How is my weekly mileage?

[Steve Morrin]

I am going to be a sophmore in high school this next school year. Based on the pr's that are on my blog. What is the highest mileage that I could work up to? I'm currently at 35+ miles a week, and I just ran the wasatch back.

[Michelle Lowry]

I think it depends on how much mileage you ran for the whole last year.  I don't think we have enough info on your blog to fully address your question.  I would say in general your peak mileage should climb about 10 miles/week per year. 

So if in your freshman year your peak mileage was 40, then climb to 40 and keep in the 40's up to 50 this year before school starts, then drop mileage down to low 40's for your intense racing/workout cycles during the cross country season.  Then raise mileage back up to 50 before track, building up your base again, then drop it down during your heavy track training/racing, but this time perhaps just down to 45, then next summer target 55-60 mile weeks for your summer base work. 

Any mileage guidelines also have to take into account your tendency to get injured.  It's better to run 40 miles per week injury free than to hit 60 mpw and then get injured.   Listen carefully to your body.   Also note, that mileage is only one component to good training.  Mileage, good nutrition, good sleep, easy easy days and HARD hard days all help you to improve/

[Katie Aldridge]

Steve, do you have a coach? What is his plan for your training season?
Of course, anybody can increase their mileage almost endlessly (if they are healthy and understand nutrition and read Sasha's recent injury prevention message) but your coach probably has a plan for you that will enable you to peak at a certain time of year for specific races. I would suggest contacting him/her and working out a plan that matches your ambition.
A very easy way to increase your mileage with little risk is to begin adding a 20-30 minute second JOG (very slow) to your normal running routine.  For example, if you normally run 1x day in the morning, then simply add a second jog in the evening. You can start every other day for a week and then 6 days a week is plenty. This will boost your mileage quite a bit. HS and College races are short, so there isn't so much need to do all your running in one long run.

[Steve Morrin]

Well, I have not talked mileage with my coach too much. He's thinking that I'll slowly work up to around the mid-50's for my highest mileage. I was just curious if that was too high or too low, or just right.

[Sasha Pachev]

If a pregnant mother of five can run 30 miles a week, I see no reason why 50 a week would be too much for a healthy 16-18 year old man that is not married, does not have kids, lives at home, and can sleep as much as he wants to. On the other hand, I'd keep it below 70 just to be on the safe side. Your body still has a couple of years of growth and needs the energy. Make sure to ease off on the pace, do not do those "easy not easy" runs at a pace that you cannot hold for the marathon. Yes, that's right - if you cannot run a marathon at a certain pace, you have no business running the bulk of your mileage at that pace.

[Steve Morrin]

These are all great. Thanks for all of the responses to my question. That last part that Sasha said really stands out too me about making sure that I don't run too fast. I probably could not keep my pace up for a marathon on my easy days. I should probably slow down a little bit.

[Michelle Lowry]

Katie's point about your coach is highly relevant.  I would let your coach know you want a more detailed plan and direction.

[Steve Morrin]

Yeah. I am going to have to talk to him about it.