How would you recommend a 400m sprinter and hurdler transitions into racing 5k and beyond? I ran on the track in college, 60.1 in the 400mH and 56.8 in the 400m flat. Not fantastic times but reasonable for a female also focused on team sports. I've finished studying now and would like to train for longer events. I feel my speed could be an asset but obviously I have a lot of aerobic catching up to do! How to I keep speed for the finishing kick but also build the volume and endurance?
I ran the 400m for five years in my twenties, then went back to distance running by drastically increasing my weekly mileage. Plus I ran 5 or 10k races or time trials almost every week, and changed my diet to one that gave me more energy.
At first little kids were beating me but improvements were rapid and eventually I would often win my age group in races, so it can be done.
You can keep a reasonable amount of speed by occasionally including some sprints at the end of workouts, but not so much when you're increasing the miles. This depends on what you're emphasizing at the time, i.e. preparation or sharpness etc.