(If anyone wants this VHS, contact me)Additionally, I posted some of Renato Canova's material on training for the 800 meters. Canova, I would agrue, is the best distance/middle distance running coach in the world.
http://www.letsrun.com/ photo of Canova and Shaheen.OldSub4 (stopped on pg.9)
I am by no means one of the distinguished posters here, but I did run the 800m from 10th grade through age 24 and finished up at 1:46. My training partners went 1:44, 1:44, and 1:43 so I was the poke of the group. I was lucky to be coached after college by the absolute best middle distance in the country in my opinion, who I will leave anonymous here. Some basic thoughts....
All of this is within the context that a basic regimin of strength training , with a mileage load (I worked up to 80 miles per week until the sharpening phase), working endurance muscle fibers with a long slow run per week (I topped out at 16 miles runs each Sunday), Aerobic threshold training including a 4-6 mile tempo run on a weekly basis, Lactate threshold training each week for 80% of the time until the sharpening phase -- 5-6x 800m or 1000m cutting down with 400m jog was the basics of what I did. In the endurance phase (fall) I might do 5x mile, by March 5x 800m finishing last interval at a pace to starts getting close to speed (ie if you are going to run 1:50 800m you might run 5x 800 in march in 2:16, 2:12, 2:08, 2:04, 2:00 running the 400m in less than 2min in between).
Power
You must have enough power to get around the track fast...this is one muscle system that you have to focus on and carve out some energy/training time so that your schedule is specific unlike distance racers (anything above mile). Short fairly steep hills (18-30 seconds), run with significant rest in the fall on a weekly basis at max effort. This should not be a lactic acid workout but a fast twitch muscle fiber workout in the contexts of a dynamic effort. I also had some luck weightlifting with "cleans" -- you need some instruction on how to do these but they are a power lift for the legs that includes explosive power--I was not a fan of squats since it is done slower.
Seb Coe and El G (as well as Webb) were fanatical about circuit training and dynamic exercises (bounding, hops, standing vertical jumps, etc) that I think do the same thing. I really made a huge jump between 11th and 12th grade because I played Basketball in the winter and went from touching the rim to dunking in 3 months...my 800m fell 5 seconds that year to 1:51 which I attribute to that dynamic power training. I did not do these later in my career but looking back it probably would have helped.
Speed Drills
definately helped... more on this later--done religiously through the year. also including something fast throughout the year --200s or 300s once a week to work just the top end of speed. 150s doing sprint float sprint also....One of my training partners would get injured every year in the fall until he started adding in more pure speed in small doses each week -- it kept his calves loose and he was able to make it through the year healthy...
Sharpening phase:
You have to do longer (ie 300-600m) speed endurance intervals at some point to get into 800m racing shape...no way else around it. We would start transitioning once per week to 5x300 cutting down to 800m race pace -- not a stand alone workout but something you just fit into an AM or after the tempo run when your legs are feeling numb. Eventually you do a specific workout...600-500-400-300-200-100 was a Seb Coe favorite and we copied him. for a 1:50 half miler you might do 1:25, 1:10, 55, 40, 25. jog what you just ran for recovery. very hard workouts were 95% effort 600m full recovery, 95% effort 400m, full recovery, then 5x200m. When we were ready to go (these are 144-146 half milers) we ran 1:15-1:17, 49, 20,28,26,24,22. None of us except for one had better than 47 relay leg 400m speed.
Tapering:
The two things that I look back at where the research seems irrefutable was that 1) we were in the sharpening phase too long, you really only need 4-6 weeks if you are working off the type of base we built; and 2) Tapering works probably once a season for a boost that lasts 10 days or so. Tapering should begin no more than 10 days before the day you want to peek and just involves stepping off the mileage 20% and reducing the volume of the quality work by 20%. I would cut out the tempo runs about 3-5 weeks before nationals, but that may have even been too long. Keep running the long run on Sunday -- its restorative. Good evidence to show that tapering actually works to give you a performance boost if you just reduce workload for 72 hours before a competition to fully heal up and to have your muscle energy stores fill and your blood volume surge a bit.
