[specialed43]

specialed43 on April 21, 2006 at 7:17 am #11777

I am new at coaching the distance events (800, 1600 and 3200). I am having trouble writing workouts for my athletes. I could use a mentor to run my thoughts across to and see what you thought. I could also use a book to get info from. Do they have a " Coaching distance events for Dummies" book out there. I have ordered two videos by Doug Brown on coaching the 800, 1600 and 3200, but they have not arrived. I like someone to analysis what I have set and critique it. Anyone willing to take this task on?

Ed

[track400]

track400 on April 21, 2006 at 7:59 am #52999

sure bring it on, use this web-site.  there is sooo much info on it that its crazy!  run it by me and i'll let ya know.

[specialed43]

specialed43 on April 21, 2006 at 10:26 am #53000

Here is my plan. I go hard days on Mon. and Wed. Tues. and Thurs. are Distance days with Fri. a light day as we have most of meets on Sat.
Example:

Mon. I work on Volume. The 3200 kids will run 2 x 600, 2 x 400, 2 x 300 at say, 85%
                                     The 1600 kids will run 2 x 400, 2 x 200, 4 x 150 at say 85%
                                     The 800 kids will run 2 x 400, 2 x 300, 2 x 200 at say 85%
Tues. The kids will go on a 30 to 45 min. run, maybe come back and do some 150's
Wed. I call this my interval (race pace day) All the kids will run 400's at race pace, with a recovery time to get heart rate back to 120. The number of reps is always a ? for me. Any thoughts on the number of reps?
Thursday is similiar to Tues.
Friday is Pace day. I will have the kids run a 400 (1 or 2) at race pace for Sat. meet. I am trying to teach them the internal clock.
That has been my format to date. I change the distances on Mon., but Wed. is the same 400's at race pace.
Tell me what I need to change or tweak.

Ed

[track400]

track400 on April 21, 2006 at 7:50 pm #53001

couple of questions right off the bat.  this is for this season correct?  mid-season should now be your most difficult part of the year, training wise at least.  the internal clock is nice, however you do need to change it up.  having them do the same thing over and over kids will get sick of it.  1000's is a nice workout, 800's, and even a fartlek, tempo run is good for this time of the year (1600-3200).  right now for 800 guys and gals i have them doing 200's race pace maybe a little faster, some 300's for speed, and next week 450's and 500 for some endurance.  for me i love hills, but remember to do these in the begining of your season as part of your base.  thursday i'd make shorter than your tuesdays and very light on friday if that is where your race is.

[specialed43]

specialed43 on April 21, 2006 at 8:14 pm #53002

I need help from the first day of the season. I don't coach cross country and most of the kids don't run it  either. They may do football or soccer, but for the most part I have them for some 11-12 weeks of our outdoor season here in Montana. I figure I  divide the season into 3 four week sections.
So you are suggesting that on Wed. don't do 400's all the time. Change it by doing 200's or 300's or even 1000's?
What is fartlek and what are tempo runs? What days would I use them?
How do you arrange your workouts? I mean what day of the week do you do what. Let's take this time of the year for an example.

Ed

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on April 22, 2006 at 9:22 pm #53003

Fartlek means speed play. It's a form of continuous tempo where you switch up your speed as you feel throughout the duration of the run. Sometimes, it's regulated (30s hard, 60s medium, 2' ez) but under the strict definition of the workout you just run as you feel with each change of pace lasting as long as you want it too.

Tempo runs- see the FAQ section. There's a link in my signature.

ELITETRACK Founder

[CoachKW]

CoachKW on April 23, 2006 at 5:31 am #53004

Random thoughts in no special order
1. Don't need the pace day, just make that a light run day
2. Tues should be your shorter set with quicker runs of 150-300 meters in length-i.e. 6-8 x 200 with a 200 jog
3. Thursday should be your longer set-i.e. 4 x 800 or 3 x 1000 for a 3200 meter runner at race pace or just  a bit slower
4. If you can get them to do it, do a longer run on Sunday.  If not then, have the long run on Monday which should be about 20% of your total weekly mileage. 
5. The other two days of the week should be medium length steady runs one of which I would follow with 4-6 hard accelerations on the grass of about 100-150 meters in length. 

If you are mid season, you're a bit past the part in the cycle for tempo runs or fartlek. 

If you see any kids breaking down from too much volume or intensity, don't be afraid to back them off to let them adapt.  Remember that the races are the most intense running of the week and they need to recover from them.  Don't overrace them and sometimes run them in events they are not acustomed to running to keep their minds fresher and to work on speed.

Good luck

[razorbackmiler]

razorbackmiler on April 26, 2006 at 9:52 am #53005

i would love to help. im only 23 but have been running since i was 7 and have studied the sport the entire time. ive raced everything from 100m-half marathon. ive trained for speed and endurance. ive tried running over 100mpw and 21miles on training runs. i ran at FSU under Bob Braman and ran at Arkansas after that. if youre new to this FSU is ranked #1 in the country this year and ARK has won 42 national titles! i work at a running store and coach a youth track team. this is my life and i am willing to help anyone i can.  email me and ill get back to you indepth.

as far as books/tapes go…doug brown isnt the best when it comes to coaching. great athletes dont always make great coaches. thats why he isnt a track coach anymore. but a good name for mondo to throw around. he believes in under-under, under, distance, over, and over-over distance.  confusing i know. but thats a bad form of Seb Coe's multi-pace training. Peter Coe (sebs dad and coach) has a great, but very very technical book out. "better training for distance runners" if memory serves me. 
so the best book in my opinion for the basics of training is by jack daniels, "the daniels running formula". i believe hes a bit weak on the speed side of things but overall good for distances.  and he has charts that take the guess work out of training paces .

i think you have things off to a great start, but needs a few changes and maybe a broader knowledge of exercise phys and seasonal training progressions.

out
ryan
razorbackmiler@yahoo.com