Casey Combest Wasted Talent

Just based on your numbers, I would think you could have gone a little faster over 2 years than .09 improvement, mostly just based on getting older by two years. Maybe you are close to your ceiling development wise. More likely, it could be that your training is off. Usually your strength(speed) remains your strength. You may pick up quickness, but not at the expense of losing top speed. It could be your perception or it could be real. I would have to see 10m splits to say. Maybe post a typical workout that you did both strength and running wise. That would be a good place to start.

Email Kelly … he’s good at getting back to ppl

I bet he’d enjoy trying to help

i could definitely try that. ill try to send one out before spring season starts

after talking to a friend he pointed out i should add a couple points about my training:
-im not sure if my ability to run at a high top speed is gone (when i do flys it still feels very fast and looks good from video) but in races i never seem to be able to get to that position (hip height much lower, anterior tilt in hips, low knee lift, too much backside mechanics etc.). i do think that the large amount of squatting i did tightened up my hips and makes a good top speed position more difficult for me to hit so in a racing mindset it could be resulting in me not getting there. i also only grew 1 in taller (i stand at about 5’7" now) but gained about 15-20 lbs of muscle (i went from 134 to a leaner 150+), though the muscles that most noticibly got larger on me were my core muscles. im also not sure about me being already near my ceiling because the only training i had done at that point was int tempo running, and i wasnt nearly physically mature as even two years later im still behind many of my peers in the having a mature body spectrum (i matured on the late side)
-i ran many races this year around that 6.90 mark, but as a sophomore i ran only one, maybe two, races the whole year sub 7, and i had even run a 7.4x earlier that year, but i also was recovering from a partial pcl tear, so idk how much recovery from that injury played a role in my time dropping. and as a sophomore i was a terrible starter, and now thats the only part of my race where i compete well
-im pretty confident i overtrained much of the summer and fall and some of the winter preceeding my indoor season because i had many of the symptoms (accumulating many small injuries, grumpiness, lower hip height, lower juming numbers, plateus, etc.) so im also not sure how much this affected my racing. rb34 did comment early on on my journal for my summer workouts that he thought my volume was quite high
-a typical fall workout for me included:
warm up (jogging, stretching, build ups)
~500m speed (something like 250m worth of 50s and then a longer run with 5’ rest between 50s)
100-300 HI plyos
weights (5 sets of cleaning and squatting, 3 sets of calfs and rev hypers or rdls)
core work
stretching

on my non speed days i did from 1500m-4000m of tempo, core work and upper body weights (5 sets bench, and hypertrophy stuff)

i took sundays off and did 3 speed days and 3 tempo days alternating

I think you are over analyzing, seems like you just need to learn to relax when you race to let your maxv mechanics take place

I agree that this is way too much volume for anyone who is not a full-time athlete with many years of training under their belt. I would limit speed days to < 400m, tempo days to no more than 1500m and cut out at least one training day per week. I.e. two HI days plus 2 or 3 LI days or the other way round. Also, your plyos could be reduced to 20-30 contacts once or twice a week. During SPP and comp phase, you should, moreover, gradually reduce the volume and intensity of your lifting. I would do a maximum of three lifting sessions per week.

Have you considered that you might be trying too hard in the races, and this tightens you up, shortens your drive phase, and keeps you from ever getting into a good top speed position?

i do tend to overanalyze, though its funny how i could lose the pretty decent maxv mechanics i had a sophomore when i didnt even know what good maxv mechanics were back then

with speed days under 400m, are you thinking i cut the long run? because othewise thats like 200m or under of accelerating work?

and i did start to lower plyo volume when i was in the season, im not planning on exceeding 25-50 from now on (5x5 hurdle hops and some llrr hops should suffice), but it may have been too late if i was overtrained from summer and fall

and with ur reccomendation of 3 lifting sessions per week, how are you splitting ur weights in this case? lower twice and upper once, or full body 3x?

and i do agree, i dont think training 6x a week was necessary at all, i shouldve done more like 4-5 per week, and will try to do 4 a week for the rest of the season

i have considered this, though while younger i tried harder in races and was able to hit the position anyways, so i think a lesser ROM is a cause of the problem too

though i do think that i am trying to push too hard after the first couple steps because i never really reach a “pull” stage of my race in the dash, and i think running my own race might help with this

Firstly, I would not do the same HI intensity workout three times a week. If you want to do 3 HI days, I’d go for something like

Day 1: acceleration (i.e. block starts to 30m, but progressively getting longer, maybe with a single 120m run at the end) total volume ca. 300m

Day 2: top speed (e.g. flying sprints, EFE, FEF) total volume ca. 350m

Day 3: SE (e.g. 150m, 200m - could do a couple of 30m accelerations before those) total volume ca. 400m

Using 2 HI days you could do something like:

Day 1: acceleration and speed

Day 2: acceleration and SE

For weights, I would not do any bodypart (except for abs maybe) more than 2 times per week. E.g. lower, upper+lower, upper or something like that.

