Stay positive as your athlete will react to how you are.
As you put first race since Sept so will be good to get it out of the way. Rounds at Nationals should help especially if he doesn’t have to go too hard early on. He has shown before he is a big time performer and can cope with the situation, draw inspiration from that.
All the best.
Well done s-c, in trying circumstances.
Sometimes it’s difficult to interpret such a performance and deduce whether the last 50m was “soft” because he lacks the strength/endurance Or because he lacked the speed reserve to get through the opening 300m or so, comfortably.
My advice now would be that whatever the cause, it is too late to go for long reps/heavy endurance without the likelihood of tearing down the athlete (and his confidence) in this critical period close to your domestic championships.
In any case, the races he is now able (& obliged) to contest will provide the best kind of endurance this late in the day. His 400m race the other day will have shocked the system, but he is a superb athlete and will adapt rapidly.
To get so close to the winner was a stunning effort which will terrify his rivals because no doubt they will all know of his setback this season (and they know of his good competitive temperament and your ability to bring him to the peak when it matters!).
So if I can offer any advice, I’d work primarily on speed out to 300m, with perhaps some back-up sessions as in the past (such as, 300+60; 250+80) - done at race pace for the opening rep, with 2-minutes recovery for the back-up. For the speed, there are the ins-and-outs and some other work more traditionally associated with 100m race taper.
But I would also include one session, mid-week or earlier on a fresh day, of 250, 180, 160, 140, 120 (99%-effort on the sprints, with minimum 10 minutes recovery between reps).
That’s the typical session I always used in the Transition phase between GPP and Competition phases.
I suspect you’re missed that kind of work and, if so, I think it covers a couple of bases for your athlete and will harden up for the 150-to-300m zone of his race and improve his speed reserve and his speed-endurance tolerance at a level which won’t tear him down at all.
I’d keep him away from leg weights that afternoon, but he’ll be right to train well again the next day. Best wishes, kk
I thought his Nationals are this coming weekend 
would you still suggest that?
No, another race this weekend. Nationals the following one. My mind is a bit ‘mixed up’ - maybe I didn’t write the message clear enough!
how to run a bend in the 400 … the same guy wasn’t bad around the bend in the 200 either. 
So, sprint_coach…
Where is your guy at the moment with respect to having a chance to run at worlds this year? Is he in a 4x4 relay? Does he have the chance to still run the indivdual 400 in Osaka? What does he have to do to prove that his injury was just an untimely setback but not a permanent one?
best wishes as always, to you and he. kk
I wrote this in reply to a Private Message and decided to post it on the forum in case it may provide any further insight into programming.
I’m pressed for time myself these days, but I would offer that we shouldn’t get hung up about naming phases and consigning to them any great separation or phase objectives.
The work I advocate in the week of taper will have elements of the work I choose to do in the gpp. The only diference may be the time of the work- reps would be faster, recoveries longer.
You will be trying to develop all your racing threads all year long, but will an emphasis change where appropriate.
The pre-comp week was always what I called the transition phase, so that’s in there somewhere. The comp week had a similar structure, except the work might be different.
In general, I worked 2 days, rested a day, worked three days, rest a day. (mostly the rest days were Tuesday and Saturday, which meant the max speed days would be Wednesday and Sunday, the cardio-vascular stress days therefore would mostly be consigned to Monday and Thursday (and sometimes Friday, although Fridays were often easy, technical - such as race modelling, looking for racing rhythm over 2x5x100m).
In comp, that changed due to (sometimes, comps on the Saturday, so Friday was a rest day (although the developed athletes mostly lifted upperbody on Fridays at 85%). On the Sunday, we would still do some sort of modified track session, sometimes a mix of skip/sled/sprint buildups). Then a day off on Tuesday would be pretty much common all year round. (but the siting of the competitions would force adjustments from time to time where necessary).
