300 meter sprint

[danipalmer]

I am taking the physical/written in a couple of weeks, and part of the requirement is the 300 meter sprint. While I know that I can do it, I'm looking for suggestions that I can implement to improve my time. I realize the timeframe is short, so I'm thinking more long-term (with the POST academy in mind). Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thank,

Dani

[trouttrooper]

Ahhh, you'll love the Meridian prison :D. I'll probably be there sometime this winter for instructor development classes.

300 sprint is more of a power thing than endurance. Work on building up those leg muscles.

[krj]

It's a tough workout, but you could try this - it's called the 100 meter breakdown (done on a track):

Your workout will be divided into curves and straight-aways (you will be doing 100m repeats)

1. First step is to figure out how fast you can run a 400m track at full speed. As an example let's say 2 minutes (120 seconds).

Divide that number by 4 (this is how fast you should run your LAST set of straight-aways). In this case it will be 30 seconds.

2. Add 16 seconds to the above number to get your FIRST set of straight-aways. In this case it will be 46 seconds.

3. Each successive lap you drop the speed by 4 seconds per straight-away.

The routine looks like this:

- Warm-up adequately first (10 minutes or so of slow jogging and some light stretches)
- Run the first curve easy to finish your warm-up
- Run the straight-away in 46 seconds (it will seem slow but that's OK - this is a progressive workout)
- Do slow recovery jog around the curve
- Run the straight-away in 46 seconds

At the completion of the first lap you will have run 2 straight-aways and 2 curves.

On each subsequent lap drop the speed on the straight-aways by 4 seconds (you will be running the straight-aways faster with each lap).

So your workout would be:

46 - 46 - 42 - 42 - 38 - 38 - 34 - 34 - 30 - 30

You'll be running a total of 5 laps (about 1.25 miles)

Some advantages to this drill:

1. Because the laps get progressively faster it allows you to warm-up gradually and help minimize injuries

2. Helps to increase foot turnover rate (number of times you step each minute) - which will help to increase your speed

3. Running fast(er) for short distances allows you to focus on your form (which can be difficult to do on longer and slower runs)

Also remember to focus not only on your leg turnover, but also your arm cadence (quick arms mean quick feet).

This drill was devised by Ed Eyestone (2 time Olympic marathoner, men's cross country coach at Brigham Young University, MA in Exercise Physiology).

Good luck.

[danipalmer]

"Meridian Prison"....hmmm.....maybe I should rethink this.....;)

My problem with the 300 is probably just like everyone else's - I start really well and die at the end. I've been running 200 meter sprints, but I really need to kick it into fifth for this test. The Ed Eyestone workout is something I'll definitely have to look into. Thanks!

[Delta_V]

What's the stage of events for your agility test? I ask this because when I took mine, I was very surprised to find out that the 1.5 mile run came FIRST. As you can imagine, this took a lot out of me and effected my performance on the rest of the test. I still passed, but not with the times and scores that I would have liked.

Basically what I'm saying is that if you don't know the order of events, prepare yourself for running the 300 meters AFTER running the 1.5 miles (assuming you all have a 1.5 mile run).