Leave OUT the blocks on Tues.
Actually, I didn’t do anything at all. My main focus is on recovrey now. Problem is that tomorrow I can’t do tempo because the part of my club where the track is closes Wednesday … so I’ll only do an upper body circuit and massage or something like that. On Thursday I’ll go easy and only do relay practice.
Massage
Weights :
Bench press 2x3x60kg
My massagist was much more please with the state of the injury now. I’m going Friday again. This will be the first or second time I go three times in a week, but I’m worried this thing might become a chronic thing unless I get completely rid of it. What started mid-last week as seemingly another insiginificant pull is dragging along more then I expected it to. Tomorrow I’ll do my first work of the week, just practicing relay passes.
Relay practice
Received 5 or 6 times and handed off 4 or 5.
Finished the day with jumps.
4x3 box circuit
5 jumps to high box
That was it. Nothing to comment. Groin pull is still there, I want to see how it feels tomorrow. It seems to be going away but not very fast. Saturday I’ll run 100 in La Plata. The weather is predicted to be crummy, 17º C max, completelt covered sky. Not very promising. The times will probably be crap and compounded with the poor manual timing I’m not worrying at all about the time. I’ll go mostly to run relaxed and execute my race plan.
Yawn. My excitement of competing is beginning to wane. Ran today in La Plata, and although I know when one goes there one has to expect poor organization and not even worry about the times they give you, running today really complemented what I’ve been feeling for days. The interest and fire just isn’t there all of a sudden. The factors in play here, a major shift of attention to developments in my workplace and pretty much feeling quenched by last week’s high, getting 4th place and 23.19. Today was a complete contrast of the intensity I had last Sunday. It was like a day in the park. Like just another day at the job. Like I was there to solely execute what I know how to do and nothing else. Anyway, I ran in the first final, and for once at least the right people were all in the first final. I ended up last, and got slammed with a 12.3 (-2.0). They at least now finally got an anemometer … but today the timing was worse then ever. 4 of the guys in that final were from my previous club so I was hanging with them, all the positions and times were wrong except for first place. So that stupid time can be shoved to a side, the judges obviously didn’t even see me (they never have 8 judges so a few always time 2 or more runners). All that matters is the content of the run. The rundown : excellent start, ran into lane 9, went back into lane 8 (by this time, around the 40m. mark I was fading back so I think no one noticed the embarrasing moment in which I found myself completely in lane 9), decent finish, ended last about 2 or 3 meters from the pack which came in around 11.2-11.3, so I probably did 11.6. What happened is that my strategy as of late of closing my eyes during the acceleration phase apparently didn’t work well today. At least after the 30m. mark. The first time I opened my eyes for a blink, was around 20 or 30m. and all I knew was that I was at least ahead of the guys directly inside me in lanes 6 and 7, I closed my eyes again, now I don’t know what happened or why I changed direction but when I opened them again around 40m. I was completely in the long jump runway which is next to the track in that sector, kind of like a lane 9. I chose a tangent to get back into my lane by around 80m. and then I looked around to see where I was after this mess, I was about 2m. back and held at about even pace with the pack those last 20m. If it wasn’t for that mess up I would have finished with the pack, so I think it was a very good race, despite the “technical problems”. The start is certainly the best I’ve ever gotten, everyone watching the race that I know told me that I was clearly ahead of all the big boys at the start and up to 20 or 30m. and that then I suddenly disappeared and no one saw me again (everyone always looks at the leaders, don’t they?), some even asked me if I had false started, but I never try to guess the gun, I simply had a very sharp reaction and perfect start to 30m. Or rather, from what I’ve been noticing from the past blocks sessions, the hold was long and for whatever reason I always seem to start better then others on a long hold in set before the shot. So that’s the story of another of my weird adventures in the track. I mean, I don’t think anyone can match the collection of messes I’ve done on the track. Last year in the 200 heats in the National Cup of Clubs I got into the lane inside me at the start and almost hit the favorite, then early this year when I went to Santa Fe I did that stunt where I started sideways from the blocks and almost hit a runner that time too, then last year there was another time where I stumbled out of the blocks and dragged my hips 20 or 30 cm. from the ground for like 5m. till I was finally able to get up. Geez. And now this stunt today. At least I was on the outside lane, if I had been in a middle lane, since I came out ahead I would have certainly run into or in front of the guy next to me … now THAT would have been really embarrasing. Next weekend is the big meet at Rosario, I’m not that excited though, this will be a busy week at work and the meet will be almost like a rest and relax more then going all hyped up to expend energy competing. The big thing though, is that on Wednesday night I’ll go with my old club and do an exhibition in halftime of the River game (my previous club is the biggest soccer club here in Argentina), we’ll be running a 60m. during halftime in front of 30,000 or 40,000 spectators in the concrete track around the field (the base is set for a synthetic track but it was never put in and they painted the concrete red and with the white lines so it looks like a tartan track - ridiculous!). I really wonder how it will be to run in front of so many people, I’ll be running in front of more people then most elite athletes ever find in any stadiums, except for the olympics I guess. LOL, let’s just hope I don’t trip or do any stunts in this run.
