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| Boilerpipe Text | If you want to understand training for middle-distance running eventsâ800m, 1500m, 1600m, mileâyou need to understand
Peter
and
Sebastian Coe
âs approach.
In the English-speaking world,
Coe-style training
absolutely dominated discussions about training in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, mostly due to the fact that Sebastian Coe, under the guidance of his father Peter, was the king of the 800m, 1500m, and mile in the 1970s and 1980s.
The analogy to
the Ingebrigtsen family
is obvious: a father with a bold vision for training and a son with incredible talent and grit, who not only rose to the top of the sport athletically but changed the way legions of runners approach training for their event.
Both coaches borrowed heavily from a pioneering compatriotâGjert Ingebrigtsen from
Marius Bakken
,
[1]
and Peter Coe from Frank Horwill. Like Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr, Coe also had fierce rivals: fellow Brits Steve Ovett and Steve Cram, each of whom snatched medals from Coe in dramatic fashion.
Thatâs where the similarities stop, thoughâSebastian and his father never had a falling out, and the structure of Coe-style training is almost diametrically opposite to that of Ingebrigtsen-style training.
Coe saw middle-distance events as a game of speed endurance
To Peter Coe, the 800m and 1500m were events of
speed
and
fatigue-resistance
: developing an athleteâs 400m speed was paramount, and huge proportions of training focused on building an athleteâs ability to maintain speed in the face of enormous amounts of fatigue.
He emphasized quality above all, seeing mileage and endurance runs as a necessary evil to be done in the minimum dose possible. Coe's approach was also very âtechnicalâ: he emphasized circuits, weights, plyometrics, short sprints, diagonal cutting drills, sharp accelerations, and specific practice on sprinting the curves on the track.
All of this may sound anathema from a modern perspectiveâespecially for the 1500mâbut you need to understand that arguing against Coeâs philosophy in 1990 or 1995 meant arguing against a runner who had set 12 world records and won four Olympic medals, including back-to-back gold medals at 1500m in 1980 and 1984. Would you really tell a 1:41.73 800m runner and 3:47.33 miler that his training approach was wrong?
Winning Running
is the best book on Coe-style training
Sebastian Coe dominated the middle distance racing scene in the 1970s and 1980s thanks to his performances, but Peter Coe dominated the middle distance (and long distance) training scene in the 1990s and early 2000s thanks to his two books:
Training Distance Runners
(1991), co-authored with American physiologist David Martinâan expanded second edition was published as
Better Training for Distance Runners
in 1997âand
Winning Running: Successful 800m & 1500m Racing and Training
(1996).
Of these books,
Winning Running
is by far the more accessible of the two.
Better Training
is a massive tome, clocking in at 435 pages (at a trim size of 8.5 x 11 inches!).
Better Training
also spends an enormous amount of time in âtextbook mode,â covering everything from the bones of the foot to the phases of the gait cycle to the role of myosin ATPase.
Riveting stuff, to me at least, but that book is now approaching 30 years old, and much of the science is outdatedânot to mention irrelevant for most coaches. The science chapters are also surely the work of David Martin, not Peter Coe. The parts of
Better Training
that
are
from Peter Coe are easy to spot, since they are an almost verbatim reproduction of material in
Winning Running
.
[2]
So, while the topic of this article is Coe-style 800m and 1500m training, this article is also a miniature book review and summary of
Winning Running
by Peter Coe, since if you are looking for a print resource thatâs definitely the one Iâd recommend.
Iâve drawn on a few interesting examples from
Better Training
for this article, but my copy of that book has only three sad little bookmarks, indicating the pages of interest beyond whatâs already in
Winning Running
.
Winning Running
mini-review: a useful but flawed book
Winning Running
is eminently approachable, at only 128 pages. Itâs technically out of print, but due to its popularity, itâs
widely available on eBay
for $20â30, and itâs well-worth the price. That said,
Winning Running
is far from a perfect book. If you didnât already have a background in middle-distance running, you wouldnât be able to build a complete training program from this book alone.
The flaws:
Winning Running
sometimes tends towards pontificating, with long stretches of unhelpfully broad exhortations to eat well, get sufficient sleep, maintain good posture, and attend to your flexibility with stretching exercises.
There are chapters covering the kinds of basic athletic testing that were all the rage in the 1990s: standing broad jump, sit-ups, push-ups, etc. These are, for the most part, not very useful. Goals are provided for each athletic test, but those goals always have their eyes set on (male) elite-level performanceâfor example, in the 50 meter dash, Coe says âa time slower than 6.5 seconds is a sign of weakness,â though that time is
worth about 11.7 for 100m
(far faster than anyone but an elite male middle-distance runner could manage).
There is also the usual series of photos on proper running form (featuring Sebastian Coe), which seems to have been obligatory in training books from the â80s and â90sâagain, not so useful, but mercifully few pages are spent on this topic.
Winning Running
is nowhere near as sprawling, disorganized, or intimidating as some other training books from its era, but it
is
a bit messy: the chapter titled âThe Training Programâ contains no actual training programs, nor even a sketch of one (that comes in the chapter on periodization), and later chapters on racing strategy can get repetitive as they cover exactly how 800m, 1000m, and 1500m races play out, curve-by-curve.
Peppered throughout the book, youâll find many spirited passages about the importance of a determined will, a zeal for winning, and a reverence for those few champions who stand atop the podiumâa very 20th-century quirk of athletics writing that might turn off contemporary readers, most of whom will be among the lowly also-rans like me, who typically finish in 2nd, 3rd, or even off the podiumâlacking, perhaps, in a sufficient âwill to win.â
[3]
The obsession with toughness and competition bleeds into the training, too: regarding slow âoverdistance runsâ (what we would today just call easy to moderate mileage), Coe remarks:
Zone 1 requires steady, over-distance runs at a relatively slow pace. Such a pace would be adequate to supply the correct physiological stimulus, but probably inadequate to condition the runner mentally for hard middle distance training and racing. Combining the two [i.e. the physical and mental stimulus] is important.
As a solution to this problem, Coe recommends finishing these runs fastâsometimes with the last 400 meters all-out!
This emphasis on mental toughness and tolerance to suffering recurs in other recommended sessions too, giving you a sense of what the âvibesâ of Coe-style training were like in their heyday: not just doing workouts at fast speeds, but doing
very tough
workouts at those speeds, spending a lot of time pushing into fatigue
.
Coe essentially analyzed the 800m and 1500m starting from the finish line: the athletes who âbrokeâ and did not win were the ones who could not buffer lactate, endure pain, and use their maximum speed. I donât think this analysis is quite correct, but it does explain a lot about why Coe training looks the way it does.
There are no real training schedules in
Winning Running
One of the remarkable things about older running books is their almost universal aversion to providing actual training programs. Theyâll often include a âsample weekâ or âsample training block,â but the idea that youâd buy a book and it would give you a standardized 12-week or 18-week schedule is largely a modern invention.
Winning Running
is no exception hereâyou get a few example training blocks, but no full programs and very little even in the way of examples of different types of workouts.
For me, this was the most frustrating part of the book. Even if youâre opposed to providing rigid schedules (a stance taken by
Percy Cerutty
, for example),
at least
give me some typical examples of workouts in each category!
Alas, we never get much in the way of clear workout progressions for âanaerobic capacityâ or âanaerobic conditioningâ workoutsâjust general guidelines. If you were hoping for an easy-to-follow template for your winter training as a high school or college runner, you will not find it in this book.
This book should be called âHow I Trained Sebastian Coeâ
One cautionary note to prospective readers: to a first approximation, Sebastian Coe was the
only
international-caliber athlete Peter Coe ever coached.
[4]
That means he did not have the experience of seeing how different athletes respond differently to the same training, but it also means he had an unparalleled insight into the psychology and physiology of
one
specific athlete.
In my own coaching career Iâve thought a lot about this breadth vs. depth tradeoff, and I have a lot to say about it (at a later date), but in the context of this book, and Coe training in general, you should always mentally replace abstract statements about âathletesâ and âcoachesâ with the specifics: this perspective came out of
one
specific athlete working with
one
specific coachâhis father.
More generally, beware the âone-man plan.â Humans are storytelling creatures, so we love tales of the intrepid coach or athlete who single-handedly bested the rest with a bold new training plan, but what you should really look for are
systems
that work for different athletes, in different events, in different parts of the world, and in different eras of athletics.
[5]
The strongest material in
Winning Running
is the periodization advice
Despite these shortcomings, I am glad to have
Winning Running
on my shelf, for two reasons: first, the chapter on periodizing circuit training is by far the most useful print resource I have found on this often-neglected component of middle-distance training.
Second, lays out a practical approach to
annual
periodization, something almost never dealt with in other training booksârunners who train for the 800m or 1500m usually have a long spring and summer of racing, which necessitates a 12-month periodization scheme, instead of the usual 4â6-month approach for 5k and up.
One last word of praise for
Winning Running
: itâs a
very
aesthetically pleasing book. When I was preparing
Marathon Excellence for Everyone
this past fall, I spent a lot of time on typography, layout, and figures, so I notice this sort of thing to a much greater degree than I used to.
Winning Running
âspecifically my copy of the 2006 UK paperback reprint from Crowood Pressâhas beautiful glossy pages, a thoughtful two-column layout, sharp typography, plenty of white space, and several great photos of Peter and Sebastian Coe. Most readers wonât notice these things, but itâs a nice break from the bloated, cramped, magazine-style layout you see in contemporary running books.
A detailed summary of Coe-style 800m and 1500m training
In the remainder of this article, Iâm going to do my best to summarize the Coe approach for 800m and 1500m, as presented in Coeâs books.
That last qualifier is important, because to this day there is a lot of controversy over whether Sebastian Coeâs training was truly as low-mileage and intensity-dominant as it appears to be from Peter Coeâs public writing.
Though Peter Coe famously eschewed long runsâ âlong slow runs make long slow runners,â he reportedly said
[6]
âthere were persistent rumors that Coe used much more aerobic volume at times. Renato Canova, for example, recounts this story:
In the month of February 1988, Seb Coe was in the Italian National Center in Tirrenia, living in the Hotel Continental, together with the swiss runner [Peter] Wirz. He remained in Tirrenia for almost 4 weeks.
One time, he asked if I could follow him, the next day, with a car (he didn't have any car there, because the center and the forest were very near), because his plan was to run 30 km [18.6 mi] on road, going till Pisa and coming back.
I followed them with the minibus of the Italian Center. He ran at a pace of 3'22" per km [5:25/mi], finishing in 1 h 41'.
Which is quite far from the âCoe-styleâ training as received by the public! In his books, Coe does not exactly disavow mileage and long fast runs entirely, but I wouldnât blame you if you got that impression. For example, regarding what most runners think of as âbase training,â Coe says the following:
While, at a slower pace, mileage volume is necessary to establish a sound cardiorespiratory base, it should be limited to being just enough to achieve its aim and no more.
And later in the book, Coe remarks, âwould-be champions cannot afford too much slow road miles or go-as-you-please.â
So, what youâre getting here is
by-the-book
Coe training, for better or worse, not speculation.
Coe-style year-round periodization for the 800m and mile
Coe-style training is oriented towards runners who use 12-month periodization schemes. In
Winning Running
, Coe lays out the annual plan, which involves six phases of training:
Coe-style 12-month periodization
Phase
Focus
Duration
Phase 1
Rest
4 weeks
Phase 2
Transition
8 weeks
Phase 3
Preparation
21 weeks
Phase 4
Pre-competition
5 weeks
Phase 5
Early competition
8 weeks
Phase 6
Main competition / peaking
6 weeks
Now, most middle-distance runners arenât going to be on the European circuit in August. Hereâs how I would modify this scheme for a more typical high school, college, or club season thatâs more focused on late spring and early summer:
Spring-focused 12-month periodization
Period
Phase
July
Phase 1 - Rest
August â September
Phase 2 - Transition
October â February
Phase 3 - Preparation
February â mid-March
Phase 4 - Pre-competition
Mid-March â mid-May
Phase 5 - Early competition
Mid-May â June
Phase 6 - Main competition / peaking
Here's what that periodization scheme looks like visually:
Itâs pretty obvious that this strategy amounts to spending
a
huge
proportion of the year in Phase 3âPreparation
. Thatâs where the real bulk of the work is done. Note also that Phase 1 really does mean
rest
: Coe wants you doing no strength or endurance training at allânot even a vigorous game of tennis.
For my part, I am opposed to long periods of total rest in most cases, moreso because of the biomechanical effects than any physiological effects. Long periods of inactivity lead to a deterioration in bone strength and tendon resilience, so paradoxically, rest can cause injury! But there can be a difference between taking time off from
running
and taking time off from
training
.
Another relevant issue for modern audiences is how to compress this annual periodization into a more typical winter-to-spring season. Hereâs my best attempt, cutting everything approximately in half:
Six-month Coe-style periodization
Phase
Focus
Duration
Phase 1
Rest
2 weeks
Phase 2
Transition
4 weeks
Phase 3
Preparation
10 weeks
Phase 4
Pre-competition
3 weeks
Phase 5
Early competition
4 weeks
Phase 6
Main competition / peaking
3 weeks
And hereâs a calendar layout:
Period
Phase
Mid-Nov â early Dec
Rest
Dec
Transition
Jan â mid-March
Preparation
Mid-March â early April
Pre-competition
Early April â late April
Early competition
Early May â mid-May
Main competition / peaking
Or, visually:
Distribution of volume and intensity in each phase of Coe-style training
One of the most helpful things in
Winning Running
is a table of â
training units
â in the various different zones of intensity that Coe advocates. To Coe, a âunitâ of training is a relative measure of the workout volume or difficulty, not a static number (so itâs not like one unit always equals, say, five miles).Â
Coe gives a few examples: 4 x 1600m at 5k pace equals one unit of work, and 6â8 x 800m at 3k pace also equals one unit of work. However, 4 x 1600m at 5k pace plus several speed drills and fast 200m and 300m repeats counts as two units because it increases the
physiological training load
of the session.
Beyond this example, Coe does not give further examples on what volume of work should equal âone unitâ at various paces (aside from an example of an 8-mile run as being one unit of basic endurance work). In fact, he even signposts the fact that he
isnât
defining one unit:
Each coach will have to decide the volume of work that makes up a unit for each type of training. If, for a distance runner, a dayâs training session is 12 miles (19 km) of steady running then what distance at what pace constitutes a unit? And how many short recovery fast 200m repetitions are there in this type of session?
As a reader, you are expecting these rhetorical questions to be followed by a paragraph or a table explaining the answer, but unfortunately, these answers never come.
My mental model is that a ânormal workoutâ at a given pace should be one unit, while a significantly harder workout should be two units. That does just kick that can down the road when it comes to deciding on the specifics of workouts at different points.
In terms of workout types, Coe outlines four different
zones
, or categories of workout. Do note that within each zone there can be multiple types of workouts, and
these zones are emphatically
not
the âzonesâ of modern exercise physiology
. Coeâs zones are:
Zone 1:
Aerobic conditioning
Zone 2:
Anaerobic conditioning (a.k.a. âlactate / ventilatory thresholdâ)
Zone 3:
Aerobic capacity training (10k pace to 3k pace)
Zone 4:
Anaerobic capacity training (1500m pace to 400m pace or faster)
Weâll dive into the specifics on these zones in a moment.
Helpfully, Coe
does
give some total unit and total mileage guidelines alongside the workload distribution. I find it most useful to sketch out Coeâs distribution of units in each phase to get a better sense of his periodization scheme:
Partially-shaded squares (the semi-transparent ones) represent a range, e.g. in the early part of the preparation phase, you can use 4-5 units of aerobic conditioning per week.
Rememberâ
one unit is not always one training session
! A particularly tough workout could be worth two units, and an extremely tough workout could even be three.
