How to run the 200m sprint (video)
By Athletes' Acceleration | June 29th, 2009
In today’s mailbag I’m covering how to run the 200.
In my experience, if sprinters even have a race
plan (which they usually don’t) it isn’t one that
will lead to consistent personal bests.
Not only am I going to cover the two specific
race strategies I teach my athletes, but I’m also
going to show you one of my favorite ‘peaking’
workouts.
Here is the specific Main Competitive Phase workout
I will have my athletes perform. As the season goes
on, this workout will evolve based on the particular
needs of the individual athlete (workouts must
become individualized during Championship Season).
*All reps out of blocks, race pace
2-3 x 40m @ full recovery (3-4′)
2 x 85m @ full recovery (7-10′)
1-2 x 110 @ full recovery (10-12′)
1 x 120
- Latif Thomas, USATF II
Complete Program Design for Sprinters
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This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Speed Training . You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
June 29th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Great video btw…
Regarding the free energy i read that it has to do with the muscles used during the acceleration phase that are not used in any other phase of the race. Is that similar to what you were saying? Whats your opinion on predicting 200m time from 100m time and would it differ whether its hand time or FAT? I was having an argument with someone and my view is that idealy ones 200 should be 2x ones100m because of a flying start. Also what are your views on these strategies:
1. gradual/sub max acceleration to 40-60 then run the rest with all you have left
2. run a hard 150 then just try and maintain for the last 50
June 29th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Would you classify that workout as a “speed endurance” workout? And are all those sets in 1 work out?
June 29th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Brian - ATP is the immediate usable form of chemical energy in any muscular activity. The cells themselves have roughly 4-6 seconds worth of ATP which is depleted during sprinting. It is resynthesized for a few more seconds by creatine phosphate until glycolysis takes over. So the ATP-CP energy system is used briefly, is depleted fully and will not come back to haunt sprinters by going out too hard in the 100/200. What you are referring to is more about muscle distribution, which is a whole different topic. Predicting 200 time from 100 time is going to depend on the type of runner - short sprinter (55-200) v long sprinter (200-400). Fat v h isn\’t too relevant. Your 200 time should be faster than 2x your 100 time due to the fly. but again, that\’s true for me because i\’m a long sprinter. it might not be true for a 55m type. finally, i don\’t like either of those strategies. 1 takes you out of the race immediately and 2 will get you walked down.
Ted - for me a \’speed endurance\’ workout is anything lasting 8-15 seconds (possibly up to 20) at 90-100% intensity, generally followed by full or near full recovery. So yes, I would qualify that as a speed endurance workout.
All those sets are in 1 workout. But the volume of the entire workout is only 480-630m which is reasonable for a well trained HS sprinter. perhaps I\’d take off the last 120 if the workout reached the point of diminishing returns.
- Latif
June 29th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
I deal with senior athletes (50+). We usually find that the 200m time is more than twice the 100m time. For example; 100m in 13.7; 200 in 28.5
Can this trend be rectified?
What alterations in training would you make for senior athletes from what you have described?
Many thanks for CST and CPD which have helped me personally.
Best wishes,
gerry
June 29th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Latif:
A few of my longs are still having trouble cracking PRs in the 200s & 400s. Speed hasn’t increased in the 200 — hitting wall at 320 mark in the 400 - running the same time every race. I had to 10 qualify in the 400 for regionals for USATF mxing my approach with yours except with these few that are driving me crazy! Think it’s mental. I’m thinking about moving them over to the hurdles to get them stronger. what are your thoughts? BTW when are we doing the Mind group?
Regards,
Nick
June 29th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Latif,
Great illustration of “floating”. I am now teaching that to my 200m sprinters and am having great success. What is your view on how much the sprinter should lean into the curve while sprinting the 200? I, like you, have just finished watching the championships from Eugene where the 1980 trials were held.
Thanks,
Tim
June 29th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Hi i’m havingt rouble breaking my pb in the 100m and the 200m which are 11.9 and 25. I am 19years of age a very tenacious and dedicated athlete and i’ve been running for 8 years and I think that my times should be around 11.3 and 23.2 but i don’t known whats is the barrier that is holding me back from accomplishing these goals. Any word of advice????
