More mileage is not necessarily the answer. If you run 70 miles a week at 7:00 min pace you get very good at running 70 miles a week at 7:00 min pace. If you do shorter intervals at mile pace and 1000-1600 reps at 5k pace you should feel much stronger.
I can't fathom why people think that tempos and mileage equal fast track racing. Sure they are important components, and really do make for a stronger runner in a general sense. But it takes specific workouts at goal race pace to able to race at goal race pace. A good mile type workout is 6-10x400 with 200 recovery at mile pace.
But, in terms of appropriate training, you should consistently do workouts that cycle around the goal race distance. Such as a workout at faster than mile pace, the next workout at mile pace and the next workout at slower than mile pace. Especially with miler type runners, it is important to maintain or improve leg speed and economy at race paces, all the while building endurance and strength.
I don't have my training log with me, but I remember doing a lot of 400m repeats with a 100m jog (30 sec.) rest at about 62 to 64 (depending on the number of repeats) when I was running about 4:20. But this wasn't during the base / Winter time of my training. During the Winter before that track season I wasn't running, I was playing basketball.
Towson exile wrote:
More mileage is not necessarily the answer. If you run 70 miles a week at 7:00 min pace you get very good at running 70 miles a week at 7:00 min pace. If you do shorter intervals at mile pace and 1000-1600 reps at 5k pace you should feel much stronger.
uhh how about both? 7:00+ for the easy, non-workout days
FE wrote:
A good mile type workout is 6-10x400 with 200 recovery at mile pace.
Mile pace is much too fast for the 200 recovery.
It depends how long you take to cover that 200m..
A normal workout for those who run just under/over 4:00 for the mile is 8-10 x 400m in 60 seconds, with 60 seconds for rest.
No reason you can't do this. Just don't be afraid, and don't think that you can follow a given set of steps to a guaranteed result, like a geometry proof. You can't, and you'll tighten up if you try.
What I'd do (more or less what I did when I ran 4:20):
-Let your mileage do what it's going to do. Try not to go below 50 unless you're sick or over 70 unless it's a total surprise when you add up the week's mileage.
-Keep doing some tempos.
-Add some repeat miles or 1000s or something else that gets you tired at a pace you could hold for 10K or 15K.
-Occasional short hill sprints. Be gentle on yourself at first with these; they're not worth risking injury.
When the season starts, race as much as possible. Race the 1600, the 3200, the 800, the 4 x 400 if they'll let you, even JV. Keep your mileage high but easy (especially the two days after each meet). You'll get there.
Towson exile wrote:
More mileage is not necessarily the answer. If you run 70 miles a week at 7:00 min pace you get very good at running 70 miles a week at 7:00 min pace.
You can also race at 5:30 pace doing that too. If you run 100 miles a week at 7:00 pace, you will be able to race at 5:15 pace.
You only need to do speedwork the last few weeks before your peak competition. The guy still has 4 months before his peak races.
Thanks for the advice everyone, I recently ran a 1600m time trial(2 days ago) and ended up getting 4:36 off of mainly base training and the 3 tempos. I am very determined to get to the 4:20 as I need to hit somewhere close to that in order to run in college, need all the advice I can get.
during xc my friend did a surprise time trial, with a cool down time that i'm not sure of, probably 10-20min.
1 1/2 miles: 6:52
1 mile: 4:22
1/2 mile: 2:00
hopefully this helps with this thread.
17 Individual Champions That Won 24
State High School Mile Titles Over 40 Years
The Book that documents the Ohio High School
State Mile and 1600m champions.
Here's what they did, what they didn't do. How they trained and how they raced. No theories, no opinions. Just the facts. Just the truth.
We start in 1964 with a runner who played high school football and basketball and then set two state meet records in the mile and half mile on the same day. We'll finish in the new Jesse Owens stadium with the only runner to win three 1600m titles. In between we talk to Olympic gold medal winners and others that didn't start running track till they were juniors.
By finding out what the winners did, this book looks to answer the question, what does it takes to win the state mile. Workouts, duel meets, winter running, tapering, eating, weight training. What's important, what's not.
We'll try and answer the question that coaches have argued over for years; is it natural talent and will, or hard work and the right program that makes a champion.
In the end we will put together a training routine that should produce a 4:11 1600m and win you the State Division I mile.
New 2011 second edition has updated workouts and also includes data from 2008 and 2009 state champ who read the book his junior year.
out of curiosity, how do you know you train at 6:35 miles? Do you once in a while finish a run on the track and see what pace it was, or a garmin?
Here's what got me to 4:20 in high school:
~45 miles a week
-one good hard 10 miler per week (60-63, depending on terrain, how I felt, etc)
-1 workout per week if racing, 2 workouts per week if no race
-easy days at ~7:00 pace (usually start at 7:30, get down to 6:30, average 6:55-7:05 depending on the day)
- 8x100 strides twice a week
My 800 PR was 2:00 that year, but in fairness, I only ran it once and probably could have mustered a 1:58. Had about a 54sec 400 best (hand-timed 54.2 in a relay, but who trusts those?)
Also, about once a week, I ran like 4mi at 8:00 pace as an "off day." I preferred moving a little to resting. I think since I never stretched, days off made me tight.
Best of luck to you.