while doing my sprint work today I came up with a question that i don’t recall ever being answered or talked about before: How come when sprinting do people usually sprint the shorter distance first (say 10meters) and then do a longer sprint (say 40m)? When lifting you’re always supposed to do the big lifts before doing the small ones…kinda like doing the bench press before tricep extensions. Wouldn’t doing a long sprint first be better because it requires much more energy than doing the shorter accel work???
I know when doing special endurance I normally step down, ie 400-300-200, when doing speed endurance I step down also and sometimes do a pyramid, ie… 90-80-70-60-70-80-90, but you are right, most of the time I’d do, 3x10, 3x20, 3x30, don’t know if there is a reason for it, I just think it has been the status quo.
You are increasing speed as you go farther- at least out to 30 and as far as 60m in some cases. If you’re fully warmed up, you can start with your key distances for the workout. Dont think I’d approach the “pyramid” as you show it. With those same runs and distances, I might go 60, 70, 80, 90, break, 70, 80, 90. That way the runs that require the highest speeds will be performed under fresher conditions. What breaks are you using?