sure, just be well-rested for your race, take caffeine beforehand, warm up thoroughly before the race, pace yourself better, and push yourself harder, and you could drop a ton of time

Everything trackrunnerguy said minus the caffeine. It is a very unhealthy way to get "energized" before the reace. You may have an awesome race but the real killer is after the race. It gets your heart pumping way faster than needed. Just add a few more striders or a few minutes to your warm-up to get the same desired affect.

Alex

wrong. caffeine decreases the amount of oxygen that your heart gets by 22%

You can probably drop 9 seconds without the caffeine, if you just pace well.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by BWrunbabe09:
[B]my time is 13:39.8 and my goal is a 13:30. I plan to break it tomorrow afternoon.

I need to work on my kick too. How can I improve it. That would take off seconds too.

Any tips to get the PR I hope for??[B]<HR>

If you want to run 13:30, hit the 1600m in 6:45-6:50. That means you hit the first lap in 1:40ish. The first lap will be a little faster than subsequent laps. Then simply run 1:41-1:42 per lap. You can adjust your pace each lap, depending on the split. At 1600m, you try to start taking seconds off each lap. This is done by how you feel. In the fifth lap, maintaining pace or dropping one second is fine. But, with 800 meters left, you should be thinking of taking 3-4 four seconds off that lap. You get your PR in the last lap.

You should calculate how far you can run in 3 seconds at 13:30 pace. It will see that it isn't a lot; but if you are not in oxygen debt from the first mile, it is doable.

If you want to improve your "kick", you simply have to learn how to sprint. It is very different than the stride you use during the body of a 3200. The best way to learn to sprint is to practice sprinting from starting blocks. This forces you to "knee lift" before you are running erect.

if you take caffeine at every practice or take too much, it can damage your body. but if you take it one time just to pr its helpful. anyways a 13:30 3200 is a time most people could do while juggling and singing opera so maybe better advice is just to go out and run? imo its not time to start scrutinizing pre-race preparation until your already so elite that you don't think you can raise your fitness any higher

well done, i'm glad you made your goal