Crusader's quest

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141

Monday May 4
Temp 60 and sunny!!

Our high school has a case of swine flu!! School was closed, but we could hold practice.

We have meet on Tue and Thur and Sat.

My 400m group did 3x100 race modeling and 2x200 race modeling at goal times. They hit their times in workouts, but struggle in meets. After speaking with them in depth, they seem to be making their move too soon. Weather should be nice tommorrow and they will go at it with a delayed final burst. I am very excited to see what they can do.

The 100/200 guys did about 5-6 block starts for 10m ad then 8x100 with 10 walk tempo runs.

142

Tues May 5 (Cinco de Mayo!!)
Temp: mid 60s, slight head wind, warm

Todays weather was great. I was excited for my 400m group with the good weather, although there was a fairly strong headwind. I advised them not to kick until the last 100.

On the start, my top guy started off slow and jogged a 58 (usually 53-54). Later said his stomach was upset during the race.

The 300mH guy, who ran 38 in the 300 this weekend, kicked early (with about 150 to go) won in 53.4. I think if he waited till the 100 mark he may have gone 52. He then had about 5 minutes and raced the 300mH and won that in a sluggish 50.x effort. I’m hoping that wasn’t a bad mistake. I gave into the head coach wanting to win a dual meet (we are winless in over 2 years) and let him do both back to back. He wasn’t feeling well at all after. Last year I gave into this as well. Not sure why I did this again.

My other guy ran high 56, which is season best for him.

Later on, I let the stomach 400m guy run the 4x400 anchor. I knew we’d get blown away so he was instructed to fly for 300m for a time trial and then jog in the last 100. After reading the Lactate Threshold thread, this is part of his final workouts going into regionals. He did it in 38.09 HT. I think he can get into high 52s with good weather and smart pacing.

He will run the 200 only on Thursday against a kid who last year ran 21.7. Should be good indication of his 200m speed. From there we focus on pace for his 400.

143

Thurs May 7
Temp: 60, strong headwind

Meet today!

Running into a strong headwind, I was very pleased with how the kids ran. Most ran PBs or matched PBs into the wind!

It seems this time of year the kids tend to show drops in times. Last year, about this time, my 100 kids started to drop time. We haven’t had the races we did last year, and not the conditions.

We have another meet this weekend. Only a select few are running for individual times. Hoping the weather is good. PRedicted to be 60and thunderstorms!!! In one week we have our regionals. Looks like my 2 400m guys will sneak in. Not sure how they will do. Going to focus on race modeling over next few days.

144

May 9
Meet day
Temp: 60-70, very windy at times, changed directions and became a cross wind/tail wind for the majority of afternoon.

In the 200, my 2 guys made the semis, one was taken out with a thigh tightness that’s been bugging him for a while. The other ran and made the finals. He then ran the 400, and didn’t tell me his hip bothered him. He limped to a time of 57.x. He scratched from the 200 finals.

In the 400, one guy (my mid 50s) ran poorly in 58.x. Not sure if headwind in back straight took too much out of him or he just felt dead, maybe from the 800 on Thurs??

In the 300H, my guy ran a SB 42.4. He has a shot of making state finals if he can run around this time next week. I was pleased with the 300H. I think he has more improvement left from him training.

145

Tue May 12
Temp: 65, slight wind!!! :cool:

Another great meet. Our relay teams are doing well, passes are great. in the 4x1, we don’t have the best talent, but the baton passes are on the money. We have timed them near perfect.

In the 300H, my guy ran another PB. We experiemented successfully with beta alanine and L-arginine before his race. He noticed a difference. He has also received a few massage treatments. Hoping to knock off a few more tenths for fridays big meet. Top 2 make it to state finals!

My 400m (hmid 50s guy) ran a PB today at 56.6. He has 2 more meets, I’m hoping he can break 56, as these are his last 2 meets being a senior in high school. Also interesting, he seems to run faster the day after doing race modelings than tempo runs. We did 3x100s and stopped the workout due to him running them too quickly.

My 200/400m guy didnt run well in the open 200. He tends to not run well with more than a 200. Not sure what’s going on with him. He lost in the 200 to my other guy, who looked fairly strong, but eased up again even though fro the 8th time he was told not to. :mad:

Before the meet, argued with head coach about the number of events kids run in each meet. We had same talk last year. In the end I won and the kids did well. Long story short, her bosses from the school were coming to the meet and she wanted the team to do well. I understand her side, but told her I didn’t want to ruin my best guys chances of personal success to win a non-important race.

I’m pretty pumped with the kids success. Hoping for big meet this friday. I’m hoping to get my first state finalist!!!

146

Fri May 15
Temp: high 60s-low 50s by evening
Wind: strong early, slight wind later on during finals.

Regional meet!

My 100m guy took 8th, running a season best 11.3.

One of my 200 guys made the finals and took 4th overall! He ran a season best in the semi’s. I think he surprised himself.

My 400m ran a fast not (not sure if season best yet). He didn’t go out well, but finished stronger than normal. My otehr 400m get (slower of the two) ran low 57s. Didn’t get out well at all, but finished strong.

My 300H…I am pissed about. We entered his new time but they failed to put it in. Then they scratched him from the race. Not us, but the meet officials. He had to run in lane 8 in the slow heat as a result!!! He dropped 0.5 from his time Tues, running 41.6 and winning by 3 hurdles. He took 5th overall, and would have been in running for a top 3 had he been in correct heat.

The beta alanine and arginine have helped the lactic events finish better. In the 400m, my top guy went out at normal pace and finished about 0.5 faster than normal. In the 300H, he never struggled at all.

Monday is our league championship. I am pretty much running with about 7 kids, each doing 3-4 events. Next Friday is county meet, the last meet of the season. I am very pleased with the kids this year. What’s great is we have a very young team, I am only losing 2 senior sprinters, my 300H and the slower 400m guy. Everyone else is coming back.

147

Monday May 18
Temp: high 60s, wind, warm

League Championship (6 schools).

I brought 8 boys and we took 3rd place overall, quite an accomplishment for us!

My 200m guy ran another personal best (22.9 ht), after a near mishap in the prelims easing up too much and getting 4th.

My long jumpers both set season best jumps.

A freshman high jumper set a season best clearing 6 foot, which I am excited about for next year.

My 100m sprinter tied a season best set on the previous Friday.

My 300mH did ok, not a season best but took second and held on strong at the end of the race.

The season was quite successful and I am pleased with the results. Everyday I still think of words TopCat communicated with me that I will learn a lot coaching track and field. It becomes true each day.

Hope to start a track club this summer and continue in the winter. Will keep all posted. Until next year! Cheers :wink:

148

I just found out my best 200/400 sprinter was playing basketball in gym class and ruptured a tendon, out 3-6 months :frowning:

149

Hey ESTI, I read your thread and I must say it’s quite an interesing read. Why did you stop updating it? Are you still coaching kids? You have your own club yet?

Got another question for you.
As I see you were using Charlie’s L-S template from Vancouver. I’m also running 400 and was thinking of using it for SPP2 this year. Does it develop speed at a high rate or it is more SE developing type of program?

About beta-alanine. What were the doses? Did you do any loading?

150

I took a year off from track coaching. I am back in things this year. Ill be posting journal again soon.

My first season the s-l didn’t provide enough se work in my opinion. Having seen a 400m s-l I know why.

Beta alanine dose is discused in lactate threshold thread near the end pages.

151

Thanks and good luck with coaching.

152

So I volunteered time at the high school I am teaching at to work with the sprinters and jumpers for the indoor season. We started right after Thanksgiving. There is usually less than 6 athletes there. Most are just looking to stay fit.

