High Schooler looking for serious advice

you'll get hurt if you do too much too soon. Build up slowly and carefully. Maybe get to 55-65 range by the end of the summer.

I think you may not get to 15:30 in just 6 or so months, but then again, you never know. 1:53 shouldnt be too out of reach though. Drop me an email, I'd love to help you out if i can.

anyone?

I ran in high school with a 2:02 800m runner (as a senior) who went on to run sub 1:54 in college. With hard work, you can do it.

I agree exactly with dc449

You have the speed...51 and 23 are really quick times. With a good base this summer and a little of that stuff called "heart", you should have no problem.

What sort of base should I build though? That's my most important question...how do I get to those times?

bump

15:30 does seem a bit far away, but the mile is a possiblility with your speed.

I think you should definely increase your mileage and train as hard as you can this summer with the goal of 15:30 in your mind. If you do hit it, great. Even if you don't, you should greatly improve. So, basically, just train hard and see what happens.

Here is my two cents.

You have solid speed, not incredible, but certainly your strong suit. I think you can be very successful, and while 15:30 might be tough, I think your goals should be to be a good XC runner, and then try to run very fast on the track. If I were you this is what I would do:

Take 2 weeks off after the season is over. Have fun, relax, and recharge.

Then start with 3-4 miles a day for a week or 2.

From there, I would go weeks of: 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 35, 50, 55, 60, 60, 50, 65...

A typical week of 55 might be:

Mon - 8 miles easy (maybe 7:15 - 7:30 a mile)

Tue - 5 miles easy, then 8 x 100m strides on the grass.

Wed - 9 miles easy

Thur - 6 miles, middle 4 @ ~6:00-6:15 per mile

Fri - 6 miles easy

Sat - 13 miles easy (7:30-7:45)

Sun - 8 mile fartlek ( 5 x 3min w/ 1min jog... harder stuff @ ~ 5:15-5:30 pace)

Since you have such a weak background of mileage, I would err on the side of caution. But you obviously are talented. If you work hard, stay healthy, and race hard, fast times will come. Hope this helps.

How do I build up to those speeds for longer runs?

Look out for dc499 and coach they sound like trolls or worse

gish wrote:

Look out for dc499 and coach they sound like trolls or worse

gish, what do you mean?

With 51, 2:03, and......18:48, you might want to reconsider your goals. 23.2 & 51 is roughly the standard conversion for a sprinter, and 51 => 2:03 is actually very good. You are NOT likely to get a lot faster (you can improve some) in your 800 without improving your 400 no matter how many miles you run, because you won't have enough speed reserve.

With this makeup, I would say that you are a natural 800 specialist, or maybe 400/800. You do NOT seem to be a distance runner type. Your 200 speed is adequate for getting your 800 into the low-1:50 range (scholarship territory), while to get into the equivalent range in the 400, you would need 47-something, and you would need to get your 200 into 21-high.

So, you need to decide what you really want to go for. To get your 800 time down 10 seconds, you would run some mileage (30-40 maybe) but really emphasize aerobic power. This is not high mileage, but long intervals (1000's, 1200's, 16-12-8-4 breakdowns) twice a week. If you go after the 400, you need to get in some serious sprint training to get your 200 speed down, and what you would probably need to do is get in the weight room and do heavy squats (3-4 sets of 3-5 at max weight) and NOT run xc.

If you listen to listen to (slow, compared to you) distance runners talking about lots of mileage, you'll be wasting your talents, and I think you'll be disappointed with the results.

i highly doubt 7:15-7:30 is ez for 8 miles. When I was in 17:30 shape it was a complete all out effort to run 7:15 pace for 11 miles. 3 miles shoerter at the same pace would not make it an ez run.

so how?

Do not listen to Speed Kills.

I only ran 50 flat and ran 1:51. I only ran 53.4 in high school.

Neither of us has ever seen you run but to say you should limit yourself to the 400, 800 is silly. Even Seb Coe who was a truly talented midddle distance runner ran cross country.

Speed endurance is the key factor in any distance 800m and up. You are on the right track trying to gradually increase your mileage. Work on tempo oriented runs and stay healthy. Do your strides religiously.

Speed will come over time, fitness will not unless you run the miles.

Masterminds plan is very close to what I would suggest.

Don't waste time worrying about your 200m time. You are plenty fast.

1:53 is only 28.25 per 200m-you don't have to be fast, just fit enough to run 4 of those in a row.

If you run 15:30 you will have a good chance to run 1:53.

Kerron Clement ran XC in high school (in the 17s)...didn't slow him down much apparently.