There’s undoubtedly room for enchancment,” displays European Championships 400m silver medallist Charlie Dobson. It’s not a criticism of his latest 44.38 lifetime greatest efficiency – he says he ran ‘an excellent race’ in Rome – however a delicate acknowledgement that there’s potential to go faster.
“I feel the most important factor for me remains to be studying easy methods to run the 400m. Trying again on the splits [11.13, 21.52, 32.38, 44.38 in Rome] there’s undoubtedly nonetheless lots of room for enchancment in the way in which we method the race and the way in which we set it up, however that’s one thing I’ll determine.”
Like so many nice tales, the intrigue is within the unknown.
Dobson, ranked fifth on the UK all-time listing, remains to be comparatively new to this recreation. A 200m silver medallist on the 2018 World U20 Championships, the Colchester athlete was persuaded to tackle the 400m by his former coach (Benke Blomkvist) and fellow athletes and made his debut on the 2020 Loughborough August Invitational with 45.84.
His present CV is spectacular: 4x400m gold and fourth within the 200m on the 2022 European Athletics Championships; 4x400m bronze on the 2023 World Athletics Championships; and 400m silver on the 2024 Europeans in solely his eighth race over the space. He missed the delayed Tokyo Olympic Video games in 2021 attributable to a stress fracture in his shin, however making his Olympic debut in Paris is certainly a silver lining.
Charlie Dobson (Getty)
Now in his first yr as a full-time athlete – he graduated with a first-class diploma in aeronautical engineering final summer season – and simply 9 months after linking up with coach Leon Baptiste, Dobson’s potential has nonetheless not been totally realised.
“When it comes to coaching, that is the primary yr I’ve targeted extra on the 400m than the 200m,” says the 24-year-old. “We’re actually additional forward than I assumed I’d be in the beginning of the season, however there are clearly issues to work on within the race to enhance additional, like pushing out more durable.
“We practice extra like a 200m/400m sprinter. That’s the method Leon wished to take and it’s clearly paid off to date, with the ability to retain my velocity but additionally engaged on the power endurance a part of it. I by no means actually did an excessive amount of of that beforehand in order that’s had an enormous affect.
“Having the time to relaxation and get better and never having exams to do, particularly at the moment of yr, has additionally made an enormous distinction.”
Expertise is all the things and Dobson has benefited from a crash course in 400m working in 2024. His 44.46 in Savona (Italy) in Could – a private greatest on the time by half a second – taught him so much about his bodily and psychological capabilities as he made his last preparations for the European Championships and appears forward to the remainder of the summer season.
Charlie Dobson (Chiara Montesano)
“I feel I’ve discovered alternative ways to method every race mentally,” he says. “I used to be going into the unknown in Savona because it was my first race of the season. I wasn’t sceptical, however I used to be unaware of what I may run. I discovered so much from that day and it actually boosted my confidence going into Rome. I assumed: ‘I do know I can do that now as a result of I’ve achieved it beforehand’.
“I feel getting used to racing and getting extra assured racing is a large factor. The primary time you do something you’re pretty tentative with it, particularly for large races and massive competitions, however now I’ve proved to myself that I can run these occasions – and going into the British Champs and hopefully Paris – I feel that’s going to be of big profit to me.”
Coaching takes place within the morning and is adopted by prehab workout routines for power and damage prevention.
“With Leon we’re very adaptable, so the classes can change relying on how the physique is feeling,” says Dobson, who can also be a eager golfer and photographer.
Charlie Dobson (Mark Shearman)
Monday: quick velocity/acceleration work (for instance, blocks to twenty/30/40m x 2 every) adopted by longer runs on the curved (self-powered) treadmill (for instance, 30sec efforts) or on grass in early winter (for instance, 250m/300m reps); gymnasium session
Tuesday: lively restoration with concentrate on mobility, hurdle mobility work, core power and medication ball throws
Wednesday: tempo session comparable to longer runs of as much as round 80 per cent effort (in middle-distance spikes or trainers) on observe, grass or curved treadmill “relying on how everyone seems to be feeling”. For instance, 250m plus 4x100m with stroll again restoration between reps. Concentrate on type.
Thursday: relaxation day
Friday: concentrate on technical work. For instance, working over wickets and dealing on stride patterns and frequency. “It’s not about growing stride size for me, however engaged on decreasing my stride size and placing my foot down earlier,” says Dobson. “We recognized a difficulty the place my foot would get away from me and I’d land very early which was placing an enormous quantity of stress via my hamstrings. We do lots of work on decreasing how a lot my foot kicks out on entrance of me, so I’ve discovered wickets actually helpful for that.” Wickets adopted by sooner runs as much as 300m/350m in spikes (at round 90-95 per cent effort), then gymnasium session.
Saturday: lively restoration (as Tuesday)
Sunday: relaxation day
READ MORE: AW’s how they practice articles
Favorite session: “Something with aggressive blocks in it. After I see that on the programme I feel: ‘Yeah, it’s going to be a superb day!’ They’re solely ever 30-40m most, but it surely’s one of many few possibilities in coaching that you just get to correctly hit a run and also you get an additional hit of adrenaline, particularly while you’re doing it alongside a few of your coaching companions. It’s simply good enjoyable.”
Least favorite session: “We did a barely longer tempo session and we completed with a 500m (after a typical speed-endurance session). We began on the 100m mark and I received to 400m considering: ‘We’ve nonetheless received an entire lap to do!’ That one harm.”
» This characteristic first appeared within the July difficulty of AW journal. Subscribe right here
