It’s hard to describe, kind of like half high knee half bound with a couple of regular steps in between.
Friday, August 7th, 2010- Clark Field, UT
Speed workout:
warmup
buildups 1x10, 1x20, 1x30 flats, 1x10, 1x20, 1x30 spikes
3x30m accelerations (4 mins rest)
3x40m accelerations (5 mins rest)
2x flying 40m with 25m run-in
Weights-
Smith machine parallel squat: 1x6x225lbs, 1x5x225lbs, 1x4x225lbs
Jump squats: 3x6x20lbs dumbbells
Smith machine bench 1x6x205lbs, 1x5x205lbs, 1x4x205lbs
Explosive throws-
3x5x 12 lbs medball squat throws (vertical)
This session felt great while I was doing it. My coach took some video, so I was able to see some stills of what I was doing right. I got some high quality accelerations in. On the two 40m accelerations I was extending fully and engaging my glutes, as opposed to rushing my steps and not fully pushing through. In addition, my back / shin angles were pretty good (still far from perfect), but I wasn’t letting my shins open up too much which is my classic accel idiot move.
The flying 40’s were pretty routine- or so I thought at the time. They were on what may be a very slight downhill grade- it’s not even really “downhill”, it’s more like a 1 or 2 degree slope at Clark Field.
This workout was one of those examples of where you feel fine doing it, but the next day it hits you. I was DESTROYED on Saturday morning, my lower body was stiffer than stiff. There was a lot of soreness in the glutes, and a bit in the upper hamstrings. I was scheduled for some therapy, but my coach was out of town, and my friend from San Antonio was in town for the weekend, so I basically didn’t do much at all to get rid of the stiffness. Saturday and Sunday were basically off-days. We ate a bit too much on Sunday night at Guero’s. Their chicken tacos are the best I’ve had in a while, but I stupidly filled up on rice and beans, then went to Hey Cupcake! and totally overdid it on an overly large (but nothing some Betty Crocker cake mix couldn’t equal) vanilla frosted cupcake.
Big mistake! I was ridiculously full, and my stomach was still bugging me all the next day and into Tuesday. We had eaten pretty well all weekend too, but I lost it Sunday night and kind of screwed myself over. I really need to work on controlling my impulses when it comes to food. It’s a struggle.
Apparently overeating jacks your metabolism up similar to training so you probably didn’t do any damage. At least that is my weekly excuse. I think I read where nightmare4d on here said that.
Really?? That’s the best news I’ve heard all day!
I do eat things that are totally not in line with my longer term goals (you know, like losing 5 pounds of fat). Usually if I’m organized in advance I can stick to my daily eating plan, but if I’m running around like an idiot just picking random things to eat, it’s curtains. I’ll pick stupid bad stuff nearly every time.
Monday, August 9th- Austin High School
Speed Endurance workout:
warmup
build-ups 1x10, 1x20, 1x30 flats, 1x10, 1x20, 1x30 spikes
2x30m accelerations
2x240m split runs-
2x2x120m +30 seconds walk break, 120m @95%
10 mins rest between sets
First set-
On the first 120m rep, I came through the last 100m at about 12.75, and on the second 120m rep came through at 13.00 through the flying 100m zone. The second rep sucked because I didn’t get set in the accel zone and push off properly, I kind of just jogged up to speed.
Second set-
This set I went quicker, I came through the first 100m zone in 12.24, on the second rep I came through in 12.77, but it would have been a much more even split if the football kids and coach didn’t decide to randomly start crossing the track without looking. I was shouting “Track! Track! Track!” for the last 50m of the second 120m. Afterward, the idiot football coach was like, “You know this is OUR school, and you don’t have to yell like that!” OK, next time I’ll just run your ass over! Don’t these clowns have a track team?
This was a pretty good workout overall. I’m running at a low-key hand timed meet this Friday, so this was just a bit of over-distance work and not overly quick to keep me sharp. Hopefully it wasn’t too close in, but even if so, it’s cool.
