A Practical 800 Metres Running Philosophy Part 4: Quarter Miling, Resilience-Rest-Racing and a Hypothetical Training Week
This article series was written by Peter Hoffmann.
Peter Hoffmann partnered Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe as one of Great Britain’s three 800 metres 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 800 metres 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 800 metres Running-Regularly!
9) Bread ‘n Butter Sessions
Part 4
10) Quarter Miling
11) Three Rs-Resilience; Rest and Racing
12) Afterword: A Hypothetical 800 metres Training Week
10. Quarter Miling
To run a fast half mile you will need to be able to run a great quarter too.
Most half-milers neglect this area.
Sometimes I ask good half-milers what they can run for 400 metres; they will reply vaguely ‘Oh! I’ve run sub 48 seconds.’
But when you ask what they can run right here, right now there’s a world of difference.
So don’t kid yourself.
To run fast over a quarter you need to incorporate regular quarter-mile sessions e.g. 3 x 300 metres flat out in around 34 seconds with a full recovery.
Like fast 600s aim to do this session once every ten days or so. You’ll really feel the benefit.
Or, 8 x 100 metres with an easy 5-8 minutes’ walk around the track recovery; you need that recovery to maintain the quality; it’s a surprisingly tough little session.
And if you can, try and get regular slots in 4 x 400 metre relay teams – great for your running but also great fun too; and because it’s from a rolling start it relates well to half miling.
11. Three Rs – Resilience; Rest and Racing
Training and competition requires resilience.
A few people have this quality in spades – an inherent rod of steel running through them.
I’ve trained with former world 5000 metres record-holder David Moorcroft and regularly with Adrian Weatherhead too; with both of these athletes it was something inherent.
I’ve seen it too with many of the distance runners – the iron men of the iron ground who churn up the laps in cross country running. But the rest of us aren’t quite so hardy.
However you can help to overcome this with some clever stratagems.
Albert Camus wrote: ‘In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me lay an invincible summer.’
Remember that dream.
Use it to motivate yourself.
Ask yourself what your success would mean to others who help you – your family, your friends as well as to yourself.
Develop mantras for when the going gets hard – First to the tape, First to the tape or Never give in, Never give in.
As usual, Kipling is good:
If
‘…If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son…
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!’
If you’re doing a hard reps session don’t think too far ahead; leave thinking about the next run until towards the end of the recovery period; often people throw in the towel far too early.
Take one run at a time.
And when it becomes painful either embrace the pain – associate with it or alternatively disassociate from it by deploying some distraction techniques.
Some of you will recall the great BBC athletics commentator for forty years, David Coleman, and how he brought to life David Hemery’s stunning Olympic run in Mexico, 1968 or Ian Stewart’s magnificent 5000 metres win at the 1970 Commonwealth Games.
On occasion, when I struggled through a tough training session wanting to give up, come these last few repetitions, in my imagination I could hear Coleman’s voice in my mind’s-eye ‘…and it’s Hemery (Hoffmann) gambling on everything…he’s really flying down the back straight…Hemery (Hoffmann) leads…it’s Hemery (Hoffmann) Great Britain…it’s Hemery (Hoffmann) Great Britain…and Hemery (Hoffmann) takes the gold…he killed the rest…he paralysed them…Hemery (Hoffmann) won that from start to finish…’
And before I knew it the session was over and I’d run as best as I could and got through another tough work-out.
I guess it’s called motivation – self-motivation.
Find it where you can. And as the season approaches, your motivation will increase and you’ll be able to push the barriers even further.
As for racing, Ecclesiastes 9:11 says ‘…I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all…’ so grab the opportunity in any race – be brave – show some chutzpah and seize the day; sometimes a smarter, more confident athlete can beat a better one – Matt Centrowitz ran a great race at the Rio Olympics in the 1500 metres.
Races are nerve wracking so get used to handling them well by racing often – race under distance events such as 400 metres where there is slightly less pressure.
In the lead up towards your main goal of the season you will probably need to race around three half mile races; running the full distance helps adapt your body for that main effort; outwith that, prior to your early races a 90 seconds effort in training can be useful; for this effort get paced throughout with someone taking you through the quarter in around 50 seconds. You’ll blow up, but will get a great training effect!
Rest up before you race, making sure you taper your training. The people who knew best how to bring athletes to their peak were the old Pro schools in Scotland training athletes for the famous century old Powderhall Sprint. Money talks. And some of those schools stood to make significant monies from the bookies.
Come the race, if you can and have the confidence to do so, aim to distribute your energy wisely in half-mile races – if you look at the 200 metre splits in races they are often very disproportionate and wasteful.
Run the shortest distance and run even pace. And if the pace is suicidal if you can run the first three bends in lane one at the back of the field and gradually make your effort down the back straight when others who have been injudicious fighting over early position begin to tire. It’s easier to pass them there and move into position come the final bend.
My final thought on racing is ensure you’re thoroughly warmed up having blown the carbon out of the engine!
Too many athletes don’t warm up sufficiently; and when the race kicks off it comes as quite a shock to the system and naturally, negatively impacts mentally on their confidence too.
How often have you found in training that it’s the second or third repetition that’s the easiest?
The first few runs feel hard because of the systemic shock; the latter runs are hard because you’re beginning to tire.
Whereas, on the intermediate repetitions you glide along, often effortlessly because your body is completely warmed up; make sure you go to the start line for races having struck the optimal balance so that you’re ready to race from the bang of the gun.
Whether you’re an international athlete, an aspiring one, or a master runner, adopt the above and you’ll fly a half mile. Good luck with your adventures and seize the day, because each summer you may only have a handful when the stars in the heavens are so aligned. .
12. A Hypothetical 800 metres Training ‘Week’
Day 1 (VH) 2/3 x 600 metres flat out (15- 20 minutes recovery)
Day 2 (E) (am) Weights (pm) 60-90 minutes steady run
Day 3 (Ex) A few speed drills/bounding; 3 x 2 x 300 metres (jog 100 metres recovery) in 36 seconds; full recovery between sets or 5 x 300 metres (walk 100 metres recovery)
Day 4 (E) 2 x 4 x 30 metres (3 minutes recovery; 15 minutes between sets) followed by strength-work (weights, gym, plyometrics)
Day 5 (A) A few speed drills/bounding; 8 x 100 metres fast (walk 300 metres recovery)
Day 6 (H) Parkrun 5k
Day 7 (VH) 8 x 300 metres (3 minute recovery)
Day 8 (E) 6 x 50 metres flat out (4-8 minutes recovery) followed by strength-work (weights, gym, plyometrics)
Day 9 (E) 60 minute easy run
