Track 400 and 800 meter run?
im a junior and my best 400 meter is around 54 seconds, and my best 800 is around 2:05.it is my senior year next year and i want to really increase my times and try to make it to state..i plan to run/train during summer and i will be in cross country in the fall..but can somebody help me on how i should train, how long, how many days, etc...also any type of weight lifting i should do?? thank you
Answers:
Protecting my body when I run?
Well, since you want to be better at running, you're going to be a very busy person if you want state. As I speak, my team is in Austin, Texas and ready to run in the morning and are hoping to win state. I can give you the workouts that I've been doing this whole season and it helped me out a BUNCH, I used to not be able to run the quarter, and now I can run it better than I ever have. I've not been timed on it, but I know my speed and endurance has improved. Be warned, you may get tired with this workout.Running Workout: Alternate between long distance and short distance workouts. One day do short distance/sprints, and another do long distance. I assumed you're in shape, if not, good luck, but if you do this every day through off-season, go through football or whatever sport you like, and you'll be good. Okay here we go.
Monday: Do 1 mile of what my coach calls "N an' Outs" You sprint the curve on the track, and walk the straight-aways. If that doesn't make since, run 8, 100-yard sprints, walk back, then run again, the walking part is your rest. THEN, run 6, 300-Yard Sprints, full speed. Give yourself about three to five minutes of rest in between each run.
Tuesday: Run 3 Miles. Long distance should be easy. Then do 15-30 minutes of jump ropes. Frontwards, backwards, left leg, right leg, scissors, and criss-cross.
Wednesday: N an' Outs, and then run 6, 400's, full sprint. Again, you'll want about five, or six minutes of rest between each run. You want a full performance run.
Thursday: Run from 3-6 miles. Then do your jump rope workout.
Friday. Hard Day>>>I hate this workout, but it works wonders after a couple of weeks. Run 6, 800's. First lap is a good long stride, about 60-80% of your speed, then the last lap, sprint it. Then do N an' Outs, but stride the curves this time, using only 50% of your speed. Do about 15 minutes of jump ropes when you're done.
Okay, I hope that's good enough for running. It may seem like a lot, or it may seem easy. This is what I did my track season, and it helped me out quite a bit.
LIFTING: Power Clean, and Squats should help out. Whenever you do a sprinting workout, lift. Monday's and Wednesday's, skip Friday. Do a lot of calf raises to and leg extensions, on your back and stomach, anything to build your calf muscles up. Power Clean helped with explosion, speed and acceleration, and squat with speed and power. As your coach about a workout for this. I'll give you mine then decide which to use, your coach of mine. Your coach's will probably know more.
Week One: 3 sets of 10
Week Two: 3 sets of 8
Week Three: 3 sets of 6
Week Four: 5 sets of 5
Week Five: 3 sets of 3
Week Six: 1 set of 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1.
Then start over again at week one. Add to your weight each week, and one week six, you should be doing more than your max on your last set.
Remember, lift on Monday's and Wednesday's only, or you'll tire your body out. Weekends will be your resting period, do nothing, if you do, just a one or two mile jog if that. Hope this isn't too much. Good luck with state!
I know it may seem like a lot, or it may not help with the mix of running, lifting and jump ropes, but I guarantee you, if you do it right, you WILL improve. If not, then I don't know what to tell you.
To lift or Not to lift for Crosss Country Runners?
run 6 days a week in the summer, just long and slow miles to build endurance. This will allow you to build up the endurance to do a lot of speed workouts when you get back to school and the speed work will do more for you.As for weight lifting, my distance running collegues and myself (all juniors) don't weight lift and we still do good. My friend wo does the 400 and the 800 runs 53, 2:03 without weights. It is all about muscle specialization: through running you build the muscles you need for running and train them in the way you need them move for running. In weight lifting, true you gain strength, but you train your muscles for what they need to do to lift weights.
Any tips for improving times in the 400 meter and the 800 meter run?
I'm almost right around where you are. I'm a junior and I have a 55 400 and a 2:04 800. Conditioning will be key for me. The difficult thing is that there are no days off, so stay driven. Your workload has to consist of some distance work, but speed and interval workouts are crucial. 200 intervals will help with your kicks and 600 intervals give you the endurance to stay strong throughout the race. While the 400 and the 800 aren't exactly the 3200, endurance is key, because you don't want to hit "the wall" going into the last 150 meters. Be conscience of picking up your knees, especially when you are tired, and pump the arms harder as you get closer to the end. Distance workouts can help as well as long as you don't have that "I'll take it easy today to rest" mentality. Distance also helps with endurance, but 600 meter intervals at a relatively good pace (I like to go around 75 for the 400 and then kick all out at the 200) are a great way to build up strength. Try 3 or 4 in a set, and then do around 8 200s. The strain your body feels gets to you but the rewards are awesome. Keep it up man, those are some decent times.Well I live in San Antonio, Texas and we have huge competition in track and I am a freshman and my pr time for the 800 is 2:01.12. I am a huge player on the track team and i think that weight lifting should not be the main part of your workout mid-distance runs are great and lifting weights 1-2 times a week should do it. I cant tell you exactly how much you should lift since that depends on the weight of your body itself. You should run 6 times a week and if you wanna be like me you'll run 7 days a week with one really easy day so you don't over-do it. For the 800 meter races you should train with 200, 300, and 400 repeats with some mid distance runs mixed into your workout. (ex:20-30 min runs) You should also plan one day to use as your long distance day (for me I run 40-50 mins). But remember to also change your diet if needed and DONT OVERTRAIN!! If you feel soreness in your legs or back that just means your muscles are getting stronger. If you are experiencing pain or any other symptoms of overtraining STOP TRAINING SO HARD. Then take it easy. You chose a great time to start (summer).
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