Trying to run a 27:30 8k by NCAA Regionals

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8 years ago 10/10/2015 12:45pm EDT

Hey I am a D3 college freshman and I was wondering if it is possible to run 27:30 by NCAA Regionals (which my teammates tell me is a fast course). Regionals is exactly 5 weeks from today.

Yesterday I ran a 28:19 on a flat course.

My splits:

5:38

5:39

5:45

5:39

I've come a long way since my first 8k a month ago when I ran 29:47.

My splits:

6:03

5:57

6:00

5:50

I was trying to break 28 but I fell apart the last 2 miles. My question is how do I get the strength to close harder the last 2 miles? Is it through speed, strength, tempos, or endurance or a combination of multiple factors? I think hammering those last 2 miles(especially the 4th mile) will help me break 28 and get my closer to my 27:30 goal.

I personally think its speed because my High School PR's suggest that I am more aerobically based:

800: 2:14

1600: 4:50

3200: 10:10

But what do I know, I'm just a college freshman. Any advice is welcome. Thank you!

8 years ago 10/10/2015 1:18pm EDT

re: frosh

frosh wrote:
Hey I am a D3 college freshman and I was wondering if it is possible to run 27:30 by NCAA Regionals (which my teammates tell me is a fast course). Regionals is exactly 5 weeks from today.
Yesterday I ran a 28:19 on a flat course.
My splits:
5:38
5:38
5:39
5:45
5:39
I've come a long way since my first 8k a month ago when I ran 29:47.
My splits:
6:03
5:57
5:57
6:00
5:50
I was trying to break 28 but I fell apart the last 2 miles. My question is how do I get the strength to close harder the last 2 miles? Is it through speed, strength, tempos, or endurance or a combination of multiple factors? I think hammering those last 2 miles(especially the 4th mile) will help me break 28 and get my closer to my 27:30 goal.
I personally think its speed because my High School PR's suggest that I am more aerobically based:
800: 2:14
1600: 4:50
3200: 10:10
But what do I know, I'm just a college freshman. Any advice is welcome. Thank you!

I'd suggest getting in some work at current 5k pace, starting with 5 x 1000m in 3:30 down to 3:25 with 400m jog. Your 8k goal pace is about 3:26, so you could extend this workout to 3 x 2000m in 6:52.

Another workout would be to get in some miles, then finish with 2 miles in 11:00. Then when you get to 3 miles in a race, you can tell yourself you've done this before.

There is also something to be said for getting to 3 and deciding that you're just going to hang on until you pass out.

8 years ago 10/10/2015 1:39pm EDT

re: former 27:30 freshman

Thank you! This is great advice. I'm gonna try those two workouts, they seem to make sense to me. The 1000m or 2000m workout works on tuning up pacing, while the 11:00 2 mile also deals with pacing, but deals with the mental roadblock that I would normally experience during a race. I also agree with your last statement on making a concerted effort on mile 3 to give it all I got. Once again thanks!

8 years ago 10/10/2015 2:00pm EDT

re: frosh

frosh wrote:
Thank you! This is great advice. I'm gonna try those two workouts, they seem to make sense to me. The 1000m or 2000m workout works on tuning up pacing, while the 11:00 2 mile also deals with pacing, but deals with the mental roadblock that I would normally experience during a race. I also agree with your last statement on making a concerted effort on mile 3 to give it all I got. Once again thanks!

was this an actual helpful thread on running? I thought those were banned.

8 years ago 11/22/2015 1:55pm EST

re: frosh

I had regionals last Saturday and I ran a 28:04. Even though I didn't run 27:30 or even sub 28:00, I'm pretty pleased on how I did.

My splits:

5:35

5:28

5:49

5:42

5:30

The second mile was really fast for some reason, don't know why though. I was able to kick really well the last 100m, where I passed 7 or 8 people. That was probably because I did not take the first mile too crazy.

It's still a 15 second PR, and I am looking forward to indoor!

8 years ago 11/22/2015 2:12pm EST

re: frosh

frosh wrote:
I had regionals last Saturday and I ran a 28:04. Even though I didn't run 27:30 or even sub 28:00, I'm pretty pleased on how I did.
My splits:
5:35
5:28
5:49
5:42
5:30
The second mile was really fast for some reason, don't know why though. I was able to kick really well the last 100m, where I passed 7 or 8 people. That was probably because I did not take the first mile too crazy.
It's still a 15 second PR, and I am looking forward to indoor!

Good job.

8 years ago 11/22/2015 4:04pm EST

re: frosh

I ran 27:15 recently running pretty much perfect 1600m splits. These are a couple workouts I did leading up to that in case you're interested.

5 x 1 mile with 3 minutes standing/jogging rest

5:32, 5:41, 5:42, 5:43, 5:30, avg of 5:36ish

10 x 400m with 200m up-tempo in between each, averaged something like 81-82ish (coincidentally my eventual race pace)

3 min on, 2 min off fartlek running about 6:00 pace for the on and 8:00 pace for the off for a total of 40 minutes.

5 years ago 01/10/2019 12:44am EST

re: frosh

Well, he did it. This dudes PR after senior year XC is 26:03. Good job bro.

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