How long will it take to become mediocre: a training log

Week of 1/6-1/12

Sun: rest

Mon: 2.5 mile warm/cool + 4x150m, 12x400m w/1 min rest in (75 avg)

Tue: AM- 4 miles easy (8:00)

PM- 5 mmiles easy (7:45)

Wed: 5 miles warm/cool, 3x1 mile w/3 min rest (5:41, 5:41, 5:46)+ 1x400 (78)

Thu: 8 miles moderate (7:18)

Fri: 1.5 mile warm/cool+2x100m strides, 1200m TT in (3:46) w/ splits of (69, 79, 78)

Sat: 12 mile long run (7:30)

Total: 45.5 miles

This was an okay week for me, I had planned to double wednesday in order to hit 50 miles this week but it just didnt happen.

The Time trial on Friday didnt really go that well. The conditions were awful and I just ran a bad race which left a lot in the tank at the end. I think I I had ran a smarter race I could have gone ~3:38, but that's just a guess.

My first indoor race this season is in two weeks (woo).

Some fast stuff in there. I can't remember, but what was your 800 pr? That 1200 seems like it was about on pace with some of the 800s you were running before, which is pretty cool.

As for miles, doubles can be great. But I'd also recommend adding some easy miles to those Monday and Friday warmup/cooldowns. 1.5 to 2.5 miles is really not much at all. Add a few minutes to the beginning and ending of each of those runs and you can hit your 50 pretty easily.

Week of 1/13-1/19

Sun: 4.5 miles easy (7:45)

Mon: 2 miles warm/cool, 5x1 mile w/3 min rest (5:36, 5:46, 5:45, 5:48, 5:40)+ 4x150.

Tue: 8 miles easy (7:40)

Wed: 1.5 mile warm/cool, 5x500 w/5 min rest in (83, 87, 89, 95, 100)

Thu: 9.25 miles recovery (8:00)

Fri: AM- 5.5 miles easy

PM- 54 minute fartlek (8 miles) avg. (6:45)+ 8x75m sprints

Sat: 5 miles easy (8:00)

Total: 51 miles

Good week of higher mileage. Both of the repeat workouts on the track this week were extremely difficult for me.

We added another mile onto our typical mile repeat workouts which was more of a mental grind than anything else.

The 500m workout was an interesting change of pace as my coach sent me to work out with the mid-d runners for that day. To say the least I didn't know what I was doing in the beginning and payed for it later, especially in the very windy conditions that day.

Keepgoing- The 1200 wasn't really in line with my 800m times, but I certainly do feel that I could come close to it in a properly-paced effort in good conditions.

I may begin adding a few extra miles onto my cool downs which is a good idea I hadn't considered before, who knows why lol.

I love threads like this - keep it up!

Just remember everybody reacts differently. When I run doubles (even without a mileage increase) I notice a new aerobic stress that feels great - almost like when I first started running. Each runner responds differently, but every runner who has tried doubles seems to improve from amateur to professional as long as they don't overtrain. Some can't do doubles due to their schedule (I rarely get to run doubles because of my family and work schedule). Everybody is different.

Regardless of how you do it, running a little more is better (without getting injured), and above all listen to your coach. All of this advice is pretty generic and something that anybody who isn't a troll will tell you, so good luck! I love the updates.

You look to be in very similar shape to me. I'm a hs runner, I think you are too from what I've seen in the past. Idk maybe I'm crazy. Anyway, think I'll continue to glance at this thread, maybe pick apart some examples for myself. May start a thread similar. Will keep same username

Week of 1/20-1/26

Sun: rest

Mon: 6 mile warm/cool, 16x400 cutdown w/1 min rest in (92, 88, 86, 84, 83, 82, 81, 79, 78, 76, 75, 74, 74, 75, 74, 75)

Tue: 7.5 miles easy (8:00)

Wed: 1 mile warm/cool+3x150m, 8x800m w/2 min rest in (2:45, 2:48, 2:52, 2:51, 2:50, 2:50, 2:49, 2:45)

Thu: 4.5 miles easy (8:00)+ 4x100m strides

Fri: 4 mile warm/cool +5x80m strides, 1 mile race in (5:10), 45 minutes post-race 8x200w/100 slog rest avg (32)

Sat: 10 miles long

Total: 44.25

Kind of a low-ish mileage week i guess. none of my workouts went well this week and neither did my race. I was seeded at 4:38 which was an absolutely moronic move by my coach. I finished last in my heat by nearly 10 seconds and was alone in the race after 600m.

Splits:

1:08

2:26 (78)

3:46 (80)

5:10 (84)

My legs are getting pretty tired as of now. Just 3 more weeks of indoor until I get a slight break.

Having been a coach for 5-6 years, the biggest issue I've seen with HS distance runners is they obsess over their workout times and then get down on their performance in races. Others have suggested that you may need to back off in some of your workouts and especially your easy runs. Hard days hard, easy days easy.