Youâll notice that Coe-style training does largely follow Renato Canovaâs maximââTraining is to ADD, not to REPLACEââand the most noticeable facet of the periodization approach is the very heavy emphasis on intensive interval work (Zones 3 and 4) later on in training.
Hereâs what the
total
number of âunitsâ of running training looks like throughout the year:
Again, semi-shaded regions represent a range. Hereâs a similar plot for mileage:
And again, keep in mind that all of these guidelines are (a) for an elite male 800m/1500m runner, and (b) are very obviously âidealizedâ as opposed to being drawn from any particular year of Seb Coeâs training.
Details on Coeâs workout zones for mid-distance training
As noted above, Coe defines four zones of workout types, each with different physiological purposes and workout types.
Zone 1: Aerobic conditioning
Zone 1 is
basic mileage
â âsteady over-distance runs at a relatively slow pace.â Relative here is relative to race pace; his recommendations (again, implicitly for a 1:41 / 3:29 runner like Sebastian) are still quite brisk: 6:00â6:15/mi (3:45â3:55/km) for long runs of up to 12 miles (19 km), and 5:30/mi (3:25/km) for runs of 6-8 mi (10â13 km). As for lactate levels in these sessions, a table recommends a range of 2.0â3.5 mM.
[7]
Zone 2: Anaerobic conditioning
Despite the label âanaerobic conditioningâ, Coeâs Zone 2 is basically
threshold or sub-threshold training
âand in fact, one table describes it as âventilatory threshold / lactate threshold.â
[8]
For these workouts, Coe recommends
short continuous runs of 5â8 km
(3â5 mi)âat 5:00/mi (3:05/km), for Sebastianâor in some cases
tempo runs of 15â20 minutes
, or long interval workouts.
Regarding these long interval workouts, Coe does not elaborate much, other than noting that the recovery should not be too short, pointing to the older interval methods developed by Gerschler and Reindell in Germany, who believed that it was the magnitude of increase in heart rate during the repeat that provided the physiological stimulus. If youâve heard guidelines like âtake enough recovery to let your heart rate get down to 120 bpm,â thatâs motivated by the same idea.
Despite the lack of specifics, it is not hard to impute some general guidelines, since Coeâs approach is very systematic: faster speeds use shorter repeats, and each phase is non-overlapping.
So, based on the Zone 3 guidelines below, a reasonable place to start with these faster Zone 2 workouts would be
repeats of 5â10 minutes
at (predicted!)
half-marathon to 10k pace
, with a few minutes of recovery. These imputed guidelines map quite well onto Coeâs recommended lactate levels for these sessions: 3.5â5.0 mM.
Zone 3: Aerobic capacity
Zone 3 is pretty close to classical VO2max work:
repeats of
800m to 3000m in length
(or 2 min to 8 min in duration), the equivalent pace ranges from
3k pace
(for shorter reps) to
10k pace
(for longer reps), and lactate guidelines are 5.0â8.0 mM. Interval work-to-rest ratios range from 1:1 for shorter reps (e.g. 2 minutes at 3k pace, 2 minutes of rest) to 2:1 for longer reps (8 min at 10k pace, 4 min rest).Â
Clearly, this is quite a wide range of speeds, so Zone 3 (and also Zone 4) is better thought of as a family of workout types, versus one workout category.
Zone 4: Anaerobic capacity
Zone 4 is the classic hard interval work that Coe is best-known for. It involves
repeats of 200m to 1000m in length
(or 30 sec to 2 min in duration), at speeds from
800m to 1500m race pace
, with work-to-rest ratios of 1:3 (for faster speeds) and 1:2 (for slower speeds). Target lactate levels are 8.0 to 9.0 mM or more.
Coe particularly emphasizes the âhard, repeatable 400m speedâ that he sees as
the
definitive mark of a strong middle-distance runnerâworkouts like 4â6 Ă 400m at 800m race pace with (presumably) several minutes of recoveryâan extraordinarily difficult workout, to be sure. The analogous 1500m is obvious: the classic 8â10 Ă 400m at 1500m or mile pace with a minute or two of rest.
Note also that Coe briefly discusses using
true sprint training
(400m pace and faster) and lumps it into this category as well, though without further details.
Comparing Coeâs zones and Horwillâs multi-tier, multi-pace system
I noted above that Coe-style training is essentially a variant of Frank Horwillâs multi-tier / multi-pace system (also known as the
five-pace system
)âand there is in fact a chapter in
Winning Running
titled âMulti-Tier, Multi-Pace Training.â
Horwillâs original system (which I do not recommend for any event) identifies
five key paces
for the miler: 400m pace, 800m pace, 1500m/mile pace, 3000m pace, and 5000m pace. Sessions at
all
of these paces are worked into a typical 12â14-day training block. Coe provides the following example schedule, presumably from at least the pre-competitive phase:
[9]
Day
Workout
1
4 Ă 1500m at 5k pace
2
Fartlek (by feel, no parameters)
3
8 Ă 800m at 3k pace
4
Road run
5
16 Ă 200m at 1500m/mile pace
6
Rest or fartlek
7
Race or time trial
8
4â6 Ă 400m at 800m pace
9
Road run
10
2 Ă 300m + 4 Ă 200m + 4 Ă 100m at 400m pace
11
Fartlek
12
Time trial, race, or any five-pace workout
In
Better Training
, Coe gives a few additional examples of five-pace workouts:
3 Ă 2000m at 5k pace
3 x 1200m + 2 Ă 800m + 2 Ă 400m at 5k pace, noting that this workout is often done faster later on in the season
16â30 Ă 200m at 1500m pace
10 Ă 400m at 1500m pace
1000m + 800m + 600m + 400m at 1500m pace
6â9 Ă 300m at 800m pace
4 Ă 300m + 4 Ă 200m at 400m pace
300m + 2 Ă 200m + 4 Ă 100m + 8 Ă 60m at 400m pace
And Coe also includes some sample two-week blocks from Seb Coe's schoolboy days showing similar workouts, often done back-to-back on consecutive days with no rest or fartlek in between.
Three things to notice:
This is really hard training!
It does hit all five paces in 12 days
There is quite a discrepancy between this example training block and whatâs depicted in the periodization scheme above: there is no âZone 2â (high-end aerobic / threshold) training listed at all!
Nevertheless, Coe repeatedly used this example training block in his public work; it also appears in
Better Training for Distance Runners
, and (according to a message board poster) in Peter Coeâs USATF Level III coaching certification lecture notes as well.
Some sources online claim that Coe only put in place the full Horwill-style five-pace system in the spring and summer, removing some of the very tough 3000m pace work and replacing it with more circuit training, fartlek, and hill workouts, which is believableâlater chapters in
Winning Running
detail a number of hill workout variants that donât appear anywhere in this or other example training blocks.
As an asideâitâs hard to over-emphasize
how crazy âfull-blastâ Horwill training really is
. Just take a look at that linked plan,
or this one for 5k
. There are still high schools in the United States that train like this! Even the super-intense Coe example above is more toned-down than these Horwill programs. However, Coe and Horwill share the same physiological logic driving their training approach. From Coe:
It has been proposed that the training can be based on the aerobic and anaerobic content of the event. For example, if the event has a 60/40 ratio then the training would be 60 per cent aerobic and 40 per cent anaerobic work. This would not suit everyone. Firstly it ignores where and how the major difficulties arise in the race and what the training sessions should be to meet these demands in world-class performances.
That latter point sounds like a hedge, but Coe actually uses it to argue that
more
training needs to be dedicated to very hard anaerobic work, since pushing into fatigue is, to him, the greatest obstacle to better performance:
Whatever the overall aerobic and anaerobic split might be, it is built up with changing and sometimes repeated sudden demands for anaerobic power well above the mean and
the training must equip the athlete to meet these peak demands.
Hence Coeâs emphasis on technical race-specific work like practicing sprinting on curves, rapid accelerations, repeated-sprint workouts, etc.
Compare this logic with
Horwill
:
The Nobel Prize winning physiologist, A.V. Hill, analysed the 5km event in 1932 as being 80% aerobic and 20% anaerobic. This means that given 10 training sessions, eight of them would be aerobic and two would be anaerobic. Not only do we have to define those terms, we must also decide which types of running included in those descriptions are going to be the most beneficial. Aerobic running ranges from jogging (100% aerobic) to 3km speed (60% aerobic - 100% VO2 max).
The first may be running at 12:00 / mile, while the second may be at 4:16 / mile. A big difference - but both are covered by the description - aerobic.
To be clear:
this is completely wrong
âand not only because
the aerobic/anaerobic percentages are off
. Horwill (and Coe) have an oversimplified view of what counts as âaerobicâ (e.g. above, 8x800m at 3000m race pace is an âaerobic workoutâ). But again, Iâm providing this information so you know where the rationale comes from, not because I agree with it.
I know it feels like Iâm leaving you hanging
This is the part of the article where Iâd like to write about some example workouts at each pace, the total workout volume, and how to progress the workouts over time. You might also like to know how to integrate some of the more advanced training techniques Coe describes in later chapters, like diagonal sprinting drills, hill workouts, and progressive acceleration workouts.
[10]
 But I canât write about any of those things, because they arenât in any of his books! I think this is why Coe-style training turned into the monster it did, because all people had to go on was one or two example blocks from the best middle-distance runner in the world. Should a 16-year-old 5:00 miler be doing 8 Ă 800m at 3k race pace? Well, in most cases I donât think so, but then again, none of my athletes have been to the OlympicsâŠ
Before concluding, allow me to cover the one other aspect of Coe-style training that
is
well-documented and often neglected by other coaching resources, which is structuring and periodizing circuit training.
Coe-style circuit training for middle-distance runners
Iâve written previously (
very
previously) about the
physiological and scientific justifications for doing circuit training
. This is one thing that, perhaps by intuition or just plain luck, Coe pretty much nailed. Coe-style circuit training is very much in line with what the science recommends in terms of an optimal structure: whole-body, high-intensity, and involving at least ten minutes of active muscle work.
Circuit training is especially useful for 800m and 1500m runners because these events are so dominated by pushing into localized muscular fatigue in the second half of the race. Circuit training essentially acts as a âgeneralâ base for the more race-specific speed endurance work later on in training.
Guidelines for Coe-style circuit training
Circuit training, in short, involves a series of strength exercises done one after another, with little or no rest in between. Coe recommends doing these sessions with the following parameters:
Reps per exercise:
half the number of reps you can perform in 60 seconds (for easy exercise) or in 45 seconds (for hard exercises)
[11]
Number of unique exercises:
5â12, depending on the athleteâs experience level and the target difficulty of the circuit workout
Time between exercises:
15 seconds or less
Recovery between sets:
equal to the duration of the trip through the circuit (i.e. 1:1)
Sets (number of complete trips through the circuit):
2â5 depending on difficulty
Gradations of difficulty:
There are three âlevelsâ of circuit workouts: easy, medium, or hard
Examples of easy, medium, and hard circuit routines
Itâs easier to see these principles in action:
Easy Circuit
2â3 sets, equal duration rest after each set, 20â30 sec per exercise*
Back extensions
Bent knee sit-ups
Push-ups
Frog jumps
Pull-ups
* or 0.5 Ă (max number of reps doable in 45â60 seconds)
Medium Circuit
3â4 sets, equal duration rest after each set, 20â30 sec per exercise*
Tricep dips
Back extensions
Bent knee sit-ups with twist
Burpees
Leg raise
Rope climb
Pull-ups
* or 0.5 Ă (max number of reps doable in 45â60 seconds)
Hard Circuit
4â5 sets, equal duration rest after each set, 20â30 sec per exercise*
Tricep dips
Roman chair back extension
Bent knee sit-ups on incline
Push-ups with feet elevated
Frog jumps
Burpees
Leg raise
Rope climb
Dumbbell step-ups
* or 0.5 Ă (max number of reps doable in 45â60 seconds)
Winning Running
also briefly covers weight training and
plyometrics for runners
, but not in sufficient detail or sufficient quality by modern standards to be useful (in my opinion at least). These lifting sessions can be categorized as light, medium, or heavy, based on the maximum weight used. Coe provides essentially no guidance on how to incorporate plyometrics.
Coe also separately details âstage training,â an equipment-free variant of circuit training amenable to being done while traveling, which he suggests is useful to incorporate even at homeâIâm omitting these; I think modern
John Cook style circuits
are superior when you donât have access to a gym.Â
Periodizing strength training for middle-distance runners
Coe provides guidelines for how to structure strength training within the broader schedule. Below, Iâve synthesized a table that mostly follows his recommendations, both for an âeasierâ strength progression for less-experienced runners and a âharderâ strength progression for more experienced runners. Note that Iâve swapped in circuit training instead of stage training in a few places. Again, this matches the annual periodization scheme laid out earlier.Â
Easier strength training progression for middle-distance runners
Month
Phase
Weekly Strength Training
Jul
Rest
None
Aug
Transition
One easy circuit
Sep
Transition
One easy circuit, one hard circuit
Oct
Preparation
Two hard circuits
Nov
Preparation
One moderate circuit, one medium lift
Dec
Preparation
One moderate circuit, one heavy lift
Jan
Preparation
One heavy lift
Feb
Preparation
One medium lift, one easy circuit
Mar
Pre-competition
One light lift or one easy circuit
Apr
Early competition
One easy circuit
May
Early competition
None
Jun
Main competition
None
Harder strength progression for middle-distance runners
Month
Phase
Strength Training
Jul
Rest
None
Aug
Transition
One easy circuit, one light lift
Sep
Transition
One medium circuit, one medium lift
Oct
Preparation
Two easy circuits, one medium lift
Nov
Preparation
One medium circuit, one heavy lift
Dec
Preparation
One medium circuit, one medium or heavy lift
Jan
Preparation
One easy circuit, one heavy lift
Feb
Preparation
One medium circuit or one medium lift
Mar
Pre-competition
One easy circuit or one medium lift
Apr
Early competition
One easy circuit or one easy lift
May
Early competition
One light lift
Jun
Main competition
None
Is Coe-style training viable for runners today?
The reason Iâve dug out my copies of Peter Coeâs books is that Iâve been coaching more 800m and 1500m runners recently, and as I noted at the beginning, you ignore a two-time Olympic champion at your own peril.
Nevertheless, Iâd be remiss not to give some historical context on what happened when Coe-style training became popular in the US and UK during the 1990s and early 2000s.
The story is, most charitably, a very mixed bag: compared with the â80s, when higher-volume aerobically oriented training had greater purchase among top-level runners, the â90s and â00s were not a bastion of middle-distance excellence in either country.
The plot below shows elite-level menâs 800m / 1500m / mile (1:48.00 / 3:43.00 / 4:00.00) performances in the US and UK every year since 1970. Performances, especially at 1500m / one mile, got somewhat worse in the â90s, and the drop occurred earlier and longer in the UK as compared with the US, where there was more methodological competition.
[12]
Thatâs exactly what youâd expect given that Coe-style training (and its sibling, Horwillâs five-pace system) had greater cultural purchase in the UK. And the fact that the drop-off was more noticeable in the more aerobic 1500m and mile than the more anaerobic 800m is further evidence that the lower-volume, higher-intensity Coe approach may leave distance-oriented runners underdeveloped.
Iâve shaded two regions here: 1991â1997, spanning the time between the release of the first and the second edition of
Training Distance Runners
/
Better Training for Distance Runners
, and the supershoe era (2020âPresent).
High school times in the US
show a similar aerobic/anaerobic trendâhereâs sub-4:10 miles and sub-9:00 two-miles (which are roughly equivalent performances) by high school boys over time in the United States.
I wouldn't necessarily blame Coe-style training for all or even most of this decline. But clearly it did not revolutionize middle-distance training for all runners, and the intensity-versus-volume debate was
the
hot topic in the early 2000s, with Coe-style training being the flagbearer for the intensity-first proponents.
By the mid-2000s, high mileage was crazy talk
Itâs hard to overstate how influential the
perception
of Coeâs intensity emphasis was on casual conversation about training. I was starting my running journey in the mid-2000s, and at that time, you were considered
crazy
and
reckless
if you ran even 50 miles a week. You were setting yourself up for stress fractures, burn-out, and a short careerâend of story.
American running, especially in longer distances, did not really recover until the mid 2000s, when broader access to the Internet allowed runners to hear tales of
Bob Kennedy training in Kenya
, and made people realize that their 4:30 high school mile and their killer 30-mile weeks were not all that impressive.
What's funny is that
Winning Running
lays out a much more moderate view than you heard in popular discourse back in the 2000s: the charts above recommend up to 75 miles a week, and consistent aerobic training throughout the year.
Later influences of Coe-style training
Another thing to keep in mind about Coe-style training is that it did not stop being developed when Sebastian Coe retiredâCoe-style training was a major influence on Algerian and Moroccan athletes including SaĂŻd Aouita, Hassiba Boulmerka, Nouria MĂ©rah-Benida, and Hicham El Guerrouj.
Their â
Maghrebi-style
â approach shared a focus on high-intensity training, but with more integration of fast continuous running, fast progressive tempos and refinement in interval training methods (particularly the inclusion of longer repeats of 2-3 km on the track). Unfortunately, I do not know of any comprehensive English-language resources on the later developments of Maghrebi-style training, so unfortunately, along this path the trail goes cold with Coe.
In the United States, Coe-style training took hold among mile and 800m coaches at the high school and college level via
Scott Christensen
, a coaching certification instructor for United States Track and Field and a longtime coach at perennial middle-distance powerhouse Stillwater High School in Minnesota, whose alumni include sub-4 milers Luke Watson, Jake Watson, Sean Graham, and Ben Blankenship. For a while, Stillwater had more sub-4 mile alumni than any other school in America.
On the American scene, Coe-style trainingâespecially for the mileâspent most of the mid-â2000s in dialogue with Daniels-style training (
Daniels Running Formula
was first published in 1998).
Essentially, the debate was over how much threshold to include, how to balance intensity and volume, and how aggressively to periodize training. At least in terms of popularity, Daniels won out, probably because of the convenienceâDanielsâ book included ready-made schedulesârather than training efficacy per se.
The modern view on Coe-style training
I think the modern perspective looks like this: a Coe-style approach is
absolutely viable today for the 800m
, and if you have a physiological build similar to Sebastian Coeâgood natural speed and solid results early in your career over 3000m and cross-countryâ
it
can
work for the 1500m, 1600m, and mile as well
.
[13]
But you should be clear-eyed about its narrow utility beyond the 800m and 1500m, and should be especially careful if you arenât sure you are truly an 800m/1500m specialist. Many runners respond better to a more aerobically focused system, with higher mileage, more high-end aerobic running, and less extreme anaerobic workouts.
That said, I do sometimes see
speed-oriented milers
dragging themselves through 80-mile weeks and endless sub-threshold work with little to show for it. These runners would likely do better with a Coe-style approachâperhaps appropriately âmodernizedâ to include some additional aerobically oriented training like short fast progressive runs and long repeats on the track in the Moroccan / Algerian style.
Coeâs other major contribution, which still has relevance today, is the usefulness of
circuit training
, and the ability to incorporate its periodization into the overall training program for middle-distance runners.
My thoughts on the broader legacy of Coe-style training are very much in line with what Renato Canova had to say on this subject back in 2017:
I can say that Sebastian was the typical example of what is the main goal of training, during the Fundamental period [i.e. base training]: to do everything, in order to increase the base in every direction.
There is not some type of training which is wrong. Wrong are the PERCENTAGES of different type of training, that, approaching the competition season, must become more specific.
In training, the most important problem is not what athletes do, but what athletes DON'T DO.
Learn more about modern training
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If you're more of a long-distance runner, you'll want to check out my new book:
Marathon Excellence for Everyone
: it is
the
comprehensive guide to marathon training.
Learn more about Marathon Excellence here
, or
get the book now on Amazon
. If you live outside of the United States, Marathon Excellence is also available in a
Metric Edition with all workouts in kilometers
!
If you aren't up for the marathon just yet, I published a shorter book in 2013 on a simple scientifically based approach to 800m to 10k training,
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. Check it out!
If you are interested in high-level 800m or mile coaching, I currently have
a few spots open on my coaching roster
- reach out and let's chat.
Footnotes
[1]
An interesting connection here: a young Marius Bakken
was actually coached by Peter Coe
for a while; Coeâs use of âtop-up mileage weeksâ was part of what inspired Bakken to experiment with the âblockedâ training method that eventually became his trademark double threshold approach. Bakken also ran for York High School in the Chicago suburbs; a decade earlier in 1984,
Seb Coe did his final workouts at York High School
to avoid the media spotlight in his build-up for the Olympics!
[2]
One flaw that
Better Training
shares with Winning Running is a total lack of actual training schedulesâdespite its immense size,
Better Training
features little more than a smattering of âsample weeksâ for a few distances.
[3]
To be clear, I am joking!
[4]
Coe also coached Wendy Sly, who had won an Olympic silver medal at 3000m in 1984 under a different training program. With Coe, she finished eight at the 1987 World Championships 3000m and seventh in the 3000m at the Seoul Olympics. According to a few message board posts, Coe also briefly coached Swiss runner Peter Wirz, who competed in the heats of the 1500m in Seoul. UK readers and history buffs â please correct me if Iâm missing any other athletes.
[5]
To me, thatâs the strongest case for
Renato Canova-style full-spectrum training
. The principles work for every event from 800m to the marathon; they worked 50 years ago and they work today; they work in speed-oriented runners and endurance-oriented runners; they work in Italy, Kenya, Ethiopia, Switzerland, Germany, and Britain. Â
[6]
Though this exact quote does not actually appear in
Winning Running
.
[7]
It is not clear to me whether Peter Coe ever used lactate testing to monitor Seb Coeâs blood lactate levels. The same table with the recommended lactate levels also includes recommended heart rates, but I am not including them since they are presented as absolute numbers (e.g. 140â160 bpm) and using such references does more harm than good, given the
wide individual variation in resting and maximal heart rate
.
[8]
Presumably Coe means
first
lactate threshold, i.e. LT1, since thatâs the one that roughly coincides with ventilatory threshold, though the actual paces he recommendsâ(predicted) marathon pace or fasterâare more in line with the middle of
the high-end aerobic range
, between LT1 and LT2.
[9]
One reason Coe uses so many races and time trials is to keep an up-to-date estimate of the runnerâs fitness level. He advocates using specific formulas to calculate equivalent race times; these days I would use a modern conversion table, not Coeâs ad-hoc formulas.
[10]
An example Coe gives of a progressive acceleration workout: 200m, 220m, 240m, 260m, 280m, 300m, progressing linearly in pace from 30.0 for the 200m to 35.25 for the 300m (which is 23.5 200m pace), with equal jog recovery after each.
[11]
If you are doing time-based circuit training you could approximate this as 30 seconds per exercise for easy exercises, and 20 seconds per exercise for hard exercises.
[12]
Many people have hypothesized that the rise of the internet was partially responsible for kicking off the late 2000s renaissance in American distance running; itâs interesting to note that widespread internet adoption in the UK lagged the US by a few years. Over 50% of US households were connected to the internet by 2002; in the UK that same threshold was not crossed until 2006. In the US, itâs also worth keeping in mind the methodological competition both from Daniels-style training (especially after 1998) and the distinctive American thread of Bowerman/Dellinger-style mile training, which produced many of the sub-4:00 milers seen in the figure in the 1970s and 1980s.
[13]
Good results in cross-country and the 3000m are more or less a proxy for a naturally high VO2max, and training and racing in those events is itself an excellent way to improve your VO2max. But be careful not to fool yourself: many young runners who are good at 3000m and good at cross-country are destined not for 1500m, but for the 5k, 10k, or marathon.
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# Coe-style elite 800m, 1500m, and mile training from âWinning Runningâ
March 19, 2026
March 14, 2026
by [John Davis](https://runningwritings.com/author/john-davis "View all posts by John Davis")
If you want to understand training for middle-distance running eventsâ800m, 1500m, 1600m, mileâyou need to understand **Peter** and **Sebastian Coe**âs approach.
In the English-speaking world, **Coe-style training** absolutely dominated discussions about training in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, mostly due to the fact that Sebastian Coe, under the guidance of his father Peter, was the king of the 800m, 1500m, and mile in the 1970s and 1980s.
The analogy to [the Ingebrigtsen family](https://runningwritings.com/2025/07/kristoffer-ingebrigtsen-norwegian-single-threshold-training.html) is obvious: a father with a bold vision for training and a son with incredible talent and grit, who not only rose to the top of the sport athletically but changed the way legions of runners approach training for their event.
Both coaches borrowed heavily from a pioneering compatriotâGjert Ingebrigtsen from [Marius Bakken](https://runningwritings.com/2024/09/marius-bakken-double-threshold.html),[\[1\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn1) and Peter Coe from Frank Horwill. Like Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr, Coe also had fierce rivals: fellow Brits Steve Ovett and Steve Cram, each of whom snatched medals from Coe in dramatic fashion.
Thatâs where the similarities stop, thoughâSebastian and his father never had a falling out, and the structure of Coe-style training is almost diametrically opposite to that of Ingebrigtsen-style training.
## Coe saw middle-distance events as a game of speed endurance
To Peter Coe, the 800m and 1500m were events of *speed* and *fatigue-resistance*: developing an athleteâs 400m speed was paramount, and huge proportions of training focused on building an athleteâs ability to maintain speed in the face of enormous amounts of fatigue.
He emphasized quality above all, seeing mileage and endurance runs as a necessary evil to be done in the minimum dose possible. Coe's approach was also very âtechnicalâ: he emphasized circuits, weights, plyometrics, short sprints, diagonal cutting drills, sharp accelerations, and specific practice on sprinting the curves on the track.
All of this may sound anathema from a modern perspectiveâespecially for the 1500mâbut you need to understand that arguing against Coeâs philosophy in 1990 or 1995 meant arguing against a runner who had set 12 world records and won four Olympic medals, including back-to-back gold medals at 1500m in 1980 and 1984. Would you really tell a 1:41.73 800m runner and 3:47.33 miler that his training approach was wrong?
## *Winning Running* is the best book on Coe-style training
Sebastian Coe dominated the middle distance racing scene in the 1970s and 1980s thanks to his performances, but Peter Coe dominated the middle distance (and long distance) training scene in the 1990s and early 2000s thanks to his two books: ***Training Distance Runners*** (1991), co-authored with American physiologist David Martinâan expanded second edition was published as ***[Better Training for Distance Runners](https://amzn.to/4d5kvrd)*** in 1997âand ***[Winning Running: Successful 800m & 1500m Racing and Training](https://amzn.to/4d1Sdhd)*** (1996).
Of these books, *Winning Running* is by far the more accessible of the two. *Better Training* is a massive tome, clocking in at 435 pages (at a trim size of 8.5 x 11 inches!). *Better Training* also spends an enormous amount of time in âtextbook mode,â covering everything from the bones of the foot to the phases of the gait cycle to the role of myosin ATPase.
Riveting stuff, to me at least, but that book is now approaching 30 years old, and much of the science is outdatedânot to mention irrelevant for most coaches. The science chapters are also surely the work of David Martin, not Peter Coe. The parts of *Better Training* that *are* from Peter Coe are easy to spot, since they are an almost verbatim reproduction of material in *Winning Running*.[\[2\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn2)
So, while the topic of this article is Coe-style 800m and 1500m training, this article is also a miniature book review and summary of *Winning Running* by Peter Coe, since if you are looking for a print resource thatâs definitely the one Iâd recommend.
Iâve drawn on a few interesting examples from *Better Training* for this article, but my copy of that book has only three sad little bookmarks, indicating the pages of interest beyond whatâs already in *Winning Running*.
## *Winning Running* mini-review: a useful but flawed book
*Winning Running* is eminently approachable, at only 128 pages. Itâs technically out of print, but due to its popularity, itâs [widely available on eBay](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=winning+running+peter+coe) for \$20â30, and itâs well-worth the price. That said, *Winning Running* is far from a perfect book. If you didnât already have a background in middle-distance running, you wouldnât be able to build a complete training program from this book alone.
The flaws: *Winning Running* sometimes tends towards pontificating, with long stretches of unhelpfully broad exhortations to eat well, get sufficient sleep, maintain good posture, and attend to your flexibility with stretching exercises.
There are chapters covering the kinds of basic athletic testing that were all the rage in the 1990s: standing broad jump, sit-ups, push-ups, etc. These are, for the most part, not very useful. Goals are provided for each athletic test, but those goals always have their eyes set on (male) elite-level performanceâfor example, in the 50 meter dash, Coe says âa time slower than 6.5 seconds is a sign of weakness,â though that time is [worth about 11.7 for 100m](https://jeffchen.dev/projects/track/points-calculator/) (far faster than anyone but an elite male middle-distance runner could manage).
There is also the usual series of photos on proper running form (featuring Sebastian Coe), which seems to have been obligatory in training books from the â80s and â90sâagain, not so useful, but mercifully few pages are spent on this topic.
*Winning Running* is nowhere near as sprawling, disorganized, or intimidating as some other training books from its era, but it *is* a bit messy: the chapter titled âThe Training Programâ contains no actual training programs, nor even a sketch of one (that comes in the chapter on periodization), and later chapters on racing strategy can get repetitive as they cover exactly how 800m, 1000m, and 1500m races play out, curve-by-curve.
Peppered throughout the book, youâll find many spirited passages about the importance of a determined will, a zeal for winning, and a reverence for those few champions who stand atop the podiumâa very 20th-century quirk of athletics writing that might turn off contemporary readers, most of whom will be among the lowly also-rans like me, who typically finish in 2nd, 3rd, or even off the podiumâlacking, perhaps, in a sufficient âwill to win.â[\[3\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn3)
The obsession with toughness and competition bleeds into the training, too: regarding slow âoverdistance runsâ (what we would today just call easy to moderate mileage), Coe remarks:
> Zone 1 requires steady, over-distance runs at a relatively slow pace. Such a pace would be adequate to supply the correct physiological stimulus, but probably inadequate to condition the runner mentally for hard middle distance training and racing. Combining the two \[i.e. the physical and mental stimulus\] is important.
As a solution to this problem, Coe recommends finishing these runs fastâsometimes with the last 400 meters all-out\!
This emphasis on mental toughness and tolerance to suffering recurs in other recommended sessions too, giving you a sense of what the âvibesâ of Coe-style training were like in their heyday: not just doing workouts at fast speeds, but doing *very tough* workouts at those speeds, spending a lot of time pushing into fatigue*.*
Coe essentially analyzed the 800m and 1500m starting from the finish line: the athletes who âbrokeâ and did not win were the ones who could not buffer lactate, endure pain, and use their maximum speed. I donât think this analysis is quite correct, but it does explain a lot about why Coe training looks the way it does.
### There are no real training schedules in *Winning Running*
One of the remarkable things about older running books is their almost universal aversion to providing actual training programs. Theyâll often include a âsample weekâ or âsample training block,â but the idea that youâd buy a book and it would give you a standardized 12-week or 18-week schedule is largely a modern invention. *Winning Running* is no exception hereâyou get a few example training blocks, but no full programs and very little even in the way of examples of different types of workouts.
For me, this was the most frustrating part of the book. Even if youâre opposed to providing rigid schedules (a stance taken by [Percy Cerutty](https://runningwritings.com/2025/08/percy-cerutty-training-philosophy-for-distance-runners.html), for example), *at least* give me some typical examples of workouts in each category\!
