SUB-4:10 TRAINING PLAN FOR THE MILE
Training tips from the elite high performance training group in the Midwest. An insider view of training strategies used by high schooler, Chandler Austin, when he ran 4:09 as a senior.
AUTHOR: BEN TILUS - HEAD PERFORMANCE COACH
5 KEY WORKOUT TYPES TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 SPEED EXTENSION Speed Extension is an essential component of all middle distance training. Don't leave this important skill behind as you prepare for the grueling lactate-tolerance workouts.
2 LONG RUN While chasing a time that lasts only a little over 4 minutes (4:40 for female runners) it is still essential to incorporate a long run into your training micro-cycle.
3 LACTATE TOLERANCE Skip these workouts at your own demise. Tolerating a flood of lactate into the muscles is a key component in differentiating champions and also-rans.
4 V02 AND CV INTERVALS For the more aerobically-based middle distance runner these workouts are an absolute must. Keep them in your regular routine with some creative planning.
5 THRESHOLD AND TEMPO RUNS Increaing your aerobic power and reserve is critical to attaining your best mile time. The increase in mitochonria and aerobic enzymes is what will allow you to sustain the searing paces needed for elite level performances.
RUNNING SUB-4:10 IN THE MILE May 2020
Speed Extension Why it is essential: Top-end speed is one of the cornerstones of all athletic competition. And yes, it can be developed. Having more "gears" than your opponent will keep them in constant fear as the race unfolds. Championship races are often won off of slow paces that come down to the best kick. Having this weapon at your disposal gives you a chance when the sprinting for glory starts. Secondly, speed extension creates efficiency at all sub-maximal speeds. While max velocity may only be needed for 10-15 seconds in a middle distance race, the ability to sustain 95% of maximal velocity for another 20-30 seconds is critical to improving your performance.
Workouts 1-2 Times per Week 4x150 at 105% of 400 date pace w/ 4:00 rest After a full dynamic warm-up this workout will get your top gears tunedup. Having this workout in your regular routine can allow you to work on learning how to relax at a pace nearly at top-speed while sustaining it for longer periods at a time. This workout can be coupled with flying 30s at the beginning or an extended cool down at the end for more aerobic work. 100/120/140/160/180/200 at 100-110% of 400 date pace w/ walk back recovery If you prefer more of a single-direction ladder workout to extend your speed, this workout will be right up your alley. Measure out the inbetween distance with a wheel or tape measure and mark them with a cone. Be fully warmed-up and then get after it. Your initial paces will be near 110% of your current 400 pace, while the 200 will be closer to 100%. For a more challenging variation start at 800 pace on the 100 and work your way to 400 pace on the 200. This is a more famous "kick" approach to the workout. 100/150/200/150/100 at 100-110% of 400 date pace w/ 5:00 recovery This double-direction ladder gets the athlete the feeling of extending the speed on the way up before approaching maximum velocity again on the final repetition. Being able to stay fast and relaxed throughout will pay huge dividends in the middle of the race while saving some speed for the final critical moments of the race.
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Long Run Why it is essential: The long run is a favorite of the aerobic-based miler while being the sworn enemy of the speed-based miler. No matter what your leaning, it is imperative that you do not leave this out of your training arsenal. Do not despair though if you are the speed-based athlete. Keep reading to see how you can mix things up to allow you to get these aerobic benefits while not trudging along for 60-90 minutes simply to log the time on your feet.
Workouts 1 Time per Week/10 Days Steady run for 60-90 minutes The staple of the endurance athlete. Heading out on a 60-90 minute run has always had its place in mile training. The aerobic benefits are undeniable. This type of run will allow you to improve your efficiency as well as improve your cardiac and respiratory fitness. Find a scenic route and use this run to spend time with teammates or to relax and reflect on other things going on in your life. On/Off repeats for 5:00 at a time with 1:00 recovery If you simply need to put breaks into the run to keep from slogging way down, add in regular walking points to rejuvenate you for the next segment. Start with 5 minutes at a time and progress up to 10 minutes or longer. For beginners and those not accustomed to this type of work this would be a great way to get the benefits while keeping it manageable. Double run with 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening While you won't get all of the benefits of one run of the same amount of time, you are still developing the system and preparing yourself for great racing. This time-frame of split runs can allow the more speed-based athletes to get this work in chunks and maintain a more reasonable pace throughout the workout while still getting the needed performance boosts.
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Lactate Tolerance Why it is essential: Any athlete who has raced distances between 400-1500 know the feeling of legs turning to concrete and the brain screaming to relent. Pictures of bodies on the ground around the finish line abound in middle distance races. Why? Well, a bunch of science mumbo-jumbo amounts to lactate flooding the blood stream to attempt to help continue the effort. But ultimately the system gets overwhelmed and failure is imminent. While the term "flattening the curve" has been used to describe containing the viral outbreak, the same principle is in effect here. The body has multiple sources of fuel to prevent failure, a sudden rush of lactate cannot be adequately cleared by the system and everything fails at once. This may be the most important of all middle distance skills.
