Approaching the big 40!

We’ll I think it’s time to start a new journal. I’m 39 this month so already thinking about the move up in age group at the end of next season. It’s funny how most people dread the big 40 yet us athletes tend to relish it as we become the baby of the age group :slight_smile:

Last season was just a bit frustrating to be honest. Had injuries and illness left, right and centre and missed quite a bit of training during winter months which was particularly crap as it was my first season using the CFTS approach to training. In 2008 i ran 11.5/23.42 for 100/200 and this season ended up with 11.68/23.61
I suppose i shouldn’t be too disappointed with the times but i just felt there was a bit more in the tank if i’d had a few more races and the wind direction had been a little kinder.
+v’s - in training ran pb’s for 30m 3.95; 30 fly 3.05; 60m 7.16 and 300m 37.6
-v’s - Calf strain Oct 08; Achilles tendonitis feb 09; only had 6wks of max strength work from april-july.

looking fwd to this winters training I have a few things that I have to focus on.

  1. Must, must, must do more flexibility work on hips and back,
  2. Oragnise time better to make sure i can fit in an appropriate amount of weight training,
  3. look at diet, esp recovery post workout.

Goals for 2010:
Main goal is 22.9sec for the 200m which should put me within a shout of getting amongst the medals at the British masters indoor champs (march) and outdoor champs (july).
Secondary to this Is to run 11.3 for the 100m and run sub 54 400. My current 400 pb is 54.1 which is woeful when I can run mid 23 for 200.

Biggest challenge as usual is lack of indoor facilities and work/family commitments so my weekly plan is far from ideal but hopefully it is an improvement on last season and should allow for the improvements i’m looking for. However I would welcome any suggestions for improvement.

We have secured a sports hall to do some indoor work however it is only probably 25m long by 20m wide so we are really looking at circuit training and we may be able to do some basic sprint drills and plyometrics in there, at least it will get us out of the cold. I think when i’ve got a bit of spare dosh charlies basement tempo dvd will be a good investment. I also have access to a gym at work so here’s my weekly shedule.

Mon: - Lower body weights
Tue: - Circuits/tempo
Wed: - upper body weights
Thur:- Speed/acceleration
Fri: - tempo - indoor on treadmill/bike
Sat: - rest
Sun: - hills

Tue 29th Oct:

  • 6 x Hurdle walkovers x 10 hdls
  • Tempo - 1+1+1+1/1+1+1+1/1+1+1+1/1+1+1+1
    (1600m)
  • Abs - 30" on / 30" off x 6 exercises
  • Depletion push ups 90" btw sets
    1). 40; 2). 14; 3). 12
  • Assisted stretches

Thur 1st Oct

  • 10 x toss - OH backwards (6kg shot)
    10 x squat throw (6kg)
  • 10 x 15m accelerations - flat on ground
  • 3 x 30m high knee running
  • wide grip pull ups 90sec rest btw reps
    1). 7; 2). 6; 3). 3
  • Core - 20 reps each
    Prone iso abs + hip extension; Side iso abs + hip abduction; 1 leg floor bridge; ab draw leg slide.

Fri 2nd Oct
Treadmill run
5min warm up +
5’ @ 13kph / 2min rec / 5min 13.5kph / 2min rec / 5min @ 14kph /2min rec + (3x1’ @ 18kph/1min@5kph).

No a bad 1st week although things a bit manic at work so no time to do a proper weights session, although maybe thats not such a bad thiong for week 1 to allow the old bod a bit of time to adapt.

Got my athletics club presentation night tonight so no formal training tomorrow although will get out for a run if i’m not feeling too bad.

maybe you can do repeat 20m runs something like 2-3x10x20m. that would give you a decent 200m worth of sprinting per set. You should feel pretty lactic doing that. then maybe add in some power work maybe put a sand bag or wieght plate in a felt bag tie to a belt and you have a good indoor sled that wont scratch up the floor… as for tempo you can get creative…

Cheers!
Yeh I think creativity is the key word. We start indoor next tuesday so i’ll get a better idea of what space and exuipment we’ve got to play with.
Thanks anyway :slight_smile:

