Well living in the Southern Hemisphere does that to you. Yeah we have about 5 weeks to State Championships (which he will run in a relay), and he has about 2 (maybe 3) comp before then with a focus on 400m
My athlete has been having issues with achilles issues. Relates more to an old injury, so have been nursing him along. Trying to get him to have regular massages, but bwteen his work, uni and family it is difficult. My partner is a massage therapist, so he gets one at least once a fortnight. He also is self massaging and foam rolling consistently.
The four weeks are in essence competition every week.
So training looks something like this
Week 1
Monday - 4 x 30m and 1 x 80m @95% followed by 4 sets of weights around 75%
Tuesday - 10 x 100m tempos
Wednesday - off
Thursday - Warm Up only
Friday - Off
Saturday - 400 and 4 x 200 (State Championships)
Sunday - Massage
Week 2
Monday - 4 x 30m,1 x 80m, 1 x 100, and 1 x 120m followed by 4 sets of weights around 75%
Tuesday - 10 x 100m tempos
Wednesday - off
Thursday - 4 x 30m and 1 x 80m @95% followed by 4 sets of weights around 75%
Friday - Off
Saturday - Competition - not sure what distance but there is a 200, 400 and 100 on
Sunday - Massage
Week 3
Monday - 4 x 30m,1 x 80m, 1 x 100, and 1 x 120m followed by 4 sets of weights around 75%
Tuesday - 10 x 100m tempos
Wednesday - off
Thursday - Warm Up only
Friday - Off
Saturday - 400m
Sunday - Massage
Week 4
Monday - 4 x 30m,1 x 80m, 1 x 100, and 1 x 120m followed by 4 sets of weights around 75%
Tuesday - 10 x 100m Tempo
Wednesday - Off
Thursday - Competition Warm Up
Friday - Off
Saturday - Off
Sunday - State Championships 200m and 4 x 400m - note he is unlikely to have more than 2 races.
Competed in a state competition, I was slightly disappointed in his 400m time of 54.42. His training partner got small personal bests in the 100 and 200m. They both competed in the 4 x 200m and run okay.
Issues I took out of the competition
- Spent 3+ hours watching the competition before he had a chance to compete
- Most people seemed to be half a second slower than previous weeks (about 0.1-0.2 seconds in 100m)
- Wind seemed all over the place, although in the 100 and 200 wasn’t that strong.
I think the biggest issue was point 1 for a number of reasons. Over thought the race, got over aroused, and spent too much time at the track in the heat was around 30 degrees Celsius (86F) - even though he spent most of the time in the shade laying on a towel
Since the last competition the athlete trained brilliantly. We have been emphasising relaxing at speed, which took a little while to get the hang of it. As with most athletes he is at his best when doing this, just struggles with the concept.
Unfortunately he hurt his lower riding his bike to Uni, had sciatic pain and couldn’t walk (but managed to ride home). Iced for 2 days, and has been adding heat and foam rolling into the picture. Got a quick massage on Saturday and everything is pretty tight (took minimal pressure on hip flexors without jumping)
2 Weeks to state champs, was looking at doing a 400 this weekend and then the 200 and 4 x 400 at the state championship. Thoughts?
Tonight was the last hard training session prior to the State Championships.
Thursday (tonight) - 2 x 60, 6 minutes, 1 x 150, 1 x 300. Incomplete recovery between 150 + 300
Friday - Easy running session no more than 10 minutes
Saturday - Off
Sunday - Massage
Monday - 4 x 30 + 1 x 80 at 95%
Tuesday - 6 x 100 tempo
Wednesday - Off
Thursday - Competition Warm Ups
Friday and Saturday - off (family wedding)
Sunday - state championship 200m and 4 x 400m (unlikely to make final, so two runs about 5 hours apart)
After the 200, will send the athlete home and get them back up to track an hour before the relay
Just got home from the last day of the championships.
Today we had the 200 heats, 200 final, and 4 x 400 relay. We expected only to have the 200 heat, and relay. There was 14 athletes down to run, and my athlete was 13 fastest. Well this morning only 10 entered the heats.
The heat was at 9.50am, we had a downpour for 20 minutes prior to the race (athlete also had family wedding the night before). He came 5th in heat 2, and was 8th fastest and qualified for final as 2 fastest non automatic. His heat time was 24.94 (pb=24.64)
The final was 4 hours later, the rain had gone but was replaced by wind gusts of 75km/h blowing directly into the first bend. Ultimately he came 8th and his time 25.02. Most of the field was 0.8 seconds off their bests.
3 hours later the athlete started for the club in the 4 x 4, and went through the first 200 in 25 point. Into the home straight he had a brain freeze and started to move from lane 6 into lane 4 before he realised and moved back into his lane. He run around 54 even after losing time, but managed to pass the baton first (he run against 52 runners). The rest of the team managed to hang on for a bronze against teams whose runners where all faster than than most of our team.
