Co-Worker Challenged Me to a 400

This guy is correct.

I coach some kids that I could beat by 20-50 seconds in the 1-2 mile. But I don't know if I could beat some of them in the 400m. The point is that you need to learn to run aggressively from the start. Pacing puts you 5 meters behind in the first 50 meters. Prepare for the discomfort of a 400.

sit and kick....

I had a challenge from a co-worker last summer. The race was about 250-300m out and back across a flat grassy spot in a park. The competition was about 25 years old and a former army guy that runs regularly. I havent run much in the past five years.

At the start I paused a second to let him get a lead. Then I sat on him until the turn around. Once I got back in stride past the turn around I put it in a new gear a finished pulling away. Coasted across the line like it was nothing while he was on the ground gasping for the next five minutes.

'not a sprinter':

does your first name start with a S and last name start with a M and do you work for a company which name resemble B....ys?

What's the point of being a runner if you turn down the offer of a race from another guy?

There'll be many races you'll lose in your life to people you "should" beat. IF you lose, it won't be the first nor the last.

Have fun.

is this you wrote:

'not a sprinter':

does your first name start with a S and last name start with a M and do you work for a company which name resemble B....ys?

No, none of this is close.

I will keep everyone updated on my progress. The track at my gym is 1/6 mile, I think I'm going to run there on Saturday and do a few 1 lap efforts.

Well if the track at your gym is 1/6th of a mile then I'm pretty sure you workout at Reebok Sports Club/NY, at least

Did I miss it? What are your ages?

Alberto wrote:

What's the point of being a runner if you turn down the offer of a race from another guy?

Exactly. One on one showdowns are the heart of what our sport is about. I walk around imagining people on the street challenging me to races. Needless to say, it's rare. That's why we need organized races. But this is so much purer, more individual and personal! Take full advantage of this opportunity! Screw your marathon training for the next 10 days, it's not really going to make a difference anyway (a change of pace might actually help you) and giving this thing your all is way more important. If you do a lot of preparation and blow him away, cool. But if you don't, and he beats you, that really really stings.

So cut back the mileage, do some faster repeats, and let it rip! Break the guy's spirit with a devastating kick!

manbearpig wrote:

I had a challenge from a co-worker last summer. The race was about 250-300m out and back across a flat grassy spot in a park. The competition was about 25 years old and a former army guy that runs regularly. I havent run much in the past five years.

At the start I paused a second to let him get a lead. Then I sat on him until the turn around. Once I got back in stride past the turn around I put it in a new gear a finished pulling away. Coasted across the line like it was nothing while he was on the ground gasping for the next five minutes.

Yes!!

When I was in high school I got challenged to a 400m race by a friend of mine. I had been running for a number of years but had just started training more seriously, and was in about 5:10 shape. My friend didn't really run but did soccer and tennis, ran 5:40 in the mile in gym class and was a way way better sprinter than me. We had always used to compete in the mile, but when I blew him away at it that year, we decided to meet in the middle with a 400 after school as the ultimate determiner of who was the better athlete.

Who do you think won?

SlowFatMaster wrote:

Either you want to win, or you don't.

If you want to win, forget about not wanting it to interfere with your regular training too much. You have your whole life to do your regular training.

If you want to win, suggest something like this:

8 days out: 600, 400, 300 full recovery

5 or 6 days out: 5 x 200 full recovery

2 or 3 days out: 4 x 150 with 250 jog with 150s at about what you think your 400 race pace is going to be.

The pace on the 300 or on the 200s will be about what you can hold for 400. Go hard but relaxed. Don't get injured!

Just easy distance the other days but not too long, maybe only 5 miles at the longest.

Let us know what training you ended up doing and how the training and race went. Good luck!

This is really good advice. A 400m race has nothing to do with a 5k. I've run an all out 58s 400 while in 16:30 5k shape, and a 55s 400 while in 18:30 shape. A good 400m takes specific training and strategy. Think about your race strategy when training.

Strategy:

1st 100m - Go out as hard and fast as you can. Each foot strike should feel well connected to the ground to maximize acceleration.

2nd 100m - Once up to full sprint speed, keep form as smooth as possible. You want a fast cadence and minimum ground contact time. Feel as if you gliding.

3rd 100m - Time to re-accelerate into the curve. Won't feel like gliding anymore. Full effort.

4th 100m - Stay as smooth and fast as possible until you start rigging up. Then pump the arms and knees in an exaggerated manner.

Good Luck

I'm not sure the sit-and-kick tactic will work best here. Remember, if the dude ran in college, he's been in plenty of races and will be familiar with this tactic. AND, if he's out of shape this allows the lactic threshold to come later in the race. I say go for broke as stated above, get out hard, and dare him to be uncomfortable right away. If he's feeling it at 250 and you start pulling away it'll be a blow out. If you go easy and let him coast the first 250, you're just giving him a chance to out-kick you if he has more natural speed than you.

When you get to the last 100, stay really focused on form - strong arms, hips open and relaxed, knees high. The runner who keeps form the best and stays the most relaxed in the last 100 tends to win. And remember, the 400 hurts like hell, that's the only way to run it well.

Yes, I fully admit that I was way wrong.

Nothing here provides any useful information about how fast either of you can run a 400. I could easily imagine either of you running anywhere between about 52 and 68. Unless you know something more useful than performances at 3K and up, you might as well be going into this blindly.

I'm going to predict you win, 63 vs 65 seconds.

Spend the next 5 days training and living in altitude so your body produces an abundance of red blood cells. Come down from altitude the Wednesday before your race so you can make sure you adjust to time zones and jetlag.

On that same day do 8x200's fast with about 2 min rest and then a few 100 meter strides the day before.

p.s. you could supplement your altitude training with HGH pills or blood doping.

If you're not used to running 400s, then go out and do a couple of Jack Daniels style R-pace workouts. You're probably not going to get much fast in such a short period of time, but you can get used to running hard for 400m.

Typical workout: 4-10x400m @R pace with equal distance jog recovery. Figure out how many by taking 5% of your weekly mileage. So for 40 mpw you would do 8, etc.

Here is a calculator for finding your R pace based on a recent race result:

http://www.runbayou.com/jackd.htm

If you have 9 days to go then do one of these tonight and one on day 5. Race on day 9. You will gain some confidence and a little fitness, but most of all you will know how much it hurts to run 400m hard and hang on through the end.

BCT wrote:

Nothing here provides any useful information about how fast either of you can run a 400. I could easily imagine either of you running anywhere between about 52 and 68. Unless you know something more useful than performances at 3K and up, you might as well be going into this blindly.

I agree. We could probably tell more by just a picture of the both of you. 400m speed is mostly talent, your marathon training will not help you here.

When I was in college a dorm mate and I were walking to the rec center to play basketball and he challenged me to a race across the soccer fields. It ended up being about 300m. He was a fit/muscular guy but had no track background at all so I accepted. I got beat by an embarrasing margin. I ran 4:10 mile a few weeks later.

Every one is saying to go out fast and burn the guy. But this is not a time trial. Its one on one. Has everyone forgotten how all the distance races ended at the WC's a couple weeks ago?

Finish this guy with a monster kick.

All this strategy and discussion is irrelevant. If neither of you have trained you're both going to pull hamstrings by the 250 mark anyway.