Hey Coach Jay,

I'm 14 years old and in 8th grade. I run on a distance running club in Phoenix, AZ named Go The Distance. I run a 4:44 1500m, but when I run the mile I cannot break 5 minutes. This is my first year running track and I've been training very hard and I still can't break 5 minutes in the 1600! Any training tips on how to breakthrough at a distance that gives you trouble?

Mario H.
Phoenix, AZ

Mario -

Thanks for the question and let me first congratulate you on your 4:44 1,500m. That's a solid performance, especially for a 14-year-old.

The first word that popped into my mind after reading your question was "patience." Patience is hard for most people, but I would argue that athletes, and especially young athletes, are even less patient with the process of getting better day to day and week to week. Part of this is because we live in a society where we expect things to happen quickly, yet in distance running things take time. You're not going to go from 4:44 to 4:30 overnight, but I would say that there is a very, very good chance you'll run under 4:30 (four seconds a lap faster) in the coming years. Why am I so sure? Because I've seen athletes progress from skinny, somewhat weak athletes into fit, strong runners over the course of their high school careers.

Specific to your question about breaking 5:00 in the 1,600m, you're probably fairly close. If we say the difference between a 1,500m at 4:44 and a 1,600 at the same rhythm is about 20 seconds, then you're in the 5:04-5:05 range. But I hesitate to encourage you to make breaking 5:00 the end all be all. Instead, focus on your training and following your coach's instructions to the letter. In the race, focus on racing and beating people and the time will come. I always tell my athletes that it's a rare race where you win and you're disappointed with the time, so focus on winning races, especially when you're still running against other 8th graders and have yet to move to the high school ranks where you'll soon be running against upperclassmen.

Thanks for the question Mario, and when in doubt, remember this phrase. Focus on the process and not the outcome. If you do that, eventually the outcome of breaking 5:00 is going to happen.

Jay