7.18.12
some basketball
25’ jog
full warm-up
1’ jump rope
3’ stationary bike
7/17 lift
stretch/self-massage
15’ ice l. ankle
7.19.12
full warm-up
9xhill runs (to technique deterioration)
3 pt starts and a fly
3xcircuit#2
stretch & self-massage
15’ ice l. ankle
7.20.12
full warm-up
7/19 lift
1xcircuit#2
30’ jog
stretch/self-massage
15’ ice l.ankle
7.21.12
full warm-up
some starts
3xsteep hill start
3xstair run (concentrate on “driving”)
3x110 yd build up on grass
7/20 lift
7/22/12
(off)
stretch/self-massage
notes:
-significant hammy doms. almost surely a result of the romanian deadlifts (I haven’t done those since last fall). It’s funny, because I didn’t even break 90 lbs and it made me massively sore. many kids on my team are throwing on well over 200 lbs and say they don’t get sore from it at all, I can’t tell if their hammy strength is just that much greater than mine, or if they are doing like what I was doing early in my lifting days (not getting a big enough stretch of the hammys while lowering the weight, so I was throwing on like 250 lbs)
-took some video and I would like to see my arm swing approach the midline a bit more at my start
7.23.12
full warm-up
starts
2xcircuit #3
7/23 lift
5’ jump rope
15’ erg
stretch/self-massage
ice l.heel 15’
notes:
-arm swing approached midline much better. I’d still like to see my 2nd step be more of a push (as the higher heel recovery looks to be resulting from applying force less parallel to my body), but I really wanted to cue on arm swing and the wrist flick, and in a day I think it would be unwise to fix more than one thing or concentrate on more than 2. in my warm up power outs for the rest of this week I’ll take tape and try to “push” on that second step better, though once I get in starting blocks, I believe the lower exit angle might just make the issue disappear on its own (body angle is at or slightly above 45* at toe off of this step, so if I am attempting to apply force mostly straight back, then when my body is at a lower angle, the force will be applied closer to parallel to my body)
-did some of the starts out to 30-40m and I realize I was trying too hard to stay down and was overstriding during that section of the race that is always so weak for me (15-30m), when I let myself come up more naturally I really could be “floating” by 30m and never felt tense or locked up
-upper glute doms next morning. I’m thinking as a result of “speed skates” that are in the circuit. hammys were still a bit sore by workout time
7.24.12
full warm-up
starts
2xcircuit#3
15’ stationary bike
7/24 lift
5xhill run (old farm cir. hill, ~100 yards)
stretch & self-massage
ice l. heel
notes:
-major upper glute soreness
-heel recovery was lower, drive phase extended a bit and hip rotation more natural in the starts. in the first couple steps I think my problems may have been caused by pushing out the back too hard and forcing the knees up/driving arms too hard (ironically)
-0-10m - scramble, 10-20m - drive, 20-30m - transition, 30-40m - start to float/upright accel, 40m+ - float and relax
7.26.12
(off)
stretch
notes:
-still some gluteal soreness
-watched some video of myself and of more skilled sprinters and I think I actually should be seeing my knee get closer to my midline. my knees will tend to flail outwards, which im sure reduces power output, and makes me look stiff if I end up side stepping at all
Re - ankle
Two things i would check,
1 - Forget the ankle, check the Calf muscle and surrounding muscles - look for trigger points, or tight spots. If you cannot remove them, go see someone who can.
2 - I would check for Hip alignment, not just up and down, but twisted also. Eg, if your Left hip is more forward, therefore the right is further back (twisted), then when you run, your left foot will hit the ground before the center line of your body, and your right one will (or should) hit the center line of your body (on ground contact during the stride that is). If this happens, then the left foot will never recover.
You need to find somebody in your area who can 1 - check these, and 2 - fix it.
Note, i’m not saying THIS is your problem - it’s just the 1st thing i would look for. Reason - highly popular
After years of frustration I am finally starting to fully appreciate the fact that where an injury or soreness manifests is generally an indication of where high demand has been placed on the body rather than where the actual cause (and potential solution) actually is…
just a stab in the dark here, but would tight glutes (medial and responsible for external rotation?), along with TFL, possibly contribute to the outwards movement of the knees??
