Worried about running...

I saw a lot of stress fracture boots on plebes at plebe parent weekend last year. Make sure you are getting Vitamin D and Calcium in your diet or as supplements! Listen to your body if anything is starting to hurt.

To gain speed do intervals at least once per week, and not more than twice per week. Try to go slightly faster per quarter mile than your mile goal pace and work up to 4-6 quarters. Do some "pickups" even faster, almost sprinting but short distances like 50-100 yards when warmed up. See if there is a XC or track coach around who could help with your goal. The combo of speed work and longer easier runs will help get mile time down. Good luck and fantastic job on the appointment!!!!
 
richardsm said:
I was appointed with a 9:21 mile.
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That was from the last event during CFA a while back, which you were pushing your body in other events up to that point, correct?

Based on years of experience USNA offered you an appointment. Do you think they randomly decide who get in, giving out the precious appointments, without considering if the appointees will succeed?

Follow the excellent advice in this thread, and you know you will improve. This is a self-fulfilling positive prophecy and only you can derail it if you choose to do so. You got this!
 
Again, thank you for the advice and encouragement! Getting up early would not be a problem - I prefer exercising in the morning. From what I've read so far, the general consensus is that I stop lifting and start running. I will get on the track!
 
My two cents worth:
I used to coach milers. When I had a raw new kid who wanted to get their time down, I had them run quarters at a pace considerably faster than they ran in the mile. For you it would be at about a 2 minute or 2:05 pace. Then rest for two minutes and go again...do this for 4 laps. Do this two days in a row. Take a day off then run a mile for time. Try to increase your stride. A couple of cycles of this should get you where you can hold a better pace for longer.
Personally I would ditch the weights for now and do the things your gonna do at basic. Run run run, do pushups, do ab work... Good luck kiddo
 
Good for you for focusing on this. Lots of great advice on this thread, including going to a real deal running store and getting fitted for good running shoes. Shin splints are common, and they are even more common for women than men, and even more common among women who are not built like little elves. My sister, USNA grad (as was I), was a fairly muscular swimmer and she very much made sure to get out of the weight room, cut down on time in the pool (to free up workout time), and start running regularly. She was never fast but she cut her time down from something like an 8:30 mile to around 7:15, as I recall. She probably started earlier in the year but you've still got meaningful time.

I was also a detailer. I can tell you that a lot of judgments get made based on things like running ability. Not even so much by the detailers -- we were experienced enough to know that Plebe Summer PT stud might be the kid who flamed out early on academics -- but the plebes themselves could be fairly judgmental. I also think the women have a tougher road on this then men -- if a man is not a great runner, he's just a dude who is not a great runner, but if a woman is perceived as being really slow, it's "mutter mutter females mutter mutter." Not right, but reality. Maybe things have changed greatly since I graduated (within the past decade, but barely), but I sort of doubt it.

In the last analysis, give your best effort once you are there and you'll get respect from reasonable people. Good luck!
 
Thank you for addressing the social aspect of the physical challenges at USNA. I did hear that it is harder to gain respect for females than for males. I am confident in strength but now I know to really work on running and getting faster. I would like to get under 8 minutes but with around 9 weeks, I'm not sure if I can achieve this.. How will I fare compared to other plebes with a 8:30 mile pace?
 
richardsm said:
Thank you for addressing the social aspect of the physical challenges at USNA.
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@richardsm, you have heard all you need to hear. @GoSox posted with good intentions, but
1. there will always be someone in the last group. Your task is to work hard and try not to be in it, and
2. there are things you have no control and you have to let go. How other people view you is one of them, and
3. if you do find yourself in the last group, so be it. You will not be the only one in that group! Keep working hard and improve!
 
@ktnatalk That is exactly the encouragement I need. Thank you for reminding me that everything will fall into place as long as I work hard and keep improving. I have a long and arduous training up ahead and I want to prepare as best as possible. Thank you again!
 
@richardsm, you are welcome! Now, if you would have faith and take my words, log off from the forum for next two weeks. Focus on your task. Run. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. I am not joking. Before you return, nothing earth-shattering will happen here next two weeks. Best of luck!
 
