Track & Field

Have you ever run a marathon? Would you ever consider it?

Have I ever run a marathon, and would I ever consider it? I've never run a marathon and don't think I'll consider. it's just not something that I'm interested in. Interestingly, when I was a sprinter, the longest I ever ran when I was training was one mile. Every year, at the beginning of the year in our off-season training, Coach would have us run a mile. And we thought that was serious distance. And I used to see people out running, and I would think, why would anyone ever want to do that? It looks boring. But after I finished and retired from my career, I found myself really enjoying running. So for many years after I retired from my athletic career I, did go out for, you know, three-, four-mile runs a couple of times a week. Now I hike more than I do running. But no, just not interested in the marathon.

No, I have never run a marathon and don't think I will ever consider it.

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From 1987 to 1999 you dropped over 3 seconds in your 400. What were your training keys for that success?

"From 1987 to 1999, you dropped over 3 seconds on your 400 meters. What were your training keys for that success?" So it was more than just training. In 1987, I was a senior in high school and going into my college career. I had never run an open 400 meters ever. I was a 100- 200-meter sprinter in high school. And I did run on the 4-by-400-meter relay. And I was pretty good on the 4-by-400-meter relay. So I knew that I had the potential to be a good 400-meter runner but just didn't know how good, because I was an excellent 200-meter runner. And that was my focus. When I got to Baylor University in 1987, I still never focused on the 400 meters. I ran a total of three 400-meter races throughout my college career, my four years there because, again, I was always focused on the 200 meters. And we were always having to prepare for something-- conference championships, national championships. So there wasn't a lot of time to switch back and forth between the 200 and 400 meters, because I was trying to get my 200 meters improved so I could be ready to try to win conference and national championships. And I was running the 4-by-100-meter and 4-by-400-meter relays. So it wasn't until I actually finished and left my college career and started my professional career in 1990 that I started really attacking and running the 400 meters and immediately showed that-- I was ranked number one in the world the first year I started running it. So I knew that I had that potential. And then it was from there for nine years. I knew that I could break the world record. And I was just trying to break that world record. I probably would have broken it much sooner than 1999 had I just focused on the 400 meters. But as you know, throughout my career, I was a 200-meter runner and a 400-meter runner. In the first six years, I really focused more on trying to break the world record in the 200. And it wasn't until after I did that and then I switched and really started to just focus 100% on trying to break that 400-meter world record, which I finally did in 1999.

When I started my professional career in 1990, I began training more specifically for the 400 meters and eventually broke the world record in 1999. My keys to success were focusing on my 200-meter performance throughout college and then using that as a foundation to shift my focus to the 400 meters, and running 4x100 and 4x400 relays to get used to the race distance.

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What’s the longest distance you’ve ever raced, and how long was your longest training run while preparing for it? Why?

What's the longest distance I've ever raced? And how long was the preparation in training for that run? So as a 200/400-meter sprinter, my longest distance was 400 meters. And starting off as a 200-meter sprinter, and rarely running the 400 other than being a member of the 4 X 400 meter relay, the 400 meters was not my first event. I was a 100/200-meter sprinter, then just pure 200. And it wasn't until later that I added the 400. And as a 200/400-meter combination sprinter, and typically, where the 200-meter sprinters are just 100/200 sprinters, the 400 was a bit of a stretch for me from an endurance standpoint. Although I won gold medals in it, and broke the world record, competing against other 400-meter runners, they had a strength and endurance advantage on me. Where I had the advantage was with my speed and my ability to maintain and carry that speed for a majority of that 400 meters. So if you imagine where the speed can come into to play, is the first 200 meters doesn't take nearly as much out of me because I'm able to run it faster than my competitors, that I can be a little bit more relaxed through that first 200 meters. And then on the back end, when they're starting to get their endurance, I can match them because I've conserved on the front end of the race. So with the speed advantage, I worked a lot in practice, and in training, on speed endurance, and also on endurance itself. So that was what we really focused on in my 400-meter training, so that I could-- I sort of trained to my weakness in that way. So the furthest I would go in training would be 600 meters, or 500 meters, but repeats of those. So two times, 500 meters, or two times, 600 meters, or [? a 6,4,2 ?] step down. But the biggest training advantage, I think I had in preparation for the 400, was focusing on a three times, or a four times 350 meters, so just short of the distance. But the rest factor was very, very short. And that was the key.