Tuesday, August 10th- Therapy day
Frank went deep into my IT band and where it connects to the knee and hip. This stuff HURTS A LOT! He also went into the gastroc where it meets the achilles and my always tight soleus muscles. This was by far the most painful therapy day so far, but I felt less restricted afterward. No tempo today. I’m really slacking on the tempo lately! I’m for sure getting out on Saturday to bust my ass with a decent tempo workout.
Wednesday, August 11th- Austin High School
Speed workout:
warmup
buildups- 1x10, 1x20, 1x30 flats, 1x10, 1x20, 1x30 spikes
5x20m accels
3x20m flying with 20m run-in
This was pretty easy workout overall, as I was to run in a meet on Friday, August 13th, so there wasn’t much volume or distance involved.
This was the day that Ku2u#2 came down and worked out, so it was cool to watch what he’s running like. He wanted to be at 7.00 in the 60m, and he ran around 7.05, so he is totally on target I think. If he does a nice 7 to 10 day taper, gets the therapy as needed, he will be flying and totally go under 7.00 on his tryout day. I don’t think he was too thrilled with his 150m time, but reading his journal it’s pretty clear he’s been focusing on accelerations, so that’s no big deal.
We had an enormous rain delay today, which was kind of a good thing. Everyone was soaked, and once the lightning came out, it was time to pack it in and go eat some lunch at Magnolia Cafe, which gave us a chance to chat. Kyle is really knowledgeable about how to put a program together and seems to have excellent street smarts for what’s good and what’s fluff, and he’s only 19. He’s going to make an amazing coach someday when he’s done running!
Basically, we had just warmed up when the rain hit, so we came out about an hour later, warmed up again, and got the work in. I felt quite flat in the accels and the 20 fly’s, but it may have been a result of the deep tissue work Frank did on Tuesday. He really got in there, and I probably hadn’t bounced back yet.
Overall, this was a really fun day. Kyle is coming down on Monday again, so that should be cool.
How were the runs timed???
Thanks man, it was great seeing your training and progression with Frank. I heard you ran a 150m in 17.59 in your training the other day, looks like the special endurance sessions are paying off! I’ll be down early tomorrow probably, going to get some light thearpy for the workout, eat lunch and let digest, then get the workout started.
RB34, the times were handtimed by the Coach.
Don’t you think you 6.90 ht to hit ur goals?
Ya I need to hit at least 6.90ht.
Hey RB,
I saw Kyle running accels twice, he is all loaded up with work and didn’t have much access to therapy, and he hit 7.0x twice. He should be in 6.9x shape EASY with a bit of therapy and a 10 day taper.
Thursday, August 12th- Warmup / therapy day
Light flushing massage
hops, skips
a bit more massage
warmup 1x10, 1x20, 1x30 (flats only)
medball throws
1x5 squat throws vertical
1x5 chest pass
1x5 squat throws forward
cool down
There was a meet scheduled for Friday, August 13th, so this day was just a flushing massage and warmup to ensure readiness to run well in tomorrow’s meet. The massage today felt really good, it was nice to get a nice light massage after all the painful fascia stuff of late.
Friday, August 13th- Austin High School
Time trial:
warmup
200m: 25.80
150m: 17.59
The meet was cancelled, so we decided to go to Austin High and do a time trial instead. I ran the 200m into a headwind, and never felt like I got it going properly in the first 30m, so the time was rather sluggish. I didn’t even feel tired at the end of this it was so slow. We took a 15 minute break and came back with a 150m going in the other direction. The last time I had a properly timed 150m was indoors, and I ran it in 18.75 or something like that, it was early on. Still, I was not expecting to run in the 17’s! I definitely ran it very well, I could feel myself cooking as soon as I hit about 50m, and it was effortless to get to 100m, and very easy coming through the last 50m split. I felt very tall and could only feel my hips and hamstrings, I was not pawing the track at all.
Still, the wind was fairly stiff, so I definitely got some help there. I was very happy with this time though. Overall though, I ran the entire thing very well, and the result was very good! These days at the track don’t happen very often, gotta enjoy them while you can!
