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Building a Miler - Part 2
Addressing the Metabolic Demands

Takeaways:

  • Running Economy is a combination of how mechanically and metabolically efficient we are at a specific pace
  • While short reps like 200m can help teach pace, longer reps are eventually needed to learn how to sustain it
  • 400m reps are long enough to encounter the metabolic demands we see in a 1500m/mile race without being so long that they become too hard to repeat or recover from
  • We can improve with these intermediate reps by gradually transitioning from running them at our current race pace toward running them at our goal race pace

This is part two of a four part series that will address the different aspects of teaching athletes how to handle 1500m/mile race efforts and how to incorporate those workouts into training. Each part will follow the same emphasis as a previous article, How to Progress Tempo Runs, by following the idea that we need to:

  1. Have a good starting point for our first workout and;
  2. Find a way to take one step forward

Constructing a Mile/1500m runner:

  1. Building rhythm and running economy
  2. Addressing the metabolic demands (This Article)
  3. Incorporating other paces into mile work
  4. Creating a training plan and adding periodization

Addressing the Metabolic Demands

In the previous post we talked about using short (mainly 200m) reps to build running economy at goal race pace and learn to develop a sense of pacing and rhythm by doing workouts that allow comparatively large amounts of volume. Here we’ll talk about a workout progression that addresses the metabolic demands of the event by having athletes learn to run closer to race pace with greater amounts of fatigue.

400’s have been a staple of programs for decades. At race efforts that have a noticeable aerobic and anaerobic contribution, they are long enough to be cause many of the physiological stresses that we expect to see in a mile or 1500m race. Unlike 200s that stop before lactate levels can rise appreciably, a 400m rep will steadily see a higher and higher contribution of energy needing to be delivered through glycolytic (anaerobic) pathways. 

Goals of the Workout

Ideally, we want a workout that spends time running at paces that have the same or similar demands to our race with reps that are long enough for us to encounter the challenges we’ll face in the race. While I love workouts like 20x200m that accumulate large volumes at race pace, there are no points for who can run the most 200’s; eventually you have to be able to put the pieces together. Ultimately, 200m reps are too short to see the same lactate accumulation (and thus H+ accumulation) or metabolic fatigue that will appear in the race.

By using something longer like 400’s, we can still run our race pace and see lactate levels climb toward race levels without being so long that the workout goes off the rails. however, to account for the extra physiological stress we can’t easily hit the same volumes as we would with shorter reps and more breaks.

On a pacing note, there is often a wide gap early in the season between what you can do and what you will eventually be able to do. Starting a workout with reps that are 25% of your race distance at your goal race pace is a recipe to overdo it too early in the season and, quite frankly, run the risk of not even being able to finish the workout. Because of this, I prefer starting the workout at current race pace and then gradually letting it come down to goal race pace both throughout the workout and throughout a season.

The Workout

8x400m at (First 4 at current, last 4 progress toward goal race pace) w/ 2:00 rest

Let’s walk through what you might see for an athlete who has run 4:24 in the mile last year and wants to run 4:16 in the mile this year step by step.

How to Progress 8x400m

1) 8x400m at 67 w/ 2:00 rest

Step Forward: N/A, starting point

The first workout of this type likely appears after already doing some of the pacing work that we talked about in the building rhythm and running economy article. So this type of training intensity shouldn’t be foreign, but it may still be a little rusty. Since this is an earlier workout, I’m cueing my athletes with a goal to run 67’s and keep the pacing as even as possible during the rep (i.e. don’t run 32 the first 200m then a 35 the last 200m).

My expectation is that we’re starting slightly behind their fitness, so I make it a big point of emphasis to hit the paces on the first 4 reps, after that they are allowed to progress down slightly if they feel good.  While the workout that I wrote for them says to hit 67’s, I’m expecting they will run slightly faster the second half and average a little faster.

Expected splits: (67, 67, 67, 67, 66, 65, 65, 64)

Average pace: 66

2) 8x400m at 66 w/ 2:00 rest

Step Forward: Starting the workout where we averaged the last time

Since we artificially slowed down the average split by making them start slower, we’ve built in a good way to take a step forward without forcing anything. If they could negative split a 66 average, then running a 66 evenly should be slightly easier for most of them. If they all were running smart the workout before, then you should still see some degree of a negative split.

