Distance runners.

[Youngdistance]

I new to this forum, but I really want to run 9:29.99 for the 3k.
I am currnetly in the 10:45 to 10:59 range. I have 4 months to run 9:29
So can every body post there best workouts.

Here are my times
400: 62 I hate this race
800: 2:20 I believe I can get 2:15 because I havent run the 8 and been timed in awhile, because og cross-couuntry.
1500: 4:43 I need to drop 33 secs to have a chance of winning this ( during summer)
1600: 5:20 This was before I got serious with track. I beleive I can go 5:07
3000: 10:45 and 10:59 I ran this time when I was running by myself.
I have been running for a year and a half. I am now a ninth grader, who is runnung cross country for the first time. So is 9:29 possible, please help.

[DCR2489]

My first few years of high school i ran track/x-country (5:03 mile, don't exactly remember the times for my cross country events) , and the best way to get faster at running is to run. Packing on mass through weight training is probably contradictory to your goals becuase at the distances you're running any extra mass will just slow you down. At the most, you should focus on some bodyweight exercises (pushups, pullups, BW squats, lunges,) and plenty of plyometrics to make you quicker (I also remember winning a race the whole time and then not having enough kick to beat the guy who was coming up behind me and would sprint right by me).

[B52pilot]

I ran cross-country and track in high school. I think you have a very good chance of breaking 9:30 in the 3000m. I ran my best times alone too, or during training (I was more concerned about maintaining my varsity status and reputation as hardworker than I was with actually doing well in races lol).

Anyways, if you are starting freshman year, you'll have a coach obviously. Do what he says. Most likely he has some clue about what's going on.

As for strength training, I wouldn't worry about getting bulky. Even in my senior year during cross-country, I was only 130 pounds. I was very muscular too, and could powerclean 210 pounds, one of the very best powerclean to weight ratios in my whole high school. Still, I was thin as a rail but yoked, looked like Brad Pitt in Fight Club. After cross-country season ended, I continued to lift hard, ran less, and ate heavy. By the end of senior year (didn't run track that year) I was 150-155 lbs or so, still very, very low bodyfat. My point is that at your age, with all the running you'll be doing, one of the last things you need to worry about is getting too bulky. Take a weight training class. When I was a freshman, the captain of the cross-country team lifted daily. He won over a dozen state championships by the time he finished high school (a couple cross country state championships, and many in track in 800, 1600, 3200m, and the relays).

Some things to think about:
-You WILL get faster, stronger, and better over the years as your body matures. The summer before my junior year, puberty must have kicked in big time for me, because I lifted all summer long, ate like a pig (eggs, milk, cheese, everything), and showed up to cross-country season that Fall yoked! Everyone noticed how muscular I'd gotten.
Chicks mature at earlier ages, so that's why it's not all that uncommon to see female state champions who are freshmen, whereas that's almost unheard of with males.

Bottom line: over the next few years, your body will mature and you willnaturally get faster

-INTERVALS are the key to life! No pain, no gain. If you can stomach 10x400m with 60 second rests in between, running each one in 65-70 seconds, you'll be well on your way. I could do it as an average runner (17:45 certified 5K PR), so you will be able to as you reach your goals. I'm sure your coach will have your team do intervals, probably weekly.

-Lots of sleep

-Lots of good grocery store food, plenty of meals per day (might be hard while in classes)

-Take weight training classes if your school has them. Strong Arms, shoulders, abdominals will only help your kick. Do a search on plyometrics as well, as these will really help your kick. At those shorter distances (5K and less), I'm a big believer in developing your fast-twitch fibers so you can pour on the heat when needed.

-Don't overdo it. Your body needs rest. If you are too sore, let it rest, so you don't destroy it when it's weakest.

-Look into a personal running trainer. I lived near 2 professional runners, both Olympic marathoners who have been featured on runners world covers, and write for them sometimes. A couple of the high school runners in the area would train with these guys (I think a modest training fee was charged). At least two runners that I know who trained with them were state champions. I think these guys were good runners, but would not have won state championships without that professional expertise...
Bottom Line: Learn from the professionals if you have that opportunity in your area, and your parents will pay for it. I never took advantage of the chance, but wish I had. Though I think running potential is highly genetic, I think I could have been in the 16:00 minute range for my 5K with top training.

[Youngdistance]

Thanks, for the advice.
As you know I live in Georgia and distance is real competitive.
While I was gone I found that Morceli always did long 60 to 90 min runs, and ended with 4 x 100 all out.
But for speed work he did 12x400 in 55sec.
Should I run for 60mins?
The bottom line is if 9:29 equals 75sec x 7.5 laps, then I should end up doing
10x400 repeats in 76 secs right.
There are 7 real deal athletes I will race, unforunatly

Ben huber: 4:08 1600 9:08 3200m 1:56 800 15:59 5k ( unbelivable, and it was in cross country)
Reginald warren: 1:53 800 4:08 1500
Christopher davis: 1:53 800 51 400
Jay heller: 4:11 1600 9:13 3200
Rick shreck: 1:51 800
William Cosby: 1:57 800 4:14 1500
And Shiab winter: 9:22 3000 4:30 1500 9:56 3200

[B52pilot]

yep, those are some awesome times by those other guys. Keep working. I have no idea your potential, but by working hard, you'll get better. The two guys on my team that ended up being state champions many times over (one was 3 years older than me, the other was a year younger) were both excellent when it came time to kick. I attribute that to our team's heavy interval workouts, and emphasis on strength training. If a race came to the end, our guys could outkick anyone. So whatever you do, keep that as part of your focus. These guys would even run the 400m races from time to time, then go into a 3200m!

Not sure about running 90 minutes. The longest run I would even contemplate as a track/high school cross-country runner is about 10 miles, and even that might be over doing it. I mean if your longest race is only 3 miles...

We would occasionally (every two weeks or so) do a "long" run of 7 miles or more. One time we did a 13-miler, with an extended break at the halfway point.

There are a hundred and one theories on intervals. You can try to run them at your race pace, faster than race pace, a little slower than race pace. You can shorten the rest between each, while maintaining the same pace. You can lengthen each sprint while keeping the same pace (so if you want to do 10x400 in 75 sec, gradually move up to where you are doing 5x800x 2min 30sec...), you can increase the number that you run, lots of options. Continue to push your limits by making the workouts harder. If you can easily do 10x400 in 75sec now, you need to do more, do them faster, or shorten the rests, to make the workout harder, so you get faster.

[Youngdistance]

Thanks.
No I cant do 10x400 in 75, I never tried it yey, because I want to save interval training until a month before indoor season, then continue doing for outdoor.

In practice we just do 40 min runs or 3 miles followed by 10x100 or 800m worth of hills or 1 hard mile folled by 6x200m. Coach chooses the workout and we do it. Anyway I beat the whole team for the first time in the 40min run. I dont believe I getting that much better, but the teams upperclassmen are slow.
I am the only freshman. And trying to break a freshman record in the 3200, 5k, or mile.

I have been on this forum for what, 2 days, and I can already see you might be my online coach . thanks