Running well at 800m with very little mileage

obviously i wouldn't say i am a monster and wouldn't post such a ridiculous thing, i run alot more than 12 miles a week.

you are a monster mate

Growl.

was in almost the same boat as you - 1:53 at 18 off about 10-15 miles a week. everything in training was fast, fast, faster..my coach would say "you want to race fast,so you have to practice running fast."

that only works to a point. next year i went to uni and started running 40-60mpw. i ran 1:50 that year and progressed to 1:49 the next year. so in summary, i think yes, if you want to get faster, you're going to have to run more mileage at some point.

well me wrote:

was in almost the same boat as you - 1:53 at 18 off about 10-15 miles a week. everything in training was fast, fast, faster..my coach would say "you want to race fast,so you have to practice running fast."

that only works to a point. next year i went to uni and started running 40-60mpw. i ran 1:50 that year and progressed to 1:49 the next year. so in summary, i think yes, if you want to get faster, you're going to have to run more mileage at some point.

(about the low mileage)what kind of workouts were you doing and what did your weeks look like?

followed this guy on the link to his times, and he has got faster in the 800m 2 seconds each year for the last 3 track seasons, why change a winning formula

running 1:52 off very low miles at 18 is a great start, but 1:52 means nothing for very long, the great thing is you have the raw talent and when things start to go wrong you are still young and have time to up the training to improve. good luck.

wowzers wrote:

Kipketer ran 1:52 aged 13??!! That's insane.!!

That's what is rumored...however, as with most Kenyans/Ethiopians, nobody really knows their age for sure. Kind of like "El Duque" in baseball. He says he 38, but in reality he's really probably 43 or 44.

sheesh wrote:

well me wrote:

was in almost the same boat as you - 1:53 at 18 off about 10-15 miles a week. everything in training was fast, fast, faster..my coach would say "you want to race fast,so you have to practice running fast."

that only works to a point. next year i went to uni and started running 40-60mpw. i ran 1:50 that year and progressed to 1:49 the next year. so in summary, i think yes, if you want to get faster, you're going to have to run more mileage at some point.

(about the low mileage)what kind of workouts were you doing and what did your weeks look like?

obviously it varied from week to week, but an average one would look like this..

mon - A.M -full circuit upper body weights (or did it after the P.M seesion if i wanted a sleep in)

P.M - 800m warmup

8 X 300m with 100m walk/jog revovery (about 75 secs) in 42-44 (usually started around 42 and tried to keep it there, but got tired).

1 mile down

plyometrics (jump squats, lunges, kangaroo hops, one legged hops, dead lifts)

tues - 3-4 miles under 6 min pace

wed - A.M upper body again

P.M - 800m up, a mile around 4:40-4:50. 4-6 X 400m just under a minute. about 90secs to 2 min recovery. a couple of 150s or 200s all out (usually around 24-25s) with jog over the field recovery

1 mile down

thurs - 3 miles under 6 min pace

fri- race (usually a couple of 800s and a 400 or two. occasionally a mile)

sat - 3-4 miles under 6 min pace. plyos, upper body.

sun - off

once every couple of weeks, i'd do a workout to really blow the doors off. i think these were key.

e.g 2 sets of 2 400s. take 45sec recovery between reps, try to run about 55s. 10 min or so between sets. of course, the second set i never hit time, but i was absolutely wasted afterwards.

Sp8y wrote:

Firstly, 1.52 isn't that good at 18, so I wouldn't say your a monster! sorry

I would have been pretty happy with a 1:52 @ 18...

Just out of curiosity, how many 18 yr. olds in the US can run 1:52 or better?

745

Yes, you should be fine for another 4 years or so. If the 800m is your primary event it is just as important to bring down your 300m/400m/500m time as to build your stamina. You can do a lot with 12 miles/week really, and you can also add in some other work (cross training, weights, plyometrics, core work and so on) that would be much more helpful than slow paced overdistance. With a speed focus, you still need to balance your training so to keep your Km and 400m PB in a 3:1 ratio.

If you have trouble dropping your 4x400m split down to the 46 range over the next 2-3 seasons, you're more likely a 1500m runner, and will have to bump up your mileage some for best results.

Just for fun I'm going to include a 12 mi/week schedule for a 1:52 800m runner. I'm not sure some here realize how much work 12 mi can be.

S 3mi 17-18' + optional 10k light cycle

M 12x200m 28-32" on 90" (closing w/ 24-25" when fitter)

T 30' water run plus weights/core

W Stairs 50 flights climbed in total, walking up, or 20' row

Th 4 mi fartlek (HR 125-165 ~1-2'run/1' walk) plus weights/core

F 1x km 2:45 or 1x 700m 1:45 10' 1x 400m 800m goal pace

S 8x400m 70" (70" rest) or 16x100m 15" pulling a 7kg sled, walk back recovery

The real Andrew Stanton already posted to point out that he runs much more than 12 mpw.

This is classic letsrunning...1:52.xx "isn't that good at [age] 18"?!! Where do you live?!

hold the phone wrote:

The real Andrew Stanton already posted to point out that he runs much more than 12 mpw.

Why did he feel the need to capitalize his first name in his second post when he failed to do it originally? Are you sure it's the same guy?

Incidentally, there was a kid by the name of Doug Herron who ran 1:48 in Alaska as an 18-year old high schooler, with no competition. I think he won his state meet by over 10 seconds. Alaska no less. I'm pretty sure that kid didn't train much or year around from what I heard. Of course, he eventually developed compartment syndrome, so I'm not sure he could handle much training anyway.

whether its him or not the question remains what could he do if under optimal training for him. Maybe he already is but i doubt it. It does seem if you have a very balanced program. it does seem short on the base. Your times indicate you are an 800/1500 runner naturally with a naturally high aerobic talent. If you gradually develop this side of yourself without losing your natural speed and racing ability then you could run very fast one day.

Yet 152 at 18 is still two of seconds outside the Australian Qualifying for the World Junior Championships. At present our best 15 year old is 153.40, last yeah the best 15 year old was 153.31. Our best 17 year old is 149.90. Our best 20 year old is 146.62.

it's a pity Steve Ovett lives in Australia because i think a chat with him would serve you well. His son just turned 13 and has run 206, 419 and 915. Talent everywhere. Its who works correctly for long enough that ends up in the papers.

hes ran 55, 2:04 4.14 now actaully so ur an idiot

Stant 'the bant' as he is informerly known by his peers, is a monster. Standing at a staggering 5ft 7' tall, they say his stride length is so short he has to put in the same amount of effort to run 2 miles as the ordinary 800m does to run one mile. This may explain his ridiculously low mileage. His banterous ways have also lead to him being linked to the idolised David Platt (pbuh).

STOP STANT

You can do it well ... I train 800m runners and we go 40 a week but the amount of PLYO work and Strength work is what makes these guys fast... they really are limited to the 400/800 and do not have enough endurance for the 800 so I would say if your are an 800/1500 your going to have to run higher mileage and I would also say I think that generally most people are 400-800, and not 800-1500 ... To run a top level 800 you have to have a different kind of speed then an elite 1500m runner...