heptathlon 800 versus normal 800

I don't know but your hurdles is very good as is your 5.48m LJ. Say sub 2:20. Would need to know your 400m flat.

Good LJ and Hurdles wrote:

Say sub 2:20.

Concur, but more on the strength of your hurdles speed than on any "conversion" from heptathlon 800 to open 800. (Your 400H time would be useful to know.)

FWIW I've coached multiple successful multi-eventers (all-Americans, national champ, etc.) and found that their best multi-800 times actually tended to be quite close to their open PRs. Still, I could see your getting under 2:20 with just a few weeks of specialty work.

Substantially lower than that? Can't say, one way or the other: insufficient data.

never run a real 400. I run 62s in the 400 hurdles if that helps..?

Same. I know of a great athlete with 6.14 LJ and 13.5 hurdles. Good but not blazing 200m and she runs around 2:15. For the athlete posting here I could see sub 2:20. The LJ and hurdles indicate a very good athlete and some speed. Training for an 800m could yield a sub 2:20

my 400H time is 62

Definitely sub 2:20 then

curiousheptathlete wrote:

my 400H time is 62

People vary a lot, but with that time I would definitely see the *potential* for something under 2:15. Beyond that you'd just have to see where long-term specialty training could take you, but I'd say sub-2:10 was a possibility.

Good to know! Thanks for getting back to me!

My daughter does the Heptathlon and during the HS season I run her in the 400h the first half of the season to help her 800m come New Balance. She went 1:03 400h and 2:21 800m in the heptathlon. We dont do any mileage as 6 events are speed/power. We do 2 or 3x200 with 30sec rest at 800m pace at the end of workouts on general strength days and sometimes a 200-400-200 with 30sec rest between each. Every other week we run 3x800 progressive with 8min rest usually running the first just under 3min then 2:50 and 2:40. If you add this in to the end of some workouts you should be under 2:20 soon enough. She does have a strong base from XC season however where she runs 7-8 5K's but even during XC she trains like a 400runner doing fall training.

Thanks for the workout suggestions!

FWIW my heptathletes have had considerable success with running a hard 500 at the end of a workout, a few days before a meet (say Tuesday before a Friday-Saturday hep).

Frankly, I came up with this by chance and didn't reason it out. Had an athlete who (like most multi people) was working on a bunch of events in a session, and I felt like I couldn't give her much flat running at the end of the practice so just had her do a 500. Then that weekend she ran an open 800 and beat the school recordholder.

Tried the same thing again and found that it seemed to help others I worked with. I still don't have a convincing physiological argument for it; it just seemed to work.