Collapse pretty much sums it all up on the athletics side. I haven’t been able to do anything track or sports related in the whole week, actually I had no time to even think about athletics this whole week and then only day I was sure I’d train I couldn’t train because I got food poisioning on Tuesday and was knocked out till Thursday. I have no idea how I’ll run this weekend or what kind of shape I’m in. I’m taking it more as a business and leisure trip then focusing on competing. Things have gone great in terms of business this week, so track has really taken a back seat while my whole focus has been on exploiting opportunities in the business front. All I know is that my season is pretty much defined now, it ends this weekend. Obviously there is no way I can keep peak form for 6 weeks after tapering off completely. After this comp I’ll take another half a week or week off track next week and start doing hypertrophy weights and then my GPP which I need to plan. I’ll be forced to compete in late November in the National Cup of Clubs, but I’ll take it as a long SE2 session and run only 400, 4x100 and 4x400 as part of my training. The positive of this is that I’ll finally be able to do a triple periodization scheme for next year with peaks in January, April and October, while if I had been competing till late November that would have meant I would have started my GPP in December and would only be able to do a double periodization scheme. Only problem is that my “indoor” period will all have to be simulated since there are no competition in that time here in Argentina. There have been many factors I’ve been very unhappy or worried about this whole period so I’m actually glad to go back to training and begin to correct major weaknesses, the most notable being poor core strength, subpar max v development, lack of SE2 and SE work. I feel each of those factors took a big chunk off my possible performance and think that if I solve them the jump in performance could be stagerring.
This weekend I ran :
11.88 (+0.1) 6h4 lane 2
24.20 (+0.0) 5h1 lane 6
The 100 was OK, it was simply yet another confirmation of what I’ve been observing and concluding for the past few weeks. The problem IS without a doubt my top speed. I failed in developing adquate top speed. I had yet another stellar start, but when I reached 30m. it’s like I was staying in place the the other guys all walked past me, obviously because they reached a higher top speed. My old training group filmed everything so I got to see myself in a race for the first time in ages, at 20m. I was clearly a meter and a half ahead of everyone else in my heat, till 30m. I remained around the same distance ahead then it’s almost as if I hit a stop sign and everyone else keeps advancing and they all catch me up and pass me. Those first 4 all ended recording between 11.30 and 11.50, while I faded to dismal 11.88. The big positive is that I felt absolutely focused and as intense as I’ve ever been, I certainly ran the best I could at this moment … but the soft track and shitty weather prevented me from at least breaking the 11.62 from two weeks ago.
Then the 200 on Sunday was the completely opposite of the 100 on Saturday, I was feeling completely easy and had no intensity, I just ran knowing this was the end of my season and that in 200 I had nothing left to accomplish and the feeling was that I was running just for kicks and then relaxing the rest of the day afterwards. I ended up running outright horribly. I ran my first poor bend of the year, and ran tight. It was just horrible. My arms and shoulders were aching at the end from how tight I ran … a complete contrast to the 200 two weeks ago were I ran so smoothly and relaxed and the telltale sign for me is really becoming how my arms feel after races, if my arms feel completely fresh I know I ran relaxed if my biceps and shoulders are aching I know I was tight.
Overall I feel satisfied with how the season went. It just wasn’t possible to continue running at the moment, I’m just not in the mood to train fast or run in comps anymore, work is really draining me a lot. I’m really looking forward to working hard in the gym and take my mind off work and comps or any other stressful situation.
