Best mile race strategy?

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Go out hard, pick it up in the middle, and hammer that last lap.

fred wrote:

Go out hard, pick it up in the middle, and hammer that last lap.

That was incredibly useless

Your 60 mpw and 6 mile Tempos are serious! Don't know what your speed and intervals are like but Im wondering if your a bit stronger than you think? I wonder if your opponent has been putting in this distance? My first thought was what about a full negative split last half.. 800? So, I don't know, say you come across at 2:18 at the 800, so your goal is to go fairly even, a 2:11 last half. He has got to go with you the full last 800. Negative split training like 5x600 or 5x800 running the last 400, 5 seconds faster pace than the controlled first 400 helps with this.

So, you have 57/2:10 PRs and have "a great last 100m" while he has a "good not great" last 100m, but "he tends to pull away on that final back stretch."

Is this a joke?

Anyway, you're as fit as you are, and you don't know his fitness. I obviously suggest sitting on him at a relevant pace, but if you can't (pace is crawling), then don't give him any break as you slightly negative split TT-style.

Seriously be careful the first 400m because small January races can open slow as balls. Out of shape hsers I'm talking 75 through 400

liarliar wrote:

So, you have 57/2:10 PRs and have "a great last 100m" while he has a "good not great" last 100m, but "he tends to pull away on that final back stretch."

Is this a joke?

Anyway, you're as fit as you are, and you don't know his fitness. I obviously suggest sitting on him at a relevant pace, but if you can't (pace is crawling), then don't give him any break as you slightly negative split TT-style.

Seriously be careful the first 400m because small January races can open slow as balls. Out of shape hsers I'm talking 75 through 400

He tends to have a good last lap when he's in the lead and he can pull away, but the last 100m in an all out sprint his top end speed proves inferior as it appears he burns it all a little too early (he usually surges at the 350 mark, he sit and kicks all the way until the first turn of the last lap). If I stay with him I can take him, but thats tough seeing that its usually me leading thus getting passed unexpectedly.

My advice: Go ahead and let the race go out organically, and then make your decision based on the initial pace.

If it goes out slow, just stay behind the leaders and then take off with 600 to go, keeping the pole position as long as you can, don't let your main competitor pass you on the backstretch at any cost. If your analysis is correct, you'll have the most left for that final 100 even if you both sprint the backstretch.

If it goes out fast, wait until 300 to go and then go all out at that point. This assumes your competitor wouldn't try taking off any sooner.

You are running too far

Taper

Run laps 2 3 and 4 progressively faster

Train with 800 then 400 x3

6 mile tempo for a miler is near worthless. Too far. Training you to run slower

Do your mean 201 800? Because 2:10 is terrible for a 4:32 miler.

make your move @600

Just my 2 cents wrote:

You are running too far

Taper

Run laps 2 3 and 4 progressively faster

Train with 800 then 400 x3

6 mile tempo for a miler is near worthless. Too far. Training you to run slower

I'm actually a 2 miler, I don't run the mile often. The 5Ks my best race. This is all good advice though thanks

Work on your finish

update us on how the race goes. if you have to take and lead the pace, try to surge enough when you take it that you create a 5m gap or more between you and the field. you dont want to be used for drafting the whole race only to be passed in the last bit

You say you're a 2 mile-5k guy, so I would recommend taking the race out quick and draining the kick out of this guy.

Yeah, I agree. You sound like more of an endurance guy, so your best bet is probably just run him into the ground and hope you die closer to the line than he does.

I guessing that you are a high school runner based on what you wrote. You likely run much more milage than this guy. That means that you probably can hang on longer after the fatigue starts. Leaving it to the last 200 meters will not play to your advantage. I would run the first lap at a very aggressive pace to put some doubt in his mind and get the fatigue building. Then ease off a bit in the middle and recover. If your milage is much higher than his, you will recover better / fatigue more slowly during the middle of the race. Then with 500-600 to go I would try to break him. He will be hurting (so will you) by then and he will likely be hanging on hoping to outkick you. If you kick from the 3rd lap, he may not hang on. It takes world class mental toughness to even try to come back from a big gap when you are hurting badly, and he probably does not have that.

Some things to consider.

1) Its January

2) In HS, place only matters in three meets:

Conference (points for your team)

Sectionals/Regionals/district (to qualify for state)

State (trying to medal/ qualify for finals)

If you always obsess over place (or overall time) each race becomes exactly the same and you risk burn-out/ stagnation.

For a season opener, I would just run relaxed for the first 800 and try to negative split. 68-69-67-64 = 4:28. The important part is the negative split/ not the overall time.

As a cross guy who also had marginal speed (54.x quarter) I actually found that tempo and long acceleration runs helped my gear changing ability more than short sprint intervals. If you come up with a reasonable race plan and execute it, the "winning" part generally takes care of itself.

Enjoy the race and good luck-

One last tip- Don't predict or overreact to your rival's race tactics. Pick your race plan and stick to it no matter what happens. You would't build your race plan around the 4:50 milers in your heat so don't worry about the one 4:3x guy who happens to be there too-. ( He might actually be a 4:19 guy now or he might get injured and not show up. Bottom line you can't control him so run your own race. If you do end up in a dogfight over the last 200 no advice from letsrun is going to help. That's on you)

Try putting in a massive surge on the backstretch of the third lap.

Wait. You run a 4:32 mile and only a 2:10 in the 800. I'm assuming that's because you haven't raced it that much. If you can run a 4:32 mile than you are more than capable of running faster than 2:10 in the 800. You could probably run a 2:05 if you really tried.