As a 200/400-meter sprinter, my longest distance was 400 meters. To prepare for this, I worked on speed endurance and endurance in my training, and focused on doing sets of 350 meters with very short rest periods to maximize the effects of the training.

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Do you still run today?  If so, what kind of workouts do you enjoy?

Do you still run today? If so, what kind of workouts do you enjoy? I don't do anything close to anything that even resembles what I did when I was an athlete. I mean, my days as a as a sprinter was filled with on-the-track, you know, repeat sprints, you know? And then in the in the gym for weight sessions, strength training sessions, you know, four days a week, on the track five days if not six days a week doing very fast repeat sprint repetitions, working on technique, doing speedwork. No one would do that today for fun or even to try to stay in shape. It's just too much. So I used to run. I don't run anymore. Just go out for actual, you know, three or four mile runs a couple of times a week. I try to keep my workouts sort of varied these days, so I spend some time in the gym a few days a week. I hike a lot. I love hiking. I love being outside. Biking, cycling-- I do that as well. Paddleboarding from time to time. So I try to try to it keep it mixed up. But my sort of go-to though, I'm in the gym just doing some functional strength training probably at least three days a week and then mix in some cardio, you know, one or two more days a week.

I don't run anymore, but I do some strength training in the gym three days a week and mix in some cardio one or two more days a week. I also enjoy hiking, biking, cycling, and paddleboarding.

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How has training changed for sprinting in the last 20 years? 

How has training for sprinting changed in the last 20 years? You know, training doesn't change as much as I think people believe that it does. The changes aren't that frequent. When I was competing back in the '90s, we were doing a lot of the things that have been done since the '60s, even, the things that Lee Evans and Tommie Smith were doing, guys like that. So a lot of what you see is things just sort of recycle. Someone will come up, a coach will come up with something as if it's brand new, and it's actually something that was being done 20 or 30 years ago. I think what has changed is I think that coaches have access to a lot more information now with the use of technology. So it takes a lot of the guesswork out. And I think that allows coaches to optimize training to really understand and be able to forecast what sort of effect the training plan is going to have on an athlete. I think recovery has become a much bigger part of athletes' training-- active recovery, as opposed to just going and putting your feet up and resting, actually going through active recovery to accelerate the recovery and regeneration so that you can train harder. We were doing that sort of thing myself, actually, back when I was competing. But I think that there's been a greater emphasis, as well, for sprinters now on strength and mobility and flexibility, in addition to just pure speed and power. So I think that there's a much better understanding of those things now, as well as technique to generate more speed.

Training for sprinting hasn't changed much in the last 20 years, but now coaches have access to more information and technology. Recovery has become a bigger part of athletes' training, as well as strength, mobility, flexibility, and technique being emphasized more.

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Will training and working on the 200m help me with my 400m? 

Will training and working on the 200 meters help me with my 400 meters? It could. Most of the time, it depends on the type of athlete. If you are a pure 400-meter runner and most of your training is 400-meter training and you could use some speed and that's the area where you need the most help, then certainly working on the 200 meters training and some shorter distances, running some 200 meters in competition as well, could absolutely help your 400 meters. It doesn't mean you absolutely have to do that. You can actually just train like 200-meter runners train as opposed to having to actually compete in the event and then improve your 400. One of the things that happens when you drop down into another event as a 400-meter runner, as an example, you drop down to 200 meters and compete in that event, running some fast times fast for you. Running a personal best, say, for example, in 200 meters will give you a lot of confidence in your 400 meters. So now highly recommended to just go in and give it a try and run some 200 meters if you're a 400-meter runner and see where it gets you but certainly won't hurt.

Training and working on the 200 meters can help with your 400 meters, depending on the type of athlete. It can provide confidence and speed which could improve your 400-meter performance.

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Michael Johnson is one of the greatest sprinters of all time, and in the 1990s he dominated the 200m and 400m, going undefeated in the latter for seven years. Born in Dallas in 1967, he studied at Baylor University and was spotted by coach Clyde Hart. After gaining a degree, he committed to full-time athletics and in 1991 won the 200m world title. Sadly, food poisoning denied him individual success at the Barcelona Olympics, but he helped the US 4x400m relay team to gold. From 1993, Johnson went undefeated in the 400m for 58 races and in 1996 achieved the 200m-400m double at the Atlanta Olympics, setting world records in both. He retired in 2001 having won 8 world and 4 Olympic gold medals.