Elitetrack: Sport Training & Conditioning

How would you train an athlete to compete primarily in the 300, since that is what we run here for high schoolers in the winter? Would you set up training parameters that were more along the lines of 400m training, or would you set up more along the lines of a 200m runner. Athletes in the 300 run their first 200 considerably faster than they would in the 400, which suggests to me that they need a pure speed component to develop a better speed reserve, which should cause less pain over the last 100 meters. I've been training the 300 more like the 200 extended. At the same time, I've watched one of my athletes lose a state title because he didn't have the strength to finish that race. In hind sight, I don't think I did enough lactic work with him. Does the line fall somewhere in the middle where a hybrid of 200 vs. 400 training must be found? Would it depend on whether or not that athlete was going to move up to the 400 in the spring vs. drop down to the 200, thus training through the winter season to an extent since in high school there really is no time for an appropriate, quality gpp and spp because meets start 2 weeks after the season starts.

i'd train the same way id train a sprinter that does the 1,2,3,4 like myself. In precomp before meets start i'd do 3 high intensity workouts.
1-Spe.End 1 ex. 4x150 full recovery 95-100%

2-Accel/Max V. ex.4x30 4xflying 30's 1-2x60

3-Spe.End II ex. 1x350 1x300

When meets start for mondays workout i would combine Spe. I and Spe.II and do something along the lines of 300-250-200-150
And keep Wednesdays workout the same and drop fridays workout. And later in the year id cut Mondays workout to something like 300-200-150.

I'd train him like a quarter miler.  Quartermilers have the ability to run up or down and run very effectively.  Quarter milers have a blend of speed and some endurance.  You can take any quarter miler and more than likely he would beat a sprinter in a 300.

quik

remember there is no precomp in high school. we'll be in gen and special prep for 2/3 of the competitive season. our first practice of the year was december 1 and our first meet is december 13.

these are great questions and here are my thoughts.  Training decisions always require compormise or sacrafice.  (The Big Picture like outdoor season, 4 year career, post HS, or Small Picture like the dual meet vs. Sharon HS in 3 days.)  Just because you start racing shortly after you are allowed to start practicing doesn't mean you can't have a pre comp phase.  how important are early league dual meets, and how competitive are those meets?  I would look at the entire training year first and set goals.  often in New England, the indoor season is the better and longer of the 2 seasons, especially if you have an indoor track to train on at your disposal.  Is indoor or outdoor the emphasis?  I like the fact that New England runs the 300 and the 600 because it gives coaches a way to build on indoor for outdoor. I think it is easier to get ready for a 300 indoor than a 400, but harder to prepare for a 300 vs a 200 because of the # of ingredients the race requires.  Indoor track (and training in hallways and basketball courts) is a great time to develop power, acceleration abilty, and tons and tons of general strength/work capacity.  It may be the perfect time to work on maximum velocity.  The competitions can be used for speed endurance.  Or take full advantage of your limited times at a facility, go to the meets and train while you are there. Do a Max V workout at the meet itself.  When outdoor season rolls around, then you can attack the special endurance qualities.

What are the specific goals you have, is it a 300m indoor state championship?  if so then i would train them neither like a 200 nor 400 runner but instead very specifically like a 300 runner where the velocities and duration of event are specific.

If you would like, we could talk about your specific facility circumstances.

not true about that sprinter vs quatermiler i just beat all the quatermilers today they were right there with me ill give them that. but in my opinion you should train them as extended 200 runners. i find thats what works best for me and my sprinters.

I wouldn't make any special adjustment for the 300m race. If they 1-2 person it's good special endurance. If they're a 2-4 person it's good for special endurance and also can teach rhythm for the 400m/400H.

Making special adjsutments in training for the 300m wouod be like making special changes for the 50-60m indoor when you ideally want to jsut teach rhythm for the outdoor race.

Kebba,
Good points i agree.
I find that the 300 is a good way to get ready for both the 200 and 400 as well. Not only because of the distance in a meet but personally i feel that the 300 350 training distance is great for special endurance runs. And if you are using those distacnes in training with 2-3 reps at race pace you'll be ready to fly in the 300 come competition.

Ron

My focus, really, is on winning a 200m State title outdoors, but I'm looking at the 4 year progression too. The athlete I speak of ran 42.05(5th at all states) in the 3 and 25.40(2nd at all states) in the 2 as a freshman. She had a biological age of about 12 and is so weak she can't do a bodyweight squat without her knees buckling in so I've been real conscious about keeping the volume low to avoid anything resembling overtraining. I think ultimately she is a 400m runner, but I don't want to focus on that before she can handle it.
Our facilities are a 250m 'circle' in front of the building that is safe to use about 2 days a week(nothing faster than intensive tempo pace) and a 35m hallway. So our practice options are very limited. Like you suggested we've been doing tons of gs/capacity work, core work and accel development because we can't really do anything else. We're doing gpp and spp work up until 3 weeks before championship season, even though it may be sacrificing a few tenths indoors because the goal is on individual and team success in the spring. I agree that the 3 should be trained specifically toward the qualities needed for the 3, but its tough because we can't do Max Vel. work, special endurance or, many times, even intensive tempo work because we have nowhere to run it. Are gs circuits and accel work going to cut it? I don't feel like they are. People have had good suggestions on workouts, etc., but they aren't practical for us. I could really use some advice on training for this winter, the spring and the future because I've watched too many coaches waste talent because they don't know what they're doing.

So let's get creative and turn this situation into a positive.  general strength them to death 3-5 days per week.  they will ultimately become better athletes because of it.

when you are outside and you want bang for your buck, try a jump run-circuit.  pick an exercise like jumping jacks or star jumps and perform it for 15-20 seconds, then rest for 40-45 seconds, then pick a drill like A skip and do it 4 x 15 seconds on 15 seconds off, then run intensive tempo around your circle for 1 minute, rest 2 minutes and repeat with a different jump and drill.  do 3-5 different jump-drill-run combos for a session.

with the 35 m hall, set up a HJ mat as a crash pad at the end.  run 15+x35 meters at 100% effort from a 3 pt start. crash into the pad and walk back and go again within 45 seconds.  I bet you will produce some pretty good lactate tolerance sessions this way.  if they can handle it, take 10 minutes and do it again.  adjust the volume as you see fit.

Find as much variety of GS as possible.  get the kids to handle their own body weight so that the girls can do real pushups and pullups!

and then send me the names of all the kids with talent!

and with all those dual meets you have, get to the track as early as it opens, and get in a quality Max v session before the meet.  if the kid is that good, they are going to beat 99+% of the kids in the league even if they are tired!  then use the dual meets for running the dash and the 600 if possible.  save the 300 for the big invitationals on the banked tracks.