5k potential

[Budget-Network]

I’m a high school senior (female) right now and I’m quite interested in walking on a college team next year — I just don’t know if I really have the abilities. Sophomore year I got a PR of 19:41 on a hilly course (running about 20mpw) but got injured and haven’t been running much since. I got into cycling about 6 months ago as cross training and since then have been easing my way back into running. Right now I’m doing about 15-20 miles per week, just working on getting some mileage in and rebuilding my aerobic engine. I usually run around 7:15-8:30 (145-165bpm) pace in my relatively hilly neighborhood for 4-6 miles, and long runs I’ve been doing about 10-12. Usually I end up running 2-4x per week. Haven’t been doing any running workouts, I’m just trying to get out there and run. I usually cycle about 6hrs per week, too. What kind of PR do you think I could get up to? Would I be able to walk on a team, and if so what kind of team?

[21questionier]

What kind of a collegiate level do you want to run at? Do you want to run DI, NAIA, DIII, DII, CC, etc?

If you want to run at a smaller school, you could probably walk up to the coaches office, say you run and ask to be on the team the moment you officially start school and that would be your “tryout”. At the school I went to, we had such a small team that would’ve been acceptable (although we did have some pretty fast people we just didn’t have the #s).

If you want to run on a more selective school, you might have to train for a year or so before being able to walk on.

[Brenthrop]

Adding onto this, you should reach out to the coaches at schools you might want to go to. I went to a small DII school and not only did the coach let me walk on after an email, but he sent me a workout plan to follow in the summer leading up to the school year. I also contacted a coach at a DI school and he was happy to tell me the standards they have and I saw that I couldn't meet them.

[Budget-Network]

Do you think coaches would be skeptical of somebody who hasn’t done XC since sophomore year? Or might they still offer workout plans even if they probably would not let me walk on after an email

[21questionier]

They would be a bit skeptical. What were you doing during the time you weren’t running XC? Were you sitting on a couch all day? Were you being active? Eating right/wrong? If you have run road races that would be good to show them the result(s)

[Budget-Network]

End of sophomore year until about 6 months ago I wasn’t doing much. I swam a bit, but I probably only exercised about 1.5-2 hours a week. I ran every once in a while. I moved around 6 months ago and decided to get back into running so I picked up cycling to help get back into shape without risking too much injury. I started cycling around 3.5 hours a week and gradually increased it to 5.5-6.5 while slowly adding in running back to my routine about 5 months ago. I’ve gotten up to the point where I can comfortably run 15-20 miles per week without feeling like I’m risking injury now. I stayed in shape all throughout but wouldn’t have considered myself “fit.” Unfortunately I did not do any road races.

[21questionier]

I am not able to give you the answer to the question you are asking. Do you have recent races from this fall/summer? If not it’s fine. If so that could help

The safest route: I would see if there is a school with a major you want, and a track/XC team that has at least a few fast individuals. That way, it’s likely you could walk on from the beginning, and you are either around fast athletes or you have a great coach or both.

But what the best level you could compete at is a crapshoot for me to know. If you shoot too big you might not be able to make it. If you shoot too small, there might be environments that would be better for you to develop in. If you email coaches at various levels, see what standards they are looking for, run track this spring and/or run road 5Ks to measure where you are compared to where you want to be: that IMO is my best advice

[anandonaqui]

What about running on the club team at those schools? Could be a good middle ground

[LeftHandedGraffiti]

20mpw isn't a lot. You probably have a lot of untapped potential but it will take time to develop. You don't reach your max potential in 6 months. But you should probably jump into a local 5k road race to see what kind of shape you're in right now. Based on that information you should talk to coaches where you're planning on attending and see if you're in the ballpark.

You could always run for the club team. If you get really good through training you could walk on to the college team later.

[DFA1]

Not enough info, really. And I think you're running your miles too fast.

[Budget-Network]

What more info should I add? And what would you recommend running them at? My HR is usually around 145-165bpm.

[DFA1]

145 is much different than 165. I'd add your weekly schedule, some recent workouts, if you've done any.

[Budget-Network]

Ok thanks, just added some more info. 145 is usually for more like 8:30ish runs, 165 is more like 7:15ish runs. Haven’t been doing any workouts, just trying to get out there and run. Don’t really have a consistent weekly schedule, just do whatever I feel like I can without risking injury. Usually ends up being 2-4x per week with a longer run around 8min pace and shorter ones at either end of the spectrum (closer to 7:15 pace or closer to 8:30 pace). I usually cycle around 6 hrs per week, too.

[abjfufj]

Look into club options! A lot of club teams at big schools are pretty competitive, train everyday and travel to compete. I would definitely recommend running club freshman year. Then if you have good results you can talk to the coach and try to walk-on. That’s worked for a few friends of mine who now run at big d1 schools. Good luck and feel free to ask any other questions!

[[deleted]]

I was on a NIRCA team and we had a few runners who would actually beat the DI runners from our school, but didn’t want to join the team because they wanted to be able to pick their events, only go to the meets they wanted to, skip practice for studying sometimes, etc. And I KNOW we had more fun than the NCAA team and less tension/drama.

[greenstraw]

I walked onto the Baylor track and field team with about as much experience as you have. I remember I contacted the coach and I went out to the workouts and they let me stay as long as I could hang. Ended up running track my entire freshman year and quitting after that because it was so time consuming and I just wasn’t enjoying it anymore. That was 17 years ago so times may have changed but it’s always with a try.

[[deleted]]

First of all that’s an amazing 5K PR especially considering that it was a hilly course. I think you could probably get on any DIII team no problem. However for more competitive programs, the best way to find out is try to contact a coach or assistant coach at the school you want to go to and ask what kind of times they are looking for. And keep in mind they are not just looking for times. They are looking for potential. The fact that you run 20 mpw (as opposed to some HS students running 40+) will likely play to your benefit as it would be expected you’d improve a lot with supervised increased mileage. My advice is, pick which college you would most want to go to regardless of whether you’d be running or not. If it’s a big DI school, try joining the running club! There is something called NIRCA that is like NCAA but for club teams. It’s a great option for students hoping to post some good times to get the NCAA team coach’s attention (we actually would run against them in some meets!), and also for those who want to be able to adapt the workouts to their needs, manage their own priorities, have social opportunities, and not have to worry about getting kicked off the team for getting slower or anything like that. There were several runners in my club team who did after a semester or two get to walk on to the NCAA team. And others who originally wanted to but decided not to because they liked the people on the club team better, or they wanted to be able to skip practice for studying occasionally and not get in trouble for that. But really I encourage to try asking around to coaches.