When you do have workouts from your coach, run them well but don't kill yourself trying to "show you're faster than you race". That approach will just leave all your best races in practice. You are a sub 5 min (4:59.1) miler, but going out in 68 is for someone who is in shape to run 4:40 or faster. Your coach probably put you in that race to have you chase faster runners so you could stretch out your performance; I believe you are faster than your times have so far shown. However, you can't win your distance races in the first lap or two.

Instead of trying to race out to a pace faster than you can handle, try to stay relaxed and "negative split" the race. While you may actually not run say, 69,65 for an 800. The point is to feel like you aren't collapsing in the second half of a race.

In many of the faster workouts you have during indoor, focus on the "feel" of some of the paces, like the feel of 75s 400s etc. Once you know how this feels, you should be able run YOUR race in track, not whatever someone else dictates in the race.

Looking like great progress again in your repeat miles. I would have liked to see more emphasis on continuous tempo runs (though the 8mi @ 6:35 was excellent) at this point in the season, and I'm not sure what the constant time-trialing is hoping to achieve, but we don't have an indoor season so we are able to be more patient.

Pacing still seems to be an issue:

Time Trial || Race

73 || 68

78 || 78

74 || 80 (roughly even at 1k)

74 || 84

Note that you needed to back off and recover a little even off of a 73 start. That 73-78 opener could have been a smooth 75-75 and saved you a couple of seconds. That is right at the pace you have been cranking out 400s all winter; you should be able to race that pace much more efficiently than an early 73 or certainly a 68 that you only touched on your repeat 500 workout.

On race day, those five seconds off of lap one don't count for much when you're sacrificing ten seconds on the last lap and 16 seconds over the last two laps together.

A fairly reliable pacing tool I used in my own career was to almost always be in LAST place at the 200m mark. That is where most foolishness takes place in a HS race--stuff like 30s for a 2:10 800m guy or 34s for a 4:55 1600m guy. Let the impatient burn their race away from the front. Your TT self would have passed your Race self by the 1000m mark, with the former having plenty of run left in his legs (keeping repeat 400 pace) while the latter was already gassed and closing his mile race at his mile repeat pace.

Thanks all for the responses and apologies for the delayed post. I guess I should've explained the reasoning behind going out so hard in the mile as it was a bad idea. My coach wanted me to run ~4:50 in splits of 68 76 74 72. I went out in 34 then 34 to hit 68 and my legs were pretty much done for at that split. From here on out I may just disregard his pacing instructions and just go out in 73-74 as that pace is a lot more comfortable for me to begin races in.Be the Turtle not the Hare- always nice to hear from a coach or former coach. For the rest of the season I will make my best attempts to race how I have time trialed, with somewhat of a conservative start and a bigger focus in the drive of the last 600 of a (1600) race. I just hate the feeling of finishing last in a mile heat which so far has happened to me twice in my career (once as a freshman as well as last race).aurelius

Your TT self would have passed your Race self by the 1000m mark, with the former having plenty of run left in his legs (keeping repeat 400 pace) while the latter was already gassed and closing his mile race at his mile repeat pace

Now this is an interesting angle which I hadn't even thought about before in the idea that I am always racing my previous times.

Funny that you should mention the tempo thing as my team had a good 6 mile effort on the grass today in which I set a new 8k PR (31:19, or 6:18 pace). Felt smooth and am really pleased with the result.

Friday I might be racing on a 160m track and I'll likely have to use the strategy of starting in the back of the pack. Last year I recall I went out in 70 and was gassed even worse at the end then I was last friday. I appreciate the highly in-depth analysis of my training and races and the information found will be useful.

Lastly thanks to all again for the responses, I really deeply appreciate the time and thought spent in making these posts!

You have to realize that you don't be in 4:50 shape or even faster now. You time trialed a 1200 (69 / 79 / 78) in 3:48 and ran a mile race in 5:10 (68 / 78 / 80 / 84). You really slowed down a lot, so it is clear that a first lap in 68-69 is way too fast for you. Try to run 4:59 next time (something like 73 / 75 / 76 / 75), that might be the maximum you are capable of at the moment.

Also running two hard and long workouts (16 x 400 and 8 x 800) on monday and wednesday before a friday race is not the best idea. They monday workout was ok, but maybe better cut back to 10-12 x 400 instead of 16. But wednesday should not have been more than a few strides and maybe 5 x 200 quite relaxed.

Week of 1/27-2/2

Sun: rest

Mon: 1 mile warm/cool, 20x400 by feel on the grass + 4x150m

Tue: 6 mile tempo avg (6:18)+ 1 mile cool

Wed: 5 miles easy (8:00)

Thu: 5 miles easy (7:45)+ 2x100m & 2x150m

Fri: 4 mile warm/cool, 5x100m strides, 800m in 2:19 (relay) and 1600m in 5:06.

