Improving 800m Time as a Freshman in High School

I find it hard to believe anyone who is 100 pounds is “pretty built”

Run 4 miles per day followed by 4x200 in 35 seconds. Decrease the time each week until you get down to 30 seconds. Then move it up to 4x300 at 50 seconds and start the process over until you get the 300s down to 46-47 and then it will be track season and you will be ready for 2:10.

Your 2nd lap is not the issue. It is fine, based on your 1st lap.

Improve your 400m speed with the interval training and distance runs, and your 1st lap will get much quicker, and so will your 2nd lap.

Background before I offer a training program:

I was 5' 6" as a HS freshman, but at least 25 lbs heavier than you.

I lifted a lot of weights, including hack squats, and my legs were very strong. You say that your upper body is already strong.

I didn't run track as a freshman, but did win the gym class two mile in 12:16, and got 2nd in the 440y in 63. Then, I was introduced to the coach by the guy who won the fresh gym class quarter-mile (53 sec), and I ran a 1/2 mile in one of their practices on our sand/dirt track in 2:35,(all these aforementioned times are in training shoes)

That summer, I started running. That fall, I was 3rd in the fresh-soph conference in CC (2.5 miles), and the following January I ran my first track race for the team: 2:13.5 indoors (for 1/2 mile). By April, I ran 2:05.9 relay split (2-mile relay), and if I had concentrated on the half, I would have run about 2:01 in mid-May, but coach had me run (and win) the fresh-soph 2-mile and mile (10:04 and 4:35.9). My friend was around 2:05-06 as a freshman, I don't remember exactly, and his soph year he ran 2:00 relay split (same relay as I ran, I handed off to him). Our sophomore track season ended when he ran the 440y in the district track meet (varsity) and I ran the 2-mile.

6 miles for a long run is fine.

We would do a long, slow run on Sundays (45 min is enough for a fresh, by sophomore or junior year, run 60 min).

3-4 mile runs at medium effort are good. (fast implies can't sustain pace much longer, medium is you could sustain pace a little longer, slow is you could have sustained pace until muscles get sore)

Your interval workouts are fine. If it is too cold (or snow) to do such workouts, and you don't have access to indoor tracks, then I suggest 2 fast runs per week.

2 fast, 2 medium, 2 slow per week. You will rebuild and recover during the slow runs, without having to take more than one day off.

Fast runs for you: 2 - 4 miles (time the runs and then whenever you run the same course fast, you can measure your progress over a month or two).

Medium runs: 3-5 miles

Slow runs: 5-6 miles

If you can get to a gym at least once a week, and even better if it has a pool, that is great.

Water running: 15 min (6 min at 3200m pace; 3 min slower; 3 min at 1600m pace; 1 min slower; 1 min at 800m pace; 1 min slower)

I don't use a water-running vest anymore. I just cup my hands to help dispel water while trying to run in the water, as my leg motion also helps keep my head and neck above the waterline. You only have to be in water deep enough that you wouldn't brush your feet on the bottom of the pool. It is not exactly the same motion as running, but fairly close and it really works the ligaments and tendons, and is great for maintaining and developing aerobic capacity.

I’m surprised that you’re not running significantly faster than 2:29 right now based on the workout times you posted. My guess is that 2 things are going on

1. You’re running workouts too hard based on your current abilities

2. You’re running workouts too hard based on what time of year we are in.

If you want to run a good 800, you need to be able to come through 400 within 5-7 seconds of your 400 PR and then keep going. That takes more aerobic strength than most people realize and it takes great speed endurance. One of those two factors, you should be working on one right now and for the other, you should be working on the foundations needed to improve it later.

Right now, focus on aerobic development and the fundamentals of sprinting. Don’t worry about intervals right now

For aerobic development, focus on running steady mileage. 6 milers are fine if you’re running over 25 miles per week total. If you aren’t doing that then just work on getting your total volume up. Drop the hard 600s and 200s and the soreness should go away. If you want to do workouts, do something like 6x2 min tempo effort, 1 minute easy running or 4 x3 minutes with 90 seconds of easy running. Run the efforts controlled so that when you drop back to the easy run pace at the end of your tempo effort, you don’t have to slow all the way too a jog, but instead can just drop back to the easy pace. Put those tempo intervals into a 4-5 mile run and that should take care of one of your “hard” days for the week.

The other thing that you should be working on right now is the foundations for speed. This does not mean hammering out 200’s and 300’s at faster than any sort of realistic goal pace. It means working on the mechanics and the specific muscular strength to run fast. There are a million low stress ways to address this: drills like high knees, but kicks, bleachers. Circuit training with focus on development of the flutes, quads, calves: this means stuff like lunges, burpees, bounding. Sprint mechanic development: look up some videos on how to run wicket drills. I’ll find a couple and post them here. Relaxed sprinting: either do sprints of 40-60 m with 2-3 min recovery (slow walk back to the start, a little stretching) OR longer reps of 100-150 fast but not so fast that you are tying up at the end or are losing your form.

A week might look like this:

M: 6 miles easy (after 3-6 weeks, start adding in 20 second accelerations to about mile race pace in the last couple of miles)

T: very easy recovery day 2-3 miles plus some easy drills like high knees, butt kicks, leg swings

W: good warm up, wickets, 3x50 @ 85 ish percent of your top speed, walk back recovery. 3-4 mile easy run, change to spikes, 3x40 at 90-95% top speed, 2-3!min recovery.

Th: warm up. Easy drills, 6x2 minutes tempo effort, 1 min easy inserted in the middle of a 3-4 mile run + 4x200 at goal mile race pace (based on your 800, I’d say go 38-40). Walk across the infield for recovery.

Fri: Off or 10 min jog plus’s easy drills and easy strides.

Sat: warm up. Easy drills, 3-4 mile easy run, hill runs focusing on knee lift and full extension of your back leg, almost like you’re trying to leap forward with every stride. Finish with sets of lunges and burpees.

Sun: off or 20 min of easy jogging or cross training.

Wickets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl-Q-WUUBzQ&ab_channel=ALTISWorld

Wickets incorporated as part of a warm up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPTL5anxtDo&ab_channel=MileSplit

General types of running drills. Keep the body weight over the balls of the feet during drills. The guy in the black tights is solid mechanically

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujePy2XXyNA&ab_channel=ProTips4U

Khadevis Robinson, Running Strides. When you throw tempo efforts into a run, think "fresh". When you throw strides into a run, think "good swing"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gipnel7wsWU&ab_channel=ProTips4U