Run-Down Forums

[800mDude]

I am now preparing for the track season, and i need to increase my anaerobic tolerance. I alreade have one long moderate hard speed endurance session. (7*800m @ 2.29-2.33 with 3 min rec). Now I ask if anabody have some hard,shorter anaeobic sessions they can recomend for me. PB 400=53 800=1.58. Please recomend a session I can do on a weekly basis without burning out.

[Dan]

What are your goals and when?

You don't really want to do the same workout every week, do you?

What season are we talking about? I don't know many seasons that start at this time of year other than Europe...

Dan

[800mDude]

I am aiming for a late peak in august, and yes I live i Europe (Norway!)
My goal this year is to run at 1.56 maybe 1.55
I haven`t run any races in winter and I am not sure how good I have trained or how much I have progressed.
No, I dont have to do the same workout every week, but I really like to see the progression on the same workout over a period.

[Dan]

The simplest workout I can think of that is geared toward what you want to accomplish is 4x400m at 57-58 with a 200-400m jog between each. Another option would be 10-12 x 200m at 28-29.

It sounds like you have a good endurance base, but how about speed specific training? I'm not a fan of doing intervals the same distance as the race being prepared for. I think it creates bad habits in pacing and you'll never be happy with the time... If you want longer intervals, you could always do a ladder like 1200, 800, 600, 400, 2x200.

Dan

[Distance_Guru]

There are two workouts workout I love for increasing lacate tolerance in 800 runners. The first is 2-3 sets of 3x300 at just faster than your current 800 pace. Only take about 30 seconds rest in between the repeats, and take 5-7 minutes between the sets. The other is a little more complicated but very effective (my college coach Bob DeVries made me promise to mention that he created this workout whenever I tell it to anyone) It is a three week build up to a big race. 36 days before a major race run 3 sets of 3 x 40 secs at 90% of your 400 pace, with 20 secs rest between sets 5-7 minutes between reps. 9 days later run 3 sets with 4 repeats per set at the same pace with the same rest, and 9 days later run the same workout only cut the rest time in between sets by a minute.
_________________
Time is the fire in which we burn

[800mDude]

Thank you very much for the advices!
Another session which is recomended is 600m quite fast 30 sek rest and then a 200m. Take 10-15 min rest and repeat. (one of Marius Bakken`s sessions when he was trained by Peter Coe for the 800m)

Another question: How much milage is enough for a 1,55-1,58 athlete in the basetraining period? It may sound as a silly question, but I just want to now what others think about high milage vs quality and low milage for 800m atlhletes.

[Dan]

Somewhere between 30-50 miles a week ought to cover most people, with 40 being pretty reasonable.

Dan

[Distance_Guru]

I always tend to lean to the higher side on mileage, and would recommend somewhere between 40 and 70 with 50ish being a good area to shoot for. With the 800 the amount of mileage you need really varies depending upon whether you are coming at the 800 from above or below, both in terms of performance and previous training experience. If you consider yourself a 400/800 runner that has never put in more than 30 miles a week then you'll want to go with about 30-40. If on the other hand you're a 800/1500 runner who might also run cross country and you've done 60+ per week before then you should probably shoot for the higher end of 55-70 miles per week.
_________________
Time is the fire in which we burn

[Dan]

... and I would say that mileage range is better suited to 5k training.

Dan