Stupid workouts before State meet

Ha! 2x1600 at 5:25 and then a 1200 at 4:03 with 60 sec rest 5 days before the state meet. To top it off, we have 1x800, 2x600, 1x400 on wensday, THREE DAYS before the state meet.

Context is everything. Depending on what's been done throughout the season (and preceding summer), those workouts might be just what the doctor ordered. Or they might be a very bad idea.

But without a lot more information, we can't make a judgment on that. All we can do is wish you all good luck at States.

You always have the option of running those workouts in the manner that you feel is best preparation for you.

I knew a team that did some 400's - I think 4-5 x 400m a bit faster than race pace the morning of the state meet

Hardloper wrote:

I knew a team that did some 400's - I think 4-5 x 400m a bit faster than race pace the morning of the state meet

WTF, seriously?

5400m of work is not that much. And you didn't mention recovery.

Teams do this all the time throughout the season and have great results. Personally backing by off I've noticed kids get lethargic, mostly mentally. We start VO2 six weeks out from our peak race and keep the medal to the medal (HS).

XcUc wrote:

My kids team

And you are one of them isnt it....

Is that dumb? wrote:

5400m of work is not that much. And you didn't mention recovery.

Teams do this all the time throughout the season and have great results. Personally backing by off I've noticed kids get lethargic, mostly mentally. We start VO2 six weeks out from our peak race and keep the medal to the medal (HS).

"Pedal to the metal" is the phrase that pays.

That is actually a really good workout if it was at a pace slower than race pace. You should PR at state.

The only context that is important is these are high school kids peaking for a 5k on Saturday. This doesnt make any sense. Its just like another race. Rest is supposed to be short, like 1-2 minutes. This would be a great workout if they all ran 1000 miles over the summer and were racing a half marathon on Saturday.

The big problem with high school state meets is teams build up the tension by putting more pressure on themselves and changing up the normal routine. No. Workouts aside, do the same thing that you’ve been doing all year, you’ll most likely perform similar to what you’ve been doing all year. It’s not like kids are going to have some 30-second breakthrough in last meet of the year. It’s easier to overthink yourself into a big collapse rather than have a big breakthrough.

What's your 5K PR?

When I was in 11th grade (Way, Way back), my coach had me run 5 x 1.1 miles @ 5:00 pace- he mentioned it in the local paper during an write up about local qualifiers. Felt great during, then a sharp pain flared up in my right achilles during my warm down. Wasn't too serious and I was able to run at states after taking 3 days off). Probably should have been the perfect taper, but mentally I did not feel ready and tanked finishing 40th.

XcUc wrote:

My kids team is doing 5400m of long race pace intervals (800, 1000, 1200s) five days before the state meet.

Can anyone top that stupid workout?

tl;dr

Please, in future posts, refer to it as "states" not "state meet". Moran.

Deer maths,

To all of letsrun, I am sorry. I meant states. States meets.

4 mile tempo run in 20:40 followed by 5x300, the WEDNESDAY before states.

XcUc wrote:

My kids team is doing 5400m of long race pace intervals (800, 1000, 1200s) five days before the state meet.

Can anyone top that stupid workout?

I can think of something even dumber: complaining on a message board instead of asking your kid's coach directly.

Be an adult. Talk to the coach. (Even better, encourage your kid to talk to the coach directly, and maybe they will have a little more backbone than your parents gave you.)

good workout, probably would have done that a week or two out ...

This wasn't before a state meet, but middle of the season, we went to a relay meet trying to break a state record in 4x mile.

We had a dual meet Tuesday and then a makeup dual meet Thursday. Coach wasn't happy that we weren't getting a workout in that week so after the THURSDAY meet he had us run 5x400 hard under 48 hours before the race.