Alas, we never get much in the way of clear workout progressions for âanaerobic capacityâ or âanaerobic conditioningâ workoutsâjust general guidelines. If you were hoping for an easy-to-follow template for your winter training as a high school or college runner, you will not find it in this book.
### This book should be called âHow I Trained Sebastian Coeâ
One cautionary note to prospective readers: to a first approximation, Sebastian Coe was the *only* international-caliber athlete Peter Coe ever coached.[\[4\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn4) That means he did not have the experience of seeing how different athletes respond differently to the same training, but it also means he had an unparalleled insight into the psychology and physiology of *one* specific athlete.
In my own coaching career Iâve thought a lot about this breadth vs. depth tradeoff, and I have a lot to say about it (at a later date), but in the context of this book, and Coe training in general, you should always mentally replace abstract statements about âathletesâ and âcoachesâ with the specifics: this perspective came out of *one* specific athlete working with *one* specific coachâhis father.
More generally, beware the âone-man plan.â Humans are storytelling creatures, so we love tales of the intrepid coach or athlete who single-handedly bested the rest with a bold new training plan, but what you should really look for are *systems* that work for different athletes, in different events, in different parts of the world, and in different eras of athletics.[\[5\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn5)
### The strongest material in *Winning Running* is the periodization advice
Despite these shortcomings, I am glad to have *Winning Running* on my shelf, for two reasons: first, the chapter on periodizing circuit training is by far the most useful print resource I have found on this often-neglected component of middle-distance training.
Second, lays out a practical approach to *annual* periodization, something almost never dealt with in other training booksârunners who train for the 800m or 1500m usually have a long spring and summer of racing, which necessitates a 12-month periodization scheme, instead of the usual 4â6-month approach for 5k and up.
One last word of praise for *Winning Running*: itâs a *very* aesthetically pleasing book. When I was preparing [Marathon Excellence for Everyone](https://marathonexcellence.com/) this past fall, I spent a lot of time on typography, layout, and figures, so I notice this sort of thing to a much greater degree than I used to.
*Winning Running*âspecifically my copy of the 2006 UK paperback reprint from Crowood Pressâhas beautiful glossy pages, a thoughtful two-column layout, sharp typography, plenty of white space, and several great photos of Peter and Sebastian Coe. Most readers wonât notice these things, but itâs a nice break from the bloated, cramped, magazine-style layout you see in contemporary running books.
***
## A detailed summary of Coe-style 800m and 1500m training
In the remainder of this article, Iâm going to do my best to summarize the Coe approach for 800m and 1500m, as presented in Coeâs books.
That last qualifier is important, because to this day there is a lot of controversy over whether Sebastian Coeâs training was truly as low-mileage and intensity-dominant as it appears to be from Peter Coeâs public writing.
Though Peter Coe famously eschewed long runsâ âlong slow runs make long slow runners,â he reportedly said[\[6\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn6)âthere were persistent rumors that Coe used much more aerobic volume at times. Renato Canova, for example, recounts this story:
> In the month of February 1988, Seb Coe was in the Italian National Center in Tirrenia, living in the Hotel Continental, together with the swiss runner \[Peter\] Wirz. He remained in Tirrenia for almost 4 weeks.
>
> One time, he asked if I could follow him, the next day, with a car (he didn't have any car there, because the center and the forest were very near), because his plan was to run 30 km \[18.6 mi\] on road, going till Pisa and coming back.
>
> I followed them with the minibus of the Italian Center. He ran at a pace of 3'22" per km \[5:25/mi\], finishing in 1 h 41'.
Which is quite far from the âCoe-styleâ training as received by the public! In his books, Coe does not exactly disavow mileage and long fast runs entirely, but I wouldnât blame you if you got that impression. For example, regarding what most runners think of as âbase training,â Coe says the following:
> While, at a slower pace, mileage volume is necessary to establish a sound cardiorespiratory base, it should be limited to being just enough to achieve its aim and no more.
And later in the book, Coe remarks, âwould-be champions cannot afford too much slow road miles or go-as-you-please.â
So, what youâre getting here is *by-the-book* Coe training, for better or worse, not speculation.
## Coe-style year-round periodization for the 800m and mile
Coe-style training is oriented towards runners who use 12-month periodization schemes. In *Winning Running*, Coe lays out the annual plan, which involves six phases of training:
**Coe-style 12-month periodization**
| Phase | Focus | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Rest | 4 weeks |
| Phase 2 | Transition | 8 weeks |
| Phase 3 | Preparation | 21 weeks |
| Phase 4 | Pre-competition | 5 weeks |
| Phase 5 | Early competition | 8 weeks |
| Phase 6 | Main competition / peaking | 6 weeks |
Now, most middle-distance runners arenât going to be on the European circuit in August. Hereâs how I would modify this scheme for a more typical high school, college, or club season thatâs more focused on late spring and early summer:
**Spring-focused 12-month periodization**
| Period | Phase |
|---|---|
| July | Phase 1 - Rest |
| August â September | Phase 2 - Transition |
| October â February | Phase 3 - Preparation |
| February â mid-March | Phase 4 - Pre-competition |
| Mid-March â mid-May | Phase 5 - Early competition |
| Mid-May â June | Phase 6 - Main competition / peaking |
Here's what that periodization scheme looks like visually:
Itâs pretty obvious that this strategy amounts to spending **a *huge* proportion of the year in Phase 3âPreparation**. Thatâs where the real bulk of the work is done. Note also that Phase 1 really does mean *rest*: Coe wants you doing no strength or endurance training at allânot even a vigorous game of tennis.
For my part, I am opposed to long periods of total rest in most cases, moreso because of the biomechanical effects than any physiological effects. Long periods of inactivity lead to a deterioration in bone strength and tendon resilience, so paradoxically, rest can cause injury! But there can be a difference between taking time off from *running* and taking time off from *training*.
Another relevant issue for modern audiences is how to compress this annual periodization into a more typical winter-to-spring season. Hereâs my best attempt, cutting everything approximately in half:
**Six-month Coe-style periodization**
| Phase | Focus | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Rest | 2 weeks |
| Phase 2 | Transition | 4 weeks |
| Phase 3 | Preparation | 10 weeks |
| Phase 4 | Pre-competition | 3 weeks |
| Phase 5 | Early competition | 4 weeks |
| Phase 6 | Main competition / peaking | 3 weeks |
And hereâs a calendar layout:
| Period | Phase |
|---|---|
| Mid-Nov â early Dec | Rest |
| Dec | Transition |
| Jan â mid-March | Preparation |
| Mid-March â early April | Pre-competition |
| Early April â late April | Early competition |
| Early May â mid-May | Main competition / peaking |
Or, visually:
### Distribution of volume and intensity in each phase of Coe-style training
One of the most helpful things in *Winning Running* is a table of â**training units**â in the various different zones of intensity that Coe advocates. To Coe, a âunitâ of training is a relative measure of the workout volume or difficulty, not a static number (so itâs not like one unit always equals, say, five miles).
Coe gives a few examples: 4 x 1600m at 5k pace equals one unit of work, and 6â8 x 800m at 3k pace also equals one unit of work. However, 4 x 1600m at 5k pace plus several speed drills and fast 200m and 300m repeats counts as two units because it increases the [physiological training load](https://runningwritings.com/2025/10/physiological-training-load-for-runners.html) of the session.
Beyond this example, Coe does not give further examples on what volume of work should equal âone unitâ at various paces (aside from an example of an 8-mile run as being one unit of basic endurance work). In fact, he even signposts the fact that he *isnât* defining one unit:
> Each coach will have to decide the volume of work that makes up a unit for each type of training. If, for a distance runner, a dayâs training session is 12 miles (19 km) of steady running then what distance at what pace constitutes a unit? And how many short recovery fast 200m repetitions are there in this type of session?
As a reader, you are expecting these rhetorical questions to be followed by a paragraph or a table explaining the answer, but unfortunately, these answers never come.
My mental model is that a ânormal workoutâ at a given pace should be one unit, while a significantly harder workout should be two units. That does just kick that can down the road when it comes to deciding on the specifics of workouts at different points.
In terms of workout types, Coe outlines four different **zones**, or categories of workout. Do note that within each zone there can be multiple types of workouts, and **these zones are emphatically *not*** [**the âzonesâ of modern exercise physiology**](https://runningwritings.com/2025/02/lt1-lt2-heart-rate-zone-science.html). Coeâs zones are:
**Zone 1:** Aerobic conditioning
**Zone 2:** Anaerobic conditioning (a.k.a. âlactate / ventilatory thresholdâ)
**Zone 3:** Aerobic capacity training (10k pace to 3k pace)
**Zone 4:** Anaerobic capacity training (1500m pace to 400m pace or faster)
Weâll dive into the specifics on these zones in a moment.
Helpfully, Coe *does* give some total unit and total mileage guidelines alongside the workload distribution. I find it most useful to sketch out Coeâs distribution of units in each phase to get a better sense of his periodization scheme:
Partially-shaded squares (the semi-transparent ones) represent a range, e.g. in the early part of the preparation phase, you can use 4-5 units of aerobic conditioning per week.
Rememberâ**one unit is not always one training session**! A particularly tough workout could be worth two units, and an extremely tough workout could even be three.
Youâll notice that Coe-style training does largely follow Renato Canovaâs maximââTraining is to ADD, not to REPLACEââand the most noticeable facet of the periodization approach is the very heavy emphasis on intensive interval work (Zones 3 and 4) later on in training.
Hereâs what the *total* number of âunitsâ of running training looks like throughout the year:
Again, semi-shaded regions represent a range. Hereâs a similar plot for mileage:
And again, keep in mind that all of these guidelines are (a) for an elite male 800m/1500m runner, and (b) are very obviously âidealizedâ as opposed to being drawn from any particular year of Seb Coeâs training.
## Details on Coeâs workout zones for mid-distance training
As noted above, Coe defines four zones of workout types, each with different physiological purposes and workout types.
### Zone 1: Aerobic conditioning
Zone 1 is **basic mileage**â âsteady over-distance runs at a relatively slow pace.â Relative here is relative to race pace; his recommendations (again, implicitly for a 1:41 / 3:29 runner like Sebastian) are still quite brisk: 6:00â6:15/mi (3:45â3:55/km) for long runs of up to 12 miles (19 km), and 5:30/mi (3:25/km) for runs of 6-8 mi (10â13 km). As for lactate levels in these sessions, a table recommends a range of 2.0â3.5 mM.[\[7\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn7)
### Zone 2: Anaerobic conditioning
Despite the label âanaerobic conditioningâ, Coeâs Zone 2 is basically **threshold or sub-threshold training**âand in fact, one table describes it as âventilatory threshold / lactate threshold.â[\[8\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn8) For these workouts, Coe recommends **short continuous runs of 5â8 km** (3â5 mi)âat 5:00/mi (3:05/km), for Sebastianâor in some cases **tempo runs of 15â20 minutes**, or long interval workouts.
Regarding these long interval workouts, Coe does not elaborate much, other than noting that the recovery should not be too short, pointing to the older interval methods developed by Gerschler and Reindell in Germany, who believed that it was the magnitude of increase in heart rate during the repeat that provided the physiological stimulus. If youâve heard guidelines like âtake enough recovery to let your heart rate get down to 120 bpm,â thatâs motivated by the same idea.
Despite the lack of specifics, it is not hard to impute some general guidelines, since Coeâs approach is very systematic: faster speeds use shorter repeats, and each phase is non-overlapping.
So, based on the Zone 3 guidelines below, a reasonable place to start with these faster Zone 2 workouts would be **repeats of 5â10 minutes** at (predicted!) **half-marathon to 10k pace**, with a few minutes of recovery. These imputed guidelines map quite well onto Coeâs recommended lactate levels for these sessions: 3.5â5.0 mM.
### Zone 3: Aerobic capacity
Zone 3 is pretty close to classical VO2max work: **repeats of** **800m to 3000m in length** (or 2 min to 8 min in duration), the equivalent pace ranges from **3k pace** (for shorter reps) to **10k pace** (for longer reps), and lactate guidelines are 5.0â8.0 mM. Interval work-to-rest ratios range from 1:1 for shorter reps (e.g. 2 minutes at 3k pace, 2 minutes of rest) to 2:1 for longer reps (8 min at 10k pace, 4 min rest).
Clearly, this is quite a wide range of speeds, so Zone 3 (and also Zone 4) is better thought of as a family of workout types, versus one workout category.
### Zone 4: Anaerobic capacity
Zone 4 is the classic hard interval work that Coe is best-known for. It involves **repeats of 200m to 1000m in length** (or 30 sec to 2 min in duration), at speeds from **800m to 1500m race pace**, with work-to-rest ratios of 1:3 (for faster speeds) and 1:2 (for slower speeds). Target lactate levels are 8.0 to 9.0 mM or more.
Coe particularly emphasizes the âhard, repeatable 400m speedâ that he sees as *the* definitive mark of a strong middle-distance runnerâworkouts like 4â6 Ă 400m at 800m race pace with (presumably) several minutes of recoveryâan extraordinarily difficult workout, to be sure. The analogous 1500m is obvious: the classic 8â10 Ă 400m at 1500m or mile pace with a minute or two of rest.
Note also that Coe briefly discusses using **true sprint training** (400m pace and faster) and lumps it into this category as well, though without further details.
## Comparing Coeâs zones and Horwillâs multi-tier, multi-pace system
I noted above that Coe-style training is essentially a variant of Frank Horwillâs multi-tier / multi-pace system (also known as the **five-pace system**)âand there is in fact a chapter in *Winning Running* titled âMulti-Tier, Multi-Pace Training.â
Horwillâs original system (which I do not recommend for any event) identifies **five key paces** for the miler: 400m pace, 800m pace, 1500m/mile pace, 3000m pace, and 5000m pace. Sessions at *all* of these paces are worked into a typical 12â14-day training block. Coe provides the following example schedule, presumably from at least the pre-competitive phase:[\[9\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn9)
| Day | Workout |
|---|---|
| 1 | 4 Ă 1500m at 5k pace |
| 2 | Fartlek (by feel, no parameters) |
| 3 | 8 Ă 800m at 3k pace |
| 4 | Road run |
| 5 | 16 Ă 200m at 1500m/mile pace |
| 6 | Rest or fartlek |
| 7 | Race or time trial |
| 8 | 4â6 Ă 400m at 800m pace |
| 9 | Road run |
| 10 | 2 Ă 300m + 4 Ă 200m + 4 Ă 100m at 400m pace |
| 11 | Fartlek |
| 12 | Time trial, race, or any five-pace workout |
In *Better Training*, Coe gives a few additional examples of five-pace workouts:
- 3 Ă 2000m at 5k pace
- 3 x 1200m + 2 Ă 800m + 2 Ă 400m at 5k pace, noting that this workout is often done faster later on in the season
- 16â30 Ă 200m at 1500m pace
- 10 Ă 400m at 1500m pace
- 1000m + 800m + 600m + 400m at 1500m pace
- 6â9 Ă 300m at 800m pace
- 4 Ă 300m + 4 Ă 200m at 400m pace
- 300m + 2 Ă 200m + 4 Ă 100m + 8 Ă 60m at 400m pace
And Coe also includes some sample two-week blocks from Seb Coe's schoolboy days showing similar workouts, often done back-to-back on consecutive days with no rest or fartlek in between.
Three things to notice:
1. This is really hard training\!
2. It does hit all five paces in 12 days
3. There is quite a discrepancy between this example training block and whatâs depicted in the periodization scheme above: there is no âZone 2â (high-end aerobic / threshold) training listed at all\!
Nevertheless, Coe repeatedly used this example training block in his public work; it also appears in *Better Training for Distance Runners*, and (according to a message board poster) in Peter Coeâs USATF Level III coaching certification lecture notes as well.
