Coaching HS 1600 Racing Strategy

Since a guy hoping to run 4:50 going out in 60 is ridonculous, I think you answered your own question....

You don't want to go out in 70 either...

He should be racing for place. Be in the tail end of the pack through 200 if not 400. Even if he runs 75+ for the first lap, he should be able to break 4:50 if you think the fitness is there.

But telling a HS kid to shoot for a specific time on an opening lap is usually gonna psyche him or her out.

Have him be certain to not go out any faster than 70-72. Make sure he knows that pace. After that he can focus on gradually reeling the others in. An opening 60 for a 4:50 runner is suicidal.

I disagree that the runner will be "psyched out" and won't be able to compete. The key is physical and mental preparation. If the athlete is a competitive personality, understands the reasons for going out in 73 instead of low 60's, it mentally prepared for being last at the 200 and maybe 400, and is practiced at hitting 36 or 37 for 200s and knows what it feels like, etc., then performance will be much better with a 72 instead of a 62 opening lap. Another key is making sure to hit the 800 in 2:23 to 2:25- that has to be a focus. But if you don't have time to work on these things, I guess you can just let him suffer and slow down like everybody else.

Thanks for the feeback.

I know in my mind that even pacing is the most logical way to hit his time. He is not the toughest kid mentally and I worry about his ability to stay positive if he falls far behind.

I think his fitness is there so I will have to use all my abilities to hold him back and prepare to reel people in from back in the pack.

Give it a shot- nothing to lose. And I bet he will look a lot tougher mentally when he isn't suffering at the 400 from going out too fast!

Recently I ran the 1600 at my conference meet against about 6 kids who are sub 5 runners. I was dealing with some hip/IT band problems, and actually planned to drop out of the 1600, but my coach told me to run it my best and try to compete. The first group of runners (9 or 10) were around 69-70 for the first 400, and only one was sub 4:50, I went out in 74. Needless to say I went out and ran a lot more even 800m splits than any of them, 2:30, and a 2:30. I then reeled about 5 guys in as the race progressed and I moved into 5th place with 70m to go, but my legs failed me and I finished in a very close finish with 3 others. I placed 7th but almost everyone who beat me was fresh, and I had already ran the 3200 before hand. I'd tell you athlete to go out in 73, then run as even as possible until the last lap