Forums >Running 101>Are these 800m and 1600m times good for a 2 week beginner 15 year old male runner?
I ran in track in 7th grade, we didn't take it that seriously, and didn't train that hard. The season was only like 2 months, 40 minutes every weekday. I was 12 years old and got a 7:40 mile time. I was average during the track meets. I didn't do track in 8th grade, and now I returned in 9th grade as 15 years old. We started training and 1 hour and 10 minutes everyday, and we were actually training hard, expect I was being lazy. Now just finished a meet after 2 weeks, and got 2:55 800m and 6:09 1600m because it was actually a real track meet. I was surprised how much my peers have progressed, and I placed 3rd to last in the 1600m and 2nd to last in the 800m. I just want a honest opinion from you guys.
UPDATE: 6:41 2/14/19 I am skinny. 5 9.5, 133 pounds. I was not active before joining. My pacing was good. There was about 40 minutes between the races. A 5 minute guy placed first. The cold probably didn't affect my times that much, it was about 60 degrees for the first and 55 degrees for the second. We were running in our uniforms, short running shorts and muscle t-shirt. I'm east asian if race has something to do with it.
Are we there, yet?
There's a lot left unsaid here. Are you overweight? How active were you before joining the track team? How was your pacing in the races? How much time between races and which came first? Did the weather (cold, wind, heat) affect the times?
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
Village people
Your times will improve. My son runs track and there is a big difference between his freshman times and the seniors’. They are more developed while he is still growing. He runs a 2:16 800m and that is middle of the road. His coaches are great and help them see where they can end up if they keep working.
For someone who has only been training for 2 weeks those are fine. Plenty of room for improvement. The average kid walking around your high school couldn't come close to those times but the kids you are racing have a few years of consistent training under their belts. Keep at it.
Runners run
Expect rapid improvement over the next two months.
A race result is only an indicator of how good your training is.
60-64 age group - University of Oregon alumni - Irreverent and Annoying
I am skinny. 5 9.5, 133 pounds. I was not active before joining. My pacing was good. There was about 40 minutes between the races. A 5 minute guy placed first. The cold probably didn't affect my times that much, it was about 60 degrees for the first and 55 degrees for the second. We were running in our uniforms, short running shorts and muscle t-shirt. I'm east asian if race has something to do with it.
55-60 degrees is great for racing.
You're not too skinny to be a distance runner, all the really good ones are under 150lbs.
There are world class runners of all genetic/ethnic groups, so don't worry about that holding you back!
Once your training runs start showing benefit, you'll run much faster races. At your age, HS freshman, I went from 2:25 800m to 2:07 in about two months (first meet to last meet). And we didn't have a coach that knew anything about training distance runners.
That's an ideal build for a distance runner and what I consider ideal racing conditions. Pacing for those distances should be pretty even, each lap close to the average. Most young or inexperienced runners have a tendency to start too fast then slow down drastically.
My advice, personally don't worry about the times, listen to your coach... perhaps tell him/her you want to improve...
with time and training you'll improve., don't sweat it and the times will come.
also small improvements lead to big improvements, don't try to shave 30 seconds every run, look for 1...2...5secs
good luck!
300m- 37 sec.