Some sources online claim that Coe only put in place the full Horwill-style five-pace system in the spring and summer, removing some of the very tough 3000m pace work and replacing it with more circuit training, fartlek, and hill workouts, which is believableâlater chapters in *Winning Running* detail a number of hill workout variants that donât appear anywhere in this or other example training blocks.
As an asideâitâs hard to over-emphasize [how crazy âfull-blastâ Horwill training really is](https://web.archive.org/web/20160308003318/http:/www.serpentine.org.uk/pages/advice_frank15.html). Just take a look at that linked plan, [or this one for 5k](https://web.archive.org/web/20160307230110/http:/www.serpentine.org.uk/pages/advice_frank08.html). There are still high schools in the United States that train like this! Even the super-intense Coe example above is more toned-down than these Horwill programs. However, Coe and Horwill share the same physiological logic driving their training approach. From Coe:
> It has been proposed that the training can be based on the aerobic and anaerobic content of the event. For example, if the event has a 60/40 ratio then the training would be 60 per cent aerobic and 40 per cent anaerobic work. This would not suit everyone. Firstly it ignores where and how the major difficulties arise in the race and what the training sessions should be to meet these demands in world-class performances.
That latter point sounds like a hedge, but Coe actually uses it to argue that *more* training needs to be dedicated to very hard anaerobic work, since pushing into fatigue is, to him, the greatest obstacle to better performance:
> Whatever the overall aerobic and anaerobic split might be, it is built up with changing and sometimes repeated sudden demands for anaerobic power well above the mean and *the training must equip the athlete to meet these peak demands.*
Hence Coeâs emphasis on technical race-specific work like practicing sprinting on curves, rapid accelerations, repeated-sprint workouts, etc.
Compare this logic with [Horwill](https://web.archive.org/web/20160307230110/http:/www.serpentine.org.uk/pages/advice_frank08.html):
> The Nobel Prize winning physiologist, A.V. Hill, analysed the 5km event in 1932 as being 80% aerobic and 20% anaerobic. This means that given 10 training sessions, eight of them would be aerobic and two would be anaerobic. Not only do we have to define those terms, we must also decide which types of running included in those descriptions are going to be the most beneficial. Aerobic running ranges from jogging (100% aerobic) to 3km speed (60% aerobic - 100% VO2 max).
>
> The first may be running at 12:00 / mile, while the second may be at 4:16 / mile. A big difference - but both are covered by the description - aerobic.
To be clear: **this is completely wrong**âand not only because [the aerobic/anaerobic percentages are off](https://runningwritings.com/2025/01/aerobic-vs-anaerobic-contributions-in-running.html). Horwill (and Coe) have an oversimplified view of what counts as âaerobicâ (e.g. above, 8x800m at 3000m race pace is an âaerobic workoutâ). But again, Iâm providing this information so you know where the rationale comes from, not because I agree with it.
## I know it feels like Iâm leaving you hanging
This is the part of the article where Iâd like to write about some example workouts at each pace, the total workout volume, and how to progress the workouts over time. You might also like to know how to integrate some of the more advanced training techniques Coe describes in later chapters, like diagonal sprinting drills, hill workouts, and progressive acceleration workouts.[\[10\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn10)
But I canât write about any of those things, because they arenât in any of his books! I think this is why Coe-style training turned into the monster it did, because all people had to go on was one or two example blocks from the best middle-distance runner in the world. Should a 16-year-old 5:00 miler be doing 8 Ă 800m at 3k race pace? Well, in most cases I donât think so, but then again, none of my athletes have been to the OlympicsâŠ
Before concluding, allow me to cover the one other aspect of Coe-style training that *is* well-documented and often neglected by other coaching resources, which is structuring and periodizing circuit training.
## Coe-style circuit training for middle-distance runners
Iâve written previously (*very* previously) about the [physiological and scientific justifications for doing circuit training](https://runningwritings.com/2015/08/designing-general-strength-circuit-for.html). This is one thing that, perhaps by intuition or just plain luck, Coe pretty much nailed. Coe-style circuit training is very much in line with what the science recommends in terms of an optimal structure: whole-body, high-intensity, and involving at least ten minutes of active muscle work.
Circuit training is especially useful for 800m and 1500m runners because these events are so dominated by pushing into localized muscular fatigue in the second half of the race. Circuit training essentially acts as a âgeneralâ base for the more race-specific speed endurance work later on in training.
### Guidelines for Coe-style circuit training
Circuit training, in short, involves a series of strength exercises done one after another, with little or no rest in between. Coe recommends doing these sessions with the following parameters:
**Reps per exercise:** half the number of reps you can perform in 60 seconds (for easy exercise) or in 45 seconds (for hard exercises)[\[11\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn11)
**Number of unique exercises:** 5â12, depending on the athleteâs experience level and the target difficulty of the circuit workout
**Time between exercises:** 15 seconds or less
**Recovery between sets:** equal to the duration of the trip through the circuit (i.e. 1:1)
**Sets (number of complete trips through the circuit):** 2â5 depending on difficulty
**Gradations of difficulty:** There are three âlevelsâ of circuit workouts: easy, medium, or hard
### Examples of easy, medium, and hard circuit routines
Itâs easier to see these principles in action:
| Easy Circuit |
|---|
| 2â3 sets, equal duration rest after each set, 20â30 sec per exercise\* |
| Back extensions |
| Bent knee sit-ups |
| Push-ups |
| Frog jumps |
| Pull-ups |
| \* or 0.5 Ă (max number of reps doable in 45â60 seconds) |
| Medium Circuit |
|---|
| 3â4 sets, equal duration rest after each set, 20â30 sec per exercise\* |
| Tricep dips |
| Back extensions |
| Bent knee sit-ups with twist |
| Burpees |
| Leg raise |
| Rope climb |
| Pull-ups |
| \* or 0.5 Ă (max number of reps doable in 45â60 seconds) |
| Hard Circuit |
|---|
| 4â5 sets, equal duration rest after each set, 20â30 sec per exercise\* |
| Tricep dips |
| Roman chair back extension |
| Bent knee sit-ups on incline |
| Push-ups with feet elevated |
| Frog jumps |
| Burpees |
| Leg raise |
| Rope climb |
| Dumbbell step-ups |
| \* or 0.5 Ă (max number of reps doable in 45â60 seconds) |
*Winning Running* also briefly covers weight training and [plyometrics for runners](https://runningwritings.com/2014/11/building-plyometrics-program-for.html), but not in sufficient detail or sufficient quality by modern standards to be useful (in my opinion at least). These lifting sessions can be categorized as light, medium, or heavy, based on the maximum weight used. Coe provides essentially no guidance on how to incorporate plyometrics.
Coe also separately details âstage training,â an equipment-free variant of circuit training amenable to being done while traveling, which he suggests is useful to incorporate even at homeâIâm omitting these; I think modern [John Cook style circuits](https://runningwritings.com/2015/08/designing-general-strength-circuit-for.html) are superior when you donât have access to a gym.
### Periodizing strength training for middle-distance runners
Coe provides guidelines for how to structure strength training within the broader schedule. Below, Iâve synthesized a table that mostly follows his recommendations, both for an âeasierâ strength progression for less-experienced runners and a âharderâ strength progression for more experienced runners. Note that Iâve swapped in circuit training instead of stage training in a few places. Again, this matches the annual periodization scheme laid out earlier.
**Easier strength training progression for middle-distance runners**
| Month | Phase | Weekly Strength Training |
|---|---|---|
| Jul | Rest | None |
| Aug | Transition | One easy circuit |
| Sep | Transition | One easy circuit, one hard circuit |
| Oct | Preparation | Two hard circuits |
| Nov | Preparation | One moderate circuit, one medium lift |
| Dec | Preparation | One moderate circuit, one heavy lift |
| Jan | Preparation | One heavy lift |
| Feb | Preparation | One medium lift, one easy circuit |
| Mar | Pre-competition | One light lift or one easy circuit |
| Apr | Early competition | One easy circuit |
| May | Early competition | None |
| Jun | Main competition | None |
**Harder strength progression for middle-distance runners**
| Month | Phase | Strength Training |
|---|---|---|
| Jul | Rest | None |
| Aug | Transition | One easy circuit, one light lift |
| Sep | Transition | One medium circuit, one medium lift |
| Oct | Preparation | Two easy circuits, one medium lift |
| Nov | Preparation | One medium circuit, one heavy lift |
| Dec | Preparation | One medium circuit, one medium or heavy lift |
| Jan | Preparation | One easy circuit, one heavy lift |
| Feb | Preparation | One medium circuit or one medium lift |
| Mar | Pre-competition | One easy circuit or one medium lift |
| Apr | Early competition | One easy circuit or one easy lift |
| May | Early competition | One light lift |
| Jun | Main competition | None |
***
## Is Coe-style training viable for runners today?
The reason Iâve dug out my copies of Peter Coeâs books is that Iâve been coaching more 800m and 1500m runners recently, and as I noted at the beginning, you ignore a two-time Olympic champion at your own peril.
Nevertheless, Iâd be remiss not to give some historical context on what happened when Coe-style training became popular in the US and UK during the 1990s and early 2000s.
The story is, most charitably, a very mixed bag: compared with the â80s, when higher-volume aerobically oriented training had greater purchase among top-level runners, the â90s and â00s were not a bastion of middle-distance excellence in either country.
The plot below shows elite-level menâs 800m / 1500m / mile (1:48.00 / 3:43.00 / 4:00.00) performances in the US and UK every year since 1970. Performances, especially at 1500m / one mile, got somewhat worse in the â90s, and the drop occurred earlier and longer in the UK as compared with the US, where there was more methodological competition.[\[12\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn12)
Thatâs exactly what youâd expect given that Coe-style training (and its sibling, Horwillâs five-pace system) had greater cultural purchase in the UK. And the fact that the drop-off was more noticeable in the more aerobic 1500m and mile than the more anaerobic 800m is further evidence that the lower-volume, higher-intensity Coe approach may leave distance-oriented runners underdeveloped.
Iâve shaded two regions here: 1991â1997, spanning the time between the release of the first and the second edition of *Training Distance Runners* / *Better Training for Distance Runners*, and the supershoe era (2020âPresent).
[High school times in the US](https://runningwritings.com/2012/07/brief-thoughts-rise-fall-and-resurgence.html) show a similar aerobic/anaerobic trendâhereâs sub-4:10 miles and sub-9:00 two-miles (which are roughly equivalent performances) by high school boys over time in the United States.
I wouldn't necessarily blame Coe-style training for all or even most of this decline. But clearly it did not revolutionize middle-distance training for all runners, and the intensity-versus-volume debate was *the* hot topic in the early 2000s, with Coe-style training being the flagbearer for the intensity-first proponents.
### By the mid-2000s, high mileage was crazy talk
Itâs hard to overstate how influential the *perception* of Coeâs intensity emphasis was on casual conversation about training. I was starting my running journey in the mid-2000s, and at that time, you were considered *crazy* and *reckless* if you ran even 50 miles a week. You were setting yourself up for stress fractures, burn-out, and a short careerâend of story.
American running, especially in longer distances, did not really recover until the mid 2000s, when broader access to the Internet allowed runners to hear tales of [Bob Kennedy training in Kenya](https://www.mariusbakken.com/norwegian-model-revisited.html#:~:text=Bob%20Kennedy%2C%2012%3A58%2C%20and%20the%20Kenyans), and made people realize that their 4:30 high school mile and their killer 30-mile weeks were not all that impressive.
What's funny is that *Winning Running* lays out a much more moderate view than you heard in popular discourse back in the 2000s: the charts above recommend up to 75 miles a week, and consistent aerobic training throughout the year.
### Later influences of Coe-style training
Another thing to keep in mind about Coe-style training is that it did not stop being developed when Sebastian Coe retiredâCoe-style training was a major influence on Algerian and Moroccan athletes including SaĂŻd Aouita, Hassiba Boulmerka, Nouria MĂ©rah-Benida, and Hicham El Guerrouj.
Their â**Maghrebi-style**â approach shared a focus on high-intensity training, but with more integration of fast continuous running, fast progressive tempos and refinement in interval training methods (particularly the inclusion of longer repeats of 2-3 km on the track). Unfortunately, I do not know of any comprehensive English-language resources on the later developments of Maghrebi-style training, so unfortunately, along this path the trail goes cold with Coe.
In the United States, Coe-style training took hold among mile and 800m coaches at the high school and college level via [Scott Christensen](https://www.runnersworld.com/advanced/a20815649/the-stillwater-system/), a coaching certification instructor for United States Track and Field and a longtime coach at perennial middle-distance powerhouse Stillwater High School in Minnesota, whose alumni include sub-4 milers Luke Watson, Jake Watson, Sean Graham, and Ben Blankenship. For a while, Stillwater had more sub-4 mile alumni than any other school in America.
On the American scene, Coe-style trainingâespecially for the mileâspent most of the mid-â2000s in dialogue with Daniels-style training ([***Daniels Running Formula***](https://amzn.to/3OZPI54) was first published in 1998).
Essentially, the debate was over how much threshold to include, how to balance intensity and volume, and how aggressively to periodize training. At least in terms of popularity, Daniels won out, probably because of the convenienceâDanielsâ book included ready-made schedulesârather than training efficacy per se.
### The modern view on Coe-style training
I think the modern perspective looks like this: a Coe-style approach is **absolutely viable today for the 800m**, and if you have a physiological build similar to Sebastian Coeâgood natural speed and solid results early in your career over 3000m and cross-countryâ**it *can* work for the 1500m, 1600m, and mile as well**.[\[13\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn13)
But you should be clear-eyed about its narrow utility beyond the 800m and 1500m, and should be especially careful if you arenât sure you are truly an 800m/1500m specialist. Many runners respond better to a more aerobically focused system, with higher mileage, more high-end aerobic running, and less extreme anaerobic workouts.
That said, I do sometimes see **speed-oriented milers** dragging themselves through 80-mile weeks and endless sub-threshold work with little to show for it. These runners would likely do better with a Coe-style approachâperhaps appropriately âmodernizedâ to include some additional aerobically oriented training like short fast progressive runs and long repeats on the track in the Moroccan / Algerian style.
Coeâs other major contribution, which still has relevance today, is the usefulness of **circuit training**, and the ability to incorporate its periodization into the overall training program for middle-distance runners.
My thoughts on the broader legacy of Coe-style training are very much in line with what Renato Canova had to say on this subject back in 2017:
> I can say that Sebastian was the typical example of what is the main goal of training, during the Fundamental period \[i.e. base training\]: to do everything, in order to increase the base in every direction.
>
> There is not some type of training which is wrong. Wrong are the PERCENTAGES of different type of training, that, approaching the competition season, must become more specific.
>
> In training, the most important problem is not what athletes do, but what athletes DON'T DO.
***
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## Footnotes
***
[\[1\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref1) An interesting connection here: a young Marius Bakken [was actually coached by Peter Coe](https://www.mariusbakken.com/the-norwegian-model.html#:~:text=During%20that%20period%20I%20had%20the%20father%20of%20Sebastian%20Coe%2C%20Peter%20Coe%2C%20coaching%20me.) for a while; Coeâs use of âtop-up mileage weeksâ was part of what inspired Bakken to experiment with the âblockedâ training method that eventually became his trademark double threshold approach. Bakken also ran for York High School in the Chicago suburbs; a decade earlier in 1984, [Seb Coe did his final workouts at York High School](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys-Biw4J-JY) to avoid the media spotlight in his build-up for the Olympics\!
[\[2\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref2) One flaw that *Better Training* shares with Winning Running is a total lack of actual training schedulesâdespite its immense size, *Better Training* features little more than a smattering of âsample weeksâ for a few distances.
[\[3\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref3) To be clear, I am joking\!
