this week my sprinters started up training. I will be using 3 programs this winter. short2long, long to short, and KK’s template for 12 week gpp. more info to come soon…
Saturday Oct 13. Our county XC race. It was cold and raining (40F).
The course was wet with taller grass than normal. The girls didn’t complain much and out of the 14 girls who ran today, 12 set at least a season best time, if not a personal record. It was really fun to see them so excited to be healthy and running fast!
Thursday this week on a windy day, we did 5x1600 with 3 minutes rest. The girls hit their times which are predictors. Some girls ran those times today, some are very close!
Most of the work is done. A few more races to go. A few girls are in “race and rest” mode and a few others will do some specific workouts I feel they need.
Following the last post of mine, our team had 2 more Saturday races (league championship and regionals). The league championship was very flat and some girls ran well, some did good, but not PRs. At regionals, most girls had the mindset it was a slower course etc. Turned out nearly all of them PR/Season best it! I nearly was in tears to know it was over and to see how far they had come since I first met with them in June.
I can’t post the image on here but here is the link to each girl’s season progress
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/63548988/uxc%20no%20name.jpg
The date that is blank was a meet I decided to not run in because the girls were starting to complain about calf issues, and the next race was important for the team.
Quite a few yellow boxes in that final week. Well done!
Best,
Christopher
Thanks Chris! That is something I am quite proud about. Planning was executed quite well. The lonely gal who struggled all year had ITB issues and fought every race. She was a senior and didn’t want to miss any races. I plan on using a similar format for my girls 800-3200 runners this winter and spring.
This winter and spring I will not be overseeing the training of the girls. I am quite nervous on several levels. I will, however, be involved in organizing their strength training throughout the winter, and most likely, throughout the spring as well.
A few of my female 400m runners started running, but I realized they had knee pain prior to starting the program, we quickly stopped training after a week and are now spending time fixing up some of the issues I found. They will do bike rides for endurance for now and strength train twice a week. This is a situation where I can do more, but I am tied with time conflicts. I have a program for my hurdlers (which varies slightly for each of them), a program for my sprinters, and another for the 400m girls. When I only have 90 minutes available, this is less than ideal, but certainly a real situation for many coaches.
I’m confident things will work out in the end, but the 400m girls will probably not run any indoor meets unless they see serious progress in the strength workouts, since a big cause of their pain is weakness in the hips and quads.
More details to come over time!
Are you planning to attend the USTFCCCA Convention in Orlando later this month?
Best,
Christopher
Training is going well. Hurdlers are focusing on execution to the first hurdle for the next few weeks, continuing their SE and max speed work as well with repeat 60s and EFE, FEFs. My boy sprinter (the others are MIA), is doing very well and is on pace to run sub 7 so far.
The distance girls are in a mileage block and we have added strength training 2x weekly.
I have a few others that are working around prior injuries, such as knee pain. They are biking, and working on strengthening the legs.
So far so good. I am a happy coach!
1/4/13
Just an update separate from the 110H journal. MY sprinter had been doing 30m electronic block starts in the 4.2 range, predictable to 7.30 FAT in competition. Thursday, 1/3/13, he ran 7.35 FAT. He qualified for indoor state finals in his first meet, a huge goal for him. I think he can still go sub 7. Emphasis has been only to 40m in workouts. His starts in practice are fairly consistent. I’ve noticed other sprint based clubs progress very little over the course of indoors. My guys historically have done really well progressing.
I have 3 hurdlers doing indoor. My #2 ran 9.14 and qualified for indoor state finals as well. The #3 is within 0.2 of qualifying.
Overall progress is really good in the sprint side. Distance runners are really young and really slow this year. We have been incredibly strong past 2 seasons but with weak field events and only strength in hurdles and sprints and relays, we are going to struggle against a lot of teams on the boys side.
On the girls side, a hurdler is close to qualifying. Last year she was out #4. The other 3 girls , 2 playing basketball, and 1 is AWOL. She has improved a ton so far and look forward to more improvements in her. The distance girls are doing ok. They are now working with the other coach doing mostly mileage (against my advice to her) and have done some fun races indoors.
Monday 1/7/13
Today everyone was not feeling energetic. He did a few standing 30s, block 30s, and some hurdle work using Ange’s suggestion of lower and pushed in over 2 hurdles. We then did some standing run through working on a shuffling stride. This is new to me and to him. I’m thinking I might have overcoached it today.
Not much else to report. Looking forward to next meet on Jan 21 to see his progress.
When you see a pattern " everyone was not feeling energetic" usually it’s a message. It’s tough to ignore a larger group sample if most or all are looking and or feeling similarly.
Introducing something new on a day when they are not 100 percent is likely to give you mixed feelings, results and or feedback from what you might expect.
