Coach wants us to target 68s/lap for a 3k time trial

I ran a 4:17 mile and 8:36 3k two days apart in college once. I think those times are roughly equivalent for most runners. So that's about 64s for a mile and 68.8 for 3k. So if you're currently in shape to run 65s for 1500m, something like 69-71 would probably be more realistic for you for 3k.

Thanks for the reply, that's what I was thinking. The guys I knew who ran under 8:40 were also well under 4:00 for the 1500, which makes sense. My coach is a big believer in Horwill's 4 second rule which I already think is a bit optimistic in most cases, but assuming I could go from 65s to 68s doubling the distance would even be more generous than that. So, 70-71s it is.

68 = 830 = 1410 5k

Update: Ended up running 8:50 with splits of 68, 2:19, 4:44, and I came through 2800m at 8:22 so I closed in a 28! Felt relaxed the whole race and finished incredibly strong, probably could've ran faster if I pushed harder earlier since our 6th lap was a 73. Can't complain though, the weather was perfect, low 50s F and little wind. Just had to swing wide a few times when we were lapping some teammates. This bodes well for track season, and I should run close to my PR for the mile time trial next Wednesday.

How do you lap people in a 3k time trial on a college team? That is pathetic

Moral of the story is go for it. It’s a time trial not a race. You blow up nothing bad happens you adapt, learn, and move on.

The girls team started with us guys as well, and some of them were out of shape since they hadn't been running all season or were injured / sick etc.

So 70.67/400m, basically right what we figured. Good job! If it was a true race you'd almost surely run a bit faster too.

Yep, I think with a huge pack of guys pushing the whole way we wouldn't have let the pace slip, given how I good I felt at the end closing in 28, I think I maybe could've run around 8:45 going even the whole way. Well, at least now I have a better idea of my limits and know to be more aggressive next time.

I would have recommended aiming for 69

I tell you what doesn't work, and that's doubting your Coach. How about do what he asks, then you can discuss it together afterwards.

Well, my prediction was pretty spot on actually. A bit of wind and rain, but nothing bad enough to warrant any excuses. Coach wanted me to aim for 4:15, so I went out in 63, but I could tell immediately I wasn't going to be able to hold it when we came through in 2:11 at halfway. Ended up going 63-68-67-64 for 4:23.

Always thought of myself as a miler but I would be kidding if I said that didn't hurt a lot more than the 3k did. Still pretty happy with the result given that I was injured the entire summer and looked like a shadow of my former self for months. One more race to end off the season, shutting it down after that and then I'll have a good starting point for winter training. Really excited to see what I can do with a proper high mileage base coming into track.

Hi guys, I'm back and will be using this as a sort of personal journal for this spring.

Opened up the season by equalling both my 1500 and 3k PRs in my first race as a double, despite having to drop out of a few workouts and easy days the past month due to a nagging calf strain. Ran a 4:04 closing in sub 61 the last lap and an 8:50 with a 63 last lap, so I'm in better shape than I was during cross and last track as well.

Hit some solid confidence boosting workouts this week: 20 x 400 @ 68 off of 60s recovery on Monday, and 5 x 1600m @4:48 w/ 3 min recovery just earlier today. Will be racing a mile this Saturday targeting sub 4:20, plan is just to hopefully tuck in behind some faster guys, go out in 64 high and just try to hold on.

I've been more diligent this year about my strides, tempos and some 200s just to keep in touch with speed during the off season, so I feel ready to run fast. We'll see how this goes!

Try and error, some things must be done. Start with the pace strategy of your coach.

If it doesn't work, the coach is the guilty person :)

Didn't end up breaking 4:20, The race was fairly tactical with us coming through in 66 at 440, 2:15 at 880 yards. Ran 4:21 high for a PR, but I know I can do better with more attempts, aerobically I feel very fit but lacking in my ability to tolerate a fast pace.

Coach thinks I should move up to the 5k because he thinks it's impossible for me to run low 3:50s unless I improve my 400m speed to sub 51. While I see his point, I feel 2 weeks of track workouts is too early to say whether or not I can run a fast 1500m. Even if the 5000 does end up being my main focus, I think continuing to race the 1500 will be beneficial in either case.

Will be targeting a sub 8:40 3k in 2 weeks, and then a goal of sub 15 in the 5k the week after that. Going to continue training through these meets and try to peak in 2 months.

When I first saw your post several months ago I was thinking about what the training I do for 18 year old athlete. First of all we don't generally run 16x400 as a session but we do things very similar. In November we started off with 2x7x400 on 1:45 cycle so basically 35 seconds rest and our guys and ladies would run anywhere between 69-74 We eventually do 400's on a 2min cycle but never 14 of them and if we need something faster we finish with 200's. We do lots of threshold running, 6-7x1k efforts and at times we go fast on the track but primarily we do lots of high end aerobic running. Hills are also a part of our program.

With this type of training my 18 year old has run 3:54 1500m 8:25 3k and 14:39 5k, but also a 14 year old has run 1:57/4:02 for 800/1500m in he last 3 months. Obviously talented athletes but smart training does make a difference.

Good luck in your 3k in a few weeks. I hope things work out for

Why does this post have so many downvotes? How many posters/lurkers on this forum are actually insecure coaches who hate to see athletes question their leadership?

I always guessed it was moreso downvoted because I'm not that fast for a college runner but idk really

I trust my coach's judgement when it comes to 99% of our training I just think sometimes he overestimates our abilities just a bit. For example he said that based off of my 8:50 time trial I could've broken 15 on that, whereas I feel like I was more in 15:10-15:15 shape.

That being said, going out in 68s did end up paying off for that time trial even if we did slow down, it set us up for a nice opening mile. I actually do feel like I'm at the point where I can hold that pace all the way in a race now.