I had some technical problems today. I forgot my shorts, so I ended up not being able to do tempo, I didn’t go to my club at all. I ended up doing the body weights circuit in my house again.
I did 2x3(8 pullups, 15 pushups, 30 abs) with 4 min rest between sets. The last rep of the first set and the last two of the second I only did 12 pushups, I was pushing it trying to do 15 each rep, so I knew I might have to move down to 12 mid workout.
Doing the 300’s tomorrow. I’m pretty excited about training tomorrow. Just reading about Gardner’s runs get my blood flowing, ready to run. Man, those are just outright incredible performances, men running in 6.2 manual is just incredible. Last year at this time I was still very new to athletics, now I can really appreciate that performance when I put it in perspective to how tough it is for me to run 6.9 and to think that the best athletes in my country, which I see all the time and compete with despite being the best here can probably barely muster 6.5 at best.
Had a horrible day. I wasn’t optimistic at all from when I stepped out of my house. My right hamstring was terribly sore and lacked mobility. I’m impressed the submax accels session hit me so much. On the other hand I did 8 accels in total, despite most being 20m., before this I had never done more then 4. So I think my right hamstring was so sore because it is my first step leg and I used it so many more times to push then it is used to. Anyway, I warmed up and also had tremendous trouble getting activated, I’ve become used to taking Sundays completely off. I did one 300 in 39.2 and called it a day. It was evidently useless to continue. I felt sluggish and out of power. And terrible overall. What really worried me was the last 100 meters I was struggling terribly to keep my torso erect. I had noticed this problem earlier this week and had begun worrying about it. I’m evidently not doing enough back extensions or reverse hypers, and since my abs strength and endurance is increasing so much a big imbalance is developing. Seems like I never completely leave the problems behind. The problem is that my core work before beginning to work by myself was none existent. No wonder I got injured before and no wonder I couldn’t perform as well as I could. In particular with all the strength and muscle mass I gained, having a jelly core is making all this strength useless in the track as I can’t transfer it, and maybe even detrimental since the amount of strength I’ve gained that I’m able to use maybe isn’t enough to even offset the amount of strength I need to carry 20% more body mass. Until I completely sort out these core strenght issues I won’t completely breakthrough and be able to perform at my best. For the moment there is not much I can do but keep training and competing as I am. The core strength issues will unfortunately take a lot of time and work to solve.
The only positive news is that now that I’m back to my old club I’ve been finding out all this huge club has to offer. The medical department has a kinesiology/rehabilitation center which had I not gone and digged deeper would have never found out that they can perform regenerative massage, etc. All I need. For free. I’m starting tomorrow with my first session. Perfect timing because my hamstring really needs it if I want to have a good speed session on Tuesday. I also found out the club has “hot baths” but they are under repair till the end of the month. I’m not sure what they mean by hot baths. When they’re working again I’ll have to investigate what that’s about. I wouldn’t be surprised if the club has a sauna or hydromassage, or whirlpool or something like that. I’ll surely find another regeneration aid there, so that will be great. Progress is being made on one front at least.
I’ve also been reviewing my training and I’m cutting the SPP one week short and going into my precomp next week. My core strength and GPP/base work is clearly insufficient at the moment to let me do quality work in a distance like 300m. But in work 200m. and below I’m sure I’ll get up to speed quickly.
Essentially took the day off today. Had my first regeneration session. Some massage, EMS and stretching. I was very surprised when I saw all the stuff the club has in its medical center, it’s a excellent rehab center. I was glad to see the EMS too, but they only use it for building muscle in cases where the patient is very, very weak. I’ll have to talk them into applying EMS onto me. At least I have many months till my next max strength phase to get to know these guys, by then I’ll easily talk them into it. From now on I’ll be going every Wednesday and Friday, between my three CNS intensive days. I can’t wait to see what effect this has on recovery. At least I’m one step closer to a the best program I can do here.
Had an excellent track session today. I did :
3xflying 20’s (40m. accel zone)
3x60m. = 7.0, 7.2, 7.2
Total volume : 360m.
I felt great, but really great. I can’t remember the last time I felt like that running. I felt like I was at last reaching top speed or something close to top speed without problems and without feeling so sluggish. Top speed is finally getting into place, so this goes perfect according to the plan since I’m about to switch to precomp. The first 60 was really great, I had excellent acceleration without stumbles or loss of coordination or anything. So that was a great sign, but then the last two I went into paralysis by analysis as I started too think too much about my start. I have to correct this, I also think I forgot to use the arms again in those last two. Regardless it was a very positive day and big progress. What I’m also thinking about is that I had been worried by doing 7.3’s, but I hadn’t been taking into account that the track I’m now using is very poor after always training on a hard synthetic track. So that 7.0 today was probably a 6.8 or 6.9 on the hard track, so I’m in great shape despite everything.
Then in the gym I did my first maintenance session :
Hang clean 3x2 65kg
Deep squat 2x3 120kg
What I’m noticing is that my main problem in the clean and snatch is my grip. I have a weak grip so above 55 or so I begin to get scared of the bar slipping and its affecting my lifts a lot. I’m going to have to see what I do about that, but I guess over time my grip will get stronger so it’s nothing to worry about.
Tomorrow I have my second massage/regeneration session. After todays good work I’m sure I’ll need it.
I asked today, yes indeed, it’s being used in pulsing mode (and feels like that too!). I need to reread the EMS part of CFTS again like that I know what I’m talking about when I ask this guy about using it for strength purposes. But that’s a few months down the line.
I missed a tempo session again this week. Today I couldn’t do it because since I have my regeneration session scheduled at 6PM I have to do tempo around 4PM or so. Today the temperature was well over 100 degrees, it was impossible to do tempo in those conditions, so I suspended the session and only did upper body weights. I thought about doing the tempo indoors, but the curves are too perilous and the track is way too hard. I’d be defeating the purpose of regeneration and saving the legs of the tempo session, and getting myself some nice periostitis and risk other innecessary injuries, so the negatives far outweighed the value of one tempo session. Hopefully the temperature drops to reasonable levels soon.
In weights I did :
Bench press 2x3 70kg
Pullups 3x8
Dips 3x8
Abs 110
In the massage session, although I don’t have any reference, the guy went deeper. I could really notice the massage today was different from Monday’s. When I was showering in my house later I could feel my muscles, in particular my hamstrings were so much looser then normal. In fact they are looser and more relaxed then I can ever remember them being. I’m also working a ton on hamstring flexibility there, so that possibly is making a difference too. He also applied EMS again, although it felt a bit different, the other day it was like a constant pulse, today it was a constant pulse with big pulses every 5 seconds or something like that.
Dang. The schedules of the first tournaments of the season are finally up. There is 60 and 300 on Saturday (Feb 14) and 80 and 200 on Feb 21. As much as I’m itching to run I think the right thing is to wait at least till next Saturday and run the 200 for a variety of reasons :
First of all I’m certainly not ready, max v isn’t completely in place yet, I need at least another good speed session next week before I can consider I’m far enough along my training program. I haven’t even practiced blocks either!
It’s too early if I want to peak according to my program. I’m barely entering precomp this week and there are 8/9 weeks left before the intended peak
A much better SE2 session for my current fitness level would be 200’s, a 60 and 300 are not ideal. On the other hand next week, doing 80, 200 and then maybe another submax 200 by myself would be a good session.
Finally, I have beaurocratic problems, the pass back to my old club is not complete. I have to wait till Monday when I finally see my coach for him to give me all the paperwork and sometime next week I’ll go to the federation to sign the necessary papers. The big positive about this is that the club will be paying for my pass (Pesos$100), at least they consider me worth enough to pay for the pass for me to represent the club.
Today I did :
6x20m.
2x30m.
Submax.
I felt sharp technically during the work. Appropriate arm technique finally seems to be clicking in without me having to think about it.
In the gym I did :
Hang cleans 3x2 66kg
Deep squat 2x3 120kg
Again had problems with the grip. I’m thinking of using bands to fasten the bar to my hand, but I think that’s like using a belt during squats. You’re using an aid to bypass a problem. And that problem will surely end up causing problems because you bypassed it, so maybe I’ll explore grip strengthening exercises or something.
Today I did : 2x5 120m. with active recovery, 10 pushups one end, 25 abs the other, 3 mins between sets. Had to do it indoors because of the rain, so decreased the volume. I certainly don’t want to get shin splints or some other stupid injury at this point.
All were between 20.5-21, but I had to nearly stop at each turn because the turns are so tight.
in the gym I did :
Bench press 3x70kg 3x75kg
Pullups 3x8
Dips 3x8
I felt very strong and almost pushed it to 80 in the bench press, but then I calmed down and convinced myself it was pointless. What was reached at the end of the max strength phase was reached and it’s not time for records now. Anyway, it’s logical that I might feel a bit strong these first few weeks of maintenance because of the decreased volume, so I have to keep my head in and not increase the weights.
In my regeneration session I had massage (lighter and less deep then on Wednesday) and EMS applied and did a lot of stretching. So far the experience has been very positive. I’ve felt 110% legswise for every session this week. Now I see optimal performance and training really is nowhere near possible without proper recovery and regeneration methods. You read all the literature, but until you actually feel the difference yourself you see the difference is very large. I went from chronically tight and often sore hamstrings always after speed up to last week, to relaxed, painfree hams this week. What I haven’t had time to quantify yet is what exact effect this is having on performance. I guess I’ll be seeing the results in the next weeks.
