What kind of workouts were you doing when you ran 9:20?

in supershoes? I would aim for 9:45 guy workouts from the old coaching books.

6x800 in 2:20 on 90 seconds rest.

What kinda shoes are giving you 3 seconds per 400m?

I ran a handful of races 9:38 - 9:45 before going 9:21. Don't exactly remember workouts that I ran. Got put in a pretty competitive race with numerous sub 9:10 guys and was able to sit in a giant group and got pulled along to 9:21. Sometimes it's not a workout but just being in the right race.

I was a 9:43 2 miler at the same point in my career as you. Eventually ran 2:04r, 4:40r and 9:17 that year as a Junior.

2/27 rest
2/28 PM 6 easy
2/29 PM 9.5 moderate
3/01 AM 4 easy PM 8.5 fartlek
3/02 AM 4 easy PM 1 easy, 8x400 (66,70,72,68,68,64, 59.5, 61.5) 2 easy
3/03 AM 4 easy PM 3 easy
3/04 rest
46 miles

3/05 AM 7 moderate PM 4.5 moderate
3/06 AM 3 slow PM 1 easy, 12 x 200 (200) hard, 1 easy
3/07 AM 3 moderate PM 9.5 easy, 10x50 sprint
3/08 PM 4 moderate
3/09 PM 2.5 easy, 7 x 800, 2 easy
3/10 AM 3 easy PM 2.5 easy, 3x600 (600) (1:42, 1:41, 1:41), 5 miles jog
3/11 AM 11 very slow PM 5 fast

75 miles

3/12 AM 12 easy
3/13 AM 4 miles fartlek PM 1 easy, 4x400 (65,65,62,61), 4x200 (28,28,29,28) 5.5 slow
3/14 PM 4.5 easy PM 8 x150, 4.5 easy
3/15 AM 3 easy PM 5 easy
3/16 AM 5 easy PM 1 easy, 800 (2:15), 1 mile jog, 800 (2:13), 800 jog, 6x150, 2 warmdown
3/17 AM 4 easy PM 1 easy, 5x600 w200jog (1:45-1:39), 3 easy
3/18 AM 12.5 moderate, hard at end, 10x50 downhill
80 miles

3/19 rest
3/20 AM 3.5 moderate to fast PM 1 easy, 20x200 hill, 1.5 slow
3/21 AM 4 easy PM 1 mile time trial 4:42
3/22 AM 4 moderate PM 1 easy, 2 miles of straights, 3 easy
3/23 AM 4 hard PM 1 easy, 6x400, 4 easy
3/24 AM 9 miles fartlek
3/25 AM 4 easy
82 miles

3/26 rest
3/27 AM Meet 2 easy, 2 miles race 9:54.5, 1.5 easy PM 2.5 easy
3/28 AM 4 easy PM 10 easy
3/29 AM 4 moderate PM 800 jog, 3x1200 (400 jog - 3:48, 3:45, 3:39), 1 easy
3/30 AM Meet 1.5 easy, 2 mile race 9:37, 2 easy PM 2.5 easy
3/31 AM 5 easy PM 2 easy, 800m of hills, 2 easy
4/01 AM 2.5 miles fartlek, 2.5 easy PM 800jog, 6x800, 800jog
58 miles

4/02 AM 13.5 easy
4/03 PM 1 easy, 4x800 (2:30), 6x400(65-69), 4.5 easy
4/04 AM 5 easy
4/05 PM 800 easy, 12x200
4/06 PM 4.5 easy
4/07 rest
4/08 AM 4 miles fartlek
38 miles

4/09 PM 6 miles fartlek
4/10 AM 3 easy PM 1 easy, 2x1200 w400jog ( 3:37, 3:33), 4x200
4/11 AM Meet 1 mile easy, 2 mile race 9:57, 1 mile easy
4/12 AM 3 hard PM 1 easy, 4x 1200-400 w 400 jog (3:45, 69, 3:42, 68, 3:39, 66, 3:43, 64), 1 easy
4/13 PM 1 easy, 4x300 (45,45, 44, 44), 4x150, 2 easy
4/14 PM 4 easy
4/15 AM Meet 2.5 easy, 2 mile race 9:52, 1 easy
43 miles

4/16 AM 10 easy PM 3 easy, 4x150, 3 easy
4/17 AM 5 hard PM 9 moderate
4/18 AM 4 moderate-fast PM 1 easy, 10x400 (66, last one 61), 3 easy
4/19 AM 3 easy, 8x100 PM 1 easy, 4x800 (2:22), 4x400 (69,68,66,63), 1 easy
4/20 AM 6.5 easy PM 1 easy, 16x150, 1 easy
4/21 AM 5 easy PM 1 easy, 8x200, 2 easy
4/22 AM Meet 800 (2:04) of DMR, 1 mile (4:40) of 4xmile
81 miles

4/23 AM 6 easy PM 9 miles fartlek
4/24 AM 5 hard PM 1 easy, 1200 (75-74-65), 8x200 (28), 3 easy
4/25 AM 4 easy PM 1 easy, 8x400 (63-67), 2 easy
4/26 AM 5 moderate PM 10 moderate, 16x100
4/27 AM 4 easy PM 8.5 moderate, 2.5 miles of 100s
4/28 PM Meet 2 miles easy, 2 mile race 9:32, 2 miles easy PM 3 easy
4/29 AM 5 moderate PM 3 easy, 8x150, 4 easy
88 miles

