Run your fastest 400 meters ever with this complete training program:

The 400 looks deceptively simple-one lap of the track, run as fast as you can. But any runner who has crashed and burned coming off the last turn can tell you that racing the 400 requires speed and strength. Here's a plan to help you develop both.

So that you understand what you need to do to develop power and speed, let's focus first on what happens in your muscles during a 400-meter race. As you stand at the starting line, your muscles are filled to the brim with a chemical called creatine phosphate (CP), which provides most of the energy you need in the first 100 meters of the race. After that, however, your CP fizzles out, and a second energy-producing process takes over. The carbohydrate stored within your muscles breaks down at a rapid rate, and this process creates the energy you need to power through the rest of the race.

But here's where it gets a little tricky. As your body breaks down carbohydrates to create energy, lactic acid is produced. And therein lies every 400-meter runner's dilemma: You want to create as much energy as possible, but you don't want the lactic acid that's produced in the process to force you to a crawl, either. The trick is to develop a tolerance for lactic acid through training, so that your legs don't feel like tree trunks in its presence.

Training objectives:

1. increase the amount of CP in your muscles so that you can fly through the first 100 meters.
2. increase the rate at which you break down carbohydrates so that you can fly through the last 300 meters.
3. develop the ability to tolerate large amounts of lactic acid in your muscles so that you won't move like molasses during your push to the finish.

Fortunately, this isn't as difficult as it sounds. High-speed 100-meter intervals will teach your muscles to boost their concentrations of CP. Slightly slower 300-meter intervals will teach your muscles to break down carbohydrates quickly. And 400-meter intervals at 95 percent of your maximum effort will teach your muscles to tolerate lactic acid.

The following training schedule combines them all. Each workout begins and ends with 10 minutes of light jogging.

Monday
Warm up, then run 10 x 100 meters at top speed with 8 minutes of walking or stretching between each sprint so that your muscles can replenish CP stores. If you have a track meet on Tuesday, run 5 x 100. Cool down.

Tuesday
If you don't have a meet, warm up, then run 4 x 400 at 90 to 95 percent of your top effort (a second or two slower than the best 400 meters you are capable of running right then), with 8 minutes of walking or stretching between each 400. Try to run the last 400 a little faster than the others. Cool down.

Wednesday
Warm up, then run 5 x 300 meters at 90 to 95 percent effort, with 8 minutes of walking or stretching between each 300. Try to run the last 300 a little faster than the others. Cool down.

Thursday
Warm up, then run 1 x 100, 1 x 300 and 1 x 400, each at 90 to 95 percent of your top effort, with 8 minutes of walking or stretching between intervals. Cool down.

Friday
Race your best.

Saturday
Rest. You deserve it.

Sunday
Run one of the following hill workouts to increase the power of your leg muscles. Find a very steep hill 50 to 75 meters long, and run 10 to 12 repeats at top speed, with 8 minutes of walking or stretching between each climb. Or find a moderate hill that's 200 to 300 meters long, and run eight repeats: four all out and four bounding at a comfortable speed. When you bound, exaggerate your knee-lift and allow your heels to sink well below your toes when your feet hit the ground.

Source: www.highschoolrunner.com