Workout of the Day: 8 x 800m, 2 x 400m
8 x 800m, 2 x 400m
Intensity — Cutdown on 800s, 800m speed on 200s
Recovery — 200m jog after each rep, 5 minutes between sets
Exertion —8/10
Context & Details
Alan Webb’s training under his original coach, Scott Raczko, is fascinating to study. Today’s workout comes from Alan’s training log in late May 2004. That year Alan made his first (and only) Olympic team, winning the US Olympic Trials 1500m race in 3:36.
Here are Webb’s splits for this workout:
800s — 2:09, 2:07, 2:05, 2:03, 2:02, 1:59, 1:57, 1:56
200s — 30”, 28”, 28”, 27”
The time Alan took for recoveries between the 800s was 90” - 2’ and only 45” between the 200s.
Webb’s training under Raczko featured a lot of cutdown style reps. One could make a physiological argument for why, however, from several conversations I’ve had with Alan, the driving rationale was this method of intraworkout progression gave Alan high confidence.
That’s as valid a reason as any. And it’s worth addressing.
Practice for runners is a rehearsal of sorts. When you think about actors in a play or musicians in a symphony, they practice incessantly their lines, notes, and delivery before they perform. Some call practice “programming.” From that standpoint, the aim of the repetition in practice is to program a performer’s delivery so it can be achieved easily and without thought — or fear. I think this is a wise approach that can be useful to running training.
Coaches are primarily concerned about programming runners physiologically to handle the anticipated physical demands of their event. And rightfully so, if physical readiness is not achieved, no amount of positive thought alone can make you run fast.
But this physiological orientation dominates most training plans. Coaches often talk about periodization and progression of physical ability, but there is no training plan in place to progress an athlete’s mental fortitude.
Instead of simply outsourcing an athlete’s mental preparation to a sports psychologist, I think coaches would be wise to concurrently train the mind of the runner in practice by creating circumstances that regularly builds up their confidence. A positive consequence of this is an athlete will be more likely to take (intelligent) risks on race day. If they have high confidence in their ability, as demonstrated through a sustained period of robust physical and mental preparation, they’re more likely to attack than retreat in the critical moments of a race.
With Alan specifically, his confidence fed off speeding up as he was experiencing the sensations of fatigue. He practiced it so much it became habit. Progressive amounts of fatigue on race day then became his trigger to apply more effort and run faster. He looked forward to it. Late race fatigue was a clear signal that, as he put it, “the party was about to begin.”
Considering how regularly he practiced this under Raczko it’s easy to see why Webb accomplished the amazing feats on the track he did. He wasn’t afraid of fatigue, he was programmed to excel in the face of it.