I tried to make sure we avoided injuries by avoiding excessive overload, so I build in those pressure release valves of having two days rest (used to catch up with normal everyday living needs such as doing the shopping etc, working a job, and also getting the medical (chiro, physio) or media work done.
kk
In another thread recently member ‘Sp33dy’ raised the issue of strength training for the 400m. He (I’m assuming) has been training on a 5 reps 5 sets basis in the weights room and decided to stick with that since the strength gains were good.
Because this “lactate threshold” thread has developed de facto into an information resource for 400m training/coaching I have presumed to carry some thoughts on the issue and re-post them here, as follows:
With regards lifting as it affects 400m sprint training, I reckon stay with what you have. I think if you’re trying to get very strong, then 1-6 reps for 1 to 6 sets covers the spectrum (wherein your 5x5 fits comfortably, though at the top end of your poundage, up near 100 per cent capacity you’re obviously not going to get out 5 reps in a single set.
If you’re looking for strength endurance, I think the first thing you need to establish is a decent top level of strength. That will determine your strength-endurance capacity and reps/sets numbers.
I’m sure you’ll get arguments, but I would say you should use weightlifting to develop a high-level of general strength as may be measured by your capacity to achieve certain lifts.
For instance, in the back squats (thighs parallel) a 400m runner would want to be able to comfortably handle at least double bodyweight and probably quite a bit more.
But it depends on leg lever lengths etc and predisposition to 100m performance. A really explosive sprinter will most likely handle more weight in any of the usual lifts than someone perhaps coming to the 400m from an endurance (800m running) background.
In general though I would say the weightlifting form of strength training is still only an adjunct to the running training.
And the more specific the “strength” training the better, so that means you work “movements” rather than “muscles” (in isolation exercises).
The most specific form of strength endurance for 400m runners is still based around hill sprints because you have resistance applied through a range of movement specific to running - especially if you keep the angle of the hills fairly narrow, say around 10 per cent give or take a few degrees.
That way you can still establish a fairly “normal” running action which corresponds to 400m action and you can load up the fatique factor while maintaining a reasonable degree of speed.
How exactly you play off the need for speed against the desire for better endurance gets down to how you design your reps (length) and sets (number of reps) and how you manipulate the recoveries.
Kit Kat,
Maybe someone has asked this question already but for the GPP, how could you template be model for a 800m runner?Is it possible?
Got the same question via PM, about modifiying for 800/400 runner.:
I believe so. Maybe it depends also on the kind of athlete you put on the program?
I modified. Introduced a day of 1km reps with 2:1, then 1:1, then 60sec recoveries.
Also brought in longer aerobic runs and cross-country racing during winter.
The girl I worked with improved a lot but then messed up the nationals, our only peak, when she went off and got her personal life extremely complicated and stressed out and so we never really found out how she may have run.
But she didn’t have much lactic tolerance capacity to begin with. She never coped with the 3x3x300 no matter even when I said I don’t care what rep times you run or how long the recovery, just finish the 9 reps. Never could do it, so I think I was working with a lady of limited ability - either that or I don’t understand the 800m (which is entirely possible!). Never worked with an 800 guy, although a former 400 kid is now at Seton Hall training for 400/800 with John Marshall, so that’s interesting.
Let me know how you go, what changes you make. I hope you go well
Wow, great thread.
Controls for 400m and Endurance Controls for 200m
Grab it here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=REFZIE6O
It is free. its only a small excel file
Not being computer competent, I don’t know how to pull up the 400m controls. Do you have to register as a member with the site? I tried typing 400 controls.xl into the mailbox upper right of the screen and hit go, but the screen just refreshed, changed but no 400 info. Help!
Hi KitKat,
this is how it worked for me -I typed the characters it asks you to in the little box on the top of the page, clicked download and then waited for the countdown (45 sec, I think). When this is finished, you should be able to click and download it. If not, try again. If more than one person, or too many people are trying to do it at the same time, it doesn’t like it, I think. I hope it helps.
