how do i hold on for the middle laps of a 2 mile?? seems to hard to maintain pace!!

Its really a mental game on those laps. That strength you didn't know you had is there the whole time- your body is just lying to you. Run 4-6 so by lap 6 you honestly aren't sure if you can finish. Then push the pace even harder and gut it out until that end of race adrenaline hits and you can kick it in. Best/most painful way to run 3k-2 mile

You very well may get a multitude of answers to your inquiry and by the end may be more confused than ever, but the simple answer is you\'ve got to build your strength -pure and simple. I have no idea what your training consists of, but most likey you need to add more quality mileage and strength work to your regimen. If you want to discuss in more detail you can email me.

well our state meet is next saturday so i dont have much time. also i do feel like dropping out on laps 5-6 which is where i slow down

throw a surge in on one of those difficult laps

what to do wrote:

well our state meet is next saturday so i dont have much time. also i do feel like dropping out on laps 5-6 which is where i slow down

Obviously it's too late to make any drastic changes to your training regimen at this point - it would only hurt you. So, really the only option left at this point is mental preparation. I would suggest doing some solid visualization exercies each day for about 20-30 minutes 2xday. Essentially, visualize yourself running strong through laps 5-6 where you've been breaking down. Repeat the visualization over and over as much as possible each day. Additionally, visualize yourself running strong through the entire race. Visualization works if you practice with it on a regular basis. You have nothing to lose. Good luck!

Being slow in the middle laps shows your aerobic threshold(out dated term, I know) is a bit behind your other fitness areas. Your basic aerobic isn't bad for the pace you are running because you are bouncing back off the slower pace.

With not much time I would advise that you get out more slowly in your next race, then try to hold that pace through the middle laps and you should still be able to finish at the same, or close to the same pace. This will be tough to do with the extra adrenaline of the state meet but if you are careful you can do it.

So lets say you feel your ready for 9:20 (just picking a time out of the air, you can adjust this to whatever time 9:00 or 9:40, 10:00 doesn't matter) your going out 68/69 then hitting the half in 2:19 or so, then you slow to 73's for the next m2k, probably running 71, 72, then 73,73,73- give or take, you hit a lap to go at 8:22 and finish with a 67/68- your fastest lap and get end up 10 to 15 shy of your goal- Again the exact slits are easily adjustable to your actual times.

So what you should do is cut back your goal a bit go our conservatively. So aim for 1 second per lap slower(more if you have been fading worse in the middle then I suggested above) then you have been- so 71 instead of 70 (69 instead of 68- 74 instead of 72) So in our 9:20 case you go out at 71-2:22- you will feel better here then you have been, because you are slower- 3:33, then 4:44- you have been hitting the mile in close to this time, and even though you will still be working pretty hard you should find that the difference is that when you went out faster no matter how you pushed here you didn't hit the splits, now you will still be hurting but if you push you hit the splits, so you cover the next 1200 in 3:34 or so, last lap at 8:18- you have snuck ahead of your 'normal' pace and still should have a good finish in you of 67/68- gets you to the line in the mid 9:20's, not your original goal but a step forward from your normal performance.

Next year do more 20min tempo's(knowing it is better to run them slow then to have to slow down at the end of them- ie running a 4 mile tempo in 22:00 with splits of 5:40, 5:30, 5:30, 5:20 is way way better then running 21:30 going 5:10, 5:20, 5:25, 5:35) also run some intervals year round at your goal pace but do them with good rest and never go far enough to have them get painful, you want to run a good volume of work at your goal pace focusing on being relaxed. So say next year your looking to run low 9:00's so your goal pace is 67/68, run 400's as early as this summer at that pace with full recover so that you feel controlled and relaxed for all of the repeats. It isn't about anaerobic conditioning, it is about relaxation at speed and building mechanical efficiency at goal speed. If you can run RELAXED 600's at your goal pace as the year goes on great, but the key is always relaxed.

