Fitness Requirements?

[deutschfan]

Mr. Right as usual is right in focusing on the two mile.  Both in high school and in college soccer programs a sub 12 minute two mile is one of the primary litmus tests.  I have seen hundreds of players run two miles, both high school and college, and only one participant ever ran a sub 11, and he didn't make the starting XI.  A 4:30 mile for a soccer player is the proverbial unicorn.  Schools as well as the National Team have trended toward interval tests.  The Stanford summer fitness guide with target times can be found at http://froeberg.com/soccerunited/stanfordfitness.pdf.   

[D3soccerwatcher]

How about the D3 National Champion 2 of the past 3 years?  Anyone know what Tufts does?

[deutschfan]

Here's Haverford's summer running regimen.  http://www.haverfordathletics.com/Men-s_Soccer_Summer_Runs.pdf  Reading between the lines they are looking for players to come in and run a sub 12 two mile.  Haverford is a top notch D3 program.   

[Falconer]

On that note, Tobias Muellers ran a 48 second 400 at the NESCAC outdoor track championships, which was good for second in the conference, so I imagine he might be able to come close because that is some insane leg speed. That said, I highly doubt that a coach would set a 4:30 benchmark for his (or her) D3 program – 5:00 is plausible, and I'd say that 12:00 for 2 miles is probably more likely.

Muellers is a terrific athlete. He just missed winning the D3 title in the decathlon, making him unquestionably the best athlete in D3 soccer and probably all of college soccer. Messiah had an even better decathlete once, a man who won the open decathlon (all divisions) at the Penn Relays and later qualified for the Olympic trials in that event. His name is Chris Boyles, and he was the GK on the first Falcon national champions in 2000.

Muellers runs 48 in the 400 meters, and he won that race in the D3 decathlon. The D1 decathletes are even faster in the 400: http://www.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/external/track-field/results/d1/outdoor17/final/041-5_compiled.htm

Muellers also ran a PR of 4:28 in the 1500. My hat's off to him, but that translates to about 4:45 in the mile. No evidence here that he would go under 4:30 without doing much more focused workouts, and maybe he could get there. We won't know without more evidence.

I was nowhere nearly as fast as the best decathletes in D3 or D1. I never got close to 50 seconds for the quarter mile, even though in HS I sometimes anchored the 4x440 relay when our fastest half miler (who won the state meet) was unable to do that for some reason. I never trained for that race, and perhaps I could have gotten down near 50 seconds--but we'll never know, and I just don't believe I'd have gone under 50 in any circumstances. But, I'd have beaten every one of the decathletes at the mile, b/c that's what I focused on. It's all about the workouts.

I know a few milers who would have beaten all of the D1 decathletes at 400 meters. Such people are immensely talented, far beyond anyone who belongs in this conversation. I don't know Jim Ryun, but in HS in the 1960s he ran 3:59 and then at 19 set the world record in the mile at 3:51. He anchored Kansas' 4x440 relay and consistently ran 46-47. Someone I do know (now a famous physicist who also wrote a book about world records) once had a chance to train with Henry Rono, the greatest middle distance runner in the world in his heyday. They ran a workout of 4x400 meters in 55 seconds with very short rests. Sounds unbelievable, but it's true. Today the world record in the mile is equivalent to running 4x400 under 56, without stopping. I just can't imagine that, but it's a fact.

All this just reinforces the point that you don't run 4:30 without aiming to do it, or at least without training specifically for middle distance running or longer.

[PaulNewman]

 I think we can now all reasonably conclude that the original reference to 4:30 was simply an error, with 5:30 almost certainly being was meant.  All of the replies here strongly suggest that even 5:00 would not be any kind of requirement for a D3 soccer team, and only a tiny percentage of even strong D3 players would approach or break 5:00.

[Clotpoll]

I've coached one kid in 20 years who got close to 5:00. Also a 400, 800m guy. Absolute garbage player. Just useless.

[1970s NESCAC Player]

I've coached one kid in 20 years who got close to 5:00. Also a 400, 800m guy. Absolute garbage player. Just useless.

Yes, ability to run a 5:00 mile has nothing to do with being a good football player . . .

[truenorth]

Agreed with all of the above.  As a lifelong Nordic skier and runner now in my early 60s, and a fan and frequent spectator of soccer matches, I have some perspective on fitness requirements, running times, etc.

A 2-mile in 12 minutes is probably a reasonable goal for college soccer players.  That would be a goal, not a hard requirement.  There will be some athletes who can't hit that mark even at their fittest, but they can still be strong, skilled and effective players on the pitch.

When my son played for Brown, they had a "requirement" of 3 miles in 18 minutes.  That distance is a bit long in my opinion.  Needless to say, many of the athletes couldn't hit that mark, but they ran it 3 times spread out during preseason and even in-season as a general gauge of fitness and ongoing dedication.

A 4:30 mile is a quality mile for most good high school track runners in the modern world.  Very few soccer players would come close to that mark, and it wouldn't be a reliable indicator of their performance on the pitch anyway.

[D3soccerwatcher]

I've coached one kid in 20 years who got close to 5:00. Also a 400, 800m guy. Absolute garbage player. Just useless.

Yes, ability to run a 5:00 mile has nothing to do with being a good football player . . .

I might agree that the ability to run a 5:00 mile may not make you a good soccer player..but I think serious pre-season training to try to achieve a 5:00 mile will make you a better soccer player (particularly in terms of fitness but also in terms of mental toughness and knowing just how far you can push your body).  And I think we all can agree that fitness is a key element in D3 soccer.

[FC Observer]

I have two sons playing for two different D3 schools. For one school a 5-minute mile is a key target. Since he will be a freshman I can't comment yet on how many on the team achieve that goal, but I can say that he's working hard to get there and he is very close. For the other school, two miles in 12 minutes or under is the target.  My son on that team, who will be a junior, says he fully expects everyone to reach that goal. His personal goal is two miles in under 11 minutes.

[stlawus]

Agreed with all of the above.  As a lifelong Nordic skier and runner now in my early 60s, and a fan and frequent spectator of soccer matches, I have some perspective on fitness requirements, running times, etc.

A 2-mile in 12 minutes is probably a reasonable goal for college soccer players.  That would be a goal, not a hard requirement.  There will be some athletes who can't hit that mark even at their fittest, but they can still be strong, skilled and effective players on the pitch.

When my son played for Brown, they had a "requirement" of 3 miles in 18 minutes.  That distance is a bit long in my opinion.  Needless to say, many of the athletes couldn't hit that mark, but they ran it 3 times spread out during preseason and even in-season as a general gauge of fitness and ongoing dedication.

A 4:30 mile is a quality mile for most good high school track runners in the modern world.  Very few soccer players would come close to that mark, and it wouldn't be a reliable indicator of their performance on the pitch anyway.

3 miles in 18 minutes is highest standard for a Marine Corps officer fitness test.  You get docked points for every 10 seconds slower than 3 in 18.  Seems like a rather excessive distance for a D3 soccer fitness program.

[truenorth]

Yes, the 3 miles in 18 minute requirement was at Brown, which is a D1 program.  As I mentioned in my initial post, I agree that 3 miles is an excessive distance for any program at any level.

[letsGOswans!]

Conn college does 2.5 miles in less than 15. A kid there has broken 13:45. Wouldn't surprise me if The coach brought that with him from Brown.

[Go2Goal]

Rowan 5 miles 32 minutes.

[franklyspeaking]

Why would any coach require 5 miles in 32 minutes.  Soccer is a series of sprints and clearly you need to know how to pace yourself properly but this does not seem to be the right way to go about it.