Going Faster Than What Coach Tells You (During Training Repeats)

Talk to your coach about your training.If he cannot explain to you in simple terms why he is detailing this or other sessions and how it relates to your total training regime then get another coach.If he can explain it to you,then do as he says.

Honestly, yes it does affect you negatively.

I used to do mile repeats with my team at 5:04 pace and one day I messed up the workout by going 4:52, 4:56, 4:58, 4:54...

Afterwards, the coach was furious. I couldn't understand why because I thought I had done pretty well.

He then explained that workouts are supposed to be controlled runs that makes us better prepared for the real deal: races.

He said that by pushing myself than I had to in practice, I was harming my training more than bettering it because it would not help me in the long run.

Years now, I completely agree with what that man told me.

If you work out too hard, you will be tired for the races and not run as well as you should. You will also need more rest which will hurt your workouts the next couple days. Just race faster and you will earn the right to run your repeats at a faster pace.

Don't be that kid on the team that hammers the intervals, "wins" all your training runs, leads the run throughs, and then gets your ass handed to you come race day. Nobody thinks you will be cooler for running your intervals faster. Run your races faster instead.

Tell that to Fam

I've read some of the posts and agree with the ones who say that you have to run controlled. I give my runners splits, the problem is, they are based on 5K XC pace- on grass, hills, etc. We do our repests on the track. If they go a little faster, are consistent, and don't take a longer rest an interval than I want them too, I'm ok with it.

"Workout Champ".

This is not always true. It sounds like he is a high school kid not an elite runner. You can't just go get a new high school coach.

Judy wrote:

Talk to your coach about your training.If he cannot explain to you in simple terms why he is detailing this or other sessions and how it relates to your total training regime then get another coach.If he can explain it to you,then do as he says.

Patientrunner wrote:

Honestly, yes it does affect you negatively.

I used to do mile repeats with my team at 5:04 pace and one day I messed up the workout by going 4:52, 4:56, 4:58, 4:54...

Afterwards, the coach was furious. I couldn't understand why because I thought I had done pretty well.

He then explained that workouts are supposed to be controlled runs that makes us better prepared for the real deal: races.

He said that by pushing myself than I had to in practice, I was harming my training more than bettering it because it would not help me in the long run.

Years now, I completely agree with what that man told me.

Did the whole team do them at 5:04 pace? I mean you know better than your coach what pace you can run a mile repeat at and still stay under control. Just because you weren't doing them faster than the very specific pace he wanted doesn't mean you were disobeying the principles that the workout was based on