Speed Volume

[nycjay01]

@Charlie_Francis

This is more than a volume question.
1: If a 400m runner uses the right series of meets, his/her times can drop dramatically BUT if that volume is made up of too many 400s, the performance will plateau quickly as you will have traded short term gains in event specific SE for pure speed development.
2: Similar Volumes, even made up of the same type of runs, can have vastly different effects and demands.
Examples abound but here’s a simple one:
2 x 300m SE with complete recovery could be enhanced for a beginner by doing them as split-runs, so 300m could be done as 5 x 60m as either turn-arounds or as walk-back recoveries (max 90sec). If done that way and paced for the best cumulative average, the 2 x (5 x 60) session will NOT have anywhere near the CNS effect of, say 3 x (3 x 60) with 4 min between runs and 12 min between sets, although, obviously, it would be higher than the 2 x 300 because of the immediate ability to sustain a higher rate.
3: As for the “Energy Envelope”, see Speed Trap and/or the first Forum Review for an extensive discussion.
4: The HS season improvements would have a big CNS demand so a 10 to 14 day period of extensive tempo only, possibly followed by a few weeks of slightly higher speed volumes but lesser intensity might keep the progress going.
This is highly individual and you have to use your personal experience to see what keeps the progress going.

If someone were to use the split runs as you have it here (2 sets of 5x60m) would they comeback to the longer runs later in the season? Im looking at my vanc 04 graph and the spec. end 1 graph finishes the 12 week spp with 150s Sorry to but in this discussion but Im trying to think of a way to prgress 60m split runs for endurance since the track that I will have access to is a rectangular mondo track (a real pain in the ass or achillies in my case!!!)

Thanks