Interesting. What is the source of this file? Can you explain 300 - (2x150)? How much rest between a 2x150?
It’s 150 m time x2 + the “constant”. Same for the 600 - (2 x 300 m)
Or you can just get it straight from the source (400m control)
http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/calc.htm
Apologies if it is the same. I pulled it from the IAAF handbook from a few years ago
Thanks for posting this link. It’s quite interesting. There’s a lot of additional material on the site which bears exploring.
I think, based on some of the parametres of people I coached, there is a highly accurate correlation.
It is useful to know whether the athletes needs more speed or more endurance, but it doesn’t really account for individual biases (and admits as much).
For instance, the best guy I worked with/for had pbs of around 15.0 for 150 and 31.8 for 300 but his 600 was around 76sec (he only raced a couple in his adult career).
The computer on this link suggests he should be able to run the 600 in 72sec. Maybe he could have, with more experience pacing, more motivation, etc.
I may have missed a component to the factoring process, but I couldn’t see anything that illustrated how fast you might need to run your 600m to get a better 400m (and better by how much)
And it still doesn’t (and, in fairness, doesn’t profess to ) get to the guts of the 400m by suggesting how to create a training program which addresses the needs of developing both speed and endurance, either sequentially (separately) or concurrently.
That’s what this “lactate threshold” thread has been primarily trying to look at.
I hope that alot of people contribute their opinions to what I write. It is greatly appreciated.
In 2001 I ran 48.12 for 400 meters my junior year of high school. I graduated from him high the next year and moved on to the University system.Because of some family issues I left school in january of 2003 as I lost the desire to run at the time.It was not until the spring of 2006 that I decided to start running again and began to train. I had done recreational lifting and taekwondo,yet my running had been limited to mileage.I started kk’s program that spring and it to the best of my knowledge which was the new start of my running career. I began training for my current season with a sport specific weight program was over seen by a certified strength and conditioning coach which including olympics lifts etc. I had very very limited fall training the the track because of a slight hamstring problem and a huge class load I had to take in order to be eligible to for my current season. I enrolled at current college in january and for the time in my life,I have had serious training with a serious coach and team mates. My coaches program is a lot like clyde harts but I cant complain that the program does not work because my teammates are running just fine. In the indoor season my first race, I ran 51.70 for 400m.My second race I ran 50.68.My training was going great and I was sure I going to drop into subs 50 maybe even sub 49. Yet the week before our major conference meet, I got the flu and at the conference meet I ran 52.30. I know I had the flu but seeing that time on the scoreboard angered me and it made me want to quit, but I didnt. And since then I have been working my butt off. Yet my times have been 52.30 and 51.00 for my last two races In fact it
seems as though I am running slow or really not improving each meet.When I started running again,I decide I would only run if I thought I could run 47m mid and be competitive on the college level. Yet, now I question whether I should be running period.Everyday I think about quitting yet,I find myself on the track with my teammates and I love it when Im there. So I have been thinking about the move to 800 meters
to help my specialty because I dont think I will ever been the 400m runner I want to be realistically because I believe my footspeed may not be there as much as I hate to say that to myself.I love the 400m but what good is it to stay at it if your going know where. I think its a good Idea,yet
others tell me to stick it out one more year at 400m because they said it will take a
while for me to get back where I used to be.I dont know what to do,but I am trying to figure out in anticipation of beginning my GPP for the upcoming season. I will take one week off and go right back to work. I know as a runner,my training age is young but at 23 I dont think I will develope that much more foot speed as my pr. in the 200m is 22.56. It frustrating and I want to be a great runner,just not a good one and I will do whatever it takes to get there. I have even considered performance enhancing d*** but I know that is not the way to go. I just want to do whats best for my running and be able to have satisfaction of knowing I was a better than average runner if that makes sense…It really hurts me to perform the way I am now,and I want to change my results.
So from reading this I want to know what the board members think and I want your honest opinions…Should I keep going or move up?Thank you.