Breaking a 9:00 Two Mile

My guidelines for a sub 9:00 two mile..

60-70 miles per week.

For a non race week:

Sunday: Long run 12-14

Monday: AM 4am PM Speed Workout, something at mile pace.

Tuesday: 8-10 plus wr

Wednesday:4AM PMTempo, 5 cut-down tempo(ex. 5:40,5:30 ect..)

Thrusday: Easy 5 or off

Friday: Long interval. 5x1000/6x800

Saturday 8-10

Should be able to run about 1:56, 4:15.

Core on all days but Saturday.

Wt. Room and basic exercises on m/w or w/f

Hard on hard days, easy on easy days!

Good Luck

listen to your coach. no man is an island.

quenton wrote:

listen to your coach. no man is an island.

Thanks for the concern, I definitely am. It's just that I'm already as good as anyone my school has ever had, so we're both kind of in terra incognita. We definitely work together a lot and I always run with the team, so I'm definitely not a lone wolf or anything. I was actually planning on relaying what you guys say back to him. I just thought it would be nice to have some input from people that have actually been there and done it.

Thanks everyone.

Sounds like it is about time to hang them up, you get hurt too much to ever be a baller.

What speed=power said is a pretty good week. However talk to your coach, he knows best.

Some general rules (inho) for breaking 9 is 70 to 80 mpw consistently. 12 to 14 mile long runs, a healthy diet of 20 minute tempo runs, 1,000 to 1,600m repeats.

Lol, the injuries are mostly just because I'm still growing (the second injury was growth plate-based). The first was also significantly because I went from being a couch potato that couldn't jog two miles to doing four speed workouts a week instantly. The positive reinforcements always nice though, thanks. :)

Sorry bro but you better run a lot faster than 4:15 in the mile if you want to break 9:00 in the 2 mile.

beers! wrote:

Sorry bro but you better run a lot faster than 4:15 in the mile if you want to break 9:00 in the 2 mile.

I think that the times actually equate, it's just that far more high schoolers focus on the 800m-mile and the speedwork that goes along with it. You're right though, in most high school cases, 4:15 milers do not break a 9:00 two mile.

beers! wrote:

Sorry bro but you better run a lot faster than 4:15 in the mile if you want to break 9:00 in the 2 mile.

not necessarily... especially if he in training for the 2 mile. maybe 410-412 speed strength would help a lot but it's not by any means a necessity.. ever heard of chris derrick?

Uhh, not really. A for a true long distance guy, that is plenty fast enough. A teammate of mine ran 8:23 for 3K (about 8:58ish 3200) and has only run 4:23 for the mile. A 4:12 mile is about equal to a 9 flat.

BigShowM wrote:

A 4:12 mile is about equal to a 9 flat.

Yes it is, either your teammate has seriously underperformed in the mile or is not training specifically for it.

I've run 4:11 and 8:20. Both of which are strikingly similar performances.

beers! wrote:

Sorry bro but you better run a lot faster than 4:15 in the mile if you want to break 9:00 in the 2 mile.

I love this, but:

When I broke 9:00 (indoor) my mile pr was 4:33 (outdoor, completely serious.

former cmass coach wrote:

beers! wrote:

Sorry bro but you better run a lot faster than 4:15 in the mile if you want to break 9:00 in the 2 mile.

I love this, but:

When I broke 9:00 (indoor) my mile pr was 4:33 (outdoor, completely serious.

If you broke 9 then your mile pr would've been set during that race at 4:29 or faster.

Liar. I had you at 8:21 that day.

I love this, but:

When I broke 9:00 (indoor) my mile pr was 4:33 (outdoor, completely serious.[/quote]

If you broke 9 then your mile pr would've been set during that race at 4:29 or faster.[/quote]

When the race began I had a mile pr of 4:33, went through the mile in 4:29, came back in 4:27. So, set a new pr each mile, but, technically my actual mile pr was still 4:33.

And to top that off, my 800 pr was 2:16 , 4 x 8 split from HS.

You need to raise your mileage considerably to legitimately break 9:00 for the 2 - and I mean the 2 - not 3200. I would try and build up so you can average 70-80 quality mpw your junior year and 85-95 mpw your senior year. Now that doesn't mean running 52 weeks a year. You need to plan your training accordingly each year with a 3-4 week break after cc season and the same after track season. Forget indoor - just train through the winter. So I would use this summer to gradually build your mileage so you can sustain higher mileage without injury. In order to break 9:00 for the 2 at the level you're at now, you are going to have to put in some quality high mileage throughout the year. Don't assume you can do it on 50-60 mpw - very few can unless they are extremely talented. Be discrimante in the use of hard anaerobic work - it has its value no doubt, but can easily be overdone. Learn to use threshold training intellgently. Incorporate quality long runs every 10 days where you can easily average 15 miles or 90-120 minutes for time. Also, hill work (repeats) is tremendous for building strength and form without destroying the body. The key is to build into your mileage gradually - don't just start trying to average 70 mpw if you've only been running 45-50. And it has to be quality mileage - running slow, long mileage every day does little good. Finally, educate yourself with regard to intelligent training. There is some very good information on this forum, but also some that is very bad.

'I then got a massive injury that forced me to barely run at all for five weeks'

That's a niggle!

Speed=power has put some pretty good stuff there. Just don't step up the miles too quick + as the other guy mentioned your coach is in the best position to advise

His last line about good and bad also applies to his post. For example, if you have run 4:30 on as little training as you describe, there is no doubt you can run 9:00 for 2 miles on 50-60 mpw. Running 9:00 on 50-60 does not take extreme talent but it will take more than 2 years and giving up running 8:40 on 70-100. Therefore, his suggestion to shoot for 70-80 as a junior and 85-95 as a senior is the way to go.

Another questionable bit of advice would be forgetting indoor track. That might be the way to go to be the best you can be 10 years from now if you can run 90 mpw alone, but you need all the help you can get to break 9:00 in 2 years. There are many who due to weather or their particular makeup are never going to carry the miles over the winter. They are cut out to use the summer/fall build up to run fast in the winter. They may not slow down but they aren't going any faster in the spring it is just too far from their mileage base.

His other comments are good but you really need a good coach to help you.

Some comments about other posts in this thread so far:

1) "running 9:00 doesn't take extreme talent". Um...BS. By just about any rational person's measure, a 9:00 3200 or 2 mile in high school takes extreme talent. Most states don't have a single person do it all year.

2) People are predicting your 2-mile time based on your 1600 times and your age. Both of these are suspect. My 1600 PR in high school was 4:32, but the dude in our conference who ran 4:21 couldn't come close to beating me in the 3200.

It SOUNDS like you've got some talent as you're really improved quickly with little training, BUT there is this thing called the Law of Diminishing Returns. More training will likely help you, BUT there is no formula that can be followed that gives success to everyone. Maybe 50-60 MPW will do it for you...maybe your body needs 90 MPW, or maybe it's 40 with a lot of speed work in there. No one formula is right for every person.

Good for you for having a goal, but don't be fooled by some of the others here, 9:00 in high school is SERIOUSLY STOUT brother! And, you can't just plug in certain workouts and have a guaranteed positive result. Just train and race and eat well and get enough sleep and do all the things you SHOULD do, and then see where it gets you. Maybe you'll run 8:43. Maybe you'll run 9:53. Do the training. Run the races.