What is an example micro and/or example workouts for a 400m runner for the fall/off-season to build a base before beginning to train for the season?
Before we discuss sessions/cycles for the off season lets get some basics down first:
What are the aims of off season training for a 400m athlete?
What qualities do we need to develop in order to meet these aims?
How does the off season relate to the rest of the season, and how sharp are the transitions to the next training segment?
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I want to use the off-seasont to develop a good strong base to build upon. I have yet to go into a season with a base which has been my number one downfall. I planned on using indoor season to develop 200 speed and then outdoor to focus on the 400m. So I want a base that’s going to help my 400m, but at the same time, not shy too far away from the 200m. My indoor season is not a “true” indoor season you can say (I’ll be training through it really), but I still have a peak the middle of February before I reload and go into the outdoor season.
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Endurance, speed, more endurance and more speed. My 200m speed is not my downfall (it’s actually DECENT), but I still want it faster and my special/specific endurance is crappy. I always die at the end of the 400m, even training with SE2, all because my base is poor. So chances are, lots of tempo to begin with to build work capacity along with other endurance training.
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The off-season is really going to build into the rest of the season. The transitions should be quite sharp. I wanted to start Aug. 30 with off-season work and build into the in-season work which will lead me to a Feb. 13 indoor peak. So it’s all going to flow together (I hope).
Hope I answered the questions. Thanks for the help.
Stay off the track. That’s the best advice I can give you, man. Do hills, fartlecks, more hills, but the best way to build a base is to stay off the track except maybe 1-2 workouts a week. If you’re lost on what kind of workouts you are going to do, here are a few that have been used with good success.
Hill Circuits, hill repeats(10+ reps), fartlecks 30-40mins (2:00/30 do the 30 secs with as proper sprint form as you can manage), and 4-6x400+200’s(on track) or 6x800’s(off track).
Do these exclusively without weights from about Aug 30th to Early November. Then start lifting and short sprints, but keep any 2 of the overdistance workouts to simply maintain your base. Come outdoor season run on sundays with easy fartlecks or hill circuits.
I’d also like to know what can be done in the off season. However, as an extension to what 400 was asking, what can you do over the summer to prepare for the season? What if you plan on training year round; the summer and fall being all conditioning/base/core training, then indoor, then outdoor. I’ll be training for only one peak. Can someone help me?
Yeah I would like to know too. For us the summer is completely off, basically to do whatever we want. We have a lifting program for mon, wed, fri and no running workouts. In the fall we start long slow runs, more slow runs, hills and weight training. What should I do in the summer to keep in shape? I was thinking maybe just doing tempo tues, thurs, sat. Can I do plyos before I lift?
York sucks 
haha who is this?