Matthew Centrowitz

High mileage is important for the 1500 mile, with 70-80 miles being a good range. Championship milers need to have high mileage in order to be successful.
 
Transcript: "I do think high mileage is important for the 1500 mile. I think the event has changed a lot over the last several years. And you know I think you have to be a super strong 1500 meter runner, like almost more of like a 15 5k guy than 815 guy. You can certainly run fast off of low mileage but I think if you want to be a successful championship miler, you need to have high mileage which can be anywhere from like 70, 80 miles or more."

It really depends on the athlete, their team and sponsorships. Generally, top runners make six figures while a few have made over $1,000,000. To make good money in the sport, you must work hard and not limit yourself.
 
Transcript: "This is such a tough question to answer as, like, it obviously just depends, it varies as maybe like most jobs in other sports out there. You know, you have guys like Lebron James who is just a billionaire, got announced as a billionaire today. And then there's guys that are making minimum-- I don't know what the NBA's minimum pay is, but-- so there's a wide range just to track. I think if you're making teams-- if you're someone who is constantly making US finals and you have a good sponsor and part of a good team, you're probably making a good amount of money to definitely support yourself and not need to work a second job. Obviously, the top, top runners in track and field are making six figures. So and again, you know it depends. I know there's been some athletes that have made over $1,000,000. Not many. Very, very few, but I think if you're great at whatever you do in life, no matter what the endeavor is, there is a market and there is a opportunity to make good money. So work hard. Don't put many expect-- or don't put many limitations on what you can achieve. But do know that it is tough making a lot of money in the sport."

Stay motivated during the summer build up for cross-country by linking up with teammates, competitors, and taping goals onto your training log or by your bed. Getting out the door is the most important thing!
 
Transcript: "Ha, the grueling summer build up for Cross. In a weird way, I miss it, but not a whole lot. I would say, the best way to stay motivated during those long summers is to link up with maybe previous high school teammates that you had that are still running as well, or maybe you're getting them off the couch, or meeting up with some competitors in the area that are also running, in college or professionally as well. But yeah, meet up with some people. I think that helps a lot, gets you out the door. Tape your goals for the cross-country season on your training log or by your bed, so you're reminded daily, when you are hitting that alarm o'clock in the morning, to beat the heat. Just try to find little ways to get you out the door. Because honestly, the most important thing is not really hitting the times in the workouts in the summer. It's just getting out there and getting the mileage in. And getting out the door is half the battle."

Jerry had us do a 3-mile tempo run, four by mile intervals, and some fast intervals with splits ranging from 4:45 to 455, followed by repeats in the 420s, and then Mi specific breakdown from 600 down to 200 closing in like 24. We almost hit all systems if we had gone for a long cool down run.
 
Transcript: "Craziest workout of done under Jerry. This one was a an absolute barn burner. We do probably a lot more volume than most groups with Jerry. And so we started with like I think like a 3-mile Tempo and then we did like four by mile and then we did some fast intervals. So I don't know. The tempo was Tempo pace which could have been anywhere from. I can't remember the exact splits. But anywhere from like 4:45 to 455. And then we got into some are repeats cutting down the like in the 420s off of short recovery. And then we did the Mi specific breakdown from 600 down to 200 closing in like 24. And so that was I mean we touched on just about everything. You can think of threshold 5K work or I guess. 10K work with them are repeats and then some Mi 800-meter type intervals at the end. So there was Is nothing that we missed. I think if we had gone for a long run as or cool down, we would have hit all the systems."

Achieving a good balance of strength and speed is key to having a stronger kick. Work on building your strength in the fall and winter, and sharpen up in the spring and summer with quick workouts and races.
 
Transcript: "This is a good question, Melanie. Some keys to having a stronger kick-- you can have all the speed in the world, but if you don't have a good amount of strength, you won't be able to utilize that at the end of a race. So, some keys, I would say, would be to really find that 50/50 balance of strength and speed. So having a very good solid like fall and winter base of good strength workouts, good long runs, high mileage, getting you in a place where you're probably like the most strong that you've been like hitting peak mileage and doing the things that most milers don't like doing. So then, when you start to sharpen up in the spring and the summer and you're doing those quicker workouts and closing races-- or sorry, closing workouts in times that you want to close races in, you should have enough strength at the end of the race to be able to use that speed."

Almost all world class runners use strength and conditioning training to avoid injuries, as it helps to prevent injuries and get them to the starting line healthy.
 
Transcript: "I would venture to say almost 100% of world class runners use strength and conditioning training to avoid injuries. I mean, a lot of times I think lifting heavy has been this myth of gaining too much muscle mass as a distance runner, but I think a lot of the teammates that I've been around and a lot of the results that I've seen personally a lot of my best seasons came from heavy lifting and it wasn't so much that I was building strength to run faster, although it did, but I found it more beneficial of strength and conditioning to actually prevent injuries which is the name of the game really. Just getting that starting line healthy."