3K goal for this coming week, 1500 or 5k at Conference?

Congratulations on your impressive track season so far and the steady improvement in your PRs! Based on your current PRs, it seems like you have the potential to break 9:00 in the 3000m after doubling with a 1500m, but it ultimately depends on a few factors such as your current fitness level, your ability to handle the physical and mental demands of doubling, and the race conditions.

Given that you have been PRing in every race, it's likely that you are in good shape and should be able to handle doubling. However, the 1500m and 3000m require different types of energy systems and pacing strategies, so it's important to consider how you will adjust your race plan when doubling. It might be helpful to practice doubling in training by doing a hard workout followed by a recovery run later in the day to get a sense of how your body responds.

As for your goal of hitting a PR of 4:04 or better in the 1500m, it's certainly within reach based on your recent performances. It sounds like you have been focusing more on distance-oriented training, which has helped you bring down your 1500m times, but you should also incorporate some speed workouts into your training to improve your 400m speed and give you more confidence in your ability to compete in the 1500m.
Regarding your coach's advice to focus on the 5000m rather than the 1500m, it's worth considering since you have already been performing well in the distance races. However, it's ultimately up to you to decide which event you want to focus on for conference and beyond. It might be helpful to consult with your coach and teammates to get their input as well.

In terms of training, it seems like you have been putting in solid mileage and incorporating some quality workouts. However, it's important to listen to your body and adjust your training as needed to avoid injury and burnout. Doubling might also affect your recovery time, so make sure to schedule rest days and recovery runs as needed.

Good luck with the rest of your track season and I hope this advice was helpful!

Thank you for the reply! Good point on the mental demands, I feel like I've had mental blocks during my 800 where I ran 2 flat and my most recent 5k in 15:27. Where I didn't commit to making moves because I was scared of dying early like I have in the past. I've made up my mind to just go with my instincts every time like I used to, even if it does end up backfiring, instead of hesitating.

As for your point on the speed workouts in terms of the 1500m, I think that the best course of action would be to start incorporating the faster paced middle distance workouts this week, so that I have enough time to reap the benefits before we reach conference.

8:45

That seems too fast, my teammate ran 9:0x 2 weeks ago, and in the 5k he beat me at the line by a quarter of a second (although he is more endurance based than I am). Especially since it's going to be my second event in the race, I'm assuming probably 2 hours in between so decent recovery but definitely not fresh.

Work with similar athlete his pbs 1:58 4:00 15:24 and 840 for 3k. Dream big!

Well, I would definitely be elated if I could go under 8:50. My teammates often tell me the 3k should be my sweetspot distance because it's in between my 2 main events, but I always sucked at the 3200 in high school (undertrained, mentally weak etc.) so I guess this is my chance to rectify that and prove I can run a respectable 7.5 laps.

Have only run 2:02, 4:08 (converted from full mile on an unbanked track), but also 8:34 and 15:04.

If you can run 4:08 closing in 61 you’d probably be in 4:05 shape going out harder with a smaller kick. Aim for 8:40 pace through 2600 and then see if you can make up time on the final lap. Also, aim for low 15:10s in the 5k, but aim to come through as evenly as possible

Yeah, 4:05 sounds about right with more even pacing and a harder opening few laps. You definitely seem more like a distance guy than me though, every other guy I've seen at 8:3x or 15:0x is already knocking on sub 4

Also, turns out our coach just wants us to stick the 1500 and 800 this week to recover from the 5k last week, so no 3k. So another chance to break 2 for fun, the 3k will have to wait for another 2 weeks.

Upon further consideration, I've actually decided against dropping down to the mid distance workouts, some of them seem really good like 400s-300s-200s at sub 60 pace trying to get used to that speed, but one that our coach had them do a 1200-800-400 ladder at 1500 pace with the last 400 at sub 60. 3 laps at 1500 race pace in practice seems really stressful and difficult to hit, none of our guys actually hit their race pace. I think our 5k workouts will be good enough for me since we do touch upon faster stuff occasionally (the 12x300 is probably my favorite for hitting goal 1500 pace), and we did 10 x 200 today averaging 32s just as an easier workout to recover. Usually it'd be more like 12 x 200 averaging 30s or below.

Had a nice 8 mile recovery run at 7:20 pace yesterday feeling really smooth without much of the usual soreness or tightness, but the workout this morning was rough. The usual 2 mile warmup, 5 laps of straights and turns and then right into 4 x 1 mile in the pouring rain with a bit of wind. My whole body went numb and it just wouldn't move the way I wanted to. Usually I would be hitting sub 5 on these feeling decently relaxed but I hit 5:05s instead and it felt tough.