You did not over coach .
You are learning and finding your way and doing an excellent job.
This is a situation where I am trying to force things to happen at a time when they are not ready, and if we don’t get it done I feel we are behind schedule. I struggle with this. I realized the races would have a impact beyond one day, and they did. The next workout will be Thursday, 1 week later. I feel it was a “wasted” week, but in reality, it probably isn’t.
Fri 1/11/13
Weather was incredibly warm for Jan, 55F. The track was melted so we were outside. It was wonderful. The hurdler was on a college visit, he ran in the halls Thursday.
The sprinter had a great workout. We had a nice tailwind today as well.
4x30 standing
4x30 blocks 3.8s HT from first foot movement
3x40+20
3x60 (50+m) I mis marked the first 2, running about 55m in 6.55 and 6.66, then on #2, marked to 60m, and he ran 6.88HT, his fastest training time to date. He ran 7.35 last meet, but feel he was in 7.20 form then. He lost form last 20m. I think he is sub 7.20 right now. I feel he can run sub 7 by the end of February, that is the goal I have for him.
The other hurdlers did well today. One is doing L-S coming from XC and one did the S-L workout above. Both runners his PRs in the training distances today.
Next week the plan is Mon and Wed, Friday would be hurdle specific things and block starts for the sprinter. Meet on Jan 21 (Monday).
Training for everyone has been sporadic. Kids have been getting sick here and there. The sprinter has been consistent with training. Being in the 40-50m intensity limit right now, it’s certainly kicking his butt. tonight, Jan 31, he ran 7.35 again! 3rd meet in a row now. I felt last meet he was in 7.20 shape. Today I thought for sure he’d run 7.20. He is a bit tight and I will start my therapy work with him. I’m looking for a huge state finals Feb 23 from him.
A challenge I am facing going through a full s-L SPP is timing the days they will feel good. There are some days I can tell they feel great, and others just flat. Nonetheless, everyone is healthy and we had an opportunity to run in a great environment and run fast. The next race is about 2 weeks away, and then state finals 10 days after that.
If you figure out what’s up with him please post. I had a stretch in university where I ran 7.17 4 or 5 meets in a row.
I think it’s being consistent throughout the entire race from start, to transition to finish. He’s had good starts, and poor finishing, then bad start, great finish, and last nite was average start and average finish. Certainly some pressing running against guys out in front of him.
As the intensity limits have increased, so has his muscle tone. So even though his performance times are the same, there is improvement. But we are close to danger zone being so tight.
Feb 22
The other runners have been working hard. A hurdler and a sprinter will run tomorrow (Sat) at the indoor state finals. For them, making to semi’s will be a huge accomplishment. I’m expect 8.90 for the hurdler and 7.20 for the sprinter. Those would be great accomplishments for them for this winter season.
Training wise, since the last post, we have been doing 5-8 x30s (in 2 sets), and 3-4x60 between 40-60m intensity limits. Times were pretty flat for most of the phase in the 60s so I am curious to see how they run tomorrow.
I will post tomorrow night the update!
After this meet, they will get some time off before starting back up for the outdoor high schools season.
Looking forward to reading how your team does.
Wishing them the best!
I have a few things ESTI for you to think about and to remember when you are looking and or expecting a result. The sayings may not help you the way they have guided me and continue to guide me today.
- There are no miracles in sport. = Results don’t just appear. Results are a bi product of time, effort and energy on the part of the coach and the athlete and a great deal goes into this process.
- Time must meet chance. = Just wait for it. Your time line does not necessarily coincide with the time lines of the universe. Your athlete is a baby in terms of development and photo starts mess up , electronic timing devises are subject to error and perhaps for what ever reason something might not go exactly right on the day you hope and expect.
I think one thing is very clear to me. You have done an exceptional job and if no progress is made or collected today a huge success has happened for you and your athlete ( s ) .
I can’t wait to hear how it goes today for everyone.
Thanks for the words Ange!
Today, my hurdler ran 8.93, reaching his goal of 8.95 (his older bro’s best 60H). He ran great, just didn’t have enough to move on to semi finals. We were both happy for this result. In the 60 dash, he ran another 7.35!!! Every single race was exactly 7.35 this season! He stood up at the start on step 2 and got out poorly of course, but finished really well. Missed semi’s by 0.04! Overall I’m pleased with their performances. I know the sprinter has more in him, just a matter of execution consistently over time.
Just a few years ago (in my Crusader’s Quest) journal, I had a group of fairly average sprinters. I had a blast coaching them, and deep down wanted one to get to the state finals. Now times have changed, and I needed some perspective on why I coach. These guys today helped me understand that in the past few weeks!