ben johnson's high school times

[Track_man]

@nycjay01

Well how fit are you? I think Charlie sums it up best “why fight for tenths at the start when you can gain seconds through general conditioning” Im starting to realize with my kids that its more about fitness than it is about spectacular programs on paper…

Special Endurance has to be built up. Dont show up at the track and start running your 200m close to your race times out of the blue!!!you need a base general fitness before you start doing this stuff.

I have a good enough training age + sports back ground in soccer and hockey, and have gone through GPP, SPP etc. However I feel spec. end. work outside of meets (running 200s/400s in meets) hasnt been done enough… though I could be wrong… I do tempo… 100-300s at 75% speed and lately did some more 300-400s at tempo speed. I also peaked my times about 2 weeks ago at 11.3/23.39… then hit ti hard the last 2 weeks but I feel I can run 10.8-10.9 given my top speed, just the start and finish isnt too good.

Anyway do you feel in my case special end. work is needed and will it really help? or will doing speed endurance runs be enough?

[Charlie_Francis]

@nycjay01

Well how fit are you? I think Charlie sums it up best “why fight for tenths at the start when you can gain seconds through general conditioning” Im starting to realize with my kids that its more about fitness than it is about spectacular programs on paper…

Special Endurance has to be built up. Dont show up at the track and start running your 200m close to your race times out of the blue!!!you need a base general fitness before you start doing this stuff.

There’s a difference between general fitness and Special Endurance. i’d keep the SE at 150 and down to around age 16, but you can get in plenty of general fitness through tempo, med ball work etc

[nycjay01]

@Charlie_Francis

There’s a difference between general fitness and Special Endurance. i’d keep the SE at 150 and down to around age 16, but you can get in plenty of general fitness through tempo, med ball work etc

Yes I agree with that. On all counts! I wish more local youth coaches stop the madness and stop training young sprinters like middle distance runners.

[123456asdf]

@Charlie_Francis

It’s all there in Speed Trap (e-book available in the site store) he started at 11.8 and 24.1.

Just wondering, When Ben achieved the times of 11.8 and 24.1 was that untrained or was it at the end of his first year training with you?

Thanks

[Charlie_Francis]

@123456asdf

Just wondering, When Ben achieved the times of 11.8 and 24.1 was that untrained or was it at the end of his first year training with you?

Thanks

that was untrained.

[Track_man]

FAT 11.8/24.1 starting?

[ESTI]

@Charlie_Francis

that was untrained.

And you used a L-S type program for a while, correct?

[100m001]

@nycjay01

Yes I agree with that. On all counts! I wish more local youth coaches stop the madness and stop training young sprinters like middle distance runners.

Tell me about it… I was practicing at a middle school about 2 months ago and the entire track team came out and the coach made the whole team with no warm up do repeat 800’s. These young kids were so disgruntled that they had to run that long in practice; I was just disgusted as to how lazy and unscientific the coach was. He just clumped them all together M-F sprinters all the way to what look to be like future shot putters.

Some coaches like my old HS coach are better in there programing but still are old school in the idea that its ok for 400m SPRINTERS to run x country.

It seems to me that many coaches are afraid of sprint work and are afraid to pull hamstrings so they rather have there athletes do extensive tempo, and se2 type workouts. I mean, it works but anything works for a developing athlete and secondly I’m sure this is what leads to burnouts for many of the U.S athletes.

Lastly, and this just pisses me off; but the United States is just over saturated with distance running! Year around there is always some kind if marathon going on and most running clubs are distance runners who get orgasmic pleasure by getting up at 5:30am to run 5 miles thinking that’s the most healthiest thing you can do.

So my point is, we are such a distance running culture that I feel it now influences the way we train our sprinters here in the states. Just my 0.02$.