I was curious how well one should run in the 1200 based off of there 800 and mile times. My coach wants to put me in the 1200 leg of the distance medley but I have never run it. I can run around 1:57 for 800m and 4:25 for the mile. How fast would one typically be in these events if they wanted to run a 3:05?
I'd say you're in about 3:09 shape based on your times. At least those were times a few athletes I've been around ran with similar times. The athlete I coached who ran 3:05 was a 1:54 800 meter runner.
Are you a front runner or do you finish very strong, do you run even splits?
1200s could be tactical. Unfortunately I had a kid who had the potential to run 3:09 but the pace was slow (67- 2:12 and he couldn't close and ended up running 3:14).
What does your coach say?
Run 62s, come through 800 in 2:05ish and give it all you got. 3:05 fast for your PRs but who knows. Anything sub 3:10 would be solid.
1:55 and 4:15 is about 3:05.
+1
The 1200 is pretty much the easiest event to predict, because for whatever reason, it works out pretty much perfectly that if you add 800+1600 time and divide by 2, it's an excellent prediction. Some events work this way, some don't, but the 1200 does, quite well. So a 1:57, 4:25 guy (assuming 4:25 1600) would likely be capable of running 3:11 or so for 1200. A 1:50, 3:45 collegiate would be expected to run 2:56. When Cole Hocker ran 2:49, he ran a 3:50.5 mile and 1:48.4 800 the next week. Those predict a 2:48-high 1200. I ran 3:08 as a junior on my high school's DMR when I was in 1:56/4:21 shape. I could give more examples but you get the gist, and I will stick by a prediction of 3:11 for you.
Race it!
Hang back in 2nd/3rd and kick hard the final 150, pass the baton in 1st and you’ll be the hero of your relay.
1:57
4:25
3:08ish<———
my two pennies wrote: if you add 800+1600 time and divide by 2, it's an excellent prediction.
Hmmm. Not bad. I was 1:55 and 4:07 and ran a 3:00 1200. I swear the clock read 2:59 when I handed off but coach had me in 3:00.
I’m not sure. In the 800 I tend to go out hard and die off a bit but in the mile I tend to kick it home harder than my middle laps what strategy would be best? Even splits? And also I see myself running a 1:55 800m well before I can pull off a 4:15 mile.
That's why you are not 3:05. 3:11 is the correct estimation.
General consensus is +/- 3:10. I’d put you a little faster, like 3:06-3:08, but I also have zero experience in the 1200 so couldn’t know for sure
CopperRunner wrote:
General consensus is +/- 3:10. I’d put you a little faster, like 3:06-3:08, but I also have zero experience in the 1200 so couldn’t know for sure
No offense to CopperRunner here, but lack of experience in the 1200 is a big reason most people overestimate. They don't realize that physiologically, the 1200 is more like a mile than an 800. Your mile time is SUPER important for a 1200. I've seen 1:52 or better runners that ran 3:08+, because their mile was 4:25+. Likewise, I've seen a 1:56 guy go 3:01, because he was much stronger aerobically and had 4:09 and 8:11 PRs at mile and 3k. I went into my first 1200 thinking I should shoot for 3:05-3:06 because I was a 2:31 1k runner, but with a mile PR over 4:20 I ended up running 3:08 (and I was extremely consistent that season so it was not simply a bad race).