Why do high school kids think they're fast when they run sub 2 for 800??

mmmmmm wrote:

I think many kids put too much emphasis on 2 flat, and if they instead focused on running their max, they would easily go under 2.

Why would focusing on breaking 2 stop someone from running to their max? if you're a 2:05 guy, for example, breaking 2 is a great goal. If a 2:05 runner actually has the ability to run 1:55, then trying to break 2 won't keep them from running that 1:55.

I have to agree. I mean, no one is born a sub-2 800 runner. It's a milestone that most people don't cross. With the 4:00 mile, you've got a barrier that is impossible for most, but the 1:59.xx 800 is achievable by a larger margin of the population. Therefore, on breaking that barrier, especially as a high schooler who has at least four more years of serious training and racing left, you have a right to feel pretty nice.

Also, I'd say a modest lifetime goal after running under 2:00 in HS is 1:54. I'm sure these kids who think they are fast are not content with running a 1:59 and calling it a career, they probably just realize that they can now move on to faster times.

I think that a significant part of it is just the first digit of a sub-2:00 800: a "1." Hey, when your PR starts the same way that the world record does, it feels fast!Similarly, 2:59 marathoners feel fast, and so do 3:59 1500m runners--even though both are a very long way from the world's best. (A 3:59 miler or 12:59 5000m guy is also pretty far from the record, but is even more justified in considering himself fast.)PS:

Sagarin wrote:

Sub-2:00 isn't bad, but I know guys who were able to run 1:55 or 1:56 off of almost no off-season training at high-altitude, which equates to about a 1:52-53 at sea-level.

No, a 1:55 at high altitude is worth about a 1:55, *maybe* 1:54, at sea level. If you're at ~7000ft and under 2:00, the reduction in air resistance just about offsets the loss of aerobic power. Vide Ralph Doubell's 800m record in 1968.

[However, the altitude 800 will hurt a *lot* more. Experience speaks.]

Star Jones wrote:

Also, I'd say a modest lifetime goal after running under 2:00 in HS is 1:54. I'm sure these kids who think they are fast are not content with running a 1:59 and calling it a career, they probably just realize that they can now move on to faster times.

Actually, I was pretty satisfied finishing with an 800 PR of 1:58. Now I stick to 5ks and road races, and probably won't race an 800 again in my life.

12:59 5k is a lot better than a 3:59 mile

omurphy21 wrote:

12:59 5k is a lot better than a 3:59 mile

I agree--certainly true. I was giving one reason why high school kids (and others) who run below a certain time think that it's "fast."

I never broke 2:00 in HS, but I'm still fast. I kick ass!

My friend in HS ran 4:17, but never broke 2:00-usually had to double. The one time he ran it fresh...2:00.2. He coulda shoulda woulda, but it never worked out.

Sub 2 was an important milestone for me, and yes, at the time, I felt I had accomplished something. 1:59 is important because it is about the point where you feel like you sprinting two laps, which is the essence of the 800.

Even when I got down to 1:49, 1:59 still required a decent amount of effort. Any kid who can run a 1:59 800m has potential. May be not so much as an 800m runner, but as a runner in general.

didn't think i was that fast. 1:53.2 880 at age 16

A 1:59 in HS is good enough economy-wise to be a 14:00 5000 meter runner in college, if things go well. Now I am ready for the deluge of "I call bullshit" responses. Obviously, not EVERYONE who runs 1:59 can do it, but a 1:59 is pretty solid for a HS kid, and provides a satisfactory amount of speed to be pretty good later.

Hi

I've been coaching young teenagers through to adults over the last 12 years. I've had quite a few go sub 2 mins for 800m with one going on to sub 1.50. For me as a coach and for them as an athlete going sub-2 is definitely an achievement to be celebrated and remembered.

I had one good 14 year old who bounced up against it all season and finished up the "wrong side" of it. It happens. For all of them sub-2 is a barrier, for some of them its just the threshold to going a lot further.

md

We re talkin about practice wrote:

1:59 was the qualifying time for my state meet. I think that's cool.

Wow, I coached a HS athlete in the 800 who ran 1:53 and didn't even qualify for the state prelims!