Two Weeks of Training: Appropriate for 800m base?

i've run 52 in the open 400m before with little training. hoping i didn't lose too much speed. will do some time trials with spikes when i'm more fit.

Hard 300s will kill/injure you.

should i keep doing speed endurance this early? or should i do 600s with similar rest? please suggest an alternative. :)

What is your PR and what is you goal for this season?

hey. run 52 and 2:05 before, clearly lacked endurance. my goal is to get sub 50 and 1:53 a year from now.

This probably applies more for a speed 800 runner, but this is how I think an 800 runner should train in base.

Every week:

- 1 x speed development - the missed component

- 2 x gym

- 1 x longer aerobic. Not a classic long run though, more a 35-40 min progressive run. I don't really believe a classic long run (60-75 mins as a long slog) does a heap for 800 runners

- 2 x aerobic workouts, like fartlek, 2 min repetitions

- diagonals - they work aerobically, they give you some lactic benefit without trashing you, they work on running with great form at race speed - and you might include them as one of the aerobic efforts

Now you need an off/easy day before speed development, and you can't have a hard day the day after gym. It puts gym in the evening of a hard day. So like this:

Day 1 - swimming - aerobic benefit, saves the legs

Day 2 - 2 min efforts, or vVo2 max training - 1 min hard 1 min easy, or 2 mins hard 2 mins easy, hard efforts at 2km pace, or just 6-8 x 2 mins at close to mile speed, total 4-5km of repetitions (not including recovery or warm-up/down)

Day 3 - easier running, say a warm up and a 15 min tempo, enough to give you some aerobic benefit but not so taxing that you can't back up and train tomorrow - which is how you work out how hard to go (and there is trial and error involved),

Day 4 - morning hard aerobic effort, like structured fartlek (eg 10 x 2/1), maybe followed by 12 diagonals, evening gym, total 6-8km of efforts at about 5km speed

Day 5 - recovery run

Day 6 - speed development - short hills, sleds, plyos etc

Day 7 - Morning Longer aerobic, so a 35-45 min progressive run (getting faster), so the last 10 mins is like a tempo, evening gym

Next phase similar except:

- Day 2 becomes 4 x 1km with 4-5 min recovery at close to mile speed, with strides/diagonals afterwards

- Day 4 fartlek still, will become 2 min efforts closer to the season

- Day 6 gets closer to special endurance 1, ie speed development with 60-80s at max effort at the end

- Day 7 becomes cruise intervals - say 6-7 x 1km at 5-7km speed with 90 sec recoveries, and stays this way through the season.

The gym changes a bit too as you get closer to the season, squats not as deep and more explosive etc.

And pre-comp:

- Day 2 becomes 800-1500 speed work, 2.5-3km of efforts

- Day 4 is training at 3km speed, say 4-5km of efforts, then gym in evening

- Day 6 is training at 200-400 speed

- Day 7 still cruise intervals, then gym in evening

As you can see, you start at the ends and work into the middle.

And for those who care about counting mileage (I don't), that works out at about 30 miles a week including warm-up/down, recovery etc, plus 2 x gym and 1 x swim. Approx 20 of those 30 miles are harder efforts, the rest warm up/down and recovery.

thank you so much, karma police. i really don't deserve all this. i hope i can update you in the future with some good news. cheers.

what would you recommend to do at a gym? i know the important ones are cleans (eventually) and squats. do you work every part of the body? should i keep lifting heavy?

as for diagonals, i got this from another website..

Another year-round staple, regardless of race distance, is what are known as diagonals. This session consists of running quickly from one corner of a playing field to another, jogging along the goal line to the opposite corner, striding from corner to corner, jogging the straight, and repeating. On the fast sections, the emphasis is on quick, graceful turnover and running relaxed while near top speed. These workouts improve your running form at all speeds and greatly enhance your finishing kick in races.

Most Kenyans do at least 30 minutes of diagonals, and some do as much as an hour. If that seems too much for you at first, shoot for at least 15 minutes, preceded by 10 or 15 minutes of jogging. Never strain while doing diagonals; instead, try to run as fast as possible while staying under control and with good form.

is this accurate? is it like sprinting 50m, jogging 100m, repeat? sorry for the questions, just going as i read.

That description is pretty accurate.

But a diagonal of a soccer field is about 110-120m, and the jog is 70m along the base line or 100m along the side line. Use a quality surface on a soccer/football field. And just keep turning left (or right). So it's more like striding 120m and jogging 80m - a lot of times in a row. You can do this as a session.

And all sessions bar Saturdays should be done on trails in base, not on a track, and definitely not on a road. Never train on a road if you can avoid it. A treadmill is better - and you can do quality structured fartlek on a treadmill, just no faster than about 1500 speed.

Gym wise, I'm not enough of an expert. One way to do it is to have a single leg day and a double leg day each week. On double leg day:

- dead lifts

- full squats

- overhead squats

- Russian hammies

- hamstring theraband work

- side crab walks with a band round the knees or ankles

Single leg day:

- cleans (normal cleans using both legs)

- single leg squats (ie lunges)

- hamstring bridges

- leg extensions

- leg press holds (single leg, quite a heavy weight, slight bend, hold 10 x 10 secs, strngthens quad tendon)

- other glute activation exerices

Ab circuit each time at the end, and also barefoot skipping once or twice a week - works on light quick touchdowns and dorsiflexion/calf strength. Skipping could alternatively be done at the end of a plyo/speed session, where you would do barefoot little hurdle work to strengthen the feet.

Remember to golf ball your hip flexors/triggers, and roller and stretch after every hard session, and do those little exercises the physio gives you to stop the little niggles you get (everyone is different).

No real upper body weights for an 800 runner, it's just more weight you have to carry round a track. Only body weight stuff like push ups, pull ups, dips, muscle ups etc.

thanks so much. people like you are the reason i still use letsrun!

If you've run 52 from blocks without much training, then the short sprint/plyo work, gym work and 200 work as you move into the next phase will all get that time down.

The aerobic work should be enough to get your 800 time to 400 time + 7 x 2, or even quicker. With 6 months of structured training, hitting at least 95% of the sessions, that could mean 50 and 1.54. Not sure what your goals are.