Compare Your Fastest Race PR's To Your Fastest Practice Bests.

for real though wrote:

You people run too fast in workouts. Save it for when it matters.

I concur with this. Time trials serve little purpose and they definitely don't count as races. They are just to practice racing, not to actually race. Your time trial times are pointless, they are what they are. And what they are not is worth remembering.

Time trial 1600m - 4:54 (1500m en route 4:32)

Mile PR - 5:00.28

1500m PR - 4:36.0

2Mile time trial - 11:15

2Mile PR 11:04 - it was negative split though (5:44, 5:20)

In college I was a scrub trying hard to just not get kicked off a D1 team. So my practices WERE races. As a result, my mile and 3k PRs are from track practices.

time trials worth nadda wrote:

I concur with this. Time trials serve little purpose and they definitely don't count as races. They are just to practice racing, not to actually race. Your time trial times are pointless, they are what they are. And what they are not is worth remembering.

They are when they are as fast as you can go. Whatever "purpose" you think that serves, your PR is your PR, wherever it occurs.

1500 PR- 3:52.16

1500 workout pace 3:42

1500 time trial PR 3:48.55

Never have the confidence in the races to put it all on the line.

Fastest mile: 4:12

Practice mile: 4:32

Time Trial: 4:20

I think you're making the assumption that running fast equates to running at maximum effort. Most competitive runners have over 300 workouts a year, with maybe 100 of those including some faster pace stuff. Compare that to 20-30 races annually, and it's much more statistically probable that you will have workouts where everything clicks: optimal weather, sufficient rest, no stress about school, work, or family, and all the other stuff that affects performance. As a result, it's not surprising that some people have gotten really close to their PRs even though the effort may be less than 95%.

for real though wrote:

You people run too fast in workouts. Save it for when it matters.

48.4 race

1:19.0 600 practice

mile race 4:17

1600m TT 4:17

2 mile race 9:05(rolling hills road course)(3000m best 8:20)

3200m tt 9:14

5k race 14:20

5k tt 14:52

8k race 23:26

8k tt 23:57

10k race 29:44 (hilly tough road course)

10k tt 30:05

half marathon race 1:04:14

20k tt 1:03:10(low 1:06 half pace)

all tt run on the track. Appear closer then they should I don't run on the track or fast course much so some PR's were much better efforts then the time indicates.

Race times count, practice times do not. Your race times should be hands down, zero exceptions, faster than practice. If any of your race times are slower you're in the wrong mindset. Somehow, you have yourself "going to the well" in practice when it counts for crap and not pushing it to the limit in a race when the performance really matters. Nobody every became an All-American for having a great workout, but a great race...now we're talking.

Nobody wants to be seen as a choke artist, but I'm afraid those who consistently exceed race performances in practice are just that, choke artists. Sack up, run hard, run to win and your times will follow.

ooooh this is fun. Remembering what I have run

400 race:51.3

400 practice 50.0 en route to 600

600 practice 1:19.high

800 race- 1:52

800 practice 1:56

mile race: 4:05

mile practice 4:17

3k race: 8:30

3k practice 9:09

5k race: 14:26

5k practice: 15:35

10k race: 30:00

10k practice: 33:00

1/2 marathon race: 1:16

15 mile long run 1:23:02

as the distances go up I realize I suck at practice trials.

1:48 800m race

1:53 800m in practice (2x800 1 min recovery, first one was 1:59)

3:45 1500m race, 4:02 1600 split on DMR

4:09 full mile in practice to start a ladder (1200,800, 600, 400)

Lots of people run a faster practice quarter than race, simply because they don't race the quarter in college.

My true PR stands at 50.2 from high school FAT, but as I got faster in college I would run 48s in workouts. Probably could have thrown down a 47.8-48.2 FAT in college I think.

Brod wrote:

Race times count, practice times do not. Your race times should be hands down, zero exceptions, faster than practice. If any of your race times are slower you're in the wrong mindset. Somehow, you have yourself "going to the well" in practice when it counts for crap and not pushing it to the limit in a race when the performance really matters. Nobody every became an All-American for having a great workout, but a great race...now we're talking.

Nobody wants to be seen as a choke artist, but I'm afraid those who consistently exceed race performances in practice are just that, choke artists. Sack up, run hard, run to win and your times will follow.

Wow. "Sack up!". How incisive! I'm sure it never occurred to any of these people.

Listen up, genius. Everyone already understands that these people are not racing well. You know how? They admitted it in the first place. Really, those of us with reading comprehension have grasped that point already. Perhaps it seemed subtle to you but it's obvious to the rest. But thanks for sharing.

Any time run over the given distance "counts". If you covered X meters in Y seconds, you did it, regardless of what some dipshit on a message board thinks.

Interesting. I have some of both.

400 race: approx. 61 relay split in hs

400 practice: 57

800 race: 2:04 in college

800 practice: 2:01 (after 2:10, 2:05, 10 min. rest, one of my best workouts ever)

1500 race: 3:57

1500 practice: approx. 4:15 en route to a 1600

3000 race: 8:30

4 x 3000, 1 min. rest: 9:0x's, one of my best workouts ever

5000 race: 14:29

5000 practice: approx. 15:35 en route to a 6400m tempo

The more I read this thread the more curious I get about workouts and race distances being the same.

My memory of our college workouts many years ago were that rarely if ever were we training at our racing distance. Our staple balls to the wall workouts were 2x600m. Never balls to the wall 800's in practice. Seems to me a slightly shorter distance is the perfect practice simulation for your actual race distance. Our program was a killer 800 program in the day. As a soph I was a 1:49 guy who was the 5th best 800 runner that year.

The one workout I can remember clearly before the confernce champs my last year was 2x1600 and a couple of the 800 guys and I ran back to back 4:20's. I went on that weekend to pr a 1500 in 3:44.

Never was a workout close to my race best----at the exact same distance---- and I can say the same for my teamates of the day.

400race: 53.5

practice: 58

800race: 1:59.6

practice: 2:12

mile race:4:32.32

practice: 4:54(T.T after 4 L.T miles)

2 mile race: 10:07.07

practice: 11:21

I'm guessing the shorter the distance the higher probability that you would come close to your PR while training. I'd be surprised if anyone was able to duplicate a solid 5k PR in practice, whether it be a time trial or not.

8:40 2 mile (not 3200) on the track

8:14 3000m indoors (1 year previous)