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Training for the 800m :D

I like most sports, but a sport which has always intrigued me is running. I'm only five foot three-ish, so whenever we did these standardised running activities (cross country, the 100m) at school I was always at a disadvantage because of my short legs. Running turned into more of a chore than anything else.

Anyway, like I said, running has always intrigued me, despite my minor disliking for the kind of athletics we do at school. I'd like to go about getting fitter for my goal to run the 800m comfortably this summer. A bit of an odd goal, but I've got my reasons.

I've never done any serious long distance running, so it is going to take quite a bit of work I know. The furthest distance I ran which was being specifically measured was in the 12 minute run, when I ran 2000m. I've run the 800m before, but I'd like to be able to be able to do it comfortably like. What's the best method to go about doing this?

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

OP

Oh and ignore the "comfortably like" bit- there was an extra bit to that sentence but it got cut off and you can't edit anon :smile:

I'm a female by the way.

Reply 2

phantom

2

go running until your fit enough to run the 800m comfortably. to run it comfortably tho you need to be able to run a bit further. just go jogging and gradually increase the distance and speed at which you run. and why does it need to be anonymous?

Reply 3

Crimson Black

13

Hehe, that's the oddest thing I've ever heard... You should be able to run around 300m quite comfortably at moderate fitness; ergo, become 1.5 times fitter than you already are, and voila. :biggrin:

Listen to music when you run - takes the mind off the running bit. If you're not allowed music, then just put your mind into "off" (hard to explain, but you just run and don't think of anything AT ALL, as if you're about to go to sleep, it takes the mind off the pain in your legs too).

Do lots of skipping to strengthen your legs, worked wonders for me (still doing it! :smile:

). Remember not to flail your arms when you run, keep them by your side, swinging in a mechanical way if possibe, as it helps your rhythm and helps concentrate your running - better regular than irregular.

Reply 4

Anonymous #1

OP

Dschingis

Hehe, that's the oddest thing I've ever heard... You should be able to run around 300m quite comfortably at moderate fitness; ergo, become 1.5 times fitter than you already are, and voila. :biggrin:

Listen to music when you run - takes the mind off the running bit. If you're not allowed music, then just put your mind into "off" (hard to explain, but you just run and don't think of anything AT ALL, as if you're about to go to sleep, it takes the mind off the pain in your legs too).

Do lots of skipping to strengthen your legs, worked wonders for me (still doing it! :smile:

). Remember not to flail your arms when you run, keep them by your side, swinging in a mechanical way if possibe, as it helps your rhythm and helps concentrate your running - better regular than irregular.

Thanks

I know I should be able to do 800m, if anything I'm aiming for a bit more. Thanks for the tips!

Reply 5

matchu

2

What time are you aiming for??

As its sort of mid-low distance - you have to work on sprints for the finish, and the whole thing has to be done at a just below sprint pace.

Reply 6

Anonymous #1

OP

Um, definitely under 5 mins I think.

Reply 7

matchu

2

Well unless running is extremely hard for you - I'd aim for under 3 mins

Reply 8

mangomaz

14

Ok well you have to start by doing some kind of training obviously. My friend sounds a lot like you, with her goals and stuff and we trained together and she ran the 1500m at sports day at school. She's never been so proud of doing something in her life even though she came last in front of the whole school :biggrin:

Anyway, what I'd recommend... Go for runs a MINIMUM of twice a week, preferably 3 (dont worry about doing more unless you want to), for about 20 mins a go. This could be laps around a park nearby or a little route round the block you might have.

Depending on what your goals are, aim to either speed up SLOWLY how fast you run the route or make the route a bit longer. If you just want to run a comfortable 800m, concentrate on slowly speeding up how fast you run it. You wont have to think about it too much though as you'll find it easier naturally as you get fitter :smile:

Other stuff: warm up and down!!!! Last thing you want to do is get injured. Stretch before you start and dont go straight into shooting down the road, have few minutes getting ur heart rate up by jogging super slow. You might want to do something like running really slow up to a point on your route as warm up and then picking up the pace after that point. Though just the warm up in itself may kill you when you start training it def pays off.. Hmmm.. okok thinking about it, if you're really unfit dont bother with warm up jog, just make sure u stretch.

Warm down too! After your run do your stretching and go for a very very slow jog again or walk for a couple of mins to make sure your legs dont ache toooooo much after (it'll help stop lactic acid building up too much in your legs and thats what makes them ache).

Anyhooooooooooooooo hope that helps! :smile:

(from a school cross country queen back in the day hehehehee.....)

Training for the 800m :D

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