Split 58 and 79 for 800m... What was I thinking

Looks like typical splits for a 16-year old novice. You need to do 200s at 32 until you can do them in your sleep.

Are you Down Under?

SmartSplits(not) wrote:

I haven't worked on pacing this season and unfortunately it showed. I ended up coming in at 2:17 after hitting the wall badly. If I slowed my first lap would I expect the second lap to come down a substantial amount?

Also I haven't done that much distance work and wrecked my base due to an injury- I have around 11 weeks left before my championship race. I was just wondering what you guys would think I would do if I had ran it sensibly and what I am capable of with 10 weeks of training.

You might be able to do 63 - 69 or something around that realm for a 2:12. The 79 second second lap--even after the 58--shows that, especially if you're a speed guy, the endurance you need to run that much faster probably just isn't there, even if you slowed the first lap a ton.

In order to run a good 800, first you need to be realistic about the kind of shape you're in. It's fun to run fast, but you need to be doing work some at about your race pace, or a realistic estimate of what your goal race pace should be. Workouts like 8x200@800 pace w/200 jog are really good for this (this workout is not an 800 predictor--speed oriented 2:10 guys can do this at 30s--it's to get you used to running the pace you'll be racing at). For you, I think you'd want to be doing these repeats in 32 - 33s. You should be doing this workout a few times over the course of your season, just to get comfortable at race pace.

With 10 weeks training under your belt? Who knows. I've seen plenty of guys start seasons at 2:10 and drop to 1:59 by the end (although most of those guys entered the season with PRs in the 2:05 range). I've also seen guys start off seasons at 2:08, work their asses off, and only get down to 2:05.

Aim to be under 2:10 in the next eight weeks, and under 2:08 by the end of the season. Since you're coming with no base training, I'd suggest you approach the 8 from a speed oriented side. Bring your 400 time down and work on pace specific work. You don't need to do a ton of volume--you should basically train like a long sprinter, just with a few longer runs to fill the tank, and slightly higher volume workouts. Don't waste time gradually building up slow miles--you weren't able to put the base together in the preseason, it'll take too long to try it now. It's not a big loss, it just means you have to approach the race differently.

Of course, that means that your race strategy, especially in championship races, is going to be something along the lines of "run 600 at goal pace then hang on for dear life," which generally hurts like hell, but will probably result in the fastest 800 time.

Good luck!

Cali boi, you are one of the best posters here. Keep the advice coming!

Thanks so much for taking the time, that is awesome advice. I appreciate it so much. I will take these thoughts and get my speed up as much as possible, but I think I might be able to rebuild my base a fair bit as well.

Once again thanks for your time.

It seems to me like you should do about 4 weeks of easy running to build a base again. Then for weeks 5-8 focus on threshold, and interval training. Once you have about 3 weeks until your championship race, do pace work, tune ups, and any go to workouts you do before big races. You have just enough time to peak, just make sure you're smart about it.

Sometimes it happens.

I once split 53low-73 when I was 17. The first lap obviously felt fast (my 400 PB was 51), but comfortable. I was leading the first lap but going into the second lap, the eventual winner passed and cut me off. As I stutter stepped, the next runner passed and then the next, as so on, and I didn't really get a full stride in for about 150m, after which I was toast.

Lesson of the story is, when you are going out that fast, you are racing on a very fine line. Things have to go your way, because otherwise they can go off the rails big time. But when they do go right, the races can be spectacular and rewarding.

Don't be afraid to crash and burn a few times, you need to over-reach your limits to improve.