Where I live, the indoor track season starts the Monday after Thanksgiving. And if I expect to have a good season, I better have already spent some serious time planning and creating the annual plan for my short and long sprinters. (As well as my ‘super long sprinters’ who run the ridiculous 600m race here in…
Archives for 400m training
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…
Answers to popular training questions (March ’13)
I spend a lot of time answering training questions. In fact, I’ve been answering training questions since first going ‘online’ in 2004. I’ve noticed a pattern in the types of questions I get. So today Here are answers to a couple that I see on a regular basis… Question #1: Latif, I could use your…
Training High School 400m Runners (Extended Trailer)
Here is a sneak peek at Latif Thomas’s new ‘Training High School 400m Runners‘ program.
400m Training Q&A – Part II
Today I’m answering more common questions about 400m training for high school runners. If you missed my first video, click here. Before you play today’s video, I’d like to apologize in advance for, truly, two of the worst jokes I’ve ever made, as well as my reaction to them. As well as for not editing…
The ‘Missing Link’ in your HS Long Sprints (200,300,400) program?
The biggest mistake high school ‘long sprints’ coaches make is wasting time and energy searching for solutions to problems that don’t exist. You can write the most beautiful annual plan or the most individualized and specific workouts the universe has ever known. But, if your sprinters secretly hate the 400, fear the 400 and/or don’t…
(Video) Answers to Popular 400m Training Questions
When I set out to create a program built around training high school 400m runners, I sent out a survey to ask coaches specifically what you want to know. Below is a video of me answering the first 10 of those questions. Below that is the question I posed. And below that are the specific…
3 Major Changes to My Program for 2013
Each August, before I write my annual plan for the upcoming season, I go back through my workouts, notes and results to determine which elements of my program went well last year, which areas didn’t and why. Then, I adhere to the wisdom of Bruce Lee: Based on my large numbers and lack…
The Key to Success in the Long Sprints: Speed Reserve
Developing a ‘speed reserve’ through a well designed speed development program is essential to success in the track & field sprint events, especially the ‘lactic acid’ events like 300m (especially for girls), 400m and 400h. Speed reserve is, essentially, the difference between an athlete’s maximum speed and their maximum aerobic speed. In many coaching situations,…
What is The Best Way to train 400m runners?
Within the world of 400m coaching, there lies a spectrum of viable approaches we can take to elicit respectable performances out of our sprinters, regardless of age, gender or innate talent level, especially when you want to train 400m runners. Combine my lack of belief in concepts like ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ with being hypercompetitive well…
3 Reasons Sprinters Fall Apart at the End of Races
Recently, I had the distinct pleasure of attending a 6 hour freshman/sophomore meet. The meet was very well run, it was just, you know, a 6 hour freshman/sophomore meet. I can’t tell you how many times I watched sprinters fall apart at the end of races. So, I’m standing there, minding my own business and…
The Circle of Truth
I have received a lot of great feedback and questions about sprint workouts and the Master Class on the 100m. One question that came up a few times pertained to “runs” early on in the season. I was confused at first by these questions because sprinters go on runs every day. As a matter of…