Can I run a 50 400 this season? What should I do to obtain this?

Doubt it is happening. 52.9 in a time trial is probably 53.4 FAT. I give you a 51.9 open and 51.2 split.

52.9 to 50.xx ain't that big a jump. Had a high school teammate who talked incessantly about how he wanted to run like 48, he'd never gone under 51 in the open until his senior year (and even then only 50.21) and everybody thought he was annoying as f*ck...last race of outdoor runs 48.77, first trip under 50. Point is, it's never out of the realm, you just gotta have a great race and train hard for it. I was an 800m runner in high school with a PR of 1:54, never ran faster than 23.9 and 52.8 in the open but could easily split a 50-51 on a double or triple, no questions asked. I just never had a good open 400 because I rarely ran it. So my advice to you would be; train hard, race hard, always try to race the 400. Whether it's a 4x4 or the open, getting in a 400 race every meet will improve your consistency and help you figure out how to best race it, which is half the battle.

It’s never out of the realm? Oh sure, everyone can run sub 50. He ran 52.9 in a time trial not a real race with accurate timing. Coaches are notorious for helping their athletes think they made a breakthrough. He may never run a real 52.9.

He said a 50, not a sub-50

Reality strikes wrote:

It’s never out of the realm? Oh sure, everyone can run sub 50. He ran 52.9 in a time trial not a real race with accurate timing. Coaches are notorious for helping their athletes think they made a breakthrough. He may never run a real 52.9.

I went from 53.6 to 49.9 in a years time.

There was a 400m guy on my team who did XC for the first time since freshman year of high school (he was a college sophomore) and he went from 54 to 48 in one year while maintaining the same open 200m time. He also was only running 52s indoor and dropped nearly 4 seconds from freburary to April.

Like the other poster said: it’s possible. Keep doing the things you’ve been doing. Don’t neglect endurance. ‘Long runs’ might not really be what you need but endurance is still big. Even in the form of cruise intervals, which for a low 50 400m guy might be 2-3min repeats at 6:00 pace with short rest, or 400m reps in 75-80 with short rest, etc etc.

This^

Look up Clyde Hart's sprint endurance workouts. The 400m bible. Just ask Michael Johnson, Jeremy Wariner..

I didn't run track until my junior year, started a shade under 55 and left high school with a 48.34 and a partial scholarship.

Do you think he wants to run 50.0 or 49.9? When we talk about 4 minute milers, we mean guys who broke 4 not guys who ran 4 flat or 4:01. Of course he means 49.9 because that is the barrier.