We ended up going out for some terrific Puerto Rican food from a trailer at I-35 and 51st Street. It took a while for the food to be prepared, but that’s because it was made from scratch when we ordered- I could even see the guy peeling the plantain in the back. Austin has some great trailer food!
Youre ready for 24 if you can run 17.5 …
Well yeah, I should be getting close to 24 range!
I mean there was definitely a nice tailwind. I came through the 150m split of the 200m I ran just prior at 18.8, and that was 100m of turn with 50m of straight into fair headwind,plus I didn’t get out too well.
I think if it was an 18.00 with no wind I’d still be thrilled, but I felt really, really good on that rep. I even went back and checked to make sure I started from the right spot. This was my best day on the track this year by far workout wise, based on both the feel of the run and time. Hopefully I’ll get another SE day in this week, and we can see how it compares.
Cmon… Do your 17.5 then maintain 
Easier said than done…
Friday, August 13th- Therapy day
I wasn’t excessively sore from the 200m / 150m time trials yesterday, but there was definitely some soreness in my left hamstring and glute. This has been a bit of an ongoing problem over the past couple of weeks. I’ve always had a bit more soreness in my left hamstring than my right after hard workouts, and today was no different. I got some work done in the hamstrings, glutes, and hip flexors, with of course some loosening in the lower gastroc and always-tight soleus.
Sunday, August 15th- Austin High School
Tempo workout:
warmup
2x250, 2x200, 1x150, 3 mins between reps
This day was blistering hot, and I ran through each of the 200m splits in about 30 seconds. The rest was 3 minutes, which is normally long for me, but in 105 degree heat, it feels short as hell! I did a nice job of finishing up with a strong 150m, even though I dogged it in the last 50m a little bit. The Austin masters club was out doing their workout at the same time, and I really couldn’t make sense of it.
There was a warmup with drills, then a lot of medball throws that looked somewhere between explosive and non-explosive, but there was a lot of volume, probably over 200 throws.
Then they got on the track and did even more explosive type throws, and eventually, after about an hour of warming up and throwing, they did a bunch of speed work. Bizarre. You get what you pay for!
Monday, August 16- Austin High School
Speed workout:
warmup, build-ups 1x10, 1x20, 1x30 flats, 1x10, 1x20, 1x30 spikes
2x4x20m accelerations from roll-through
Explosive medball throws:
2x10x chest pass
2x10x rollback rollup and throw
2x10x squat jump overhand
2x10x squat jump underhand
Multi-jumps:
2x two foot hops 20 yards
2x one foot hops 20 yards
1x two foot hops backwards 20 yards
This was a really fun day. Ku2u#2 made it down for the workout again, and we had a good time shooting the shit while warming up. Of course, there was a lot of talking, so the workout probably took a little longer than normal. Kyle was nursing a bit of a sore adductor, so he was careful with what he did in the workout today, barely going past 20m.
I had very little volume on the track, but there were lots of jumps and throws.
We headed over to Barton Springs to cool off after the workout, which is just around the corner. It’s a cold spring fed pool, and after getting off a 100 degree track, having a cold spring to soak in is a serious luxury! We hung out for a while, then headed over to South Congress for some reasonably healthy lunch at Zen.
We were talking like crazy, and lunch was long finished, so I suggested everyone come hang out at my house. We made our way over, and since the three of us are such ridiculous track geeks (arguing about who has the best start of all time, etc.) there was nonstop blabbing, so I forced everyone to stay for dinner, and cooked with a friend of mine. While dinner was being prepped, our other training partner showed up for a massage in the living room, so my place was totally track geek central.
I made some grass fed beef burgers which are pretty healthy. The beef is pretty lean, but the recipe calls for shredding mushrooms into the beef to maintain some moisture and mouthfeel. I’ve made this recipe loads of times, and they were a hit as usual, it’s just a great recipe! I’m gonna tell you, I think the key is to shred the mushrooms really fine with a Microplane grater. If you don’t have one of these, get one! My friend threw together a really good tomato and fresh mozzarella salad, and I undercooked some corn on the BBQ. That’s the last time I try to get fancy and BBQ corn in the husk, I’m just going to boil it next time, it’s just too annoying to judge doneness on the grill.
