Mileage for 1500m

How old are you? Training for college? I have right about the same PRs as you...will pay attention to this thread

I am 23. Post-Collegiate first year. This is my first time really training myself and want to make sure I get it right.

My suggestion for you is to find a training group fairly close by that you can train with once or twice a week. Even if you are the fastest guy, it will help you being in the group environment. I coached myself for six years after college and improve some, but not a lot. Finally, I hooked up with a group with a good coach and I finally had the right training for me and was breaking my 800 and mile PR's at 29. I only trained with them once or twice a week, but the coach gave me some good tips and got me to do workouts I normally didn't like to do on my own.

For middle distance, I find that volume is very individualistic. I prefer to monitor workload (volume x intensity) and work for consistency over time, while refining technique and gaining experience. More miles may or may not benefit you, but being more consistent and progressive in your weekly/monthly workload will almost always lead to better races.

The thing that really jumps out at me is that you 800 is out of line with all of your other times. With your 400/1500 ratio, you should be at least 1:56. This suggests that you are under-raced in this event. Racing more 800's this next season would be one of the best things you can do for your 1500. Many/most milers' 1500 PRis run within a week or two of running an 800 PR.

Mountain,

That's a very good observation! Thank you.

And I second "Wolverine's" advice, strongly.

So, in summary:

1) Keep consistent in mileage and workload, and *gradually* increase both over time (months/years)

2) focus on your 800, especially as you approach your peak 1500 races. There is no sharpening like fast racing.

3) Find a compatible group, or at least a partner, with whom to train with for faster sessions (avoiding the urge to race these harder sessions). Finding a decent coach is a big bonus, but not a necessity if the other conditions are met.

4) Bonus point for a consistent, healthy lifestyle that will keep you healthy happy and motivated. Educate yourself on the lifestyles of elite runners, and emulate them where reasonably possible (e.g. you might be able to afford ice baths after hard sessions, but not daily massages).

Good luck and post up your progress for us to follow- any other questions?

Do something (beyond simply hoping) to avoid getting injured again. If your injuries were in college, and your college trainer gave you exercises to prevent re-injury, stay with those exercises for the rest of your running career.

One good general thing that helps with injury avoidance is to do abdominal/core/"pillar"/whatever work on a regular basis. Good ab strength helps you maintain an efficient body alignment and avoid some overuse injuries.

The other general way to avoid injury (and improve performance): a full night's sleep, at regular hours (even on weekends). Particularly as you increase miles/intensity, that extra hour's sleep is huge.

Anyone have an workouts that should be done year round that are not obvious? I'm not talking about long runs, like any anaerobic sessions that should be done continuously throughout the year?