800Coach wrote:
This is relatively new but very worthwhile. You need to develop all of the systems all year round. Those middle distance runners who run mileage all year round then start sprinting right before their big races get injured and can't possibly be ready for the big race when they are not used to those sprint workouts.
It's not really new, it's just been buried by Lydiard-style volume dogma for decades. Partly because of Snell, and partly because it's hard to do speed in cold weather.
The illogical thing about devoting the winter to base is that aerobic volume training is predictable, and speed training is not. You know what aerobic shape you can get into and how long it will take. You never know how fast you can get, let alone when. So leaving it until the last minute is a crapshoot.
distance runners need to learn how to sprint. That takes work over the entire year. Don't confuse sprinting with running hard 200s. 40 - 60m is fine for sprinting early in the year.
Unfortunately, the US high school system rewards coaches postpone speed. Spring speedwork is only really effective for a few of their athletes, but they only need a few for the 800. Other distance events are won or lost on time trial strength, which they have in abundance from fall cross country and winter base.