Do I have what it takes to run a 4:24 mile? Let's find out

If I obtain my mile goal soon then I'll pursue the 800. I'm debating what I want to focus on outdoor. The 800 or the steeplechase. Steeple qualifying is 9:40 and 800 is 1:55 I think. I enjoy steeple but the 800 may be more doable.

1. good work in your recent races. I think you are capable of running 4:24 at some point during the season. You just need to be in the right race, stay healthy, and work hard. Your 800m PB shows you are capable.

2. You are closer to qualifying in the 800. So I would go for the 800.

adviceee wrote:

1. good work in your recent races. I think you are capable of running 4:24 at some point during the season. You just need to be in the right race, stay healthy, and work hard. Your 800m PB shows you are capable.

2. You are closer to qualifying in the 800. So I would go for the 800.

Thank you!

I am certainly a lot more confident moving forwards. I'm going to just focus on the mile and whatever else coach wants me to run indoors, then I'll see if I'm feeling 'stronger' or 'faster' by the time outdoors come along and decide what I want to run then.

Week ending in 1/30

Sunday: Long run 12.2 miles (7:24) + Strides

Monday: AM 2 mile tempo (5:45) 2 min rest, 1.6 mile tempo (5:30)

PM 6 minutes @ 5:00 pace + 5X300m at 5:00 pace

Tuesday: 5 miles easy (7:30) + hurdles and Strides

Wednesday: 3X600m (1:39-1:40sec), 3X300 (43sec), 3X150 (fast)

2 min rest. 600's and 300's on treadmill

Thursday: 9 miles easy (7:20) last 1.5 miles @ 6:10 pace

Friday: AM 4.3 miles easy (7:30)

PM Warmup for DMR, stride around cheering our DMR team on, cooldown

Saturday: 4X800m Leg #3 split (2:00) Relay in 7:50

4X400m Leg #2 split (50.9) Relay in 3:23.9

Week total: 55 miles

I felt pretty sick all week. Still trying to shake this cold. The mile pace stuff was pretty painful but wasn't bad. I was the alternate for out DMR so I just went and warmed up and cheered them on as they ran to a Nation Leading (DIII) time of 10:10. The 4X800 felt like crap. I went through in 29 seconds for the first 200 and I was already dead. Just played the hang on game the whole time. Then I had about 8 hours rest and then ran the 4X4. Felt decent. Made a strong move early to hold lane one and It worked out pretty well. Mile next weekend.

Its been awhile since I've posted and its been a really weird season thus far. I'll just post some notable workouts and meet results for now.

2/1/16: AM tempo 3 miles @ 5:50

PM 10x400m (3min rest)

63,65,64,65,66,66,67,65,65,63

2/6/16: Mile: 4:33 (had to lead a lot, felt like crap)

800: 2:01.7 (went out in 32)

4x4 split: 51.1

2/8/16: 5X600m (3-4min rest)

1:42, 1:40, 1:38, 1:39, 1:40

2/10/16: Long run on the treadmill. 13.1 miles @ 6:50 pace (cut down from 7:30 to 6:15 pace)

2/13/16: Mile 4:32 (went through 800 in 2:10 and lost focus. Frustrating)

3k in 9:40 (ran comfortably)

2/20/16: 400 split: 51.2

Open 500m: 1:06.7 (ECAC and school record)

4x4 split: 51.5

2/22/16: Progression run 8 miles (6:16

last four miles: 5:44, 5:43, 5:22, 5:12

2/23/16: 3X400m (8min rest, 600m jog + stand around. Coach had us hit 200 in 25 seconds then just "finish under 60")

55, 55, 57. Felt very easy. Last one was rough, but that's expected. Kidna windy up on the track.

As you can see my season has somehow turned from me trying to be a mile/3k runner (which I still think I can competitively run) to me being a 400/800 runner. My 500m race went very smoothly in only my second time running the event (first time was two years prior). Splits of 39.XX (300m) and 27.5ish. Felt strong at the end, should of 'kicked for home' a little sooner. That run ranks me 15th out of 42 in ECAC, and I'd like to try to break 66 at ECAC's. If anyone has any questions I'd be glad to answer them

Congrats on a successful season thus far. You seem to be a legit 400/500 guy looking at your times. Enjoy that and don't worry about the mile. You should be able to get your 800m time down to 1:54-55. Good luck!

Ran an 800 on Friday on a 200 flat track with some of my more competitive teammates. Took fourth with a 1:56.52.

Felt okay. Turns on the track were super tight. Splits of 27 high, 56 high, 1:25, 1:56.52

You remind me exactly of myself. Times just start to taper off the longer the race gets.

I started as a 202 half miler my first year of JuCo, and eventually got down to 1:55.6 and 4:08 for the 15 (which converts to about what you're looking to hit. Also split 49.7 in the 400 and around ~67 for the 500. 5K is only 17:00 and 28:37 in the 8k last season after a good summer of mileage.

I'm actually taking a year off the track to improve on the longer, aerobic stuff.

Definitely keep posting your training, it is really great to read your progression!

congrats on the season so far! You're close to that 800m qualifying time and with the paces you're running in longer runs, you should be able to hold enough of that speed to run low 4:20s. Sometimes you just have to keep at it, like Eddy Lee.

Thank you! I won't be running a mile again but I'll probably be a 15, 8, 4x4 runner outdoor. I've seen some of the eddy lee thread before. Pretty interesting stuff haha.

And I've worked a lot on my endurance and I think that along with doing striders religiously has just lead to my 400/800 times. I'll keep everyone posted.

Next meet is the ECAC championship at Staten Island, NY. I will be running any two of these events. Idk yet : 4x4, 4x8, 800, 500, possibly DMR

Well two weeks ago I had the ECAC championships on Staten island's new Ocean Breeze facility.

I ran the open 500m in 1:06.49

splits (200: 25.1) (400m: 51.8)

I started the race in lane 6 (outmost lane) and I've never run on a banked track. I took it out in 25 and still came off the turn in last (this is the fastest I've ever opened in the 500). I raced poorly, trying to make passes multiple times and getting stuck in lane 2-3 on the turns. (I have video of the race if anyone's interested, but otherwise I won't bother linking it.)

2-3 hours later we raced the 4X800m. I ran the second leg, getting the baton in first place. I got dusted by some kid and handed off in second, and the rest of the race stayed that way as we took second overall with a 7:51. All of us had run 1-2 events before this so our time was subpar. I split 1:58.1

Made the 7 hour bus ride from New York back to home, slept, woke up and ran then boarded the bus at 1pm for our team Spring Break trip. We took the 12 hour bus ride to Myrtle Beach, SC. Arrived at 2:30 am and slept. I had very good runs down there, spent time in the sun and had fun. Managed nearly 60 miles that week with a decent bit of quality (most mileage I've had since January). Raced at the Costal Carolina Inviational. 4X800m lead leg of 1:56.8 (splits of 58.XX and 58.XX)

Open 1500m in 4:08. Ran like a p*ssy. I know I could of run much faster. I'll figure it out eventually.

Good job with the new prs for the 800. I would like to see the video just because I'm considering a d3 school and I'd like to see what a race might look like

Arcadia wrote:

Good job with the new prs for the 800. I would like to see the video just because I'm considering a d3 school and I'd like to see what a race might look like

I just realized I can't directly link it because it's on facebook. I'll try downloading them and uploading them elsewhere (my parents took them so I don't have the actual copies of the videos).

But to answer your question, the races look like any other race tbh. Depends a lot on the meet. Some big meets, some small meets. Some nice tracks, some crappy tracks. Sometimes there's D1 and D2 teams and sometimes we steamroll every D3 team by a mile. It really depends on a lot of variables.

Workouts and recaps:

3/14: 12 miles (6:35)

3/15: 6x500m. 3min rest (4-5min rest after third rep).

