5x800 with 2 minutes recovery. Take out your slowest rep and then add up the rest of your splits. It should give you a decent estimate of your current 3200 fitness.
Is 2 minutes rest really a good indicator? I've done 6x800 at 2:28, 2:25, 2:22, 2:22, 2:20, 2:18 off of 2 minute rest, but I've not yet broke 9:50 this season, so it sounds kinda insane.
I HIGHLY DOUBT I am in 9:22 shape.
3 x 1km with 2 min rest at 2:45
if feeling good on last one try to run 2:40. if you still feel good after the 2:40, take a 2 min rest and run a 400m at 64 seconds or faster
No. I have guys who run 9:20 who can do that workout in 2:15.
Maybe they're working out too hard or not racing to potential (not pacing it right). Some athletes can get it right and dial into the right workout effort. You could absolutely do 5x800 w./ 2:00 rest faster than 3k/3200 pace. You could also hit the workout right at goal pace & not leave your race in that session.
To reply to those saying you can't do it if you've only ran 4:14 are wrong. Yes most 4:14 milers would struggle to hit the 3200 times you want but it all depends on the runner. Seth Hirsch was 4:14 and ran 8:52 and Patrick Koon was 4:14 last year and ran 8:44! They are really aerobic so it just depends. Also workouts aren't everything some days are bad workouts and others aren't. I ran 5x800 in 2:15, 2:13, 2:14, 2:14, 2:12. It was not a good workout for me but I ran 8:57 later that week, so workouts don't say what shape your exactly in. I think I could do 2:10-2:12 avg for that workout on a good day but my point is don't read into workouts to much. The best way to find out is not over think it and just run a 1x3200m race.
This post was edited 4 minutes after it was posted.
To reply to those saying you can't do it if you've only ran 4:14 are wrong. Yes most 4:14 milers would struggle to hit the 3200 times you want but it all depends on the runner. Seth Hirsch was 4:14 and ran 8:52 and Patrick Koon was 4:14 last year and ran 8:44! They are really aerobic so it just depends. Also workouts aren't everything some days are bad workouts and others aren't. I ran 5x800 in 2:15, 2:13, 2:14, 2:14, 2:12. It was not a good workout for me but I ran 8:57 later that week, so workouts don't say what shape your exactly in. I think I could do 2:10-2:12 avg for that workout on a good day but my point is don't read into workouts to much. The best way to find out is not over think it and just run a 1x3200m race.
Seth Hirst and Patrick Koon aren’t your normal 4:14s. They were ranked top 5 during their xc season.
If you take your standard 4:14 aerobically strong runner….
if you either run the 3200 this next weekend, or are running 3 meets back to back (last weekend, this, then the 3200 in 2 weeks), i don't think it's worth a predictor workout i think folks are taking something meant for like i do a race once in a millenium and i race long and i need a clue on pacing, and trying to apply it to HS meets every week. the cushion in that schedule allows you to go full rich one day for a distance and sort things out. you're probably going almost every week. you're adding another race to your legs which affects the 3200 time. plus if you just ran last weekend you need to come back from that.
my suggestion is sit on the shoulder of a teammate who you are roughly the speed of, then race at some designated point based on feel. or pick out a heat opponent with a competitive time or with whom you are familiar, same story. with no time banked, aside from don't go too crazy, the idea is compete and set a bar. you run a practice race then run the meet to the practice race, is that really 100%? maybe, maybe not. often to me it's a little safe or neurotic. you should have a vague idea what you can do 2 miles in, and how to pace yourself.
you want my guess, take your year to year 1600 delta, 2023 PR-2024 PR=x, subtract that same x from your 3200 PR in 2023. if you've knocked 8 seconds off your mile, try a second faster per split ie 8 seconds faster 3200 pace. if you get through some mark and still feel racy, pull the throttle back.
i don't know why people feel they have to run their legs off for this. do some analytics. when i dropped x off my mile in previous years i got y off my 3200. ok, so if i have improved "so" much in the mile this year, what should i expect to gain at 2 mile from that kind of improvement. then do normal workouts and use the analytics for your race pace theory.
Is 2 minutes rest really a good indicator? I've done 6x800 at 2:28, 2:25, 2:22, 2:22, 2:20, 2:18 off of 2 minute rest, but I've not yet broke 9:50 this season, so it sounds kinda insane.
I HIGHLY DOUBT I am in 9:22 shape.
3 x 1km with 2 min rest at 2:45
if feeling good on last one try to run 2:40. if you still feel good after the 2:40, take a 2 min rest and run a 400m at 64 seconds or faster
lol I'm not OP, I'm some random kid trying to run like 9:35.
5x800 with 2 minutes recovery. Take out your slowest rep and then add up the rest of your splits. It should give you a decent estimate of your current 3200 fitness.
Is 2 minutes rest really a good indicator? I've done 6x800 at 2:28, 2:25, 2:22, 2:22, 2:20, 2:18 off of 2 minute rest, but I've not yet broke 9:50 this season, so it sounds kinda insane.
I HIGHLY DOUBT I am in 9:22 shape. Granted, I'd give myself 9:40 at best, but still.
That's a decent indicator if you take out your fastest rep, not your slowest...and probably do a 6th for good measure.
The 1600 gives a better predictor than any 3200 predictor workout will give. Predictor workouts are only useful when you haven't raced in a long time and need a rough estimate of where you are. You're almost definitely capable of a sub-9 and 8:50 is possible.
According to time comparison charts, he is no where close.
4:05.9 = 8:49.0
4:10.5 = 8:59.7
4:14.3 = 9:08.6
Just because Arcadia made it look easy, doesn't mean that 4:14s can now break 9:00 or even 8:50?? Run in a competitive 3200. That's what you are capable of.
Just pointing out 9:08 is not "nowhere close" to 8:50s...it's literally 9 seconds away. No conversion chart is perfect, and there are a ton of 4:14 (and slower) guys that have gone under 9:00...I know a kid at my former high school recently broke 9:00 with like a 4:18 PR.
I think 8:59 is a great goal for a 4:14 runner, and if he's really strength-based (800 in 2:00+) then 8:50 could be in the cards. 9:08 is a fine time but it would be no better than what he's already done, and the entire point of setting a goal is that it's a method of motivating yourself to improve.
The only thing I agree with is that the only true indicator would be a competitive 3200, but that doesn't mean it isn't nice to do a hard workout a few weeks out to boost your confidence. That's one of the reasons why I advocated for some non-traditional workouts that are specifically designed for the mental factor, regardless of whether they are physiologically optimal.
Is 2 minutes rest really a good indicator? I've done 6x800 at 2:28, 2:25, 2:22, 2:22, 2:20, 2:18 off of 2 minute rest, but I've not yet broke 9:50 this season, so it sounds kinda insane.
I HIGHLY DOUBT I am in 9:22 shape. Granted, I'd give myself 9:40 at best, but still.
That's a decent indicator if you take out your fastest rep, not your slowest...and probably do a 6th for good measure.
Alright that's much more fair, of 6 reps my slowest 4 sum of
2:28+2:25+2:22+2:22 = 9:37 which is wayyyy more in line