My quest for sub 1:50 in the 800m

Congrats on your 5K and 3K PR! Love this thread. Keep going!

Week Ending in 12/9

Sunday AM 7.3 miles @ 6:45 pace

PM 3.2 miles @ 7:40 pace on the treadmill

Monday 10.3 miles @ 7:07 pace. Last 1.3 miles sub 6:00 pace.

Tuesday 5 miles @ 7:40 pace on the treadmill.

Wednesday CV workout. 5x1k with 200m jog rest then 2x400m, 2x200m with 2min rest.

3:21, 3:24, 3:21, 3:20, 3:21.

67, 65

29, 26

Thursday Off.

Friday Long Run. 13.2 miles @ 6:37 pace. Cold.

Saturday 6 miles @ 7:30 pace on the treadmill.

Week total: 54 miles

Slowly bringing the mileage back up. I have been continuing to take 1 day off per week, so my mileage per day is higher but I get some extra recovery, since it is pretty difficult to get all the running and the recovery I want to with work. And since I don't plan on significantly raising my mileage until the summer, anyways.

Wednesdays CV workout wasn't too hard but it was about 30 degrees and it was dark on the track by the time I started. There's only a couple lights on the track so half of it is pretty dark. I didn't look at my watch for most of the workout so I ran mostly based off of feel. The faster reps afterwords felt harder than I would have liked, so I will have to work on that moving forwards.

The long run was just meant to be slow and 90+ minutes since I haven't gotten in a true long run in a few weeks but after my first 4 miles were 7:00 with me doing everything I could to slow down, I just let it happen and rolled a bit. Wind chill was 10 degrees, so I was pretty bundled up for it. Happy with the pace considering.

Week Ending in 12/16

Sunday 8.7 miles @ 7:02 pace. Slick roads. Did core after

Monday 2 mile warmup, 4 mile tempo with the first 3 miles comfortably hard then a little push the last mile. 5:58, 6:08, 5:49, 5:08.

Tuesday Off

Wednesday 9.5 miles @ 6:57 pace on the treadmill.

Thursday AM 7x1k @ CV pace on the treadmill followed by 4x15 second hill sprints.

3:30, 3:28, 3:25, 3:24, 3:21, 3:21, 3:19. One minute rest between everything.

First real lift since august afterwords.

PM 25 minutes on the elliptical afterwords at a good effort, follwed by 2 miles of running and some dynamics and sprints.

Friday 6.1 miles @ 7:25 pace. Slippery roads. Cold.

Saturday 9.2 miles @ 6:47 pace on the treadmill. Second half of the run ~6:20 pace.

Week total: 51 miles

Happy to get in two good aerobic workouts this week as well as start up real lifting again. I am very sore but glad to be able to build some strength back up and hopefully get fast again.

I just did some relatively light weight squats, RDL, pull ups, db incline bench, core, and I maxed on bench just out of curiosity. 185lbs without touching weights for 4+ months. I also weighted myself at ~147lbs so we'll see if I gain any weight or remain around here as I get stronger.

Week Ending in 12/23

Sunday 11.7 miles @ 7:09 pace

Monday AM 2x10min on treadmill @ 5:43 and 5:32 pace with 1min rest. Lifted after.

PM 5 miles @ 6:08 pace

Tuesday Off

Wednesday 4 miles @ 7:45 pace

Thursday 6x1k @ 5:27 pace (3:32/k) with 1min rest. Treadmill. Lifted after.

Friday 8.7 miles @ 7:12 pace. V sore.

Saturday 7.1 miles @ 7:06 pace. Lots of snow.

Week total: 52 miles

Nothing spectacular about this week. Had some pretty low motivation in the middle of the week. Good aerobic workouts again this week. Will try to get in something faster next week and a longer tempo. I'm in decent shape, so hopefully I can get into decent mid distance shape soon and actually get some harder workouts in. My goal is to keep the mileage pretty moderate and just up the intensity as the year goes on, gradually. I'm really itching for summer and just logging miles but that will pass. I am looking forward to having a lydiard-esque summer and hitting new mileage peaks because I haven't run 'high' (70mpw+) mileage in a couple years and I was to rack up a solid base after all the track work I'll hopefully be doing this spring.

Week Ending in 12/30

Sunday 8x200m Hill repeats. 6% grade. Cold out.

28 high, 29, 30, 29, 31, 30, 30, 31. Pretty tough.

