How a 800m/1500m should train

Tempo runs

Extends your aerobic base so you repeat sprints late in games.

Hill sprints

Low-impact way to build sprint power and drive mechanics.

Single-leg RDL

Loads the hamstring at length on one leg, and trains the balance a two-legged hinge never asks for.

Standing calf raise

Stiffer, stronger calves protect the Achilles and add spring.

Setup: A hill of 8–10% for 60m.

1. 1. Uphill: shorten the stride, drive the arms, lean from the ankles not the waist.
2. 2. Walk down to recover fully.
3. 3. Focus on posture over speed — this is a technique session.

Volume: 8 × 60m, walk-down recovery

Coaching point: Lean from the ankles. Bending at the waist closes your hips and shortens your stride.

Make it harder: Add reps before adding gradient, and keep the last one as fast as the first.

Setup: 80–100m of flat ground, after an easy run.

1. 1. Build smoothly to about 95% over the first 40m.
2. 2. Hold relaxed at that speed for 20m — face loose, shoulders down.
3. 3. Decelerate gradually over the last stretch. Walk back.

Volume: 6 × 80m, walk-back recovery

Coaching point: Fast and relaxed, not fast and straining. Clenching your jaw slows you down.

Make it harder: Add a stride or two, or put them on a slight downhill for overspeed.

Setup: Anywhere you can stand.

1. 1. Stand tall and drive the arms as if sprinting, elbows at about 90°.
2. 2. Hands travel from hip pocket to cheek, not across the body.
3. 3. Build to maximum speed for the last five seconds.

Volume: 5 × 15 seconds

Coaching point: The legs follow the arms. Arms crossing your midline turns into a rotating torso and wasted stride.

Make it harder: Do it seated so the legs can't help, then standing again.

Setup: A track or a measured route, and a watch.

1. 1. Run 400m at marathon pace, then 400m at half pace, then 400m at 10k pace.
2. 2. Check the watch only at the end of each rep, not during it.
3. 3. Note how far off you were — that gap is the skill.

Volume: 3 rounds, 90 seconds between

Coaching point: Pacing is a feel you build, not a number you read. Guess first, verify after.

Make it harder: Cover the watch entirely and estimate each split before looking.

Setup: An easy run.

1. 1. Settle into breathing in for three steps and out for two.
2. 2. Hold that pattern for five minutes, then switch to two-in two-out at a harder effort.
3. 3. Return to easy and re-establish the three-two.

Volume: 3 × 5 minutes

Coaching point: An odd-numbered pattern alternates which foot you exhale on, so one side doesn't take every impact at full exhale.

Make it harder: Hold the rhythm at progressively harder efforts.

Setup: A flat 30m stretch. Blocks if you have them.

1. 1. Set: front knee at 90°, hips slightly above shoulders, weight forward on the hand.
2. 2. Drive out low with a long first step — you should feel like you are falling and catching it.
3. 3. Stay low for five steps, then rise gradually over the next ten.

Volume: 8 × 20m, walk back recovery, full rest

Coaching point: Popping up on the first step costs more than any other error in a sprint. Push BACK, not down.

Make it harder: Extend to 30m, or start on a partner's call rather than your own.

Setup: A track or a measured flat stretch, at the end of a session.

1. 1. After your main set, run 4 × 200m at faster than race pace.
2. 2. Focus on turnover and arm drive rather than stride length.
3. 3. Full recovery between — this is quality, not more volume.

Volume: 4 × 200m, 3 minutes between

Coaching point: You are teaching your legs to change gear when they do not want to. That is the only place a kick comes from.

Make it harder: Extend to 300m, or take the recovery down to 90 seconds.