Of course there was Alden’s Cookies and Cream ice cream for dessert, and I forced Kyle and Jordan to eat double portions so I wouldn’t have too much hanging around in the freezer. This was a super fun day!
OK I haven’t finished updating the summer journal. I drove back home last week, and have managed to pick up quite a bug probably from rushing the drive back and not taking enough rest when I did get home. I’m going to try to get this all updated within the next few days to finish it off and let you know how it turned out.
Tuesday, August 17-
therapy day
Wednesday, August 18- Austin High School
speed workout:
warmup, 1x10m,20m,30m flats, 1x10m,20m,30m spikes
accels from blocks: 2x4x20m (3r, 5s)
I aborted two starts, so I didn’t count them in the totals, but they weren’t all that stressful. The focus was on getting full extension through the hip when coming out of the blocks. I have been rushing my steps atrociously in my 100m races this year. This invariably results in a poor acceleration out to 30m while burning a ton of energy.
These accels went very well overall. I was extending fully through the hip. When doing it properly, during the accelerations my steps felt somewhat slow and deliberate. I think I know what it should feel like now, which is a huge positive.
Overall, this session was great. I do think it would have been nice to do more block work, but I always want to do block work, and I can really paralyze myself if I’m in there too often. Frank has been smart to keep me out of there!
Thursday, August 19- Austin High School
speed endurance workout:
(3x180m split runs)
warmup, 1x10m,1x20m,1x30m flats, 1x10m, 1x20m, 1x30m spikes
3x3x60m (3r, 5s)
This was an interesting workout. The rest between each rep of 60m was restricted to 3 minutes, so I think this would at least somewhat fall under the category of a split run.
Times were as follows:
7.93, 7.85, 7.81
7.79, 7.72, 7.68
7.63, 7.58, 7.53
The times in the first set shocked me, even though I really wasn’t pushing too hard. It is quite likely that I was pretty loaded up from the block accelerations the day before. By the end of the workout however, I was running more respectable times. Interestingly, despite the restricted rest, my reps got consistently faster.
I have never done a workout quite like this, I’ve had walkback rest before, and basically turnaround and run back type split runs, but never with 3 minutes rest between reps. It was definitely interesting.
I was reading over one of the Al Vermeil Powerpoints and he mentioned that taller, lankier, less explosive athletes can benefit from fewer sets but more reps per set. I wonder if this would be the case for me? I’m certainly interested to try it out next season.
This series of two workouts in a row was probably the most taxing combination of the whole summer. Friday was an off day.
Saturday, August 21- Austin High School
speed workout: acceleration day
This day was quite comical. We met at the track, and I warmed up until I got to the drills. I could not for the life of me do my A-skips properly (too much knee bend and sloppy form), and the A-run was even worse.
I went out onto the track to do a few accels in flats, and after the first one (in which I felt atrocious, and apparently looked it too!) Frank cancelled the running portion of the session, and switched to doing a few medball throws. I think I did one throw, and he cancelled the rest. I was basically too whacked from the Wednesday-Thursday workouts to do anything of substance today. Basically, I went home and relaxed and did a bit of foam rolling.
Sunday, August 22- Austin High School
tempo session:
3x100, 100-200-100, 100-200-100
CF medball circuit
I brought a friend who does Crossfit along for this session, so it was done at an easier pace than I am used to. It’s amazing how poor my friend’s running form was considering she pays $160 a month to work out at a Crossfit gym. I kept the pace at a level that was a challenge for her, but not an inappropriate one. We then did a medball circuit. I basically got a good sweat going during the medball portion, and that was the hardest part of it. Overall, probably a wise workout to do after getting so loaded up this week during the speed sessions.
Here’s some video taken during early to mid-August. Feel free to comment with ruthless (but hopefully tactful!) honesty. Not that I need to encourage you people much.
Some of these have some pretty obvious flaws, and it’s always interesting to get outside opinions.
First up is an A-skip.
Then an A-run.
Here is a 20m sled pull.
A 20m accel.