The positives I can pluck out of this short competitive season were my bends in the 200’s, that great 23.19 run, and in the last 100m. races I got the start absolutely down, my starts were outright stellar. I was starting consistently on par or ahead of 10.90-11.10 guys. On the intellectual level I’ve been able to begin to really pull together how the factors in training and overall how to begin to use CFTS more effectively.
So now I’ll sit down today and begin to pull together my plan through June of next year. What really excites me is that starting my GPP now I’ll be able to do a triple periodization plan for next year with a simulated indoor comp period, then another short GPP before outdoors, etc. I think it will give me a major edge over my local competitors.
My main focus now will be to identify what went wrong and do my best to correct these faults. The most flagarant fault being my failure to develop top speed. I’ve been thinking a lot about this, the funniest thing being that last year I had awesome top speed and a very poor start under the long to short program I was in, while this year I’m an animal accelerating and then get walked past when I hit my current puny top speed at 30m. The major factor I have concluded stems from the GPP, the lack of hills and alactic speed endurance runs. I also did no jumps or plyos till precomp. Another minor factor might have been that my max v work itself was also of poor quality because of the poor track available. But I think I should make no mistake, the fault starts with the base period, I didn’t set the right base from which to step from. Another fault in my program was not doing SE2, although I don’t know to what if any extent it afected me. Given my poor top speed, my endurance must have been damn good at that dismal top speed to run 23.19.
Hi Aln. You refer to your lacklustre top speed, but have you done a timed 30m fly to see roughly what your top speed actually is? Maybe its the transition from acceleration to standing tall which craps out your mechanics, and a solid 30m fly time in the absence of hard acceleration might restore your confidence?
Hello Aln
Here are a couple of thoughts, intended as constructive criticism (and certainly not meant to be definitive).
Some months ago you posted your season’s planning and asked for critiques. I responded:
Until the competition phase you have almost no quality work (quality = 90% or more of max. velocity). If I read your schedule correctly, until the last week of SPP most of your work will be at 100m/13sec or slower. The 20m and 30m accelerationary runs do not help in this respect. An athlete will not attain top speed in the 20m or 30m at any point.
This means that by the time pre-comp rolls around, you will have spent 3 and a half months running most (not all, but most) of your workouts at an average pace of 100m/13 sec or slower. You then have 4 weeks to ramp up your speed to your goal opening pace (11.3 or so, I assume).
Now I’m not saying that’s impossible. Particularly for athletes with a lot of natural speed. But for an athlete without a lot of natural speed this program would most likely lead to an opener in 11.9 or thereabouts.
Looking over your training log a couple of things strike me:
- the training times, particularly over the shorter distances, are misleading. The 70m in 7.7 and 80m in 8.8 in training for example, which were subsequently followed by 11.8 FAT in competition a few days later. I know it’s easy to clock over-optimistically, I’m guilty of the same thing myself, but when the discrepancy between actual and clocked times approaches 1 sec over as little as 70m, then the times become virtually worthless as a training guide. It becomes difficult for an outside observer to judge exactly where things are going wrong. Either something is wrong with the timing protocol, or with the measured distances.
My suggestion:
If the timing does not improve, and you are going to continue training on your own, consider purchasing timing gates. (Training with partners has at least the advantage that you can always use them as racing yardsticks).
- your training the past six months has mainly consisted of tempo, 300m SE runs, 20m and 30m accelerationary runs, and the odd 2x60m time trial. This means most work is at submax pace (yes, this includes the accels), and it does not seem to be working for you very well. I know you’re following a short-to-long program, but there seems to be a lot of ‘short’ and not much ‘long’ in it.
My suggestion:
Shift the bulk of your work into the 40m-150m range in general, and 80-120m in particular. How you build up to it is your decision i.e. long-to-short or short-to-long, but don’t spend nine weeks out of ten doing 20m/30m accels and 80ms in the final one week. The reverse is more likely to bring results.
- GPP is a means to an end, not an end in itself. It does not make you faster, it gets you in shape to train to run faster. Ditto for SPP. So I would like you first and foremost to think about, and exchange ideas on, how you can get from 11.80 to 11.40 to 11.00, because that is your goal; flogging yourself into shape (GPP, SPP) in order to follow that training is necessary but not particularly complicated. You can run hills, you can do circuit training, you can play rugby as Komy does, there are a thousand ways to improve fitness but GPP will not hand you a 0.5s improvement all by itself. I think the most interesting discussion for a sprinter is “I run 100m in XX seconds now; I would like to run YY seconds next season. Is this progession feasible, and if so, how can I achieve it?”. Let’s have that discussion.
