I've been on a long layoff from running, looking start base building to run the 800 in the spring of next year. Until May, I want to just be doing distance runs and some short sprint workouts to get my legs back under me, then start actually building up in the summer. My question is: how are 4/8-focused systems structured in the base and preparation phases? What types of workouts should a 4/8 runner hit in a 14-day cycle, and at what frequency? Any help will do, thanks!
Do you plan on racing in the regular winter/spring block?
What Ive found best is to get plenty of easy miles in the summer, and do a good deal of sprinting, but in a way aiming to build speed and mechanics, so rest should always be long and it shouldn’t ever get super strenuous. Lifting is a big deal for 4/8 as well. Think something like this
Mon: 6 easy + 6x100m hill sprints + lifting
Tues: 6 easy + 4x150m strides
Wed: 4 easy + 6x50m spiked hard accelerations (think about focusing your power into the entire thing, 100% drive) plyometrics and lifting
Thursday: 4-6 easy
Friday: 2 mile warmup, 2x1k @3k-5k pace, and then 4x200m at 800m pace, last one can be faster. +lifting
Saturday: 6-8 easy/moderate, 6x100m strides
Sunday: 2 easy, dedicated drills and mobility session.
Do you plan on racing in the regular winter/spring block?
What Ive found best is to get plenty of easy miles in the summer, and do a good deal of sprinting, but in a way aiming to build speed and mechanics, so rest should always be long and it shouldn’t ever get super strenuous. Lifting is a big deal for 4/8 as well. Think something like this
Mon: 6 easy + 6x100m hill sprints + lifting
Tues: 6 easy + 4x150m strides
Wed: 4 easy + 6x50m spiked hard accelerations (think about focusing your power into the entire thing, 100% drive) plyometrics and lifting
Thursday: 4-6 easy
Friday: 2 mile warmup, 2x1k @3k-5k pace, and then 4x200m at 800m pace, last one can be faster. +lifting
Saturday: 6-8 easy/moderate, 6x100m strides
Sunday: 2 easy, dedicated drills and mobility session.
This is prob ok for an 800m runner but if you are actually a 400/800 40 miles is prob a lot, could definitely be doing more cross training and shorten some of these runs… the other stuff looks good though… 20-30 miles total with some xt is probably more in line for an actual 400 person.
Do you plan on racing in the regular winter/spring block?
What Ive found best is to get plenty of easy miles in the summer, and do a good deal of sprinting, but in a way aiming to build speed and mechanics, so rest should always be long and it shouldn’t ever get super strenuous. Lifting is a big deal for 4/8 as well. Think something like this
Mon: 6 easy + 6x100m hill sprints + lifting
Tues: 6 easy + 4x150m strides
Wed: 4 easy + 6x50m spiked hard accelerations (think about focusing your power into the entire thing, 100% drive) plyometrics and lifting
Thursday: 4-6 easy
Friday: 2 mile warmup, 2x1k @3k-5k pace, and then 4x200m at 800m pace, last one can be faster. +lifting
Saturday: 6-8 easy/moderate, 6x100m strides
Sunday: 2 easy, dedicated drills and mobility session.
I like both of your plans, although I think Copper's plan works better for the Summer which would prepare one for the harder v02max work that bdbsbs suggests in the Fall. The question of when to add in intervals, both long and short/specific was probably my biggest question, which I think you both cleared up.
As for mileage, I personally was able to do well off of running ~40 min/day with a 60 minute long run back in high school from the summer through winter, but dropped my mileage massively in the spring to focus on lots of speed work. This worked best for me, but I've known other 400/800 guys who don't really tolerate or benefit much from that amount of running.
Do you plan on racing in the regular winter/spring block?
What Ive found best is to get plenty of easy miles in the summer, and do a good deal of sprinting, but in a way aiming to build speed and mechanics, so rest should always be long and it shouldn’t ever get super strenuous. Lifting is a big deal for 4/8 as well. Think something like this
Mon: 6 easy + 6x100m hill sprints + lifting
Tues: 6 easy + 4x150m strides
Wed: 4 easy + 6x50m spiked hard accelerations (think about focusing your power into the entire thing, 100% drive) plyometrics and lifting
Thursday: 4-6 easy
Friday: 2 mile warmup, 2x1k @3k-5k pace, and then 4x200m at 800m pace, last one can be faster. +lifting
Saturday: 6-8 easy/moderate, 6x100m strides
Sunday: 2 easy, dedicated drills and mobility session.
This is prob ok for an 800m runner but if you are actually a 400/800 40 miles is prob a lot, could definitely be doing more cross training and shorten some of these runs… the other stuff looks good though… 20-30 miles total with some xt is probably more in line for an actual 400 person.
Crosstraining works, I’m not gonna disagree with that, but also keep in mind this phase of training is probably peak base training for the year, and the majority of the road mileage is easy. I’m basing this somewhat off of how a friend of mine trains, he’s a 46.8 1:47 guy so it seems to really work for him.
In the fall he starts a bit of Vo2Max work like 6x800m @2:25 to 2:30 or 12x400m in 70. You need to have some kind of aerobic base to pull that off regardless of where your speed endurance is at. He can then transfer that kind of work into 3x800m in 2:0x and 6x400m <1:00, which paired with the velocity work makes for a very good 400/800m runner. Think of the summer miles as training to train rather than training to race.
So I took your guys' suggestions, researched what other successful coaches have done and created an overall 800 training outline for myself that covers the whole year. This plan includes 2 week cycles occurring within 4 3-month phases. I make sure to include workouts that get the athlete hitting all the training paces and intensities needed for the 800 within each phase, and periodize in a systematic pattern of progressing from general to specific as the final race date approaches. Every pace is defined clearly at the bottom of the document to avoid confusion. Also, this plan assumes the athlete isn't racing, so adjustments will likely be needed to accommodate racing schedules, but the whole idea is that the full spectrum of paces should be hit as often as possible.
This plan is also more geared for 400/800 and 800-specialist types, but can be easily adjusted for 800/1500 guys by increasing aerobic and aerobic-power volume while decreasing some of the speed and speed endurance type volume, but again, all types of workouts should be included to some degree in order to run your best 800.