Is it unusual to have a faster 200m split time in 400m running than your best 200m race time?

Question

My best 200m time is 30s

My best 400m time is 58s

this seems unusual since 2x30 is 60s..?

Answer 1

No, you can not run either 200 of a 400 faster than your best 200 race.

If your 400 time is much better than your 200 race, then you are not running fast enough in the 200.

It is not unusual for a good 400 runner to run faster than the "cook book" splits for a 400 race, that is most people try to come through the first 200 about 2 seconds slower than their best 200 race time.

Very good 400 runners can beat this split, but they do not have a 400 race that is faster than their best 200.

I am thinking you need to work on your starts, and getting out fast in the 200 and the 400.

Most young racers tend to save something in the first half of a long sprint and pick it up so they kick in the last half of the race.

The correct way to race is to run evenly, so that your splits are about the same time.

Answer 2

Most don't, but you have to account that the the '2nd 200m' of the 400m is done from a flying start i.e. you are moving/have an initial velocity (close to your top speed) as opposed to the 200m where you start from rest (no initial velocity).

Answer 3

kind of jsut try harder in the 2

Answer 4

If your running 58s in the 400m, your 200m time should be a lot quicker than 30s.

Answer 5

do you have the correct time of your 200m split of the 400m? anyway, i asked the same question when i started track. it pretty much comes down to two things... the days you REALLY tried and how quickly you get tired. seeing as your 400 is faster (according to your split) it appears that you have a relatively slow start but have good stamina. the problem in the 200m may be that you have to start going fast quicker than you feel the need to in the 400. that is also a mistake. you should get out with the same speed in the 100m, 200m, and 400m because in these sprinting events, it's hard to make up a bad start. also, if you have a slow start, somewhere during the race you're going to have to re-accelerate and you'll already be tired. so you'll waste more energy than usual.

So my reasoning...

your start is slower than it should be. you have time to make up for it in the 400. but in the 200m that start along with you having to re-accelerate because you feel the need to catch up makes you more tired than you should be by the end

*last tip... make sure you're running full speed past the end line. a lot of people slow down before the end and in sprinting events that can take of seconds if you're not careful.

Answer 6

Your start must be terrible, maybe you should move up to 800m