Track and Xc Goals

Hye guys, So the first meet is tomorrow (a scrimmage)... But I got a concussion 2 weeks ago. I haven't ran in 3 weeks (tomorrow will be 3 weeks), but I'll be able to come back this Wednesday hopefully. It's pretty annoying considering I was just getting back into Winter shape (during my last practice before injury, I split a 19:20 5k during a normal run that kinda turned into a tempo). My first meet back will probably be this Saturday, in which I'll likely run a 4x1600. Haven't ran/done any exercise in 3 weeks, so I'm pretty out of shape. Looking to go at leas 5:10, although thats probably unrealistic. II'd be happy with 5:10 or faster, and I guess I'd be ok with a 5:15. If I run any slower than 5:15, I'm gonna be pissed..

I'll update you guys after my race.

So I came back to practice on Tuesday, and on my first day back I ran about 6.2 miles at ~7:20 pace. I was extremely sore yesterday, but we had a workout and I chose to do it. We ran a 1 mile warmup (which I was absolutely dying on), then a 10 minute tempo on the track, in which my pace was 6:12 (my group was supposed to be 6:30-6:45, I was in the slower group). On the tempo, I kept falling about 50meters behind my group, and then catching them. I was feeling pretty shaky on the tempo. We then had 3x600 with 4 minutes rest in between. My times were 1:58, 1:58, 1:52, certainly not great, but I was really happy with my last rep. We then did 4x200m strides and then a 2 mile cool down. Today we had a 5 mile run at ~7:40 pace, and I felt terrible. I'm pretty sure I'm running the 4xmile on Saturday, so I'm not really sure what to expect. The people I was ahead of in the workout ran 5:15-5:25 last week, so I'm not really sure. Hoping at least 5:15.

@TNE are you the OP?

alabama runner wrote:

@TNE are you the OP?

Yes, I am the OP.

So yesterday, I ran the anchor in a novice DMR, and went through the 400 in 75, the 800 in 2:30. I then finished my race in 5:20, which means I closed in 2:50... I came back to track Tuesday after missing 15 days from a concussion, and ran 6.2 miles at ~7:20, Wednesday I ran a workout 6:12 tempo for 10 minutes, 3x600 repeats w 4 min rest at 1:58,1:58,1:52. Thursday I then ran 5.2 at ~7:40 pace. Friday I ran 3ish miles at a very slow pace, and then had 4 100m strides after.

I wasn't exactly expecting a quick time, since I had 15 days off, but I was pretty disappointed with a 5:20. I have another meet tomorrow, and I think I'll run the 1600 and 800. Today I plan to go out for an easy 5 miles, which is what our coach wants us to do. Hopefully I'll go under 5:10, because I want to be back in 4:5X again within the next 2 weeks.

Hey sorry I saw this thread when you first posted and I think you posted on my thread I posted because we had very similar freshman PR's and similar goals for this track season. Can you just post your PR's at each distance right now and what your goals are by the end of outdoor. I'm in a similar situation except I didn't have indoor and I just did my first outdoor race last week.

And hey I just wanted to let you know this is actually really helpful for people in similar situations to see someone like you posting your goals and then actually achieving them. Most of letsrun is really negative but your post really helps me. I was at 19:30 during cross country and I just ran a badly paced 11:37 2 mile and hopefully by the end of the year I can go sub 11 and sub 5 like you already have. Good job keep it up!

Thanks for the feedback. And yea, I've posted on other people's posts that are in a similar situation to me.

My current prs:

800m: 2:19 (indoor, this year)

1600m: 4:57 (indoor, this year)

3200m: 11:50 (spring, freshman year)

5k: 18:47 (this past fall)

My end of season goals:

800m: 2:10

1600m: 4:45 (my big goal)

3200m: 10:30 (I didn't really run it last year, only once)

So yesterday I ran like I said I would, although it wasn't the "easy 5" I thought I was gonna do. Originally I planned on it, but I was so tired that I cut it to only 3 miles, and trust me my legs were heavy and I was breathing very hard. When I finished my run, I checked my watch, and saw the pace was 8:10, 8:40, 9:10 in order for the 3 miles. And I was completely gased. I was probably the angriest I've ever been after a run, because I was in great shape a few weeks ago, and now I'm in terrible shape. Today I ran the 1600 and the 800. I was suprisingly feeling really good today, besides that I developed a really bad cold and cough overnight. I went through the first 400 in 72, 800 in 2:26 and after that I completely died. I finished in 2:42, and ended up running a 5:08, which I was pretty happy with considering it was 12 seconds faster than 2 days ago. About 15 minutes later, I ran the 800, and my first 400 was 65, then 75, for a time of 2:20. Pretty happy with my times; I really didn't think I'd run that fast. I have a meet this saturday, monday, and then next saturday. We have break next week, so I'm really gonna focus on getting back into shape. Hopefully I can go 4:5X or 2:1X within the next 3 meets. I wanna go sub 4:50 within the next 2-3 weeks.