The two following days should be enough for me to recover for Saturday though. My coach and I agreed that I should aim for 4:03-4:04 pace out of the gate (so like a 65 opening lap would be good) and see what I have left instead of shooting for sub 4 and risk blowing up.

Ran a 1500m today with splits of 46 the first 300, 2:10, 3:03 and 4:10 final time. Nowhere near as fast as what I was aiming for, but considering I've been lying in bed sick for the past few days, it's not a bad starting point. I feel like if I were fully healthy and at my best I could've held onto the pace much better, but it doesn't matter anymore. Onto the next matter - the following week will be no racing so it'll be a chance for me to recover and make up for the missed days of training. The week after that I've decided I'll do the 3000 fresh and opt out of the 1500 since it'll be the first event in the schedule, followed closely by the 1500.

Had a good workout today despite my lingering cold symptoms from last week, was a little low on sleep but my legs felt fresh and my form was better than usual today. I did the mid distance workout with the 15 / 8 guys, which pissed my coaches off a bit since they wanted me to stick with the 5k, but they let me at my insistence. It was nice - 6 x 400 with 400 jog in between each rep: 60-62-61-61-61-57. That's actually the fastest 400 I've ever ran, makes me wonder what I could hit for an actual race. Surprisingly did not feel myself straining to hit the pace even though it's much faster than what I usually train for - my form stayed mostly the same as normal, just focused on picking up my turnover and keeping my knees up down the homestretch, it was rather windy so it was hard to maintain when he hit the last straightaway.

As expected, I wasn't able to hit the pace our coach prescribed us for the ladder workout today. My legs were still heavy and not recovered from Monday, so when he told us to do 1200-800 at 66 per lap pace I knew it wasn't happening. We all ended up averaging 68s (3:24, 2:16) and then we did a 400 at sub 60, ended up clocking a 57 which surprised me considering how dead and lactic my legs were at that point. Gonna take tomorrow really easy and then Friday is just 10x200 at 30-32 so it won't be too strenuous. I think it's gonna take me another week to get accustomed to these mid distance workouts after not hitting anything much faster than 68s all season

After a long week of being fatigued on every run, I feel a bit relieved to have finished it. My legs were so heavy today I couldn't even go faster than 9 min pace on the warmup, still managed to hit 30s on the 200s like we were supposed to though. An hour easy tomorrow and then sunday off to recover for Monday.

Did another session of 6 x 400 with a lap jog recovery today. My legs were very responsive, much better than last week where I was feeling sluggish every day. Pretty much hit 63s and under for all of them, just trying to feel comfortable mechanically, simulating the first lap of the 1500 this week, which has some more decent competition than expected, so that goal of 4:04 from before still the target. Also running another 800 so probably the last chance I have to break 2, I think my previous races have taught me enough about how to go about it, now it's just a matter of executing. I've had pretty good splits (slowing down by the ideal 2 seconds), but I've been going out too slow the first lap (59 or 60) and I just have to be more aggressive. I guess the 3k will have to wait for next season, which is a shame.

Had a decent meet today, not quite where I wanted but still a good stepping stone for what's to come.

1500: 4:08 pretty much identical splits and racing as my previous 4:08, a slight PR by a few hundreths of a second. Was expecting it to be fast but was tactical since the fastest guy in our heat jogged it to be more fresh for the 3k.

800: Finally broke 2 with splits of 59.5 and 60 for a 1:59.5. Kinda surprised I managed to even split it that closely.

4x4: First leg, one of my friends had me at 54.high, coach had me at 55. This is definitely not my race lol, way too fast and short. I actually had a decent reaction time and start but my legs were just so heavy coming around the last turn and I could barely maintain my form on the homestretch. At least now I know where I'm at in terms of 400 speed, I think a running start may have made a difference but I actually prefer knowing what I can do from a standing start since it's closer to the open 400 anyway.

Conference prelims next week, not sure if I'm doubling 15 + 8 since it'll likely be tactical

You need to trust your training and dream big push yourself

I had a PR of 158.8 401 1500

3000 was 8:32.x

I went through 3000 m in 834 enroute to a 1432 5000

14:32 for 5000 sounds like a fantastic goal to shoot for by the end of next year after I get in a summer of consistent 80 mile weeks and a solid XC season. Right now? Not realistic, I need to break 15:20 first and then 15:00 before thinking about mid 14s.