The 800 meter run is considered the shortest endurance race in track and field. While it is twice the length of the 400 meter dash it retains some of the physiological and psychological characteristics of that event. Here we will consider the 800 meter runner. In profiling the 800 meters the importance of speed, speed…
Archives for 400 meter training
Two Long Sprints Programs I Steal From Every Day
We had our Divisional State Relay Championship this past Saturday and all four of my ‘primary’ relay teams (girls and boys 4×200 and 4×400) ran faster than they did all of last year. Girls 4×2 came into the meet with a 1:48.07 season best and school record of 1:46.77, set in 2013. They went bananas,…
Do Your Sprinters Have a Fumbling Problem?
I coach at a distance school where the distance coaches love watching sprinters do (what appears to be) aerobic work. I’m pretty sure it’s a commonly held belief among distance coaches that doing long repeats/intervals make sprinters ‘mentally tough’. It doesn’t. Special Endurance does. But, when structured correctly, it does improve anaerobic threshold and that’s…
Why You Shouldn’t Coach Freshmen
The other day, while trolling the Interwebs, I saw a post about how a coach had an athlete run 4×8, 800, 1600 *and* 3200 in the same meet. I tweeted: Any coach who has a HS kid run 4×8, 800, 1600, 3200 in same meet should be fired on the spot. — Latif Thomas (@latif_thomas)…
Share the Knowledge – 400m Training
During the second half of the season I shy away from racing long sprinters in the 400m every week. I’ve found this strategy effective because it allows me to evaluate where each athlete is in his or her training. As part of the evaluation process I use several staple workouts to help gauge improvement levels…
Get Your 800m Runners onto the 4x400m Relay
I always enjoy picking the brains of my colleagues and other aspiring coaches. Luckily I work with some fantastic coaches in the sport, like our middle distance coach Tim Bayley. He was an All American in the 800m at Iona College with a personal best of 1:46. Tim’s middle distance crew had an amazing indoor…
Great 400 Meter Workout – 133’s
Even though I have been making hurdle contributions, I have had some success at 400 meters, and 400 meter workout. I wanted to share one of the more useful 400 meter sprint drills I have come across in the last 10-15 years. I got it from the “Gopher State”, and former head Minnesota University Track…
Goal-Setting for Athletes
Before the track season begins to stir with physical activity is an important time for the middle distance coach to establish oneself as a psychological leader. It is a time for long-term planning of coach directed individual motivation issues. It is a time to establish a list of performance and training goals for each athlete. …