The boys do have talent in the school. The best sprinter last year ran 11.1 HT and made it to the state finals due to a weak region. Two years before, he wouldn’t have made it to the finals as you needed a 10.8 to get into the finals. He was skeptical as me being coach but quickly bought in and has been very devoted and committed. Last night he ran his first 60m indoors and won with a 7.17FAT. Not bad for only focusing on 30m. I will post workouts when I get more time to copy paste them from my other hard drive.

I had another boy who has shown up sporadically to practice and maybe has done 2-3 speed days of work. He went to the meet to long jump and jumped 3 personal bests with no jump training at all this year. He was very excited to have jumped 20’2" last night. He is a bigger kid, over 6’1 and near 200 lbs and surprisingly gets good spring off the board. I think he may be in the 21’ range come outdoor in April.

I am training a girl privately who runs at another school. As a 9-th and 10th grader, ran consistent low 12s in the 100m with no training at all. She has been more committed this winter and has done well considering being sick for two weeks since Thanksgiving, having a hamstring strain for another 10 days, and then me having to take a week off for family situations. We train on field turf and she has run 4.50HT 30m from blocks and 4.23 30m from standing recently. She has a lot of technical issues which is what I feel caused the hamstring strain, and a program flaw on my end. We are hoping to run under 12 this year, which, based on history of state finals, would put her in top 5 in the state. On a side note, she has a 30.5" vertical jump. Speedcoach saw her one day do a block start so well she exploded out near on her face. I am excited to have a few kids with some talent to be molded.

153

Here is a quick outline of training this month when I started keeping more formal records:

Week of Jan 3
Mon: Resisted Sprints 3x20m, 2x20m
Push up sprints 3 x 20m

Tues: Basement style tempo 12x45 sec

Wed: Block starts introduction and set up
Resisted sprints (dont recall how many)
2x EFE

Thur: Basement tempo 12x45 sec

Fri: Off

Week of Jan 10
Mon: Bike tempo 15 x 45 sec (some used the rowing machine too)

Tues: Resisted 3 x 20 m
Push Up starts 3 x 20 m
Blocks 5 x 10 m

Speed Endurance: split runs
2 x 60 (20+m)

Wed: Basement tempo 14x45 sec

Thur: Basement Tempo 14 x 45 sec

Fri: Off (a few ran in a meet that I did not attened)

Week of Jan 17 (exam week)

Mon: Off, school holiday

Tues: Basement tempo 15 x 45 sec (one athlete, “D”)

Wed: (one athlete only, my 60m guy “D”)

Resisted 3 x 20 m
Push Up starts 3 x 20 m
Blocks 5 x 10 m, 1 x 30m time trial (4.05 ht)

Easy Fast Easy x 2

Thur: Off

Fri: Indoor Meet

D’s times: prelims: 7.41 FAT (30m HT=3.94)
Semis: 7.26 FAT (30m ht=3.88)
Finals: 7.17 FAT (didn’t time 30m)
**Won finals by 0.01 photo finish

Before the race I told him to run with blinders and run his race only. Not to worry about others if they got out on him and he would be fine. He kept great form and relaxation. We had spent the entire month working on technical issues in both accel and max V. His comment after was “Coach, when I run like you tell me I feel like I am floating.” :cool:

I will post others time as they progress more. I am not sure how committed they are to track yet.

154

That girl has some talent. I was shocked watching how much elasticity she has. Joe is coming to your school in a couple days. He may be a good 4x100 guy. I want him in tip top shape for football. He eighs 220 right now and just hit 315 bench so I know ou can work your magic. I will talk to him Wednesday. Plus he wants to outrun Hughes from Dakota.

