How to Run a Good 8k in College

Talk to your coach or trust your coach and just work the plan.

Say, "Coach I feel beat up to the point I am under-performing. Is that what you expect for me right now?" Or, don't say anything.

If your coach is good, he has a plan, knows you and will not be phased by how you are feeling now. We train to stress our bodies to induce an adaptive response. If your body is stressed then maybe he has tapped into your weak areas that need growth.

Well your 8k pr is better than mine but my 5k pr is better, my thoughts

- 3 intense days in a row monday thru wednesday seems crazy to me and would probably explain why your burnt out come race day

- i didn't see a long run, those are crucial in cross

-on the same note, 50 mpw ain't going to cut it if you want to be a legit d1 runner

-maybe lose a few lbs? i know it can be a touchy subject and different weights work for different runners, but I'm 145 too but I'm also 6'1

Very confused about the 8xmile workout. Is that even a workout? An 8 mile run at 6:30 pace should be relatively easy for someone with your PRs.

There's not a little odd about your story. Your own mileage is high and good, but your workouts are ridiculously slow for your level. Mile repeats were at considerably slower than marathon pace, while the 1200s were more like half marathon pace.

Then your coach's first workout is a 6 mile tempo at faster than 8k pace, which is either impossible or you are deciding not to count your new 8k (would be roughly 26:30) and 6M pr's because they were done in practice.

Wait, is your 5k PR recent? How did you do a 6 mile tempo at 5:20/mi? I am curious not challenging.

We've been trolled.

RyanMcXc wrote:

Sunday: 5 miles

Total weekly mileage: Just around 45 to 50 miles

Probably the wrong place to start, but if you are D1 and running with the big boys, only a 5 miler on Sundays? We were always 10-15 miles on Sundays after races at easy-medium pace. Your weekly mileage (especially for September) also seems low. Sunday's long run will take care of that, but seems like Sundays are basically a throw-away day as presently scheduled.

Worry less about time in September and more about getting solid workouts in. Your races are basically the most important workout of the week, but honestly, I looked forward to Saturdays more than some of the brutal early season workouts we had to endure because the races were easier!

The times will correct in late October/November when you taper.

teefurtree wrote:

Wait, is your 5k PR recent? How did you do a 6 mile tempo at 5:20/mi? I am curious not challenging.

That is the pace the coach wanted, I ran the workout at around 5:40 - 6:00 pace.

Can't explain so much nonsense wrote:

We've been trolled.

I wasn't fooled. It is like that Romanian guy which coach JS roosted

I responded to something similar a little earlier, but the paces I put were desired paces from my coach. My pace for the workouts as a rule of thumb is generally 15 to 30 seconds slower. I should have prefaced that in the initial post, sorry guys.

RyanMcXc wrote:

(5:20) is the pace the coach wanted, I ran the workout at around 5:40 - 6:00 pace.

Then why would you list your run as a 6-mile tempo at 5:20 pace?

winnr1 wrote:

RyanMcXc wrote:

(5:20) is the pace the coach wanted, I ran the workout at around 5:40 - 6:00 pace.

Then why would you list your run as a 6-mile tempo at 5:20 pace?

Because that was the workout on the schedule that coach wanted. Again that was my bad.

DaFuq?

These aren't workouts, these are just runs. Even what your coach wants you to do is nowhere near as hard as what I did in D1 30+ years ago, and I was running 80 mile weeks minimum. First World Millennial problems, I guess. Return to the 90s.

FFF wrote:

DaFuq?

These aren't workouts, these are just runs. Even what your coach wants you to do is nowhere near as hard as what I did in D1 30+ years ago, and I was running 80 mile weeks minimum. First World Millennial problems, I guess. Return to the 90s.

My question was, I want to run more mileage. I know that is what D1 athletes need. My current coach's training schedule is very short distance and speed focused. I was wondering how to find a way to find the balance.

I’ve seen some bad D1 coaches but none this bad. Boy has to be trolling

Badstuff wrote:

I’ve seen some bad D1 coaches but none this bad. Boy has to be trolling

Wish I was

RyanMcXc wrote:

I was wondering how to find a way to find the balance.

Make sure you run twice a day, 5-6 days a week. The second run should be 8-10 miles (if you're doing so little in practice). If your second run is occasionally with the team, do those normally and add 'long' 2nd runs on the other days. That Sunday entry, for example, should have an easy 10 next to it.

I believe it was in Galloway's "Book on Running" that he said that the (good) college and post-college runners of the 70s didn't care so much what happened in the main (coached) session so long as they got their 10 miles in for the easy run.

RyanMcXc wrote:

Tuesday 1 mile warm up, 8x1 mile at 6:30 pace,400m active recovery, 2mile cooldown,

PRs;

8k: 27:02

5k: 16:23

Thank you!

A concerned athlete

Even for someone as slow as you, I don't see how this is a workout?

Did your coach tell you to only run 5 miles on Sunday?

Has he mentioned anything about getting in a second run on weekdays? Add 20 miles of morning rubs and change that Sunday run to 15+ miles and you have a decent week of training. Sounds like your summer program did not properly prepare you for intense fall workouts.