HS runner needing advice.

High School Running

5 years ago 10/21/2018 7:51pm EDT

I am a high school runner and have been running for about 6 years. i have put on some weight in the last few years. i’m standing at 5’10 and 214 pounds. sounds pretty big but for me being such a big boy i can run. last track season i ran the 400 in 58 seconds which isn’t terrible for a runner in wv. i had no training then. i am now wanting to train for my last year of track and hopefully make it to states. around 52 seconds made it to states. is there any way i can cut my time like that? i don’t have intentions on winning states but i’d like to be able to compete. please don’t leave real negative comments. i just need some advice. my school doesn’t have real large teams so we don’t get very well coaches. usually just some people that has been running for a while. any advice will help. should i stick with training for the 400? how should i start? should i move up to the 800? i just need some help.

5 years ago 10/21/2018 7:54pm EDT

re: wvrunner14

Eat more salads and less junk food.

5 years ago 10/21/2018 8:10pm EDT

re: Sand Dunes

Bigger miles in the pre-season and see what happens.

Summer of Malmo.

5 years ago 10/21/2018 9:39pm EDT

re: wvrunner14

I’ll be honest. The weight is an issue. It’s simple physics. For every extra pound over your ideal weight you need twice that in force to be faster.

No coach at the high school level is going to tell you that for fear that you might develop an eating disorder, or your parents will complain, etc. But physics has no feelings either way.

Good grief, the summer of Malmo is great but not for a 100 - 400 guy. If you do move up to 800 or longer than yes that kind of training is worth taking a hard look at.

You should be lifting now. Lift heavy with low reps. Olympic lifts if you do them properly are way more beneficial. Be careful of muscle imbalances while developing. This and posture are major reasons for hamstring pulls.

There should be an element of speed throughout your general prep, precompetition, and competition phase.

Make sure you are not landing on your heals!!!! You need to use your elastic energy. If this is your problem you can pick up at least half of that time difference when you get used to training and racing off your heals. It takes a while to adjust so it is not automatic.

When working on speed make sure your rest is long. It’s a common mistake for sprint training. It’s not when your breathing calms down, it’s when your phosphocreatine reloads. 85 percent in 3 minutes. Near full after 10 minutes. For most speed sessions 3 minutes will work.

Not knowing your training, testing, etc. I wouldn’t know whether you were more suited for distance or not.

5 years ago 10/21/2018 10:52pm EDT

re: wvrunner14

As a heavier runner, you should train on grass surfaces as much as possible, starting with aerobic work (1-3 miles) Try to lose some weight and do some running form drills.

After 1-2 months, you can start some interval workouts. You can find a bunch of different ones if you look up Clyde Hart. (An example is 2x600, followed by a 10minute rest, followed by 3x300). Hart believed in doing lots of different interval distances at different paces with different rest times - his runners developed an unsurpassed knowledge of pace. To run 52 you have to cut 3 seconds from each 200 (from 27-28 down to 24-25 seconds for your first 200 and from 30-31 down to 27-28 seconds for your second 200), so you need to be able to do intervals which get you used to running these paces while staying relaxed. Good luck.

5 years ago 10/22/2018 10:49am EDT

re: wvrunner14

Are you playing football this Fall? If not, why not?

You'll need a little bit of cardio work which will help in losing some excess weight that you don't need to carry when competing in the 400. Nothing too long but maybe some 2-3 mile runs followed by sprint work.

You'll need to increase foot speed and turnover rate. This can be done working on short sprints.

Good Luck!

Oh, are you are Mountaineer or a Thundering Herd?

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