Training update: Week 13

This week the emphasis is on speed. I've been blending speed into my sessions over the past month by integrating accelerations into my warm-ups, even on tempo days. Getting a training plan right for the 400m can be very challenging because of the wide range of energy systems that need to be in top form to produce a good 400m result. It's important that speed is done first on days where it's mixed with other types of running because, 1) you need to be fresh because if you're not running fast you're wasting your time, and, 2) your body adapts best to the first kind of training you do in a session, or over a day, when you're using mixed energy systems. Since speed is the most important component of a 400m this kind of running should come first (plyometrics can be done in the warm-up since this also require maximal speed contractions).

Here are my last few sessions:

Saturday:
-Light cleans: 3x10 hang cleans (60kg) 3x10 cleans (80kg)
-25 minutes of plyometrics (standing long jumps, tuck jumps, drop jumps, standing triple jump, hurdle hops)
-3x10m starts from a rollover position
-2x40m starts from a rollover position
-General weights (3x12 squat (full ROM), bench, pull-downs) 

Sunday: Off

Monday:
2x speedmakers* with 5 minutes rest
2x100m rhythm runs with a 3m run-in @ 10.high

Tuesday: Easy stretching

Wednesday:
-Light cleans: 3x10 hang cleans (60kg)
-Speed: 3x30m, 3x40m, 2x50m (2 min rest, 4 min for the 50s)
-Plyo: 15m on a Vertimax (speed squats, jumps for height, single leg speed step-ups, tuck jumps, running 'A')
-General upper-body weights (3x12 bench, 3x12 bent over row)

Thursday:
-Easy tempo (distance in hundreds of metres): 1-1-1-2-3-2-1-1-1-2-3-2-1-1-1-1-1 (2500m) with 20 seconds rest on grass. Mobility after, stretching at night.

Friday: The workout I'm planning is 2x600m @ 1:30 (10 min rest), 3x200m easy tempo (1 min rest), 3x200m @ 26 (3 min rest). Then weights.

*'Speedmakers' is an exercise made popular by Clyde Hart. It's usually done on the diagonals of a football field but I do it on a track. It is 4 sets of a 40m sprint, 40-50m easy deceleration, and a 10-20m walk done in a sequence. I start my 4 sprints at the 400m, 300m, 200m and 100m start lines so when I'm done I've completed one full lap.