Speedwork with Canadian 800m champ Maddy Kelly

Check out this killer workout she did leading up to her recent PB performance

Photo by: Maxine Gravina

Brittany Hambleton May 4, 2021

Canada’s reigning 800m champ Madeleine Kelly has been having a killer couple of weeks. Two weekends ago she competed at the USATF Grand Prix, and although she raced in what was supposed to be the slower of the two 800m runs that night, she ran the fastest time of the evening in 2:02.87 at the newly renovated Hayward Field in Oregon. This past weekend she had another stellar performance, winning her second race in a row and posting a personal best of 2:00.59, just down the road at Oregon State University in Corvallis. She has shared with us the workout she did leading up to her PB performance last weekend to give you a taste of what it takes to be one of Canada’s top middle-distance runners. Feel free to give it a try, but be forewarned — this one’s a doozy.

Maddy Kelly after winning the 2019 800m national championship. Photo: Athletics Canada

The workout

Warm-up:

8 min jog, followed by 2×2 mins of tempo work (Kelly ran this section at 3:45 per kilometre), then finished off with about 20 minutes of drills and strides.

Workout:

4 x 600m with 90 seconds rest (Kelly did the 600s at 1:45 pace)

8 minutes recovery

300, 300, 200, 200 with two minutes rest (Kelly’s pace was 45 seconds, 44, 29, 28

5 minutes rest

4 x 200 with one minute rest (Kelly did the 200s in 29 seconds)

8 minutes rest

400 hard effort (Kelly ran hers in 57 seconds)

Cooldown: 10 minutes easy jog

The workout

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