Breaking 18 in a 5k????

'm really looking to break 17:00, and I just know it's in there somewhere, I'm positive I can do it. So I have a few questions. Do you know of anything that REALLY helps you improve? Does putting in lots of extra miles really help? Whenever I go on long runs, say 8 or 9 miles, when I get done I never feel like I have benefitted from it, because I wasn't running fast enough to work my legs or breath very hard. Another question, what do you eat before a race? I've always loaded up on tons of carbs, and lately I've been trying to get things with potassium and sodium, for electrolytes. Are there any other things I need?

My workout now includes hard/easy alternating days most of the time, fartlek, tempo runs, 400m repeats, 1000m repeats, hill repeats, and occasional distance runs. I do crunches and push ups everyday and I also try to bike whenever I have the time, which is only once a week now that school has started.

If you are racing xc meets AND extra road races, that might be one problem there. Racing too often can limit progress and often keep you from improving your time.

Other than that, you are in the 8th grade and running 18:02. Assuming that you will run throughout high school, you have 5 more years to work at it (including this year). There is no secret to breaking 18:00 any more than there is a secret to breaking 18:05.

Just keep at the workouts, listen to your coach, and stay healthy. Stick with it and you'll get your 17...

have pasta for dinner, and leading up to the meet, tell yourself a billion times that you will get under 18. also try drafting off of someone who runs slightly faster than you. under 18 in 8th grade is excellent! i'm a sophomore and i'm stuck in the 17:40's so you're definitely on your way!