Thanks people. By the way, in response to the person who said you won't get any more than 2 seconds faster in a 400 with training, you must have just been a wimp. I started track when I was 16, and my first ever 400 was 1:03. I improved to 58 that year. After that, I ran cross country and my first 400 indoors was a 56, and I ran 54 indoors before running 52 outdoors. I have improved every year and my PR is now 48.7 training by myself.
I agree, 400 specialist. You can improve more than 2 seconds with good training. Running 35 mpw, playing basketball, and doing some "running specific weight work" does not constitute good 400m training.
What were the top 3 things you did that (in your opinion) helped you get down to the 48.7? Thanks and good luck with 47.
Worked hard consistently and took care of my body (ie. no drinking, smoking, staying on top of my sleep).
bump
A few things you must do.
First have some modest base. No need for 35mpg. Just enough to help you in longer repeats.
2nd improve your speed. 30m sprints, lots of recovery. 150m accelerations where you can hit top speed for 2-3 seconds.
3rd is pacing. If you want to run 50sec, learn how it feels to run 50 seconds. 100s at 12.5, 200s at 25 and 300s at 37.5. To get there start high. 300s at 50 and drop from there as they become comfortable.
Form is important, always being relaxed, keep your stride going and use your arms the last 50. Do this in practice and it translates to a race.
That's a really nice progression you've had. Props on moving from being a distance runner to a sprinter...not the usual direction you see people take.
I have a multievents background, but the general principle I've seen work for a lot of people is based around three types of workouts, of which you do about one-two of each every week depending on where you are in the season. The workouts are extensive, intensive, and speed. Extensive is above 800m pace / shorter recovery, intensive around/above 400 race pace / longer recovery, and speed is 95%+ w/ full recovery. Over the course of the season, you want your extensive to go from longer and slower to shorter and faster (400s,300s,200s), and your intensive to go from shorter to longer but maintaining speed (100s,150s,200s).
Early in the season, one or twice a week of 30 min plus easy cardio will help you build the strenght to manage hard workouts later in the season. During your competitive season, you can replace some of the extensive workouts with speed endurance (ie. 3*300 at just under 400 race pace with full recovery), but these should be early in the week.
I also think that explosive lifting (snatch, power clean) and ploymetrics (both bonding and boxes) are essential for building dynamic power. Doing speed session on moderate incline is great for improving hip strength and knee drive.
This probably all seems very obvious, but I think it's a good structure to base workouts on, and gives you flexibility to pick challenging and interesting workouts that work best for you.
First question I'd ask myself is:
Am I a basic 200m-type moving up to 400m, or am I a basic 800m-type moving down to racing 400m?
If the answer is the former, Clyde Hart's training is ideal. If the answer is the latter, it ain't.
I would definitely say I'm more of an 800 moving down kind of guy (even though I haven't raced many 800's). Not to say I don't have 200 speed, but it's just not my forte. A lot of my fall was spent doing cross country type stuff, mostly workouts with a few runs thrown in there, and now I've started working my way into speed workouts (nothing super fast yet).
Dude, everbody on letsrun has an attention span of about 1 minute. That makes all of us 400 meter runners.
High school runners can jog a 48 easy.
And high schoolers in eastern Africa jog 14 minute 5ks.
High school times.... wrote:
And high schoolers in eastern Africa jog 14 minute 5ks.
Nope not at all, Mr kkk/white boy.
I was a sprinter who slowly made the progression up to the 800. When I ran my 400 PR, I think my max mileage (for just like a week or so) was 30 miles of just easy runs. During the season, I would throw in a few 40 min. rec. runs. There is some overlapping between 400 and 800 training, but the 800 focuses much more on strength, whereas you need that flat speed for the 400. While 800 runners need those mile/1000m repeats, 400 runners would thrive off workouts involving 500-600m.
hi i need a 400 meter coach.
chyeah niqqa i drop BomBz in the quarter yo
I don't train for the 400 myself, but I run with an ex-D3 400m champ who runs 47's in his sleep.
He does a lot of fast 300's, and for much of the year, does only 10k runs around the lake.
I would say stick with the 300's, and do some general fitness stuff to try to hang on for the last 100m.
I agree with other posters that training isn't like it is for the 800, and that speed is more important than strength, especially for the first 300m.
As you already know, one of the most important things in the 400 is to be able to relax at speed. When you're well-trained, and can relax well, you can run at 95% of max speed using only 50% effort. Absolute top-end speed isn't that important, it is how efficient you can be at that 95% speed--then you'll have enough to hang onto that last 100m.
But what do I know--the only time I run the 400 is when I get shafted into a 4x400 relay.
If you want specific stuff then post your e-mail and I will give you some stuff to look over. My 400 guys are always improving leaps and bounds. I don't know everything. But I'm not dumb either.
One more thing I would add, would be to spend proportionally more time on all sorts of core work. That stability will be what you need as you fatigue.