How much pain should be felt during an 800m

Just win your heat...if you always win you heat you usually did a good job and it will hurt the right amount.

the only thing is that im trying to hit standards for DIII states and hopefully ECAC's. going for the heat win wont cut it most of the time, especially when the standards are under 2 minutes. Ill be racing at Cornell this weekend so the chance for fast times in the heats are there, but that a one or two time per season thing...

Wow, this is actually getting into the deeper anthropological question:

Does hate hurt?

None because it's not pain. Just effort and loss of control. Apart from that the burn of acidosis is nothing, until the race ends and you stop moving.

Thinking of it as pain is an excuse made in advance by the weak-minded. If you have a strong mind it is not pain, just difficulty.

I used to have the same issue, albeit at a much lower level, and I solved it by taking my races out much faster. I made a point to be thinking, through the first 200m, "there's no f*cking way I'm gonna sustain this pace." And I never do. But in the 800m of course you're not expected to do that. I dropped a whole bunch of time that way.

tracknoob wrote:

I used to have the same issue, albeit at a much lower level, and I solved it by taking my races out much faster. I made a point to be thinking, through the first 200m, "there's no f*cking way I'm gonna sustain this pace." And I never do. But in the 800m of course you're not expected to do that. I dropped a whole bunch of time that way.

My initial thought was also initially that he is going out too slow. The 800 generally should be positive splits of a few seconds.

The exception would be a 1500/5000 type of runner, they usually will run best with even splits.

Bad Wigins wrote:

None because it's not pain. Just effort and loss of control. Apart from that the burn of acidosis is nothing, until the race ends and you stop moving.

Thinking of it as pain is an excuse made in advance by the weak-minded. If you have a strong mind it is not pain, just difficulty.

Came here to say this

HardLoper wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

None because it's not pain. Just effort and loss of control. Apart from that the burn of acidosis is nothing, until the race ends and you stop moving.

Thinking of it as pain is an excuse made in advance by the weak-minded. If you have a strong mind it is not pain, just difficulty.

Came here to say this

And the two biggest idiots on this site just weighed in with the same useless post.

says "sdfsdfsdfsdfsdfsdfsdf"

grow up chicken-shit

800 pace should feel comfortable for only about the first 50m. The last 10m should be staggering to collapse at the finish line unless its a relay. Then you shouldn't start staggering until you've handed off the baton (don't want to mess up the handoff) and should stagger to the infield to stay out of the way of other teams.

pain is just weakness leaving the body.

If you want to achieve your potential then the 800m should really hurt like he*l.

Let's say your aim is to run 1:59, then you should aim to run splits of lap 1 - 58.5; lap 2 - 60.5.

The first lap should feel hard but controlled going through 400m. However, the second lap should be horribly painful due to your body burning up with lactic acid. By the time you reach 600m, you should be having suicidal thoughts and treat the final kick off the bend as your last chance of hanging onto life.

When you cross the finish line you will double over in agony and gasp to pump precious O2 back into your body. You may feel light headed or even vomit if you've really gone through the pain barrier.

If you're not close to feeling like this then you're either running a qualifying heat or just not trying hard enough.

If you feel no pain in the 800 until 500m, most likely the 800 is not your best event.

In general, the thought pattern in an 800m final:

@ 200m -- "Sh*t this too fast"

@ 300m -- "Good, everyone is slowing down"

@ 450m -- "I'm dead"

@ 600m -- "Only 200m left, I can kick"

@ 605m -- "No I can't, just hold on..."

@ 800m -- "5th place, 0.2 sec off my PB; I'll take it"

You are not running to best of your potential. Try gunning for a PR.

Cruise the fist 400 at the same pace you've been rolling with. What are you usually going out in? 57? 56?

Whatever it is, fine, stick with that.

Then, get to work from 400 - 600. Relax and go. If you went out in 57, maybe this means you are 1:26 at 600.

Hold your form and run your butt off through the finish.

It's gonna be tough, but the 800 is demanding.

A bear may run out of the woods and jump on your back with 50 to go. Big deal, the bear gets lighter each time.

El Flaco Pelon Rojo wrote:

You are not running to best of your potential. Try gunning for a PR.

Cruise the fist 400 at the same pace you've been rolling with. What are you usually going out in? 57? 56?

Whatever it is, fine, stick with that.

Ive actually been going out at 63 almost every race. my splits tend to be 63-64ish which is probably why im one, not really tired in races and two, never improving. 57 is what I should be doing on the first lap; at least that what training shows im capable of...

brava wrote:

Wow, this is actually getting into the deeper anthropological question:

Does hate hurt?

Only the purest of hate hurts.

Are you running negative splits? That can be great for winning races, but not for PRs in the 800.

If you are going out in 63, I'd try 60 before going to 57-58. Run hard but stay relaxed. You are fit, so it's do-able.

Also try pushing hard from 400m to 600m. This is where most people start slowing down before their 200m kick. I usually make my move on the back straight and pass a few people there since everyone's decelerating. Watch David Rudisha's WR video sometime and pay attention to his third 200m. When he pulls onto the back straight, he starts driving his arms more and noticeably quickens his stride.