Age 20 running since 17 events
200 23.5 (fat)
400 52.2 (fat)
400H 59.17 (fat) (1 year hurdling)
Here’s the outline of my program
4 days a week mon/wed/thur/sat
day 1 is SEI (over hurdles)
day 2 is SE2 (over hurdles)
Day 3 is acceleration/top speed
day 4 top speed/ Speed endurance
I train mon/wed/sat at a club facility by myself but thurs independtly
WK 1
Day 1-150/150 + 150/150 1min/10min
Day 2-300/300 10 min
Day 3-2x10/20/30 + 4x60 rest 2-3min for 30m or less then 5 min then 3min/60m
Day 4-3x30Fly + 5x100 6 min
Wk 2
Day 1-160/150 + 150/150 1min/8min
Day 2-310/300 10 min
Day 3-2x10/20/30 + 4x60 rest 2-3min for 30m or less then 5 min then 3min/60m
Day 4-3x30Fly + 5x100 5.5 min
Wk 3
Day 1-160/160 + 150/150 1min/8min
Day 2-310/310 10 min
Day 3-2x10/20/30 + 4x60 rest 2-3min for 30m or less then 5 min then 3min/60m
Day 4-3x30Fly + 5x100 5 min
Wk 4 Recovery week
Day 1-1x160/160 1 min
Day 2-310 time trial
Day 3-2x30 + 2x60 timed
Day 4-2x40 +2x100 timed
Wk 5
Day 1-160/160 + 150/150 1min/8min
Day 2-310/310 10 min
Day 3-4x20+ 2x40 + 2x50 + 2x60
Day 4-3x30Fly + 5x100 5 min
WK 6
Day 1-160/160 + 160/150 1min/8min
Day 2-320/310 10 min
Day 3-4x20+ 2x40 + 2x50 + 2x60
Day 4-3x30Fly + + 5x100 4.5 min
WK 7
Day 1-160/160 + 160/160 1min/8min
Day 2-320/320 10 min
Day 3-4x20+ 2x40 + 2x50 + 2x60
Day 4-3x30Fly + 5x100 4 min
Wk 8 Recovery week
Day 1-160/160 1min/8min
Day 2-320 time trial
Day 3-2x30 + 2x60 timed
Day 4-2x40 + 2x100 timed
My program continues in this sequence adding 10m of distance for SE1/SE2/Speed endurance every week for 3 weeks then test/recovery week
then week after is same as week before test/recovery then progressively build
My theory is build speed then maintain intensity then just add volume slowly. It what has worked in the past for me. Please evaluate and comment on it. I do have a SE2 followed by pure speed but that is do to facility access I can do the under 60 work in soccer cleats on a football field/soccer field.
the main question I have would it be more beneficial to have my weekly microcyle layout look like
Mon SE2-
Tue-off
WEd-SPeed/speed endurance
thur-off
Fri-accel/speed
Sat-SEI
Sun-off
or
Mon SE2-
Tue-off
WEd-SE1
thur-accel/speed
Fri-off
Sat-SPeed/speed endurance
Sun-off
I think it’s best to be freshest for the fastest sessions, so in this respect the first microcycle is preferable. A further suggestion might be that you ideally want alike sessions as far apart as possible (to give most time to recover that energy system), so how about a slight modification of the first microcycle:
I am interested to hear people’s opinion on your theory of gradually building up the distance. The idea of long to short is very well established and has proved itself by creating the fastest 400m times in history. May I ask what stage of the season this programme is designed for i.e. how long until you intend to peak?
Thanks for the input. I have made modifications to plan to increase my freshness. I went down to 3HI days instead of 4 HI as many people suggested in other threads that 3 HI is the optimal number/wk. I just cut accel/speed day and added the accel to speed/speed endurace with a lowering of Speed endurance volume and added a small amount of top speed less then 150m to SEI day while increasing the rest of SE1 to compensate for the extra fatigue from top speed. This I believe will allow for me to have better recovery.
Here is the modified plan. This stage is actually going to be used a phase 1 weeks 1-4 starting this week. I am starting this as my new year because I want to peak in exactly one year for my provincial championships next year. THe rest of this season is a write off. I am not planning on peaking indoor I may race but the results don’t matter because my only goal is a new pb outdoor next year 50.5 (400)-55.5(400H).
