What's the purpose of this 800 meter workout?

I think…. And it’s a big I think, that he was trying to clear up what he was saying but didn’t do it very well.

1. He didn’t see the point of the workout

2. Offered his alternative which he though would be more productive

3. Cocked up his response totally so it was unreadable, but I think he meant with the 400m session that he’d seen was that that was similar (sort of in my opinion) but was more intense than the 4x200s so still saw no point in that session. I’m not sure where the 400 really came into it so I’m still a little confused.

As for me answering the original post, I would agree with an earlier post that that would only be useful for an easy pace session before a race.

The lack of knowledge I see on this site frequently amazes me.

The workout described by the OP is actually a famous (to real coaches) workout, known as "Russian Intervals." It got that name because, in addition to Penn State, it was a bread and butter workout to many Russian and eastern block female 800 runners that won many Olympic medals in the 1970's and 1980's, and is still popular today.

The workout helps to develop the ability to maintain 800 speed in a race. The goal is to run the 200's 1-2 seconds per lap FASTER than 800 speed, and to start with 60 second rest, with the goal of reducing the rest to 30-45 seconds. The set break can be in the range of 4-8 minutes. When you can do the workout with less than 45 second rest, you either run the 200s faster, or you go to longer rep workouts like 6X300 with 2 min, or 3X400 with 3-4 minutes.

There is simply no reason for any real coach to not be familiar with this workout.

I'm a real coach and I take exception to much of what you have to say. First, I am not familiar with that workout, but then I don't copy workouts from other sources. (I guess you do?) My training philosophy is grounded in an understanding of physiology, psychology, biomechanics, etc. Based on that, I make up my own workouts to accomplish the particular goal(s) that have been set for my athletes.

Don't get me wrong; I don't think it is a bad idea to read about the workouts others have done. However, I would never copy a workout and certainly would not do so without a thorough understanding of the training plan designed for this particular athlete.

Also, the workout you describe is not the same as the one in the first post. The original did not have reducing recovery intervals. Nor were the 200s run at faster than 800 race pace. Those things make a big difference.

Have to agree with Coach K on pretty much everything he says.

Also it may have been a common workout for the East German women of the 70s and 80s (who were also drugged up) but training methods move on, you wouldn’t for example go back and use Roger bannisters training methods as they are now simply out date and not as effective as current methods.

I agree - you would never have seen El Guerrouj copying Coe's methods from the 70s would you?

hannibal hayes wrote:

I agree - you would never have seen El Guerrouj copying Coe's methods from the 70s would you?

Correct! Though many have studied and even used Coe's training methodology, they are too smart to copy exact workouts.

3(4 x 200) is good workout to do speed maintenance. I do this every couple of weeks (in fact tonight) to just touch that turnover without doing too much. :30 rest w/lap jog between sets will help you feel the burn. Maybe start Mile effort and by the third set, dip into 800 effort.

I always feel "springy" a couple of days later, even if I am running a 5k/10k.

If you are fit and no race that week 4(5 x 200) @ 3k down to mile is a good workout.

tony