Fast enough for college cross country?

Question

Hey there I was wondering how I can get back on track running cross country (I did it in high school a few years ago) can you guys recommend how much I should be running per day and per week at what mile times, and what is a college level 5k time? Thank you so much!

Answer 1

wow college level run 5k? I thought they run more like 10k

Answer 2

It depends entirely on where you want to go to college. You can have a great collegiate career in an NAIA school but not be fast enough for NCAA I or II.

So if you want to run in the DAC-10 (like I did) you'll do fine with a 5K track time around 15 minutes and a 1500 time around 4:05 (my mile equivalent 30 years ago was about 4:03 so things haven't changed all that much). I look at conference results every spring and am almost giddy when I see my best times are still winning medals!" But I'm a little disappointed in the conference. It's hard for many schools to recruit good runners and there isn't as much local talent in or state anymore.

NCAA I and II schools are a notch and a notch again above that.

Cross country is a whole different animal. Yes, they run 10Ks sometimes, but many meets for various divisions still shoot 8K for men (about 5 miles). I ran about 26 minutes and did just fine for NAIA — and times haven't changed all that much.

Workouts? Philosophy differs from coach to coach. Figure on 50- 80-mile weeks. That'll get you there if those are quality miles (six-minute pace or better).

Don't be discouraged. If you have some talent (good distance DNA) AND IF you put on 600 miles this summer, you'll be able to walk on to a lot of XC teams. There's no big secret to fall XC. It's that summer base (and your DNA).