Is there a positive effect on the body in regards to running “the rounds” at a championship meet, if the athlete trains in the following manner:
Workout one (9am): Warm-up to accells, warm-down.
Workout two (1pm): Warm-up, workout, warm down.
(Times may vary as much as in a real competition)
Will something like this have a positive effect or will it be negative for overall development? I know the theory sounds like it would work since the training is very similar to what happens in competition, but is it? Would the body get more used to rounds if training is done in this way? The theory breaks down in my opinion. If it were the case that when one simulates the exact competition environment and actual competition, that the athlete would improve from this, then a 100m sprinter would just do 100m in practice and would always improve.
I’m not the most knowledgeable person, but I would think that it would follow a similar pattern as other training methods. It might work for a beginner who hasn’t run in many races with heats, but in an experienced sprinter who has run in many races with heats it probably won’t do much.
I think it could work well to prepare an athlete for their first meet with heats.
For a competition that lasts 3 days, with heats on the first day, does one taper for the heats on the first day of competition, or for the final?
The rounds can be run submaximal (in most cases) and should not tax the system as much as a maximal run. Will recovery after the heats be sufficient in order to allow the taper to have its desired effect?