Monday AM 8.2 miles @ 7:30 pace

PM 3 miles @ 7:20 pace

Tuesday Off. Chest congestion and sore throat.

Wednesday 20min warmup @ 6:50 pace, 20min tempo @ 5:38 pace, 4x200m @ 4:17 pace, then a cool down and lifting. All on treadmill. Did some plyos after the workout before I started my lift.

Thursday 6.2 miles @ 7:20 pace. Not feeling great.

Friday Off. Decided to take one more day off to kick my cold.

Saturday AM 12.2 miles @ 7:25 pace. 0 degree windchill and icy roads.

PM 20min on the bike at the gym with 6x15s bike strides. Got in a good lifting session and a few accelerations after.

Week Total: 43.3 miles

Decided since I got sick to make this a down week with the extra day off. Never felt too sick, but the chest congestion was annoying. It's mostly gone now. I'm feeling confident about my current fitness. I may not be in 10 mile PR shape, but my endurance 5k and down is certainly solid and I'm already feeling stronger and more powerful from lifting these past few weeks. The main problem is the snow/icy conditions outside, which make it tough to get any quality work in anywhere but the treadmill, so I will keep doing my best with what I have. My turn over might not be great since I can't do strides on ice, but at least I'm making myself stronger and setting myself up for a good outdoor campaign.

Week Ending in 1/6

Sunday AM 6.9 very snowy miles @ 7:32 pace

PM 4 miles @ 6:02 pace on the treadmill

Monday 5 miles @ 6:55 pace + Core

Tuesday 2.9 mile warmup @ 7:00 pace. 4xmile @ 5:29 pace with 90 seconds rest on the treadmill.

Wednesday 2.6 mile warmup and 1.4 mile cool down before and after a good lifting session.

Thursday 9 miles @ 6:03 pace on the treadmill

Friday 9 miles @ 7:20 pace on the treadmill

Saturday Pre Meet 3.2 miles @ 7:40 pace

Week total: 50 miles

Not a lot of high quality this week but a decent volume of aerobic quality and a very solid lifting session. I would have lifted twice but I'm running a small all-comers meet on Sunday so I figured I should be slightly fresh since it is a good opportunity to get in some quality work since it's been so snowy/cold here lately. I'm feeling good about where I'm at. My training hasn't been crazy by any means but I've been consistent with getting workouts in and from now until May I plan on working towards bettering my 400m/800m times from last year (51.8/1:58). I don't quite have the base and speed to challenge my 800m PR of 1:52 but I'm taking steps in the right direction and I'm excited for meets in the future.

How much is you bench prs and squat too?

RejectJogger wrote:

How much is you bench prs and squat too?

Bench PR is 205lbs but I'm currently only at about 185-190lbs since I didn't lift at all from August to December.

Never attempted a squat PR because it always seemed dangerous, and very subjective based on how far you should go down. I do reps of 6-8 with 135lbs when I'm doing ass to grass squats, and I'm working towards 6 reps of 225lbs with half/parallel squats.

Deadlift PR is 315lbs but I haven't done heavy deadlifts in a while. Working towards regular heavy deadlifts after I get better with hexbar deadlifts and romanian deadlifts.

I weigh about 150lbs, give or take a couple pounds. 5'11.

Strong boy!

Why did you run 1.58 last year when PB is 1.52? And what kind of training did you do to run 1.52?

Looking at your that weeks training a few things come to mind.

You're running basically 50miles at speedy runs, with few intervals and no sprinting. Is this usual for you? Wheres the threshold intervals, the hill sprints, the track workouts?

Just curious.

Idk if you’ve been paying attention to many of my posts but I’ll assume you’re new and haven’t been following alone.

1) I ran 1:52 my senior year of college. All of that training can be found on the thread I linked in the first post of this thread, which is the thread about breaking 4:24 in the mile. There’s a lot of information and detail in that thread about how I went from 2:03-1:52.

2) I ran 1:58 last year because I ran out of eligibility, but had one more semester and an internship to finish before graduating. I had nagging injuries, low motivation, and stress finding and internship. Training was sub par at best.

3) I recently acquired a good paying stable job and am training more consistently now, but my main goal currently is to stay healthy and work on my speed more than I was able to last year.

