Nothing like the last 100 of a 400 if you’re going all out.
Yeah, but it's over in 13 seconds.
You could put your hand over an open flame for 13 seconds if you had to.
Yeah... but its the anticpation of that last 100 that wears on you. If you pace a mile or 5k correctly its hard the whole way but when you kick the last 400 its actually a relief instead of the death brain fog you get in an all out 400 or 800.
There just isnt any avoiding the extreme lactic acid burn you get in a 400 or 800.. Plus, I was always terrified I was going to pull a hamstring whenever i ran a 400 0r 800.
If I had my choice between being a 1:43 800 man or a 3:29 1500 guy I'm going with the 1500 all the way. The only 800 man I envy is Rudisha. For the 400, the only guy who made it look tolerable was Wariner.
the hardest races are the ones that make you suffer the longest. This is why marathons are more painful than 400m and 800m.In the 400m the pain is in the last 100m. In the 800m the last 200m are really painful. In marathons the extreme sufference lasts for the final 3-4 km and probabily more.
Former 800/miler. The 400 was just fun. The 800 was also enjoyable . . . didn't get tired until the last 200 . . . easy to ignore any pain/discomfort for 28-30 seconds. The mile, ugh. The only easy lap was the first. The third was the hardest psychologically, the last was the most painful. I think I found the 400/800 much easier, because I was running on pure adrenalin.
I prefer the 800 to the 1500/mile. I do think it's harder physically, but it's weirdly comforting to know that all I have to do is go balls to the wall for two laps. A lot more strategy in pacing in the longer events, which is not one of my strengths.
Distance types who drop in for an occasional "fun" 400 or a leg on a 4x400 do not have the requisite power and speed to run a 400 correctly, which is exactly why they think it's fun. A trained 400 specialist who can crank it down the backstretch in 10.x seconds is going fast enough for long enough to be absolutely SWIMMING in lactic acid for the second half of the race. Distance types whose speed tops out at maybe 13 seconds for a 100 are simply physically incapable of generating that kind speed and power, and are thus incapable of experiencing the fullness of the pain that a well-executed 400 brings. So yeah, for a distance person to drop a "fun" 52 doesn't really hurt that bad, but for a trained sprinter to drop a 44 or 45 is the furthest thing from fun and absolutely kills during the race, and kills for many minutes afterwards. Speaking from experience as a 45 second quarter milers (and also having run many dozens of 800s, which also kill for even longer but not as intensely).
But to answer the original question, yes, the training sucks and 400/800 runners do kind of hate life most training days and most race days. But it's fun to talk about afterwards, knowing you have the fortitude to train and compete in the most painful events in the sport. ;)
Distance types who drop in for an occasional "fun" 400 or a leg on a 4x400 do not have the requisite power and speed to run a 400 correctly, which is exactly why they think it's fun. A trained 400 specialist who can crank it down the backstretch in 10.x seconds is going fast enough for long enough to be absolutely SWIMMING in lactic acid for the second half of the race. Distance types whose speed tops out at maybe 13 seconds for a 100 are simply physically incapable of generating that kind speed and power, and are thus incapable of experiencing the fullness of the pain that a well-executed 400 brings. So yeah, for a distance person to drop a "fun" 52 doesn't really hurt that bad, but for a trained sprinter to drop a 44 or 45 is the furthest thing from fun and absolutely kills during the race, and kills for many minutes afterwards. Speaking from experience as a 45 second quarter milers (and also having run many dozens of 800s, which also kill for even longer but not as intensely).
But to answer the original question, yes, the training sucks and 400/800 runners do kind of hate life most training days and most race days. But it's fun to talk about afterwards, knowing you have the fortitude to train and compete in the most painful events in the sport. ;)
Does the amount of lactic acid produced depend on speed? In other words, if someone's fastest is 60 seconds and they run a 400 as well as they can, won't they have a similar physiological reaction as a 45 second 400 man? Can a sprint specialist run hard enough in a 5 km. to feel the pain a 13:00 type feels if he trains and races to his max ability?
I was equally good at 800 and 1500...all I can say is be careful what you wish for.
Maybe being slightly more fast twitch was my downfall, but while I sometimes even-split a great 800 and was almost laughing in the minute afterwards (before the lactic really set in), I always went just a bit too hard the first half of a mile. Always...the pain....
800/1500m type. What always used to really hurt wasn't the races, but the lactate tolerance training. Used to finish those with a splitting headache, unable to stand, and generally wrecked.
Had a similar discussion on here a few days ago when Athing Mu was quoted as saying the 800m was the hardest track event. The conclusion was everyone thinks their specialist track event is the hardest and their are valid arguments for each. A lot depends on your definition of hard - high pain level over a short time period or less pain but drawn out.
Distance types who drop in for an occasional "fun" 400 or a leg on a 4x400 do not have the requisite power and speed to run a 400 correctly, which is exactly why they think it's fun. A trained 400 specialist who can crank it down the backstretch in 10.x seconds is going fast enough for long enough to be absolutely SWIMMING in lactic acid for the second half of the race. Distance types whose speed tops out at maybe 13 seconds for a 100 are simply physically incapable of generating that kind speed and power, and are thus incapable of experiencing the fullness of the pain that a well-executed 400 brings. So yeah, for a distance person to drop a "fun" 52 doesn't really hurt that bad, but for a trained sprinter to drop a 44 or 45 is the furthest thing from fun and absolutely kills during the race, and kills for many minutes afterwards. Speaking from experience as a 45 second quarter milers (and also having run many dozens of 800s, which also kill for even longer but not as intensely).
