6 x 400m off 4 mins - MILE PREDICTION

not saying this as criticism, and you are hitting each of these much faster than I could run an all-out 400 these days, but fwiw I think it's too much recovery to serve as an accurate prediction workout for a mile. I've found something like 10 or even 12 X 400 with 200 jog to correspond closely to the pace I can hold in a mile. So just guessing that adding repeats and decreasing recovery would have bumped you up to, say, 63 per 400, and then adding for the extra 9 meters at the end I'll guess 4:14.

Good luck in the race.

Dave Haaga

mile wannabe wrote:

I have a mile race coming up and unsure what pace I should go out in. My session today was 6 x 400m, with a lap jog recovery (3/4minutes recovery)

59, 59, 59, 60, 60, 59 were my times.

Thanks

Tell us more about you and your training this year?

mile wannabe wrote:

I have a mile race coming up and unsure what pace I should go out in. My session today was 6 x 400m, with a lap jog recovery (3/4minutes recovery)

59, 59, 59, 60, 60, 59 were my times.

Thanks

What do your coach think you can run?

mile wannabe wrote:

I have a mile race coming up and unsure what pace I should go out in. My session today was 6 x 400m, with a lap jog recovery (3/4minutes recovery)

59, 59, 59, 60, 60, 59 were my times.

Thanks

Way too much recovery to have a real sense of what you can run. I think sub 4:20 1600 is a safe bet.

No it's not too much recovery to have a real sense of what he can run. A great 800m predictor is what you can average in 4x400m w/ 5min. rest. But he did 6 with even less rest than that. I say he can run a 4:11.

didanyonee;lseseeethis wrote:

mile wannabe wrote:

I have a mile race coming up and unsure what pace I should go out in. My session today was 6 x 400m, with a lap jog recovery (3/4minutes recovery)

59, 59, 59, 60, 60, 59 were my times.

Thanks

Way too much recovery to have a real sense of what you can run. I think sub 4:20 1600 is a safe bet.

WRONG again. wrote:

No it's not too much recovery to have a real sense of what he can run. A great 800m predictor is what you can average in 4x400m w/ 5min. rest. But he did 6 with even less rest than that. I say he can run a 4:11.

didanyonee;lseseeethis wrote:

Way too much recovery to have a real sense of what you can run. I think sub 4:20 1600 is a safe bet.

Yes, it´s too much rest. A 1500 is not an 800. This session doesn´t say anything about his speed endurance.

dhaaga wrote:

not saying this as criticism, and you are hitting each of these much faster than I could run an all-out 400 these days, but fwiw I think it's too much recovery to serve as an accurate prediction workout for a mile. I've found something like 10 or even 12 X 400 with 200 jog to correspond closely to the pace I can hold in a mile. So just guessing that adding repeats and decreasing recovery would have bumped you up to, say, 63 per 400, and then adding for the extra 9 meters at the end I'll guess 4:14.

Good luck in the race.

Dave Haaga

I agree that somewhere in the 412-415 range is probably what he could run. Given the 3-4 min rest, I don't think the workout is designed to be run at mile pace, so in that sense the splits themselves wont predict a final time.

One important fact the OP forgot to mention would be how the workout felt. Was he struggling to hit these times or was it smooth.

It is fun to predict what you can run from workouts. But don't setup workouts for the purpose of prediction. your coach needs to assess what you need at this point in your training cycle and setup a workout based on this.

Nothing wrong with 6 x 400m with 3 mins recovery if that is what you needed. I recently did this (2.5 min rests) workout with an athlete of mine - 61, 61,59, 59, 58, 57

He ran 4:13 a week later for the mile.

I also think it´s too much rest. It really depends if you train more like an 800/1500m guy or 3k/5k.

I was more of a 3k guy and I remember doing a similar workout and only running a 4:23 that season.

We (D1) use 3X400 with 4 min as a key workout for 800 meters during outdoor specific training period. You CAN use this to predict mile pace, which for endurance-trained runners is ~10% slower than 800 pace.

A strategy that works for 1500 is to do 6X400 with 2-3 minute rest at GOAL pace. As you can run these on pace, you gradually reduce the rest, until you can run them with 60-70 sec rest (El Guerrouj and Steve Scott did 30 second rest).

6-8X400 with 60 sec is a good prediction for mile race pace.

Bannister before his sub4 did, I believe, 10X400 in 57 with 2 minutes.