I am a freshman girl who started running in 7th grade. Now during the track season I run the two mile and for cross country I run the 3 mile. Sectionals for track is just around the corner and I need to shave 5 seconds off my time to qualify. The qualifying time is 11:31. I ran an 11:36 in 60 degree semi-windy weather last week. At this meet I ran these splits: 400: 1:23 800: 2:45 Mile: 5:40 Finish: 11:36 I'm thinking that I should run a slower first mile and then not die so much on the 2nd mile. Is this a good plan? Please post any ideas for mental, splits, diet. Anything will be appreciated. Thanks!

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Consistency is critical. Do a fast 330 or 440 at the start to position yourself in the front third, then throttle back to a pace which you can maintain for the next mile and a bit, while saving enough for a good sprint at the end in case you need to catch someone. I believe you will have better times if you run "even" quarters, except the opening and closing ones.
So, I guess the answer would be the first and last mile should be at the same pace, except reverse the fast 440's. I had my best results in 10 K or better when the opening mile was the same (or similar) to the closing mile. A bit harder to do in the 2 mile you are talking about, but consistency is better for your overall times. A fast first mile will kill you if you can't maintain it for the second mile. Break it down into smaller sections, like 440's as I suggest, and run evenly during the middle portion. Carry a stopwatch for your splits. And time those 220's you are do as rep's from your other thread to figure the 'pace' you are training at in order to get a feel for how hard you are running during those reps... adjust your quarters to something like this:

1:20, 2 @ 1:25, 2@1:30, 2 @ 1:25, 1:20 I didn't do the math, but this should work to break 11:30...

You are very close to your target here, practice, practice and practice will do it for you... But you need to time those 220's and learn to 'feel' the pace of your running speeds. Target those for around 35 seconds to test your conditioning and to be able to put two of them together to achieve those 1:20 quarters. Too fast at the opening will drain you for the last half. Best encouragement I can offer is those 5 seconds will be easy compared to the 5 seconds you will need to drop at a faster time, but as you gain strength and conditioning, it will come for you.

Best of luck, keep us informed of your success in this...

 

 

 

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I may be able to help you, but you need to tell me what your main prblem is that prevents you from finishing faster?
I mean, is it shortness of breath, pain in legs, jelly-legs, cramping legs?
I run track also and how you'd need to shave off time really depends on why you didn't do better before.

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