Letsrun faithful: Help me get from 7:39 for 1.25 miles to 8:40 for 1.5 miles in 3 weeks

I think it sounds pretty good, although I wouldn't mind seeing a few intervals of 1000m-1 mile at a bit slower than race pace at the beginning of one workout a week, as I mentioned above.

I also think the race is a really good idea-you've gotta get used to that feeling again.

I ran 10-11 miles today speeding up near the end to get a weekly total of 65-70 this week with 5 doubles. Yes lots of doubles, but an easy way to keep mileage up.

Tomorrow will be easy, then Tuesday I will try the 3x600 and 4-6x200 workout. Hopefully I will be ready for this race next weekend!

Not an Expert, would you recommend adding in a 1000 or something before the 600s or should I just run the 600s as is to get used to race pace?

bump

This is my plan for tomorrow's workout:

3x600 with 300 jog at goal race pace (so 2:09-10) followed by 800 jog then 5-6x200 @ faster than goal race pace (maybe 40 sec and under) with 200 jog

How does this sound? Any feedback? Will report on how it goes!

Sounds good to me. Keep up the good work. You'll get there!

i just noticed this thread, so sorry for coming to the party late. i'm in a similar boat, but with various twists. just for fun, i'll lay out what i've been up to: i'm a 50-yr-old woman running the mile and running indoors for the first time this winter. so far i've run two races: mid-december, 5:51, jan 9, 5:43. my big race is in two weeks. my history is as an ultra trailrunner, so i know i have the endurance and have therefore been putting my focus on developing a bit of speed. i have a particularly weak kick. four days before the 5:43 i did a workout that i think was beneficial for me: 800 reps where the first 600 was at race pace and the final 200 was about 3 seconds faster (~44/41). i did four of these with full recovery and tacked on a 1:22 400 afterward. this might have been a little too much volume for me, but it primed me to finish strong on sunday. i'm still doing my easy days on the hilly, snowy trails near home, usually for 1:30-1:45. given the terrain, my mid-50 weekly mileage is not too much less time on my feet than what you're likely doing, and it's hard for me to get in the necessary strides considering the footing i'm subjecting myself to.

as for advice -- modulo my lack of experience -- i'd suggest concentrating on getting in as much fast stuff as you can, at or slightly faster than race pace. you have endurance but need to get used to turnover and getting more comfortable being uncomfortable, if you know what i mean. you might want to cut down your weekly mileage, since it won't convert to faster times in just the week or two you have until your time trial. runner girl is a wicked-fast D1 runner, so i suspect her advice is good: frequent fast/short stuff (although maybe bleachers isn't best if this isn't something you're used to -- just like my hour-and-a-half snowshoe run yesterday was perhaps not my best choice for an easy day since i hadn't strapped the things on since last march). keep us posted on your progress and your outcome.

runner girl (or others): feel free to toss advice my way, too. here's my (self-made, i.e., uninformed) workout plan between now and my race on jan 22 (after warming up, i precede each workout with 4-6 strides):

1/12: 600-400-300-200-300-400-600-400-300-200 with neg split within each rep; it has been suggested to me to do full recovery between reps

1/15: 5 or 6 x400 at mile race pace with 100-m jog recovery (i.e., not full recovery)

1/18: 2 or 3 x800 with final 200 of each hard with full recovery.

My small college does not have a track so I run 2-3 miles to a nearby track and use that as a warmup and cooldown. The HS team uses the track in the afternoon and is stingy about it, so I ran there before class this morning to do my workout. Unfortunately there was already some club or group of people using the track and taking up a lot of space so I just jogged back and tacked on some more distance at the end. Bummed I didn't get the workout in but I wasn't feeling the best either so I'll put it off for tomorrow in which case instead of the 4x400 session I will just do 200 strides or something on Thursday or Friday.

Good luck with your running as well "no longer stressed"! We can post our stuff here as we get closer to our goals.

I know I'm a little late to respond, but I would say that at least once a week doing 2k worth of intervals (2 x 1000m, 2000m straight) or more total volume of shorter intervals (4 x 800m) w/ short rest @ 20-45s/mile (depending on total volume, rest, and length of interval) @ slower than race pace is probably a good idea. I also like that you picked up the pace at the end of the long run.

What's the date of your time trial, and can you give a summary of what your training has been like since you started this thread?

I did the workout today but it ended up being:

1x400

200-300 jog

600

300 jog (around 2 min)

600

more like 500 jog would have done 800 but went to the bathroom in the middle

then 2x500 with 200 jog

Times for the workout were: 1:24 high, 2:12, 2:12, 40, 41, 39.00, 40, 39

This was one tough workout and I ran it in trainers (didn't want to lug my spikes to the track since I only had a limited period of time) and by myself.

I went out too fast on the first rep (40 first 200) and stopped at 400 trying to get a hang of pace. Then I ran the next 2 600s with more even splits. It was tough. The 200s were tough too and my jog in btwn was VERY slow (a shuffle) but I ran them hard.

This was a hard workout for me but I tried my best to run it at goal race pace or faster and it has always been hard for me to do workouts by myself. What are your thoughts on this? Any feedback?