That was one theory I worked with for a long while, there are plenty of posts maybe two months back. But I’ve ruled that out. The top speed is definitely not there, I don’t feel the same feeling when I run at top speed as an year ago and know I’ve fired all my ammunition in the speed department by 30m.
Thanks Snel, I think you’ve made a very good point. I did no speed work longer then acceleration distances for the bulk of my season, including none in the “GPP” if you can call what I did this year a GPP, then I missed an entire month of training and then jumped right into a scrappy SPP with flying runs which weren’t of particularly good quality because of the facilities. So in sum, I did maybe 5% of my total meters of speed as high quality speed work!? Another 5% or maybe even 10% was acceleration, so no wonder all I developed is acceleration. What % are you thinking of of 60-120m. speed work as a total? Something like 40%SE and SE2 and 40% speed and 20% speed end? I’ll print all I did out now and analyze exactly what I did and what % I did … I think this way is a good way to make sure I get the right amounts in. Instead during my SPP this year I was just getting volumes I had preset done without really thinking what those volumes were composed of.
As to the timing, I’m going to get my stopwatch fixed and begin timing myself again this period. About a month back we established that the times in practice were all wrong, the coach was giving me bs times. I then confirmed this two weeks ago in the Metropolitan champs. In my 100m 11.62 he had timed 11.27, .11 off, in the 200m. heats 23.48 he had timed 22.9 .34 off! and in the finals in my 23.19 he had timed 22.7, again .25 off. I concluded that the coach from my club wasn’t doing this with bad intention but that he simply does not see well and needs glasses (he’s 60 something)! What I had already concluded and was further confirmed by this was that all those times I had from practice were .2-.4 off. So my best 60’s were probably in the 7.0 range, that 7.7 70 was probably more 8.0 o 8.1 and those 8.8’s were probably 9.0 or 9.1 … which make sense if my best 100 was 11.38 manual equivalent. I also got times in the 6.8x range from other parties when I went to synthetic tracks, which makes sense since both times there was a good assisting wind.
As to goals for this season, what I’ll work with is with the premise of increasing my top speed from what I estimate is 10 m/s or at best low 10 m/s now to mid to high 10’s m/s … which means I’ll aiming to increase my flying 10 by .05-.07 or so. If I manage this, even just with the same acceleration, .05s better in every 10m. section from 40m. onwards would amount to .3 or .4 in total improvement, which puts my minimum goal (.05 improvement) at 11.32 and my maximum goal (.07 improvement) at 11.20. In 200 I don’t want to set any goals, my 200’s are just way too unpredictable and normally don’t make sense compared to my 100m. times. Hell if I do 11.20 and continue the trend of running less then twice my 100m. time that would mean 22.20-22.40 but just as easily that trend might not continue and I might barely reach 22.80 to 23.00. So I’ll set 200 goals when I’m in precomp next year and know better what to expect.
OK, I’ve got a general outline of my GPP made, now I’ll work on filling the specific sessions. I’m really happy with how it’s looking. The examples in the GPP thread really helped me, the general outline is perfect as my schedule runs precisely Mon, Wed, Fri speed, Tue, Thurs, Sat tempo. Although the hill is far away I’ll make the sacrifice for those 4 weeks and move hills to the early morning of those days, as I know the good that hills have done to me in the past.
GPP
Week 1 (Oct 11-17) – adaptation week (intro of upper body weights and tempo)
Weights scheme : Main lifts 8x4, supp lifts 1 6x6, supp lifts 2 3x8
Day 1 : Rest
Day 2 : Upper body weights day 1
Day 3 : Rest
Day 4 : Upper body weights, Tempo day 1 1000m.
Day 5 : Rest
Day 6 : Upper body weights, Tempo day 1100m.
Day 7 : Rest
Total tempo volume : 2100m.
Total speed volume :
Week 2 (Oct 18-24) – adaptation/accumulation week 1 (intro of lower body weights, hills and med ball)
Weights scheme : Main lifts 8x4, supp lifts 1 6x6, supp lifts 2 3x8
Day 1 : Lower body weights day 1, Hills day 1
Day 2 : Upper body weights, tempo 1200m.
