A Practical 800m Running Philosophy Part 2: Practice Running Fast, Strength & Power and Cardiovascular System
a aThis article series was written by Peter Hoffmann. Peter Hoffmann partnered Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe as one of Great Britain’s three 800m athletes at the 1978 European Championships in Prague and was also part of the 1976 Olympic 4 x 400 metres squad at Montreal. He is the author of several books – most notably A Life In A Day In A Year-A Postcard From Meadowbank which follows a ‘year’ in the life of an athlete and includes life at the 1976 Olympic Games and the 1978 European and Commonwealth Championships as well as details about his training and racing, giving an insight in to the requirements to run 1 minute 46 seconds for a half mile. Peter is available for athletics advice on 400 and 800m running.
Article Series Contents
Part 1
1) Introduction
2) Dream, Baby; Dream
3) Control Your weight
Part 2
4) Practice Running FAST!
5) Strength and Power
6) Cardiovascular System
Part 3
7) Box Clever
8) Simulate 800m Running-Regularly!
9) Bread ‘n Butter Sessions
Part 4
10) Quarter Miling
11) Three Rs-Resilience; Rest and Racing
12) Afterword: A Hypothetical 800m Training Week
4. Practice Running FAST!
Speed is your greatest asset and by running fast I mean sprinting flat out several times each week.
Be honest with yourself – when did you last sprint as fast as you could, putting the pedal flat to the floor? For most athletes it will be months, for others even years!
Unless you’re a 60 metres indoors specialist or a 100 metres sprinter 99% of runners never practice running flat out so how can you expect to suddenly turn on the turbo-jets come a race, especially if it’s a year on from the previous summer!
A good approach is to incorporate the all important strength sessions after your 30-50 metres sprints; do this several times each week e.g. 8 x 30 metres with a good recovery walking 370 metres between each sprint.
And that’s just to maintain your speed. By the time you get into your early 20s your performance will deteriorate.
Incorporating pure sprints into your training programme will help make the key 800m sessions easier and swifter too.
In Scotland in particular but in Britain generally it’s difficult to practice running fast throughout the year; so, when you’re young and free find a way to escape abroad for up to three months when the weather is at its worst.
5. Strength and Power
But better still, rather than just maintaining speed let’s improve it by improving your power.
Research shows that by getting into the gym or similar two or better still three times each week will do this and improve your running performance; do weights and gym work and incorporate some speed drills and a few plyometrics into your warm-up before you start your track sessions.
In the off season run fast 20 second hill repetitions up a slight incline wearing a weights jacket – they’re great for developing your quads.
Do a Togher general body weight circuit or get along to a Metafit session which is also a valuable cardio workout too.
Work your glutes. Do squats. Do step-ups.
If time is scarce run a few sprints followed by your strength work; it makes for good sense.
Develop a strong core because everything comes from there.
Alongside your sit-ups buy a pair of 1lb barbells and practice fast arm action in front of the mirror for a few minutes each evening.
But, on top of that, here’s something very different.
Many athletes’ performances tail off towards the end of the season. Commentators say this is due to tiredness or getting stale and lacking motivation. I believe it’s more to do with the fact that after the spring most athletes neglect strength-work through the summer months.
So here’s a radical proposal – twice a week maintain a light strength-work programme throughout the summer track season.
In 1984 Coe was still in the gym a week before the Los Angeles Olympics.
Similarly, Salazar likes to see Farah et al keep that snap going throughout the racing season.
You won’t need to do so many repetitions – just do enough to maintain your power to weight ratio from the spring; and perhaps ease off altogether ten days before your main competition of the season.
Your ultimate goal is to reach the stage that when you’re running fast at race pace that your legs are so strong that you just glide effortlessly over the track with a relaxed arm carriage for balance knowing there is a further gear there.
When you reach this point in your career it’s the most wonderful feeling and will inspire greater confidence in what you might yet become.
6. Cardiovascular System
To run a good 800m you need a reasonable aerobic base; equally importantly you need to be fit enough to undertake the key middle distance track sessions.
The best way to do this is through longer, slow, easy steady running at conversation pace which will improve capillary development; increase the myoglobin content of your muscle fibres; and also mitochondria development. I recommend doing such a steady run of around an hour every third day. But you will end up supplementing this when you warm up and warm down for your track and gym sessions on other days adding another half hour of daily aerobic running – aim to always do at least a 20 to 30 minute warm down jog.
In the off-season very couple of weeks incorporate into your schedule an easy long, steady run of up to 90 minutes.
If a 5k Parkrun happens to fall on such a day give it a go – it will give you a useful base line as well as motivating you to run fast and hard on occasion.
But quality and speed and tiredness should never be sacrificed at the altar of high mileage. There’s a trade-off and that needs to be in favour of track work and gym.
If high mileage was the key to running a fast 800m then all those millions of runners churning out 70 mpw would be running them. Generally, they don’t. And when they do it’s the exception that proves the rule.
Continue to Part 3: (7) Box Clever (8) Simulate 800m Running-Regularly (9) Bread ‘n Butter Sessions