Not an Expert: Since I made this thread, I have just been doing mileage with the occasional workout like this one and the other one I posted earlier (1600, 2x800, 400s/300s) and the longer run a week. I have been doing doubles almost every day, typically a 30 min run of 3-4 miles that is a shakeout after my longer run or workout of the day. All my distance runs has been at a moderate pace, picking up the pace and finishing faster if I feel good.

I'm planning to take Thursday easy (but still 2 runs) and Friday easy (1 run) with strides, then run a nearby indoor race on Saturday... I hope the competition helps.

We will see how it goes! Thank you all for your replies so far, anything else you want to know or any feedback/advice you can give?

Looks like you had a good workout! Hope the race goes well! That should help give you an idea of where you are and how far you need to go.

Thanks, I sure hope so! We will see how it goes after I practiced race pace for a bit. I will do 2 runs tomorrow but they'll both be a little shorter than usual.

Oops that was 5x200 not 2x500!

Anyway I found out the meet is holding a 1000, full mile, and 3000 meters for distance events each spaced by 1 or so hours.

Any suggestions on which distances I should run? I am thinking of doing 1000 followed by the full mile.

bump

I'd say just do the mile, but the 1000/mile combo probably isn't a terrible idea. How are you feeling these days? Totally spent, or ready to fun fast?

On days after workouts like today my legs (often quads) feel stiff starting out but get better as the run goes on. I assume this was just fatigue from the workout yesterday. I hope I will feel fresher tomorrow.

nice workout, DNoH. i'm not experienced to offer an opinion regarding what to race this weekend. two things i would suggest, though, are to go really, really easy on your recovery runs and also to precede your workouts and races with a few strides to loosen up. maybe this is more impt for someone my age, but it helps me run my first rep at the target pace, rather than feeling stiff and slow as i first get going. run it smart, and run it fast this weekend!

as for me, this week i've pulled up lame with a butt injury on one side and a soleus problem on the other leg. i've been spending lots of time with my ART guy instead of running (didn't do the planned workout on wed and haven't run a step since), and i'm hoping he'll be able to fix me in time to race, and in time to get in one workout and a few easy runs before the 22nd. as a friend of mine warned me, "You have now crossed into the Twilight (of your youth) Zone, as of April [my b-day month]2010. That's a perk of joining the 50's club. You didn't (or in my case couldn't) read the fine print on the membership card." SO TRUE!

I went fairly easy today with some strides, still felt rather stiff. I am considering only doing the mile now to save it up for the big one, any thoughts/suggestions from the rest of you? Would I get more benefit by doing 1000 then the mile (thereby racing around the distance I need to run) or should I just stick with trying to run a fast mile?

Sorry to hear about your injury no longer stressed. I hope it gets cleared up soon, very impressive that yuo are at the level you are at for your age (definitely not pedestrian). Make sure you don't rush anything and good luck with your upcoming race!

Hey all, just wanted to give a run down of the week and how my race went. Right after I ran 7:39 for 1.25 miles I started doubling more consistently so I have been doubling 4-5 times a week these last 2 weeks. Here is how this week went:

Monday - AM: 6-7 miles + hill sprints PM: 3-3.5 miles

Tuesday - AM: 6-7 miles PM: 3-4 miles

Wednesday - AM: track workout that I ran pretty hard (see above) PM: 3-3.5 miles

Thursday - AM: 5 miles + strides PM: 3-3.5 miles

Friday - 4 miles + strides

Saturday - 1 mile race in 5:52

My splits for the race were 84, 2:55, 4:27, 5:52-3

I started out too fast and got caught in no man's land for the first 2 laps then started to pass the people ahead of me who went out too fast on the 3rd and last lap. Unfortunately I didn't have time to do strides beforehand because the race started earlier than anticipated. I felt rather stiff the first lap or 2 then loosened up on the 3rd and then really pushed it on the fourth and felt like it was over relatively quickly.

I know I need to at least be in the 5:30-40 range to have a chance at 8:40 for 1.5, however this was my first race in months. I hope I see the adaptations of this race and Wednesday workout soon. I think this was better than 7:39 for 1.25 miles but baby steps slowly but surely. I know I am not the most talented runner out there but I still love running and competing.

I start school next week and I don't know of any races near school, but I might be able to set up a "mini race" with 1-4 other people... in which case I could always try "racing" a mile again next week along with another workout.

Should I proceed as normal and do a longer run tomorrow? Then workout on Tuesday or Wednesday and try racing again Saturday? Any feedback/thoughts on how this went?

I would say there are some good things that you could take away from the race; there are also some things that you could work on.

The splits (84,91,92,85) tell me that you need to work on pushing it more in the middle of the race when it gets tougher. It may have felt good in the middle, but that's because of how you slowed down from 84 to 91 to 92. In my opinion, part of the problem was rust from a lack of racing and speedwork, which is to be expected.

The good thing is that you were able to pick it up to 85 for the last lap, which shows that an 84 didnt destroy your entire race. I expect that with some more strides before the race and another race, you'll feel and probably run a better mile.