How to run sub 2 minutes in 800m

First thing you'll hear on here is to increase your mileage, DON"T worry about that. If your 5k improved just focus on improving your quality then add a little more if you need it. Focus on speed if you want to get your 800 faster. Why train long slow distance when you're trying to go faster....doesn't make sense to me. This time of year you can still mix in hills and tempo work too, but decreasing your rest while increasing your cadence is a tried and true recipe.

im 30+, my best 800 is 215, best 400 is 61, how to go sub 60 for 400?

Jog a lot and do some hill reps, fartlek runs and strides.

What is your open 8 and 4 time? What was your main event last year and time?

I coach a range of juniors here in the southern hemisphere. Your 2:08 is good running and if you had a good XC season this should bode well for a good track season.

I have a 15 year old who just finished our first halve of the track season (no indoor here) running 1:57/4:23. After XC season he spent two weeks in Italy where he did no running and ate plenty of gelato! Here is a sample week:

Monday warm up plyo's/strides 2x2.5k at threshold pace 3:30k pace with 1 min recovery 5x100m strides at 1500m pace with 100m walk all on grass circuit.

Tuesday no run rowing for his school

Wednesday 7-8k easy running (30-40 minutes)

Thursday warm up 1k threshold 3:30 then 7x400m at 3k pace with 50 seconds rest 4 min rest 4x150m accelerations

Friday OFF

Saturday 10k over hilly circuit

Sunday 50-60 minutes easy running.

A few things that we do is lots of work at 3k pace over 400-600m early in the season 1500m pace work is done over 200-300m. If we do fast running early on it is in the form of accelerations. With this formula I had a 21 year old who had not run in 3 years but in less than 10 weeks he went from running 2:16 to 2:04 and he only did a few sessions. You probably need 2-3 800's before you will run your sub 2 but you can if your training is consistent.

Good luck!

I was more of a miler and two miler last year, I ran 4:46 this year in our first indoor meet but that was after two weeks of running and last year I ran 4:56 in the mile which was about 3 weeks before I ran the 2:08. I didn't ever run the 800 open cause we had 3 guys that were all sub 2:05 and only one other two miler.

Honestly, an 8 second drop (probably more like 9 because it was a relay) in one year is quite a bit. I'm not saying it can't happen, but if I was your coach, I'd try to get you to focus on breaking 4:40 and 2:04 this year. If that happens, we could readjust your goals. But that's just me.

not the marathon wrote:

I'm a junior in high school and have a few goals for track season this year. I ran 2:08 last year in a 4x8 relay and think I can run a sub 2 minute 800 since that wasn't my main event last year. That is if I decide to focus on it over the mile this year. My 5k dropped significantly during xc this year.

Wow, you literally described my exact situation. I also ran 2:08 last year in the 4x8 and my 5K time dropped by almost 3 minutes this season compared to the previous one. Mile time was also the same as yours: 4:56. I'm basically in the same boat as you.

Depending on your weather - get timed in the 200 and 400 at the first opportunity. This will give you an idea

what your current potential might be.

Not sure I would worry about what he runs 200m in yes maybe 400 if he has the opportunity. High aerobic fitness with specificity will get him under 2 minutes. The 15 year old i work with has a pb of 56 for for 400 from last year and has run 1:57 this season so far. I expect he will be around 156 low by March based on a steady dose of hills, threshold runs, and short specific speed.

you'll get faster just by growing a year older.

If you can get through the first 500 strongly, and hold your form you may be there now. Find out how to run a good 800, other than hanging on in a relay. I'd go there first before the specific training. You're still maturing. Work out the patterns, where to be a t what point of the race.

To those who have read Lydiards books: This has been several years ago, but I was sure I read in one of his

books, when someone asked him what was the distance that would tell him the most about the potential

of a middle distance or distance runner. His reply, I believe was the 200 meter. I could be wrong on this.

Nobby would know. Is he on this board anymore? Peter Snell was what? : 21 + to :22 + ? Maybe it was :23.

