How much of a benefit is there to running a 400 prior to a 200m? Over the years i’ve noticed a pattern of athletes(at least mine) running pr’s or near pr’s after running a 400m earlier in the day. But that is rarely ever the case for 100m athletes.
As an example, we’ve seen athletes pull out of the 100 or 200 in order to focus on one or the other. And we’ve seen 100/200 doublers seemingly have a little trouble coming back to do the 200m after running rounds of the 100. Since there are very few(very few)200/400 doubles at major championships, we don’t really have a good frame of reference.
Michael Johnson, Marie Jose Perec, Cathy Freeman come to mind right away.
Some of the suggestions for this have been pretty simple. I’ve been told that it’s a simple matter of being warmed up. Which obviously makes sense. But I think it’s a little more going on than simply warming up. I’m sure 3-4 rounds of the 400m prior to the 200m did a little more than warm MJ & Perec up. I think there may be a little more going on physiological than that, but i’m no expert in that area. Just the ladies;)
Seeing as how the 100 & 400m affect the body in different ways(fatigue)would the 100m leave you with “less” going into a 200 than a 400m? Is there a physical adaptation that takes place after running the 400m whether a single race or rounds, prior to running a 200m that leads to an actual benefit in running the 200m.
Does running 400m help you run a subsequent 200m and if so why? It’s a question for physiologists for sure and maybe psychologists also. I’ll try to find someone who may have done some research or at least reading on that one. Yes, it is a great question.