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.