Tomorrow are the 200’s, can’t wait. My favorite training and competition distance BY FAR.
All in all I had a decent session. The times weren’t stellar, but it would be stupid to expect that at the moment, I’m not in the best of shapes endurancewise and have had lots of trouble with long reps so far. Nothing I can do about that till the next GPP.
200 24.2
24
200 25.2
20
200 24.6
The first one was probably worth 23.9 or so, I started in lane 4, but the lanes aren’t marked in the cinder track so I lost track of where I was when accelerating and when I came out of the curve I was over the line between lanes 5 and 6, so I ran 3 or 4 extra meters. I didn’t feel good or smooth inthe first one though. The second one wasn’t less the 100% perceived effort, but I worked on correcting some technical problems (I had the impression I was rushing and thus not completing recovery). In the third one I accelerated more gradually and felt much better in all aspects then in the first two. More relaxed, better technically and much more economical. I want to see how I am in two weeks time, I’m sure that with the 150’s and 200’s I’ll quickly get into much better shape in a few weeks.
Finally had my first session since coming back with my old coach. We did :
5x10m. blocks (relaxed)
2xflying 20 (20m. accel zone)
3x60m. 7.1, 7.2, 7.1
Felt good today. First blocks practice in ages. What a difference it is to train like this, alone, focused. In the last start I finally, for the first time ever was able to flick forward and lead off with the correct hand and arm. Another major positive is that an important level of strength is in place, I had no problems and was having good initial strides. I’m confident I’ll be starting very well in a few more weeks like this.
The 60’s were done into a very strong headwind (probably around -5m/s). I had a slight pull or something in my right hamstring from the starts, so I decided it wouldn’t be safe to do speed with so much wind in favor, so I did them into the wind. So the times are very good considering that.
Did no gym because there were a zillion kids in there, for some reasons a bunch of teams were there at the same time. I’ll do legs Thursday and Saturday.
Thank gawd I have massage/recovery tomorrow. My right hamstring needs it.
I had to skip the tempo session today. It seems I’ve developed a little bit of tendinitis behind my right knee, so no way I was going to do tempo on the hard indoor track. For next week I’m changing my tempo days to Monday and Friday, not ideal, because Monday was scheduled as a rest day before my short speed session Tuesday, but nothing I can do about it in terms of scheduling. It’s the day my coach goes to the club and can see me do tempo and talk.
I did some weights :
Bench press 2x3 70kg
Pullups 3x8
Dips 3x8
Felt like a breeze again at 70kg. The pullups and dips are also becoming unusually easy, but I’ll keep the volumes the same till the next loading period.
The massage/regeneration session was great. My hamstrings were so sore and tight from yesterday, after the massage my hamstrings were so lose my legs were walking by themselves. I can’t believe I was all this time deprived of proper regeneration. I don’t know what I’d do without it now. Today I couldn’t wait to get to the session to have my destroyed hamstrings worked on. It was like I was craving for it. Couldn’t wait for those tight things to get loosened up again.
Tomorrow I have my first SE1 session. 4x150m. What I have to concentrate on is accelerating like if it were a 60. In the past I’ve always run poor 150’s during training because I always accelerate like for a 200m. and come out of the bend relaxed and not at top speed. So I hope I can correct this now. I’m also wondering what type of shape I’m in, since I’m posting such slow times in the 200m. I’m not sure if it’s that I’m dying the last 50m. or if I’m just slow throughout. We’ll know more from the 150’s tomorrow. If I’m posting sub 17.5 at least then it means my endurance for the 200 is bad, but at least I’ll be in decent shape endurancewise for 100.
I ended up only doing 2x150 today, I felt like I couldn’t warm up or keep a warm up and overall very tired from when I set foot in my club. The first 150 I felt totally stiff. The second one was great though. Very, very smooth. After that rep I called it a day, I knew it would be impossible to do another high quality rep considering how mowed down and low on energy I was, so I was lucky to at least get one good rep in and call it a workout. With the observations of my coach in a couple of days I think we’ve cracked major problems straight off. First of all, my coach started noticing how I was staying down for 40m. to 50m. or more. We both concluded this was ridiculous, another part of my previous program in need to get the boot. It’s absolutely ridiculous for an 11 guy to stay down that long. After 30m. max I should be upright. I know Charlie also mentioned this a few times in the forum, that the drive phase HSI style is not needed or of real use for sub-elite athletes. This originated from the elitist group I came from, they thought they were training 10.2 guys lol. I prefer to stick to reality and do what logic dictates. So I’ve immediately modified that. The major problem this was causing was that it was causing my hip to stay down all through each run, because I’d stay down and never get completely erect. Now I’m going to do a 30m. drive and from there on get completely erect and lift the hip high. My only concern is the smoothness of the transition. The next big problem, one I know and have mentioned many times is the arm swing. We’re working a lot to correct that. Too many problems there to write them down. We’re gradually working on all aspects. The third which I noticed yesterday after training, was in my start. My first step is very, very short and inefficient. I pretty much don’t push on my first step although my right leg is much stronger then the left leg. This could be clearly seen Tuesday because we do this on a cinder track. You couldn’t even see my first step, because it was so weak, the only think that appeared as something wasn’t even ahead of the start line. But then my second step was over a meter and half long and evidently very powerful because it was leaving a huge hole in the ground every time. My third step also leaves a big hole in the ground, though not as big as the one the second step creats. The relevant thing here is that my first step is so short, I’m directly losing a whole tenth of a second just there already! (because I’m losing at least a meter in that stride). An improvement of a meter in that stride will bring a tenth of a second drop off my time immediately, so it’s something we’ll be working on.
