Run-Down Forums

[mjsbossman]

dan if you can answer this quick it would be good. Today I have an ivite meet, and I am running the 1600, then later a co-ed 4x400m. I have never run a 400m since I was 10. I would like to ask, how should I run the race? I read the FAQ in racing, and it said that distance runners should basically go fast as they can the whole time, since they have endurance and less speed.

[Dan]

The basic approach is to be going hard the first 100m and last 150-200m, with the middle being a "relaxed" sprint/float. Being a distance runner, you probably won't have much of a feel for how to float, and it's too short of an event to truly tire you out, so you should be able to hold a fairly high percentage of your maximum sprint effort all the way around the oval.

Enjoy!

Dan

[mjsbossman]

Hey Dan I ran a 55 split! I am excited, that is good isn't it? Because I am a white boy, and a distance runner, and I have done almost no speed training. Out co-ed team ran a 3:58. It was good though, because when I got the baton, there was a guy right ahead of me, and I just hung on him the whole time. I was on his shoulder basically. But I couldn't pass him because he was on the inside. I wasn't even very tired at the end.

[Dan]

Congrats! Sounds like you carried the team.

Dan

[mjsbossman]

Well...I wouldn't say I carried the team, because I ran the 3rd leg. But I surprised everyone with my speed. When I handed the baton to our anchor, we were in 2nd place and with 200m to go, our runner pulled away from the other guy. But it was fun, because it was only distance runners running it, now sprinters.

[Dan]

Well, if you ran 5 seconds under and your team collectively only ran 2 seconds under, then you were definitely the one that made the vaunted sub-4 possible.

Dan