Explain to me Why I cannot run 1k in 3 minutes flat

Because it's hella fast (at least for 99.9% of people on Earth). I'm 29, started doing serious track sessions about a year ago, and I tried running a 3:00 kilometer yesterday after my 6 x 1000 in 3:29 avg + 2 x 200 m in 32.15 avg and ended up running 3:07.1

It is a fast pace.

This is a good point

Could you ever run 100meters in 18 seconds?

200 meters in 36 seconds?

400 meters in 72 seconds?

How hard was it to do run those paces, if you ever could?

How often did you run that fast?

How much volume did you do at that type of pace?

It is all about specificity. Training long and slow to run marathons is not going to help you run 3 flat for 1k. it might even be counterproductive, as there have been theories that you can convert fast twitch muscle fibers to slow twitch, but not the opposite.

Were you really trying that hard (training that hard) all your life to run a 3min 1k, or were you running longer slower workouts to train for marathons?

But Some people just do not have the genetic strength and speed to run very fast.

You did ok to hold your 3:30 max 1k pace to run a 21 5k

Thank you

Thank you

I would like to thank Stoppit Smith and Runningart2004

Because the purpose of my question was to try to understand better the reasons behind it. I know that, if I was not able to break 3 in my twenties, I cannot do it now in my fifties. But at least to understand why. I know that 3’ is quite fast for 1K. The 1K world record of 2:11.96 Noah Ngeny (according to World Athletics site) is absolutely fast. But I thought that with good training 3’ flat could be achievable, at least once. Instead, it seems is beyond the reach of many people like me …

"It is all about specificity"

You are very right.

Since due to the Pandemic, I do not have a Marathon in sight for the near future, maybe I can try to shuffle my training for this goal. Or at least to see if I can better my 3’30” 1K. Thanks

ICannotUNDERstand wrote:

"It is all about specificity"

You are very right.

Since due to the Pandemic, I do not have a Marathon in sight for the near future, maybe I can try to shuffle my training for this goal. Or at least to see if I can better my 3’30” 1K. Thanks

Too late for running that fast, but you could reasonably achieve under 3'15", possibly under 3'10". In order to do that you need get out of your head the idea to continue train for long distance , which is as dumb as it gets as you get older (you lose about 1% of aerobic capacity a year when you turn 40). you need to do the old man version of the stuff you could have done thirty years ago. Which is actually a lot funnier than doing junk mileage at your age. Speaking by experience

You have too much slow twitch muscles. I thought I was slow, good for you, keep it up, speed is for the young and you are no longer young. The 5k pr tells it all. Yeah the math the other people in the thread tells it all. If you already had the speed and lost it, no big, but you really never had it. slow and steady you are still racing and having fun .

Some people are just born slow. Did you ever do any sports that required bursts / power / speed? I didn't run until high school, and I didn't run distance events until junior year of high school (and even at that, I probably maxed out at 25mpw in high school). What I did do was played football, soccer, basketball, lifted weights, etc.

This guys math is spot on... unless you’re not a middle distance runner. I luckily am and I ran all those times freshman year snd they felt easy but I couldn’t break 11 in the 2 mile to save my life, I think it’s all about what muscle groups you have developed and your background with running. I grew up playing soccer and running fast. Up until sophomore year I hadn’t run over 25 miles in a week.

ICannotUNDERstand wrote:

This is a serious question. I cannot understand why some people are so fast and others, like me, so slow.

I am 54 years old. I am 5,7 tall and weight 141 Lbs.

I started running when I was 8. Always liked running. Never did much mileage, but, on average, I run 45 miles per week. I run quite a few marathons, the last one, when I was 53, in 3h and 34 minutes. My best 5k was in 21’13”. But even when I was in my twenties, I could never run 1 kilometer faster than 3’30”. Why? I mean, I understand that to be a Kipchoge or Bekele you need talent, genetics, high mileage training, etc. But at least 1 kilometer in 3 minutes flat, after traying hard all my life. Come on! Is there any physiological reason behind it?

A 3:34 marathon in your early-mid 50's is pretty damn good if you ask me. Keep running.

All the answers are WRONG. The reason you can't run fast is you're doing it WRONG too. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

It's not genetics. Unless you are too short, or were born with one leg, or something. You don't need a special combo of genes to go sub 3. Maybe to do it 42 times in a row, but even in that case it's just the genes to not be too big.

