17yo male. My problem is I do great in workouts, keeping up with our 18 minute 5kers easily. But in a race, I can barely break 20 most of the time. I can run a 4:50 mile and do 14 4x400 repeats at 1:20, 5x1000 repeats at 3:30 with 2:00 rest. I can produce at practice, but not races. Any tips/advice?
Thanks.
You run a 4:50 mile and can hardly break 20? Wow, I struggled breaking 5 laster season but did it at the end (4:57) and so far this season I\'ve run 16:58 as my fastest 5k. I\'d say you are probably working too hard leading up to a meet. Taper off a couple days before and see if it helps. Also, don\'t race at practice! I can\'t tell you how many times I get beaten by teammates at practice, but when it comes to a race I always have them by a minute plus. Good luck!
YEPP wrote:
You run a 4:50 mile and can hardly break 20? Wow, I struggled breaking 5 laster season but did it at the end (4:57) and so far this season I've run 16:58 as my fastest 5k. I'd say you are probably working too hard leading up to a meet. Taper off a couple days before and see if it helps. Also, don't race at practice! I can't tell you how many times I get beaten by teammates at practice, but when it comes to a race I always have them by a minute plus. Good luck!
Thanks for the advice. This is my first year in XC, but I've been in Track for a while. I bet you're right about me being too battered up by race day. I'll give it a shot!
1 - stop racing workouts
2 - tempos
How are you pacing your races?
With 4:50 speed are you trying to start with the 18 flat guys?
To run 19:00 you want to run 6:10, 6:10, 6:10, 30 not 5:30, 6:20, 6:40, 30.
Don't worry about going out too slow, with 4:50 speed you could run 6:30, 6:30, 5:20, 30 and run 18:50 if you had to.
During my races my average splits have been:
5:35/40 -- 6:45/50 -- 6:45/50 -- and the last .1 is always terribly fast, I know that. It might be the strongest point in my races. So obviously I must be going too fast at the start then?
And I do admit, I feel like I have to keep up with the 18:00 people to run 18:00. Does that have any truth to it?
Very little truth. Actually, I take that back, zero truth.
You can always 'cheat' by doing workouts too hard. Your mates can do the same and screw your comparison game.
Sometimes I show up for a training session having done 10/6 the day before. My peers sometimes did 0. It's not fair to expect the same. Coming race day I will still kick butts, that is what really matters.
Yes, you are going too fast at the start of your races.
First run 19:00, then worry about going faster.
You keep up with them in practice because you are good at running short distances fast and then resting and repeating.
Races do not have rest periods. You must start slower.
lsDug)v92847T5*& wrote:
Yes, you are going too fast at the start of your races.
First run 19:00, then worry about going faster.
You keep up with them in practice because you are good at running short distances fast and then resting and repeating.
Races do not have rest periods. You must start slower.
Do you think 6:10, 6:10, 6:10, 30 would be ideal for me then?
Or something more like 6:20, 6:10, 6:00, 30?
Yes, 6:20, 6:10, 6:00
If you're turning out 20-min 5Ks with 4:50 speed, you probably have more anaerobic zoom than aerobic strength at the moment. Negative splitting things will make you a much happier camper.
Whomever said taper a bit more for races was right! Also, over time you might want to run more mileage at a Lydiard inspired pace and incorporate some longer intervals (ex:3-4xs 2K at threshold pace(3-4min jog btwn), 2X 2mi, first just over threshold, the second at threshold for the first .5-mile then pick up second mile(5 min jog rest btwn) or 5Xmile with 1min rest, begin just over threshold pace and work down). When you hit a solid training block these should help if they fit you.
Thanks for your tips everyone.
Splits didn't go quite as planned, but I ran 19:20 at my last race and it had two giant hills. So I'm getting close!
my splits were 5:57-6:24-6:24-28