Trip down my high school running lane-wonderful post by my team mate Ed Ernst

How much Running is Enough. Great blog post by high school cross country team mate Ed Ernst. The post focuses on how much mileage high school athletes should really do. I am the high mileage guy in the post. I always ran far more than my team mates in the summer and tended to peak earlier in the season. I was always race ready no matter the distance, even ran a 2:37 marathon at 17 and this before a great track season. Most of my long miles were easy and on trails or  long 8 hour run hikes in the White Mountains of NH.  I did mix in summer road races on a regular basis. The key for me and it is still is: the running was never a chore. It was always fun and a chance to explore. I think shooting for a mileage target is what leads to injuries and burnout. And, of course each runner tolerates a different load especially. Always run for fun.

Yes I ran long miles but each run stood on its own and I never really added or tracked weekly or monthly miles. I had great mentors in Coach Lovshin at Phillips Exeter for track and XC and Don Putnam the grand guru of long miles, trail expeditions and hard road racing.  They took a totally un athletic at 14 to a very decent XC, track, mountain, and marathon runner by 17.  Ed reminds me of the interval workouts and timed tempo runs Coach Lovshin had us do every week. And the fun long runs with Don Putnam. Still best training practices. They always looked and led by example towards a long term  picture of life long fitness yet with hard team oriented racing as Ed so eloquently describes.