155

I meant weighs

156

Monday Jan 24
Box jumps 5x5

Resisted sprints, 2x2x20m
Squat throws x 5
1hop x 5

2x30m stand

2x60 (20+m)

Today I had only 3 girls. Here are their 30m standing times:

T: 4.60, 5.52
K: 4.78, 4.84
C: 5.22, 5.23

Tuesday Jan 25 : Basement Tempo 16 reps

157

Thur Jan 27
Bike Tempo 20 minutes worth of reps, 45 seconds on bike, plus abs and push ups between

Friday Jan 28

Only a few girls to this workout

Seated box jumps x 10
Standing box jumps x 10
Repeat one more time

Step up jumps 2 x 10 each leg

Monday Jan 31

2x2x20m resisted sprints
2x30m standing

Girls: T: 4.50, 4.54
K: 4.91, 4.78
L: 4.60, 4.57

Boys: D 4.07 (@95%), 3.94 (@ 95%)
N: 3.99, 4.07 (his first day)

T also did 2 30m block starts 4.81 nd 4.71. She s not a good starter and we are working on this alot.

Tuesday Feb 1
T & C were only ones

Box 2 x 10
Seated box 2x10
Squat throws 2x5
Step jumps 2 x 10 ach
Pogo jumps 2 x 20

Wed: No practice, blizzard

Thur 2 x 2x20m restisted
1 x 30m standing
T; 4.43
C: 5.23
D: 3.77

1x3x60 (30+m)

Friday Insanity Cardio workout. I had coaches meeting so it was a team workout

158

Mon Feb 7

Resisted 3x20m

2 x 30m standing

D: 3.73, 3.79
T: 4.38, 4.41
K: 4.78, 4.64

2x30m blocks

D: 4.05, 4.05
T: 4.63, 4.65
K: 4.92, 4.82

2x EFE

2 x EFE

1 x 60 (40+m)

Tues: K and L only, mat fitness (basement tempo style) 18x 45 seconds

Wed Feb 9

3 x 20m resisted

2 x 30m standing
D: 3.84, 3.86
T: 4.37, 4.40
K: 4.54, 4.67

Sprinters only: 3x60 (30+m), 2x60 (30+m)

Hurdlers: 2x60 (20+m)

Today the sprinters finally were a bit winded on the split runs. I have been hesitant to load them with volume and just gradually introduced them. So far it’s worked well.

Overall, 30m standing times have been great. Next Monday we will do a bit of block work for 10m starts. Some of the kids will run a meet on Friday so the week is a rest/recovery week with practice in the blocks monday.

IF goes as planned, D should run his 60 under 7.10 FAT. T is supposed to run as well. I am expecting a nice 60m from her too. She is more a of 200m specialist with some 400m background. Her stride has improved a great deal visually over the past four weeks.

159

Monday Feb 14

My best female sprinter was not around today. My male, D, was and had a great workout. He will run Friday in a meet for 2 rounds of 60m. Below is his workout and times (HT) as I have done in the past. Most of the group did something very similar to this as well.

Resisted 2x 20m

Standing 2 x 30m
3.65, 3.72

blocks 2 x 30m
3.89
3.82

30+20 finishing drills @ 95%

1 x 60 (30+m)

I have a few more boys who have showed more commitment. As they continue to show, I will post their progressions. Because everything is “optional” they tend to come and go based on social activities.

160

Friday Feb 18: Indoor Meet

I was expecting a big meet from the athletes. Unfortunately, it was a mental issue with each of them.

D had a family party at night and only ran the prelim. He warmed up with a worried look on his face, looking at his time. I knew right away it was not going ot be good. His times indicate to me he could go under 7.0 in the 60m. He got a bad start and ran a 7.19 FAT. The kid who has the fastest time in the state edged him out in the prelims gong 7.14. In the finals, the other kid went 7.07. Next weekend is the indoor state finals. If things can go smoothly, a nice taper week should lead to a nice meet next weekend. We both would love to see him be state champ.

T, who has done well in training so far, came to run her first meet. I wasn’t expecting much, but she surprised both of us. She ran a prelim in 8.39 making the finals. After a 3 hours break, she ran the final in 8.53. I was excited to see her run the 8.39. Training times indicated a much slower potential.

I had a hurdler who did so so in the 60m HH. He is another head case.

Overall I am frustrated at the kids mental status. Physically they were ready to go. I have some work to do on their heads. argh… :rolleyes: