Serious replies only: 1,500m - Breaking the 4'00" barrier - T46 Paralympic Athlete.

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Some further updates to my running blog:

5k track steady solo run in 17'30" (averaged 3'30"/km with an av. hr of 172bpm).. Totalled 12k in w/up & c/down

Saturday just plodded easy for 50'

Sunday 10 miles in 1:10 (averaged 4'25"/km with an av. hr of 145bpm)

Wasn't feeling great yesterday to be honest and was looking forward to get over n done with this run.. This morning I feel a bit better but still not 100%.. Feeling a bit run down, and tired post the Malta Half Marathon week were I only took one full day off.

As an aside.. I might stop updating this blog since I am not getting much feedback/interest.. So it's useless to continue wasting my time in users who are not interested in this active running journey I am going through.

Darren.

How can you run 17:30 for 5k as a steady run? What do you think your maximal ability is right now? Because that is pretty fast.

Reccomend a rest or some true recovery days, now is not the time to get injured.

I don't know what I might be capable of running at the moment.. Perhaps 16'50"?

The most encouraging about Fridays session were:

1. I did it all alone so I am sure that if paced, it would have been even faster.

2. It was quite windy on the track

3. Was not going flat out

4. Ran -ve split. 3k in 10'40" - 2k in 6'50"

5. Max HR is 188, I didn't go up more than 180bpm.

In fact today is just an easy day and tomorrow pm head down to the track so ample time to rest n recover.

Darren :)

Surely you could run a lot faster than 16:50 if you can run an easy 17:30 alone on a windy day not trying too hard?

Then maybe I am not self-confident enough of my own capabilities to think that I can go faster than 16'50" :).. Who knows maybe you are right.. But in order to do so, I need to race in close to perfect conditions with adequate and suitable pacing..

We will see.. :)

Darren.

With those 5k and HM times, your 10k PR could surely go down!

Thanks for the feedback mate! Absolutely agree with you but it seems I have a hate/hate relationship with road 10k's... Maybe I have never been in the 'perfect spot' ... Paced group, flat course... you know the drill.. I believed (or I hope to believe) that I can run at least 34'45"... but as so far.. It has never come.. Perhaps I'll make a breakthrough someday on this boogey distance for me...

Yesterday I paced one of the athletes I am coaching at the track (he ran 1:21 for HM on his 8 month of running.).. he is a natural talent and has got super potential..

We planned a 3 x 3k at 3'45"/km pace with 1' rest and 200m recovery jog.. I felt strong and in great condition. We ended up running 11'13" - 11'10" - 11'07" for the repeats.

My max heart rate was on the last rep. 169bpm only (got a max of 188bpm)

What shape indicator does this indicate?

Darren.

Had a very very good quality session yesterday.. which was 6 x 1k at 3'30" with 200m in 60" as recovery jog.. on the last rep I kept on going to hit 8k in total in 29'00" averaging 3'37"/km pace and with an average heart rate of 159bpm! Last k was done in 3'18" :)

Today and tomorrow will be easy days, tomorrow a medium easy long run (circa 80' in total) and then Friday will be another track session dedicated to pure speedwork!

Darren.

I think people are losing interest because you haven't changed anything. Still no 1500m work here at all

800guy wrote:

I think people are losing interest because you haven't changed anything. Still no 1500m work here at all

To be fair, he's in Europe, so the main track season doesn't start for a few months. But I agree, he should be doing some faster stuff on the track.

You cannot go and hit top gear without building your engine right?.. It took me 4 months to recover from the tibia/shin stress fractures, lost a tonne of shape and everything non-training brings with.. I restarted training on January, 10th.

I am close to be done with this aeorbic/speed endurance period (total of 8 weeks now) and may move onto the next phase which includes intervals and pure speed + plymetric training..

Darren.

I had also asked for the 'experts' to bring forward their knowledge, past experience and provide me with their feedback/advice on what worked best for them, what are the most essential 1,500m workouts, etc etc..

I am very open for recommendations etc etc especially since I have always been a long distance athlete rather than middle distance.

Thanks for your time in replying,

Darren.

Darren wrote:

You cannot go and hit top gear without building your engine right?.. It took me 4 months to recover from the tibia/shin stress fractures, lost a tonne of shape and everything non-training brings with.. I restarted training on January, 10th.

I am close to be done with this aeorbic/speed endurance period (total of 8 weeks now) and may move onto the next phase which includes intervals and pure speed + plymetric training..

Darren.

You don't need 'pure speed' right now, that is if your definition of pure speed is the same as mine.

What you need is good speed endurance and endurance workouts that will help the 1500m.

Since you asked in your other post, here are some workouts I did in winter leading up to my best 1500m. I live in the UK so my season is similar to yours:

15-20 x 200m at or faster than 1500m pace

10 x 300m at 1500m pace

6 × 400m at 2k pace (faster than 3k pace)

5-6 x 600m at 3k pace

6-7 x 800m at faster than 5k pace

6 x 1k at 5k pace

Take as much rest as required to hit the required paces. The first session I put there is the only 'speed work' required this time of year. For me, the sessions progressed each week until I performed 20 at 30s each with 45-60s rest. I ran a 1500m shortly after that (early season) and without any sharpening or tapering ran a PB (3:53).

They should get you started.

Darren Vandit wrote:

Had a very very good quality session yesterday.. which was 6 x 1k at 3'30" with 200m in 60" as recovery jog.. on the last rep I kept on going to hit 8k in total in 29'00" averaging 3'37"/km pace and with an average heart rate of 159bpm! Last k was done in 3'18" :)

Today and tomorrow will be easy days, tomorrow a medium easy long run (circa 80' in total) and then Friday will be another track session dedicated to pure speedwork!

Darren.

Also, I am confused about this workout. It is a great session, but you said you completed a 5k tempo run feeling comfortable in 17:30. Why would you be doing 1k reps at that pace? You should be doing them at more like 3:20 per rep.

It is important to run quality sessions where you push yourself, and train at low intensity outside of those sessions to allow the body to recover. This is the best advice I can give anyone.

Just for the simple reason that the average heart rate was 159bpm only for the 8k in 29'00"..

The 5k at 17'30" was done at 172bpm average :)..

Hope that clarifies it all :)

Darren.

Are these heart rates that you aimed for or something? I am confused as to why you would do a session of 6x1k at a lower intensity than a 5k tempo.