3k steeplechase thread

Generally, they are good athletes. Ideally a steeplechaser has speed to run fast because it is only a 3k race, but also they need a lot of endurance because it is a taxing race. They do all the normal hurdles drills that a hurdler would do. They do strides over hurdles after practice as well. And usually they would incorporate hurdles into at least a couple of workouts during the season. Maybe not every workout, bu every so often. Longs legs and good flexibility help.

br0ski wrote:

Generally, they are good athletes. Ideally a steeplechaser has speed to run fast because it is only a 3k race, but also they need a lot of endurance because it is a taxing race. They do all the normal hurdles drills that a hurdler would do. They do strides over hurdles after practice as well. And usually they would incorporate hurdles into at least a couple of workouts during the season. Maybe not every workout, bu every so often. Longs legs and good flexibility help.

^good stuff here. Gotta have the right combination of strength, speed, and endurance. I will add that I attribute some of my success in the to the athleticism and mental toughness I acquired from playing tennis for several years. Too be a great steeplechaser you have to take all the hurdle/flexibility/strength/etc. non-running stuff seriously. In addition to what br0ski wrote, another thing I would do was put a steeple barrier in front of the long jump pit and use that to practice for the water jump (unless of course your water jump has water in it all spring - in that case consider yourself lucky).

I was a steepler in college. 9:12 pr. Can't be the sort of runner that wants to get into a rhythm and zone out. There are lots of surges, lots of bunching and separating, and of course, must be mindful of the barriers.

What we also did during our March non-racing period was on the days we ran long run, say 8-10 miler, the steeple guys would run the first 6-8 miles on the roads with rest of team and then last 2 miles over the barriers, getting used to clearing the barriers when tired.

Also I agree a good steepler is someone who can get back on pace quickly after the water jump or when you had bad leadup to a barrier. If you lose your momentum and let down then you fall off pace very easily, it is a mental race so you have to stay focused. I was not a great hurdler but used my strength to have success in the race.

In my opinion a good steeplechaser is either short and muscular or tall and skinny. With my athletes I start out with basic walking drills and stretching. Beginning of indoor we start working on technique by doing trail leg ,leg drills and lots of flexibility work. By the end of indoor we are doing strides over 1-2 hurdles and some water jump practice I to the sandpit Once outdoor season starts my runners would do 1 workout a week with just barriers and another 2 days in the week we would be form work.

About how much time does the average steeplechaser add from indoor 3k to 3k steeplechase?

25-30 seconds for the absolute best. 40ish for decent steeplers. No upper limit, though...

how much time wrote:

About how much time does the average steeplechaser add from indoor 3k to 3k steeplechase?

roughly a factor of 1.08, which is the same as the 3k to 2mi factor.

for the record, i ran my debut steeple a few weeks ago and ran about 20 seconds slower than my 2mi PR. the effort wasn't 100% because it was my first attempt, but I doubt I could've run more than 10-15 seconds faster, which would still be slower than my 2mi time.

my biggest regret before my debut was never practicing the waterjump. our waterjump wasnt filled this winter (still isnt) and the barriers were locked away. in my race, my waterjumps were crap, landing basically 2 feet at once and getting pretty wet every time.

here are my basic tips for beginners, based on my minimal experience and lots of reading:

do hurdle drills most days. any kind of drill really, working separately on lead leg and trail leg.

jump some hurdles as strides a few days per week. at some point you'll flow right over them, either leg, with no issues.

practice waterjumps. if you jump off a barrier into the long jump pit, FILL THE DIVOTS EVERY TIME. i cannot stress that enough. my right ankle has been swollen for over a week now because we weren't filling the divots made by landing in the sand.