Running 1500m on the track - race plan

Over the last few years I have ran quite a few road races and loads (170+) parkruns - but I have done very few races on the track.

I fancied getting a decent 1500m effort on my Power of Ten record so put my name forward for a local club event.

This then left me with the questions:

  • What time do I want to aim for?
  • What is the race strategy to get that time? 

In terms of a target time, I know that if I run a really good parkrun (5km) I can get 17:30 which is 3:30/km. So a 1500m at 3:30/km should be comfortable - which would equal a 5:15 1500m.

I also like round numbers - so going for a sub 5 minute 1500m seemed like the target to go for. This would need an average of 3:20/km pace.

A 12x400m interval session is always a good indicator as to what speed you can run at. Two screenshots below show sessions I've done this year (a) with the club on a proper track and (b) on a lunchtime on a bit of flat tarmac. The track efforts where at 3:10-3:15/km pace. The lunchtime efforts where at 3:15-3:20/km pace.

12 x 400m session on the track
12 x 400m on a flat bit of tamac
So, with my negative head on I felt that 3:20/km for nearly four laps would be too hard - especially if you feel knackered after doing that pace for a 400m interval. But with my positive hat on I hoped that if I could do the first two laps at this pace then the adrenaline and competitive spirit would carry me through.

The curve ball of course was 'choice of shoe' - Alphaflies are not allowed on the track - so I bought a nice pair of spikes that will serve me for track and cross country.

The race day
On the line before the race I chatted to another competitor - he had a PB of 4:54 so I knew that if I near him I'd be in the right ball park. It was a little warm and windy so not the perfect day - so I was a bit nervous.

My plan was for 3:20/km (80 seconds per lap) for the first two laps (300 + 400m) with the view to hopefully be feeling good and do negative splits.

The breakdown of the laps was as follows.

Lap one = 300m = 57s (-3s)
Very happy with the first lap. Concentrated on breathing and technique and was comfortably ahead of target without pushing hard.

Lap two = 400m = 78s (-2s)
Again, really happy and knew I was 5s ahead of target time. Decided I'd not go crazy on the third lap and leave something in the tank for a good finish.

Lap three = 400m = 80s (-)
Just sat in behind the '4:54 runner' for the first 300m, getting some shelter from the wind and still feeling I had something left - then went past him with 100m to go until the bell - felt I could push on for the last 500m

Lap four = 400m = 75s (-5s)
A strong last lap of 75s - took me over the line in 4:50. 10 seconds ahead of target and a 3:11/km pace for 3.75 laps. Turned out to be 2:54/km pace for the final 500m (see below). 

The 1500m race itself 

So all in all - a fun change to do 1500m track rather than 5k-Mar longer distance on the road. Next time I do one I'll see if I can break 4:45 - or maybe a sub 5:00 mile would be a stretched goal.

The more experienced '4:54 runner' went past me in last 50m to do 4:49 - so it was nice to work together to both get PBs without being too concerned about position. ;) 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The day before the marathon

Image
Manchester Marathon tomorrow. My fourth marathon and have trained harder than ever before. Back in January I blogged what my plan was for the marathon training block . I've pretty much followed it. Only difference being instead of two runs on a Tuesday I just started the day with a double session. But in summary: Go into the training block doing 90km (55mi) a week. Take it up to 120km (75mi) a week. 12 weeks of increasing efforts, with a three week taper at the end. At the maximum do four weeks in a row with 36km (22mi) long runs on the Sunday. Long runs to be at decent pace with at least an 8km (5mi) mara pace section on tired legs. Run every day - alternating between efforts and recovery Tue - hard session (Typically 4x1mile efforts followed by 5k tempo) Thu - hard session (Typically three sets of 5km at mara pace with floats inbetween)  Weekly distances Not sure how much to read into the Strava Fitness and Freshness chart. But fitness went from +59 to +103 to +86. Form went from
Read more

Running goals for the year

Image
2023 was a good year. PBs in parkrun, 5k, 10k and Marathon. With the right conditions I feel I could have got 10mi and HM too - but cannot grumble. Particularly happy with parkrun as that is now eight years of incremental improvement through improved training and focus. Power of ten score card So what are the 2024 goals? It's a big year as I am 50 in July. Entering the V50 category gives me a real chance to pick some goals that weren't possible in recent years at the top end of the V45 category. So I'm intending on training harder than ever - and putting down some stretched goals that may not be possible - but are worth going for. Goal 1 - 2hr55 marathon Goal 2  - Top 50 in the UK runbritain ranking for V50 at 5k distance Goal 3  - England masters vest for V50 Goal 1 - 2hr55 marathon With hindsight I think I should have done around 2hr55 at London last year but a few things didn't go to plan and I ended up with a 2hr58. This year I'll try and put things right and
Read more

Bamburgh - Half Marathon Route

Image
Check out the route on Strava: https://www.strava.com/segments/26248649 This route was actually part of a RunNation organised race. That means that the route below is a lap that needs to be done twice to get to the half marathon distances. The main carpark in Bamburgh is at the post code  NE69 7BJ  - but if you look around the side streets you can get parked for free somewhere. The run starts just before the castle, it then goes up through the beautiful village of Bamburgh before turning left onto some narrow back roads. The day of the race I did it was very windy, but the hedgerow gave some great cover from the cross wind. The road eventually winds around the coast with views of the Farne Islands. Then back to the village again. Keep looping around a second time until you hit the 21.1km mark! Selected photos... Bamburgh Castle Each lap started and finished near the historic castle The Farne Islands Strava Segment of note : Bamburgh HM - One lap - A great little 10k route Useful links
Read more