4) You may have noticed a lot of treadmill workouts and ‘snowy’ runs. It’s been sub 0 degrees F here for weeks, and most of the roads are perpetually snow covered. There’s no indoor tracks close by therefore no way for me to get in true flat or hill sprints. I’ve been doing what I can with lifting and some plyos, but there isn’t much I can do. I have 4-5 months anyways, so there’s still a little more focus on endurance currently.

I’d be glad to answer more questions, but please read through the threads before you ask too many more questions, because I’m sure you’ll find a lot of the answers you’re looking for.

Thanks.

congrats on that 3k PR! you are almost faster than Katelyn Tuohy Herself!!!

Yeah, but I think would have the WR in the 800. He’s an 800 guy, not a 3k guy.

ThatAverageRunner wrote:

Never attempted a squat PR because it always seemed dangerous, and very subjective based on how far you should go down. I

Yes, it's better to stick with lighter weights before moving to heavier, and as a runner you should stay @ or below 85% of 1RM, doing sets of 4-6 reps, just like you've done. As you know when doing half squat you go down until you reach 90 degree leg angle, but with parallel squats you activate the glutes more effectively in the down position, which is good for a runner. By keeping the weights @ 85% or below you can do the parallel squats more safely. Deadlifts / Romanian deadlifts helps to build a strong back etc. and you can do the parallel squats more safely.

Good stuff my dude! Sounds like those conditions are pretty rough wherever you live. Keep building that strength. It will pay dividends come April/May when the weather clears up and you start racing.

Have you considered having a "down" week to let your body recover a little more?

Roblox oof sound I guarantee if I was in that race with Tuohy I would have out kicked her...hahaha.

He's gonna PR in the 8 thanks for the support.

UNO I always appreciate your insight on letsrun. I plan to smartly progress with lifting like you mention, and I think my 400m/800m times will thank me down the road.

Joalturn I live in North Western Pennsylvania which has been getting hit pretty hard lately. It supposed to warm up this week so hopefully I can at least get in some sprints and a long run outside.

As for down weeks, I was a huge fan the first time I ever built up to 70mpw and have used them on and off since, and I do plan on using them when I build the mileage back up this summer, but as for now, I'll probably only take them when I feel I need to. I've been taking 1 day off per week for the past couple months on whichever day I feel like I need it. I feel as though this has helped mentally and physically, and the act of not planning it allows me to use it whenever I need it (i.e. I slept poorly, the weather is terrible, I feel sick, etc).

If I was running higher mileage and/or not taking regular days off I would likely take more down weeks.

My "long con troll senses" are tingling mightily here.

Something about your training just seems off. You have multiple efforts during the week that seem way beyond (faster) than any sort of recovery or easy pace. This makes some sense given that you expressed interest in multiple (2-3) tempo efforts a week, but those paces still don't add up. The only tempo I really saw that was worth considering as a tempo was the 2x10 minute at 5:49 & 5:32. Most 4:20+ milers could do 5:30 tempos all day and yet the majority of your tempo efforts seem to hover around 6:00 minute pace for, what seems, arbitrary distances at times (like the last 1.3 miles of a run that was an otherwise easy run?). I think you're going to end up confusing your body and wearing yourself out when all of your runs end up devolving into a half-baked tempo effort. Also, 10 mile tempos? I've seen quite a few 10 mile efforts here at faster than easy pace. There is practically no one I know who ran similar and faster times than the subject of this thread that would ever go above 6 mile tempos.

My mistake, I also saw a 4 mile or 20 minute tempo here and there at a best of 5:42? But still, you ran 5:05 pace for your Turkey Trot despite almost never doing any runs at that pace?

Most of the 6:00 pace stuff is just a steady effort. Many great milers and 800m runners do training runs such as this. I'm not hammering tempos at sub 5:40 pace 2-3 times a week 5 months out from my goal races. I also follow the train of thought that easier/longer tempos and steady efforts are better for me long term then hammering 20 minutes at a specific pace rather than going by feel. My tempos are going to be getting faster and shorter, but I still like to include the longer stuff, especially for the relatively low mileage I've been doing.

Additionally, I don't think I could run a 4:20 mile right now. Physiologically, I'm more of a speed based mid distance runner and I tend to struggle with longer races and tempo-type paces. I'm a big believer in paces between 'easy' and 'hard' paces. See: Canova, tinman, etc. Also, what's wrong with bringing the pace down at the end of a run if I feel good? Are you against unstructured progression runs?

Not sure if i'm being trolled or not.