200 Repeats Workout for Long Hurdlers
by Steve McGill
One thing I’ve found with some long hurdlers that I’ve coached (and am coaching) is that not all of them can “feel” how many strides they’re taking — to the first hurdle and between the rest. So, while I don’t like my hurdlers counting strides in practice reps, I do like them to have a feel for how many strides they’re taking, based on their stride length and stride frequency. If I’m the one doing the counting, and I’m informing them of how many strides they’re taking, then they’ll just want to duplicate the feeling, which will lead to confidence that they’re being consistent with the stride pattern.
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But that doesn’t always work. I would say that for about 35-40% of the long hurdlers I’ve coached over the years, developing a consistent stride pattern can be a headache at best, and absolutely futile at worst. These hurdlers might lack the IQ that I prefer to see in my athletes, but it doesn’t mean that they lack the desire and the drive to excel.
For such hurdlers, I have found that it’s more effective to have them do more workouts that don’t involve hurdling at all. I might, instead, have them do quarter-miler workouts on some days, and short-sprinter workouts on other days. And then on race day, just race, just compete. If they have the ability to lead with either leg, this strategy can be very useful, as it takes away the guess work and allows them to run instinctively.
This month’s workout is one such workout — one that allows the athlete to focus on their flat speed and finishing strong.
The workout consists of:
6×200, negative-splitting the 100’s.
Walk a 200 for recovery. This should be a brisk walk.
For each 200 sprint, the idea is to go 85% of full speed for the first 100, and then ramp it up to 95% for the last 100. I instruct my athletes to switch gears at the top of the last 4×100 exchange zone, so that by the time they hit the 100 mark, they’re moving at 95% of full speed. So, if I give a target time of, let’s say, 28 seconds, I’ll want the first 100 to be 15 seconds and the last 100 to be in 13 seconds. Or maybe 14.5/13.5. The purpose of negative-splitting is to create the feeling, come race day, that we are accelerating in the homestretch. Of course, we won’t literally be able to negative split in a race, but we’ll decelerate less simply because we will have grown used to picking up speed in the part of the race where we feel most tired.
To raise the level of challenge, I might put up one hurdle or two hurdles at random spots, which forces the athlete to stay aggressive and keep sprinting despite the lack of surety regarding timing. Since these athletes, as discussed above, don’t rely on a consistent stride pattern anyway, getting them in the habit of clearing hurdles wherever they may appear is a good habit to develop, as it will sharpen their instincts. Don’t drop the hands, don’t chop the strides, is what I instruct. Keep the hands high and keep sprinting through the hurdle.
This is not a workout I would use with the hurdlers who are adept at developing a stride pattern. With them, we’d do 200’s over five hurdles, starting at the traditional start line (the 300 meter start line for 300 meter hurdlers, or the 400 meter start line for 400 meter hurdlers) instead of at the 200 start line. That way, we can ingrain our race strategy in practice and just keep working on improving our speed between.
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