4/30 AM 7 easy PM 1 easy, 8x400 (65,64,65,65,64,63,62,61), 1 easy
5/01 AM 4 easy PM 4 easy, 16x100
5/02 AM Meet 2 easy, 2 mile race 9:26.8, 2 easy PM 3 easy
5/03 AM 4 moderate PM 10.5 easy
5/04 AM 5 easy PM 1 easy, 4x400 (67-62), 2x200, 4 easy
5/05 AM 4 easy PM 3 easy, 16x100
5/06 PM County Meet 2 easy, 2 mile race 9:38 2nd, 2 easy
74 miles

5/07 AM 4 moderate PM 10.5 moderate
5/08 AM 5 moderate PM 1 easy, 20x150 (250jog), 1 easy
5/09 PM 7.5 easy
5/10 AM 5 moderate PM 1 easy, 10x400 (63-67, avg 64), 3 easy
5/11 AM 5 moderate, hard last mile PM 3 easy, 16x100
5/12 AM District Meet 2 easy, 2 mile race 9:26.8 2nd , 2 easy
5/13 AM 4.5 moderate PM 3 easy, 8x150, 3 easy
77 miles

5/14 PM 11 miles (1:12)
5/15 AM 4 moderate PM 9.5 moderate
5/16 AM 6, hard last mile PM 1200 jog, 16x120, 1200 jog
5/17 AM 5 moderate PM 1200 jog, 4x1200 (3:30 w/800jog), 1.5 easy
5/18 AM 4 moderate PM 1 easy, 8x400 (64), 5 easy
5/19 AM 2 easy
5/20 PM State Meet 2 easy, 2 mile race 9:17.6 3rd, 2 easy
70 miles

it happened yesterday :)

Congratulations on your new PR.

I encourage you to grab a 20 year old.pair of shoes and a new super shoes or.super spike and time trial 8 laps. You will go 20 seconds faster in new shoes.

Not quite 9:20 flat (but close enough): I ran 8:46 for 3km in high school over 20 years ago.

At the time my best 800m was 2:02 (I only had 56 sec for 400m speed tops). And my best 1500m was 4:09. I had also run a 4:28 full Mile.

Workouts: I could do 5-6 x 1km 3:00 to 2:55 on a 2-min rest.

More often I'd do 8 x 1km slower in like 3:20 on a 1-min rest though.

10 x 400m in like 65-66sec average on a 2-min rest.

4 x 1600m all sub 5:00 down to 4:50 on a 3-min rest (I had also run 15:17 for 5km that Fall).

Mileage varied a ton in high school....during track I was down to more like 40-45 mpw, but during summer and winter I'd run up to 50-80 miles a week as a senior in hs. I'd also do some 10-mile progression runs and often cut down to sub 6-min mile pace. I ran a half marathon race on a whim my junior year and ran 1:13.

This on a Tuesday and 6 mile 3 min on 3 min off fartlek on grass plus 12x200 to closeout on Thursday.

There comes a certain point where all you need is speed on the track and it's best to fine tune that 200m sprint in trainers speed.

I missed your post. Congrats! How fast did you eventually run?

Funny story...

I ran 9:21 in an all comers meet at OU... The coaches said if I broke 9:30 I could walk on at OU in August.

I was so happy... then the next day I tried to do this exact workout (I had been training by myself)... and I made two in right at 2:20... completely died on the third one and had to stop. I felt so bad that I actually questioned if I had dreamed the 9:21 from the night before.

A few months later in ex phys class I related that to the professor and he said... not to worry... I had just depleted my muscle glycogen and creatine phosphate stores from the all out effort the night before. It was early enough during the semester that I really wasn't sure of what glycogen and creatine phosphate were... but it made me feel better at the time.

When I ran 9:20 the only thing that mattered was that I was a 4:20 miler. I didn't have da shoes back then but generally if you can't run 4:20 in the mile (65's) then 70's will be too fast for 2.

I'm with Brunner-1, 4:20 9:20 really common with some flex on both depending on whether you are more distance (faster 2) vs mid distance (faster mile) type person.

I ran 9:21, 4:21 mile, 1:57 half, 16:10 5k at Van Cortland Park while training in our high school hallway. What yr are you in?

919

My son ran 4:23 and 9:15 this year.

This is an awful lot of running to run 9:17. Thanks for sharing though as it shows how much training has progressed. I've coached a kid to an 8:05 3k and his training doesn't look nearly as hard as this.

I ran around the 3k equivalent, but here’s what it looked like for me:

20-25 minute tempo runs were typically in the 5:15-5:25 range, with the appropriate effort metrics to suggest it was at threshold.

Interval workouts like 12x400m in 69-70 and 8x800m in 2:25-2:27 w/ jogging recoveries for more race specific work, I was primarily focusing on the 800/mile that season and was also doing workouts like 5x300m in 41-42, 8x400m in 64-65, 8x200m in 25-26, 2x800m in 2:00-2:05.

Long runs of 12-15 miles with 6-10 miles of quality, which was typically in the high 5:30s to low 5:50s.

If I remember right (a few of these results were time trials and I don’t have any of that data saved so I’m working off of memory) these are what my PBs looked like around the time I ran 8:42 in the 3k:

400m: 50.9

800m: 1:57 (but ran 1:54 by the end of indoors, the 3k was my opener)

Mile: 4:16

3000m: 8:42

5000m: 15:46

I think comparing those times to yours, I’d speculate that you probably need to focus on a bit of speed development. I think you’d be able to get away with about 1:58-2:00 800m and 4:20 give or take a couple of seconds in the 1600m, but it’s going to be hard to pull off sub 4:40 pace if you’re much slower than that. That 5k that I’m guessing was run on an XC course is a great indicator though. If you’d like a sample week or two of training to show how you could develop that speed over the off season while maintaining your aerobic base let me know and I’ll happily write you a couple.