4 x 400m with 3-4 minutes rest at 800m pace

Sorry, it should have read 2 x 2 x 200m after the 600m jog, not 2 x 2 x 400m.

Your 4x1000m is good and shows you have good endurance, combined with the ability to run fast when tired (48/31/31).

It's better to not walk though between the 4x400 though, since the goal is to get better at buffering lactate and walking around clears it.

I think you'll be fine. In the right racing conditions you might even threaten 2:10.

My athletes have had a lot of success by using solo time trials, without hearing split times, at 3/4 the distance of an upcoming race. If you can hit 1:39 for 600 in a workout, running solo, you'd have a real shot at hitting 2:12 for the full distance.

Please bump this thread to let us know how things go. Good luck1

2:12 should be in the cards.

The 800m is a little tricky to predict and you have to understand how you’re feeling in the workout. Some people could pull off a 2:07 after a workout like that, and some people might not break 2:20. That being said, the high and low both put you in reach of your goal. As another poster said sub 2:10 might be possible.

Thank you very much all! I'll try to remember to report back!

It's a little too late in the cycle for me to do 600m, alas, though at the moment I think I'd have to dig too deep anyhow. Whilst I do do quite hard sessions, most true 'predictor' workouts (for other distances as well) strike me as harder than I could push myself in training. In a future cycle I can imagine just about managing a 600m, though.

I did do 500-400-300-300-200-200-200 about 18 days ago, and was on pace for the 500 (I perhaps slightly held back as well): 1:22.2 - 64.7 - 48.1 - 48.6 - 31.9 - 32.0 - 31.8 - 31.4. 500m jog rest between the 500m and the 400m in 3:30, 600m jog rest after the 400m in about 4:20, 300m jog rest after the 300s, 200m jog rest after the 200s, except 400m jog rest between the second and third. It might appear that this was slightly stronger than the session I did yesterday, but for me there is a very big difference in intensity between 400m and 300m, so to do four 400s is quite different to doing two repetitions of 400m or more and shorter repetitions for the remainder.

I think you've got 2:12. For someone like you, I would expect a huge positive split in an 800. Come through in 64-65. You might run an even 2:10.

4x400 on 4m rest is a classic 800 workout. Based on that, yes - you can run around 2:12

You seem endurance based, 2:12 shouldn’t be that hard, just go out in 65 and not faster than that because if your all out 400 in something like 61 you’re going to suffer if you go out too close to that pace

Based on the fact you still have 2 weeks my advice is to go and run a 2:15 TT solo a week out - It can be in lieu of one of your sessions.

If you can hit that you're good for 2:12.

Yeah or even a 1k TT. You could probably go through in an even 2:15ish. Get used to racing. With competition out in an even 65-flat probably gets you there.

I ran 2:15.50 :-). Actually content with that, as I felt I did what I could on the day. It was essentially a solo run (one person much faster, the rest much slower). It was the period between about 450 and 700m which cost me, I dropped about 2s/lap of pace there, though I didn't actually perceive any significant drop in pace during the race; I was more or less around 2:12 pace otherwise I think. I don't have the actual splits, just going off the watch data, but I think it's accurate. With a 100m to go I felt a surge of energy and felt that I had an extra gear to go to, which might suggest that I could have run harder earlier, though I didn't consciously hold back.

Hey that’s a good point, had not thought of that.

I meant to add a thank you again to all who contributed to the thread :-).

The 4x400 should be a decent prediction workout. I remember running a similar workout in high school and it always worked out to be a pretty good predictor, especially if you add up your slowest two reps.

Thanks for the feedback! If you'll be racing the distance again fairly soon, 2:12 should be in the cards.

Sorry you didn't have anyone to race--that almost certainly would have helped in carrying your opening pace farther. Empathy here, because in my PR 880 (where I finished DFL) the one guy I had a chance of beating dropped out before I could pass him.

Thank you for the encouragement, and well done on managing your PR despite those circumstances!

I’m a high school track coach, and in my experience, no race benefits more from racing a few times than the 800. You can’t fully simulate the burn of the 2nd lap other than in race. If you run it 3-4 times in 2 months (preferably with competition), I think you’ll get there.

It will work, your power is there. As someone said above, with this very specific workout, it's perfectly fine to schedule a walking rest. You want to hit target times!

On the days where it's kind of about speed endurance or kind of about stamina, you can jog for recovery between efforts. Now it's a little tight until the race, recovery is important.

10-8 days prior race day I would do 3x600/10min rest at 95%.

Exactly this.

That's why I suggested a time trial.

I honestly think by following your strategy he'll break 2:10.