Elitetrack: Sport Training & Conditioning

I was wondering how many critics are out there against the superimposing method of training that sebastian coe used.  Is there more injuries then usual when attempting this?  I'm talking between during the rotation of speed work and then shifting to mile type training so suddenly.  Anyways, thanks.

1. Most people who the run 800 are not as quick and as fast as Coe.

2. Most people don't have the endurance or aerobic capacity of Coe.

On a more serious note, The principle with Coe's training was based around 5k training pace, which his Father has said is the Golden Pace.  I tend to think of 3k pace as Golden.  For a sprinter learning form this is about the pace they learn technique at and for interval training I believe it's the best pace to start  at for lactate stacking and aerobic conditioning.  I also think a good hard 3k is perfect for training 400m and 800m runners in over-over distance runs.  That is not to say I don't think 5K pace is not valuable for an 800 meter runner, I think it is critical for 800-Mile(metric or english) runner along with 3k pace.  5k pace is perfect for intervals or repeats from 1000m to a mile especially during XC season for the 800-1600m runner.  However, in XC if you are a 400/800 type during track I would rather you do some 3k work at 400-800m during XC.

interesting, thanks

the 800m coach at my college likes to train the runners in a model following Coe's.  In athletes who aren't used to the training, there can be injuries (most prevalent that I noticed were really bad shin splints, and hip flexor problems.  These mostly developed among those of us who were new to the 800 though).  However, for the people that were used to the 800, it worked out really well.  Nearly everyone set a PR this season.  Big ones at that.  everyone PRed by at least two seconds, and several people PRed by 4 or more seconds.

thats really cool, thanks man.

No problem.  Some of the workouts WILL destroy you though.  There were several workouts that no one or almost no one couldn't do the full workout (have to cut a some reps, or a set) because Coe was a beast and could do insane workouts, and we just couldn't do them even scaled down to our level.

One of Coe's workouts that I really like is the one where you start with 100 meters run at 1500 pace and work up to 200 meter @ 400 pace and increase by 10 meter increments.   So, you are combining an increase in speed and distance.  I actually had an 800 runner run the splits that Seb did for the entire workout.  Let's just say this boy was gifted and very fun to coach.

we never did that one.  sounds pretty hard though.

It doesn't seem like much until about the 4th or 5th segment

hah, yeah.  That seems to be a general theme of following workouts along coe's models.  Isn't too bad to start with, but halfway, three quarters of the way through you suddenly find yourself dead.

KW-
I'm interested in that workout you mentioned but don't quite understand it as you wrote it. Can you layout the workout in list form. Thanks in advance.

KW:

what is the rest interval?

this sounds like Coe's 1500m workout.

-100@1500m pace
.............................
.............................
..............................
-200@400m pace

You told us the start and the destination, but we need a map. How do you work from point A to B. I'm curious, even though I'm not much a fan of mixing different speeds too often in a workout, although in this case it seems like it's a natural progression, perhaps working back down after the 200 wouldn't be too bad if you can handle it?

Distance   Speed        M/S  (meters per second)         
100 @       15.00             6.67
110 @       15.85             6.94
120 @       16.70             7.18
130 @       17.55             7.41 
140 @       18.40             7.61
150 @       19.25             7.79 
160 @       20.10             7.96
170 @       20.95             8.11
180 @       21.80             8.26
190 @       22.65             8.39
200 @       23.50             8.51

*Edit*
Starting at 4:00 1600 pace and accelerating over a greater distance from there.
The recovery is to walk back to the start so you get 10 more meters recovery, but the pace gets steeper and the distance gets longer with each succeeding segment.  It's a lactate tolerance and pace judgement session.

To keep from getting mixed up, I put small cones next to the starting spots and the athlete would set the cone on its side before starting that segment.

There is also a workout that starts at 200 and goes to 300 in 20 meter increments that I've not had an athlete do "yet"
200-30.00
220-31.05
240-32.10
260-33.15
280-34.20
300-35.25

That one starts with a 3:00 walk recovery and decreases as the athlete gets fitter.

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