The added benefit is that they’re also going to spend time at the end of the workout running their goal pace and it’s at a time when they’re already fatigued which is exactly what we expect in a race. 

Expected splits: (66, 66, 66, 66, 65, 64, 64, 63)

Average pace: 65

You’ll notice this workout takes some coaching. If runners are killing themselves to get faster because that’s what they’re “supposed to do” then we’re getting outside of the workouts intentions. We wanted to pick a starting point that we know they could hit. In this case, 66-67s would only be 4:24-4:28 pace, something they’ve shown they can do and then some. Use your coaches eye, if someone is running faster than they should just to negative split, holding them back a little the next workout is fine long term.

3) 8x400m at 65 w/ 2:00 rest

Step Forward: Starting the workout where we averaged the last time, progressing faster after the first 2-3 reps

After a workout or two, you should notice athletes getting accustomed to these more lactate intensive sessions. Buffering capacity is pretty fast to react to training and for a once 4:24 runner, 67-68 second reps aren’t anything crazy. That said, we still don’t want to release the horses too soon, the indoor/outdoor season is a long one so running these slightly slower workouts can still be good to help their longer events and keep them from peaking too soon.

By this point they’ve done this workout a couple of times and should have a good enough feel for it to progress down earlier.

Expected splits: 65, 65, 65, 64, 64, 64, 63, 62

Average pace: 64

What happens if an athlete doesn’t average faster than they did the last time? Training doesn't happen in a vacuum. There will be times where an athlete isn't ready to move forward or at least isn't ready on that specific day to prove that they can move forward. A big test, bad break-up, family issues, lack of sleep, injury, anything can cause someone to have a rough day. There's nothing wrong with repeating a session or writing a comparable, but slightly different workout, to give them another chance to adapt to a stimulus before you move on to something more difficult.

4) 8x400m at 64 w/ 1:45 rest

Step Forward: Reduce the recovery by 15 seconds per rest interval

Here is where we have the first real wrinkle in progression. Once the athlete can hit their goal pace (in this case 64/lap) then progressing faster becomes less of a priority compared to making the workout look more like a race. By reducing the recovery by 15s per interval we are shortening the total workout by nearly two minutes. To think of it another way, we’re taking out almost an entire rest interval worth of recovery time from the session (105s) making the work to rest ratio shift from 0.53 to 0.61 (a 15% improvement).

Expected splits: Mostly 64s and then finishing faster if they’re feeling good

5) 8x400m at 64 w/ 1:30 rest

Step Forward: Reduce the recovery by 15 seconds per rest interval

At this point in the season when we’re thinking about peaking I’d be fine either trying to maintain the same recovery and getting faster or reducing recovery times like we see here. One consideration you might have is the type of athlete you’re working with. An 800/1500m runner may have an easier time with longer recovery times but respond well to times getting faster. A 1500m/5000m runner might be tapped out running at goal mile pace, but can cut down recovery times and still handle the workout well.

This cuts another 105 seconds from the total recovery time (16.5% improvement)

Alternate Ways to progress This Workout

  • 4x400m at 64 w/ 2:00 rest + 10x200m at 32 w/ 200m jog
    • Here we’d be starting with a lower number of 400’s and starting the progression at or near goal pace instead of as far behind it. Then we would lower the rep distance back to something they can handle before the workout becomes overwhelming. As the season goes we’d add more 400’s while reducing the number of 200’s
    • Earlier in the year I’d even consider starting with only 2-3x400m to lead off then having 200’s after
  • 2x400m + 2x300m + 10x200m OR 2 sets (400m, 300m, 5x200m)
    • The rational for both of these are the same. We want to build toward more continuous reps, but some athletes that have a harder time putting the pieces together may need a more rudimentary step
    • Over the course of the season we would want to see a shift away from 200’s and toward 400’s. This can be done by adjusting the sets or even creating more sets and dropping the 200’s as you go  
  • Threshold Reps + 400’s
    • My preferred method and what we’ll see a lot in the next article, but having a more aerobic block to begin the session followed by a couple 400’s at race pace once we’re tired. As the season goes, the threshold block would have a smaller emphasis while the number of 400’s would grow.