Carl’s best 400m was 47,01 (200m around23s.)
only race in his carrier.
Sure, that would make sense. so a 47 is a relaxed but fast 400 for him.
Carl Lewis ran mid45 relay legs in early ‘80s. After LA’84 games, he ran a 300m in London in 32"18 but went out too fast and died at the end, he passed the line walking (cramping?).
In 1996, 10 days before Olympic Trials, he ran mid38 for a 350m test, he wrote his his autobiography that was his fastest ever.
I bet his was able to run as fast as Marsh at 400m. Marsh’ PB is 45.08 in 1997.
It appears his 10 day time trial went from 400s to 350s as he got older. So using this 400 before a 100m, would a 300 trial be good enough, or is there something about running close to 40 seconds??
40 seconds is the point that your glycolytic system maxes out (maximum production of lactate). Clyde Hart has made a big deal of touching on this 40 second point for 400, but is it really that important if you are racing 25% of that distance?
I do know that SMTC used to have a 400m workout that was 3X400 with 3 min rest. AS you might guess, there were lots of people throwing up on the track on a warm day, so they shortened it to 3X350–and John Smith still uses that modified version.
It could be that Carl went to 350 because everybody else did.
Carl’s 100m races at the 1996 Olympic trials:
heat: 10.10 (+1.1)
quarterfinal: 10.04 (+0.6)
semifinal: 10.03 (+0.6)
final: 10.21 (+1.1; 8th place)
Maybe he should have stuck to the 400m for his pre-comp time trial.
Burrell (who presumable was on the same programme) ran as follows:
heat: 10.16 (-0.3)
quarterfinal: 10.02 (+0.6)
semifinal: 10.06 (-0.1)
final: 10.07 (+1.1; 5th place)
10.02 was needed for third place that year.
As Charlie pointed out in speed trap, Carl liked to run the round quick for intimidation.
There are a number of stories about that race and what happened and I won’t go into it. Let’s just say no one there believed that Lewis wouldn’t have won that one if he’d intended to and his slowing before the line was so laughable that it was called the moonwalk.
I like his statement at 4:40, even though we already know it’s true.
A legend coach and 6mil for the Mecca facility which includes shatty Newton fixed angle blocks and basketball/trail running shoes? see 6:40
You are crazy, those old school basketball shoes are sweet.
I think Charlie said Ben once ran in shoes like that. Maybe that’s one of the keys to success.
Key 1: Be Jamaican
Key 2: Grass training
Key 3: Run in heavy bball shoes
Key 4: Pray IV Reign?
Ah! Excellent plan! Hope you don’t have to wait too long for it to work out for you.
Track is the cheapest sport there is… You don’t need a “world class” facility to train athletes.
Anyhow, for the most part, athletes go to CC because they did not meet academic eligibility in some way shape or form to attend a D1 D2 school.
I was in this boat as my SAT score was 30 points shy of the D1 admissions standards.
I don’t know how it happens but some CC’s cater to Track and field and then become a pipe line to D1 Schools like Long Beach CC, Mt Sac, Essex CCC, Miami Dade CC and Barton CCC.
Sad to say but lots of guys that are fast go to CC because they have poor grades so what happens is the CC gets all the credit for “producing athletes” when the truth is the CC gets a highly concentrated amount of talent.
As far as I’m concerned Barton CCC not only had the natural talent but Lance knew how to develop athletes unlike other CC’s who just recruit 4 47.7 runners and take all the credit.
I’m probably going to Louisiana Tech as a walk on. I am a hurdler by the way, and my PR is 14.598 and I ran it last weekend. Do you think it would be a wise option to go to a CC if you had the option of going d1?
Go to a big school. If track does not pan out at least you’ll be at a decent school…
But there are exceptions. My brother started running at 18yo at a CC. Lucky for him there was a coach who knew what he was doing. He went from running 58 sec in the 400mh to 52-53 then he got lucky again and got into NC State (full ride) with another good coach (Tom Jones) who got him to 50 sec in the 400m hurdles. He finished up top 30 in the world 1 year and had the NR in the Dominican republic until Felix Sanchez came along.
It can happen if you go to a CC but you have to have the right people on your side…
Good luck!!!
Every individual is different so you need to figure out what is best for you. Going to a CC can be great because not only is it cheaper but you can hone in on your running skills before you make the jump to a D1 D2 school.
End the end, if you are serious about track and you really want to improve you need to do your homework on the coaching staff to make sure they can develop your skills as a hurdler.
Carl didn’t exactly display good form on the powerclean in that video. I think Carl was so genetically gifted it probably didn’t matter too much what his strength program was like.