former 800/1500 runner here. would like to try long sprinting for a summer. what kind of weekly structure and workouts would help me get to my target of sub 50 seconds?
former 800/1500 runner here. would like to try long sprinting for a summer. what kind of weekly structure and workouts would help me get to my target of sub 50 seconds?
I think this has the potential to become something great, like the sub 1:50 training thread, if some of the great posters on LRC like smoove and others can chime in.
Well if you have any coaches at your disposal, use them. No one here will be able to provide a very individualized plan, especially with the info you've provided.
I'm assuming your path will be different, as you're coming down from mid-d, but this is what I know:
M: Acceleration, working pure speed, technique, starts, etc.
T: Tempo. We would do lots of slow 100s or 200s with little rest. Such as 30 100s in 16s (equal rest), or 10 200s in 30 with 1min rest.
W: Hills! 100m-150m seemed to be common.
Th: A la Tuesday
F (could take it easy and do something killer Sat): Longer reps, like 2-3-4-5-4-3-2; race replication, e.g. 3x133m at race pace with 1min rest -- try to get up to 3 sets. An easier workout is repeat 300s with 100m walk rest done in the vein of the tempo days--45s, maybe 7 reps, could also be a Th workout.
Check out the Clyde Hart stuff online. Weights usually play a large role (explosive stuff like cleans, squats of all types, lots of core stuff, shoulder work).
Don't get injured.
OP, tell us more about yourself in terms of PRs, weight, other goals ,etc.
ran 1:52 and 3:56 last year, split high 51s a couple times, tall and fairly lean but not entirely devoid of muscle, post collegiate, no real goals other than general fitness and beach bod. just figured I'd try something new for the summer
arandompasserby wrote:
OP, tell us more about yourself in terms of PRs, weight, other goals ,etc.
Do two types of intense workouts per week.
The first workout would be repeat 400s or 300s
The second one would be repeat 200s or 150s
Then a Saturday would be a race or a time trial or a high quality low quantity workout, like 300, 200, 100 all fast with lots of rest.
Go for an 8 week cycle.
The first week would be a high number of reps. Start with 10 or 12 reps for each type (12X400 one day then 12X200 later in the week, for example)
The #2 workout would obviously be at a faster pace since it's a shorter workout in total.
Then each week, cut down the number of reps by one or two and increase the pace.
In the final week you'd be down to a fast 3X300 and a fast 3X150.
And the a fast 1 X 400
Another total opposite way to go is this:
Start out by doing 6X100 at your goal 400m pace
Then 4X150 at 400m pace the next week or two later
Then 3X200 ...
Then 2X300 ...
That could be your Saturday workouts
adviceseeker11 wrote:
ran 1:52 and 3:56 last year, split high 51s a couple times, tall and fairly lean but not entirely devoid of muscle, post collegiate, no real goals other than general fitness and beach bod. just figured I'd try something new for the summer
arandompasserby wrote:OP, tell us more about yourself in terms of PRs, weight, other goals ,etc.
If those are your actual goals, 400m training will probably work well for you.
However, I would caution that you might be surprised when you switch to purely 400m training and barely improve at the 400m. The training you did to run 1:52 probably came very close to maximizing your 400m. Your strength is endurance, when compared to the typical 400m runner. Switching to 400m training means that you will lose a lot of that and only gain a little bit of speed, so it might not result in much improvement at all over 400m.
sdfsdfsdfsdfsdfsdf wrote:
adviceseeker11 wrote:ran 1:52 and 3:56 last year, split high 51s a couple times, tall and fairly lean but not entirely devoid of muscle, post collegiate, no real goals other than general fitness and beach bod. just figured I'd try something new for the summer
If those are your actual goals, 400m training will probably work well for you.
However, I would caution that you might be surprised when you switch to purely 400m training and barely improve at the 400m. The training you did to run 1:52 probably came very close to maximizing your 400m. Your strength is endurance, when compared to the typical 400m runner. Switching to 400m training means that you will lose a lot of that and only gain a little bit of speed, so it might not result in much improvement at all over 400m.
There's definitely something to this. Much of the 800/1500 pace stuff you were doing to run 1:52 probably helped your 400m a lot. So if you're plan is to do less mileage and train more like a 400 runenr, I'd still keep some 800 esque training in there. Lots of short tempos or 'long' reps for a 400m runner. I think a lot of what you will need will be in the weight room and short sprints (under 100m). Otherwise, changing too much from your 800 training may not help your 400
You can train like a distance guy and still improve speed. My fastest 400 guy i ever coached was an 800 guy. The key is ending each workout or day with stuff to work on your finishing kick from 80s to 200s and plyos and hills.
Is your 51 from around the same time when you did the 1:52 800m?
You can certainly run 49:X and stil improve that 800m to 1:49/50 or thereabouts.
You still have a good 1500m but the 800m is the superior one from the 3.
You're a natural speedy guy who can run reasonably well of middle distance specific apparently. Keep on running 800m my friend, you'll stilll lower you mile and 400m time easily, maybe not at the same time but you can.
Rockstar Games wrote:
Is your 51 from around the same time when you did the 1:52 800m?
You can certainly run 49:X and stil improve that 800m to 1:49/50 or thereabouts.
You still have a good 1500m but the 800m is the superior one from the 3.
You're a natural speedy guy who can run reasonably well of middle distance specific apparently. Keep on running 800m my friend, you'll stilll lower you mile and 400m time easily, maybe not at the same time but you can.
yeah, they were about 5 hours apart
I'm not affiliated with Latif Thomas or Mike Hurst, but they both have excellent, free 400 articles.
Just google: Latif Thomas summer training and Mike Hurst 400 training
don't go near LT unless you wanna pay way too much for bog standard stuff!
Defo go near Mike Hurst! As someone with more endurance you would cope well with Clyde Harts stuff, the speed element of his plan is easy to attain and wouldn't shock the body too much, but I would defo lean towards Mikes stuff personally (I do I am a sub 50 masters runner, and I coach sub 50 runners too!)