Periodization:
I think that the year should look something like 4 months of Base, 4 months of "Strength" -- power endurance, 2 months of Pace to Sharpening, 1 month -6 weeks peek competition, and 1 month active rest. Doesnt mean you cant race more but you are shooting for one main peek at the end of the season....
I am just now reading the Canova regimen, and it is scary how close it is since we were doing this in '91-'97 as it was a basic blend of the Oregon system with a bit of Peter Coe thrown in but perhaps my coach was a bit before his time.
I think the difference between the 800/1500 guys and the 5k and up group was just that we tried to maintain some short top end speed through the year so that you didnt completely lose it. The other difference was cutting down on intervals so that you were getting in the LT work (5*800m) but you were also "finishing" well with a half in the 1:56-2min range so I guess we did work down to mile speed. The 5k guys would appropriately just try to hold repeat pace through their intervals.
The 200s and 300s would end up near goal 800 pace, but average something slower.
Drills were important....got your legs moving fast, and through the range of motion that you just wouldnt get running the mileage. high knees, butt-kicks, kickouts, bounding, skipping, and running backwards 4*50m worth of each...you would really feel it in your hips, core muscles, etc and all done on your toes--HIGH on your toes. In the fall your legs would wobble when you did them and by mid year your form started to hold together. Do on the grass or infield, not on the track. I saw where Jeremy Wariner does the drills for 400m continuously at a time!
We would occassionally cross over during the strength phase and do 2 sets of mile work like 400-600-400-200 at a constant pace which would be challenging, but no more than once every 2 weeks.
My last year running full time I moved up to the 1500m, and the sharpening phase changed to be more specific -- I can remember a session of 3 * 800m with 800 jog recovery in 2:00, 1:56, 1:52 that really hurt.
One thing that I think would have been interesting that Peter Coe engineered was the 6 * 800m on a slight downhill. Seb's famous "6 * 800m in 1:50" workout, as seen on his video "Born to Run" --what you can't tell is that he is running a bit downhill. It is an interesting switch since you are running at fast pace, and instead of having the resistence of an uphill, you feel like your turnover isnt fast enough which trains you to stay "fast" through a long interval sessions. I never tried it but I think it may have been one of the "special sauce" ingredients in his regime that was counter-intuitive. Just ranting now of course....
Hollow 800’s
Lastly, a workout that is really good for younger runners of those that are not going to fit in as much work are continuous 800 runs with change of pace. This is straight out of the Oregon system, but something like 3-4*800m where you do first 200m quick, 400m middle at a decent tempo, and last 200m quick. For a 1:50 800m person, you might do this workout in February in 27 - 75 - 27 for a 2:09 total time. This is sort of cramming for a test since you are getting not only 4*800m in, but 8*200 as well! Changing gears to rev up that last 200m is the crux of the workout. You can fiddle with the intervals (200 on, 200 pace, 400 on is particularly cruel), but the idea is trying to hold form in the middle and then having to change gears tired. Breaks up the monotony in the later strength phase as well.
Hips Forward
One other important thing for coaches at any level. While the training is remarkably similiar for 800/1500 as for 5000/10000, the actual work going on is different. True 800m men have ALOT more fast twitch fibers, and you are trying to teach those fibers to LAST. in Fatigue, their form will break down, and I've seen time after time of going to the calves to keep the pace together in workouts -- it might look like they are "sitting" in their stride a bit like you would at the end of a race. This is dangerous--you are putting alot of strain on the lower leg, and I've seen pulled calves, achilles, tibia/fibula stress fractures take 8-10 weeks out of training. Constantly remind them in distance work, and the long intervals "HIPS FORWARD" running only.
For the longer distance folks, you are trying to make a runner with predominantly slow twitch fibers powerful. I've seen some break down, but it is usually funky injuries above the knee (groin strains, back, IT band symdrome), or plantar fascitis which is really a fatigued core injury (gripping at footstrike with the feet instead of thigh/glut). Usually with the distance runners I ran with they would get sick first as a precursor, and really only got injured if they tried to run through it.
