HS Training (400/800/1600)

Run 100 miles a week.

ian edwards wrote:

Run 100 miles a week.

Thanks, but anything more specific?

Also can i handle 100 mpw while only doing 40-45 mpw in the past?

First off, don't listen to the idiot that said run 100 miles per week.

Use this winter base to increase your mileage. Depending on if you do XC or not, you should bump your mileage up about 5 miles per week. Over the summer, bump it another 5 miles. (10 more miles per week a year.) The more mileage you add, the lower your PR's will be. However, don't overdo it, as overtraining risks improvement later on, if you decide to run in college.

It appears you have solid speed, especially with the impressive 400 split, so you might want to focus on the faster 800 race. It appears you have the speed and anaerobic training necessary, so you you will probably want to focus on building a strong base. This can be done, as mentioned before, by adding more mileage.

Focus mainly on getting out and running some miles at the pace you've been training at. Nothing hard. Make sure the miles are quality miles as well. Do them easily, but keep in mind that you are working to stress your aerobic system.

Also, aerobic base building can dwindle speed, so I recommend doing striders after your daily run to maintain speed. You can do these preferably 3 or 4 times a week after a run. You might also want to Google plyometric workouts that help build explosive power. Plyometric workouts can be done once every two weeks.

When the season comes, the training goes into your coaches hands. Good luck.

You already are pretty awesome. Seriously. Keep doing what you've been doing and I think you'll keep getting faster.

Doing leg press to simulate your race can help. For example if you want to run 1:52 in the 800m, then you can do 1:52 of leg press. This has the potential to ruin your knees though. The upside is it can make you so-o-o-o strong.

Basically, if you don't get injured you are going to be great. 100mpw is preached on this site, but you are already so talented. Why risk injury by going 100mpw.

From your stats, you seem very much a speed-type, which means that 100 mpw is ridiculous advice.

I would say the 800m may be your best event, considering 49 second speed and the capacity to run a fast 1600 (4:30). Competitively, (or just in my opinion) 49 second 400 > 4:30 mile, so perhaps 800m (in the middle) is your best bet.

Just keep to a winning formula in terms of weight training, speed work, base training, and rest. 40-45 mpw sounds good (for high school 800m runner, I wouldn't add too much more).

Thank you everyone for your input! I appreciate it a lot.

Is there anything I can do besides running (and eating) that can help me achieve these times? (ex: spinning, swimming...) My coach is writing up a training schedule as of now so I think I should be good as far as that goes (although I'm always open for others opinions).

Also, I do run xc if that helps/matters.

Thanks again!

Not too sure. I was the complete opposite in high school (and now in fact): a guy with a lot of strength but virtually no speed. If I had my strength and your speed... I'd be nigh unbeatable.

So I guess it's best to listen to your coach(es) and you should hopefully be alright.

I coached a guy who ran 49.3 as a Soph (and 1.54). He had good natural endurance (was quite good at XC, although not the best) and strength (5"11 and 170). He ran (after getting mono as a Junior) 1.50xx as a Senior (off of a 4.15 1600, and the same 400m).

You may find it difficult to develop both your endurance and your speed at the same time optimally, so prioritize which you want to improve most this year, then focus on the other (while maintaining the former) the next year. This is where you and your coach need to get on the same page and not let college scholarship opportunities get in the way of this development process (as did my athlete who ran reasonably well - 1.49 - his freshman college year but has stagnated since as there isn't an overall plan for his long-term development).

Someone who is equally well developed at speed and endurance should be able (off a 49) to run sub-1.50 and 4.05 (1600). There are a number of programs (Lydiard-type or Igloi-type) that can be equally successful for a middle-distance runner. Increased strength from Weights (be careful if you are mesomorphic and gain muscle easily), circuits and plyometrics, etc. will help your speed, as will judicious use of Lactate tolerance sessions and basic speed (alactic)sets/sessions.

Take the same differentials (6sec/400m) from a base 400m speed of 47sec (that you want to get to in the not to distance future) and you are at 1.46(53) and 3.56(59-1600). A more endurance-oriented guy might run with a lower differential (4-5sec), but that doesn't really sound like you at the moment, and that creates a WC level of 1.42/3.26. So it shows that speed is important, but so is endurance, for a "complete" middle-distance guy anyway.

Thank you a ton!

Again I appreciate all the advice given and hopefully I can achieve my goals. It means a lot & thanks again everyone!