is this a respectable workout for a 4:30ish miler a couple weeks before major competition?
is this a respectable workout for a 4:30ish miler a couple weeks before major competition?
10x400 is more common, and yes it is a classic workout
no need to wait a few weeks before major competition to do it
what would you rest doing 10x400 at mile pace?
i used to cycle 12x400 w/ 75s recovery every 3-4 weeks when i was racing. turned out to be a solid predictor for me, usually what i could average was my race pace. the key is to keep the recovery roughly equal to the work time. obviously, if you intend on going much faster than mile race pace you should adjust the recovery accordingly.
10x400 was Roger Bannister's staple workout. I think his rest was 400 jog at like 7 minute pace, but for a 4:30 guy it's more like 8 minute pace.
10 x 400 at mile pace with 60 sec recoveries is a great race prep workout 4-5 days before the race.
A time tested favorite. I used to do 12x400@60 w/60sec rest. One of my favorite workouts a couple of weeks before a big race.
Another Option wrote:
10 x 400 at mile pace with 60 sec recoveries is a great race prep workout 4-5 days before the race.
Way too hard to be done a few days before an important race.
ehh?? wrote:
Another Option wrote:10 x 400 at mile pace with 60 sec recoveries is a great race prep workout 4-5 days before the race.
Way too hard to be done a few days before an important race.
To be honest I've never tried this particular workout with athletes the week of a state/national championship, so I have no evidence to either agree or disagree with you with regard to a season culminating race. However, I have had many athletes do this throughout the heart of a scholastic season and have seen many have breath-through races the following weekend.
There are very few workouts at mile pace with a volume of 2.5 miles that I can think of that take more than 2-3 days of recovery. In my experience, this isn't an exceptionally hard workout for someone trained as a middle distance runner.
bearbro wrote:
what would you rest doing 10x400 at mile pace?
200 jog... however fast/slow you need
Hardloper wrote:
200 jog... however fast/slow you need
keep it reasonable, though.. don't do 10x400@67 with a 4 minute 200m jog.
If you want to jog around slowly, just stay at the start line and jog back and forth for a minute.
However, the start-stop method of interval training is seemingly antiquated as indicated by current elite's preference of the 'float', viz., 10x400@mile with 200 jog rest at tempo pace. In OP's case (4:30 miler), shoot for 10x400@ 67-68 with 200 jog rest at 50-55 sec (about long run pace).
aasdgggdsasdadf wrote:
keep it reasonable, though.. don't do 10x400@67 with a 4 minute 200m jog.
If you want to jog around slowly, just stay at the start line and jog back and forth for a minute.
However, the start-stop method of interval training is seemingly antiquated as indicated by current elite's preference of the 'float', viz., 10x400@mile with 200 jog rest at tempo pace. In OP's case (4:30 miler), shoot for 10x400@ 67-68 with 200 jog rest at 50-55 sec (about long run pace).
I might also add: this is not a workout to be done during the week of an important race
No its chicken shit!! you should be cranking out atleast 20 with short recovery. How do you think PREFONTAINE GOT SO GOOD HE PUSHED IT. HE DIDNT WASTE HIS TIME ON CHICKEN SHIT SESSIONS!!!!!!!1
Classic workout, used to be my staple workout when I was a miler. I usually started early season at 8x400, 90 seconds rest, with a 2:30 rest after 4 reps. Built up to 8x400 with 75 seconds rest, then down to 60s rest during my peak.
The top guys on the team built up to (sub 4 minute milers) did 10x400 with 60 seconds rest.
These should be done at your goal race pace, and don't go any faster until maybe the last two. If you can't hit your paces, stop the workout and come back the following week. Plan your rest time accordingly (within reason) so you can hit your pace.
I'd say that 10x400 w/ 1:1 rest is a good indicator, but that doesn't mean you should always do it this way. If you really need to see where you are, then yes, but for many weeks leading up, I'd rather see guys do a 400 jog recovery in something closer to 2:00, or just really just 2:00 standing rest w/ a bit of walking. Jog rest really makes it tough.
Also in my experience, high schoolers and even college runners who are more 800 focused tend to struggle with 400s at mile pace mentally. 300s always work better for us. I find they tend to even go a little faster than anticipated, and you can take about 1:00 rest and a 100 jog to the start.
We might progress with 3 sessions like this:
3 x (4x300)
2 x (6x300)
12 x 300
How many present elites still do classic repeat 400s?
I never found that they did much for me, for whatever reason.
Great workout. I used to do them with 1 minute of rest. My average pace for the 400s was very close to the pace I could race a 1600 at. If I averaged 65s, I was in 4:19-4:21 shape.