Finish of the mile?

Question

For some reason, im stuck at 4:58 for my mile time. I always start well enough, but that third lap always gets me. I was thinking maybe train for the 800, to help my finishing. Any other suggestions?

Answer 1

The third lap of the mile is often where the race is won/lost.. The adreneline of the first 800m is over and everyone seems to "settle" into a more comfortable pace before the finishing kick... This also normally happens to runners during a workout.. When doing repeats of a distance, the first and last repeats are typically the fastest.. in the excitement of the start and anticipation of the end.. Correct this by:

1200m pacing drills

Whenever you do a set of repeats (i.e. 400m), focus on making the third repeat the hardest/fastest

Answer 2

rhi j is correct normally runners lose the race in the third lap, just like 800 runners lose it in the third 200 of their race. Work on intervals of 400 and 800 to recognize your race pace. It is better to be even on all of the laps, which means you must force the pace on the third lap or you will fall asleep, let the time slow, and can not make it up on the last lap. It is not your finish that is affecting your time it is the third lap. Think about the first half of the race is just to get you into the position to race. The last half of the race is the race, so run the first 2 laps and race the last 2 laps. Doing intervals from 400 up to repeat miles are things you should be doing now. Break down the race using your 400 lap times, how do you feel? If you are dying the last half of the race then maybe you are going out too fast or do not have the stress workouts to carry you. If you can sprint the last lap and it is faster than the third lap then it is a strategy problem. You need to run even for every lap and that means running the third lap which is the hardest lap of the race.

Answer 3

Looks like you're at a plateau...or so my coach always called it. The third lap is where most runners struggle (or the 75% mark of whatever race). This is where you need to work on your lactic acid threshold (the point where lactic acid starts to accumulate and affect your running/muscle performance)....which means INTERVAL TRAINING (with extra emphasis on the 2nd half of the workout)!!! by increasing your lactic acid threshold you will be able to run at a faster pace for longer with out building up as much lactic acid (what makes your muscles sore....DOMS (delayed onset of muscle soreness). Training for the 800 will help you for the first half of your race...true...and maybe by increasing speed there you will break 4:58. You also have to look at your season. Did you get a good enough base in the off season? Are you taking in enough calories to compensate for all this training (b/c if not your breaking down muscle during training and not building more)? Are you hydrating enough? Are you getting enough rest? Are you peaking too early in your race season? All of these things can affect your performance and cause a plateau to become your season's peak. Lastly, maybe your first lap is too fast....I've known many a runner that they blow too much out on their first lap and if they would have paced themselves better they would have had a faster time. For instance if you perfectly paced yourself right now you are running 74.5 sec per lap...if you beat that time and do a 73 on one of the laps you'll beat your time. If I had to bet you are probably doing a 68 on your first lap and blowing out too much energy (i.e going past your lactic acid threshold...which will come back to bite you about 2 laps later...) I bet your coach is having you do paced work on the track (70-74'sec 400's x 6 or 8 with 1:15 rest?) Remember if you are training at no faster than 70's you shouldn't shock your body with trying to hit four laps of 65's or 68's in a race. Nuff said, your time is GREAT and no matter what happens this season it looks like next season will be an awesome one for you. Hope this helped and good luck!

Answer 4

o boy, my mile time is 4 58 which i just achieved at my last meet. i hope that doesnt happen to me. pretty much tho when i ran 4 58, my 1200 time was 3 48, 3 seconds off pace, and then i ran a 70 second 4th lap. u should get someone to yell ur splits. just find ur pace and no matter how much it may hurt, keep running it. be ready for a killer kick too.

Answer 5

A mile is NOT 5200 ft, it's five.280 ft. And the quantity of steps might now not topic. If you cross one mile in 12 mins.. good the method is D = R x T (Distance = Rate occasions time) Obviously in case you did it in a single minute, that might be 60 mph. ( a mile a minute) so your velocity might be five miles in line with hour.

Answer 6

go out and do a 1200m as fast as you can. trust me it helps!!! if you want you can do 1200m repeats, but i found that when i was stuck at 6:00, i did a 1200 and it was 5 seconds faster than my 1200 during my mile and when i went to my next race i got 5:56. it was amazing.

Answer 7

Do you do sprints? Those usually help me for endurance.

If not; try to run as fast as you can for about 200 yards, and then walk for a minute or so, and then sprint again and do this for about 20 minutes.

Thats what I do, it may not work for everyone.

Answer 8

Get into the gym and strengthen the upper body. Good Luck

Answer 9

Do whatever your coach tells you.

Answer 10

give it a more try.......u ll do it