General Strength for High School Runners  And their fit dads and
moms, uncles and aunts  April 1, 2011  As a freshman at the
University of Colorado in the fall of 1994, I can still remember
my biggest fear about joining the cross country and track
program was this: I had always played basketball in high school,
which meant that I had never run "all year long" like most of my
new teammates. I had run 4:25 for 1600m in high school, training
30 to 35 miles a week, with a 10-miler as the longest run I'd
ever done. But I also rode my mountain bike and hiked during the
summer, and I had a physically challenging summer job on a golf
course.  When my coach took me from 35 to 80 miles a week in my
first year of collegiate training, I responded well; soon I was
coming through the 3200m mark of a 5K 30 seconds faster than my
high school 3200m PR. I'm convinced my athletic background
allowed me to handle the dramatic jump in volume (and intensity)
without serious injury.  I share this personal story for a
simple reason: