Hi everyone,
I am really just looking for advice on a training plan for the winter given limited available weekly training time.
I am a high school junior who is swimming in the winter, and for this reason can probably run only 2-3x per week (Saturday classes + meets).
I'm looking to drop, as in the subject line, about 6 seconds off my 400m time before the end of spring track season, but am unsure as to how to go about pre-season training such that I'm hitting the right times at the beginning of the season to be able to pull it off by the end of the season. Should I be going on tempo runs and doing longer/mid distance track workouts (600/800 repeats) until February-ish, then start concentrating on raw speed? Or work on sprints through and through? Something in between? Any suggestions are much appreciated.
Just some background:
- Ran high 56 sec/low 57 sec 400m last spring off very minimal to no training (2-4 mpw).
- Have not tried a 400 recently, but I'm guessing it's around the same range, a second faster at most.
- Trained more seriously during XC this year -> PR 17:47.
- Mile (tested informally last week) is currently sitting around 5:07.
What type of training plan has worked for you? Do you think this is possible?