I would also like to warn of the danger of shin splints. My son got them when he was preparing for his high school cross country team. It took a long time for them to fully heal. I believe the Stew Smith plan (recommended above) takes shin splints into account and builds in a rest period. Good luck.
 
I know this is a bit late, but in terms of shin splints, I found an almost instant method of avoiding them, simply by taking a day to really focus on form. Previously, I would quickly develop shin splints near the 1.5 mile mark of every run, and would be sidelined for 2 or 3 days after. I thought the max distance I could ever run was 1.5 miles. I then tried the "Pose Method" of running, which is focused on landing with a mid-foot strike rather than a heel strike. It helped immensely. After practicing this method, I was instantly able to bump my runs up to 3-4 miles from 1.5-2 miles. This is a link which shows the before and after results of this method.
 
richardsm, don't worry about it, just work on it. My DD is a current Plebe. She was not a strong runner. She worked on it before I Day and got better, but was still in one of the slower groups. She did move up a couple of times over plebe summer as she got better, which should be your goal. You'll get plenty of respect if you work hard and improve, even if you are never a great runner.
 
MABlue--interesting video and points. I was a gymnastics coach in a private club for years. Gymnasts run barefoot and clearly distance running isn't part of the sport...it's pretty much about quick acceleration down a vault runway. We teach a forefoot to midfoot strike. Of those girls who complained of shin splints, they were virtually 100% girls who also did cross country running for their school teams. I recall girls who never had problems with shin splints for several years all of a sudden develop shin splints during cross country training. At first I just attributed it to "overuse" from so much running. I recall one girl questioning our running style as she said her cross country coach instructed her to change to heel strike. She is currently a standout college Cross country runner at a major D1 college, so perhaps that approach worked for her with distance running. I will say it hurt rather than helped her quick acceleration for vault. There have been many studies over the past few years looking at different strike styles of accomplished runners and the relationship to speed and injury. Hopefully someday there will be a consensus to deal with the issue of recurring shin splints. I'm not a distance runner (couldn't heel strike if I tried) so I couldn't advocate a particular style of running for distance, but found this thread very interesting and am glad to see there are newer approaches being introduced to hopefully help minimize injury.
 
OHmom16 said:
MABlue--interesting video and points. I was a gymnastics coach in a private club for years. Gymnasts run barefoot and clearly distance running isn't part of the sport...it's pretty much about quick acceleration down a vault runway. We teach a forefoot to midfoot strike. Of those girls who complained of shin splints, they were virtually 100% girls who also did cross country running for their school teams. I recall girls who never had problems with shin splints for several years all of a sudden develop shin splints during cross country training. At first I just attributed it to "overuse" from so much running. I recall one girl questioning our running style as she said her cross country coach instructed her to change to heel strike. She is currently a standout college Cross country runner at a major D1 college, so perhaps that approach worked for her with distance running. I will say it hurt rather than helped her quick acceleration for vault. There have been many studies over the past few years looking at different strike styles of accomplished runners and the relationship to speed and injury. Hopefully someday there will be a consensus to deal with the issue of recurring shin splints. I'm not a distance runner (couldn't heel strike if I tried) so I couldn't advocate a particular style of running for distance, but found this thread very interesting and am glad to see there are newer approaches being introduced to hopefully help minimize injury.
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I am a distance runner, I have never heard of someone recommending heel striking. That is very odd.
 
socalfan said:
I am a distance runner, I have never heard of someone recommending heel striking. That is very odd.
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I would tend to agree. The girl I mentioned was in high school at the time, so maybe it was just that one particular HS coach. My guess is that her college coach worked on correcting any bad form issues.
 
OHmom16 said:
I would tend to agree. The girl I mentioned was in high school at the time, so maybe it was just that one particular HS coach. My guess is that her college coach worked on correcting any bad form issues.
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Let's hope!
 
OP - do not worry. I had a chance to watch morning PEP during Plebe Summer. I saw some plebes that must have had mile times slower than yours. You will not be left behind. A lot of competitive swimmers have slow run times - but you will get better as an athlete. Just remember to help the plebes that can't swim well. Don't stress - just relax and enjoy high school life for now.
 
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