The Key to Executing Your Race Plan.
Race Modelling
Race Modelling for 400m and 800m: The Key to Executing Your Best Race
Race modelling is the simulation of a race plan at actual race pace. When done effectively, it builds confidence, eliminates pre-race anxiety, and ensures you execute your strategy flawlessly when it matters most.
Why Race Modelling Matters
During the competition phase of training, one of our biggest focuses is race modelling especially for the 400m and 800m. Finding and executing the correct race pace is critical for success.
When an athlete has followed their training plan diligently, personal bests usually come down to two key factors:
1. Mental Preparation
2. Race Modelling
Many athletes struggle with pacing because they haven't practiced running at their exact race pace under realistic conditions. This is where race modelling becomes a game-changer.
How We Use Race Modelling in Training
A major component of our approach is ensuring that athletes complete their practice reps from the actual 400m or 800m start line. Many runners and coaches will begin reps from random spots around the track, but we prefer to replicate race-day conditions as closely as possible.
We set specific markers (cones or chalk marks) on the track and have athletes hit their assigned target times over key distances. Here’s an example of a 400m race modelling session:
3 x 145m from the 400m start line at target 400m race pace.
Each athlete completes these reps on their own, to ensure they focus solely on their own pacing, without external distractions. For a 400m model, we might use 100m, 120m, and 145m reps, all at set race pace. The same principles apply for the 800m.
The Benefits of Race Modelling
This type of structured practice gives athletes a huge confidence boost in their pacing. It prevents the common mistakes we’ve all seen in races:
Going out too fast: Chasing an opponent’s aggressive start, only to hit the wall before the finish.
Going out too slow: Holding back too much and failing to take advantage of natural strengths like speed.
Dialling in Race Speed on Race Day
On race day, we stick to our normal warm-up routine, but we also include a final set of reps with a stopwatch to a specific track marker. This final check-in helps athletes lock in their race speed before stepping onto the start line.
Takeaways to incorporate in your Training
I encourage you to incorporate race modelling into your own training sessions. Practicing at race pace, with precise timing will pay off immensely on race day. The more you rehearse your pacing, the more natural it will feel—and the better your performance will be when it counts.
There’s no rigid formula for race modelling—you can experiment with different distances and strategies. One effective method is simulating the final 200m of a 400m race by first doing a 145m or 200m rep, then following up with a rolling start from the 200m mark. This helps athletes maintain strong posture and good mechanics under fatigue.
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Stay consistent.
Rod