Demonic posession wrote:
Focus on hte improvement aspect. When I starteed my "second" running career in my late 30's, I ran the 400 in 64 seconds (57 was my best in HS/college. I worked on my speed, because I wanted to run the 800, and by age 44 I ran 55.8. The 400 is fantastic because you don't need a big race set up for it: the track is waiting there for you, any time of day or night.
That is exactly what I love about it. Question - what type of training did you find provided the biggest improvements for you? I currently maintain a pretty generic year-round schedule of:
Sunday - all out track (2x400, 2x200, 2x100)
Monday - off
Tuesday - hill sprints (8x80-200m, mixing explosion and floating) followed by some basic plyos
Wed - weights (total body, deadlifts for legs)
Thursday - off
Friday - 3.5 miles tempo run or light jog, depending on how I feel
Saturday - weights (total body, with squats/calves)
I find as I've gotten older I need the off days for my legs to get back under me, and the plyos really seem to take a toll. It's also hard for me to get to the track more than once per week. I've been trying to think of ways to mix it up and better optimize my training.