Sub 1:50 800m Training

Also incorporating Hadd style heart rate training on easy runs and workouts is a great way to make sure you are properly recovering and a good way to watch you’re cardiovascular efficiency progress over the season.

Some feedback / results of self experimenting with the interval based method... aerobic and cardiovascular capacity skyrocketed. Started with training back in october 19 after 4 years of doing nothing. I run mostly on trails or a soccer field, managed to remain "almost" 100% injury free. I am training on average 5 times a week, sometimes more if work allows for it. Lock down has not been that hard, thus was able to keep training albeit w/o pool or gym nor track.

Oct - Dec:

3x8x100m w/ jogback recovery @ 18s-19s

15x100m w/ 20s standing rest @ 18s-19s

3x5x150m w/ 35s standing rest

2x8x200m w/ jogback recovery (38s, 1m15 jog back)

3x3x300m w/ 1m standing rest, anywhere between 52s-56s depending on how was feeling.

As a rule of thumb, 50% was jog back recovery, 50% standing recovery.

2/3x weekly 6-8km continuous run at 5:15-4:50/km pace.

For workouts warm up always 3km jog, cool down 1,5km. Max km / week 40km, average 30km.

1 x week swim with 30s on / 30s off, in a 3x6 schema. Kept this until lockdown in March.

Jan - Mar:

Started with KitKats 400m trainings. For those unfamiliar with it, it includes stuff like:

4x3x150m 1st rep jog back, 2nd walk, 3rd jog as "aerobic work"

300+50-40-30 / 200-40-30-20 /100m-40-30-20 ladders for lactic capacity

300+150, 150+150 with long recoveries

3x3x300 w/ 1 min rec standing

Was hitting the 150s anywhere between 21,0s and 24,0s on grass from standing. The training is very hard and I did not even try the hill sprinting it includes, also reduced these sessions to once per week.

Added quickly SE1 work like 3x4x50m w/ 1:45-2:30 rest since had trouble hitting 13s in 100m from standing (!). Pure interval work limited to these SE1 split runs (HR always at 140 after pauses) and recovery days. Is a good way to work on speed when no indoors available and temperature bellow freezing...

Also started with speed bounding and more lifting work.

"Easy days" 2 or 3x6x100m @ 17-20s w/ 20 sec standing recovery depending on how was feeling. Never two hard days in a row. As much as possible on grass, no indoors available. Warm ups for workouts still about 2,5kg jog.

Average km / week 25

Results in 6 months, being 29yo:

BW: 82kg -› 79kg

HR rest: 55 bpm -› 46 bpm

Warm up pace (while fresh): 5:30m/km —› 4:45/km

"Pain barrier" -› 4:35m/km –› 3:50m/km

6x150 from standing on grass: 28s w/40s standing rest -› 26s w/20s standing rest

8x200 w/ 2 min rec from standing on grass: (january -› april) 33s HR@150 after rec-› 27s, HR@120 after rec

300m @ 42s: required pause went from 8 minutes to 3 minutes until next rep

3x300m w/1 min walking rec, from standing track: 53s -› 48s (did not push it hard in april, I think 47,0s is doable)

3x6x100m from standing on grass, 40s recovery: 18,0s -› 15,0

Standing 150m on track and spikes: 20,0s (january -› april)-› 18,6s

50m fly w/ 15m run in on track and spikes: (january -› may) 6,00s -› 5,4s

Squat: 3x6x90kg -› 4x120kg

Worth to mention that 8 years ago I was able to run 100m in 11.10 FAT and the 50m flys in under 5s... while my speed is down I would say by 10% as an effect of age and lazyness, my recovery times are down by 50% wrt the times when I was actively training.

Especialy during these lactic workouts I am unable to feel the lactic acid burning as I used too. I think my speed is down that much and my aerob capacity up that I am not able to hit speeds high enough... BTW I hate continuous slow running, so I think that my "pain barrier" actually could be faster than stated here with some weeks of preparation.

Also, I think that most of the speed regains are from remembering again how to coordinate my legs at speed, rather than from the training itself.

Thank you for sharing, please report back later.

Small correction: the 6x150 @ 26s requires now 30s recovery, I wrote 20s in my original post. Swimming workouts help a lot for recovery if you take care of not using the legs too much (crawl is good) and can still get an excellent cardiovascular / pulmonar effort.

