Coach forcing me to run no slower than 8 minute pace in practice...I'm a 21 min 5K girl

2/10. Obvious troll is obvious, but you get a couple of points for at least putting a little effort into it.

Dafuq? You are a 21 min 5k runner and your coach wants you to run no slower than 8 min pace? So he wants you to tempo all your runs and burn out. I would tell him to read this:

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2006/09/wejo-speaks-why-i-sucked-in-college/

As a former D1 guy I'm going to second the 2/10. The effort alone merits at least that.

Cheers.

Two ideas:

1. Talk to your coach and tell him you can't run that fast every day. Keep it short and sweet, "Coach, I can't run that fast every day. Every practice feels like a race. I'm doing my best, but my body responds better when I back off the intensity a little bit." Don't debate or argue. If he doesn't concede at all, try idea #2

2. Run your pace in practice and call his bluff to see if he drops you from varsity. Let your race times speak for themselves, and let your coach shoot himself in the foot if you don't race varsity. When he tells you to pick up the pace in practice, smile or give a thumbs up and say, "I'm working hard, coach" ... or "I'm doing my best, coach." Then pick up the pace for a few steps before settling back into your comfort zone.

If he gives you a hard time for smashing the faster workouts, just smile, shrug, and say something like, "I don't know. Maybe I'm having a good day. I got a lot of sleep last night."

FD1 wrote:

As a former D1 guy I'm going to second the 2/10. The effort alone merits at least that.

Cheers.

5/10. Solid.

Sand Dunes wrote:

Dafuq? You are a 21 min 5k runner and your coach wants you to run no slower than 8 min pace? So he wants you to tempo all your runs and burn out. I would tell him to read this:

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2006/09/wejo-speaks-why-i-sucked-in-college/

Yes, this article came to mind and I was actually considering emailing it to him last night. I think it would just piss him off though. Yesterday when I was telling him that 8 min pace is too fast and that 8:30 or slower feels better, he basically said "I'm your coach, you need to trust me, I know more than you, etc."

Easy runs of 2 minutes slower than mile race pace should not be difficult

I kind of tried number 1 but he doesn't really care about effort. I said 8 min pace is not easy for me he said that's ok if it's a little tough. So I asked him how I should feel during regular mileage runs. He said it should be a pace that I can hold for an hour. Which made no sense, considering our long runs are longer than an hour. I pointed that out to him and he didn't really have a response. He just said that if I want to be a 20 minute 5ker then I can't be running slower than 8 min pace. Basically whenever I question anything he says he just says that he's the coach and that I need to listen to him.

masters of disasters wrote:

Sand Dunes wrote:

Dafuq? You are a 21 min 5k runner and your coach wants you to run no slower than 8 min pace? So he wants you to tempo all your runs and burn out. I would tell him to read this:

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2006/09/wejo-speaks-why-i-sucked-in-college/

Yes, this article came to mind and I was actually considering emailing it to him last night. I think it would just piss him off though. Yesterday when I was telling him that 8 min pace is too fast and that 8:30 or slower feels better, he basically said "I'm your coach, you need to trust me, I know more than you, etc."

Do it and than ask him what is his 10k PR?

coach wrote:

Easy runs of 2 minutes slower than mile race pace should not be difficult

lol you kind of sound like my coach using absolute numbers like that. He uses a minute and a half slower than 5k race pace. So he assumes all varsity can run 17 min 5ks (5:28 pace) so easy pace should be about 7 min pace. Of course, none of our guys ran 17 last year (only 4 broke 18). For girls he uses 20 min 5k (6:26 pace) so easy pace should be about 8 min pace. Again, no one other than our top girl ran 20 last year. So I explained to him that 7 min pace is 28% slower than 5:28 pace, but 8 min pace is only 24% slower than 6:26 pace, so the girls are working relatively harder on easy days. Then I said shouldn't I be using like 21 min pace since I was nowhere near 20 last year? I'm sure by now you know his answer...."I'm the coach, I know what I'm doing!"

OP can't tell girls from trees, per se (...2, 4, 5)

Dear troll, all those threads emphasizing how slow you should run easy days are getting old.

Since I doubt you're running high mileage, you should be fresh enough to run 8 min / mile which is slow running, whatever you puts it.

Just run baby! wrote:

Dear troll, all those threads emphasizing how slow you should run easy days are getting old.

Since I doubt you're running high mileage, you should be fresh enough to run 8 min / mile which is slow running, whatever you puts it.

So you think my coach is right? I should just suck it up and run 8 min pace? Also I'm not a troll, not sure why my story is so hard to believe.

masters of disasters wrote:

Just run baby! wrote:

Dear troll, all those threads emphasizing how slow you should run easy days are getting old.

Since I doubt you're running high mileage, you should be fresh enough to run 8 min / mile which is slow running, whatever you puts it.

So you think my coach is right? I should just suck it up and run 8 min pace? Also I'm not a troll, not sure why my story is so hard to believe.

I wouldn't ask you to suck it up and run 8 minute pace if you're sincere that it's tough for you. However it's not crazy for a decent HS girl like you to be expected to run 4 miles @ 8 minute a mile.

Maybe he's using this training plan:

http://www.coacheseducation.com/xc/jack_farrell_july_00.php

http://www.coacheseducation.com/xc/jack_farrell_sept_02.php

I'm a 21 min 5k guy.

This thread is helpful to me. Thanks!

70% of your training should be > 8:00 pace, 8:30 - 9:00. 30% tempos, hill sprints and strides.

What about this article?

http://blogs.teamtbb.com/mathieuohalloran/2012/03/14/the-myth-of-long-slow-running-by-ron-clarke/

masters of disasters wrote:

[quote]Just run baby! wrote:

So you think my coach is right? I should just suck it up and run 8 min pace?

Yes, you maybe will struggle a little in the beginning but it will become easier and natural as you get used to it. It's moderate pace. In my opinion you don't need to slog 9 minute miles unless you're very sore and run high mileage.