This is a big generalization, but for the biggest threat to running well (injuries) I haven''t really seen a number of the coaches discuss it -- I think durability is taken as a "given" at that level, but we all know it takes about half of your career years out. I would love more discussion on this as well if anyone is game...
Running Form
Once again, generalizing, but look at any elite race and what you will notice is that they all run with very similiar form. There is not a great deal of variation. Regardless of age or geography when you look at the Olympic 800m or 1500m finals you see footstrikes underneath and long backstrokes, relaxed upper bodies until 150m to go and scooping arm movement with low hands. Hips forward, chin down, etc. There will be exceptions, but unless someone is a phenom, I think you have to teach younger runners good form, or runners with injury problems proper, less risky form. It looks different on different runners since we are all different shapes and sizes, but for everyone that I ever saw at the elite level it was the same. You should be practicing your form on every step of every run...toe striking, arm swinging, no shoulder rotation, picking up feet, using core muscles for stability not outside tendons, etc. I see younger runners going out for a distance run all hunched over, sitting in their stride and I tell them they are not getting the work done to get faster...
You are going to get 1 out of 10 that is the exception at the elite level, and that is being generous....everyone else should be working each year to correct their form = my opinion.
Canova 800m Stuff
I´m again in St.Moritz, reading Letsrun from the internet of Hotel Laudinella. I apologyze if sometime I am not to much precise, but I write at 2 by night, without reading again what I wrote. I went to read again what I wrote, and I found my mistake : I wrote faster, when I had to write slower. For example, in the case of Gebre (12:39),the time per km is 2:32 (15.2 every 100m), and 98% is 15.5 per 100m (2:35 per km is 7:45 for 3 km).
But you must not think of the type of workout (that is clearly over the Threshold, and can reach 11 - 13 mmol for a top runner well trained), but of the EFFECT of this training. The question was : what type of training do you use for improving AnT ? The answer is : a lot of run that we can check between 95 and 105 % of the speed of the race.
I want to describe, for example, one type of training that Gianni Ghidini (the current coach of Bungei, Yiampoy and Kamal) and me use with these guys during the last period, having the goal to IMPROVE SPECIFIC ENDURANCE, developing intensity from the Threshold to Specific Endurance.
1) 6 x 600m (rec. 4 min) in 1:28 (60/28) 1:28 (60/28) 1:27 (60/27) 1:27 (60/27) 1:26 (60/26) 1:26 (60/26)
2) (about 10 days later) 5 x 600 (rec. 5 min) in 1:26 (60/26) 1:25 (59/26) 1:25 (59/26) 1:24 (59/25) 1:24 (59/25)
3) (about 10 days later) 4 x 600 (rec. 6 min) in 1:23 (57/26) 1:22 (57/25) 1:21 (57/24) 1:20 (56/24)
4) (about 10 days later, in the case of Bungei 8 days before Zurich) 3 x 600 (rec. 8 min) in 1:19.3 (54.2/25.1) 1:19.5 (54.6/24.9) 1:17.2 (53.0/24.2)
The next workout (before OG) will be 2 x 600 (rec. 10 min) in 1:16 (52/24).
This type of work starts about 2 months before the main event, having the goal of supporting AnT. After the first two sessions, when we test the speed at a level of lactate of 6 mmol, we can find an improvement of about 5-8 sec, per km. After the first two sessions, the focus of this training is the improvement of SPECIFIC ENDURANCE, joined with the capacity of increasing speed in the final of the race. The 5th workout is very specific,lactate reaches a level of 16-18 mmol, but in any case is an evolution of the first workout.
The normal use of groups of short distances increasing the speed every test, is a good way for increasing the AnT in aspecialist of 800 or 1500m. For example, 4 groups of 3 x 300m in 42/40/38 with 2 min recovery (and 5 min between the sets), or 4 groups of 3 x 600min 1:33/1:30/1:27 rec. 2 min and 5min, for specialists of 800 and 1500/3000m respectively, are workouts very good for increasing the AnT.
