Last season was first year of d3 track, ran 400, began learning 400h late in season but suffered season ending ankle sprain. Best race was disappointing 52 indoor @ armory, couldn’t break 53 outdoor :mad:. Did not like 400 program, it featured speedwork with too short (2-3min) recoveries and lots if int. tempo work. 20-25 mins run + strides were used on recovery days.
Over summer i have been base training 2-3 runs/week + cross training. Went 5:10s in a mile road race early July, have not improved much since. I have been thinking of moving to 800m but i fear at 6’1 180lb i am too heavy. I tend to get injured quickly with lots of mileage.
For the most part the 200 and 400 are more fun in my opinion, and I have done the whole gamut of running events on the track over they years. Which events do you enjoy more?
Unless the person who coaches 800 is tremendously better as a coach, go for the sprints.
With that 200 time you should be able to run closer to 50 point in 400m.
The further you move up in terms of distance the more you can improve due to hard work alone, which can be great motivation. For example i’m sure you could get down to 2min for 800m in a season. However, the better you get the harder it will be to improve regardless of distance. So changing events will only be a temporary solution.
I know people that switch events every year or two because they have suddenly seen a slowing in thier rate of improvement and take this as a sign that they should change events rather than as a natural phenominum that will occur no matter what distance they choose.
Personally, I would stick with the distance you like best. For me that is 100/200 even though I am naturally better at the 400m. I know i will never be good enough to make it pro at either distance so I just do what i enjoy. And for me, as someone who does this for fun i’d rather be running flat out 60s and feel the air whistling in my ears than split 400s feeling nauseous.
For you it may be that you prefer 400m training to 800m training or ther other way around.