But to answer the original question, yes, the training sucks and 400/800 runners do kind of hate life most training days and most race days. But it's fun to talk about afterwards, knowing you have the fortitude to train and compete in the most painful events in the sport. ;)
This sounds good but how do you know if this is true? You’ve never experienced life as anything other than yourself.
If you’re going 95% of top end speed it’s going to hurt if you’re a 10.5 guy or 13.0 guy.
Distance types who drop in for an occasional "fun" 400 or a leg on a 4x400 do not have the requisite power and speed to run a 400 correctly, which is exactly why they think it's fun. A trained 400 specialist who can crank it down the backstretch in 10.x seconds is going fast enough for long enough to be absolutely SWIMMING in lactic acid for the second half of the race. Distance types whose speed tops out at maybe 13 seconds for a 100 are simply physically incapable of generating that kind speed and power, and are thus incapable of experiencing the fullness of the pain that a well-executed 400 brings. So yeah, for a distance person to drop a "fun" 52 doesn't really hurt that bad, but for a trained sprinter to drop a 44 or 45 is the furthest thing from fun and absolutely kills during the race, and kills for many minutes afterwards. Speaking from experience as a 45 second quarter milers (and also having run many dozens of 800s, which also kill for even longer but not as intensely).
But to answer the original question, yes, the training sucks and 400/800 runners do kind of hate life most training days and most race days. But it's fun to talk about afterwards, knowing you have the fortitude to train and compete in the most painful events in the sport. ;)
In college, sometimes the distance guys would come down and run an 800 and say it’s fun, which annoyed me for the same reasons you site about the 400. But, I have to disagree when you say an 800 doesn’t hurt as intensely as a 400… you just didn’t have the endurance necessary to swim in the lactic and keep going ;)
Old guy 46.8 400 146.9 800 enjoyed embracing the pain. The real challenge was hitting the 600 at the right time and ignoring the pain of the last 200 for the 8. 400 was just bt the walls and passing all the sprinters the last 50m
Distance types who drop in for an occasional "fun" 400 or a leg on a 4x400 do not have the requisite power and speed to run a 400 correctly, which is exactly why they think it's fun. A trained 400 specialist who can crank it down the backstretch in 10.x seconds is going fast enough for long enough to be absolutely SWIMMING in lactic acid for the second half of the race. Distance types whose speed tops out at maybe 13 seconds for a 100 are simply physically incapable of generating that kind speed and power, and are thus incapable of experiencing the fullness of the pain that a well-executed 400 brings. So yeah, for a distance person to drop a "fun" 52 doesn't really hurt that bad, but for a trained sprinter to drop a 44 or 45 is the furthest thing from fun and absolutely kills during the race, and kills for many minutes afterwards. Speaking from experience as a 45 second quarter milers (and also having run many dozens of 800s, which also kill for even longer but not as intensely).
But to answer the original question, yes, the training sucks and 400/800 runners do kind of hate life most training days and most race days. But it's fun to talk about afterwards, knowing you have the fortitude to train and compete in the most painful events in the sport. ;)
This sounds good but how do you know if this is true? You’ve never experienced life as anything other than yourself.
If you’re going 95% of top end speed it’s going to hurt if you’re a 10.5 guy or 13.0 guy.
this sounds right because it holds together logically, but the absolute intensity is way higher the faster you are so the toll it takes on the body is higher even if the relative intensity is the same.
You could put your hand over an open flame for 13 seconds if you had to.
Yeah... but its the anticpation of that last 100 that wears on you. If you pace a mile or 5k correctly its hard the whole way but when you kick the last 400 its actually a relief instead of the death brain fog you get in an all out 400 or 800.
There just isnt any avoiding the extreme lactic acid burn you get in a 400 or 800.. Plus, I was always terrified I was going to pull a hamstring whenever i ran a 400 0r 800.
If I had my choice between being a 1:43 800 man or a 3:29 1500 guy I'm going with the 1500 all the way. The only 800 man I envy is Rudisha. For the 400, the only guy who made it look tolerable was Wariner.
Applied Science:
Lactate acid (in humans) doesn't burn. That's muscle failure you have experienced.
But to answer the original question, yes, the training sucks and 400/800 runners do kind of hate life most training days and most race days. But it's fun to talk about afterwards, knowing you have the fortitude to train and compete in the most painful events in the sport. ;)
No it doesn't, training for the 400/800 is about the most fun you could do. You get away from doing A LOT of slow boring milage for the longer distances, you get to lift weights, sprint, plyometrics etc.
400/800 is fun. You are in pain for only 20-60sec.
Agreed, I ran mostly the 880 as a 8th grader because it was the longest distance. Those were fun days and I beat some more successful teammates on my best days. Like many runners I never got to fulfill my best times in the 400/440/800/880 events because I rarely even got to run them in relays beyond 9th grade.
But to answer the original question, yes, the training sucks and 400/800 runners do kind of hate life most training days and most race days. But it's fun to talk about afterwards, knowing you have the fortitude to train and compete in the most painful events in the sport. ;)
No it doesn't, training for the 400/800 is about the most fun you could do. You get away from doing A LOT of slow boring milage for the longer distances, you get to lift weights, sprint, plyometrics etc.
We would usually not say it but you 400/800 guys who say your events are the toughest need to train for the 10K with a coach for at least a year. THEN you can come back and complain about how tough your wimpy events are.