It's not your age. There are people running sub 3 at age 70 and beyond.

It's not maintaining effort! That's what you're doing wrong. Look at all the people running sub 3 effortlessly. Why is it easier for them? Because they figured out how to go fast with less effort. Focus on technique. Once you can run easily at that pace, it will eventually be easy for longer and longer distances. That's the secret to distance training, and why people like Bekele and Kipchoge made such good marathon runners.

ICannotUNDERstand wrote:

Thank you. These are very good answers. But too me, since I am a little bit ignorant, it seems strange that a person like me, that is quite fit and, for sure, not fat, cannot sustain such an effort for just 1K. I mean, I run 5 days per week. All year long. For decades. It seems strange that I could not improve. Of course, now I am getting older, so I guess it is much harder achieve that goal. Even though I run my last marathon with the same time I run my first in 2005 when I was 39. I mean, I am puzzled.

I cant tell if this is trolling or not. It's not hard to understand. If your 5K PB is 21'13 then you're nowhere near fit enough to run 3'00 for 1K at the moment. Get fitter, do more workouts.

If I knew sub-3 1000 metres was something to which I should aspire, I would have asked someone to give me my 1000 metre split when I raced one mile as a young lad. I would have had to use a slide ruler or calculator. I am sure I first split sub-3 1000m on 440 yard track racing one mile, age 14 or so.

I know biologists, coaches, let'srun experts and physiologists will say 1000 metres is mostly an aerobic event. I do not want to engage in that debate but 200m speed is more important than endurance training for 1000m. Formal Logic Students of let'srun will say 36 second 200m speed is necessary for sub-3 1000m. Real world math will show sub-31.00 F.A.T. 200 metres P.B. is usually required for sub-3 1000 metres.

I noticed O.P. did not state involvement at a young age playing explosive movement sports. I noticed O.P. did not state teenage participation as a T&F athlete. 1000m is an intense event. No one hobby jogs to their 1000m potential. Look up swimming world records versus T&F world records. The near 4 to 1 ratio nearly holds. Swimming coaches and swimmers know for speed, one needs to start young to develop the proper strength & neuromuscular coordination. If O.P. grew up sprinting, I wonder what he would have done at 1000m as a teenager. I think this answers all of O.P.'s questions.

ICannotUNDERstand wrote:

This is a serious question. I cannot understand why some people are so fast and others, like me, so slow.

I am 54 years old. I am 5,7 tall and weight 141 Lbs.

I started running when I was 8. Always liked running. Never did much mileage, but, on average, I run 45 miles per week. I run quite a few marathons, the last one, when I was 53, in 3h and 34 minutes. My best 5k was in 21’13”. But even when I was in my twenties, I could never run 1 kilometer faster than 3’30”. Why? I mean, I understand that to be a Kipchoge or Bekele you need talent, genetics, high mileage training, etc. But at least 1 kilometer in 3 minutes flat, after traying hard all my life. Come on! Is there any physiological reason behind it?

Pretty well genetics. But you are 54, and in good shape, and way faster than average time in the marathon for your age. We all just work with what we were given. Keep up the good work! ? You may find your best times in distances over 42K?

The main reason is that you have not done any speed work. Speed work would be a day of 8 repeat 400s with a 60-90 second break, or a day of 8 repeat 200s with a 45 second break, or something like that. If you did that 2 or 3 days a week (Mon/Wed/Fri) when you were 20 I'd say it's pretty likely your 3:30 1K time would get to 3-flat or better after 8 weeks or so.

When I trained aggressively, everyone viewed speed work as the real workout, and distance work was simply what you did to recover.

not the American dream wrote:

Because you can't keep up that pace for that distance.

Wasn't this the /end of thread. lol

I'm in the same boat OP. 62 years old here, running for Goddamn over 40 years. Lifetime 5K PB of 20:45 at age 17. Tried every variation of training and mileage experimentation but the legs just don't seem to have the speed to take me to the next level. Broke my femur in a skiing accident in my 30's which derailed my progress. Was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my 40's which forced me to reduce my training.. Recently had a hip replacement which I hoped would enable me to crank up the mileage but I realize now the clock is ticking. I still have the dream of going sub 17 but I know I somehow have to crack a sub 3 km first. I'm reckoning if I can break 3 minutes by my 65th birthday it's just a matter of increasing my mileage and sub 17 would be doable before 70 and father time starts to rear his ugly head.