You can check out the GPP download from the site store. It has the big circuit detailed, which is a tougher tempo circuit and you can see it done there. Keep in mind that this is a girl who was running 52.8 going into that season, although she came here running not much faster than your girl.
You’ll also see hill workouts which you might incorporate as well. If at all possible, do the tempo outside to prevent problems associated with tight indoor turns. Let us know what the pool workout consists of. That might be a good thing but we’ll know soon enough.
We sometimes did longer runs at the beginning of the warm-up for the 400m girls at the highest levels of fitness- 49.91 to 51.08 (3:21:21 for Silver at LA84) in the fall but for a time not a distance- usually 15min but rarely 20min and not really with a set distance in mind (and only on grass!).
yea I do not think that 5k runs would benifit your runners. I’m on the 800m side of the 400m and I have given up steady state slow jogs, they are worthless. I will be incorporating progressively longer threashold runs later in my season, but nothing more than 25 minutes.
Yes, get that GPP DVD from the site’s store!!!
In the meantime, I am sure you can find tempo examples from others here in the forum (e.g., check John’s training diary, who also runs 400 m).
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
I will take a look at the materials on the store site.
My question is that since the indoor season is already under way, is it too late to work on gpp or can it still be incorporated into the workouts?
Practice was called off today because of the weather, so she is going to run 10s, 20s, 30s (about 250m total) inside on running mats/walk back, form drills and plyos. Is that ok? I could not think of anything else to do given the surface, etc., and since we did the tempo workout yesterday at the track.
I will find out exactly what the pool workouts consist of and how intense they are.
thanks,
j
If the team is training indoors, how did practice get called off because of the weather?
Classes were cancelled, so I think he was making the repsonsible choice, since some live in apts off of campus. Especially since they practice at 6am in the morning, before the streets may be plowed and salted.
I did find out what the pool workouts are:
6-8 reps of sprinting in place for 15s, 30s, 45s, and 60s w/equal rest time between. Not sure how long rest between sets though.
j
Got it.
Thanks.
Took a session from John’s diary and she did multiple 100’s w/50m walk between. She told me she felt fine and was able to easily finish.
As Charlie suggested, I do not plan on increasing the speed %, especially on a 160m track. But, in a few weeks, if we need to pick up the intensity, should I just decrease the rest between reps?
thanks,
j
I increase intensity by increasing rest. But I am guessing that you and I mean different things by “intensity.”
What I mean is, since it’s such a tight track, I assume it would not be a good idea to go past 75-80%. So, if we don’t pickup the pace, the only thing that I know to do, would be to reduce the recovery between reps/sets and/or add more mileage. Am I correct with that thought?
I think you are correct. Options can be to increase volume, decrease recovery times and/or add body weight exercises (e.g., abs, push ups, etc) every or every other repetition.
The Long + S tempo?Below is from notes I took at CF seminar
400m runners can follow a similar GPP plan (as per GPP DVD) but the volume of tempo work should be higher, not a whole lot though. For example instead of doing just the long tempo session (2200m) they could do long and short one (1000) to get a total of session of 3200m. Although not a fan of continuous runs they could possibly even a 20 min run before a tempo session although NEVER on the road as it beats up legs too much. A better option may be simply to reduce rest periods of tempo session. Tempo doesn’t have to be an easy session just ensure it is not draining on the CNS and times are less than 75% of best on that surface so if running on grass that will be significantly above what it would be on a track.
taken from http://the-elite-edge.com/main.php?go=viewPost&pID=35
Sat. is a relay meet, so I will only be able to gauge improvement using split times. Nonetheless, I am anxious to see if we have made progress.
Thanks for the info on temp sessions; Niko, John. Yes, I think it wuld be a good idea to mix in a 10-20 min run prior to a tempo session. I think I need to get accurate splits in her 400m to see where she is in speed and speed endurance.
Hopefully, she has retained some speed from weight training, and the various speed workouts she
did over the summer and fall. At this point, would it be better to avoid speed workouts completely, until outdoor season starts and they begin training on the track? The indoor track we are training on has a straight of approx 50m.
j
Daughter’s split times from the relay meet:
200m split in the 4x200: 28.2
800m split in the sprint medley: 2.40.12
55m hurdles: 10.13
Team score: 14
She hasn’t had times like this since high school.
55 hurdles I’ll throw out, since she has never run them, but the 200m split time really concerns me. Her 200m splits last year at this time were low 26. Should we just stick with the extensive tempo, or do we need to insert a speed workout one day a week?
After the meet, the coach tells the team that they are right on track and doing well. She went to him and said, that she is definitely not in the same shape that she was last season, but he insists that she is. Their planned workout for Monday:strength training (no running) ???
When a coach says things are on track, it usually means (a) things are on track OR (b) you have a bad coach.
If a coach says things are not on track, it usually means (a) things are not on track, AND (b) you have a good coach.
Bad coaches never, ever say things are not on track.
If her other commitments allow it, I would use that 50-m straight, yes. I see no reason not to.
What is her competition time line like?
If she has a short season, then maybe you don’t have time to muck about. If that’s the case, then get some speedwork in there asap.
Nice post. Yea whenever things are “on track” that means they’re on track so you might,maybe,possibly,hopefully be somewhat close to your PB by season’s end:)
After the coach adjusts for the fact that the PB you set last year was in a huge tailwind, which you don’t remember, and this year’s best time was in a huge headwind, which you didn’t notice.
Yes, I only wish this was the result of the elements, and not based on
previous and current indoor times.
There’s 4 weeks left for indoor, then outdoor starts the 2nd week of March and finishes up the end of
April.
j