Yes, but if you don’t own a lactate meter you’re likely to over-run them, since the distance is so short. Jakob regularly does threshold 400s with anywhere from 30-60s rest.
Any distance you pick can be good for threshold if you manipulate the lactate production well enough. Intensity, rest duration, type of rest, and your previous physical state coming into the workout all determine how lactate gets produced.
Physiologically nothing really. Your body only understands stress, byproducts of that stress, and then what it has to dk with them.
Psychologically, it is good to prove that you can do something longer and continuous. You learn how to hold a pace. You learn how to read your own body better. You also learn how to steel your mind against the length of a distance race.
Since you said that 400m reps are more manageable, I would argue that alone means you need to do longer stuff sometimes. It is good to do what is manageable sometimes. But it is also good to do workouts that you don’t prefer to do so that you challenge yourself mentally.
Having a high threshold is good, but it won’t save you from your mind in a race.
Threshold can be achieved with almost any distance as long as intensity and rest ratios are appropriately manipulated. 400s are good, probably 16-22 of them around 10k pace with about a 2:1 work to rest ratio would be solid. Threshold can also be achieved through slower reps with less rest, long progressive runs ending finishing at HM pace, etc. Lots of ways to skin a cat
What's your motivation for doing 400m threshold intervals, and what is your goal for the workout? In other words, why are you choosing this specific workout as opposed to something else.
I also wonder when you say "more manageable" that you might be running them too fast. A mile at threshold should not be difficult.
Volume 400s (16-25 versus 8-12) @ threshold is a good workout. :30-:45 rest.
I wouldn't do that every week for a main threshold session. If you're focusing on half marathon & up, I would do more 1k-2 mile reps than 800 & under on threshold days. You typically see people do 400s on a double threshold day because they're manageable. I would also prescribe volume 400s for a marathoner once or twice in a 12 week build as a leg speed day. No need to run much faster than 10k pace through most of a marathon build.
Volume 400s (16-25 versus 8-12) @ threshold is a good workout. :30-:45 rest.
I wouldn't do that every week for a main threshold session. If you're focusing on half marathon & up, I would do more 1k-2 mile reps than 800 & under on threshold days. You typically see people do 400s on a double threshold day because they're manageable. I would also prescribe volume 400s for a marathoner once or twice in a 12 week build as a leg speed day. No need to run much faster than 10k pace through most of a marathon build.
400s @ T certainly have their place.
I think that was one of Frank Shorter's staple workouts. He was renowned for taking very short intervals between repetitions, and I think one reason that some people found that workout astonishing is that Shorter was at a fitness level where the speed of those reps approximated HIS T pace--but would have been at a higher intensity for most others.
Yeah, like most others have said, you can make any interval length "threshold" if you take the correct amount of rest.
I don't know what type of runner you are, but a more general principle of my own little running system is to start with short reps and increase the volume before moving on to longer reps. So for me, as an 800 runner, when starting my competition phase I would start my specific sessions with 10 x 200 @ 800 pace and work up to 20 x 200 before moving on to sessions of 300s and 400s at 800 pace. I've found that the high volume of work with short reps allows me to run the longer rep sessions without falling apart or needing tons of rest.
So for longer distance runners who do lots of training at threshold, a session like 30-40 x 400 with shorter rest (maybe broken up into sets?) would really help one run the longer, more intense sessions.
Physiologically nothing really. Your body only understands stress, byproducts of that stress, and then what it has to dk with them.
Psychologically, it is good to prove that you can do something longer and continuous. You learn how to hold a pace. You learn how to read your own body better. You also learn how to steel your mind against the length of a distance race.
Since you said that 400m reps are more manageable, I would argue that alone means you need to do longer stuff sometimes. It is good to do what is manageable sometimes. But it is also good to do workouts that you don’t prefer to do so that you challenge yourself mentally.
Having a high threshold is good, but it won’t save you from your mind in a race.
^^^This here. Steel your mind. Running a steady continuous tempo, even pace for 20 min.
It might be easy to overdo your 400 reps going too fast. But you can probably handle 20-25 reps.