Day 3 : Lower body weights, hills
Day 4 : Upper body weights, tempo 1300m.
Day 5 : Lower body weights, hills
Day 6 : Upper body weights, tempo 1400m., med ball
Day 7 : Rest
Total tempo volume : 3900m.
Total speed volume : 1600m. hills
Week 3 (Oct 25-31) – adaptation/accumulation week 2 (intro of hurdle work)
Weights scheme : Main lifts 8x4, supp lifts 1 6x6, supp lifts 2 3x8
Day 1 : Lower body weights, hills
Day 2 : Upper body weights, tempo 1500m., hurdles mobility (4 hurdles) , med ball
Day 3 : Lower body weights, hills
Day 4 : Upper body weights, tempo 1600m., hurdles mobility(4 hurdles) , med ball
Day 5 : Lower body weights, hills
Day 6 : Upper body weights, tempo 1700m., hurdles mobility(4 hurdles) , med ball
Day 7 : Rest
Total tempo volume : 4800m.
Total speed volume : 1900m. hills work
Week 4 (Nov 1-7) – adaptation/intensification transition week (lower hills volume, raise intensity, intro of plyos)
Weights scheme : Main lifts 8x4, supp lifts 1 6x6, supp lifts 2 3x8
Day 1 : Lower body weights, hills, plyos uphill bounds and 3x up jumps after squat sets
Day 2 : Upper body weights, tempo 1800m. , hurdles mobility (6 hurdles) , med ball
Day 3 : Lower body weights, hills, plyos uphill bounds and 3x up jumps after squat sets
Day 4 : Upper body weights, tempo 1900m. , hurdles mobility (6 hurdles) , med ball
Day 5 : Lower body weights, hills, plyos uphill bounds and 3x up jumps after squat sets
Day 6 : Upper body weights, tempo 2000m. , hurdles mobility (6 hurdles) , med ball
Day 7 : Rest
Total tempo volume : 5700m.
Total speed volume : 1750m. hills
Week 5 (Nov 8-14) – intensification week 1 (intro of track work)
Weights scheme : Main lifts 6x3, supp lifts 1 5x5, supp lifts 2 3x7
Day 1 : Lower body weights, hills, plyos uphill bounds and 3x up jumps after squat sets
Day 2 : Upper body weights, tempo 1800m. , hurdles mobility (8 hurdles) , med ball
Day 3 : Lower body weights, hills, plyos uphill bounds and 3x up jumps after squat sets
Day 4 : Upper body weights, tempo 1900m. , hurdles mobility (8 hurdles) , med ball
Day 5 : Rest
Day 6 : 4x100m. National Cup of Clubs
Day 7 : 4x400m. National Cup of Clubs
Total tempo volume : 5700m.
Total speed volume : 1150m. hills, 500m. track
Week 6 (Nov 15-21) – intensification week 2 (increase in track work to 2x)
Weights scheme : Main lifts 6x3, supp lifts 1 5x5, supp lifts 2 3x7
Day 1 : Upper body weights, tempo 2000m., hurdles mobility (10 hurdles) , med ball
Day 2 : Rest
Day 3 : Lower body weights, hills, plyos uphill bounds and 3x up jumps after squat sets
Day 4 : Upper body weights, tempo 2000m., hurdles mobility (10 hurdles) , med ball
Day 5 : Lower body weights, speed, plyos hurdle hops and 3x up jumps after squat sets
Day 6 : Upper body weights, tempo 2100m., hurdles mobility (10 hurdles) , med ball
Day 7 : Rest
Total tempo volume : 5700m.
Total speed volume : 580m. hills, 1150m. track
Week 7 (Nov 22-28) intensification week 3 (increase in track work to 3x, hills a 4th day, intro of speed end, tempo maintenance volume reached)
Weights scheme : Main lifts 6x3, supp lifts 1 5x5, supp lifts 2 3x7
Day 1 : Lower body weights, speed, plyos hurdle hops and 3x up jumps after squat sets
Day 2 : Upper body weights, tempo 2000m. , hurdles mobility (10 hurdles) , med ball
Day 3 : Lower body weights, speed indoors
Day 4 : Upper body weights, tempo 2100m. , hurdles mobility (10 hurdles) , med ball
Day 5 : Lower body weights, speed, plyos hurdle hops and 3x up jumps after squat sets
Day 6 : Upper body weights, hills (8x60m.)