General Plan for each Week
What do you think of this microcyle layout
Day 1 Mon-Special endurance 2
Day 2 Wed-Acceleration + Top Speed + speed endurance
Day 3 Sat-Top Speed + Special Endurance 1
? Phase 1
Wk 1
Day 1-300/300 10 min
Day 2-10/10/20/30 2/5min + 3x30 fly 3/8min + 4x100 4min
Day 3-2x50 3/6min + 150/150 + 150/150 1min/10min
Wk 2
Day 1-310/300 10 min
Day 2-10/10/20/30 2/5min + 3x30 fly 3/8min + 1x110 + 3x100 4min
Day 3-2x50 3/6min + 160/150 + 150/150 1min/10min
Wk 3
Day 1-310/310 10 min
Day 2-10/10/20/30 2/5min + 3x30 fly 3/8min + 2x110 + 2x100 4min
Day 3-2x50 3/6min + 160/160 + 150/150 1min/10min
Wk 4 Test and Rest
Day 1-300m Time Trial
Day 2-30/60/100m 5min/rep
Day 3-150/150 1min Time Trial
My theory of high intensity building up slowly. I really look forward to discussing this theory with people because it is a personal one based on what has worked for me last year I gradually increased the distance without lowering intensity and I pbed in the 400. I do many other sports badminton, cycling so my aerobic condition is excellent 7 km in 28 min 1 month ago without aerobic running so I see no need to train aerobically.
I currently train with a coach that does no special endurance /speed endurance over 120m during are peaking season (now). Basically our program is a general condition for injured athletes and football players with a focus on 100m. 1 day of tempo 200s/1 days of short speed and 1 day of speed endurance max 120m and I die in every race so I am focusing on what I need to do to be successful. Any comments on my new plan would be great.
I think the changes you have made to your programme are positive ones. However, I have to say I’m pretty surprised that this is a plan for the very beginning of the season. It is not like any 400/400h runner that I know of. Please accept my comments as my own oppinion and intended as constructive criticism.
I think your idea of gradually increasing the distance without lowering intensity is flawed, and here is why: unless an athlete is very new to training, an increase in distance will inevitably come with an associated decrease in speed. As you go through the season and approach races you don’t want to be training at a slower and slower speed. You say this has worked in the past, and perhaps you were at the stage that you could actually increase the distance without loss of speed as you were seeing such large initial gains; but as you approach 50s 400m you can’t hope for this to continue.
In general I would say that your sessions are much shorter than what a 400/400h runner would do, especially at the beginning of the season. Most will be doing lots of aerobic work / circuits / tempo runs on grass: ‘training to train’. 400 training in my experience is pretty brutal, and it has to be if you are not going to die in the last 100m of a race.
Four 150s or two 300s is the sort of thing I’d do in the weeks leading up to a 400 race, not at the start of the season.
In any case, it is good that you are trying to develop an thought-out plan. I hope my comments are of interest.
Again, I’d be interested to hear what other people think.
It’s called short to long planning. It’s how Ben ran 9.79 20 years ago. It’s how many of the East Germans women ran the 400m and managed to run 47.6! A lot of people on this forum use it and we have everything here from people competing at small school meets to those making European, World and Olympic finals.
Watch the Vancouver 2004 Download if you want to see Charlie explaining how he did it!
You are missing out Tempo which is such an important aspect of training for 100m let alone 400m! I think you will just get burnt out on your program after a few weeks because the intensity is so high and the volume pretty low. Also you need to get to the 2x150s in the first place (you can’t just wake up and run them fast) and for me this takes at least 3-4months of training so I’m not sure if they will start out being fast anyway.
I really appreciate the comments. I actually have just joined a club with a really good coach who specializes in 400/400H. Now I am doing their program which is full of Top speed/speed endurance and lots of special endurance with tempo used sometimes. I did try my program for 1 wk and it didn’t work out great. Mainly I wasn’t able to push as hard as I wanted on the SEi/SE2 because I had no coach or fellow athletes pushing me I ran
SE1 20.1/21.1 + 20.3/21.6 over 150Hurdles with 1min/6min rest.
Speed/speed endurace went okay but its hard without someone timing u or watching your form to see how your running.
SE2 was slated for today but I did my first club workout and had fun.
FC252 I understand where ur coming from with my base actually being a peaking phase for most. and Topcat indicated a lack of tempo havign negative effects on my program. These both were concerns I had. Now that I have a team to workout with I just listen to my coach and will see my times drop. Thanks for the input.