[\[4\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref4) Coe also coached Wendy Sly, who had won an Olympic silver medal at 3000m in 1984 under a different training program. With Coe, she finished eight at the 1987 World Championships 3000m and seventh in the 3000m at the Seoul Olympics. According to a few message board posts, Coe also briefly coached Swiss runner Peter Wirz, who competed in the heats of the 1500m in Seoul. UK readers and history buffs â please correct me if Iâm missing any other athletes.
[\[5\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref5) To me, thatâs the strongest case for [Renato Canova-style full-spectrum training](https://runningwritings.com/2023/12/percentage-based-training.html). The principles work for every event from 800m to the marathon; they worked 50 years ago and they work today; they work in speed-oriented runners and endurance-oriented runners; they work in Italy, Kenya, Ethiopia, Switzerland, Germany, and Britain.
[\[6\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref6) Though this exact quote does not actually appear in *Winning Running*.
[\[7\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref7) It is not clear to me whether Peter Coe ever used lactate testing to monitor Seb Coeâs blood lactate levels. The same table with the recommended lactate levels also includes recommended heart rates, but I am not including them since they are presented as absolute numbers (e.g. 140â160 bpm) and using such references does more harm than good, given the [wide individual variation in resting and maximal heart rate](https://runningwritings.com/2025/02/lt1-lt2-heart-rate-individual-variation.html).
[\[8\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref8) Presumably Coe means *first* lactate threshold, i.e. LT1, since thatâs the one that roughly coincides with ventilatory threshold, though the actual paces he recommendsâ(predicted) marathon pace or fasterâare more in line with the middle of [the high-end aerobic range](https://runningwritings.com/2024/08/steady-state-max-for-runners.html), between LT1 and LT2.
[\[9\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref9) One reason Coe uses so many races and time trials is to keep an up-to-date estimate of the runnerâs fitness level. He advocates using specific formulas to calculate equivalent race times; these days I would use a modern conversion table, not Coeâs ad-hoc formulas.
[\[10\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref10) An example Coe gives of a progressive acceleration workout: 200m, 220m, 240m, 260m, 280m, 300m, progressing linearly in pace from 30.0 for the 200m to 35.25 for the 300m (which is 23.5 200m pace), with equal jog recovery after each.
[\[11\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref11) If you are doing time-based circuit training you could approximate this as 30 seconds per exercise for easy exercises, and 20 seconds per exercise for hard exercises.
[\[12\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref12) Many people have hypothesized that the rise of the internet was partially responsible for kicking off the late 2000s renaissance in American distance running; itâs interesting to note that widespread internet adoption in the UK lagged the US by a few years. Over 50% of US households were connected to the internet by 2002; in the UK that same threshold was not crossed until 2006. In the US, itâs also worth keeping in mind the methodological competition both from Daniels-style training (especially after 1998) and the distinctive American thread of Bowerman/Dellinger-style mile training, which produced many of the sub-4:00 milers seen in the figure in the 1970s and 1980s.
[\[13\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref13) Good results in cross-country and the 3000m are more or less a proxy for a naturally high VO2max, and training and racing in those events is itself an excellent way to improve your VO2max. But be careful not to fool yourself: many young runners who are good at 3000m and good at cross-country are destined not for 1500m, but for the 5k, 10k, or marathon.
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Categories [Training](https://runningwritings.com/category/training)
Tags [800m](https://runningwritings.com/tag/800m), [college](https://runningwritings.com/tag/college), [high school](https://runningwritings.com/tag/high-school), [mile](https://runningwritings.com/tag/mile)
[Video: The modern approach to marathon training + how to build a training plan](https://runningwritings.com/2026/01/video-modern-approach-to-marathon-training.html)
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## About the Author
### John J. Davis, Ph.D.
I have been coaching runners and writing about training and injuries for over 12 years. I've helped complete novices, NXN-qualifying high schoolers, elite-field competitors at major marathons, and runners everywhere in between. I have a Ph.D. in Human Performance, and I do scientific research focused on the biomechanics of overuse injuries in runners. My new book on marathon training, **[Marathon Excellence for Everyone](https://amzn.to/487Vr0o)**, is now available on Amazon\!
## 2 thoughts on âCoe-style elite 800m, 1500m, and mile training from âWinning Runningââ
1. 
Dmitry Sokolov
[March 25, 2026 at 22:07](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#comment-1962)
Why are these lactate levels so high? Nowadays, for threshold workouts, around 2â3.5 mM is usually recommended.
Probably mid-distance runners have higher lactate levels than long-distance runners?
[Reply](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html?replytocom=1962#respond)
- 
John Davis
[March 25, 2026 at 22:14](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#comment-1963)
Possibly that, possibly also could be that the lactate levels are hand-wavey / ad-hoc / made up for the figure: I am not sure if Peter Coe actually ever measured Seb Coe's blood lactate levels. But I would expect mid-distance runners to have higher lactate levels, at least during high intensity intervals, simply because they can reach a higher blood lactate concentration than a 5k/10k runner.
[Reply](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html?replytocom=1963#respond)
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| Readable Markdown | If you want to understand training for middle-distance running eventsâ800m, 1500m, 1600m, mileâyou need to understand **Peter** and **Sebastian Coe**âs approach.
In the English-speaking world, **Coe-style training** absolutely dominated discussions about training in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, mostly due to the fact that Sebastian Coe, under the guidance of his father Peter, was the king of the 800m, 1500m, and mile in the 1970s and 1980s.
The analogy to [the Ingebrigtsen family](https://runningwritings.com/2025/07/kristoffer-ingebrigtsen-norwegian-single-threshold-training.html) is obvious: a father with a bold vision for training and a son with incredible talent and grit, who not only rose to the top of the sport athletically but changed the way legions of runners approach training for their event.
Both coaches borrowed heavily from a pioneering compatriotâGjert Ingebrigtsen from [Marius Bakken](https://runningwritings.com/2024/09/marius-bakken-double-threshold.html),[\[1\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn1) and Peter Coe from Frank Horwill. Like Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr, Coe also had fierce rivals: fellow Brits Steve Ovett and Steve Cram, each of whom snatched medals from Coe in dramatic fashion.
Thatâs where the similarities stop, thoughâSebastian and his father never had a falling out, and the structure of Coe-style training is almost diametrically opposite to that of Ingebrigtsen-style training.
## Coe saw middle-distance events as a game of speed endurance
To Peter Coe, the 800m and 1500m were events of *speed* and *fatigue-resistance*: developing an athleteâs 400m speed was paramount, and huge proportions of training focused on building an athleteâs ability to maintain speed in the face of enormous amounts of fatigue.
He emphasized quality above all, seeing mileage and endurance runs as a necessary evil to be done in the minimum dose possible. Coe's approach was also very âtechnicalâ: he emphasized circuits, weights, plyometrics, short sprints, diagonal cutting drills, sharp accelerations, and specific practice on sprinting the curves on the track.
All of this may sound anathema from a modern perspectiveâespecially for the 1500mâbut you need to understand that arguing against Coeâs philosophy in 1990 or 1995 meant arguing against a runner who had set 12 world records and won four Olympic medals, including back-to-back gold medals at 1500m in 1980 and 1984. Would you really tell a 1:41.73 800m runner and 3:47.33 miler that his training approach was wrong?
## *Winning Running* is the best book on Coe-style training
Sebastian Coe dominated the middle distance racing scene in the 1970s and 1980s thanks to his performances, but Peter Coe dominated the middle distance (and long distance) training scene in the 1990s and early 2000s thanks to his two books: ***Training Distance Runners*** (1991), co-authored with American physiologist David Martinâan expanded second edition was published as ***[Better Training for Distance Runners](https://amzn.to/4d5kvrd)*** in 1997âand ***[Winning Running: Successful 800m & 1500m Racing and Training](https://amzn.to/4d1Sdhd)*** (1996).
Of these books, *Winning Running* is by far the more accessible of the two. *Better Training* is a massive tome, clocking in at 435 pages (at a trim size of 8.5 x 11 inches!). *Better Training* also spends an enormous amount of time in âtextbook mode,â covering everything from the bones of the foot to the phases of the gait cycle to the role of myosin ATPase.
Riveting stuff, to me at least, but that book is now approaching 30 years old, and much of the science is outdatedânot to mention irrelevant for most coaches. The science chapters are also surely the work of David Martin, not Peter Coe. The parts of *Better Training* that *are* from Peter Coe are easy to spot, since they are an almost verbatim reproduction of material in *Winning Running*.[\[2\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn2)
So, while the topic of this article is Coe-style 800m and 1500m training, this article is also a miniature book review and summary of *Winning Running* by Peter Coe, since if you are looking for a print resource thatâs definitely the one Iâd recommend.
Iâve drawn on a few interesting examples from *Better Training* for this article, but my copy of that book has only three sad little bookmarks, indicating the pages of interest beyond whatâs already in *Winning Running*.
## *Winning Running* mini-review: a useful but flawed book
*Winning Running* is eminently approachable, at only 128 pages. Itâs technically out of print, but due to its popularity, itâs [widely available on eBay](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=winning+running+peter+coe) for \$20â30, and itâs well-worth the price. That said, *Winning Running* is far from a perfect book. If you didnât already have a background in middle-distance running, you wouldnât be able to build a complete training program from this book alone.
The flaws: *Winning Running* sometimes tends towards pontificating, with long stretches of unhelpfully broad exhortations to eat well, get sufficient sleep, maintain good posture, and attend to your flexibility with stretching exercises.
There are chapters covering the kinds of basic athletic testing that were all the rage in the 1990s: standing broad jump, sit-ups, push-ups, etc. These are, for the most part, not very useful. Goals are provided for each athletic test, but those goals always have their eyes set on (male) elite-level performanceâfor example, in the 50 meter dash, Coe says âa time slower than 6.5 seconds is a sign of weakness,â though that time is [worth about 11.7 for 100m](https://jeffchen.dev/projects/track/points-calculator/) (far faster than anyone but an elite male middle-distance runner could manage).
There is also the usual series of photos on proper running form (featuring Sebastian Coe), which seems to have been obligatory in training books from the â80s and â90sâagain, not so useful, but mercifully few pages are spent on this topic.
*Winning Running* is nowhere near as sprawling, disorganized, or intimidating as some other training books from its era, but it *is* a bit messy: the chapter titled âThe Training Programâ contains no actual training programs, nor even a sketch of one (that comes in the chapter on periodization), and later chapters on racing strategy can get repetitive as they cover exactly how 800m, 1000m, and 1500m races play out, curve-by-curve.
Peppered throughout the book, youâll find many spirited passages about the importance of a determined will, a zeal for winning, and a reverence for those few champions who stand atop the podiumâa very 20th-century quirk of athletics writing that might turn off contemporary readers, most of whom will be among the lowly also-rans like me, who typically finish in 2nd, 3rd, or even off the podiumâlacking, perhaps, in a sufficient âwill to win.â[\[3\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn3)
The obsession with toughness and competition bleeds into the training, too: regarding slow âoverdistance runsâ (what we would today just call easy to moderate mileage), Coe remarks:
> Zone 1 requires steady, over-distance runs at a relatively slow pace. Such a pace would be adequate to supply the correct physiological stimulus, but probably inadequate to condition the runner mentally for hard middle distance training and racing. Combining the two \[i.e. the physical and mental stimulus\] is important.
As a solution to this problem, Coe recommends finishing these runs fastâsometimes with the last 400 meters all-out\!
This emphasis on mental toughness and tolerance to suffering recurs in other recommended sessions too, giving you a sense of what the âvibesâ of Coe-style training were like in their heyday: not just doing workouts at fast speeds, but doing *very tough* workouts at those speeds, spending a lot of time pushing into fatigue*.*
Coe essentially analyzed the 800m and 1500m starting from the finish line: the athletes who âbrokeâ and did not win were the ones who could not buffer lactate, endure pain, and use their maximum speed. I donât think this analysis is quite correct, but it does explain a lot about why Coe training looks the way it does.
### There are no real training schedules in *Winning Running*
One of the remarkable things about older running books is their almost universal aversion to providing actual training programs. Theyâll often include a âsample weekâ or âsample training block,â but the idea that youâd buy a book and it would give you a standardized 12-week or 18-week schedule is largely a modern invention. *Winning Running* is no exception hereâyou get a few example training blocks, but no full programs and very little even in the way of examples of different types of workouts.
For me, this was the most frustrating part of the book. Even if youâre opposed to providing rigid schedules (a stance taken by [Percy Cerutty](https://runningwritings.com/2025/08/percy-cerutty-training-philosophy-for-distance-runners.html), for example), *at least* give me some typical examples of workouts in each category\!
Alas, we never get much in the way of clear workout progressions for âanaerobic capacityâ or âanaerobic conditioningâ workoutsâjust general guidelines. If you were hoping for an easy-to-follow template for your winter training as a high school or college runner, you will not find it in this book.
### This book should be called âHow I Trained Sebastian Coeâ
One cautionary note to prospective readers: to a first approximation, Sebastian Coe was the *only* international-caliber athlete Peter Coe ever coached.[\[4\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn4) That means he did not have the experience of seeing how different athletes respond differently to the same training, but it also means he had an unparalleled insight into the psychology and physiology of *one* specific athlete.
In my own coaching career Iâve thought a lot about this breadth vs. depth tradeoff, and I have a lot to say about it (at a later date), but in the context of this book, and Coe training in general, you should always mentally replace abstract statements about âathletesâ and âcoachesâ with the specifics: this perspective came out of *one* specific athlete working with *one* specific coachâhis father.
More generally, beware the âone-man plan.â Humans are storytelling creatures, so we love tales of the intrepid coach or athlete who single-handedly bested the rest with a bold new training plan, but what you should really look for are *systems* that work for different athletes, in different events, in different parts of the world, and in different eras of athletics.[\[5\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn5)
### The strongest material in *Winning Running* is the periodization advice
Despite these shortcomings, I am glad to have *Winning Running* on my shelf, for two reasons: first, the chapter on periodizing circuit training is by far the most useful print resource I have found on this often-neglected component of middle-distance training.
Second, lays out a practical approach to *annual* periodization, something almost never dealt with in other training booksârunners who train for the 800m or 1500m usually have a long spring and summer of racing, which necessitates a 12-month periodization scheme, instead of the usual 4â6-month approach for 5k and up.
One last word of praise for *Winning Running*: itâs a *very* aesthetically pleasing book. When I was preparing [Marathon Excellence for Everyone](https://marathonexcellence.com/) this past fall, I spent a lot of time on typography, layout, and figures, so I notice this sort of thing to a much greater degree than I used to.
*Winning Running*âspecifically my copy of the 2006 UK paperback reprint from Crowood Pressâhas beautiful glossy pages, a thoughtful two-column layout, sharp typography, plenty of white space, and several great photos of Peter and Sebastian Coe. Most readers wonât notice these things, but itâs a nice break from the bloated, cramped, magazine-style layout you see in contemporary running books.
***
## A detailed summary of Coe-style 800m and 1500m training
In the remainder of this article, Iâm going to do my best to summarize the Coe approach for 800m and 1500m, as presented in Coeâs books.
That last qualifier is important, because to this day there is a lot of controversy over whether Sebastian Coeâs training was truly as low-mileage and intensity-dominant as it appears to be from Peter Coeâs public writing.
Though Peter Coe famously eschewed long runsâ âlong slow runs make long slow runners,â he reportedly said[\[6\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn6)âthere were persistent rumors that Coe used much more aerobic volume at times. Renato Canova, for example, recounts this story:
> In the month of February 1988, Seb Coe was in the Italian National Center in Tirrenia, living in the Hotel Continental, together with the swiss runner \[Peter\] Wirz. He remained in Tirrenia for almost 4 weeks.
>
> One time, he asked if I could follow him, the next day, with a car (he didn't have any car there, because the center and the forest were very near), because his plan was to run 30 km \[18.6 mi\] on road, going till Pisa and coming back.