ok cool, i appreciate your advice.

earlier in the year i wanted to bulk up and im a hard gainer so i had to lift a lot and eat like a horse to put on weight, but i feel that im muscular enough now where i dont need to worry about getting bigger so long as im getting stronger so i might try out that lower, upper/lower, upper set up you said

and i assume what you wrote is for 100m training?

tb, your reply certainly put a lot more out there to think about. The partial ACL tear is a significant piece of information. On your own analysis, you talk about feeling tight, back pelvic tilt, etc. It could be a lot of things, but I would honestly start by testing my flexibility and length/tension relationships in hams, quads, hip flexors, glutes, and your upper body posture. Are you lordotic? It comes with the anterior pelvic tilt. Perhaps due to short hip flexors you have anterior tilt, resulting in inability to get into a good top speed position. That would explain the loss in maxV, the lowered knee height, and pushing out the back. I would keep my tempo down around 2000m and make sure your not going too fast. You sound like a hard worker and that tends to happen in guys who like to push. I think with all the plyo, weight work, and speed, you are taxing CNS too much. Maybe cut to 2 speed days and make sure to follow speed with weights. Keep volume down. Don’t fall in love with too many sets. Get in, stimulate, get out. Rest, therapy, and nutrition ad nauseum. I doubt you lost speed, it is more likely your posture affecting your poisiton. I haven’t seen you run, but I am just taking an educated guess based on your own words.

thanks for the reply, and it was partial pcl tear, not acl, so it didnt require surgey, though my left leg’s lower part is not slightly further back in the knee socket than my right. but also it occurred before my 6.98 so if its caused any imbalance problems, they wouldve been there before my lack of PR improvement

i will lower volume, quality over quantity i guess, and i have had tight hip flexors ever since frosh year, though i had good posterior tilt at maxv back then so maybe the weight lifting without sufficient stretching just accentuated that

would you reccomend putting benching or other upper body work with speed and lower weights days since u said weights after speed? i’d been doing benching the day after speed, but idk if thats wrecking my cns down too much

either way im taking a break til late march to try and rest up, and esp if im overtrained it should help me be able to improve during outdoors

Yes, honestly just do your weights on speed days and 72 hours apart. Going back to back days is certainly having a negative effect on CNS. Better PCL than ACL. My bad on the misread. Really be diligent about your flexibility. It gets boring so I promote my athletes to do Yoga 3 times per week. It is great flexibility and relaxing. I do a Rodney Yee video at home. Takes like 25 mins start to finish. It’s called Power Yoga:strength and felxibility. Hope it helps.

i could try something like that. before i lifted i was very lithe and limber, so i guess i shirked out on flexibility because i didnt realize i could end up on the other end of the spectrum :confused:

as far as supplementary weights (which ive done simply because putting on weight is hard for me so ive always added some type of 2x10 or 3x8 circuit after my primary lift) would those be okay to have day after speed since its not as high a stim? im just scared about how long the training session would be if i tried to fit speed, plyos and full body lifting in one day (i only have from 2:30-5:30 to train each day because of school and family)

thanks for your help

i know not everything is applicable in every case, but it seems to me that usually the bulky muscle sprinters are the good starters, not the skinny, light kids (from observation of pro races and from my own high school races)[/QUOTE]

Kim Cöllins is another example of being skinny and very good starter. This season he ran 6.50over 60m :cool:

You probably only need 2 weight workouts per week. If running is your main focus, trying to add sets in for size is just one more thing taking away from your speed development. Honestly, if speed is your primary goal, anything that interfers with it should be cut out. Perhaps due to body type (sounds like you are ectomorph), it would take too much effort to get major hypertrophy. The hypertrophy should be a by product of years of training, not a rapid change for the sake of it. Maybe do speed 2 days, followed by weights. Should take 2 hours max. Do your tempo and flexibility 4 other days. Don’t stretch so hard that you induce soreness. A one hour massage once per week. It would certainly fit into your time parameters.QUOTE=tb2010;246773]i could try something like that. before i lifted i was very lithe and limber, so i guess i shirked out on flexibility because i didnt realize i could end up on the other end of the spectrum :confused:

as far as supplementary weights (which ive done simply because putting on weight is hard for me so ive always added some type of 2x10 or 3x8 circuit after my primary lift) would those be okay to have day after speed since its not as high a stim? im just scared about how long the training session would be if i tried to fit speed, plyos and full body lifting in one day (i only have from 2:30-5:30 to train each day because of school and family)

thanks for your help[/QUOTE]

Kim Cöllins is another example of being skinny and very good starter. This season he ran 6.50over 60m :cool:[/QUOTE]

thats true, and i havent seen that specific race, but i wouldnt be surprised if he has a really high maxv which is still part of a 60, and maybe a good drive phase, but not a fantastic first 10-15m

[/QUOTE]

okay, thank you for your help. i might decide to replace some of my emphasis on lower weights with plyos in season

and yeah, i have the microstretching spreadsheet and have taken that style of stretching into consideration