So Tuesday I ran about 3-4 miles at 8:40 pace, I was still dead and our of shape from not really running... Haven't gotten my base back yet so its pretty frustrating. Wedesday was our workout day, but I ended up getting pretty sick throughout the day (started getting sick Sunday), so I didn't do the workout. I went to the doctor instead of practice and they said I have the flu. Obviously missed Thursday, and Friday. I was supposed to run on the 4x1600 and 4x800 saturday, but I couldn't because I was still sick. Today I'm

feeling like 80% (still have a cold and a cough) so I'm gonna run on my eliptical for like 5 miles just so I can get back to conditioning and breathing. Tomorrow I have a dual meet, but I don't think I want to run. I've been considering it, but at the same time, I haven't really consistently ran since March 13th, (Concussion and Flu) so I'm considering using this week that I have off from school to do doubles to try to get back into shape. If I don't run tomorrow, my next meet will be a relay meet on Saturday, then a meet on Monday. What should I do? Should I run tomorrow or not? Don't think its in my best interest as I don't think I can run better than 5:20.

I think there's 2 major questions on whether or not you should do the race tomorrow.

1. What are you going to accomplish from a race where you are not in great shape and you say you won't run even close to your best?

2. Is the race tomorrow going to hinder your training in the upcoming week and make it take longer to get to 100%?

I think if you answer those 2 questions you know whether or not you should be in that race tomorrow.

highschooler1245 wrote:

I think there's 2 major questions on whether or not you should do the race tomorrow.

1. What are you going to accomplish from a race where you are not in great shape and you say you won't run even close to your best?

2. Is the race tomorrow going to hinder your training in the upcoming week and make it take longer to get to 100%?

I think if you answer those 2 questions you know whether or not you should be in that race tomorrow.

Just emailed my coaches a few minute ago letting them know I will not be competing.

So yesterday I went for a run after my meet (which I didn't run at because I wanted to recover from my cold. I ran 6.3 miles, but I was completely dead at like 1.5 miles, I was contemplating stopping. Here is what the miles looked like:

Mile 1: 8:38

Mile 2: 8:03.7

Mile 3: 8:20.34

Mile 4: 7:49.50

Mile 5: 7:36.82

Mile 6: 7:20.32

Final .3 pace: 7:39

I felt like complete crap after that and felt really sore when I woke up this morning. Today I went to practice with the team for the 1st time in a week. We ran 5.9 miles:

Mile 1: 7:55

Mile 2: 7:52

Mile 3: 7:38

Mile 4: 7:44

Mile 5: 7:08

Final .9 pace: 7:11

I was breathing really heavily and coughing for most of the run, especially after. We have a meet this Saturday, and I want to start getting back into shape for real now that I'm down with the cocussion and mostly done with the flu that have kept me out of track consistently for the past month. Tomorrow, we have a workout.

So I ran the 4x1600 today, and I anchored. I ran a 5:32 split, which is my 3rd slowest mile ever, and slowest since my 2nd mile ever. I haven't ran that slow in over a year. I still haven't really recovered from my loss of shape during my condition and flu, and I still have a cold and cough. I really don't know what happened during my 1600 leg, I just didn't have it. I wouldn't even say I was that tired, I just felt like I couldn't really push hard. I also feel like I struggle with being the last leg, as my team was already in a distant 10th place and nobody was ahead or behind us within 200m. It's really frustrated that I ran a 5:32... that is really slow. I'm not really sure what to do at this point, this season has been a complete bust so far. Here is what my week looked like:

Monday: Meet (didn't run cause Flu). 6.3 miles at 7:57 pace, first run since the Tuesday before.

splits were: 8:38, 8:03, 8:20, 7:49, 7:37, 7:20, 7:39 (last .3).

Tuesday: 5.92 at 7:35 pace. Felt pretty hard and was coughing/breathing heavy

Splits were: 7:55, 7:52, 7:38, 7:44, 7:08, 7:13 (.92)

Wednesday: 2 sets of 400, 600, 400, 200 with 2.5 minute rest in between each rep, 7 minutes between each set. Times were pretty disappointing and slow...

