Elite HS 800m Training Plan

Not my runner, but I've seen enough talented 800 guys get washed by overzealous distance coaches who try to completely change everything that worked for the athlete. If an 800 guy shows any promise at the mile or above, without a doubt there will be distance coaches who say "wow, with your speed if you just bumped up your mileage up to 50-60 mpw you could be the next Seb Coe!" While sometimes it works out that way, most of the time the athlete either gets injured or regresses trying to turn themselves into a distance runner.

Certainly we have no aspirations beyond 1600. However, in my mind, spending a little time now developing his aerobic capacity further will not only help his 1600, but prepare him for rounds at our section and state meets as well as USA U20. I feel like we really don't need to do any HARD speed endurance stuff until Mid-late April at the earliest and that any speed endurance stuff he does do will come in the form of dual meet 400s, 200's, and 4x4's

We did a bunch of sub threshold type stuff today. He, and the team, seemed to handle it pretty well. It came out to 6.75 total miles of threshold intervals (broken into an AM and PM session. He comfortably tagged a 59 second 400 onto the end of the workout 1 minute after the last threshold interval. So, 7 total quality miles today. Tomorrow will be VERY easy

would be interesting to see him get some work in at a dual meet by going: 200, 3200 (20-30 seconds slower than 3 mi pace to shake out the legs after the 200 while still getting aerobic stimulus), 4x4

Interesting idea.

I had him do a 1600/400 back to back a couple of times last year (only a couple of minutes in between at one of our dual meets). I like the speed / aerobic / speed endurance concept. Those three events are back to back to back in CA (for those of you who didn't know that)

No meets this week, so I wanted a pretty burly training load. Lots of threshold type volume and some good sprint sessions + 1 very controlled session to get the guys thinking about race paces

Mon 2/27: AM 1 mwu + drills + 3 x 50 acceleration + 4 x 5 min around 6:00 pace, 1 min rec +3 x 50 @ 90% top speed, walk back recovery PM. Sprint WU with team + 3x50 stride + 4 x 5 min at about 5:45 pace +800 cd + core, push ups, lunges

Tue 2/28: Sprint WU with team+ 6 x wicket run (25 ish yards) + 30 min shake out

Wed 3/1 AM - 2 mwu + drills + 3 x 50 acceleration + 2 x 800 3 min rec (2:16,2:19) +2x400, 3 min rec (63,60) + 2 x200 (2 min rec) (27,25). 800 CD. PM Team sprint wu + 1 mile shake out + rope stretch + weights

Thu 3/2: Team sprint WU + 4 miles easy + rope stretch

Fri 3/3: AM 4 miles easy + drills + 3 x 50 acceleration, change to spikes, 4 x 50 @ top controllable speed + weights. PM - had to work at our frosh soph invitational, which started at 1:30 and went to 9:00. No time for PM session. AM was pretty busy though

Sat: 3/4: Planned for 6-7 x 5 min with 1 min recovery. I won't be there, but he'll probably progress from 6:00 pace at the beginning to 5:40 ish by the end.

Sun: Off

The focus was to get a couple of really good threshold stimuli this week and supplement with speed.

Monday was an intro to double threshold....I don't know that we'll repeat it too often, but I just wanted them to get 40 min of threshold without it being too hard. The weather was pretty bad / cold, windy in the morning and was better by the afternoon, which kind of explains the pace differences. All of my guys felt really good after this day.

The guys thought that Wednesday looked really easy on paper, but they were feeling this one after the second 800. The 400s and 200s went much smoother. We haven't done anything that causes lactate build up yet, so it's understandable that the second 800 was a little rough. I just wanted a little intro to that type of feeling without any lasting effects. By 11:00 AM, my top guy came into my classroom and told me the workout was ineffectual because he now felt great (he was joking around, but he really did feel great at that point)

Friday was supposed to be a double day and a little more aggressive, but I mushed everything together in the morning because the varsity kids had to work a fs meet in the afternoon. Today's session should be pretty burly though and the guys should be able to enjoy a nice day off on Sunday.

I got the 411 on Saturday’s threshold intervals

the guys ran it together as a Fartlek run, whereas normally we take very slow walk/jog recoveries between reps and do the T pace intervals on the track. They locked in solid for the first 6 x 5 min right at 6:00 pace and we’re about 7:30 pace on the recoveries. Last rep was 5:40 pace.

Mon 3/6 - AM 30 min easy. PM. Sprint WU + 10 x stadium Ramp FAST with walk down recovery (this was supposed to be a day where we did 30m fly tests, but it was COLD, windy and rainy. Didn't want to risk a pull.