Longer tempos

give us some splits

If you try to pick up the pace slightly on each of those laps, you'll end up staying on pace. Just pick a point on the track and take 5 or 6 quick steps to accelerate back to pace. For example, you can decide before the race that every time you come off of the turn at the 100 meter mark on laps 4 through 7 you are going to pick up the pace. This will keep you from "falling asleep" and running slower and slower while you feel like you're maintaining pace.

you're probably going out too fast try 3-5 seconds slower on your 1st lap and run even or slightly negative splits

Bear of Bad News wrote:

Just pick a point on the track and take 5 or 6 quick steps to accelerate back to pace. For example, you can decide before the race that every time you come off of the turn at the 100 meter mark on laps 4 through 7 you are going to pick up the pace. This will keep you from "falling asleep" and running slower and slower while you feel like you're maintaining pace.

Bingo. You've got a week until the Big Meet. That is not enough time to change your basic approach to the 3200: you have to have confidence in the training and pacing that got you to the State meet to begin with. Trying to mess with your pacing on the opening laps, or trying to sneak in a "special" workout--one that you're completely unused to--during this last week is more likely to hurt your race than help it.

The "quick steps" that BBN recommends, and that other people call "checking out," really work. Remember, these are just a few quick steps--a maximum of 10-12 at a time, NOT a 100m sprint. Of course it takes a lot of intestinal fortitude to check out of an already-tough pace; but if you do so, you'll find you feel refreshed and that it's easier to maintain your pace through those middle laps. This is because a) you're using somewhat different muscle units when you check out, which gives the muscles that are doing the bulk of the work a little break; b) you're using a somewhat different energy source during the course of those few quick steps.

Speaking of which: You're also using somewhat different energy sources in your strong last lap. That last lap will pretty much always be there, even if you feel like you're maxed *aerobically*; so you don't have to worry about holding something back in laps 5-6-7. Focus on taking care of them, and let lap 8 take care of itself (it will).

Technical note: To execute those quick little checkouts that BBN recommends, many people find it helpful to think "quick elbows" or "quick hands," rather than "quick feet."

Good luck. Let us know how things work out!

jack daniels had a great story in DRF about what to do when you want to drop out. speed up and go after the leaders. if you can take the lead, you have the green light to drop out. nice mental game. 99.99% of the time the adrenaline surge of catching them ( if you can ) will get rid of the negative thoughts and keep you focused on the race.

thanks!! i did have a pr to get to the state meet but i'm not satisfied and want to drop another 15 seconds at the state meet itself. the race i did that, the pace did go out fast (that i wasnt used to) but i didnt want to fall too far behind the pack so i stayed near the back just off the pace. then by laps 4-7, the pace had slowed down around 4 seconds off of the average pace/lap of my time... the last lap being 8-9 seconds faster than my average pace/lap (and 13 seconds faster than laps 4-7) is what saved me.

the problem is that if i dont want to end up lagging behind the pack and trying to make up ground i will have to probably go at the same pace or even faster at the state meet..

i would recommend for those crucial middle laps, just block out everything mentally; just focus on your running form and try to keep it as efficient as possible, dont waste more energy than you have to

ignore all the pain, dont worry about counting laps, forget about your splits, dont think too much... just run baby. You'll be surprised on how well you will do

Can you still PR if you had to peak to get to the state meet?

i don't have any problems

waa wrote:

you're probably going out too fast try 3-5 seconds slower on your 1st lap and run even or slightly negative splits

Most likely answer so far. Everyone saying he needs to work on strength, run tempos....just crap answers. Those are ways to get faster period. If he's having trouble running an even pace, he needs to just go out slower, and find a pace he can hold the entire time, and then slowly work on improving that pace.

If someone went out in 57 for the mile, walked the next two laps, and then closed in 55....and was like, i can't seem to hold pace my middle two laps....you would tell them, oh you just need to work on your strength? Anyone can go out fast, slow down, and then sprint it home. It doesn't mean they need to work on their strength, because everyone needs to work on their strength. It just means they need to find a pace that suits them better, slow down to it, and keep working on getting faster in training, not by going out too fast.

i try to go out as slow as possible but the pack goes out so fast that i would lag farther behind and have no one to run with in the beginning... as it is, i have been in the back anyway (in the beginning)

I've got to put in a good word for the "checking out" strategy.

Ran a 5000m on the track last night that was out way faster than I'm used to for the first mile, and although I eventually lost the pack, I think I managed to hold on for pretty much the entire second mile just by checking out a few steps every lap.

Give it a go. Good luck at state!