Different ways to hit 800m training goals
Athletics Weekly|January 16, 2020
ISABELLE BOFFEY AND GUY LEARMONTH TELL MATT LONG ABOUT HOW THEY HIT THEIR TARGETS
MATT LONG
Different ways to hit 800m training goals

FRANK DICK, the director of coaching for British athletics during the golden era of the 1980s and early 1990s, once said: “The difference between winning and losing is small; it’s the consequence that’s huge.”

While there is some contestation over the origins of the concept of benchmarking – it may actually have entered common parlance when shoe-makers made patterns for shoes from the purchaser’s feet centuries back – in a sporting context, the idea of benchmarking is now totally accepted. It’s seen as a necessity in order to achieve continuous performance improvement. However, this being said there is a divide between what has been termed formal benchmarking and informal benchmarking.

Real world benchmarking Boffey and Learmonth

I want to take two international 800m runners in order to look at the two benchmarking methodologies as these determine the “measuring” process. I will also focus on the winter period as this is a time when there are fewer competitive opportunities in the periodisation cycle.

This story is from the January 16, 2020 edition of Athletics Weekly.

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This story is from the January 16, 2020 edition of Athletics Weekly.

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