June 30th, 2009 at 8:47 am
Gerry - That does not surprise me. For senior athletes I would say part of the problem is lack of absolute physical strength as well as strength endurance. To drop that 200 time I would argue for a little more base work in the prep periods, strength training (of course) and a focus on transitioning to faster longer repeats during the late special prep/early competition phases in addition to the fly runs and longer sprints requiring full recovery. That should help decrease the rate of deceleration your are experiencing over the last 80 meters or so.
Nick - I’d have to see your entire progression to give you an answer. I’d perhaps argue not enough base work in the prep phases or rough transitions between phases is the cause. but if it’s just a few mental cases, it could be because they lack mental toughness…The mastermind is coming. Just have to clear up the time to do it.
Tim - I don’t focus too much on leaning into the turn on an outdoor track. I teach the mechanics of it and we discuss it, but I don’t place as much emphasis on it as I do on an indoor track. It is more important if you slingshot the turn vs wait until you come off the turn.
Deborah - Again without knowing what you’re doing on a day to day basis I can’t really offer any specific advice. That said, I would argue lack of a progressive strength and power training program and not enough base work early in the prep periods. if you can go 11.9 you should be able to run sub25 pretty easily. But I’d have to assume there are some fundamental issues with your program design.
Latif
June 30th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Great video and work out tip. Thanks Latif! For me as a master sprinter of 47 and with one new born and three more kids in the house, the problem is to get time at all on the field. I get only two to three, at times even only one track training a week, and I have reconciled that this will gain me no PRs this season. That said, I’m not really concerned, taking time as easy as I can, just training to maintain basic speed and endurance and hoping for more time coming seasons. For the few work-outs I have, I tend to do some max accelerations of 30-40-50 around the bend finishing off with 1-2 rhytmic easy 200 for losening up and building endurance, maybe finishing with 10-20 plyojumps on the grass. Not very complicated or sofisticated, but hopefully enough to keep the speed “alive”. If you have any tips for those of us short of time, - som sort of sprinter’s “must do’s” - they sure would be appreciated!
Best regards, OJ, Stavanger, Norway
June 30th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Latif,
The “sling shot effect comes from the transition at 100m from the curve into the straight. This is accomplished by going from your lean into the curve to your slight lean forward and of course stepping over and driving down the last 100m
thanks for your thoughts, as always,
Tim Graf
July 1st, 2009 at 6:01 am
Latif,
Any hints on how to run a 400m, please.
If possible before Saturday!!
Was very impressed with the 200m strategy, will try it with my athletes and let you know how it goes.
Regards, N.G.
July 1st, 2009 at 6:27 pm
What do you suggest if it’s transition issue. If it’s base I know it’s too late…The season is very uneven where I live…so the kids do too many unnecessary invitationals and meets, so I had to use some of those days as training days (e.g., 100, 200, 400, 4×100, 4×400). The head coach also didn’t do Saturdays for practice. To give you an idea how dumb championships were the 400 runners had 1 minute before they ran the 200 or 100.
During the summer season ….the times are slowing down…for the 2 that ran thru the HS season…Recommend rest or speed work before the next round? Been modeling - times have been slow…
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:26 am
Thanks for the great advice. Like Gerry Rose I also coach masters (old farts) including myself (I am 50). My 200 time is almost double my 100. At the NSW Masters titles I ran 12.71 and 25.73, but my 400 is stuck in the mid 59s
Cheers
Paul
July 8th, 2009 at 10:44 am
As always you describe things very well. What kind of differences would you have for the 400m race? Thanks for the knowledge.
August 1st, 2009 at 9:19 am
I agree with athletes and even coaches not having a pre race strategy. I remember back in high school they had me run a 400 meter race and I had never ran it before. I ran it too fast at the beginning and was dead tired at the end and finished with a slow time. My coaches never taught me how to run it correctly and never gave me another chance to run it again.
Keep up the great work Latif and keep posting these great videos!