Day 7 : Rest
Total tempo volume : 5700m.
Total speed volume : 1700m. track, 560m. hills
A note re timing. The timer prob doesn’t get smoke from modern guns for hand timing and will react to the sound- which would explaing most of the diff. Training runs are always much faster as they are taken from first strong motion (often after a bit of a slow roll into it)
Yes the percent of speed work and SE from 80 to 150 should make up a large percentage of your program depending on weather and track conditions
Precomp and comp from July 26 to October 10
Volumes during period : (total meters 10,330)
Short speed (10-50m.) : 1790m. = 17.3% of total
Speed (60-80m.) : 2300m. = 22.3%
Speed endurance (100-120m.) : 1040m. = 10.0%
Special endurance (150-400m.) : 3600m. = 34.8%
Submax/technique : 1600m. = 15.5%
Total of speed work (60-120m.): 3340m. = 32.3% of which an even smaller % must have been good quality work.
My GPP and SPP aren’t even worth analyzing with exactitude, the % there must be around :
Short speed (10-50m. or flying runs with short acc) : 45% of total
Speed (60-80m. or flying runs with longer acc and fly zone) : 10%
Speed endurance (100-120m.) : 0%
Special endurance (150-400m.) : 30%
Submax/technique : 15%
Looking at these % figures it becomes more and more clear it should be no surprise I didn’t develop speed aside from massively developing acceleration! I guess I should take the positive as being that I worked technically and extensively on my first 30m. and corrected this which had been by far my worst area in the previous year. Now I need to redevelop my middle section of the race. OK, now I’ve got things pretty clear in my mind so I’ll start building my general layout first on the bompa template.
Other notes :
- Jumps weren’t introduced till precomp
- Max strength phase wasn’t completed
- SE2 was worked on only at the start of the GPP and then cut off
- SE was not worked on till precomp
- Tempo work was scrappy and ocassional with no regular schedule
- Core work was even scrappier and disorganized
Focuses on track should be :
- Max v development, quality speed work in particular from 60-120m.
- Ensuring SE2 is worked on properly
- A lot of technical focus on getting arm involvement down solidly into my technique
Focuses on the gym will be :
- Core strengthening will be the main focus
- Developing upper body strength levels and cross section will be given major importance too
- Minor focus on improving lower body strength, more focus on perfecting execution of lower body lifts which will help for my next max strength phase when hopefully with a more solid core I’ll attempt to push through the level I’m at now
Hi Aln
It’s difficult to say, as it depends very much on the individual. I’ve seen people progress on the most improbable schemes, and stagnate on seemingly well thought-out schedules. And I have more questions than answers. That said, this is my personal opinion, for what it’s worth:
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Technical considerations aside, acceleration (the first 20m) seems to be best developed in the weight room i.e. you can progress without much track work. This is also the least important segment of the 100m. Plenty of male recreational sprinters in the 11.5 FAT range can easily hang with elite female sprinters for the first 20-30m. (Speaking from experience here; we have electronic timing at our club). It’s the subsequent 70m where they get blown away. It would not surprise me if you could keep up with Marion Jones for 20m, and I think you can get away with not devoting any special sessions to acceleration: weightroom work and (say) 5x20m accels as a prelude to your speed workouts should be sufficient.
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The acceleration from 20m to 60m is what separates the men from the boys. Good sprinters accelerate harder, and for longer, than mediocre sprinters. This is unfortunately, IMO, the most difficult segment to improve. It does not seem to be as strength-dependent as the first 20m. Motorneural factors also play a much bigger factor here. How to train it? Speedwork from 25m to 60m, light sled pulls, plyometrics, speed bounds etc. are methods I have seen coaches use. I would spend around 25%-30% of all sessions on this.
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Speed endurance is relatively simple to develop (although the sessions themselves may not be particularly pleasant :)). For the 100m this is the 80m - 150m range. I would spend 25% - 40% here.