Tue 3/7 - AM 1 mwu, drills, 3 x 50 acceleration, 3 x 5 min threshold, 1 min recovery (avg low 5:50 pace) , 3 x 600 (1:42, 1:48, 1:44), 3 ish min recovery, fell asleep on #2. + 1 x 200 @ 25.
They were supposed to do 3 x 200, but were looking kind of tired, so I told them to just do one fast and call it a day. PM. 10 min shakeout, drills, weights (endurance, super set style) -

Wed: 4 miles easy + weights, Low rep, high velocity style)

Thu: 4 miles easy + 4 x 200 smooth, untimed (probably 29-30) almost full recovery

Fri: Supposed to be a meet day, but our power outlet on our field was flooded so we had to cancel. Did 1 mile WU, Drills, 6 x 3 min CV effort (averaged 5:40 ish pace). The workout was kind of poor. He was really psyched to run the meet (All County) and try for a fast time. Mental state not good during session, Went a little slower and did one less rep than prescribed.

Sat: 8 miles easy. Prom tonight

Sun: Will take the day off and sleep in after prom

Kind of a crappy week. Our whole athletic department is in a bit of a funk because 80% of our games and matches are being cancelled due to weather and inability to reschedule due to an officials shortage in our area. This meet would have been a good opportunity for us to start with the "meets as speed endurance training" concept that I'm pursuing with my better distance kids this year. This particular athlete would have run the 800 and 4 x 400, hopefully opening with a relay split sub 50 seconds.

We have a break in the weather predicted for the middle of next week and my guys are slated to run a 4x8 on Friday night followed by a 1600 the next morning at a 2 day distance carnival. We also have our Pre Season League Relays meet on Wednesday. I'm going try to get my better distance guys on the sprint medly, 4 x 2, 4 x 4, etc..... We haven't had a real speed endurance workout yet, so I'd like that to be a good, short, intense stimulus prior to Fri/Sat.

Next week will be super low volume, due to the number of races they'll run, but we will try for a solid, low intensity aerobic stimulus on Monday. I'll have to see how they feel after prom before I plan anything out.

Training doesn't have to be complicated. 1:46.08 last night for my athlete. Only slight modifications in last month from this plan. Nationals here in Australia in 3 weeks. Good luck for the rest of your season. Your training is very detailed and will help those developing High School 800m runners.

Good luck for next race.

Thanks! Good luck to you too! 1:46 is shmoovin'

I'm still thinking 1:50 is possible for my guy

Just want to chime in and say please keep this thread going. Very good stuff.

Tonight we got our first, meet as a “workout with a uniform”.

he ran a 400 leg on 3 different relays, with splits of: 49.7, 50.3, 48.9

the last one was the 4x4 and we got him the stick in 3rd, so he was just in pure chase mode the whole way. The other two he was mostly out front. It was pretty fun to watch. There was probably 90 minutes between the first 2 races but only 25ish minutes between #2 and #3.

running in a 2 day meet this Fri/Sat with a 4x8 on Friday and a 1600 on Saturday. Tomorrow will be just a nice easy shake out.

full week to be posted in a few days.

Hope you don't mind me chiming in. Here is the week before my athlete ran 1:46.08 on March 11th at Sydney classic.

Monday easy run + 4x30m flys

Tuesday 8x400 on 2 min cycle avg 63 + 4x200 in 28 on 90 second cycle

Wednesday recovery run

Thursday 2x2.5 +1×1.5k at threshold pace 1 min rec

Friday rest

Saturday 5x1k on grass on 4:30 cycle + 6x200 on 70 second cycle

Sunday 16k.

Good luck coachb

Looks like little or no race pace stuff, mostly moderate thresholds +some 3K-1500 intervals on short rest and some 30m speed pickups. I assume you are using races to keep the race pace sharp? Did you do more race pace in the buildup?

I went back and watched the race...you could have mentioned it was for the win! I don't think I've ever seen anyone blast through the field the final straight on the rail like that...cheeky move! You must be super psyched but boy that was a throw of the dice. Hunter thought he had finally got it right, but had a rude surprise at the line!

Week's Summary

Mon (3/13): AM 1 mile WU + Drills + 3 x 50 + 7 x 5 min @ Sub T or slightly faster 1 min recovery. Averaged low 5:50's. PM Sprint Drills + Weights

Tues (3/14): 4 miles + 6 x 100 stride + weights

Wed: 3/15: League Relays meet. 3 legs of 400. (49.7, 50.3, 48.9). I thought 3 under 52 would have been good for the meet.

Thu: 3/16: 3 miles easy + 4 x 200 smooth, just to shake things out.

Fri: 3/17: Leg on 4x800. Unsure of split. I did not attend meet. Dad had him in 1:57, but I think he started the watch when the baton was taken, rather than when it crossed start finish line. Might have been more like 1:55 high or 1:56 low. We were a long ways back from the team ahead of us and a long ways ahead of the next team. Kind of an uninspired run.

