400 / 800 Meter Training for High School Athletes

Derek Leininger, Ph.D.

Illinois Clinic • January 12, 2024

The 400/800 Challenge

• The 400 is NOT a sprint like the 100/200
• The 800 is NOT a distance race like 1600-5K
• My observation = many coaches lean too heavily on their background
• Sprint coaches- not enough endurance for 400
• Distance coaches- not enough anaerobic work for 800

Classifications / Definitions

• Aerobic
• Anaerobic
• Speed Development – 400 multiple days year-round, 800 once/week year-round
• 40-60 yards accelerations / full speed / “swing down”
• Volume per week
• 400 runners: 15-20/week
• 800 runners: 30-40/week
• Avoid no-man’s land (“prolonged sprinting”)

Siblings and Cousins

• 400 and 800 are siblings (complex percentages)
• 400-meter dash is 60% anaerobic / 40% aerobic
• 800-meter run is 60% aerobic / 40% anaerobic
• 100/200 and 1600 are cousins of the 400

Heart of the Team

• Four training groups
• Short sprints (100/200) – including 4x1, 100/110 hurdles
• 400 – including 4x4 and 4x8, 300 hurdles
• 800 – including 4x4 and 4x8
• Distance (1600/3200) – non-relay runners
• Why are the 400 and 800 the heart of the team? High versatility.

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What are they missing?

• 400 athletes – typically have speed, lack race-specific endurance
• 800 athletes – typically have endurance, need race-specific speed
• Importance of cross country season (for 800)
• Athletes win from their strengths, but you cannot ignore their weaknesses
• Over-riding principle: if leg speed is equal, then it comes down to aerobic strength

400 Meter Dash Training

• Their own training group
• What happens after 40 seconds?
• Volume 200s
• Overdistance Intervals
• Event Day workouts

400-Specific Endurance

• We are not training distance runners
• Volume 200s = 2000-3200 meters to begin, progress down from there
• Overdistance intervals = 2000 meters max, decreasing from there
• Recovery time is key

800 Meter Run Training

• Higher need for aerobic endurance
• Ability to “tolerate” lactate buildup at 15+ mph (boys), 13+ mph (girls)
• Two types of 800 runners -- XC and non-XC
• Threshold runs
• Long runs (early in training)
• VO2 Intervals

800-Specific Endurance

• Winter – pretty vanilla, long runs, threshold runs (tempos/fartlek runs)
• VO2 intervals – starting in January (4-5k in volume)
• Race pace intervals – a couple times in March, a lot in April/May
• Fast intervals – faster than 800 pace, May

My favorite April & May workouts for 800 runners

• Race Pace Intervals – 6-8x300 (3 minute rest), 3-4x400 (5 minutes rest)
• Down Ladders – 600, 500, 400, 300, 200 (avoid the 100 – no-man’s land)
• Sebastian Coe accelerations workout (200, 220, 240, 260, 280, 300)

My favorite April & May workouts for 800 runners

• Split 800s (with variations)
• 500 hard, rest 1 minute, 300 hard – 3 sets, 5-8 minutes rest in between
• First part = hard enough to build up some lactate
• 600 / 200 is harder to hit right pace on first part
• Split 700s – 500/200 or 400/300
• Balance fast intervals workouts with races -- both take a toll on the athlete

Peaking / Tapering

• Longer race distance = more important it is to NOT taper (reduce volume)
• Cross country = don’t taper … the 5K relies on 95%+ aerobic energy
• Solutions:
• 400 – Reloading Weeks (every 3^rd week in April/May)
• 800 – Limit the reduction and delay until 10-14 days before championship meet

400 runners going up to 800/4x800

• Tempo runs (1-2 miles)
• Fartlek runs (20 minutes)
• Long(ish) runs (30 minutes at conversational pace)
• An extra rep of overdistance intervals (ex: 3x800)
• Incorporate ladders, with varying distances (ex: 500-down ladder)

800 runners going down to 400/4x400

• They need more work @ 400 race pace (speed development days)
• They need to regularly run on 4x4s on meet days
• Other than that, don’t change much