Am I capable of a 1:57/8 800 yet?

I think you should seriously do workouts on a regular track with spikes. It will put a dramatic improvement to your time.

canada_track_604 wrote:

I think you should seriously do workouts on a regular track with spikes. It will put a dramatic improvement to your time.

Yeah but my school doesn't have a rubber track, so I have to make do with what I have. I'm not sure what is more beneficial in the trainers vs. spikes for speedwork training idea; some say that constantly using spikes for speedwork in a sense "takes away" from what they give on a race day. At any rate, the main problem I have is because I train on dirt, I tend to wear the shoes and the spikes themselves down quite extensively, but I now have 2 pairs of Victories so maybe I'll give it a shot next year.

I think you need to get a coach!!

I do have a coach, but that still doesn't answer my question.

The key question here is, are these workouts faster than ones you've been doing in the past? From what it seems to me, I would say no, you are not in 1:57/8 shape, but I wouldn't guess that you have a sub-2 PR from those workouts either. Looks to me like you must have fantastic strength, but perhaps I'm the anomaly - I feel like I could do those workouts without much trouble, and I haven't broken 2:05.

I can't offer you too much advice, but I would recommend cutting out the walking in between your sets, and lowering your rest if you want to see significant improvement. But that's my recommendation - feel free to ignore it.

I would say I don't have that much strength, I suppose that just during races I can find that extra gear and move up during the 2nd lap a lot. I find most of these workouts (aside from the 400's... I hate those) quite easy on regular days. I have virtually no base mileage from winter due to injuries, so my strength isn't that good... The walk over in between is about only 1 minute long, and keep in mind, the track I use is REALLY bad and it gets quite windy in my area. Almost all my workouts, and even races turn out windy, the only time it wasn't windy as I recall is when I ran that 1:59!

if you ran your pr with even splits and also feel that u have a second gear that allows u to move up on the second lap then ur definitely a strength 800 guy. being able to do that indicates so unless ur massivley underperforming. u may not do that much mileage but you clearly have some good speed and are strong enuf to run evenly, just cause ur mileage isnt all that gr8 doesnt mean crap about whether or not your naturally strong. im the same way, i have literally no running mileage and not a lot of aerobic work yet i run even splits and tend to have that same second gear u have. (i can guarentee u that my mileage and aerobic conditiniong are much less than yours, due entirely to injuries and sickness) your definitely a strenght guy, if you were a speed type 800 runner you'd positive split a lot more often and wouldnt be able to move up as much the 2nd lap, maybe hold it together but not move up. as for the track just get spikes (cross country spikes) or even flats and train in those. its not going to detract and actually helps you get a better feel for moving fast and makes it easier too, theres no such thing as using spikes that then detract and take away from your performance later. dont worry about the track situation, it'll be better for your legs than most other tracks (to some extent even rubber). I had an asphalt track at my school and it wasnt even a full 400m and we did fine on that, we wouldve given anthing for even a dirt track.

Hmmmm?? wrote:So what do you guys think? I set my PR by running nearly even splits the whole time, however it seems that positive splitting results in faster times. If I want to hit that 1:57/1:58, what would help me more?

Only one way to know if you can run 1:57/1:58... race and find out.

As for the best way to run in it? I suggest going out in 58-59, and coming back in 59-60, but more importantly... stay in contact (on their shoulder, or keep within a stride) with the other guys in the race that are sub-2 and let loose coming around the final corner (or, if you're more of a longer kick guy, separate yourself on the backstretch and then let loose and don't let anyone else outkick you when they are coming off the corner)

Good luck

Drive to a better track for training.

Hmmmm?? wrote:

I would say I don't have that much strength, I suppose that just during races I can find that extra gear and move up during the 2nd lap a lot. I find most of these workouts (aside from the 400's... I hate those) quite easy on regular days. I have virtually no base mileage from winter due to injuries, so my strength isn't that good... The walk over in between is about only 1 minute long, and keep in mind, the track I use is REALLY bad and it gets quite windy in my area. Almost all my workouts, and even races turn out windy, the only time it wasn't windy as I recall is when I ran that 1:59!

You talk to much shit and you are slow ass hell! Get a f***ing coach this summer.