The 400 Is a Sprint - SimpliFaster
https://www.reddit.com/r/Sprinting/comments/avtlex/should_a_400m_runner_run_distance_or_sprints_for/
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What About The 400?
What about the 400? That’s the number one question asked by the hundreds of coaches who have contemplated feeding the cats. While speed training for the short sprints makes sense, speed training for the 400 is counterintuitive. Traditional, close-minded coaches continue to spout off the false claim: “Feed the Cats may be good for short sprints, but not the 400.”
I’ve done two recent webinars on training for the 400 meters, totaling over seven hours of content. One was a compare and contrast presentation,
Feed the Cats vs. Clyde Hart. The other was a four-hour
debate with Ryan Banta, the author of
The Sprinter’s Compendium.
Legendary Baylor Coach Clyde Hart believed the 400 was a hybrid of speed and endurance.
“The 400-meter dash is an endurance sprint incorporating the speed of the sprinter and the endurance of the half-miler.”—Clyde Hart
I respectfully disagree with the legend. I believe the 400 is a sprint. The 800 is the hybrid.
The 400m is a sprint; the 800 is the hybrid. And although speed training for the 400m may seem counterintuitive, it should be the priority, says @pntrack.CLICK TO TWEET
Clyde Hart also said, “The main reason we are seeing more of the sprinter-type succeed in the 400 meters today is largely due to the fact that we are able to develop stamina and endurance more effectively than we can increase the sprinting abilities of the middle-distance runner.”
Charlie Francis said the same thing, with brilliant simplicity: “It is much easier to gain endurance having maximum speed than the other way around.”
I couldn’t agree more with Clyde and Charlie. I coach high school kids who are trying to reach their genetic ceiling for absolute speed. I refuse to interfere with a teenager’s quest for speed by hybridizing their training. I refuse to give up on a kid like Jaylon Tillman and specialize his training as a long sprinter because he’s only running 18.5 mph as a freshman.
The disciplined pursuit of speed is my overarching principle.
Fact: The 200 is the best predictor of the 400, not the 800.
Max speed (absolute speed) is the best predictor of success in the 100m and 200m. The 10m fly can easily measure max speed. If all of this is true:
10m ⇨ 100m ⇨ 200m ⇨ 400m,
therefore 10m ⇨ 400m
“A good formula for predicting the potential 400-meter time for 200-meter runners, providing they are willing to train and to give all they can to become a top 400-meter runner, would be to double the time of their best open 200 meters then add 3.5 seconds to this.”—Clyde Hart
Note that Coach Hart’s predictor of 400 success was
not the 800. Nope, the 400 is a sprint and training should reflect that fact. I often warn coaches: “Don’t plant beans and expect to grow corn.”
I recently observed a terrific video clip from Ernie Clark (Ashland University) explaining how speed (not strength, not endurance) is the basis of the 400. When setting the world 400m record, Wayde van Nierkerk smoked his first 200 (split 20.50). Remember that 20.50 must be a sub-max speed to survive the second half of the race. Nierkerk finished slow, splitting 12.05 in his final 100. Which broke the world record—speed or a strong finish? In comparison, Wayde van Nierkerk’s 43.03 broke the previous record set by Michael Johnson (43.18). Did Wayde van Nierkerk show better endurance than Johnson? No. Nierkerk beat Johnson to the 200m mark, 20.50 to 21.32. Johnson finished strong (11.52) in comparison to Nierkerk,
but speed beats endurance in the 400.
Image 1. “Why Speed Is Key Over Fitness Or Strength. (Used with permission from Ernie Clark, elitehurdlespeed.com.)
Ernie Clark also points out a similar phenomenon with the best in the women’s 400. Salwa Eid Naser won the 2019 World Championship, running her first 200 in 23.20 and finishing at 48.14. How did Naser’s splits compare to the world record? The world record holder, Marita Koch, blistered her first 200, running 22.47, almost a full second faster than Naser. Koch’s 400m record is 47.60. Naser finished stronger than Koch, but endurance got beat by speed.
“The 30m fly is the #1 indicator of potential in the 100m dash to the 800m.”—Coach Ernie Clark. (I would argue with Ernie that the 10m fly is the #1 indicator for the success in the 30m fly; therefore, the 10m fly is truly the Holy Grail.)
Without any training for the 400m, your top sprinter will probably run the fastest 4x4 split on the team, says @pntrack.CLICK TO TWEET
Anecdotally, I’ve known this for as long as I can remember. Need someone to run the 4×4? Find your fastest short sprinter and put him at anchor. Without any training for the 400, your top sprinter will probably run the fastest 4×4 split on the team. Your short sprinter will be tired at the finish, but so is everyone else.
Why Speed?
The foundation of Feed the Cats is that speed is the key to performance in all track events, up to and including the 400 meters. Speed is the dominant trait of those who excel in the 100, 200, 400, both hurdle events, and the three sprint relays (4×1, 4×2, 4×4). We could argue that speed is a key performance indicator for the jumps and pole vault as well. That’s 12 or our 18 events!
madrid rangers
![1-Speed-Key-Over-Fitness[1].jpg](https://cdn-videos.lpsg.com/data/attachments/39942/39942391-00e3fdf01da02ab6d314e880b0730b8a.jpg)