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Beginner high school runner needs help on 800-1600m (Read 79 times)

highschoolnoob


    1. Does form really matter? Is it okay to have okay form? I don't take this too seriously

    2. Do exercises matter or I can just practice running my 800m and 1600m?

    3. How do I stay motivated?

    4. How do I know if I'm overstriding?

    5. How long should I practice a day to get the most benefit and fastest time?

    6. How do I know if I really need to give up, or I will collapse?

    jshor847


      Hey high school noob,

       

      I am a cross country and track coach in Wisconsin. Awesome to see your interest in track and field. Here is my two cents on some of your questions. Hopefully you will find something helpful:

       

      1. Form is important because people who have a more efficient form lose less energy during a race and perform to their potential. For example, when you run, watch to make sure your head stays straight, your arms are at a 90 degree angle and you keep your arms from crossing over the midline of your body. A word of wisdom I got form my high school coach was to think "hip-chest," which means when you swing your arms, your hands should come up as high as your chest, and as low as your hip. Anything higher or lower and you are wasting energy you will need for the race. Watch some form drills on youtube and practice them before your season starts. It will help a lot.

       

      2. The 800 is more of a speed race, and the 1600 is more of an endurance race. You will need to practice both of those things. A good way to do this is have one day where you run some 200s at max speed with 3-4 minutes between each 200. Then go out and run 2-3 miles easy and call it a day. The next day do an easy 3-4 mile run, and take the 3rd day off from running. This has been a good cycle for me as I get older as well.

       

      3. You can stay motivated by setting short term goals for yourself and then rewarding yourself when you hit them. For example, set a goal of running 3 days in a row. Once you hit that goal, have a reward for yourself. Maybe an extra hour of Fortnite on a school night??? Something like that.

       

      I personally used to think about the people I wanted to beat and believed that I had to be out running every day, otherwise if they were out running and I wasn't they were going to beat me.

       

      4. Have a coach film you run some time to check out your stride. You can also download Coach My Video from the app store on your phone and have someone film you and compare it to things you already know about stride.

       

      5. Practice time should also include plyometrics and core work. Follow Runners World and Competitor Running on twitter. They have some good videos and articles of workouts you can do. Run at least 30-40 minutes daily, but add in core and plyos too. Remember "The Little Things are the BIG Things."

       

      6. In my whole life, I have seen like 4-5 girls collapse from exhaustion of pushing themselves and maybe 1 guy. You don't need to worry about collapsing. You are stronger than you think.

       

      Hope you could find some use in my words. Good luck this spring!

       

      -Justin

      highschoolnoob


        Thanks. Can I just practice the 800m and 1600m like the race, without the 200m exercises or 3-4 miles?

        tom1961


        Old , Ugly and slow

          How much running are you doing now?

           

           

          When does track start?

           

          What is your age, height and weight.

           

          Have you been doing any other sports.

           

          When you run does anything hurt?

          first race sept 1977 last race sept 2007

           

          2019  goals   1000  miles  , 190 pounds , deadlift 400 touch my toes

          wcrunner2


          Are we there, yet?

            Thanks. Can I just practice the 800m and 1600m like the race, without the 200m exercises or 3-4 miles?

             

            No.  That doesn't produce the training effects you need.  The 3-4 miles, I would push that up to 5-6 eventually, is to build endurance and needs to be run at an easy, comfortable pace.   The 200s help with form and efficiency.  I think you would be better served by running sets of 8-12 200m intervals at 800m race pace with a 200m jog recovery between, and for the 1600m run 8-10 400m intervals at 1600m race pace with a 400m jog recovery.  Those will help you improve your oxygen uptake as well as get you used to running race pace without actually running the full race distance.  You shouldn't be running hard workouts like the intervals or sprinting 200 meters more than twice a week.  All the other days should be easy running of various distance, e.g. 3-6 miles.  Be sure you get a good warm up of easy jogging and running for 10-15 minutes before running any fast repeats or intervals.  Failure to warm up properly is one of the most common causes of pulled muscles.

             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.

             

             

                 

            rmcj001


               

              No.  That doesn't produce the training effects you need.  The 3-4 miles, I would push that up to 5-6 eventually, is to build endurance and needs to be run at an easy, comfortable pace.   The 200s help with form and efficiency.  I think you would be better served by running sets of 8-12 200m intervals at 800m race pace with a 200m jog recovery between, and for the 1600m run 8-10 400m intervals at 1600m race pace with a 400m jog recovery.  Those will help you improve your oxygen uptake as well as get you used to running race pace without actually running the full race distance.  You shouldn't be running hard workouts like the intervals or sprinting 200 meters more than twice a week.  All the other days should be easy running of various distance, e.g. 3-6 miles.  Be sure you get a good warm up of easy jogging and running for 10-15 miles before running any fast repeats or intervals.  Failure to warm up properly is one of the most common causes of pulled muscles.

