Why do i not have enough endurance for races?

Question

I run track and i am a freshman boy. During the week coach makes us put in in a good amount of distance. Usually up to 4-6 miles each day from Monday until Thursday. Why on this past Saturday when i was running a 1200 get tired on the second lap? My time was 4:05. How can i build my endurance to keep pace in a race.

Answer 1

Lots of possible reasons, but endurance don't seem to be one.

Maybe:

1.  YOu weren't feeling well

2.  YOu did a lousy warmup

3.  The weather changed

4.  You started out too fast

5.  etc

6.  etc

You can only do the best you can, but stretching and warming up are definitely under your control.

Good Luck

Answer 2

I don't care at all about your final time in the 1200. That's meaningless information if I don't know your first two splits.

My guess is that you are running the first lap way ahead of your target pace. If you run a 4:05 and cap that with a 75 second last lap, you've run a 5:20 mile. What's your target?

You need to average 75 second laps to run 5:00. Any lap that more than a two or three seconds faster than that (likely your first lap) is way, way, way too fast.

No wonder your hitting the wall! It's called oxygen debt! Stay out of that kind of trouble by running your first lap in 75 seconds (not 65! -- a 65 is what you want if your are going to run a 4:20 mile! and that's way out of your league at this point).

If you are running five miles a day in practice, that should be plenty. My guess is that's total miles including speed work (with way too much recovery time) You need to run longer intervals — repeat  600s and 800s are great for building endurance, but not as good as the long (5-mile) runs. The long runs are what we call continuous aerobic running (CAR) and that's what builds your heart and lungs (the engine that moves the whole machine).

Answer 3

You may need to improve your stamina for which cycling is good among other things.

Are you eating enough of the right stuff so that your engine has sufficient fuel? Also are you sufficiently hydrated?

You are at college so there must be someone there who can help.  Try the site below although I suspect you have similar US sites.