Physiological benefits of threshold for 400/800 runners

Also, here is an interesting article on Threshold training.

http://trainright.com/the-performance-benefits-of-lactate-threshold-testing-and-training/

Canova has written somewhere that an 800 runneer shouldn´t do too much LT training, because that will limit the body´s ability to use lactate as fuel.

Regardless of the running distance one must practice going at different speeds. Long runs are relevant to the 400/800 guy for recovery. (There is an Olympian LJ/200 guy that uses 3-5 mile runs for recovery, even on Fridays during the season!) Do not race in practice. Practice holding good form while sprinting and running. Practice being comfortable in an uncomfortable situation.

The 800 is around 50% aerobic and the 400 is at 33%. (The slower the run the more it is aerobic.) So the aerobic system is important all season.

Speed development is the hardest thing to achieve in training, work on it every week, even in the off-season. Use periodization, recuperation is needed between seasons. You can do to much.

Hard interval training (what you are talking about) is a no-no except towards the middle and end of the season. If the kid is racing a lot, he does not need hard interval training! It might be wise to do some fartlek runs and strides at the end of the season.

Do not increase the training load much each week.

Keep in mind many volumes have been written on this stuff. When in doubt, keep it aerobic, because that will determine his ultimate performance as an athlete!

really puzzled wrote:

However, this all seems moot when you consider that in a 400/800, you're basically going balls out most of the way. Even when you do cross the threshold, you are spending at most 2 minutes past the threshold. Does it really justify a whole day of training?

You're not basically going balls out most of the way in a 400 or 800. You can only go balls out for less than 10 seconds.

The higher your threshold, the longer you can run close to max speed. This is why Farah can run 50 for a 400 but can barely break 13 for 100m.

The other way to run a 400 or 800 is to do it off of huge 100m speed. Those runners have such high peak speed, that even with poor endurance they can run a competitive 400 or 800 race. This does not require a high threshold.

But yes, a whole day of training is worth it when you're trying to be the best you can be.

Yet it seems that you are trying to argue for doing as much AT as possible.

What do you think racing is? It's hard interval training. All you are doing in AT is bringing down the intensity a notch or two.

If you do too much AT the athlete will get sick, injured, or stale! Racing is another way to achieve that. Too many athletes, not only run too many meets, they run in too many events. It used to be illegal to run someone in the mile and 2 mile. Now you can.