"There's only one hard and fast rule in running: sometimes you have to run one hard and fast."








Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Long Sprint Training

There's very little info on the internet about training under a mile (there's one very good site for 800m) and almost nothing of use for older runners looking at short distances. Searching through my notes, I found a plan I wrote for moving from long distances to 800m, using very high mileage. The MN state record for men 55-59 is 2:14 (plus 0.6 to 0.8 seconds, I'm not looking it up again) and here's what I had for running 2:13:

Monday 3am, 3pm (in 20 minutes)
Tuesday 3 am, 8x200m@ 800m pace (33.2) - 2 minutes
Wednesday 3 am, 3 pm
Thursday 7 in 45 with 3x1.5miles @10k pace (8:36) - 800m, plus 6x60m greyhounds [described elsewhere] @ 95-98%
Friday 3, 3
Saturday 3, 3x1200@5K (5:20), 300 hard (50) - 3 minutes
Sunday 3,3
M 3,3
T 3, 3x[300(49.9),300, 200(33.2)@800 pace -1]-9
W 3,3
Th 7 with 3.5@10M (21) plus 4x[3x50m downhill-3]-6
F 0
Sa 3, 7x600@3K (1:54) - 1min
S 3,3
M 3,3
T 3, 400 in 46.8, 300, 200 (31.2)@400m pace - 5-10min
W3,3
Th 7 with 3@15K (18) plus 15x90-100m uphill @400m/800m pace (15-20 sec)
F 0
Sa 3, 800 time trial, 3x400m hill (100 ft. climb)@ 1 Mile pace (96 sec; 72 on flat)
S 0

That's a lot of slow running for a 800m runner. For a 400m runner, it's almost all about weight training for explosive speed and technique, so nothing about actual run training is available. Here's what I had:

Tuesday: 2 or 3 sets of 4x200m @ 800m pace - 90 seconds recovery
            OR repeats of 1 minute @ 800m pace, with 6 minute recoveries; these could range from
                   6x300m to 3x600m, but should total about 1800m.
Thursday: 3 to 4 sets of maximum velocity assisted sprints:
                  3x30-50m downhill (under 3% grade) - 3 min. recovery
            OR 2 sets of 6x60m steep uphill sprints (under 12%) - 1 minute recovery
Saturday: 3-6x150m @ 400m pace - 5-10min. recovery (early season)
                 2-3 sets of 2-4x150m @ 400m pace - 1 min, with long recovery between sets (late season)
             OR 2-4x300m @ 400m pace - 5-10min recovery
Alternate workouts: Billat workout of 24x30seconds @ 6 minute race pace - 30 seconds at half speed.
                                 8x50m greyhounds at top speed
                                 Time Trials at 100m, 200m, 400m, varying the order each time.

I doubt anyone reading this blog will ever consider racing this short, but I thought I should put the info out there.

No comments: