P.F. Talbot wrote:
> We have had this debate several times before on this list (the 400/800
> runner vs the 800/1500 runner) and it's always great fun, at least for
> those of us who love the 800. I've always looked to Coe as the best
> example of how to make an 800m runner. Take a successful 1500/3000 guy
> and seriously incorporate work into that distance schedule to lower his
> 400m time (in Coe's case from 50s to 46s) while maintaining your distance
> ability. Obviously not every distance guy can knock 3-4 seconds off his
> 400m PR, but it is amazing to me how few improve it. So many milers leave
> college without having improved their 400m times. If a lot of these
> milers balanced their programs a little I think we'd find a new crop of
> 800/1500m guys with the potential for sub 1:45 or better.
>
> There will always be great 400/800m types, but only a few of them will be
> champions.
>
> Now flame away (so and so is a 400/800 guy.....),
>
> Paul
>
I would think that Juantorena was actually the prototypical way to create an
800 meter runner .. I think there have been good 800 runners of both the
400/800 and 800/1500 types .. But it seems to me that speed is much harder
to develop than endurance .. Speed is much more of a natural thing with
quickly reached limits than is endurance ..
Conway Hill
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
