Do sprinters do "long runs"?

My athletes over-distance train mostly in the fall. It consists of a Sunday XC style run (grass and trails) for no longer than 3 miles for a 400m specialist and 2-2.5 miles for short sprints. The other majority of distance/aerobic training is by way of fartlek runs and "breakdown" runs.

Also, summer conditioning for 400m runners exposes my athletes to aerobic training via high volume/low intensity runs with short rest. (IE- 16 x 200m @ 39 second pace with 1 minute rest, or 8 x 300 with 30 seconds of push ups or crunches w/ 30 seconds additional rest thereafter)

Hope this helps...

Thanks for your info! Are you referring to HS runners? I have a hard time imagining the 400 runners at my school doing anything like this at all. (i.e., training in the summer)

They are college athletes. Trust me, there are plenty of kids who don't do the summer training I give them. They are the ones going nowhere while the rest of the program thrives and improves. Get them to believe in it and the results will speak for the program/coaching as a whole. As long as a couple of kids buy into it you will have a couple of great examples of success. Remember, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

Let's see...train slow to run fast??? Slow twitch activation, longer ground contact, less force application means faster speeds? There are some natural laws of physics being violated if this is the case.

kato wrote:

Let's see...train slow to run fast??? Slow twitch activation, longer ground contact, less force application means faster speeds? There are some natural laws of physics being violated if this is the case.

he said during the fall. so prob. like starting december there will be no more sunday runs and its just working on sprinting and explosiveness as well as block use. he probably uses the 3 mile runs to get them in better fitness.

Roddie Haley ran 6 miles/day w/ the XC team in the fall (so he said)

Guy on my HS team (OG 4x4 relay gold) was our #2-3 JV XC runner his senior year. Hated it. But he got pretty good. 17:xx for 5k.

Clyde Hart has his guys do some 3-mile "long runs" during the fall, and some timed cross country runs. Check this out:

http://www.nacactfca.org/articles/Hart-eng.htm

If you have your doubts then so be it. However, you have no clue what the rest of those training cycles or training years involve. Summer/fall training is about getting fit and injury prevention for when we are working on running fast and developing more explosive running. It's not about training hard, it's about training smart.

I'm sure there was an interview with Dwain Chambers, where he said he did 20 minute runs during the build up for his track season - might try and find the link later, but I'm sure there was thread about his training on here.

Angelo Taylor wrote something about a 57 minute "long run" he did.

kato wrote:

Let's see...train slow to run fast??? Slow twitch activation, longer ground contact, less force application means faster speeds? There are some natural laws of physics being violated if this is the case.

The sprint groups I know of do similar stuff. They do reps and mixed circuits/running sessions precisely to avoid many miles of steady running, which might encourage their twitching to slow down. Michael Johnson's training is similar.

You probably ought to ban sprinters from walking for the other 15 hours per day - ground contact time is way too long!

Usain Bolt runs across Jamaica for his long runs. I saw it on TV a few times.

Didn't Edwin Moses run 10k runs with the XC team during the winter?

fsafsda wrote:

Clyde Hart has his guys do some 3-mile "long runs" during the fall, and some timed cross country runs. Check this out:

http://www.nacactfca.org/articles/Hart-eng.htm

I once heard MJ say he did regular 4 mile runs.

For the 100m, ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Unless you're trying to lose some flab, or stay fit, in the off=season.

200 is basically 100 guys--again, no.

400--yes, sporadically, but not in-season, unless it is to work out the kinks, and then it is very slow by any real running standards.

Sorry guys--during 100 or 200, there is just no aerobic component, and developing it, and training slower twitch, is a waste.

Really? I admit I don't train for sprints, but I assume that most sprinters have *some* aerobic background, even if just from other youth sports...

Also, doesn't aerobic training (pre/off-season) have the benefit of improved capillarization?

Really? I admit I don't train for sprints, but I assume that most sprinters have *some* aerobic background, even if just from other youth sports...

Also, doesn't aerobic training (pre/off-season) have the benefit of improved capillarization?

My 100/200 specialists do not run aerobically very often. When they do, it is short bouts of fartlek and rounds of 600/500 breakdown runs. My 400m runners are a different story. I go off the thought that the 400 is a 60% anaerobic/40% aerobic race. So far the program has worked out very well for me and my athletes.

Sprint Geezer wrote:

For the 100m, ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Unless you're trying to lose some flab, or stay fit, in the off=season.

200 is basically 100 guys--again, no.

400--yes, sporadically, but not in-season, unless it is to work out the kinks, and then it is very slow by any real running standards.

Sorry guys--during 100 or 200, there is just no aerobic component, and developing it, and training slower twitch, is a waste.

400 runners do require some aerobic back round in the off season, but nothing too drastic; like a few of the guys said a little 2 mile run about once a week, i think fartleks and slow pace fast recovery 200's would also be a better fit considering it still works on some form of sprinting. but still i wouldnt put them far over 20mpw anymore or anymore type of distance runs would just slow there foot speed