               

              Think you meant 10-15 minutes?


              Ray

               

              wcrunner2


              Are we there, yet?

                 

                Think you meant 10-15 minutes?

                 

                Yeah, I'll fix that.

                 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.

                 

                 

                     

                  Highschoolnoob:

                   

                  Some things to read about are

                  Periodization

                  base mileage

                  pose running

                   

                  As has been said countless times here, there is no substitute for mileage. There is no magical sequence of repeats (ie; 200-400-800-400-200) that can take the place of mileage. Once you have a good base, you can start doing some speedwork.

                   

                  And to be clear, just doing your race distances as training runs isn't the best way to get better. It's not like shooting free-throws all day to get better at shooting them. It doesn't work that way. Middle distance performance is optimized by a strategic approach to training, which involves getting strong enough (by building a base) to be able to do quality speed sessions, so you can reap the benefits later in races. (simplified version)

                  To use a videogame analogy, you need to do a lot of grinding to improve your abilities so you can level up easier.

                   

                  Your form will evolve with your strength, and mileage. Don't try to radically change anything, if you have to force yourself to run a certain way, it's probably WRONG for you. But typically; head up, back straight, and any lean forward is from the ankles (not waist), and it's very slight. If you have a lot of up and down bounce, you're probably landing with your foot too far forward of your center of gravity. You want your momentum and force to go forward, not up. Think stride BACK, not stride out, and the bounce will reduce. Again, don't force anything, changes should be slight as you try them, and not uncomfortable.

                   

                  You won't collapse. You might get tired and not be able to run as fast, but you won't collapse.

                   

                  Motivation? seeking to improve your personal best times is always a strong motivation! Don't worry too much about beating other runners, concentrate on beating your previous best times. Other things are finishing a planned workout, running X-amount of miles in a week (or month or year). For those tedious long runs of an hour or more, listen to music. I wear earbuds and use an MP3 player loaded with my music. Oh, those long runs, it's not about how fast you run, but for how far and long. Jogging at barely more than a walking pace is perfectly fine.

                  60-64 age group  -  University of Oregon alumni  -  Irreverent and Annoying


                  Village people

                    Are you preparing for outdoor track? Hopefully you will have a coach who will address these issues. My son, a freshman, is at the tail end of indoor track and he is a distance runner. The 800m and the 1000m. He is also running he 4x400m relay which isn’t his favorite. His coaches guide their practices. Good luck. Track and cross country are great team sports. Such a close knit bunch.

                    highschoolnoob


                      How much running are you doing now?

                       

                       

                      When does track start?

                       

                      What is your age, height and weight.

                       

                      Have you been doing any other sports.

                       

                      When you run does anything hurt?

                       

                      30 minutes of 5k a day

                      15 years old male, 5 10, 130 pounds

                      highschoolnoob


                        How much running are you doing now?

                         

                         

                        When does track start?

                         

                        What is your age, height and weight.

                         

                        Have you been doing any other sports.

                         

                        When you run does anything hurt?

                         

                        Kung fu, but not vigorously

                        No, but I get lazier and I keep wanting to quit

                        highschoolnoob


                          Are you preparing for outdoor track? Hopefully you will have a coach who will address these issues. My son, a freshman, is at the tail end of indoor track and he is a distance runner. The 800m and the 1000m. He is also running he 4x400m relay which isn’t his favorite. His coaches guide their practices. Good luck. Track and cross country are great team sports. Such a close knit bunch.

                          Yes, I'm doing outdoor track

                          tom1961


                          Old , Ugly and slow

                            Why are you doing this?

                            if you really don’t like running then quit

                            to get better is going to involve work

                            running a good 800 or 1500 is going to be painful

                            first race sept 1977 last race sept 2007

                             

                            2019  goals   1000  miles  , 190 pounds , deadlift 400 touch my toes

                              It would be nice to know a little more.

                               

                              People have asked your background in other sports because they are trying to get a sense for the training load you can handle.  for example if you came from a heavy soccer background where you played a mid-field position we would all know you could handle a lot more than the kid who played in goal.  So, if you have done a little bit of martial arts but basically you are just coming off the couch then your training is going to look a lot different than if you were a point guard on the basketball team.

                               

                              Also, 30 minutes for 5k of running is generally very slow, but maybe not for you.  Is it difficult to run that pace or are you just jogging?

                               

                              It would help me a lot if you came back here with a 3k time, or even a mile time, and also to test how far you can run in a 30 minute test.  It would help even more if I had a 200 time at max effort tested on a different day.  The more information you have the more easy it is for us to help you.

                               

                              That being said, if you are being lazy and unmotivated let us know  because that will not work at all for you and our advice will also be meaningless.

                              highschoolnoob


                                This is what I've been timed so far:400m 1:20 1200m 4:52 5k is just a guess, I'm not sure.

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