I think that’s a pity, because 200m goals are usually more straightforward to attain than 100m goals. A decent goal is to consistently run 2x your 100m time, and if speed endurance and fitness are in place you will achieve that goal. Looking at your log, you are quite capable of achieving it since you have run at or pretty close to 2x your 100m time a number of times.
Upper body hypertrophy - Day 1
Bench press 8x4 50kg
Standing biceps curl with barbell 6x6 22.5kg
Lat pulldowns 6x6 45kg
Dips 3x6 5kg
Crunches 3x20
Reverse hypers 3x6
Started supplementing with creatine today as well. Let’s see how sore I am tomorrow! Damn “conditioning risk”! Did reverse hypers for the first time, I found a suitable sort of bench there is in the gym … I’ll have to find some videos on the net now to check form as it felt as if I was working my lower abs more then my lower back 
. I made the bompa template of my next 30 weeks of training … I’ll see if I upload it to my site later today. I’m really optimistic about the upper body work, can’t wait to get rid of my puny upper body in a hurry. Now way I’ll miss a single session this GPP.
hey aln, i just have ONE thing to point out. its good how ur analyzing ur past season but i think u giving it a lot of consideration. i think that at ur level out of a strong base of fitness and endurance u can do 11.00. i on about good aerobic base, fartlek, tempo, ccts, anaerobic fitness etc
for 5months ive worked on those, on grass field, didnt touch a single weight and dropped my times from 11.52 to 10.86. i never really worked on top speed, speed endurance nothing. i didnt know any of that stuff then, all i did was a very strong base, and then i put the spikes on and was told to run.
obviously every athlete has his strength and weaknesses, my weakness being endurance, and strength being my power, and how i can pick it up quickly in the gym. so when i worked on my weakness i had incredible gains, for the past 2yrs with my new coach he again was doing this advanced training, sprints, top speed weights etc so my fitness levels dropped etc and got injured a couple of times. just u think about that for a bit, think why all top sprinters were XNFL. only now i realise as i do rugby why when they leave the nfl they’re running 10.2 and with a bit of work and technique specific to the 100 they’re running 10.0s and sub 10s. its the very wide solid base that they have. think about that for a while before plannning another advanced gpp. and remember what snelracht told u, gpp doesnt make u run any faster, but only gets u in shape to train to run faster. and at ur level, if u r in THAT shape, u will be running faster before having to worry about top speed collapsing etc
gluck man and all the best
Upper body hypertrophy day 2
Bench press 8x4 50kg
Standing biceps curls with barbell 4x6 22.5kg 2x6 25kg
Lat pulldowns 6x6 45kg
First tempo session of GPP
10x100 with 15 abs one end 15 abs, drink water the other
The tempo felt so relaxing and easy, like I really needed it, and eliminated all the soreness from my upper body. I did weights before tempo today. I could barely lift 30kg in my warmup sets because I was so sore. I assume that on Saturday the soreness caused by the “conditioning risk” will finally be gone or going away as I do my 3rd regular session this week.
I also got a 3kg medicine ball to finally begin to work my core well.
Upper body weights
Bench press 8x4 50kg
Standing bicep curls with barbell 6x6 22.5kg
Lat pulldowns 6x6 45kg
Dips 3x8 unweighted
Tempo
200-100-200-100-200-100-200
Total volume : 1100m.
45 secs between 200 and 100, 1 min 30 between 100 and 200
4x25 abs at end
Slowly building up tempo and abs work, plan on getting to 1400m. tempo by the end of next week and abs to 200-250 a day. First speed and lower body weights day will be Monday. The soreness from upper body weights is now finally gone now that I’ve adapted. I’m looking for major gains in the next 7 weeks in my upper body mass and strength.
Will complete my plan till May 2005 this weekend. Hills start next week, but I don’t know if I can do more then a session a week as Charlie suggests for the first couple of weeks of GPP.
The National Cup of Clubs will finally be held in the wrecked track here in Buenos Aires on November 13-14, so on week 4 of my GPP I’ll be forced to run 4x100 and 4x400. I’m not sure what effect that will have on my GPP. Conveniently that will be week 4, so I can unload and ensure I don’t get into a state of overtraining.
Almost forgot, body weight was 66.4kg on Tuesday October 12 right before my first hypertrophy session. I’ve lost about 3 kilos since mid year. I hope I can finally break above 70kg before the end of the year. I think my ideal weight long term is probably around 72kg.