How many miles would you have to have to have a good base?

Question

I am captain of my x-c team for the x-c year, and lead runs every morning at 6 am, but am confused about what a good base in milage numbers would be. 100 miles? 150? More? Whats the optimal amount to prevent injuries and reach my peak times for the season? All help greatly appreciated! Thank you! Go runners!

Answer 1

Kate,  what works for me may not work for everyone.......but when training for a 5K (which is the distance I'm sure your doing?) 100 miles is crazy.  You should be able to get a good base from doing 5-6 days on a total of about 25-35 miles a week.  I've keep my times (under 6 Min. pace) with this amount of training and a little less at times for a period of 13 yrs. racing year round.  Long runs of 6-7 miles at a time are plenty when only racing at 5K distance........hope this helped, good luck!!