What could Ashton Eaton run for the 1500 if he concentrated on it?

He admitted he cheated again. That'll kill it forever.

his best 1500 is 4:14.5, however this is also at the end of a decathlon so you can definitely give him a few seconds for fatigue.... maybe sub-4:10 fresh

safe to say he could go well under 4 if he "focused" on the 1500 given that he runs 4:15 at the end of a decathlon while devoting most of his focus to the other 9 events

3:50 or so

He is very, very good sprinter. I bet he could run a pretty nice 800 if he focused on that, but despite having great endurance for a decathlete, I don't think he approaches an a super impressive time other than "great for a decathlete". the guess above at 3:50 sounds a little optimistic and I'm thinking that would be an excellent result if you gave him a couple of years and significant weight loss. For one year, I'm going to go with more like 3:55-4:00.

10.21 45.64 ~3:13.7 w/ wabbits to bell and perfect pacing.

Bring Back the 880 wrote:

He is very, very good sprinter. I bet he could run a pretty nice 800 if he focused on that, but despite having great endurance for a decathlete, I don't think he approaches an a super impressive time other than "great for a decathlete". the guess above at 3:50 sounds a little optimistic and I'm thinking that would be an excellent result if you gave him a couple of years and significant weight loss. For one year, I'm going to go with more like 3:55-4:00.

absolutely stupid. You say a heavy guy who mainly trains for sprints and throws who right now with no distance training can run a 1:55 800m and runs a 4:14 after a ton of events (at worst its worth a 4:07 not in a decathlon). So in your opinion after 2 years of training and weight loss he'd only improve 7 seconds? That's just silly.

3:45-3:50

MissA wrote:

He admitted he cheated again. That'll kill it forever.

what?

Mr. Obvious wrote:

10.21 45.64 ~3:13.7 w/ wabbits to bell and perfect pacing.

nice.

but Ryun could beat him in a decathlon if he wanted to.

A better question:

What can Galen Rupp run in the 110 M hurdles?

Mr. Obvious wrote:

10.21 45.64 ~3:13.7 w/ wabbits to bell and perfect pacing.

moron.

10.21 --> 46.50 ~3:60.67

he would be slower than xfit god froning

I have no doubt that if AE concentrated soley on the 1500m, then, within 6 months, he could tackle 3:45-3:48.

Eaton to a 3:45 1500m, and possibly sub 4 minute mile, is very much possible within 6 months. This is my perspective:

Currently he is in 47.x 400m shape or better. That's a logical guess given his recent hurdles performance.

I simply go up from there.

47.x means is capable of a 1:21.00 600m, most can agree on that I'm sure.

1:21.00 600m is capable of 1:57 800m, and most can agree on that I'm sure.

I believe it can be estimated with a high degree of accuracy that Eaton is in 1:57 800m shape. I believe these estimates are conservative, but for the sake of a 3:45 1500m goal in 6 months, this is where I'll start.

I'd give him 3 months of distance running as a base. Starting with 30-35 minutes of jogging, 5-6 days per week (25 miles per week) with a once per 10 days speed session of 5x100m nearly flat out, 8x150m hill at 90% effort, etc). Do this for 3 weeks. The next 3 weeks, up it 45 minutes. Now at 30-35 .

Now, move progressively to a peak of 40-45 miles/week with a once weekly fartlek session. During these three months, throw in 3 time trials or races. 1x400m, 1x800m, 1x1500m. Also, allow for a weekly day off, and the 6th day of training per 7 days to be optional: A recreational soccer game, swimming, cycling, or completely off.

After 3 months of this, test Eaton at 800m. With his speed being worked on throughout, I`d guess Eaton would be capable of at least his original 1:57, though likely closer to a 1:52 (or better)

Now, with a base of distance running, I`d simply throw in track workouts, staring with distance repetition workouts (5x1000m, 6x800m, 10x600m) at 3k-5k pace, while progressively moving to more speed oriented workouts at goal 800m & 1500m pace. (10x200m, 8x400m, 6x300m, etc). Through these next 3 months, I`d keep the weekly milage anywhere between 25 and 45 miles per week, depending on Eaton`s adaptability and recovery levels. A very low milage week (15 miles, for example) wouldn`t be out of the ordinary with 2 races, for example.

