Embrace The Burn: Dealing With Lactic Acid Buildup in the 400 Hurdles
By Chris Repecki
The bell rang for the final lap of the 5,000-meter race at the Armory in New York City. I had led the pack for twenty-four grueling laps, but with 200 meters to go I began to fade. My competitor veered into the outside lane, refusing to relent as he battled with me for the leading spot. Sprinting around the final curve, I felt my legs turn into cement blocks and my arms turn to rubber. One runner passed me, then another. I knew I was finished. But what happened? Regardless of the endless training miles and intervals I had pushed myself through in the frigid New York winter, the demon lactic acid had gotten the best of me. My final chance to medal in the 5,000-meter finals of the New Balance Indoor Nationals was ruined.
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For as long as I’ve been running—and I recently passed the ten-year mark—I’ve been practicing all the essential principles of successful distance running. Sunday long runs to develop endurance. High intensity bursts of speed on the track to activate fast-twitch muscle fibers. Tempo runs to increase anaerobic threshold. Cross-training to prevent injury and burnout. I began distance running in seventh grade and made the varsity cross country team as an eighth-grader. In high school I fell in love with the sport, running for hours every day through the streets and trails of my town in Harrison, New York. By my senior year, I had broken every school record from the 800-meters through the 5,000-meters. During my senior year I was recruited to run cross-country and track at Davidson College in North Carolina, where I would specialize in the 5,000 meter and 10,000 meter races. Training at the division-one college level was a challenge, but throughout my career I learned a lot about the science of running and methods for enhancing endurance performance. As I approach college graduation, I look forward to training for half-marathons, marathons, and possibly ultra-marathons. Perhaps the most important key principle in my training philosophy throughout my running career has been to avoid lactic acid—that dreaded substance that makes our legs burn at the end of exhausting workouts and races.
So what is lactic acid, and how can we train to prevent, or delay, the onset of lactate? Ironically, while lactic acid contributes to why we hurt at the end of races, lactate is actually a vital source of energy for our bodies. When we walk or run very slowly, our muscles burn modest amounts of carbohydrates and produce modest amounts of lactic acid. The body breaks down glucose for energy and a by-product of this process is lactate. During easy running, the body reconverts and recycles this lactic acid back into energy and expels the waste products. Thus, while running at an easy aerobic pace that does not require a whole lot of energy, the production of lactate will remain relatively constant. As we run faster and our bodies demand more energy, however, the production of lactic acid gradually increases. Our muscles burn more carbohydrates and produce a greater quantity of lactic acid, which quickly breaks down into lactate (an important fuel for exercise), and hydrogen ions (that evil substance that makes our muscles burn). These hydrogen ions hinder our performance because they lower the pH of our muscles, ultimately decreasing muscle efficiency and causing that dreaded burning sensation—ouch! We all reach a point—whether it be from running at too fast a pace or holding a steady pace for too long a duration—when our bodies can no longer convert lactate back into energy and expel the waste products. This point is often referred to as our lactate threshold: the fastest pace an athlete can run without generating more lactic acid than his body can utilize and reconvert back into energy. Once we exceed our lactate threshold, muscle power diminishes and, as happened to me during my 5,000-meter race at Nationals, we inevitably begin to slow down.
At this point I’m sure you’re wondering how you can train your body to more efficiently produce and control lactate. Everyone knows that with proper training, nutrition, and recovery it becomes possible to perform for a longer period of time and at higher intensities. A large percentage of my training as a distance runner over the years has focused on producing adaptations to both of the body’s energy systems: anaerobic and aerobic. The sprinter and long distance runner both need to produce and control lactate in order to be successful, even though the workouts must be tailored to meet the demands of the respective race and athlete. While I have never personally trained for a race shorter than 800-meters, my training experience and philosophy as a distance runner directly applies to the 400-meter hurdles. As you might already be aware, the 400-meter hurdle event is considered an endurance sprint race, as it incorporates both the speed of a sprinter and the endurance of a half miler (no wonder it’s such a tough race!). The 400-meter hurdles are won and lost in the last 100-meters of the race (not out of the blocks like in the 110-meter hurdles), and usually by the athlete with the highest lactate transport potential. As in the distance races, proper training will help the hurdler learn to deal with the stress and fatigue he will naturally face toward the end of the race, especially during that final 100-meter stretch when lactate buildup becomes excruciating.