I just examined some videos, I’ve concluded I was worrying innecessarily about that first step, I see even top sprinters don’t plant their first step very far from the start line, so I guess this is good news then, since my first stride isn’t bad but my second stride which appears to be the relevant one was very good.
After track I did a light gym session :
Hang clean 2x2 60kg 1x2 65kg
Deep squat 2x3 115kg
I did 3x200 (24.4, 24.7, 26.1). About 22 mins rest between each. Not stellar times again, but I felt better then last week. First one was done into big wind in favor, and that gives me major problems. Strong winds make me lean forward and I struggle to keep my torso upright. The last two reps were done into a very strong headwind, and this proved my theory right, as with the headwind I was able to be erect and in excellent position through to the line, with no problem. It’s as if the headwind was helping me stabalize my torso. My coach said he also noticed a considerable torso rotation in the first rep, while in the last two reps it wasn’t present. During the last one my psoas was beginning to bother a lot, so I reduced the intensity.
This week was very disorganized in terms of weights and tempo because of the changed schedules. Next week I’ll get things together again. Monday I’ll do tempo and upper body weights, Tuesday is my short speed day and lower body weights, Wednesday is my massage/regeneration day, Thursday SE1 (150’s) and lower body weights day, Friday my second tempo session and upper body weights and Saturday SE2 (200’s day). That’s how my training weeks will look from now on. On the March 6 week I might compete in 150 and 400 as an SE session/training time trial. Then from March 13 onwards I’ll probably be competing in real races every week till sometime in May. No idea what to expect in terms of times. Unlike in the past it seems I’ll be in much better shape now in 100 then in 200 unless my SE runs improve vastly. I’m probably in close to 11 manual shape in 100m. but a quite lackluster 23 in comparison in 200m. I guess it’s not time to panic though, I’ll have to see if I keep progressing in the SE runs. It’s my first training period training myself and on the CFTS program, so I have to keep my eyes open and get used to the process. This means uncertainty for this training period, for the next one I guess I’ll know the routine and what progressions to expect.
2x3(8 pullups, 12 pushups, 25 abs) 4 mins between sets
I’m beginning to think a lot about my next GPP. In fact I think I’m more excited about my next GPP and trying all the new stuff I’ve been learning then in the current competition period. This competition period just brings a lot of uncertainty because I couldn’t work everything as I would have liked to because of the persistent psoas pain. In particular, not being able to work hills and jumps might be detrimental in this period. I’m finding it hard to introduce new stimulus at the moment, because if I do any type of jumps my psoas will begin acting up. The prospect is evidently scary, stagnation, lack of progress, simply because I can’t introduce a new stimulus when I need it. I’ll have to see what I do. I’m thinking of further reducing the length of my SE runs, runs 150 and above hit my psoas bad and last week it began to bother again. Maybe I’ll do 120’s and 150’s instead of 150’s and 200’s. I’ll do like crap in 200m. but that doesn’t matter as long as I’m healthy. And inevitably I’ll have to do some type of jumps at some time when I need a change of stimulus. I’ll be considering my options the next few days.
Today I did :
3x5x100m. with 10 pushups one end, 20 abs the other, 3 mins between sets.
Times were all over the place, from 15.6 to 17.6. I felt really fast and activated thought, like I was craving to go full out on any given one.
Ended with 70 more abs. Total 60 pushups, 190 abs. I’m going to begin increasing abs volume tomorrow, I’ll do some when I wake up, to reach over 300 a day now. I’ll also try some med ball throws tomorrow.
Did a good stretch at the end. I felt strangely good after the work, sort of activated, like my legs were ready to sprint right now. Hopefully this feeling carries over to tomorrow. I’m thinking I might add longer strides to my warmup, it seems they activate me more then short ones. Can’t wait for tomorrow, the fun session of the week, blocks and speed.
