Today will be the first workout of the year. Coach told us it it would a 4 x 2 mile with 2 minute recovery. I was just shaking my head the whole time. Is this really necessary for a person who will only be running the 800m and 1500m?! What would the benifit be,(more endurance, but im not doing he 5000).
Thanks in advance!
It's your first workout, the paces won't be fast and it will be a good aerobic stimulus. You'll get your faster workouts for the 800/1500 later in the year.
It's probably a strength workout at tempo effort. Don't crush the first one and you'll be fine.
You won't become the best runner you can be until you trust your coach.
Would you give the same advice to Dathan Ritzenhein and Ryan Hall?
If you're doing them around tempo pace it wont be bad at all. Stop shaking your head the whole time like you know everything. Did you need someone to hold your hand for the first workout and maybe run a 400?
Your coach probably reads letsrun... good luck with that
Well a lot of the time coaches can be idiots and trusting them is a bad idea.
Wait until it progresses to 8 x 2 miles... had to do that a few years ago.
If you don't see the point in running 2 miles at a time, then why would you run 5, 6, or 7 miles at a time?
speed in the 800/1500 is useless if you cant get to the sprint. there is nothing wrong with 2mile intervals at threshold pace for half milers/ milers. it is january after all- last time I checked may/june was the time to shine.
runnerxc08 wrote:
Today will be the first workout of the year. Coach told us it it would a 4 x 2 mile with 2 minute recovery. I was just shaking my head the whole time. Is this really necessary for a person who will only be running the 800m and 1500m?! What would the benifit be,(more endurance, but im not doing he 5000).
Thanks in advance!
Interesting, this exact workout is my bread and butter in my Half/Marathon training.
I could see it being beneficial to a mid distance track runner though, if run sparingly, like once or twice a month. If you run it correct pace, 10mile - Half Marathon pace (tempo), then it can really provide a big boost to your aerobic endurance.
If this is your FIRST workout of the season, then I can understand how providing aerobic endurance at the beginning of your training can be a big help once you get into the shorter intervals.
800 runners always want to go right into speed and distrust anyone who says different. especially high school kids
your coach gave you a good workout for this point in your season. you aren't sharpening and doing fast stuff till WAY later. WAY later
What's done's done.
10:23 5:12/5:11
10:30 5:13/5:17
10:26 5:12/5:14
10:07 5:05/5:02
after that I will be running a 3k in 2 weeks.
thanks for the replies
I do that workout several times during my racing seasons, but I'm more of a marathoner though.
runnerxc08 wrote:
What's done's done.
10:23 5:12/5:11
10:30 5:13/5:17
10:26 5:12/5:14
10:07 5:05/5:02
after that I will be running a 3k in 2 weeks.
thanks for the replies
Nice work. I think you'll find that it's pretty hard to screw up a runner as far as workouts go. A real coach will be able to motivate you to believe in them and it's up to the athlete to fully commit themself to a program.
I had the biggest idiot coach in college, I was the only one on the team not listening. I ramped my mileage to get fit and it worked for about a season. I started sucking pretty bad and hardly made top 7 in the fall but that next track season I decided to commit to the program and actually got into the best shape of my life.
The key for me was, while knowing that these workouts might not be what I wanted they worked for some people and I at least owed my coach the open-mindedness to see what happens.
Those are solid times.
When you get to the 500m mark of your 800 in May and are free of lactic acid in your legs and your heart rate is still low, you'll think back to these workouts and be thankful.
Nothing stupid about 4 x 2 miles. Just run it like a continuous 8 mile progression run. The middle and end portions might be a tiny bit faster than a continuous run at the same effort because of the rest periods, but resist the temptation to push it too much in the middle because you just got a little rest. Keep a good tempo and wait until the last rep to roll it down to a "hard" pace. If you get fitter in the coming weeks and you do 4 x 2 miles or something similar again, then maybe have more well-defined (and more challenging) pace goals for each rep.
Sure, that's more of a cross-country / long distance type of workout, but if you can run them all in 10:30 or better on 2 minutes rest, with the last rep the fastest, your talents probably aren't as restricted to middle distances as you think. That means you could continue to benefit from these endurance workouts just like a long distance guy would. If you had wheezed and struggled with the length of the reps and the total distance of the workout as a whole, and had run progressively slower, then it would have been too much for you at this time. But it looks like you handled it fine.
Lactic acid is building up in your legs throughout the 800...but i get what you're saying.
Today the workout was 5 x mile around a grass loop, 2 minute rest.
4:49
4:46
4:43
4:44
4:38
I mentioned before I will be running my first track race in less than 2 weeks now. A 3k.
Any predictions!? hoping to get out at 4:25 mile then hang on.