Within 6 months, I am confident that an athlete of Eaton`s talent level, while maintaining his 47.x 400m speed, and ideally improving it to his 45.7 personal best level, would be capable of bring that 800m down to 1:47, and tackling 3:45 in the 1500m. A sub 4 minute mile, in ideal conditions and with ideal pacing, wouldn`t be out of the question.

And for my third and final post of this evening, I`ll throw in that I believe that once Eaton had experienced 3 months averaging 35 miles per week of jogging, with his talent level, I`d say he could get away with 20 for the next 3 months while still holding that 3:45 1500m and even sub 4 minute mile within his grasp.

You're joking right?

Realism wrote:his best 1500 is 4:14.5, however this is also at the end of a decathlon so you can definitely give him a few seconds for fatigue.... maybe sub-4:10 fresh

I went out for a track as a soph in HS and ran 4:11 off a few weeks training.

Eaton's talent is not middle distance running. I predict under 4:00 for 1500 if he loses 20 pounds and focuses on distance running. Bottom line... not worth it. Better to remain a decathlon star.

I'd have to disagree. I think he could run sub 4 in the 1500 with a year of training and losing a little weight. Remember endurance is something that takes awhile to develop and the 1500 is very different from the 800. Many distance runners don't truly realize this, but every sprinter will tell you that is the case. I was a sprinter and when I went to college I became an 800 runner because I had great speed, but even better speed endurance (this is not endurance). I had pr's of 47 and 1:50. Considering the 800 is mostly run by distance runners, I trained with the distance guys and did about 50 mpw. When I dabbled into the 1500 I never once broke 4:00 (these were usually early season races). I feel if I raced it more and truly focused on it I would probably top out at about 3:55 and this is after years of doing mileage and distance workouts. I know this sounds crazy, but I would run the 1500 off my speed. The pace was slow enough it would almost feel like a jog (this was a similar tactic used in the 800). All I had to do was muscle my way through the race (I would think of it as 2 slow 800's). Ashton Eaton probably runs the 1500 the same way and with training he would improve, but not as much as you think. Distance running still requires talent and for a sprinter it is very different than an 800. I don't see him going under 3:50, but a sub 4:00 is possible. It's just not likely

my freshman year of college I ran the 1500 in the low 4 minutes. I then dropped to the 400 for the remainder of college and my mile time (they made the sprinters all do a mile time trial) dropped to the 445 range.

Fast forward a few years, I decided to pick up the dec. My 1500 best in a dec is 4:26. I was going for a specific number of points in that, I think I could have run 4:22 or so if I had really gone for it, at best. I would estimate being at the end of a dec slows me by about three to five seconds in the 1500 at the most: it is more mental than fatigue. The events before use entirely fast twitch, so they don't slow your 1500 as much as you might expect.

Like all decathletes, I spend 95% of my time on skills and power/speed, so probably similar training to ae, although he works on track full time so he is probably better trained, which will make his 1500 a bit closer to potential than mine (volume of training does help the 1500 a bit no matter what the training is).

So my point is, dec training gets me within about 15-20 seconds of what I could do with 5 years of training at 19 y.o., which means I didn't have that much room left to drop significant more time off of my 1500. So I would estimate ashton could run in the 3:55 range with two + years of training. Probably slightly faster with many more years of training. It is one of few events he probably couldn't become world class if he dedicated himself to it.

Stupid Belligerent Drunk wrote:

absolutely stupid. You say a heavy guy who mainly trains for sprints and throws who right now with no distance training can run a 1:55 800m and runs a 4:14 after a ton of events (at worst its worth a 4:07 not in a decathlon). So in your opinion after 2 years of training and weight loss he'd only improve 7 seconds? That's just silly.

3:45-3:50

well, the 155 is not all that great for a 45 second 400 guy. Some 4/8 guys do more sprint training than distance and are way faster than 155 off of less talent, and likely don't train as hard as Eaton.

If you read my post again, I was giving him almost 20 seconds in one year and close to your estimate if he was able to train for a longer time frame and drop some mass.