I actually have the same question as you. I am planning to do a little internet searching to find the answer, in addition to posting the question here. I am 31 and my latest mile time (last Saturday) was a 5:02. Not bad considering I do absolutely zero track work and I weigh about 200 lbs. Maybe it's instructive to look at what I did to get this far, and then add more specific work. I do a lot of hill climbing. Almost all runs will contain hills, which I run through pretty aggressively. A typical weekend long run will go 13 or 14 miles and will include a couple thousand feet of climbing. This provides a good training stimulus for developing strength and endurance. Now you'll want to top that off with some pure speedwork on the track. That's where my question comes in. What do you guys suggest for specific track work?

Would a good start be

10 x 400 at goal pace?

What else?

Thx

quote:<HR>Originally posted by th1nk4yourself:
I'm 20, and my 1500 time is a 4:28 (converts to a 4:48 1600). I'm a girl - just fyi. I'm running in college, and it's a great experience! Anyway - here are a couple workouts we do on my team for the 1500/mile:

3 (4x400) at race pace with 200 jog. My race pace was 71, so that was the goal. In between sets we got 400 jog. We did variations of 400's - different paces for different rest amounts and reps.

3x800m, about 2:24-2:26 pace for me - which means about your desired race pace or slightly slower. Also...I guess I train at altitude, so you can alter your 800's accordingly.

12x200m not all out - about 30-31 for me. So, fast but not too fast because we never stopped running and went straight into a jog for 60 seconds straight over across the field to the 200m mark.

and my favorite (not):

4x400m with 30seconds rest - run the 400's AT RACE PACE - all of them, especially that first one - or else you will suffer the consequences later.

Also, increasing your mileage will help a lot. It helped me tons. I ran a 5:17 mile in high school on 25 miles a week, and now my best mile is a converted 4:50 on 45-50 miles a week. <HR>

Killer times thinker... same as mine.
27 year old guy.... been running since september 2004

My best 400 is 67 (1st lap of 1500 pb)
best 800 is 2:19 (split from same race)
best 1500 is 4:27
3000 - 9:33

------------------
Craig[/URL" target="_blank">
Craig's Log[/URL" target="_blank">

I would agree that at this point of the year, lots of miles with hills is a great thing to be doing. Long hills are better.

If you are running along easily and come to a hill that would take anywhere from 2-4 min to ascend, hit it fairly hard. Work hard on maintaining good posture and knee lift. Stay on the balls of your feet and try to have a good pop in your toe off. Come down the backside nice and easy. For longer hills, still concentrate on good running form, just don't power off so hard with each step.

It seems like you could use some tempo runs as well. Go out and do 20-30 minutes at a pace that is comfortably fast. Don't go so hard that you feel like you are racing, just concentrate on being quick and light

Don't worry too much about doing anything really fast all the strength work won't make your speed go away. If you are really worried about your speed, you can do striders 2-3 times per week where you build up to 400 race pace and hold it for 20-40 meters. You have great 400 speed compared to your longer races. What is your main race? With improved stamina, I would say you could pop 1:56-1:58 next year.

Do you even have hills in your area?

quote:<HR>Originally posted by Middistance06:
Im going off to college this fall and run track. My coach says I have to get my mile time down to get more money on my scholarship. I run the 400 in a :51 and the 800 in a 2:04 but my 1600 is 4:55. I know that Im capable of droppind my time but my HS didn't have an experienced distance coach and my mile suffered. Any one younger to older can respond. If you have a good workout I'll happily accept. Can you give your age and 1500/1600 and 3200/5k time. Thanks.... <HR>

You have good 400/800 speed- work on your endurance over the summer ie longer runs of 75-90 mins, hills, fartlek and tempo runs strides. Run some 5k road races for fun. Working on your endurance would help the most you certainly haver good speed. You 400 time is the same as mine. My times for
1500/ 5k are sub 4- 1500/sub 14:30 5k. Good luck