400: 76

600: 1:58

400: 75

200: 32

__

400: 75

600: 2:05

400: 73

200: 33

After this workout I was completely dead, and the times weren't anywhere near fast/decent.

Thursday: 6 miles (didn't get the pace), with roughly 3miles worth of hills (up and down). We did 6 hill repeats at tempo pace (but we did slower than tempo I'd say, the hills felt pretty easy although I was definitely tired after them).

Friday: 2 mile pre-meet with 4x100m strides. Felt pretty crappy on the run even though it was probably 9:00 pace.

Saturday: Race @9am

Overall I wouldn't say this week was that hard, but it was definitely frustrating that I've lost alot of stamina and performed terribly in my workout and race. The race was very very slow and disappointing. My next meet is on Monday, and I'll race the 800/1600 or 1600/3200. Originally I planned on racing the 1600/3200 mainly this season, but I feel like because of my concussion and flu I still haven't really recovered my stamina, and would probably be better off running an 800 right now since 2 weeks ago I ran a decent 800 (2:20) after I returned from a 15 day absence. This season is going about as bad as it could possibly be right now. Also I've literally regressed 11 seconds in almost exactly a year, as my times below show. Not sure what I'm aiming for on Monday, but I think I'm gonna try to go out with sub-5 milers (some of which I beat in indoor) and try to stick with them for as long as I can. Hopefully todays race was a fluke. P.S. here are my times updated throughout my running career...

Until next time..

_________

Freshman Year (Outdoor Track):

5:37 (3/24)-- 1600

2:42 (3/24)-- 800

2:33 (4/2)-- 800 (split)

5:38 (4/5)-- 1600

2:35 (4/5)-- 800

5:29 (4/9)-- 1600 (Split)

5:21 (4/16)--1600 (Split)

2:26 (4/16)--800 (Split)

5:22 (4/18)-- 1600

2:28 (4/18)-- 800

5:13 (4/26)-- 1600

5:16 (?)-- 1600

11:50 (5/8)-- 3200

2:28 (5/8)-- 800

2:24 (5/17)-- 800

5:11 (5/22)-- 1600

12:04 (5/22)-- 3200

________

Sophomore Year (Indoor Track)

5:18 (12/20)-- 1600

2:24 (1/6)-- 800 (split)

2:19 (1/13)-- 800

5:06 (1/18)--1600

5:01 (1/25)--1600 (split)

4:57 (2/15)--1600

_________

Sophomore Year (outdoor track)

5:20 (4/1)--1600 (split)

5:08 (4/3)--1600

2:20 (4/3)--800

5:32 (4/15)--1600 (split)

I've been in a similar situation. My ankle got injured and I was off for a little over a month. Finally, when I was back in, I got sick. Last week I was finally able to run again and yesterday I was able to race again. I ran the 3200. My mile 800 and 3200 last year were 4:45, 2:10, and 10:46. That was as a freshman. Yesterday I ran 11:12. I was expected to run sub 10:50. Last half mile was horrible. Anyways, my point is that it takes a while to get back into things. Taking off a lot of time can really mess you up for a little while. Just keep working hard and stay healthy. You'll get back into it.

5:21 1600m today :/

Didn't run the 800 because my coaches didn't want me to because I've been running like crap. We needed an extra leg on the 4x400 (we ran like 5 of them, this one wasn't important) and I ran 62.6, which I was decently happy with because that sounds pretty fast to me lol.

The 1600 though was interesting. One thing I'm really happy about is that I still haven't lost my confidence even though 3/4 of my 1600s have been above a 5:20 this season. Many of you will probably view this as dumb, but I went out in 71 for the 1st 400. I then went through the 800 at 2:32, so I guess I ran a second 400 at 81, which is trash. I ended up running 5:21, so I guess my second 800 was 2:49, which is obviously terrible. I'd say my splits were something like 71,81, 86, 83. Obviously it was terribly paced, but my reasoning behind this is I once was able to go out in 71,73, and finish 78, 75. I've been running my 1st lap fast to try to see how long I can maintain the speed because I know I was in that shape once, so I feel that I could run a sub-5 any race now, its just a matter of when my cold/cough will go away.

We have county relays this weekend, and my coach told me shockingly that I will probably be running (I have no clue why, I'm like the 8th best miler on my team at this point..) in the 4x1600.