But what is important to remember, is that every distance needs a specific Aerobic Support, that is not the real AnT. For example, in the case of 3000 SC/5000, we can create a MAX LASS (Maximum Lactate Steady State) of 6/8 min at a level of 11-13 mmol of lactate, and the AnT that we need is the speed at a level of 8 mmol about. So, don`t pay attention at the CONVENTIONAL THRESHOLD of 4 mmol,because is something for physiologists, but really in many case doesn´t mean anything.
I try to write the level of lactate that you must use like AEROBIC SUPPORT for the specific workouts in different events :
800m 8-12 mmol
1500m 7-10
5000m 6-8
10000m 5-7
HM 4-5
Mar 4
What does mean Anaerobic Training ? If you think that every type of training over the Threshold is the same, you make a big mistake. We have different goals for different anaerobic training :
a) SPEED (duration till 15.0) : of sure is anaerobic, but (for example in very short sprint climbing) the quantity of lactate that you produce is very little, so you can recover in very short time. This is a type of training that doesn't have any bad influence on Aerobic training , on the contrary, if you use many short repetitions with very short recovery (1:00 / 1:30) (for ex., 6 x 60m at 98% of your max speed) can help your fast fibres in working in oxydative way. This is a good way for training Fast Fibers for increasing their Aerobic ability. For ex., Gebrselassie used this type of training very frequently.
b) SPEED (duration till 40.0 / 45.0) : In a single test, you have the expression of your max LACTIC POWER if you run a competition. If you use to run at 90% of your max speed, you produce a good quantity of lactate, but you can recovery completely (under your Threshold) in a time lasting from 4 to 8 min, depending on your attitude and vyour training. For example, if you are an athlete able running 800m in 2:00 and 400m in 54.0, your best in 300m can be about 38.5 / 39.0. In this case, to reduce your speed of 10% it means (I repeat, this is not mathematics, but is an easy way for giving the percentages in athletics) 39.0 + 3.9 = 43.0 about. In this case, you run faster than your speed of 800m, but you don't have a very big accumulation of lactate. Your recovery time depends on 2 factors : your AEROBIC POWER (or your Threshold level) and your ability in lactate tolerance. In this case, a right combination between Aerobic training at high intensity (from 95 to 105% of your Threshold, running a little bit faster than your Threshold is necessary for improving your Aerobic Power)and Anaerobic Training at low intensity is the key for increasing your lactate tolerance.
c) SPEED (duration from 40.0 /45.0, like before) : If you run at 98% of your max (in the previous case, 39.0 + 0.8, about 40.0), your production of lactate is higher, and the accumulation in your fibres too. The final goal is different : you run for improving your ability in PRODUCING LACTATE (Anaerobic CAPACITY). This is a dangerous type of training, if there is not support enough from the Aerobic System.
So, the stair that you have to use is this one :
a) ALACTIC SPEED (goal : to increase your Nervous ability, your Rapidity, your Technique) : Lasting no longer than 10.0 - Execution at max intensity, using hills better than flat courses.
b) SHORT SPEED ENDURANCE, with repetitions at 95/98% of max intensity, lasting no longer than 10.0 and short recovery (ex : 6 x 60m rec.1:00) (goal : to increase the oxydative ability of your fast fibres)
c) SPEED (lasting till 20/25.0) having the goal to increase your ability in max speed under the point of view of Nervous Cohordination and Nervous Endurance, using single test with very long recovery (sometime good also for distance runners)
d) SPEED ENDURANCE (repetitions at 90/95% on distance till 150m for 800m runners, 400m for 10k runners) with short (but not VERY SHORT) recovery (for ex., 3/4 min) having the goal to increase your Anaerobic Capacity at high speed). The system for evolving this training is TO USE THE SAME SPEEDS and THE SAME VOLUME, trying to reduce your recovery times, in order to improve your lactate tolerance
e) TRAINING FOR ANAEROBIC POWER (is your ability in running faster possible distances from 300m to 600m, depending on your event). You must run at max intensity, this is a training but also a test, and the competition is a training too. Your goal are to become able to produce more lactate (for example, if you run 300m in 38.0 with 12mmol, the most important limiting factor is that youe engine doesn't have POWER enough. So you must become able to produce 15mmol, and when you are able, you can run in 36.5). If you are a sprinter, 300m is the longer distance that you can use for this goal. If you are a distance runner, 500-600m are better.
