How many miles should i do a day to run a 5:00 minute mile?

Question

well im 13 and i run atleast 7 miles a day but i cant break 520

should i step up my training or should i just hit the gym

Answer 1

First off lay off the 7 miles every day. Doing that will eventually get you injured. You seriously need to take atleast 1-2 days off a week. I admire the tenacity but you don't want to get hurt.

Also running 7 miles in the woods running at a casual pace will give you a great endurance base but it wont get you faster. In order to get faster you need to get on THE TRACK and do interval work in order get some speed and be sharp. Like doing some 400, 800 or 1200m repeats..Join a local track club you know is good, a good coach will know more then I will.

and remember quality beats quantity. Running yourself down by running 7 slow miles a day is a lot of pounding on the body (and it slows!)  when you could run like..i dont know..3.5 miles at a faster pace and get more out of that and less pounding (atleast this is the basic idea). This is just what i've heard from some of my coaches. One of which went to the Olympic Trials in the 5000m..I'm not a coach myself and wouldnt trust myself giving you work outs that would help. Im sure you can find a coach or someone near by who can help you.