Sat: 3/18: 1600 in 4:33

Sun: Off

The goals for this week were:

1. Get a time that will qualify our 4x8 for post season - accomplished

2. Get my guys a really good speed endurance session on Wednesday - accomplished

3. Get my kids PR's on Saturday (mostly accomplished). For my big guy, I think Wednesday was a little much and by Saturday he was pretty dead. Another one of my guys, who didn't race as hard on Wednesday dropped a 2:00 on the relay (3 second PR) on Friday and a 4:33 on Saturday (9 second PR). Another guy dropped his 800 PR 2 seconds and his 1600 PR 3 seconds.

This week upcoming: We have a dual meet on Wednesday and our county meet on Friday evening. We're going to go as easy as possible in the Wednesday dual (we still need to win the meet, but the opposing team has 1 distance guy, so we should be able to cruise). I'm going to have my guy run the 400/200/4x400 and try to be fairly relaxed

Ran the 400,200,4x4 in a dual meet yesterday. Jumped in the High Jump to try to grab a point for the team, as 2 of our high jumpers quit this week.

53.x in the 400

22.74 in the 200 from a standing start

57.x on the 4x4, just cruising.

5'6 in the HJ. We told him to just drop out once he knew he had 3rd, the other team had 2 guys who jump 6'2 or better so we knew he wasn't going to do that.

This was another "workout with a uniform" he did a short double in the morning. We have a larger invitational tomorrow evening where he'll run the 400 and 800 for real. Aiming for sub 50 in the 400 and then just try to run for the win in the 800 on fairly short recovery.

Summary of the week.

Monday. AM - 1 mile WU, sprint drills + 3 x 50 (70%, 80%, 90%) + 5 x 3 min CV effort with 1 min jog, covering about 870 (5:35 ish pace). PM Team warm up + sprint drills + 4 x 3 min CV with 1 min jog. Averaged closer to 5:30 pace. 1 mile CD

Tue: 3 miles easy + sprint Drills + 2 x 50m full go from a standing start (racing a 200 tomorrow, wanted to practice starts.) + Weight room

Wed: AM easy shake out 20 min. PM 400 @ 53.x, 200 @ 22.74 (tied school record), Anchored 4x4, pretty slow, we had a huge lead when he got it. I would have preferred a slightly harder effort)

Thu: WU, sprint drills, 3 miles easy + 4 x 200 smooth stride, untimed, but probably around 30-31 + weight room

Fri: County Championship Meet. Open 400 @ 49.84 (first time under 50!) 800 @ 1:58.x, just ran for the win. The goal for the night was to get a fast 400. It was really windy, so we were happy with the sub 50 clocking.

Sat: 7 miles easy

Sun: Rest

Our schedule has been kind of moved around due to the continued rough weather in CA. Friday's meet was supposed to happen 2 weeks ago, but we'd lost power on our infield when it flooded. Originally, I'd planned to have him take the weekend off from racing leading up to next week's Stanford meet. I think it ended up being alright. We haven't had a chance to get a good 800 yet this year, but he's set PRs in his shorter distance races and his aerobic capacity is vastly improved over last year. Over the next month, we'll start the process of tying the two ends of the spectrum together.

Stanford could be a bit of a crap shoot. He could potentially go 1:52-1:53, but he may not even get into the fast heat. A few weeks back, Milesplit let me enter his PR from last year as a seed time, but I've been under the impression that PRs from previous years cannot be used at the meet. I could be wrong, we usually don't send athletes to the meet.

The 200 from Wednesday's meet was almost certainly faster than 22.74. Our timing system started malfunctioning as the sun went down, so we needed to hand time the meet. I had him in 22.42, but athletic.net rounds hand times up to the nearest 10th and THEN adds .24 seconds. Realistically, the time was probably closer to 22.6. He is not using blocks currently. He doesn't really know how to use them and right now, they only make him slower. So the 200 was from a standing start

I am beyond shocked.

Finally a high school coach who has a clue to what their doing.
Seems like you have a really solid program built up and a good group of motivated guys.

Best of luck to your 800 guy, here are my 3 notes:

1. You are insanely lucky to have freelap tech for timing Max Velocity. My school cant even afford it and even if we could, track/xc would never get to see it.

2. What the heck is up California Sports?? Winter soccer, two sports at once. Not saying its bad at all, but just very different from where I'm from.

3. Stride 200s on easy/recovery days seems like a bit much? Also, working threshold and Max Velocity on the same day right after each other seems a little questionable. Usually I would try and stick to a certain theme for that day, but I suppose you have to fit in the volume somehow.

Still, think there might be benefit to having just a pure Max V focused CNS day.

i am very envious of the california schedule.

In new york, I didn't get my kids from the basketball team until March 21! tough to work a base.