Yes, remember, the tfl is not a muscle, it’s a band, and the muscles that control it are up in the hip. Normally when people feel release in that area, it’s the Lateral head of the thigh. And boy, that can get super tight in runners!
issues normally always happen in clusters. Eg, if the outside hip is tight, the the outside thigh normally gets tight, and the outside calf normally gets tight. You may also have Lats tightness in your back? Depending on issues, the problem can easily swap sides from the upper hip and upwards, eg, right leg but left upper body.
Tfl is hard to stretch out. You have to work the angles a bit. I’ve recently been targeting that area and it is really helping. If I follow the chain of tension it goes all the way from the outside of my left knee, up through the right side of my back (lats, as you just said), through my traps to my neck, and down into my right forearm. Loosening the forearm and shoulder area is helping my hip function/recovery greatly…
7.26.2012
full warm-up
5x2 hill runs (xc hill, ~80m, short flat walk in between reps, long walk after set, its a very long hill with a flat section in the middle)
2xcircuit#3
7/26 lift
stretch/self-massage
15’ ice l. heel, right thumb joint, right inner thigh
notes:
-heel pain mostly gone, just I notcied a bit of tightness while walking barefoot on hard surface post workout. right thumb joint has always been an issue with me since I jammed it and temporarily had a ligament move out of place 4 years ago. right inner thigh just felt a bit tight and tender to the touch so I was being proactive
-thought about having everything approach the midline during my warm-up drills, and wow, my ability to have my hips move is awful, haha. I thought itd feel more natural and flowing, but I actually had trouble letting the hips rotate. also tried to let my hips swivel and keep the knees in during power outs. maybe doing all the drills loosened em up a bit, because it was a bit better when i just ran and didnt think, knees not flailing out as much. when trying to go through the motions in a couple reps, I finally saw that type of side to side motion that is “good” in pro sprinters, that I never had, so im thinking its a hip mobility issue for me. I also think that, structurally, I am not built to let my legs have too much movement inwards on the recovery portion, or my knee on the front swing (bolt and powell’s actually cross their midline while behind the body, sometimes) because I am significantly bowlegged so my knees cant swing by too close to one another or I’d clip my calf and trip (powells thighs nearly touch in his accel strides). i definitely see variations in how close the legs are to one another and how much roation is occurring, but going from none to at least some and not letting my legs bend outwards i think would definitely benefit me
Thanks for the input! I’ll try to respond to each post…
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my left leg has always had recurrent problems since a partial tear in my pcl several years ago (ranging from hip tightness right down to the foot arch. but as far as this injury, I’m positive this occurred because of crappy long jump form combined with my bowlegs. I was just having fun with teh event at a local meet and rolled my ankle, but was stepping down so hard to jump that I really bent my ankle and managed to get a big contact bruise. and since heels get so much daily wear and tear, its been slow to heal (haha, pun) and i’m just being careful with it so it wont be a problem once team training starts. no real pain from it anymoere, just icing to make sure all the swelling is gone
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this could be a possiblity. everytime i’ve gone into pe i’ve had some sort of hip alignment issue. if more problems occur I’ll have the trainer at my school take a look at it in about a month
I agree. my lower back tightness, which seemed to be remedied by stretching and massage, was really caused by internal hip tightness, so my massage therapist cured it without ever even touching my back! squatting always did it to me, but not because of back pressure or poor form, just because my hips were inflexible!
is the tfl the muscle on the outside of the thigh that would bulge out while/from squatting? on my upper, outer thigh, when I squat, the muscle grows so quickly I have stretch marks. and I think that being bowlegged contributes more to this than glute tightness. most of my major muscles are flexible enough that coaches don’t push me to stretch much
I could potentially have lat tightness, as I actualyl have trouble shoulder pressing because to get my arms to push straight up with majoraly arching my back is very difficult for me, and if I just hang from a pull up bar I get a major stretch
do you really think the forearm is contributing much? and i assume if the chain of tension goes from left elg to right back it passes diagonally across the core? and any tfl strech recommendations?
watched some video, and if i try to keep my knee in any closer to my midline in the back swing, it has to manuever itself out when the other leg swings by it forward to prevent my ankle from hitting my opposit calf because of the curvature in my lower leg. it looks quite awkward, i think relaxation and whatever goes on from my hips is the best cueing plan, and i can try stretching new areas to add some mobility
The nerve that goes up the arm into the neck is tense. The tension in my neck travels down my back.
I’m not sure if the phrase ‘conditioning leads technique’ is one that I heard or one that I made up. Basically, the technical flaws you develop are often caused by the condition of your body, not some quirk of coordination. As such, the key to solving the problem lies in fixing the condition of your body first…