Summer training for track (not xc)

why in the hell would you want to do track but not xc?

Because I'm a 27:00 8k runner but a 4:05 miler.

I know my strengths and I haven't contributed to my XC team in the past 2 years.

just remember to start out slow you have plenty of time even until indoors, which im guessing is not your main focus, outdoors is a long time from now make sure you take it slow and build a nice base so you dont get injured

Robert K. wrote:

Because I'm a 27:00 8k runner but a 4:05 miler.

are you faster than 27:00 in practice/on solid ground? or is the 8k distance difficult no matter where your feet are landing?

Robert K. wrote:

Because I'm a 27:00 8k runner but a 4:05 miler.

I know my strengths and I haven't contributed to my XC team in the past 2 years.

wtf..... this conversion cannot be correct and if it is, you are extremely under performing in the 8k. even if you are bad at the longer distances. hell even if you ran that time at VCP or another hilly course, with 4.05 mile, 5:10s should feel like clockwork to you. you should be able to run around 25:30-26 flat.

I agree with Tiger...

I've ran a 26:03 and fastest I ever went was 4:27 in the mile...

Maybe it's a mental thing man.

I am in the same position. My fastest mile is a 4:09 and 800 is a 1:50 low but cannot for the life of me run a good 8k. I have tried cross every year and stayed in the 27's. However i am not lucky enough to have a coach that would let me can the cross. All it does is teach me how to lose.

y tu tambien wrote:

I am in the same position. My fastest mile is a 4:09 and 800 is a 1:50 low but cannot for the life of me run a good 8k. I have tried cross every year and stayed in the 27's. However i am not lucky enough to have a coach that would let me can the cross. All it does is teach me how to lose.

just like 4:09 is teaching you to finish no better than 5th in a real race.

Sorry to break it to you guys, but the reason you can't run a fast 8k is because you are pussies. You have natural leg speed so you can run a mile fairly quickly, but anything longer than that starts to actually become difficult. you just need to sack up and hold your pace. Also, I'm guessing you're topping out at about 60 miles a week, in which case I'm not surprised at all by this inconsistency.

I have the same issue...I tough it out each xc season but it really hurts my confidence and I usually get injured and have to start at 0 come december...no fun...I do think xc is really fun in the camraderie (sp?) but it just breaks me down

If your coach decided you should not run xc, shouldn't he have come up with an alternate plan for you between now and track season?

Maybe you guys should by a heart rate monitor this summer run most miles painfully slow at 125 - 135 heart rate, run 2 tempo's a week at 170 - 175 and one day of 6 by 30 seconds all out with jog rest. If you still only manage 27 minutes then better become a 200 meter runner.

the heart rate numbers are off maybe for you but anyways:

maximal heart rate - 70 to - 60 for the easy runs (30' - 90')

maximal heart rate - 20 to - 25 for the hard runs (20' - 30')

Sprints all out but with 3 minutes jogs in between.

Now head out and run for hours and hours a week.

By the end of the summer you guys should break 30 minutes for 10 km if you did it right. You guys probably run your easy runs just to hard. And At a point even 6'/mile is to fast for the easy runs on your engine. But if you build your aerobic engine from ground up again by the end of the summer you might do your tempo runs at 4'50" - 5'/mile. I did when i ran 4'18' for 1600m. But on my way i started painfully slow at 10 min/mile and tempo's at 6'20"/mile. Btw i didn't even do speed work back then. Just the tempo's, easy runs, sprints(30s) once a week and cross training.

Trust

Thanks for the help and suggestions.

I don't care if you want to call me a pussy. I just don't like running cross country. I know it's hard and I give credit to everyone who does it and enjoys it.

But, I'm not calling you a pussy for not being a sword swallower. I'm just not interested in running an 8k, kinda like you're not interested in being a sword swallower.

If I'm not helping the team and I really don't like it, there is no reason to race it.