In this case, you can investigate your specific attitude in becoming a longer runner, controlling the correlation coefficient between your PB in 300 and 600m. If you have a young runner, you can, for ex, finding two different types of athletes (when are not still prepared) :
a) The boy (15y. old) runs 42 and 1:30 (600),so 14.0 for each 100m in 300 and 15.0 in 600. The correlation is 93,33%. THIS GUY HAS HIGH PERCENTAGE OF SLOW FIBRES AND FAST of II Type, so his attitude is TO HAVE A GOOD TOLERANCE TO HIS LACTATE. In this case, the main type of his training must be, in the future, around his speed of 800m, and he can look for 1500m in 3-4 years. This athlete must not use too much absolute speed regarding ANAEROBIC CAPACITY, but sometimes max. speed for increasing his ANAEROBIC POWER. His training is for increasing ANAEROBIC RESISTANCE, strictly connected with the Threshold Levels.
So, SPEED in connected with the percentage of your max speed, but, longer is the distance, bigger is the quantity of lactate that you can accumulate in your fibres. What is really dangerous is to accumulate too much lactate, without having the ability to remove in short time.
ANAEROBIC POWER : your ability in using for short time your engine at max no. of revolutions (single test, and you have to reach the higher lactate level possible)
ANAEROBIC CAPACITY : your ability in PRODUCING a high quantity of lactate. System for training this ability is to run not many repetitions (may be 3-4 times) at 95% of max intensity, with medium recovery time (4/6 min). This is connected with your Anaerobic Power.
ANAEROBIC RESISTANCE : your ability in TOLERANCE of your lactate. Systen for training this ability is to run many repetitions (may be 10-15 times) at a level from 100 to 105% of your AnThreshold, with short recovery (may be 1:00 / 2:00). This is connected with your AEROBIC POWER.
AEROBIC POWER : your ability in removing very quickly the lactate that can produce, running fast. A combined training in the area An Resistance / Aerobic Power can help you in growing your Threshold. You can uselong fast continuous run from 20 to 40min, depending on your event, and long intervals (from 1000m to 3000m) at speed a little faster than your Threshold with very short recovery
AEROBIC ENDURANCE : your ability in staying long time at the level of your Threshold. For specialists of HM, the full time of HM is a mark of their AE. For increasing this ability, the only way is to run FAST long time.
AEROBIC RESISTANCE : Is all the long run at low intensity. This training has only a GENERAL mean. The speed that you use for developing this ability, in 2-3 years must become the same that you use, at your beginning, for developing Aerobic Endurance, so every speed moves higher.
In too many cases you mix up SPEED and LENGTH, thinking that if you go for 200m is speed. Speed depends on your speed, not on the distance. 200m slow are 200m slow, nothing to do with Anaerobic Workout
When an athlete is tired, we have to change his training, depending on the period of preparation. Our behavior must be different if we are during GENERAL PERIOD or during SPECIFIC PERIOD. During General Period we must take care of our INTERNAL LOAD. This means that the most important thing is the level of the ANSWER of every athlete to the training proposal, not the objective result of his training. For example, if I plan for an athlete 10 x 1000m in 3:00 with 200m jogging in 1:30 of recovery, and I suppose that this training is at 90% of his effort, but there are reason (cold, wind, personal problems in his job, beginning of a sickness, etc...) that don't allow him to run in 3:00 but in 3:10 with the same level of personal effort, the athlete must do his training running 3:10, because his internal load is the same. During General Period we must work for increasing the qualities of the athlete : strength, resistance, cohordination, rapidity. In this period, the athlete must work very hard, also if feels tired.