>
> I followed them with the minibus of the Italian Center. He ran at a pace of 3'22" per km \[5:25/mi\], finishing in 1 h 41'.
Which is quite far from the âCoe-styleâ training as received by the public! In his books, Coe does not exactly disavow mileage and long fast runs entirely, but I wouldnât blame you if you got that impression. For example, regarding what most runners think of as âbase training,â Coe says the following:
> While, at a slower pace, mileage volume is necessary to establish a sound cardiorespiratory base, it should be limited to being just enough to achieve its aim and no more.
And later in the book, Coe remarks, âwould-be champions cannot afford too much slow road miles or go-as-you-please.â
So, what youâre getting here is *by-the-book* Coe training, for better or worse, not speculation.
## Coe-style year-round periodization for the 800m and mile
Coe-style training is oriented towards runners who use 12-month periodization schemes. In *Winning Running*, Coe lays out the annual plan, which involves six phases of training:
**Coe-style 12-month periodization**
| Phase | Focus | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Rest | 4 weeks |
| Phase 2 | Transition | 8 weeks |
| Phase 3 | Preparation | 21 weeks |
| Phase 4 | Pre-competition | 5 weeks |
| Phase 5 | Early competition | 8 weeks |
| Phase 6 | Main competition / peaking | 6 weeks |
Now, most middle-distance runners arenât going to be on the European circuit in August. Hereâs how I would modify this scheme for a more typical high school, college, or club season thatâs more focused on late spring and early summer:
**Spring-focused 12-month periodization**
| Period | Phase |
|---|---|
| July | Phase 1 - Rest |
| August â September | Phase 2 - Transition |
| October â February | Phase 3 - Preparation |
| February â mid-March | Phase 4 - Pre-competition |
| Mid-March â mid-May | Phase 5 - Early competition |
| Mid-May â June | Phase 6 - Main competition / peaking |
Here's what that periodization scheme looks like visually:
Itâs pretty obvious that this strategy amounts to spending **a *huge* proportion of the year in Phase 3âPreparation**. Thatâs where the real bulk of the work is done. Note also that Phase 1 really does mean *rest*: Coe wants you doing no strength or endurance training at allânot even a vigorous game of tennis.
For my part, I am opposed to long periods of total rest in most cases, moreso because of the biomechanical effects than any physiological effects. Long periods of inactivity lead to a deterioration in bone strength and tendon resilience, so paradoxically, rest can cause injury! But there can be a difference between taking time off from *running* and taking time off from *training*.
Another relevant issue for modern audiences is how to compress this annual periodization into a more typical winter-to-spring season. Hereâs my best attempt, cutting everything approximately in half:
**Six-month Coe-style periodization**
| Phase | Focus | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Rest | 2 weeks |
| Phase 2 | Transition | 4 weeks |
| Phase 3 | Preparation | 10 weeks |
| Phase 4 | Pre-competition | 3 weeks |
| Phase 5 | Early competition | 4 weeks |
| Phase 6 | Main competition / peaking | 3 weeks |
And hereâs a calendar layout:
| Period | Phase |
|---|---|
| Mid-Nov â early Dec | Rest |
| Dec | Transition |
| Jan â mid-March | Preparation |
| Mid-March â early April | Pre-competition |
| Early April â late April | Early competition |
| Early May â mid-May | Main competition / peaking |
Or, visually:
### Distribution of volume and intensity in each phase of Coe-style training
One of the most helpful things in *Winning Running* is a table of â**training units**â in the various different zones of intensity that Coe advocates. To Coe, a âunitâ of training is a relative measure of the workout volume or difficulty, not a static number (so itâs not like one unit always equals, say, five miles).
Coe gives a few examples: 4 x 1600m at 5k pace equals one unit of work, and 6â8 x 800m at 3k pace also equals one unit of work. However, 4 x 1600m at 5k pace plus several speed drills and fast 200m and 300m repeats counts as two units because it increases the [physiological training load](https://runningwritings.com/2025/10/physiological-training-load-for-runners.html) of the session.
Beyond this example, Coe does not give further examples on what volume of work should equal âone unitâ at various paces (aside from an example of an 8-mile run as being one unit of basic endurance work). In fact, he even signposts the fact that he *isnât* defining one unit:
> Each coach will have to decide the volume of work that makes up a unit for each type of training. If, for a distance runner, a dayâs training session is 12 miles (19 km) of steady running then what distance at what pace constitutes a unit? And how many short recovery fast 200m repetitions are there in this type of session?
As a reader, you are expecting these rhetorical questions to be followed by a paragraph or a table explaining the answer, but unfortunately, these answers never come.
My mental model is that a ânormal workoutâ at a given pace should be one unit, while a significantly harder workout should be two units. That does just kick that can down the road when it comes to deciding on the specifics of workouts at different points.
In terms of workout types, Coe outlines four different **zones**, or categories of workout. Do note that within each zone there can be multiple types of workouts, and **these zones are emphatically *not*** [**the âzonesâ of modern exercise physiology**](https://runningwritings.com/2025/02/lt1-lt2-heart-rate-zone-science.html). Coeâs zones are:
**Zone 1:** Aerobic conditioning
**Zone 2:** Anaerobic conditioning (a.k.a. âlactate / ventilatory thresholdâ)
**Zone 3:** Aerobic capacity training (10k pace to 3k pace)
**Zone 4:** Anaerobic capacity training (1500m pace to 400m pace or faster)
Weâll dive into the specifics on these zones in a moment.
Helpfully, Coe *does* give some total unit and total mileage guidelines alongside the workload distribution. I find it most useful to sketch out Coeâs distribution of units in each phase to get a better sense of his periodization scheme:
Partially-shaded squares (the semi-transparent ones) represent a range, e.g. in the early part of the preparation phase, you can use 4-5 units of aerobic conditioning per week.
Rememberâ**one unit is not always one training session**! A particularly tough workout could be worth two units, and an extremely tough workout could even be three.
Youâll notice that Coe-style training does largely follow Renato Canovaâs maximââTraining is to ADD, not to REPLACEââand the most noticeable facet of the periodization approach is the very heavy emphasis on intensive interval work (Zones 3 and 4) later on in training.
Hereâs what the *total* number of âunitsâ of running training looks like throughout the year:
Again, semi-shaded regions represent a range. Hereâs a similar plot for mileage:
And again, keep in mind that all of these guidelines are (a) for an elite male 800m/1500m runner, and (b) are very obviously âidealizedâ as opposed to being drawn from any particular year of Seb Coeâs training.
## Details on Coeâs workout zones for mid-distance training
As noted above, Coe defines four zones of workout types, each with different physiological purposes and workout types.
### Zone 1: Aerobic conditioning
Zone 1 is **basic mileage**â âsteady over-distance runs at a relatively slow pace.â Relative here is relative to race pace; his recommendations (again, implicitly for a 1:41 / 3:29 runner like Sebastian) are still quite brisk: 6:00â6:15/mi (3:45â3:55/km) for long runs of up to 12 miles (19 km), and 5:30/mi (3:25/km) for runs of 6-8 mi (10â13 km). As for lactate levels in these sessions, a table recommends a range of 2.0â3.5 mM.[\[7\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn7)
### Zone 2: Anaerobic conditioning
Despite the label âanaerobic conditioningâ, Coeâs Zone 2 is basically **threshold or sub-threshold training**âand in fact, one table describes it as âventilatory threshold / lactate threshold.â[\[8\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn8) For these workouts, Coe recommends **short continuous runs of 5â8 km** (3â5 mi)âat 5:00/mi (3:05/km), for Sebastianâor in some cases **tempo runs of 15â20 minutes**, or long interval workouts.
Regarding these long interval workouts, Coe does not elaborate much, other than noting that the recovery should not be too short, pointing to the older interval methods developed by Gerschler and Reindell in Germany, who believed that it was the magnitude of increase in heart rate during the repeat that provided the physiological stimulus. If youâve heard guidelines like âtake enough recovery to let your heart rate get down to 120 bpm,â thatâs motivated by the same idea.
Despite the lack of specifics, it is not hard to impute some general guidelines, since Coeâs approach is very systematic: faster speeds use shorter repeats, and each phase is non-overlapping.
So, based on the Zone 3 guidelines below, a reasonable place to start with these faster Zone 2 workouts would be **repeats of 5â10 minutes** at (predicted!) **half-marathon to 10k pace**, with a few minutes of recovery. These imputed guidelines map quite well onto Coeâs recommended lactate levels for these sessions: 3.5â5.0 mM.
### Zone 3: Aerobic capacity
Zone 3 is pretty close to classical VO2max work: **repeats of** **800m to 3000m in length** (or 2 min to 8 min in duration), the equivalent pace ranges from **3k pace** (for shorter reps) to **10k pace** (for longer reps), and lactate guidelines are 5.0â8.0 mM. Interval work-to-rest ratios range from 1:1 for shorter reps (e.g. 2 minutes at 3k pace, 2 minutes of rest) to 2:1 for longer reps (8 min at 10k pace, 4 min rest).
Clearly, this is quite a wide range of speeds, so Zone 3 (and also Zone 4) is better thought of as a family of workout types, versus one workout category.
### Zone 4: Anaerobic capacity
Zone 4 is the classic hard interval work that Coe is best-known for. It involves **repeats of 200m to 1000m in length** (or 30 sec to 2 min in duration), at speeds from **800m to 1500m race pace**, with work-to-rest ratios of 1:3 (for faster speeds) and 1:2 (for slower speeds). Target lactate levels are 8.0 to 9.0 mM or more.
Coe particularly emphasizes the âhard, repeatable 400m speedâ that he sees as *the* definitive mark of a strong middle-distance runnerâworkouts like 4â6 Ă 400m at 800m race pace with (presumably) several minutes of recoveryâan extraordinarily difficult workout, to be sure. The analogous 1500m is obvious: the classic 8â10 Ă 400m at 1500m or mile pace with a minute or two of rest.
Note also that Coe briefly discusses using **true sprint training** (400m pace and faster) and lumps it into this category as well, though without further details.
## Comparing Coeâs zones and Horwillâs multi-tier, multi-pace system
I noted above that Coe-style training is essentially a variant of Frank Horwillâs multi-tier / multi-pace system (also known as the **five-pace system**)âand there is in fact a chapter in *Winning Running* titled âMulti-Tier, Multi-Pace Training.â
Horwillâs original system (which I do not recommend for any event) identifies **five key paces** for the miler: 400m pace, 800m pace, 1500m/mile pace, 3000m pace, and 5000m pace. Sessions at *all* of these paces are worked into a typical 12â14-day training block. Coe provides the following example schedule, presumably from at least the pre-competitive phase:[\[9\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn9)
| Day | Workout |
|---|---|
| 1 | 4 Ă 1500m at 5k pace |
| 2 | Fartlek (by feel, no parameters) |
| 3 | 8 Ă 800m at 3k pace |
| 4 | Road run |
| 5 | 16 Ă 200m at 1500m/mile pace |
| 6 | Rest or fartlek |
| 7 | Race or time trial |
| 8 | 4â6 Ă 400m at 800m pace |
| 9 | Road run |
| 10 | 2 Ă 300m + 4 Ă 200m + 4 Ă 100m at 400m pace |
| 11 | Fartlek |
| 12 | Time trial, race, or any five-pace workout |
In *Better Training*, Coe gives a few additional examples of five-pace workouts:
- 3 Ă 2000m at 5k pace
- 3 x 1200m + 2 Ă 800m + 2 Ă 400m at 5k pace, noting that this workout is often done faster later on in the season
- 16â30 Ă 200m at 1500m pace
- 10 Ă 400m at 1500m pace
- 1000m + 800m + 600m + 400m at 1500m pace
- 6â9 Ă 300m at 800m pace
- 4 Ă 300m + 4 Ă 200m at 400m pace
- 300m + 2 Ă 200m + 4 Ă 100m + 8 Ă 60m at 400m pace
And Coe also includes some sample two-week blocks from Seb Coe's schoolboy days showing similar workouts, often done back-to-back on consecutive days with no rest or fartlek in between.
Three things to notice:
1. This is really hard training\!
2. It does hit all five paces in 12 days
3. There is quite a discrepancy between this example training block and whatâs depicted in the periodization scheme above: there is no âZone 2â (high-end aerobic / threshold) training listed at all\!
Nevertheless, Coe repeatedly used this example training block in his public work; it also appears in *Better Training for Distance Runners*, and (according to a message board poster) in Peter Coeâs USATF Level III coaching certification lecture notes as well.
Some sources online claim that Coe only put in place the full Horwill-style five-pace system in the spring and summer, removing some of the very tough 3000m pace work and replacing it with more circuit training, fartlek, and hill workouts, which is believableâlater chapters in *Winning Running* detail a number of hill workout variants that donât appear anywhere in this or other example training blocks.
As an asideâitâs hard to over-emphasize [how crazy âfull-blastâ Horwill training really is](https://web.archive.org/web/20160308003318/http:/www.serpentine.org.uk/pages/advice_frank15.html). Just take a look at that linked plan, [or this one for 5k](https://web.archive.org/web/20160307230110/http:/www.serpentine.org.uk/pages/advice_frank08.html). There are still high schools in the United States that train like this! Even the super-intense Coe example above is more toned-down than these Horwill programs. However, Coe and Horwill share the same physiological logic driving their training approach. From Coe:
> It has been proposed that the training can be based on the aerobic and anaerobic content of the event. For example, if the event has a 60/40 ratio then the training would be 60 per cent aerobic and 40 per cent anaerobic work. This would not suit everyone. Firstly it ignores where and how the major difficulties arise in the race and what the training sessions should be to meet these demands in world-class performances.
That latter point sounds like a hedge, but Coe actually uses it to argue that *more* training needs to be dedicated to very hard anaerobic work, since pushing into fatigue is, to him, the greatest obstacle to better performance:
> Whatever the overall aerobic and anaerobic split might be, it is built up with changing and sometimes repeated sudden demands for anaerobic power well above the mean and *the training must equip the athlete to meet these peak demands.*
Hence Coeâs emphasis on technical race-specific work like practicing sprinting on curves, rapid accelerations, repeated-sprint workouts, etc.
Compare this logic with [Horwill](https://web.archive.org/web/20160307230110/http:/www.serpentine.org.uk/pages/advice_frank08.html):
> The Nobel Prize winning physiologist, A.V. Hill, analysed the 5km event in 1932 as being 80% aerobic and 20% anaerobic. This means that given 10 training sessions, eight of them would be aerobic and two would be anaerobic. Not only do we have to define those terms, we must also decide which types of running included in those descriptions are going to be the most beneficial. Aerobic running ranges from jogging (100% aerobic) to 3km speed (60% aerobic - 100% VO2 max).
>
> The first may be running at 12:00 / mile, while the second may be at 4:16 / mile. A big difference - but both are covered by the description - aerobic.
To be clear: **this is completely wrong**âand not only because [the aerobic/anaerobic percentages are off](https://runningwritings.com/2025/01/aerobic-vs-anaerobic-contributions-in-running.html). Horwill (and Coe) have an oversimplified view of what counts as âaerobicâ (e.g. above, 8x800m at 3000m race pace is an âaerobic workoutâ). But again, Iâm providing this information so you know where the rationale comes from, not because I agree with it.
## I know it feels like Iâm leaving you hanging
This is the part of the article where Iâd like to write about some example workouts at each pace, the total workout volume, and how to progress the workouts over time. You might also like to know how to integrate some of the more advanced training techniques Coe describes in later chapters, like diagonal sprinting drills, hill workouts, and progressive acceleration workouts.[\[10\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn10)
But I canât write about any of those things, because they arenât in any of his books! I think this is why Coe-style training turned into the monster it did, because all people had to go on was one or two example blocks from the best middle-distance runner in the world. Should a 16-year-old 5:00 miler be doing 8 Ă 800m at 3k race pace? Well, in most cases I donât think so, but then again, none of my athletes have been to the OlympicsâŠ
Before concluding, allow me to cover the one other aspect of Coe-style training that *is* well-documented and often neglected by other coaching resources, which is structuring and periodizing circuit training.
