400m S-L questions

Thanks very much, Charlie.

Correct, that is where mine came from along with the 400m L-S dated 2006.

Rupert and I will pull the appropriate graphs and create a new file which we will post here on the forum free as a thankyou to our forum members.

Thanks Charlie and Rupert, that’s why you are # 1 in our book.:smiley:

I ask because last year I ran my fastest 60m times when I started to increase the sprint distance to 70-80m and compete in the 200m 2-3 times.

I think performing submax 100-120’s could help a lower level athlete.

Depends where you train as well. If you are in a good climate and can get outside earlier than we can, there is no reason not to. Every situation is unique and in our case, we felt it best to stay on the straight for the highest speed stuff because the corners in Toronto were tight and could lead to injuries.

Awesome. This is why you guys are second to none!:smiley:

Here are the graphs as promised, with our compliments.

http://www.charliefrancis.com/cfsl/cf400.pdf

Be sure to save this file to your computers.

Enjoy

I hope you guys start studying the graphs and I’ll be interested to hear thoughts on the ratios listed on the supplementary graphs

I’ll take stab at the L-to-S.

In 08 I implemented a plan that looks VERY similar to the one in the new graph.

My primary impression of the system was that gets the athlete’s incredibly fit, both generally and specifically. many, but not all like this and they were ready to compete at a relatively high level after @15 weeks.

The high volumes of ExT that brought about the high general fitness level did become more than a bit tiresome for my athletes though. Some of this was likely a due to having a whiny and spoiled group. It’s just something that I would approach more cautiously. Previous athletes that I have coached never blinked an eye to similar loads.

During our initial competitions my athletes clearly had better max. velocity and speed maintenance than in 07. It changed one athlete’s race plan upside down and she opened indoors a full .08 faster in the 60m than in the previous year (7.82 to 7.74), but her race was more balanced and would have transitioned into the outdoor 100m much better. She didn’t like the fact that her acceleration was slightly less powerful and that she opened .02 off of her p.b. though. She was one of two primary whiners in the group, so this should be taken with a grain of salt.

Having enough energy for weights can also be an issue with the plan. As it is meant to work best with a taller athlete this isn’t as much of an issue. Just something to keep in mind if your dealing with shorter, more powerfully built people.

The one adjustment that I think that I would (and have) make is to add a day of speed development speed development activities. Not necessarily Max.V, rather lots of power speed, med ball accels and eventually short hills. At times I felt that my athletes were loosing touch with with proper mechanics.

Charlie and Rupert, thanks for posting this. Very informative. Now I have to figure out which approach to use with HS girls and how much to modify it for a shorter season.

In L-S, the first 4 weeks on the split runs, are there accel limits at all?

Having used the original L-S this year, interesting to find my athlete ran a season PB after doing the week 12 workouts. After eliminating the 300s and working down through the original L-S we found it hard to imrpove 400 time but saw improvement in 200. My point being I will keep the longer distances in next year.

You can certainly use them but the run itself tends to create it’s own limits via intimidation!
If you were at the very highest levels, you would already have a reasonable sense of pace.
These programs were used primarily for girls. Both were juniors and the peaking was ideal with PBs in the Olympics- the S-to-L girl did 50.22 relay split after missing the entire fall and winter prep period and the L-to-S girl ran 51.55 in the individual. The second girl’s coach had contacted me as the S-to-L approach he favored hadn’t worked for her and I sent him what you see here and he used it directly.

In the L-S Tuesday sessions, as well as the Thursday sessions from week 5 on, the rest intervals keep increasing. Does this imply that the paces also keep increasing. Can you give an idea of percentages at the beginning and end of the 12 weeks? Also, the strength endurance sessions shown in tan – I assume they are on the track?

The 7x300m. Is that ext tempo pace or int tempo.

I would like to ask you about pace. For instance: 2x(3x100m) rest 90"/25’ or 2x(200+2x80) rest 90"/40’
Is that ran in 95% of max? Or less? Or with full effort to the point of throwing up? :slight_smile: Thanx…

And another question: Can I use for 400mH too? Like ditance= numbers of hurdles?

The conditions for improved times are provided for by longer breaks. As most of the improvements will lie in the range of PBs it is hard to put percentages on it.

always extensive

I would think so but you would have to decide how much of the speed work would be over hurdles

Thanks for this information. Three questions.

  1. In the S2L, the alactic day drops out after 7 weeks. Is this because the necessary speed has been developed, or because this work is beginning to compete with the special endurance demands, which are increasing every week? Is this required to intensify the SE?

  2. In the L2S, with the first rep being 300m throughout the training period, should performance be going up throughout the cycle, or is it more of a general trend as fitness moves up, and volumes come back down? Should athletes be leaving something “in the tank” in the beginning?

  3. How do these training plans fit in the yearly cycle? Is process repeated, but at a higher level, or does the training move more towards SE (S2L) and more towards Speed (L2S) with each phase?

Thanks again.