A few xc races ok for 400m later on?

Question

Hi there. I run the 400 in 50.3 and im working really hard to break that 50 barrier for 49 and lower. this summer instead of

lifting only and running a little ive been going running 30-35 mins 3-4 times a week, doing plyometrics twice a week, and lifting 3 times a week. now XC is coming up and I was wondering...

is it possible to train for the 400 in the fall and not train like the other XC runners and still race since a typical college xc race which is 25-30 mins and just call that one of my 3-4 runs a week without affecting my fast twitch muscles? the XC runners have been doing 70 mils a week this summer and ive just been doin those 30-35s and i dont plan to train like they are..I was thinking of doing some XC races like 3 or so and after it just focusing on speed for indoor....any suggestions?

It would be like 3 casual 30 mins runs a week and an xc race at the end..would that be fine as part of my conditioning for the indoor season?

Answer 1

Cross-country won't hurt you at all.. It will help you. When I was a sophomore in high school the state xc champ was dropping 49s in the 4x400 for our team. My senior year, our 400m state champ (48.0) ran xc in the fall and he ran 4x200 relays too. In college, one guy on the track team also ran xc in the fall and he would run 47s.

You either have fast-twitch muscles or you don't. Running distance doesn't change the makeup of your muscles. Speed is so much easier to work on, I would focus mostly on conditioning in the fall and work on speed come indoor season.

During indoors, do you ever run 600m & 800m? That's the best training a 400m runner could get, imo.