## Coe-style circuit training for middle-distance runners
Iâve written previously (*very* previously) about the [physiological and scientific justifications for doing circuit training](https://runningwritings.com/2015/08/designing-general-strength-circuit-for.html). This is one thing that, perhaps by intuition or just plain luck, Coe pretty much nailed. Coe-style circuit training is very much in line with what the science recommends in terms of an optimal structure: whole-body, high-intensity, and involving at least ten minutes of active muscle work.
Circuit training is especially useful for 800m and 1500m runners because these events are so dominated by pushing into localized muscular fatigue in the second half of the race. Circuit training essentially acts as a âgeneralâ base for the more race-specific speed endurance work later on in training.
### Guidelines for Coe-style circuit training
Circuit training, in short, involves a series of strength exercises done one after another, with little or no rest in between. Coe recommends doing these sessions with the following parameters:
**Reps per exercise:** half the number of reps you can perform in 60 seconds (for easy exercise) or in 45 seconds (for hard exercises)[\[11\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn11)
**Number of unique exercises:** 5â12, depending on the athleteâs experience level and the target difficulty of the circuit workout
**Time between exercises:** 15 seconds or less
**Recovery between sets:** equal to the duration of the trip through the circuit (i.e. 1:1)
**Sets (number of complete trips through the circuit):** 2â5 depending on difficulty
**Gradations of difficulty:** There are three âlevelsâ of circuit workouts: easy, medium, or hard
### Examples of easy, medium, and hard circuit routines
Itâs easier to see these principles in action:
| Easy Circuit |
|---|
| 2â3 sets, equal duration rest after each set, 20â30 sec per exercise\* |
| Back extensions |
| Bent knee sit-ups |
| Push-ups |
| Frog jumps |
| Pull-ups |
| \* or 0.5 Ă (max number of reps doable in 45â60 seconds) |
| Medium Circuit |
|---|
| 3â4 sets, equal duration rest after each set, 20â30 sec per exercise\* |
| Tricep dips |
| Back extensions |
| Bent knee sit-ups with twist |
| Burpees |
| Leg raise |
| Rope climb |
| Pull-ups |
| \* or 0.5 Ă (max number of reps doable in 45â60 seconds) |
| Hard Circuit |
|---|
| 4â5 sets, equal duration rest after each set, 20â30 sec per exercise\* |
| Tricep dips |
| Roman chair back extension |
| Bent knee sit-ups on incline |
| Push-ups with feet elevated |
| Frog jumps |
| Burpees |
| Leg raise |
| Rope climb |
| Dumbbell step-ups |
| \* or 0.5 Ă (max number of reps doable in 45â60 seconds) |
*Winning Running* also briefly covers weight training and [plyometrics for runners](https://runningwritings.com/2014/11/building-plyometrics-program-for.html), but not in sufficient detail or sufficient quality by modern standards to be useful (in my opinion at least). These lifting sessions can be categorized as light, medium, or heavy, based on the maximum weight used. Coe provides essentially no guidance on how to incorporate plyometrics.
Coe also separately details âstage training,â an equipment-free variant of circuit training amenable to being done while traveling, which he suggests is useful to incorporate even at homeâIâm omitting these; I think modern [John Cook style circuits](https://runningwritings.com/2015/08/designing-general-strength-circuit-for.html) are superior when you donât have access to a gym.
### Periodizing strength training for middle-distance runners
Coe provides guidelines for how to structure strength training within the broader schedule. Below, Iâve synthesized a table that mostly follows his recommendations, both for an âeasierâ strength progression for less-experienced runners and a âharderâ strength progression for more experienced runners. Note that Iâve swapped in circuit training instead of stage training in a few places. Again, this matches the annual periodization scheme laid out earlier.
**Easier strength training progression for middle-distance runners**
| Month | Phase | Weekly Strength Training |
|---|---|---|
| Jul | Rest | None |
| Aug | Transition | One easy circuit |
| Sep | Transition | One easy circuit, one hard circuit |
| Oct | Preparation | Two hard circuits |
| Nov | Preparation | One moderate circuit, one medium lift |
| Dec | Preparation | One moderate circuit, one heavy lift |
| Jan | Preparation | One heavy lift |
| Feb | Preparation | One medium lift, one easy circuit |
| Mar | Pre-competition | One light lift or one easy circuit |
| Apr | Early competition | One easy circuit |
| May | Early competition | None |
| Jun | Main competition | None |
**Harder strength progression for middle-distance runners**
| Month | Phase | Strength Training |
|---|---|---|
| Jul | Rest | None |
| Aug | Transition | One easy circuit, one light lift |
| Sep | Transition | One medium circuit, one medium lift |
| Oct | Preparation | Two easy circuits, one medium lift |
| Nov | Preparation | One medium circuit, one heavy lift |
| Dec | Preparation | One medium circuit, one medium or heavy lift |
| Jan | Preparation | One easy circuit, one heavy lift |
| Feb | Preparation | One medium circuit or one medium lift |
| Mar | Pre-competition | One easy circuit or one medium lift |
| Apr | Early competition | One easy circuit or one easy lift |
| May | Early competition | One light lift |
| Jun | Main competition | None |
***
## Is Coe-style training viable for runners today?
The reason Iâve dug out my copies of Peter Coeâs books is that Iâve been coaching more 800m and 1500m runners recently, and as I noted at the beginning, you ignore a two-time Olympic champion at your own peril.
Nevertheless, Iâd be remiss not to give some historical context on what happened when Coe-style training became popular in the US and UK during the 1990s and early 2000s.
The story is, most charitably, a very mixed bag: compared with the â80s, when higher-volume aerobically oriented training had greater purchase among top-level runners, the â90s and â00s were not a bastion of middle-distance excellence in either country.
The plot below shows elite-level menâs 800m / 1500m / mile (1:48.00 / 3:43.00 / 4:00.00) performances in the US and UK every year since 1970. Performances, especially at 1500m / one mile, got somewhat worse in the â90s, and the drop occurred earlier and longer in the UK as compared with the US, where there was more methodological competition.[\[12\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn12)
Thatâs exactly what youâd expect given that Coe-style training (and its sibling, Horwillâs five-pace system) had greater cultural purchase in the UK. And the fact that the drop-off was more noticeable in the more aerobic 1500m and mile than the more anaerobic 800m is further evidence that the lower-volume, higher-intensity Coe approach may leave distance-oriented runners underdeveloped.
Iâve shaded two regions here: 1991â1997, spanning the time between the release of the first and the second edition of *Training Distance Runners* / *Better Training for Distance Runners*, and the supershoe era (2020âPresent).
[High school times in the US](https://runningwritings.com/2012/07/brief-thoughts-rise-fall-and-resurgence.html) show a similar aerobic/anaerobic trendâhereâs sub-4:10 miles and sub-9:00 two-miles (which are roughly equivalent performances) by high school boys over time in the United States.
I wouldn't necessarily blame Coe-style training for all or even most of this decline. But clearly it did not revolutionize middle-distance training for all runners, and the intensity-versus-volume debate was *the* hot topic in the early 2000s, with Coe-style training being the flagbearer for the intensity-first proponents.
### By the mid-2000s, high mileage was crazy talk
Itâs hard to overstate how influential the *perception* of Coeâs intensity emphasis was on casual conversation about training. I was starting my running journey in the mid-2000s, and at that time, you were considered *crazy* and *reckless* if you ran even 50 miles a week. You were setting yourself up for stress fractures, burn-out, and a short careerâend of story.
American running, especially in longer distances, did not really recover until the mid 2000s, when broader access to the Internet allowed runners to hear tales of [Bob Kennedy training in Kenya](https://www.mariusbakken.com/norwegian-model-revisited.html#:~:text=Bob%20Kennedy%2C%2012%3A58%2C%20and%20the%20Kenyans), and made people realize that their 4:30 high school mile and their killer 30-mile weeks were not all that impressive.
What's funny is that *Winning Running* lays out a much more moderate view than you heard in popular discourse back in the 2000s: the charts above recommend up to 75 miles a week, and consistent aerobic training throughout the year.
### Later influences of Coe-style training
Another thing to keep in mind about Coe-style training is that it did not stop being developed when Sebastian Coe retiredâCoe-style training was a major influence on Algerian and Moroccan athletes including SaĂŻd Aouita, Hassiba Boulmerka, Nouria MĂ©rah-Benida, and Hicham El Guerrouj.
Their â**Maghrebi-style**â approach shared a focus on high-intensity training, but with more integration of fast continuous running, fast progressive tempos and refinement in interval training methods (particularly the inclusion of longer repeats of 2-3 km on the track). Unfortunately, I do not know of any comprehensive English-language resources on the later developments of Maghrebi-style training, so unfortunately, along this path the trail goes cold with Coe.
In the United States, Coe-style training took hold among mile and 800m coaches at the high school and college level via [Scott Christensen](https://www.runnersworld.com/advanced/a20815649/the-stillwater-system/), a coaching certification instructor for United States Track and Field and a longtime coach at perennial middle-distance powerhouse Stillwater High School in Minnesota, whose alumni include sub-4 milers Luke Watson, Jake Watson, Sean Graham, and Ben Blankenship. For a while, Stillwater had more sub-4 mile alumni than any other school in America.
On the American scene, Coe-style trainingâespecially for the mileâspent most of the mid-â2000s in dialogue with Daniels-style training ([***Daniels Running Formula***](https://amzn.to/3OZPI54) was first published in 1998).
Essentially, the debate was over how much threshold to include, how to balance intensity and volume, and how aggressively to periodize training. At least in terms of popularity, Daniels won out, probably because of the convenienceâDanielsâ book included ready-made schedulesârather than training efficacy per se.
### The modern view on Coe-style training
I think the modern perspective looks like this: a Coe-style approach is **absolutely viable today for the 800m**, and if you have a physiological build similar to Sebastian Coeâgood natural speed and solid results early in your career over 3000m and cross-countryâ**it *can* work for the 1500m, 1600m, and mile as well**.[\[13\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftn13)
But you should be clear-eyed about its narrow utility beyond the 800m and 1500m, and should be especially careful if you arenât sure you are truly an 800m/1500m specialist. Many runners respond better to a more aerobically focused system, with higher mileage, more high-end aerobic running, and less extreme anaerobic workouts.
That said, I do sometimes see **speed-oriented milers** dragging themselves through 80-mile weeks and endless sub-threshold work with little to show for it. These runners would likely do better with a Coe-style approachâperhaps appropriately âmodernizedâ to include some additional aerobically oriented training like short fast progressive runs and long repeats on the track in the Moroccan / Algerian style.
Coeâs other major contribution, which still has relevance today, is the usefulness of **circuit training**, and the ability to incorporate its periodization into the overall training program for middle-distance runners.
My thoughts on the broader legacy of Coe-style training are very much in line with what Renato Canova had to say on this subject back in 2017:
> I can say that Sebastian was the typical example of what is the main goal of training, during the Fundamental period \[i.e. base training\]: to do everything, in order to increase the base in every direction.
>
> There is not some type of training which is wrong. Wrong are the PERCENTAGES of different type of training, that, approaching the competition season, must become more specific.
>
> In training, the most important problem is not what athletes do, but what athletes DON'T DO.
***
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## Footnotes
***
[\[1\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref1) An interesting connection here: a young Marius Bakken [was actually coached by Peter Coe](https://www.mariusbakken.com/the-norwegian-model.html#:~:text=During%20that%20period%20I%20had%20the%20father%20of%20Sebastian%20Coe%2C%20Peter%20Coe%2C%20coaching%20me.) for a while; Coeâs use of âtop-up mileage weeksâ was part of what inspired Bakken to experiment with the âblockedâ training method that eventually became his trademark double threshold approach. Bakken also ran for York High School in the Chicago suburbs; a decade earlier in 1984, [Seb Coe did his final workouts at York High School](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys-Biw4J-JY) to avoid the media spotlight in his build-up for the Olympics\!
[\[2\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref2) One flaw that *Better Training* shares with Winning Running is a total lack of actual training schedulesâdespite its immense size, *Better Training* features little more than a smattering of âsample weeksâ for a few distances.
[\[3\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref3) To be clear, I am joking\!
[\[4\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref4) Coe also coached Wendy Sly, who had won an Olympic silver medal at 3000m in 1984 under a different training program. With Coe, she finished eight at the 1987 World Championships 3000m and seventh in the 3000m at the Seoul Olympics. According to a few message board posts, Coe also briefly coached Swiss runner Peter Wirz, who competed in the heats of the 1500m in Seoul. UK readers and history buffs â please correct me if Iâm missing any other athletes.
[\[5\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref5) To me, thatâs the strongest case for [Renato Canova-style full-spectrum training](https://runningwritings.com/2023/12/percentage-based-training.html). The principles work for every event from 800m to the marathon; they worked 50 years ago and they work today; they work in speed-oriented runners and endurance-oriented runners; they work in Italy, Kenya, Ethiopia, Switzerland, Germany, and Britain.
[\[6\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref6) Though this exact quote does not actually appear in *Winning Running*.
[\[7\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref7) It is not clear to me whether Peter Coe ever used lactate testing to monitor Seb Coeâs blood lactate levels. The same table with the recommended lactate levels also includes recommended heart rates, but I am not including them since they are presented as absolute numbers (e.g. 140â160 bpm) and using such references does more harm than good, given the [wide individual variation in resting and maximal heart rate](https://runningwritings.com/2025/02/lt1-lt2-heart-rate-individual-variation.html).
[\[8\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref8) Presumably Coe means *first* lactate threshold, i.e. LT1, since thatâs the one that roughly coincides with ventilatory threshold, though the actual paces he recommendsâ(predicted) marathon pace or fasterâare more in line with the middle of [the high-end aerobic range](https://runningwritings.com/2024/08/steady-state-max-for-runners.html), between LT1 and LT2.
[\[9\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref9) One reason Coe uses so many races and time trials is to keep an up-to-date estimate of the runnerâs fitness level. He advocates using specific formulas to calculate equivalent race times; these days I would use a modern conversion table, not Coeâs ad-hoc formulas.
[\[10\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref10) An example Coe gives of a progressive acceleration workout: 200m, 220m, 240m, 260m, 280m, 300m, progressing linearly in pace from 30.0 for the 200m to 35.25 for the 300m (which is 23.5 200m pace), with equal jog recovery after each.
[\[11\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref11) If you are doing time-based circuit training you could approximate this as 30 seconds per exercise for easy exercises, and 20 seconds per exercise for hard exercises.
[\[12\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref12) Many people have hypothesized that the rise of the internet was partially responsible for kicking off the late 2000s renaissance in American distance running; itâs interesting to note that widespread internet adoption in the UK lagged the US by a few years. Over 50% of US households were connected to the internet by 2002; in the UK that same threshold was not crossed until 2006. In the US, itâs also worth keeping in mind the methodological competition both from Daniels-style training (especially after 1998) and the distinctive American thread of Bowerman/Dellinger-style mile training, which produced many of the sub-4:00 milers seen in the figure in the 1970s and 1980s.
[\[13\]](https://runningwritings.com/2026/03/coe-elite-800m-1500m-mile-training.html#_ftnref13) Good results in cross-country and the 3000m are more or less a proxy for a naturally high VO2max, and training and racing in those events is itself an excellent way to improve your VO2max. But be careful not to fool yourself: many young runners who are good at 3000m and good at cross-country are destined not for 1500m, but for the 5k, 10k, or marathon.
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