100-400m training?

I have never had my sprinters do distance runs. The coach before me did 2-3 days a week 20-30min. Results wise its hard to say as i got greater numbers out but i would say taking away those runs helped. I replaced them with in/out 100s 1-2 miles instead followed but other stuff of course. Aka sprint the straights/float the turns. Completely by feel. I never give them time goals for this.

My issue is most sprinters endurance running pace is still too fast...so they don't gain the recovery benefits from it...instead, they risk teaching those fast twitch muscles to take on some slow twitch characteristics. I've found more success in having them run barefoot for 20 min at a "jogging" pace (so slow their's no way the fast twitch muscles are recruited to do anything) to strengthen their lower legs, and enhance recovery from the harder sprint workouts. The purpose isn't for endurance...its for recovery and injury prevention. Speed endurance workouts geared towards a 600m pace would be more beneficial for a 400m runner than endurance runs. I think that's why you see the 500m or 600m run indoor...and the types of runners running them are 400m-focused.

citius5000 wrote:

I have never had my sprinters do distance runs. The coach before me did 2-3 days a week 20-30min. Results wise its hard to say as i got greater numbers out but i would say taking away those runs helped. I replaced them with in/out 100s 1-2 miles instead followed but other stuff of course. Aka sprint the straights/float the turns. Completely by feel. I never give them time goals for this.

Okay, and would you suggest doing the in/out 100s as an easy day? Anything else to break up the monotony? I figure doing some kind of ladder, repeats, or hill repeats, for hard days would be good. I'd rather avoid doing that 2-3 times a week as every easy run.

CoachJD wrote:

My issue is most sprinters endurance running pace is still too fast...so they don't gain the recovery benefits from it...instead, they risk teaching those fast twitch muscles to take on some slow twitch characteristics. I've found more success in having them run barefoot for 20 min at a "jogging" pace (so slow their's no way the fast twitch muscles are recruited to do anything) to strengthen their lower legs, and enhance recovery from the harder sprint workouts. The purpose isn't for endurance...its for recovery and injury prevention. Speed endurance workouts geared towards a 600m pace would be more beneficial for a 400m runner than endurance runs. I think that's why you see the 500m or 600m run indoor...and the types of runners running them are 400m-focused.

Okay, I can understand that going too quick on endurance runs is too fast. Do you think that it is too quick even if the athlete is breathing easy?

Specifically, I have a boy that is 11.0X for a 100m, 51.XX for a 400m and on these endurance runs he can run a 5k at 7:30 pace without having labored breathing. So even with those runs being easy, still have him run at a slow jog for 20 minutes?

And what kind of duration would you suggest for the 600m paced workouts?

Lactate threshold pace can easily be achieved without labored breathing...and that's just too fast for recovery purposes. I guess, the best way to describe a pure recovery pace is conversational. I like the barefoot element because it promotes quick turnover and definitely slows them down.

Essentially, the 400 is 18% aerobic, the importance of the aerobic system can be emphasized better through intervals with shorter rest, but the endurance runs serve a purpose--recovery. The risk of the "too fast" pace endurance run, especially in the precompetitive and competitive periods puts those IIa fibers at risk of sacrificing their anaerobic abilities for aerobic abilities. Let the slow twitch muscles handle the aerobic side, you want those IIa fibers leaning the anaerobic direction. That's why a time requirement (20 min, instead of 2.5 mile, etc) is a better way to ensure the athlete is running easy than a mile requirement.

For the 600 pace stuff...that's speed endurance, like a paced 400 with a 200m build to full speed. A flat out 600 race is great overdistance. But to get at the aerobic system, 8x200, 6x300 with 2 min rest at essentially a mile pace (or their 400m+15sec) is excellent for 400m runners. This is crisp, rhythmic work.

I mean in/outs can be done a road or trail/grass instead of a track. Just change it to timed stuff like 15sec hard/60sec float or something for a given distance. So something like an easy fartlek can do the job. Meant to be an easy workout and a good warmup as this is usually followed by a shorter more explosive w/o like an acceleration w/o, plyo w/o , blocks or relays and weight session depending on the day. This past year my athletes did this twice a week with one meet and 3 hard workouts during the more specific phase of training. I do phases and try to alternate workouts each week to get rid of the possible monotony your thinking about.