Hope someone who knows, will read this and set me straight.

not the marathon wrote:

I'm a junior in high school and have a few goals for track season this year. I ran 2:08 last year in a 4x8 relay and think I can run a sub 2 minute 800 since that wasn't my main event last year. That is if I decide to focus on it over the mile this year. My 5k dropped significantly during xc this year. Is there any sure sign of being able to run sub 2 minutes. Any general advice for doing it other than running fast and lydiard because that almost always seems to be the first response on any thread.

Any advice and help is appreciated

We do not know your situation and neither do you. How do you know your coach will let you run the open 800? He might see you as being a miler or 2 miler. I would sit down with your coach and ask him to advise you. Ask him some questions. What do you see as my role? What should I be doing to prepare for track & field? Why should I train that way? (The WHY of anything is important!)

*Too often we see "one season wonders," who do not run during the off-season. They run 2:05 as juniors and then come back as seniors and expect to better that off the coaches workouts during the spring. Many may actually get worse or stay the same as in 2:07-2:04 as seniors.

Lydiard trained most of his runners with marathon training but he had them for several years time.

However his principles apply to all distance runners.

You say you are a junior. Your peak as an athlete will be determined by your aerobic capacity. However in the short term speed endurance is the way to go.

(For you this might mean running 2:05 or so as a junior and with luck 2:02 or so as a senior if you do not run lots of miles. Lydiard style training might enable 2:03 this year and 1:56 next year. But you have to be very intelligent and mix the training well. Lydiard was not all about Just-Running-Mileage as many believe. He believed in periodization and balanced training.)

Joe Newton said that it's like building a pyramid. If you have a wide base you can build a higher peak.

But variety is important.

All young runners will improve. How much they improve depends on how consistently they train, how hard they train, and how intelligent the training is over a long period of time. If you have stamina it will always be there for you. Speed endurance is the most important work, but put it in at the right time and in the right doses (intensities).

*Good race strategy is also a very important element and is lacking in many programs. Without it all of the above is nonsense.

What's your 200 time? If you can't run a 200 in under 25 seconds with a running start you have no hope of breaking 2 no matter how good your aerobic fitness is.

Atavist wrote:

What's your 200 time? If you can't run a 200 in under 25 seconds with a running start you have no hope of breaking 2 no matter how good your aerobic fitness is.

I think there are many on this board who have run sub-2:00 for 800m who never ran sub-00:25 for 200m. I myself have a 200m best of about 00:25.9 yet managed several sub-2:00 800m races and an 800m best of 1:58.13.

This isn't true. While it would be easier the faster you are, you don't need to be under 25 for a flying 200m to break 2.

I knew a guy who could (MAYBE) just barely break 25 in a flying 200m and he ran 1:57 in the 800m.

Keep in mind, all the time, that you need to get your 400m speed to about 4-6 sec faster than 800m pace per lap. If you're more like a sprinter, you'll likely have even a bigger difference. This doesn't mean that you do lactic anaerobic power workouts throughout the year. During the base phase, work the anaerobic alactic and glycolytic capacities. You do this by short uphill and flat sprints, 6-10sec (alactic) at relaxed top speed, and by longer, anaerobic glycolytic sprints from 100m to 200m @ 90-92% pace (~400m pace, or a bit faster). Both with long recoveries (~3-5min). This lays the basis for the anaerobic power (lactic) workouts AND races after the base. Strength training will help your speed too with the other benefits from gym work. If you do the hill sprints added with some bodyweight circuit training at home, you'll be fine, you don't have to go to the gym. 1-2 sprint sessions per week is enough.

And the same goes with the aerobic endurance. Build the aerobic capacity during the base, with some traditional aerobic power workouts (repetition training with varying distances and paces) included. But don't dig deep during base. Means avoid high lactates. Basic endurance is the basis for your aerobic capacity, slowly increase your mileage.

Well said U.N.O. What is your experience?

Thanks, I red your comments about the importance of the 200m speed which is what I agree with a lot. Why 200m, it's because it demands both anaerobic capacities (alactic and glycolytic) to be at high level, which are very important for the 400, which is important for the 800... Coe did sub 22sec in training, and had a great aerobic capacity as well. Andre Bucher once did 200m in 21.8 or something like that and the day after/before ran a 10k in just over 30 minutes. But it depends, I don't think that Rudisha or Borzakovskiy is/was as strong aerobically.