Hi guys! I finally took my new camera (well 4 months old) to a workout and filmed myself. I had an upperbody workout today so I only did a few laps warmup and one submax accel just to film it. I hope to film some of my starts in my accels day on Thursday. I look better then I thought I do. Or who knows, maybe this is now, I have changed so much technically in the last half an year, I’d like to have seen myself 6 months ago, surely a disaster.
I didn’t watch in detail yet, I’ll see myself tonight.
Download it below, it’s in avi format, in Windows media player it plays fine and you guys can hit pause and see it frame by frame too. Thanks for any comments!
damn did you run into the wall?
You could use alot more arm action at the start, try to overemphasize your arm pumping, the first two pumps will help to set up your start.
Yeah, I had to do it at the end of the gallery, it’s the only place where there was some light for the camera to see me! I’ll be filming myself again hopefully on Wednesday, with better light and in a real accel session. I just got too excited about filming myself and did that accel with barely a couple of laps jog warmup.
Still, this is probably a good representation of what my “natural” form is now, since I did it submax and thinking all the time about the possibility of pulling something and not about form!
So, I still have a way to go with arm action? Man, then it’s probably unimaginable how bad my arm work was before, because it’s vastly improved in the past 6 months. Well, actually, I’ve BEGUN to use the arms in the last 6 months, I used to run without MOVING my arms more then 30 or 40 degrees in total (kind of short little armswings with my arms hanging on my sides). I also notice I don’t have complete extension in the first two steps…this might be because I didn’t have the right shoes and worrying about pulling something if I accelerated too hard in the first few steps. But from there on it looks like I get full extension. I’ll try to apply even more arm pumping Wednesday and see how it looks.
Wow! :eek: U may need to wear a crash helmet for the next time you film!
Ok…a few things i’ve noticed…your driving action is all behind you. You’re not driving your knees forward. Your feet are also landing very splayed rather than in a line. You also sound really heavy on the ground.When I start,each landing is on the balls of the feet and I drive through with my knees and pump my arms very agressively BUT controlled.
Can’t tell anything from the clip! You need something shot from the side from farther away- and something in spikes! Is the weather suitable for a re-shoot where you are now?
It’s freezing outside (and raining for the last week), so accel sessions outside are a bit risky at the moment. Anyway, there is not a single synthetic track available in Buenos Aires to film accels (there is a destroyed track which is useless for accelerating). I think that indoor “track” we have in my club is the best option around with the right shoes. Then the club’s real track is a crummy cinder track, so quality acceleration is impossible there.
I’m taking my camera with me on Thursday and filming again, but in a real accel session, I’ll also be using better shoes. As you can see there is a hole in the middle of the track (below are the volleyball and basketball courts) so it’s impossible to film well from the side. What I’ll do is take shots from the front and from the side I can take the first few meters (starting from the wall).
Indeed, all installations are very precarious here in Argentina, we don’t even have a functional synthetic track in Buenos Aires, a city of more then 12 million (there is one, but it’s destroyed). What’s good is that no one else can do accel work right now in their training for the second half of the year (which is really the more important part of the season here), so having this “indoor track” gives me a huge advantage.
Do you have a straight run of stairs nearby. You could run up every other one or every third one if the spacing is right. That way, you won’t slip and you can get your early accel work done. Also plyos on a firm mat, even if you only have one hurdle, jump over and back, etc. You have what you have, so you must make do.
This year our single “elite” sprinter has 10.56, 2nd in the National ranking is 10.63, 3rd is 10.76, 4th is 10.87. There are only 7 men in Argentina this year who can run under 11 seconds (ROFLMAO!). So if you consider any of those elite sprinters, they train in the “National High Performance Center”, where there is the only synthetic track in Buenos Aires. This track is destroyed. It used to be a fast mondo surface, now it’s full of holes where you can see the cement underneath and almost completely worn down all over. The top one or two sprinters if they have enough political clout can get a grant which pays $100 a month and they can live in the National High Performance Center. Other high performance sprinters, like me, with my 11.7h in 2002 can get a pass and train without a problem in this “elite” training center.
Other stats for you to laugh. You can be in the top ten in the National ranking in 200m. with 22.45, in 400m. with 49.50 (the level has “risen” a bit here, in the past years there weren’t even 10 guys under 50 seconds). Our National relay team can’t even run sub 40.50 or sub 3:10. Only two women in the country run under 12.20, you can be a top 10 with 13.00. 5 women can break 1:00 in 400 in the entire country.
LOL, i´m so sorry for that ALN…
BTW, what means ROFLMAO ? ( initials names of elite team ? )
What about new projects for a new track? Any good perspective in this way ?
I heard that a track, a new one, cost “only” US$ 100,000.00.
Tk god i´m training in a 2 years old 1 hundrend thousand dollars track…fresh one smells zero !!
Charlie, so the implication of what you’re saying is that acceleration work MUST be done in spikes? The surface in that track/gallery in my club is an asphaltic type carpet with a 1/2cm. or so foam cushioning underneath. I feel it gives a great reaction and that I can run as fast as on a fast track. If the concern is that it will kill the legs, it’s soft enough to not give problems (ie it’s not like running in street pavement or something like that which would be a fast surface but kill your shins and legs). Or is this still not good enough for reasonable quality track work? As to stairs, the track has some stands around it which have stairs of 20m. I’d estimate. I would suppose that the accels in that gallery are a superior option. As you say, one does what one can with what one has. Ie down-up jumps in the gym I do from a normal stool, and up jumps I do to a bench with some plates on it. We do have hurdles (lol, 50 year old iron ones that weight 10 kilos each… and you better not hit one!), I’ll be including plyos with them in my next training phase. We also have some primitive sleds, unfortunately the rugby team took them to another facility so we’re fighting to get one back. The only positive thing we have is that we have real lifting plates (Eleiko’s with the rubber thing around them) from 20 years ago when supposedly there was a lifting team in the club … but of course there is no platform to use them properly in, but I use them in a part of the gym where there is thick rubber mat - everyone looks at me weird of course). BTW, I really had a kick when reading Speed Trap and your comments about Canada in the 70’s, ie Gerard Mach asking where the nearest synthetic track was when the relay team got together in that track with tar puddles … and all of the misfortunes regarding financing. Lol, been there, seen that (and maybe even worse)!
LOL = laughs out loud
ROFLMAO = rolling on the floor laughing my ass off
etc.
Supposedly they’re finally doing the licitation to recarpet the track, but I don’t believe till I see. They’ve been about to change the track for 3 years. They say that by August … it would surely be perfect timing for me though, to get some quality max v work in before my competition phase.
Ooh man, august ? Olympics starts on august…
I can see now;
Once upon a time a little child earned a present…but he couldn´t use that present because at the same time was rolling Olympics.
And you know…what is better than Olympics for an athlete ?