75, 76, 78, 76, 82, 82

3/17: light tempo (5 miles @5:55) + 4x200m (walk back rest)

26.5, 26.7, 26.2, 25.4

3/19: 12 miles (6:40)

3/21: 6x1k with 90sec rest. Beginning of my cold

3:00, 3:00, 3:10, 3:15, 3:22, 3:10

3/23: 2x(3x200m) + 400m+200m. 90sec between 200's, 4min between sets. After the 400, straight into a 200m jog then one hard 200 to finish.

(27, 28, 27), (28, 27, 27) (54 in trainers!!) (30)

3/26: 5k tempo on hilly road loop in 17:10

I hit 64 and 35 miles for the past two weeks respectively. I had a planned down week last week but I ended up getting sick anyways so I took two days off during that 35 mile week.

*The 500's were one of the hardest workouts I've ever done. Died bad on the last two

*im also extremely happy with my 200's and 400 workout. The 200's felt like a jog then I even split a 54sec 400 after them in trainers.

*im glad to still have some endurance despite the low mileage. The 17:10 5k tempo on the road gave me some confidence back.

Nice job man. Sounds like you're in good shape

Haven't posted in a month so I'll post races and workouts up to present day.

3/28: 10X200m Hills. Walk down rest. in 32-35s

3/30: 6X300m into the wind. 3min rest. 500m. Jog 200 right into final hard 200m.

44, 42, 42, 42, 43, 44. 500m in (78). 200m in (27.8)

***Quad Meet at Carnegie Mellon. ***

1500m in 4:12. Went out in 2:16 for 800m

800m in 2:01

4x4 split in 51.7

Very very windy with a wind chill of about 35-40. Felt tired

4/4: 8 mile progression run. Last four miles (6:05, 5:35, 5:13, 5:09)

4/6: All done on treadmill because of storm.

10 min tempo @ 5:30 pace, 2x800m in 2:22, 2X400m in 62, 4X200m in 28

4/8: 2X(800, 400) 3 min between sets and 2min between reps

2:21, 61

2:28, 59

Opted out of the third set. Really tired and beat down feeling

***4/10: Mount union Invitational.***

800m in 1:58.1

4x400m split in 50.78

Snowing at the meet. Wind chill of 20-30 degrees.

Splits for the 800 were 29, 57, 1:26, 1:58

4/12: 4X1500m tempo with 45-60sec rest.

4:58, 4:58, 4:53, 4:52

Then 4X100m with long rest in: 13, 12.5, 12.2, 11.8 (hand times)

4/13: 300, 200, 300, 200, 300, 3X150. 2 min rest between all. Long rest for the 150m's

41, 27, 42, 28, 43. Then 18ish for all the 150's

***4/16: Westminster Invitational ***

800m in 1:55.5

4x400m split in 50.45

Finally warm weather. Borderline hot weather. Had to avoid sunburn.

Splits for the race were 28, 57, 1:26, 1:55.5

All alone (anchor leg) for the 4x4. Was surprised with the split.

4/18: 3X800m with equal rest. Then 4X200m with the sprinters with 3-4min rest

2:22, 2:18, 2:14 (felt really good and smooth)

24, 25, 28, 26 (Exhausted after first rep)

4/20: 12X50m Hill Sprints (all out) with the sprinters. 1:30-2min rest. Then long rest followed by *All out* 400m, 9min rest, 300m, 8min rest, 200m.

400m in 52-53, 300m in 38, 200m in 25.

I was absolutely exhausted after the 300m. Extremely happy with the 400 in trainers after all those hill sprints.

*** 4/23: Home (Penn State Behrend) Invitational ***

800m in 1:56.07

4x4 anchor split in 50.5

Felt tired and mentally not with it during the race.

splits: 27, 55, 1:26, 1:56

Never went out that fast before so I think that's why I had trouble for the third 200m.

I have been averaging around 45 miles per week for the last month. If you have any questions about anything i'll be glad to answer them.

That 8 mile tempo is legit. Last two miles in 10:24 ish is pretty sweet

Thanks for periodically updating. As a fan of the sport, it is fun to see people progress at every level.

Could lead all of your posts with your current mile PR?