Workouts 1 Time per Week 8x200 meter repeats at 4:10 mile pace with 2:00 recovery A great early season staple for athletes that are moving beyond speed extension and into the world of tolerating lactate in the system. In this style of workout it will be a slower onset of lactate fatigue due to stopping at 200 meters. The pace is slower than it will be later in the season, but the recoveries are short and the effort becomes quite difficult over the final few repetitions. 3x600 meter repeats at 4:10 mile pace with 5:00 recovery This longer version of lactate tolerance work is as much for mental sharpening and training as it is physical. The 1:30-1:35 it takes to complete this repetition is challenging to stay relaxed as the body begins to really tie up shortly after 400 meters for even the most fit athlete. 5:00 recovery is good for the middle of the season as it begins to allow for slightly more recovery to accommodate the challenge while still encouraging the system to replicate the effort under increasing levels of stress and fatigue. 4x400 meter repeats at 4:00 mile pace with 10:00 recovery An end of the season workout geared towards over-speed work with near full recoveries. Caution should be taken not to go any faster than the 110% so as not to over traumatize the muscles as they need to recover heading into the championship races. A workout of this effort should be done about 10 days out from your main competition. Hitting paces at these speeds will allow you to feel smooth and relaxed at the mile pace you are anticipating to run in the key race.
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VO2 and CV Intervals Why they are essential: Heart and lung power are crucial contributors to middle distance racing, particularly for the 800 and 1500. This is the "engine" to go with your "wheels". Failure to train this system will result in an athlete who is susceptible to a strong early pace in a competition. The best kick in the world is of little value if you are too far behind to make it matter. Additionally, this builds capacity. A strong aerobic power athlete can manage a higher load in individual workouts. The higher the manageable load in training the more likely you are to bring more tools to the task when the gun goes off.
Workouts 1 Time per Week 6-8x800 meters in 2:10 with 3:00 recovery While technically a bit short on time for VO2 work, this is a more manageable chunk as you get introduced to these challenging workouts during the main part of your season. Nothing will come easy in a workout of this volume and intensity. This is the sweet spot between the speedbased athlete and the endurance-based athlete. Too long if you just have speed and too fast if you just have "base". This is a critical workout to cross that gap and improve your chances of hitting that goal time under the challenge of the effort. 4xMile in 4:45 with 2:00 recovery This Critical Velocity (CV) work is known as a sweet-spot to promote aerobic enzyme growth in trainable fast-twitch muscle fibers. It is just fast enough to create that growth while not being so fast as to have the extensive muscle damage of a hard VO2 max session. The endurancebased miler will find these to be much more tolerable than the speedbased miler. But the opposite is typically true on the aforementioned lactate tolerance workouts. 6-8x1000 meters in 2:45 with 3:00 rest The extended version of the 800 meter variety, this workout is not for the weary. This will test even the most mentally strong miler. Mastering this type of workout will prove to you that you can run under the time you are hoping for. The athlete who utilized this plan, Chandler Austin, ran 6x1000 in 2:40-2:45 with 3:00 recovery a little over a week before he ran 4:09 for the mile. Do not try a workout at these paces until you have achieved the extent of your speed and fitness.
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Threshold and Tempo Runs Why they are essential: While the long run is essential, improving your pace between the CV workouts and the long run is a key way to improve your overall aerobic capacity and power. These workouts are the perfect compliment to your VO2 and CV workouts as they can provide many of the same aerobic capacity benefits while not causing as much muscle damage. You will not develop as much aerobic power with these paces, but the capacity will be increased to allow for greater power gains when you attack those workouts.
Workouts 1 Time per Week 2x20 minutes at 5:20 pace w/ 2:00 recovery Learning to run at this faster aerobic pace will allow the muscles to adapt to using more oxygen for fuel. These added aerobic enzymes and mitochondria increase the pathways for the body to clear lactate and hydrogen to delay the onset of fatigue. This tempo style is challenging as well mentally. Running 40 minutes at this pace will certainly have you prepared mentally to run for just over 4 minutes in your mile race. 4xMile at 5:00 pace with 1:00 recovery This is the threshold zone that will have your body trying to figure out whether to start using more costly fuels to do the work or to try to continue to stay patient and utilize oxygen. Lactate in the blood begins to steadily rise at this point and the runner must adapt to that changing feeling in the system. Workouts at this pace can allow the runner to increase the pace before this increase begins to happen. Doing so will once again allow the athlete to make it further into the race before changing to the more costly and ultimately highly-fatiguing energy systems. 4 miles at 5:20/5:10/5:00/4:50 with zero recovery Once again, a capstone workout for Chandler before running 4:09. This moves the miler from tempo pace down past threshold pace without the opportunity to allow the body or mind to pause and regather. The athlete must deal with this level of discomfort for just over 20 minutes while the body begins to shutdown rapidly over the final mile. The increasing pace the final mile is a reminder to the athlete of the need to increase pace in the final 400 meters of the mile race despite the rapidly increasing level of fatigue.
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