Understanding Recovery B/W 800m and 400m

High School Running Distance

1 year ago 01/30/2023 9:13pm EST

I need some insight on race related recovery in a track meet. My son will be running the 400m in his indoor state championship next weekend. He has the second fastest time in his class in the 400m. The competitor with the fastest time in my son’s class is also going to run the 800m at the state championship. The 800m race will be run approximately 2 hours before the 400m race.

Here is my question: can my son expect this competitor to run a worse 400m due to the fact that he has to run an 800m, two hours before? In other words, will my son’s competitor still be tired from his 800 m race two hours before? Or will the 800 m race that the competitor is going to run two hours before have no effect on his subsequent 400m performance?

1 year ago 01/30/2023 9:17pm EST

re: Rmac20

a little but not much. under 2 seconds for the 800

1 year ago 01/30/2023 9:21pm EST

re: a little

Thanks for the reply! Let me make sure I understand. If the competitor runs the 800m at say 9am, then has to run the 400m against my son at 11am, you are saying he might lose under 2 seconds in the 400m? Maybe you were thinking about losing under 2 seconds in the 800m after running the 400m - I’m asking the reverse.

This post was edited 50 seconds after it was posted.

1 year ago 01/30/2023 9:23pm EST

re: Rmac20

Just had a similar experience- expect the competitor to be about 0.5 seconds, maybe 1 second if you’re lucky- slower in the 400

1 year ago 01/30/2023 9:27pm EST

re: Rmac20

It depends on how the race goes and how fit the competitor is. Some, usually the aerobic monster/endurance types, can handle doubles well while some might get worse the more events they run. If your son's competitor runs a really hard, negative split race then he will be more likely to do worse in the 4 than if the 8 is run tactically. Sorry if that's not the answer you wanted, but that's why it's just best for your son to focus on the things they can control than other competitors.

1 year ago 01/30/2023 9:36pm EST

re: Rmac20

It depends a lot on how much time your competitor puts in on the roads and in the weight room.

In HS when I was running 20 mpw and didn’t have a good lifting program, if I ran an 800m all out and had to run 400m two hours later I’d be pretty worried. I remember splitting 55-56 in the 4x4 when I was in about 53-mid shape.

Now that I’m running a higher mileage and have good leg strength, 2 hours sounds like plenty of time and I think I could run within a second of my PB off of 2 hours.

Because of the variability, I wouldn’t “expect” anything, tell your son to bring his A game and if his competitor falls apart he’s gonna be a state champ. Good luck.

1 year ago 01/30/2023 9:48pm EST

re: Rmac20

Wow, this is great stuff guys, thank you all. My son’s best 400 this season is .90 behind the competitor’s best this season. That’s a big gap he will have to close at state. My son will definitely be bringing his A game at state and I hope his competitor loses a bit on his best time due to the 800m he has to run before.

This post was edited 58 seconds after it was posted.

1 year ago 01/30/2023 9:55pm EST

re: Let it Rupp

Agree with your points, especially that it also depends how you run it. I’d double 4x800 and 3200 often, and ironically ran my PR off this. However, I’d either go out hard for 300 to try to burn people (I’d slow down less), or jog and kick the last 200. If I were going all out I’d feel much more tired

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