Any successful 400-meter hurdler knows that he must develop a balanced approach to training, with an emphasis on speed, strength, and endurance. All of these attributes are interdependent on one another, meaning that improvement in one area is unlikely to occur without parallel improvements in the others. Every training plan, therefore, should include weekly workouts that incorporate all three abilities. The 400-meter hurdler, just like the distance runner, must first develop sufficient endurance and speed in order to achieve success. Michael Johnson, a former NCAA and World Champion in the 200 and 400 meters, is a prime example of an athlete who developed his strength and endurance over the years to the level that he could better maintain his superior speed over a longer distance than his competitors. Speed must be addressed at the beginning stages of a training cycle, as such training will ensure that correct sprint mechanics will be established and carried throughout the year. Further, because the body will incur an oxygen debt and there will be a definite lactic acid buildup, these speed workouts will help the body handle lactate more efficiently. Interval training works both the aerobic and anaerobic systems, combining short, high intensity bursts of speed, with slow recovery phases. By performing high intensity intervals that produce lactic acid during practice, the body adapts and burns lactic acid more efficiently in races. Interval distances can vary from 100 to 600 meters with a recovery period of around ten minutes between sets. This longer rest period gives the athlete full recovery, as these interval workouts should emphasize quality (high intensity) over quantity (high number of reps). The following example workouts are designed to improve the efficiency of the lactic acid energy systems:
a) 10 x 100 meters (5-10 minute recovery)
b) 6 x 150 meters (5-10 minute recovery)
c) 5 x 200 meters (10 minute recovery)
d) 2 x 450 meters (10 minute recovery)
*Note: remember that these workouts should be fast. Focus on proper sprint mechanics and running form.
The best way to improve your racing performance in the 400-meter hurdles is to raise your lactate turn point, or lactate-transport potential. And the best way to raise your lactate threshold is by training at paces that flood your body with lactic acid. Lactate threshold pace describes a hard but manageable effort that forces the body to begin producing considerably more lactate (therefore training the body to deal with lactate more efficiently in races). When an athlete trains at lactate threshold pace, his body conditions itself to move lactate around. Throughout college, my personal favorite, and perhaps the most challenging, threshold workout I ever completed is called “The Michigan” (designed in the mid 1970’s by Ron Warhurst, the University of Michigan cross country coach). This workout, a combination of a fartlek and short tempo runs, is designed to stimulate the changes of pace that runners experience in a race. The Michigan consists of the following:
a) The athlete first runs a fast mile on the track (15-20 seconds slower than his mile PR). This fast mile simulates the fast pace at the start of a race.
b) Jog about 3 minutes for recovery before running a slower mile on the road/trail (about a minute sower than the previous track mile)
c) Jog 3 minutes and then run a fast 1200 meters on the track at approximately the same pace as the first mile
d) Jog 3 minutes and run another road/trail mile at the same pace as the first road/trail mile
e) Jog 3 minutes and run a fast 800 meters on the track
f) Jog 3 minutes, and run a final road/trail mile
g) Jog 3 minutes and finish with an all-out 400 meter run on the track, simulating the kick at the end of a race
Though extremely difficult and taxing, this workout incorporates many different kinds of workouts into one session, ultimately utilizing the aerobic and anaerobic systems and raising the athlete’s lactate-transport potential.
