Training the 800 Runner Pt. 1

This will be a two part series on the 800 runner I will talk about what exactly you should look for when determining your 800 runners and the training methods you should take.  This part will be about talent identification and types of 800 runners and the next post will be about training consideration.

There is a lot that goes into figuring out who will run your 800 for you and here are some things to note:  What is the order of events in your state if you plan on having this athlete double or triple?  How long of a time will I have to train this athlete before post season competition?  What is the training background of this athlete?  If you can go through these questions and you think that you have a candidate for the 800 then your next step is to figure out what category the runner fits into.  One note that I will put forth is that in my opinion, 800 training takes the longest time to develop so an athlete with limited amount of training time may not be a good candidate.

The sprinter type: This athlete may not have the amazing 100 or 200 speed but can run a good leg on the 4x4 and has good rhythm when he/she runs.  This athlete may not have a spot on the team as a 400 runner so has to look for another event to earn a spot.  Sprinter types tend to do best off of fast early paces to negate the fact that their last 200 will be their slowest.  The fist lap must be calculated properly, though, because the athlete still needs to worry about not having a tremendous positive split.

The tweener type:  This athlete demonstrates a good natural ability to run hard for a reasonable amount of time, shows toughness, but is not very competitive in either a 400 or a 1600.  These are rarer than the sprinter or the distance type, but occasionally you will find an athlete with no distance background that can only 54 second 400 speed but can run an 800 in 2:00-02 with good training.  This athlete will be best with even splits but is more like a jack of all trades and cannot afford much of a fast start, nor will they have the strongest finish.

The distance type:  These athletes may only have the same speed as the tweener, but have the distance background that allows them to maintain their speeds better.  While the tweener may drop off to a 4:40 mile or more, the distance type may be able to run 10-15 seconds faster in the 1600.  This shows that the athlete will probably have their strength in the closing 200 compared to the others.

Now that you have established that the athlete can compete for you in the 800 and have established their fitness type, we will move on to training protocols in the next part.