Rather than use the word “tempo” which has traditional connotations, I prefer these days to go with “rhythm” (as I think it more adequately conveys my intent) and sets such as 2-3 x 4x150m (or 5-6 x 200m; 3x3x300m) can be thought of in terms of locking on to a running rhythm which is appropriate to your current level of fitness at the time of the training.
The 150 reps in 23sec are a time nominated for training on a grass track. They are also very easy to start General Preparation Phase training with.
The degree of difficulty in this set can be increased according to your readiness. My top guy never ran as slow as 23sec. He was often around 18sec as you suggest. But the set is designed as 1 x150 sprint, diagonal jog back recovery, 2nd 150m sprint. Then diagonal walk back recovery and repeat. So that would be the first unit of 4x150m.
Then take a lap walk or take up to 10 mins rest, whatever you need to recover. But the idea really is to try to get three units of this work, so that is 12 x 150m in total for the session.
If you start by running 18sec, you may realise life is getting a bit difficult by the third set. So I would just say you should be conservative the first time you do this session and just aim to complete the three sets. Then when the session comes around again (or a version derived from this session) you can put your foot down and really challenge yourself against the clock.
You should never feel “bad”. If you throw-up after a session it will usually be because you have performed the work at a level for which you have over-reached your current fitness readiness. It usually means you are not sufficiently adapted yet to have trained at such a high level.
Charlie says “if you think you can do one more rep, you have already done one rep too many”. I agree with that. No “dead heroes” for me please.
But having said all that, you train with an objective in mind, with a time-line and also on this program there is plenty of recovery time between sets and within the basic seven-day training structure (2-on, 1-off, 3-on, 1-off days of training v rest) as well as the last week of the 6-week GPP cycle being a “rest and test” week (which is pretty light in terms of physical demands).
So you can attack the sessions as you feel capable, but the twin priorities are to accomplish the recommended volume and achieve the recommended intensity over the period of the GPP cycle.
Yes. Run the ladder at a speed you think you can handle so as to finish the session. Safety is the most important thing. You will start to regain your legs as the reps become shorter, but don’t be tempted to run a personal best or anything crazy-fast. It’s more about having the strength to build a quick rhythm that you can manage. There are some other reasons for adding the shorter reps following the longer “depletion” reps, but the reasoning behind that is already written about earlier in this thread.
Do you mean what is the intensity of the opening Long Rep and the back-up rep? The stress on the “couplets” (two-rep set) tends to change according to your fitness readiness, the wind condition and your objective for the day. In GPP I usually like to see a solid first rep. So for example with the 300+150 (off 30sec rec) my top guy might start GPP on grass in spiked shoes with 36sec in a rhythm which is strong but relaxed. Then he would “smash” the backup 150m as fast as he can safely manage. But this guy had a 300m PB of 31.8 FAT. Later when he is fitter, we would take elements of this session to the synthetic track and try to run the 300m at 400m race pace (32.2 to 32.5 pace) and then build into the backup 150 so that he might run fast in the middle 50m section and then maintain relaxed rhythm over the last 50m and his time would not matter but it might still be pretty quick (17sec or faster, which is quick backing up from a 32sec 300m after a 30sec rest and then a walk-up start to the 150m)
Not really sure what you mean here again. But in general, I prefer the shorter reps on the track to simulate the rhythm of the race in your PB target 400m. So, if you want to run 44.0 for 400m, sooner or later you have to start to put together elements of such a race in your training. You can work at this objective from both ends of the competition distance, going short to long on your intensity days, or from long to short on any of your days. In general though, if you want to run 44.0 for 400m you know the race model will be something like 23sec for the last 200m, 12sec or under for the last 100m. The rhythm of your training will determine to a large degree the biomechanics of your training and therefore your racing. So you can do a lot of your training with 400m race specificity without actually running faster than 23sec for 200m. But of course at some point you will need to run a flying 300m backup rep in 34sec (first 100m of a 44.0 400m in about 11sec, last 300m therefore in around 34).
And obviously it is the nature of our biology that we still benefit greatly in the 400m from being able to split the 200m in a time which is relatively comfortable. So Michael Johnson splits his 400m in 21 but he has a 200m PB of 19.32. So while we can be tough and endure 300+150 and 6x200 in sub 23, ultimately we cannot run a really fast 400m without being really fast over 200m which means being pretty fast at 150m, 100m, 60m etc. Therefore at some stage every program must attend to the priority of Speed Development. It’s how you put it all together that will decide whether the jigsaw puzzle produces medals or mediocrity.