having trouble breaking 5 minutes

69-82 and you are wondering why you can't deliver?

Start slower. 73-74 on lap one will leave you a lot more in the bank. Work on race pace in certain sessions, keep up the aerobic / endurance running.

havin trouble wrote:

im having trouble breaking 5, last year i ran 5:10 in the 1600 and recently friday i ran 5:07, it just seems im not having a breakthrough race. my splits were 69-82-78-78. any help? I want to get down to low 4:50's this season and only have 4-5 meets left.

you think thats bad?

Last winter I ran a 5:04 followed by a 5:02 in spring and than another 5:02. This winter i opened with a 5:01 and than a 5:00. Finally today i ran 4:59. No joke.

My freshman of HS PR was a 5:00.14 on a dirt track. Remember my coach showing me the stopwatch....crap! Didn't run track as a sophomore, then as a junior at a nothing first meet of the season I broke 5:00 for the first time...IN TRAINERS on a dirt track. A bit anticlimatic, like Q. Cassidy's first sub-4:00 mile.

havin trouble wrote:

im having trouble breaking 5, last year i ran 5:10 in the 1600 and recently friday i ran 5:07, it just seems im not having a breakthrough race. my splits were 69-82-78-78. any help? I want to get down to low 4:50's this season and only have 4-5 meets left.

Your problem is you're going out too fast. You need to be more controlled in your first 200m. When the race starts DO NOT SPRINT. Just go out and try to hit 74 for the first 400m. From then on you need to put in more effort each lap to run the same time. So when you pass the finsih line and start a new lap you need to think to yourself time to pick up the pace.

Also, you need to be concerned with your 800m and 1200m splits.. You need to come by the 800 in just under 2:30 and the 1200 just under 3:45.

Remember.. The middle 2 laps are where you really have to work hard. Good luck.

i figured i was going a little too fast on the first lap, i was aiming around 72. but there was a kid who led in front for the first 400 and i saw him slowing down, i couldn't help it and passed him by going faster then usual on the first lap. from past races, i thought the 3rd lap was the slowest, so this time, i started to kick on the 3rd lap and hold it for for 650 meters then the last 150 all out. my legs felt really weird last 20 meters because i was sprinting next to someone and at the end i beat him by .1 seconds, very close finish.

Patience patience! :)

How old are you?

freshie

69 is not "a little too fast" for a mile where you end up running 5:10. Work on restraint for your first lap, hang back and just cool it. You'll have plenty of time to move up later if you want to and if you have any left in the tank. Come through 800 and 1200 like the other poster said, around 2:30 and 3:45. You could even be a little above (not more than 1 or 2 seconds, I'd say) 3:45 at the 1200, as your kick might bring you home in <75. That 69 first lap is your problem. No faster than 35 or (ideally) 36 for the first 200.

male

take it easy on the kid! he's only a freshman.

that said, i ran about a 4.50 my freshman year. but i'm sure i started the season out just like you. just be patient, the season is early. you should have no problem breaking 5 before the end of the season. just keep working at it, race a little smarted, and keep packing in those miles.

good luck

Talk to the guys on the "anyone can break 5" thread. I'm sure they'll give you loads of advice...but seriously the guys who say run even pace are right. I did the same thing in high school...always went out in 63 even though my pr was 4:27. Bet I could have run 4:24 if I went out in 66.

The mext year in college I ran 4:19 running 65,65,65,64.Good luck and report back to us when you break 5.

havin trouble wrote:

im having trouble breaking 5, last year i ran 5:10 in the 1600 and recently friday i ran 5:07, it just seems im not having a breakthrough race. my splits were 69-82-78-78. any help? I want to get down to low 4:50's this season and only have 4-5 meets left.

I don't suppose you're doing this as part of a bet, are you? . . .

Run the first 200m as your slowest.

Staying still before the gun, your heartrate drops, no matter how much jumping about you did just before you were told to toe the line. Then the gun goes off, and your heart rate jumps up again as you sprint off to a 69 second 400. You pay the price for that on the second lap (apparently), and by the third you are running more efficiently.

Slow down.

Let your heart work for you--don't work against it: you need it more than anything else you've got. Let it start to pump faster gradually--it will be ready by the time you need it around laps three and four.

Going out in 74/75 is what you want, but, honestly, going out in 72 would be a strong improvement. If you run out of juice on your first two laps, you're toast. The goal should be to float through the first half of your race as effortlessly as possible, taking no more than 51% of your total expected time to cover that distance (and no less than 49% of your total time--this part is your problem). Then you need to attack the third quarter to avoid slowing down. Unless you run yourself into a hole, you will always have something for the last lap.

Calm down and keep breathing.