperienced runner who tries to start at a fairly high mileage level. A runner who runs his first ever week of mileage at 50+ miles per week is going to hurt themselves. The same can be said for anybody, regardless of experience, who does the same after coming off of an injury. There is a right time to push yourself, and there’s a wrong time to push yourself. The key is training as hard as you can, while also maintaining a healthy balance with staying healthy and injury free. At the end of the day, big workouts and key sessions are very important, but recovery from those key sessions is equally as important; staying healthy.

No matter what, training is going to involve starting slow and working your way up in its early stages. In order to become the best distance runner one can be, they must train as much as they can in the off-season, to the mileage they are best fit to run at. From easy runs about 3 days a week on average, to one minor workout or harder session during the week (it will all vary depending on the time of year), as well as a long run on Saturday or Sunday, while taking one of the days off. If I was to coach a cross country or group of distance runners in track, it would all depend on whether we are in season or offseason, what days the meets are, experience, training age, event specialization, cross country season, track season, injury, etc, as far as training plans go. Racing strategies and setting goal times for each runner in their particular event is the same concept. Again, no two runners are ever gong to be the same. Every coach has their own philosophy, and that’s what makes this sport so unique. Every athlete and team will have their own workouts that they do. I can also say with full confidence that copying another team’s training plan isn’t the answer. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to a coach’s training style, specific workouts and training plans down to the T. But regardless of style, the coach who is able to fine tune these athletes to the best of their abilities are going to be the coaches who lead their teams to the greatest success.

My passion and future rest in play-by-play, sports, and potentially sportswriting, but at some point, coaching is definitely something I want to get into. I enjoy talking about running, and I enjoy sharing that knowledge with people just as I enjoy talking about any other sport!

-Zach Austin