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What would be a good 200/400 meter workout plan to use in the outdoor season? I just competed at the D2 national indoor meet this weekend in the 60 and 4x4 relay for North Dakota State. Our outdoor season begins at the U of Miami on the 20th. I plan to run both the 200 and 400 at the outdoor national meet this spring.

I haven't run the open 400 outdoors since my senior year in high school and I need insight on how to run it again. I have split 46.4 outdoors and 47.3 indoors on the relay team. My high school best was 48.24. My goal outdoor is anywhere from 46.00 to 46.6 and to run 20.8 to 21.0 in the 200. My 200 has been frustrating. I have only run 21.31 and I know I can run faster. I have run 10.44 for 100 meter and can run a consistent 10.5/10.60. I just haven't been able to put it together in the 200.

I want to know if you have a workout that would go with my best times in both the 200 and 400 and a strategy on how to run both races. Thank you very much.

If your goal is 46.00 seconds in the 400 meters, break the race into segments. The first 200 meters is run in 22.00 seconds and the second 200 meters is run in 24.00 seconds. The differential between the first and second 200 meters is 2 seconds. In order to run 46.00 seconds, the projected 200-meter best is 20.90. The differential of the first 200 meters and the 200-meter best is 1.10 seconds and your 300-meter split is 33.76. The projected 100-meter best is 10.43 seconds.

Your goal is to work toward the projected 100 and 200-meter times. As your time improves through the season, you should be capable of running faster than 46.00 seconds. Work towards your goal in workouts. If your time improves, continue to work towards your goal with consistency.

The race plan for the 400 meters in 46.00 seconds:

Run the first 100 meters in 11.22 seconds, which is 93% of the 100 meter best.
Run the second 100 meters in 10.78 seconds, which is 97% of the 100 meter best.
Run the third 100 meters in 11.76 seconds, which is 88% of the 100 meter best.
Run the fourth 100 meters in 12.24 seconds, which is 85% of the 100 meter best.

Warm-up:
March/April, 1 mile in and outs (100 sprint/100 walk)
The first month of training, stride 50 meters and walk 50 meters and do this for 3 laps, or jog 1 mile.
The second month, stride 100 meters and walk 100 meters and do this for 3 laps, or jog 1 mile.
The third month, stride 150 meters and walk 150 meters and do this for 3-4 laps, or jog 1 mile.
The fourth month and for the rest of the season, stride 200 meters and walk 200 meters and do this for 4 laps, or jog 1 mile.

Flexibility:
Every day for 25-30 minutes after the warm-up.

Drills:
Specific drills for hip flexor development every day after flexibility.

Accelerations:
Work on ten 10-40 meter accelerations every day. Start with 10 meters one week and add 5 meters every week until 40 meters is reached. Accelerations can be done either after drills or at the end of the workout.

Sample workout:

Monday
2x450, Run the 400 in 52 seconds, Rest 15 minutes between interval
3x200, Run the 200 in 28-27-26, Rest 3 minutes between intervals

Tuesday
6x200, Run the 200 in 26 seconds, Rest 3 minutes between intervals

Wednesday
4x300, Run the 300 in 42 seconds, Rest 5 minutes between intervals
8x100 Short hill runs, Speed fast, Rest walk back
or
3x150
6x100
1x200

Thursday
3x200, Run the 200 in 26-25-24, Rest walk 200
5x100 Build ups

Friday
3x200, Run the 200 in 26 seconds, Rest walk 200
Relay handoffs

Weight training and plyometrics:
March/April, two times a week. In the latter part of the competitive season, weight train two days a week without plyometrics.

When weight training and other training are included in workouts, they are performed in the following order:

Warm-up
Flexibility
Drills
Accelerations (or at end of workout)
Technique
Speed
Weights

These workouts can be applied to all levels of 400 meter runners, but performance times given are for a potential 46-second quarter miler. Make adjustments accordingly.

Coach Payan
www.CoachesEducation.com

This is hard to respond to because I don't know what you have been doing for workouts up to this point. However, the PR's (10.4 and 21.3) are an indication of:

46.8 at 400 meters

Here is the problem:

200 PR of 21.3
400 PR of 47.3

2 x 200 PR - 400 PR = endurance index

21.3 x 2 = 42.6

42.6 - 47.3 = 4.7 sec.

Improve the first and second half race model to cut that ratio down to 4.0 seconds. Run the first 200 one second slower than PR or at 94% and have the speed endurance to run no slower than 2.0 to 2.5 over the second half.

21.3 + 1.0 = 22.3 for the 1st 200m
22.3 + 2.0 = 24.3 for the 2nd 200m

22.3 + 24.3 = 46.6
To run 46.6, you would need to run splits of:
11.42
10.86 - 22.26
11.65 - 33.91
11.69 - 46.60

First 200 - 22.26
Second 200 - 24.34
200m differential of 2.00

The 200 meters is run with the first 100 0.5 slower than your PR and the second 100m 0.70 faster than the first 100m.

A PR of 10.55

First 100 - 11.05
Second 100 - 10.35 = 21.40

This is just a rule of thumb and some can run the first and second halves faster. However, it is important to run the first 200 meters under "aggressive control" so you don't lose it in the last 50 meters.

Coach Veney
U.C.L.A. Sprint Coach

Can you do the split break with my numbers? I have a athlete that ran 51.1 but wants to run a 49.0.