Also worth to mention, if someone tries it, you will hate being alive in some workouts, especially the 3x3x300 or 3x6x150 in the cold can be very painfull and hard after some years of no training... Continuous jogging is definitely a more agreeable way of training especially if you have a nice landscape to look at.

This has been an interesting thread and I have gained an insight. This past weekend I had an athlete run 1:49.78 for 800m. The interesting aspect is that he didn't start training till he was 21 and achieved the time at 25.

His training is on average 25-30 miles per week and most of his training is done at threshold and 3k pace.

We do little training at 800m pace although he has a pb of 48.2 for 400m

Today his session was as follows:

1k in 3:15

3x400 in 70 seconds on short rest

3x400 in 600 with 2 min rest

4x200 in 26 with 2 min rest

He has Nationals in the next several weeks and we hope that he can make the final in our country. Our other athlete has run 1:50.15 off similar training and 3 weeks ago he was doing 6x1k in sub 3 minutes on grass. Don't neglect aerobic fitness.

Thanks for the advice, guess I need it now

Bump

flyingfrog wrote:

Bump

This is an awesome thread

I've compiled a lot of OS4's posts in a google doc, might share it on here one day as a guide, kind of like the JK one.

OldSub4 suggests doing a weekly workout of 18-30 second hills @ max effort with full recovery to increase power. Does anyone have recommendations for how many reps to do? I'm thinking in the 6-10 rep range.

How often would you do dynamic power training?

Having run a 1:49,

I can say that everyone nationwide doubts I did so.

I averaged a 1:52-1:54, but hit 1:49 once. At the June 2009 turn arm after this post was made in September. That was my senior year and I graduated at 18 1/2 & 185lbs

Bumping this great thread!

Hello, I’m primarily an 800m runner but also race cross country (XC) during XC season. I’ve been running seriously for about 3 years. Here’s a breakdown of my progression:
Year 1 (Aug 2022 – Aug 2023, age 14)
Training: 15–20 miles/week (3 sessions + long run)
• Achievements:
•5k: 19:06 (solo)
•200m: 24.5s (last rep of a speed session)
•800m: 2:08 (61/67 splits)
•400m: 54s on grass, 45 minutes after an 800m race
Year 2 (Aug 2023 – Aug 2024)
•Improved 5k to 18:12 by January
•Had a 6-week injury; after returning in March:
•Built up to 28 miles/week
•Very consistent for 3 months
•In training, kept up with sub-2:00 800m training partners, felt fastest ever
•Race performances: struggled at 450m mark in 800m, never beat 2:08
•Speed: 400m and 200m improved by ~0.5s
•5k tempo runs: ~18:40, likely race pace around 18:00
Year 3 (Aug 2024 – Aug 2025)
•Took a 1-week break in August, then returned extremely consistent
•By mid-October, built up to 35 miles/week, very fast
•Key performances:
•5k: 17:20 on a hilly, muddy 3.5-mile cross country race (British XC)
•Example training sessions:
•10x400m @ 65s, 90s static recovery
•2x(800, 800, 300): 800s @ 2:21, 300s @ 44s, 2 min/200m jog recovery
•2x10 min solo runs @ 5:22 min/mile with 2 min jog recovery
•Kept fitness up until Jan 2025
•January XC county race (tapered):
•Expected to win, was 2nd early, struggled on very steep hill, finished ~20th
•Pace was similar to 10-mile long run pace
•Mid-Jan to mid-March:
•Increased mileage to 40 miles/week, hit every session
•Ran faster than ever in training
•In next major XC race (mid-March), same issue: legs locked up, heart rate 155, but couldn’t maintain pace
•April: tapered off and eventually quit
Since then
•Ran 1–2 10Ks per month
•November: ran solo time trials on road in worn shoes (450 miles) at 0°C:
• 800m: 2:07
• 400m: 53s
•Motivation returned; training now up to 45 miles/week
•Started plyometrics and weightlifting: squats, RDLs, lunges, calf raises, power cleans
•Realized I’m weak for my height/weight (6’2”, 74kg; struggling to squat 70kg x8)
•Upper body: pushups, pullups, dips
Goals / Question
•Given that I hit every session, follow my diet, and recover properly, what could I realistically run for 800m by next May–August?