Sat: 10 mile long run

Total: 40 miles

Low week to rest my legs, next week will likely be closer to 50 again. The meet went pretty well considering the track was atrocious (160m wood track). 1600 had splits of (74 77 79 76).

I don't think my coaches will take me to next week's meet so I will likely have a week off from racing finally.

Partridge- I would agree that multiple long workouts at a hard effort are not the best things to be doing leading up to a race but I can't just not do what the coaches assign. I will probably run my own races from here on out instead of following my coaches plans regarding race splits.

Week of 2/3-2/9

Sun: 4 miles easy (7:45)

Mon: 1.5 mile warm/cool, 12x400 w/1 min rest (78 down to 72)

+3x150m

Tue: 10 miles moderate (7:15)

Wed: 1.5 mile warm/cool, 5x1k w/3 min rest (3:18, 3:22, 3:28, 3:32, 3:28)

Thu: 4 miles easy

Fri: rest

Sat: 8 miles steady (7:30)

Total: 35 miles

Another low week despite what I had thought. My coach is having use peak for indoor (my final race for indoor will be the distance challenge in pittsburgh (ks) next sunday. This was an ok week workoutwise. Monday felt good but Wednesday's workout was supposed to be at mile pace and I was not even remotely close and still feeling it.

Next Friday I will likely be racing a 3200 and then two days later will race a Mile. I want to go for 10:50 and 4:55 but realistically in the 3200 I'm just trying to see where I am at fitness-wise.

I ran about 25-30 mpw during XC ran an 18:21, and a 11:30 as a freshman, last year as an 8th grader I ran a 1:01 400 so I think you have a little more speed than me, just work on building an aerobic base and if you can get up to even 40 mpw with your speed breaking 5 shouldn’t be super hard as that what I’m trying to do right now and I’m running 30-40 mpw

Hoping to get faster wrote:

I ran about 25-30 mpw during XC ran an 18:21, and a 11:30 as a freshman, last year as an 8th grader I ran a 1:01 400 so I think you have a little more speed than me, just work on building an aerobic base and if you can get up to even 40 mpw with your speed breaking 5 shouldn’t be super hard as that what I’m trying to do right now and I’m running 30-40 mpw

Lmao I read your first post, just realized it’s two years later, hope you hit your goals!

You are putting up workouts that suggest you should be racing MUCH faster. Your last 3 day (Mon-Wed) stretch looked like base phase for a kid getting ready to run 9:40 for the season.

Have you thought about kind of sandbagging the workouts a bit? Make those 400s closer to 80 and those 1ks more like 3:35? I think you'd race a ton fresher and faster.

Week of 2/10-2/16

Sun: rest

Mon: 1.5 mile warm/cool, 8x800 w/2 minute rest (2:42, 2:42, 2:42, 2:43, 2:44, 2:46, 2:43, 2:39)

Tue: 5 miles easy (7:50)

Wed: 2 mile warm/cool, 100/110/120/130/140/150/160/170/180/190/200 at near top speed with jog-back rest.

Thu: 5 miles recovery + 2x150m

Fri: 2.75 mile warm/cool +8x50m strides, 1 mile race in (5:03) with splits (2:25, 2:38)on a wooden track.

Sat: 8 miles long (8:00)

Total: 32.5

Really low week for peak of indoor. I'm somewhat disappointed I ran my best race of this season in a time trial but at the same time I think getting in a race on an outdoor track will yield some good results for me. A teammate of mine who has been running workouts nowhere near mine dropped a 4:56 so that is somewhat annoying. I'm very happy for him but I just hate that I put in so much effort in training and then he can just randomly knock out a large PR in a race like this.

I still have the distance challenge tomorrow barring inclement weather and I will be running with the 4:50 group just to see what happens.

CoachB- For the next few weeks the running we will be doing will be more aerobic than usual for an outdoor "base". If we have any 'real' workouts I'll probably just take the workouts at a lighter effort with the previously mentioned teammate.

I'm also starting to think my coach is a complete moron. He told us that our easy runs should be 2 minutes above our mile pace, which would be closer to a tempo than an easy run for me and many of my teammates. Probably just going to not do that even though he always asks what our splits are.

5:03+120 secs = 7:03, this can’t be your tempo pace surely? Wouldn’t it be lower, atleast?

coleiolio wrote:

5:03+120 secs = 7:03, this can’t be your tempo pace surely? Wouldn’t it be lower, atleast?

oh yeah my tempo pace is lower for sure, but my true easy pace is farther from 7:00 than my tempo pace is

Quick update:

Ran the pitt state distance challenge today (300m track) and ran some massive PR's

4:54.5!

58 mid (relay).

Also got to talk to Ben Barrows for a second so that was pretty cool. This race was a massive confidence booster for me and gave me the walk-on standard to a school I am considering which is very exciting for me.