Run-Down Forums

[Guest]

What is a mile time that is decent enough for colleges to look at?

[Guest]

I ran a 5:13 mile with little training, to lean toward 4:50 what is some decent training advice?

[Anonymously Posted by: 'optimisticman']

[Guest]

I've just begun speedwork;after a few months lay off due to some knee and achilles stress.

I've never been systematic in speework until now.
I am careful not to overdo it. But Iam experiencing soreness in my quads. And after my last session I developed significant soreness in my inner thighs-not the groin but lower.

All of my speedwork is done on a treadmill. From warmup through the splits it takes about 40 minutes.

My feeling is that this soreness has to do with my tendency to extend my stride during faster pace on the treadmill.

Any help, suggestions, questions, would really be appreciated.

[Anonymously Posted by: 'Bob Bunch']

[Dan]

Argh, damn mac's.... I'm away from my computer and using a #$@! mac; just about done typing a reply to the three questions, and it suddenly decides to wipe out the page when I click slightly off the scroll bar. Here goes again...

1) It depends entirely on the college that you are considering. A school like Stanford cannot count on one hand the number of sub-4 minute milers on next year's squad. A local junior college might show interest in a 5-5:30 miler. You will need to look at what a school currently has on their squad and the level of competition. That will give you a pretty good indication of what will interest them.

2) You should be able to accomplish that by gearing your intervals toward 4:50 pace. I'm a big believer in 12x400m, as described at the end of the Training pages (which will be getting a facelift soon).

3) I think deep lunges would help to strengthen that section of your legs. Make sure to extend all the way so that your lead knee is direcly over the foot and your back knee is touching the ground. Do them walking forward, as the stationary nonsense version does nothing to approximate the running motion.

I'm surprised you overextend on the treadmill. My stride is significantly shorter during treadmill running, causing me to increase my stride frequency quite a bit, which could easily induce quad soreness. Personally, I don't see any value in doing speedwork on the treadmill. If you have a track near by, that will allow you to allow much more naturally and is the ultimate "pace control" tool.

Cheers,
Dan

[Guest]

Thanks Dan,

But, according to most runners, the only benefit they derive from Treadmill, IS SPEEDWORK. The treadmill, rather than the track, can approximate hills encountered in most 5k races. Speed is certainly more accurately determined on a treadmill.

To be honest with you, I've never encountered a 5k race that in any way resembled a flat, oval track. On the other hand, I don't believe I've ever encountered a hill that could not be approximated with incline module on a treadmill.

ps I am going to start those lunges tomorrow thanks a million

[Anonymously Posted by: 'Robert Bunch']

[Dan]

I think what you are referring to as speed work is what I consider pace work. Most people look at it as a superficial distinction (I did the first time I heard it), but there is a huge difference. I don't believe it's possible to naturally do true speed work on the treadmill, no matter how accustomed to it you are. The track is the ultimate place for developing speed, which then carries over to the ability to run pace.

Here's the way I look at it: The object of a race is not who can run a certain pace the longest, but who can run the specified distance the fastest. Speed often becomes the deciding factor (within reason).

Dan