About 2-3 months before the main goal of the season (for example, for athletes sure to go to World Championships in Osaka, starting from beginning of June), we change our philosophy of training, starting with the SPECIAL PERIOD (lasting about 4-5 weeks) followed by the SPECIFIC PERIOD (lasting about 6-7 weeks). The difference between the two periods is that during the SPECIAL we begin to put in training exercises, speed and distances connected with the event that we want to prepare, during the SPECIFIC we go to prepare the event in more targetted way. During these two periods, we must look for the EXTERNAL LOAD. This means that we must respect the EXACT SPEED THAT WE WANT TO PREPARE. For building a performance, external load is mathematic. For example, if I want to prepare my athlete for running 5000m in 12:45 (it means 2:33 every km), we must use a lot of intervals at a speed of 15.3 every 100m, or between 14.5 and 16.0, for specialising biomechanic and methabolism of the athlete in optimizing this type of speed. We can use essentially distance connected with the event, not shorter than 400m (56.0 >`` 58.0) and not longer than 2000 (5:05 %%< 5:20), for global volumes not inferior of 1.5 time of the full distance (7.5 km) and not superior of the double (10 km). In this period, if the athlete, for some reason, is not able to run the specific speed, it's better than he can reduce his training for 1-2 days, in order to become able to use the correct quality. During SPECIFIC TRAINING THE ABILITY TO RESPECT THE SPEED IS VERY IMPORTANT : if the athlete is not able, it means that is not able to run fast as we planned.
Aerobic power is the aerobic base of intensity, useful for every particular event. In my opinion, it's wrong to speak of "SPEED" as something of objective, the same to speak of "AEROBIC POWER". It's obvious that speed for a specialist of 800m or for a Marathon runner are two different thing. For me, every speed 10% faster then the speed of the event is FULL SPEED. For example, for an 800m runner (1:44), having a speed of 13.0 every 100m, 10% of the time is 1.3, so speed 10% faster is 13.0 - 1.3 = 11.7. We don't need faster speed in training, under bioenergetic point of view. May be that we use, sometime, faster speed (for example, repetitions of 60m at full speed), but this is for mechanical reasons, and is not the most important part of training. THE PHILOSOPHY IS TO EXTEND THE ABILITY TO LAST AT THE SPEED OF THE RACE, so we have to train using, mainly, speeds between 95% and 105% of the speed of the race, of course with different distances. In this case, we can use these types of training :
a) SPEED (biomechanical goals) : from 60m to 150m, full speed (very few repetitions)
b) HIGH SPEED ENDURANCE : distances from 100 to 400m, speed at 105% (in the case of 1:44, it means for example 4 sets of 5 x 100m in 12.2, rec. 1:30 between tests, 5:00 between sets, or 2 sets of 5 x 200m in 24.4, rec. 2:00 among tests and 5:00 among sets, or 2 sets of 3 x 300m in 36.5, rec. 2:00 / 5:00, or 2 couples of 400m in 49.0, rec. 3:00 among test, 6:00 among sets)
c) SPECIFIC SPEED ENDURANCE : distances from 300 to 600m at the speed of the race (for example, 3 sets of 3 x 300m in 39.0, rec. 1:00 among test, 4:00 between sets, or 5 x 400m in 52.0 rec. 3:00, or 4 x 500 in 1:05 rec. 4:00, or 3 x 600 in 1:18 rec. 6:00)
d) LOW SPEED ENDURANCE : distances from 600 and 800m, at a speed of 95% (in this case, 13.85 every 100m), for example 600 / 800 / 800 / 600m rec. 6:00, in 1:23 and 1:51
e) SPECIFIC AEROBIC POWER : distances from 800 to 1000, total volume 3 - 4 times the distance of the race double of the distance of the race, at 90% of speed (in this case, 13.0 + 1.3 = 14.3), for example 4 x 1000 in 2:23 rec. 6:00
f) BASIC AEROBIC POWER : distances from 1000 to 2000m at 80% of the speed of the race (in this case, 13.0 + 2.6 = 15.6) for a global volume of 5-7 times the distance of the race (for example, 1600 / 1400 / 1200 / 1000, rec. 4:00, in 4:10, 3:38, 3:06, 2:35)
g) GENERAL AEROBIC POWER : distances from 2000m to 6000m, at a speed of 70/75% (about 16.5 verey 100m, 66.0 per lap). For example, 2 x 3000 in 8:15 rec. 5:00, or 5000m in 13:45.
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