The purpose of this workout if for “speed endurance”, or to be exact, special endurance.
The ultimate goal of the workout is to reach near top speed, relax and maintain it as long as possible. A full recovery, anywhere from 20-30 minutes is required between the 2 runs.
The numbers below are approximate and derived by subtracting 1 second for acceleration out of the blocks from a desired 400 meter time. The “pace” is used to determine your splits for the set distances.
I use pre-defined hash marks so I know exactly the distance covered. No second guessing, or you’ll see a lot of upset hurdlers!
- The 255m mark = 7th hurdle hash mark
- The 290m mark = 8th hurdle hash mark
- The 325m mark = 9th hurdle hash mark
For example, if I wanted to break 50 seconds for the 400m, I would run 255m (to the 7th hurdle) in 31.2 seconds or slightly faster with a running start from 10m run-in. Once I am able to sustain this pace of 8.16 meters per second for the distance, I move up to the next goal of 290m in 35.5 seconds the following week. The next 2 milestones are 300m is 36.8 seconds, and 325m is 39.8 seconds.
If I do not hit the target time, I stay at that distance until I achieve it.
Once I can do 2 sets of 325m in sub 40 seconds, I know I am ready to run a sub-50 second 400m (accounting for a good start out of the blocks, wind conditions, weather, etc.)
Depending on the time of the season, you are either doing 2 speed workouts and 1 speed endurance; or 2 speed endurance and one speed workout per week.
As you can see from the chart below, a slower athlete, whether it is a Masters, Youth, or Female athlete, doesn’t need to go past 300 meters to have an effective workout. The ultimate goal is slightly under 40 seconds.
Sure, I’d love to run like Jeremy Wariner or Micheal Johnson, but that doesn’t mean copying their workouts. But it does mean copying their principles!
As Clyde Hart once said from his 2007 USATF Conference, “everyone steals ideas from everybody”.
| 400m | m/s | 255m | 290m | 300m | 325m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 54 | 7.55 | 33.8 | 38.4 | 39.8 | 43.1 |
| 53 | 7.69 | 33.2 | 37.7 | 39.0 | 42.3 |
| 52 | 7.84 | 32.5 | 37 | 38.3 | 41.4 |
| 51 | 8.00 | 31.9 | 36.3 | 37.5 | 40.6 |
| 50 | 8.16 | 31.2 | 35.5 | 36.8 | 39.8 |
