how to improve 8;00 mile time?

stickskin
stickskin Posts: 6 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi! I'm 15 and a sophomore in high school.

I just joined the xc team this year with a mile time of 8:00. However, when I was in jr. high, I had the same mile time. Since then, I gained 30 pounds because of a binge ed. :(


So right now I'm 120 and 5'2. I'm one of the slowest and fattest on the xc team and I want to improve.


Is there any tips to improve and get a sub seven mile time by the end of the season?

I know I could do it, just a matter of time before I could...

(oh I sound sreally self-conceited don't I...)

Replies

  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
    Run more. Run a lot. Run all the time. Just keep doing what you're doing and adding on miles and miles of easy miles and your body will grow accustomed to the exercise and you'll be able to run faster and faster.

    Losing any extra weight will help. Keep a good diet that's mostly healthy and keep running.
  • guessrs
    guessrs Posts: 358 Member
    I improved mine by doing Kenyan tempo run. Google it. 15 min warm up, 20 min at your fastest pace, 15 min cool down. I went to 7:15 by doing this just once a week.
  • ttippie2000
    ttippie2000 Posts: 412 Member
    You can do it, son. But you need a plan. guessrs is right. Look up the Kenyans. And the University of Oregon running program.

    I went to school in Oregon as it turns out and have some close friends in that program still. I'll paraphrase Mary Decker here (eep, am I showing my age in so doing?)

    400 meter sprints is the distance that best correlates with improving your performance in the mile. You want to have a couple of days set aside where you run four to six of those and try to beat your time on each one. Do a slow jog of 1 to 1.5 miles for warmup and cool down. Then put a two days of LSD (long slow distance) between them. It's not about running fast every day. It's about making your fast days FASTER and your slow days LONGER and then getting appropriate rest.

    Every two weeks (some coaches say every week, but it's hard on you) do a tempo run of a mile.

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