Nice improvements on your 600 & 800 bests! No, it does not confirm that you are not suited to 800m. It confirms that you have a lot of room to improve -- if you desire to pursue it.
I think that those who know more than me would agree that it's pretty unlikely for someone to hit their max potential by making a 4-sec 600m PR or a 5-sec 800m PR. If you are interested and willing to do the training, your big jumps indicate likely possibility for more improvement.
Sat 4 x 300m w/ 5' -- start with 41-42 (or even 43-45 if that's where you need to begin) and try to get down to 39-40 over several weeks.
Forget about 39-40, he's not running 41-42 with a 54 400
At the 400 , for a 54 second I imagine the split is 39 high . with a 14-15 second last 400.
If you are correct and his 400m race split is 39 high, then in my experience he should be able to run 41-42 (meaning anywhere from 41 flat to 42 high) in a workout. I don’t know whether or not he currently has the strength to do that for 4 repeats (I suggested 5 minutes of rest for this session, if done within the context of the programme I suggested). The only way we would know is if he tried it.
If he can not yet run the 4 x 300 at 41-42, then I suggested it's ok to start out at 43-45.
From experience: not the same scenario ofc, but at 19yo I hadn't trained for about 18 months, except for some 3-4 mi easy runs and occasional pick-up games of ultimate frisbee where I was faster and higher vertical leap compared to my fit/athletic but non-track college buddies.
I had ok fitness but zero specific training and was completely out of shape for 400m. Joined indoor track and began training at around 55-56 shape. The workouts consistently included 4 x 150m and 4 x 300m. I began barely able to run the 300m repeats in 45 sec, but within 8 weeks or so I was doing them reliably in 40 sec. This was on a terrible 186m tight-curve "track" (actually 3 lanes painted around indoor tennis surface) with heavy clunky trainers and heavy clunky orthotics. If on a 400m track with proper flats, it easily would have been 39 sec repeats.
The overall training regimen, incl the 4 x 150 session, facilitated this progress. Within 12 weeks I had gotten to a 400/300/200 session with 54, 39, 26 (tired on the 200) on that same tight track and in those heavy trainers.
Point being, if OP does the training then he may possibly be able to see some decent improvement in his workouts and drop his 400m time. Different athlete, different age, different training background ofc but I figured that the approach worked for me so maybe it could work for someone else. From OP's posts it seemed like he could focus on the 400 if he prefers.
So, 18 months later and I just finished my last race of the season here in Australia at Master Nationals.
Only been training for speed this past season, zero aerobic specific work and raced 60's, 100's and 200's. Wasn't going to run a 400, but did a couple of time trials a few weeks out to see where I'm at and did a 300m once and a 350m once.
Anyway, ended the season with all PB's, at 46 years old now.
100m went from 11.99 to 11.86
200m went from 24.43 to 23.83
400 went from 53.79 to 52.54 (first race in 13 months)
I think from these results that the 400 is definitely my best event as my age ranking is pretty decent and I didn't really even train specifically for it.
Will probably just repeat what I did for another year and see what happens as all my PB's were coming at the end of the season and there should definitely be more improvement still to come.
Might drop the 100 as I'm not very competitive in it and add the 400 hurdles for a new challenge.
Also this year I lifted really hard for 7 months straight then dropped it completely for the last 5 months and my times got better and better. Lifting in season is bad for speed in my opinion.
So, 18 months later and I just finished my last race of the season here in Australia at Master Nationals.
Only been training for speed this past season, zero aerobic specific work and raced 60's, 100's and 200's. Wasn't going to run a 400, but did a couple of time trials a few weeks out to see where I'm at and did a 300m once and a 350m once.
Anyway, ended the season with all PB's, at 46 years old now.
Also this year I lifted really hard for 7 months straight then dropped it completely for the last 5 months and my times got better and better. Lifting in season is bad for speed in my opinion.
Lifting is bad regardless. Well, traditional lifting. Strength training using specific biomechanical, horizontal movements (elastic/rubber bands) is what's recommended.
So, 18 months later and I just finished my last race of the season here in Australia at Master Nationals.
Only been training for speed this past season, zero aerobic specific work and raced 60's, 100's and 200's. Wasn't going to run a 400, but did a couple of time trials a few weeks out to see where I'm at and did a 300m once and a 350m once.
Anyway, ended the season with all PB's, at 46 years old now.
Also this year I lifted really hard for 7 months straight then dropped it completely for the last 5 months and my times got better and better. Lifting in season is bad for speed in my opinion.
Lifting is bad regardless. Well, traditional lifting. Strength training using specific biomechanical, horizontal movements (elastic/rubber bands) is what's recommended.
No, lifting is not bad. It has its place for strengthening to provide future injury resistance, bone density, ligament and tendon strength, etc. It just doesn't transfer to running/sprinting directly but it assists the body to cope with the specific intense training which follows.
Traditional gravity based weights, bands and bodyweight exercises all have their place.
No, lifting is not bad. It has its place for strengthening to provide future injury resistance, bone density, ligament and tendon strength, etc. It just doesn't transfer to running/sprinting directly but it assists the body to cope with the specific intense training which follows.
Traditional gravity based weights, bands and bodyweight exercises all have their place.
You said you dropped lifting for 5 months, and that sounds pretty extreme. Was your lifting periodized? Just like running, there's the lifting equivalent to base (higher reps, hypertrophy, technique, large ROM), mid-season (max strength, medium reps, more explosive work), and specific work (max power, shortened ROM, low volume).
54 second 400 indicates sub-2 potential. You've got a lot of room to grow, you just need to build some aerobic endurance and aerobic threshold. That means easy runs (20-30 min for you should be fine) and longer intervals (600-mile) at threshold-2 mile pace, playing around with the rest.