She also told us that this week will be light, with no workout, so I feel like that will benefit me because I've only had like 2 good runs recently, so maybe some 6 mile runs at 7:30 will help me get some endurance back, because I think my speed is as good as its ever been, I just have no endurance.

On one last note the kid that came in 2nd in the 1600 and 3200 (4:49 and 10:35) I beat in indoor (4:57 to 4:58) so its kind've annoying that I was better than him in indoor and now he is dusting me by 30 seconds lol.

So this week sucked. I did a few runs at ~7:30-8:00 pace and it felt impossible. Yesterday we had a workout, but our coaches werent there because they had a meet for varsity. The workout was 2x(800-1200-800). 3 mins rest after 800, 5 mins rest after 1200, 7 mins rest after sets. 800s were supposed to be 2:30, 1200s were supposed to be 4:09. Granted, this was a pretty hard and unreasonable workout, but I was extremely diaappointed with my times. My first 800 was 2:40, and I was dead. I was going to stop the workout then but I decided not too. I was coughing like nonstop and I just felt like shit. This workout got me really frustrated because I have ~4 weeks left in my season and I'm 30+ seconds off from where I want to be. I did my 1200 in 4:24, way off what it was supposed to be. I then did my next 800 at 2:45. I've always been told by our cross country coach and I've believed as well that if you aren't hitting decent times, the workout isn't helping and it isn't worth it. Considering I was doing a 2:45 and it felt like a sprint, I dropped out of my first workout ever, and didn't complete the second set. I did a 1.5 mile cooldown, and then went to the meet to watch our varsity 4x1600 at county relays. Today I was reflecting on my workout yesterday, and I ultimately determined a few minutes ago that I'm simply not over the flu yet and I'm still being effected by my cough and cold, and that training through them is just slowing down my recovery. My last meet (soph countys) is 5/23, so I want to be healthy for it. Moments ago, I emailed my coach letting her know that I don't want to train fully (run in hard workouts and races) until I've completely recovered from my cold and cough. I've spent too much time running slow sue to injury and illness and I don't want to prolong the problems. I'll be missing my last dual meet this upcoming monday, and the relays on saturday. After this, I only have 3 more meets left on 5/8, 5/16, and 5/23. My hope is that I'll be healthy for these 3 meets.

So I'm practicing tomorrow.... how much should I run and at what pace for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday? Depending on how I feel, I may race a 4x800 or open 1600 on Friday (winner of mile is ~5:00, so maybe I can run a decent time). Also, I doubt this has any impact on my running, but I started working out like last week and I've been alternating between abs and arms. I basically started at 5 pullups, 5 chinups, and 5 side pullups everyday and 10 pushups, and every other day I have increased # of pullups/chinups/sidepullups by 1, and the pushups by 2. Today I did 8 of the push/chin/side ups and 16 pushups, and I felt great. Usually its really hard, but today I felt like I had energy and they were easy. I haven't ran sinxe last friday, so maybe thats why I've felt pretty good.

Focus on getting sleep and recovering. Run easy pace for at least a few days until you start to feel better. The talent you have isn't going to go away. Do some strides after the easy runs if you feel ok. You have to come back gradually. It will happen, be patient. Remember you are in this for the long-term.

And if you do race, try negative splitting and don't expect greatness in your first few races! You can get something positive from the setbacks- which is trying to get better at pacing, and building confidence that you can race well with even pacing. You aren't going to pr now so you have nothing to lose.

Hey TNE

I am also a junior in high school and I just recently ran a sub 4:05 1500m which is roughly equivalent to about a 4:22 or 4:23 1600m. My PR from sophomore year was 4:24 and i'm looking to run a time around 4:15 at Finals or State. Its pretty interesting reading through your lets run workout log. The main thing I concentrate on in my training is to work as hard as you can on your workout days, and then do all your runs very slow, excluding tempo/fartlek runs. I try to keep them at a pace where I can hold a conversation very easily, and I can focus on my form. This is usually around 7:30-8:00 pace for me, but I always go off of feel. If the run needs to be at 10:00 pace, it will. I've noticed a lot of your runs turn into tempo runs which make you tired for workouts. Some of my teammates have had similar problems with running medium quality all the time and never recovering. They stagnate as runners as a result. If you are trying to run 4:40 in the mile, you aren't going to get there without running 4:40 pace (70 seconds) on 10x400 days. You use your easy days after a hard workout like this to recover and log miles without killing your body. Hopefully this helps.