Cain

Tue 6th Oct

Hurdle walk over/unders - 6 x 10 hdls

Tempo - 1+1+1/1+1+1+1+1+1/1+1+1+1+1+1/1+1+1 = 1800m (fastest 15.6 slowest 17.4)

Abs - 6 exercises 30sec on 30sec off

Depletion push ups 3 x max 90sec rec

  1. 42 2) 16 3) 12 (wk 1- 40,14,12)

Wed 7th Oct

BB squat - 10@100k; 2x8@100k 2min btw sets (thighs parrallel to floor)
Cable kneeling hip extension - 2x8 each leg @12.5k
Cable standing hip abduction - 12 each leg 6.25k; 12 @ 5kg
Cable hip adduction - 2 x 12 each leg @ 7.5k
Stability ball hamstring curl - 3x10 with 3sec hold in curl position each rep

was good to get started in the gym at last as i was in danger of letting work take over. I think part of my probs with injury last season was neglecting weights for too long.
I was pleased with the squats though, I had a good stretch before and it felt like it really helped with my range of motion.
Buttocks feeling a bit sore this morning mind you :smiley:

Thu 8th Oct

Overhead shot throws 10 @ 6.25kg
Fwd squat throws 10@ 6.25kg

Accelerations 10 x 15min - low push up position; done in trainers

fast high knee running - 4x35m

Pull ups: 8, 7, 4 (wk 1: 7,6,3)

Fri 9th Oct.

Not a good day; Got bad toothache; a cold and my quads were absolutely battered from squats on wednesday so no training unfortunately :frowning:

Sun 11th Oct

Hills

Joined in with the 400m boyz so did -
2x2x long hill (approx 350m) with a jog back down between runs and 30min between sets.

Set 1: 84sec + 102sec
Set 2: 81sec + 101sec

Was absolutely horrid, although the pain of the run did take my mind off the toothache!

No training last week, had bad cough/cold :frowning:

Sun 18th Oct

Hills: target was 3x6x40m 2’ + 5’ rec btw runs/sets.

actually managed 3x5x40m. It was a lot harder than it looked on paper and didn’t make it any easier still suffering with the tail end of my cold but pleased nonetheless to have completed what I did.

Tue 20th Oct
Indoors - all we have is a sports hall which is approx 25m long by approx 15m wide. Equipment is ltd so I realise that the training will be less than ideal but we shall just make the most of being indoors and thank our lucky stars that we’re not outside freezing our nuts off :slight_smile:

[ul]
[li]Warm up consisting of jogging, walking lunges; and various walking/jogging sprint drills
[/li][li]4x20m sprint drill - moving fwd at slow speed and every 3rd step raise thigh and pull back down into hip extn fast, not sure what you guys call its. focus is on fast pull back down to the ground.
[/li][li]Shuttle runs: wanted to find some way of doing some tempo/endurance work and boy does this hurt. 5 cones spaced out 5m apart. sprint to first cone; touch and sprint back to the start. repeat for each successive cone. I did 3 runs each taking 39-42sec. Felt like my quads were going to explode and my lungs were being ripped from my chest. In fairness tho i’m still struggling to shake off the last few remanents of my cold so think that may have contributed to the sense of effort.
[/li][li]Depletion push ups - really struggled with these after the shuttle runs, just felt there was nothing left in the tank.
[/li][/ul]

Wed 21st Oct - treadmill run - did 25mins with speed varied from 10-15kph

Thur 22nd Oct

Dropped in with the 400 boys for this session (one of KK’s core sessions)

6x200m walk rest of lap (max 3min) target 28-29sec
[ol]
[li]28.2
[/li][li]29.4
[/li][li]28.6
[/li][li]29.5 then took 7min rec
[/li][li]28.2
[/li][li]29.4
[/li][/ol]

Needed the little extra rest after run number 4 to maintain some quality but was really pleased with the way i ran them, really focussed on accelerating for 10m then maitaining and i’m sure when ive done a bit more fitness work and the cold is gone the times will come down nicely.
tried to do some pull ups afterwards but was a very bad idea. Just felt very weak after the runs. I’ve been putting press ups and pull ups into the sessions for the benefit of the athletes who don’t do anyother gym work but to be honest it’s screwing up my own plans a little so i’m gonna have to have a little think about this cus i need to get back into the gym on a consistent basis.