I am a serious mediocre runner, and one of my pick-up soccer buddies who is very fast, but doesn't run, thinks he can beat me in an 800m. We will race in 5 weeks. I need help with training and pacing as I've never trained for such a short distance before.
My background: My highschool 800m PB was 2:18. At that time I was running 1600m in 5:07 and 3200 in 11:55. I am now currently 35, and in better shape, than I was in high school, but probably lack speed.
Base: I built a base from April to June, gradually increasing the miles from 30 mpw to 56 mpw (90kpw). I held 56 mpw for 5 weeks. From July to Nov I've run mostly easy runs, plus one day of pick-up soccer, and one tempo run (or race/time-trial), mostly in the 45-50 mpw range.
Recent race results (All PBs)
- Aug 11th, 10k time trial on the track in trainers, 38:33
- Oct 11th, Half marathon, 1:25:18
- Nov 14th, 1500m race, 4:40.67
I stopped running from Nov 14th - Dec 4th (3 weeks) due to Achilles tendonitis, which is now better. For the last 3 weeks, I've done easy runs (20 miles, 35 miles, 40 miles, 50 miles) and am unsure how close I am to the shape I was in during those recent PBs (3 weeks is quite a break from running).
I figure if I can get sub 2:20 it would be really hard for this non-runner to beat me, right? Since I've only been running easy for 3 weeks since my 3-week break from running, when should I start adding some speed workouts? I'm guessing I'll need to be doing one workout per week goal 800m pace? Maybe 200m reps?
Also, should I try hard to find track spikes? I currently have some Hoka Carbon Xs, and Saucony racing flat, so could use one of those. It's hard to find track spikes in Australia right now due to COVID.