cali boy wrote:
Make you better wrote:20x400 in teams of 2. So each girl runs 10x400.
4x800 last week= 3200, 10x400=4000. Seems like a logical progression.
The post was a little unclear whether each kid was doing 20x400 (and they were simply taking recovery when the other kid was running) or two kids were splitting it into two legs of 10x400--it could easily be read either way.
First off, you mention that the coach has had these kids running no more than 2 miles a day prior to this workout. I don't think any coach can justify having distance kids run only two miles in a practice (except possibly pre-invite days)--that's under 20 minutes of running for even somewhat out of shape kids, and on recovery days I would recommend having the new kids do around 30 - 45 minutes, even if it's a mix of running/walking. Even if you're working in tons of accessory work, two miles a day is just not sufficient for distance kids to get in the shape they need to train properly.
That being said, the jump from ~2 miles (you mention they ran it as a 4x800 workout? Do these kids not have warmups and cooldowns? Do they not count them in their mileage?) to a hard effort 20x400 is extreme.
I'm generally a fan of low volume high quality work for distance runners. I've known several sub-5 minute / sub 10:30 female milers / 2-milers and very few of them put in much more than 30 - 35 MPW. With the exception of tempo work during cross, none of them ever did workouts as high-volume as 20x400. In general, I would not consider 20x400 an appropriate workout for most high school runners.
Obviously this approach comes from anecdotal experience and all runners/coaching philosophies are different--there are definitely some high school athletes who can benefit from 20x400, but only if done properly. It does not sound like your daughter's coach has been approaching this workout with the necessary care; all segments of this workout should be timed--including the recovery--in order to make sure athletes aren't falling off pace / stalling on rest. If they are, it's often in their best interest to stop the workout or change the pace targets.
I'd also say that freshmen girls, even those coming from soccer/basketball/swimming backgrounds, should probably steer away from this workout. 20x400 is the kind of thing that makes kids break/hate track, and the benefits of 5 miles of quality work that early in high schoolers' track careers is not worth the risks. Many freshmen do not have the basic fitness levels needed for a workout like that one, and would be better off developing that fitness before attempting super high volume workouts (rather than using high volume workouts to develop the raw fitness).