While all exercise physiologists agree that threshold training is one of the most important components of an endurance training plan, these aerobic workouts will also pay great dividends for 400-meter hurdlers. In addition to helping the hurdler increase his oxygen uptake, these workouts will train his body to increase the production of phosphate—another primary energy source. Unlike the speed endurance workout—in which quality is more important than quantity—the recovery period should be kept relatively short during a tempo workout (usually no longer than 2-3 minutes). The following are some examples of the types of workouts that a 400-meter hurdler might undertake during this important training phase:
a) 8 x 200 meters (2 minutes recovery)
b) 6 x 300 meters (2 minutes recovery)
c) Ladder (my personal favorite): 50-100-150-200-300-350 (walk or slow jog same distance for recovery)
*Note: the athlete can make these workouts more challenging, and more race specific, by incorporating hurdles.
While not many people are able to measure their lactate threshold in a lab, there are tests that provide estimates. Try this: perform a 30-minute time trial at a high, sustained pace. Your average heart rate during the final 20 minutes of the time trial should roughly correspond with your LT.
Most runners have heard the term VO2 max, but what is it exactly and how does one train to increase his VO2 max? Simply put, your VO2 max is the highest rate at which your body can transport oxygen to your muscles, and then use this oxygen to produce energy anaerobically. An athlete’s VO2 max is determined largely by his genetics. But don’t get discouraged, because with the right types of training an athlete can increase his V02 max up to his genetic potential. For the 400-meter hurdler, the strongest stimulus to increase V02 max is, once again, provided by interval workouts. How does an athlete find his running speed at V02 max? The most accurate way is to be tested in an exercise physiology lab. I was fortunate to have my VO2 max tested in high school during my summer training experience at Green Mountain Running Camp in Vermont. However, an athlete’s pace when running as hard as he can for eight minutes provides a reasonable estimate, without all the fancy and expensive lab equipment. My personal favorite V02 max workout from high school—called “the magic minute” by my coaches—requires the athlete to run at full speed for the duration of one minute, trying to cover as much ground as possible. After only one minute of rest, the athlete runs another “magic minute,” trying to cover more ground than he did on the previous interval. This workout forces the athlete to run at 95 to 100 percent of his current VO2 max. When training for the 400-meter hurdles, try to include one of the following targeted interval sessions in your weekly training regimen:
a) 8-12 X 600m
b) 7-10 X 800m
c) 6-8 X 1,000m
*Note on optimal recovery: the objective of the recovery interval is to allow you to complete the workout at the prescribed pace. If the recovery is too short, then the subsequent intervals will be slower than the optimal pace. Yet a lengthy recovery defeats the purpose of the workout. The work-to-recovery ratio should be roughly 1:1 (i.e., recover four minutes after a four-minute effort).
You just passed the 300-meter mark in your 400-meter hurdle race. Your coach is screaming from the sideline, the crowd is roaring. But your legs feel heavy and non-responsive, and you’ve lost the power in your stride. It’s getting more and more difficult to maintain your stride rate as your arms flail from side to side. Sound familiar? Now you know why you experience this unpleasant sensation called lactic acid. But no need to worry, because high intensity intervals and threshold training can adapt your body to remove greater and greater amounts of lactic acid. Every athlete—whether a 400-meter hurdler or marathoner—will have to deal with lactic acid buildup at some point in a race. It’s inevitable, so let’s face it. It is simply a matter of conditioning your body to more efficiently cope with lactic acid during a race. By delaying the onset of high levels of lactate, you will be outsprinting your competitors during those final 100 meters in no time. Happy racing!
Works Cited
Brooks, G., The lactate shuttle during exercise and recovery. Medicine & Science in
Sports & Exercise 1986, 18 (3), 360-368.
“400m and 400m Hurdles Speed Work.” 400m Speed Training. Web. 2 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.momentumsports.co.uk/Tt400sSpeed.asp>.
“Lactic Acid and Running: Myths, Legends and Reality.” The Andrew Bosch Corner.
Web. 2 Mar. 2015. <http://www.time-to-run.com/theabc/lactic.htm>.
“Understanding Lactic Acid.” Understanding Lactic Acid. Web. 2 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.americanrunning.org/w/article/understanding-lactic-acid>.
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