This week we did my version of Charlie’s 10 day peak, and I think it worked well.
From a performance point of view, the athletes 100 and 200 didn’t improve as much as I would have liked but I think that had more to do with losing 8 weeks of speed based session due to none training injuries. His 400m improved by just over 2 seconds.
What are your short and longer term goals for your athlete’s DMA?
The season just finished goal was to run 53 point in the 400, and sub 12 and 24 in the 200. Achieved the first but not the second and third goals - he never seemed to race these as well as his training suggested. I need to review what we did or didn’t do.
Next season, which I am in planning for at them moment, hoping his 400 goes 52, 200 goes 24, and 100 sub 12 - will be focusing on 200 speed.
Longer term, I see the athlete moving to 400-800 as he is probably more suited to middle distance. I think he is capable of being a better 800 runner.
A brief outline on problems with this season.
Spent about 8 weeks in the first SPP phase not being able to high quality work, whether this was maximum speed or specific work, due to silly injuries happening outside of training.
Probably over raced, due to his personality - very intense and a perfectionist.
Coach probably over trained him, and wasn’t strict enough with training I couldn’t attend.
Positive run over 2 seconds faster in the 400 than the season before
Made his first ever State championship final (the day after a family wedding)
Won a bronze medal in the 4 x 400 with his club and was the fastest runner out of first leg runners.
Successful season, but I can improve on things as his coach.
Once I get to sit down and plot out the next season
Just in process of organising training outline.
Period One
2 weeks Rest
2 weeks Transition training (basically 3 or 4 days of doing something)
2 weeks of structure training - where they have options in what training they can do. The closer it is to specific conditioning the less sessions they have to do
8 weeks in GPP training. Use sleds, medicine balls and general conditioning resistance sessions.
16 weeks in SPP. Main aim is to develop speed in one session, and speed endurance (specific endurance) with hills.
3 weeks of competition preparation (training from hills to another track session happens here)
2 weeks of competition with focus on 100 and 200
Phase 2
1 Week Transition
2 weeks GPP
10 weeks SPP
2 weeks Comp Prep
4 weeks Competition (focus 400 and 200)
The weekly structure for the new season will look something like this
Mon - Speed and Resistance
Tue - Tempo
Wed - Off
Thu - Resistance
Fri - Tempo
Sat - Hills
Sun - Off
This weekly structure will go for about 4 months. The tuesday session will be extensive tempo for the first 6 weeks, and morph into KK’s 6 x 200 session.
Resistance on Thursday is stand alone, as training session that day is limited due to other engagements.
First official week back at training, but the squad has been doing something for the past 2 weeks. The day before the first training session, the squad (and other Hobartians) had the wonderful Kitkat available. It was a brilliant to have coaches of the current Men’s and Women’s 400m Australian record in Hobart.
Anyway back to training. This is week 3 of an 8 week GPP
Monday - Speed and Resistance
- 4 x 30m with 30% of bodyweight, 3 minutes recovery
- 4 x 30m with 2 minutes recovery
- 1 x 90m at 400m finishing pace. The 400m runner failed to grasp the concept and run it at about 1 second too fast
Weights
1a. Clean Pull + Hang Clean 4 x 2 (2+1)
1b. Squat Stretch 4 x 20 sec
2a. Hip Thrust 2 x 8
2b. Military Press 2 x 6
2c. Front Hold off Bench 2 x 20sec
3a. Lat Pulldown 2 x 8
3b. Front Squat 2 x 6
3c. Kettlebell Overhead Walk (1 arm) 2 x 20sec each side
Tuesday
Tempo - they have a choice between running, rowing, bike, swimming and 3 programmes for each.
Wednesday is off, although they most do another sport
Thursday - Resistance
1a. 1 Arm Suitcase Deadlift 3 x 4 each side
1b. Yoga Move 3 x 4 each side
2a. 1 Legged Squat 3 x 3 each side
2b. Floor Press + Push Ups 3 x 5 + max
2c. Dragonflags 3 x 20sec
3a. Arabseques 3 x 8 each leg
3b. Bent Row + Rev Push Ups 3 x 6 + max
3c. Side Holds 3 x 20 sec each side
Friday - see Tuesday
Saturday - Hills
- 2 x 20m, 2 minutes rest
- 2 x 200m, walk back between reps then 8 minutes
- 2 x 100m + 60m, walk back between reps then 8 minutes
2nd week of training
Monday - Speed and Resistance
- 2 x 30m, 2-3 minutes recovery
- 4 x 30m with 30% of bodyweight, 2-3 minutes recovery
- 2 x 30m, 2-3 minutes recovery
- 1 x 90m at 400m finishing pace. The 400m runner failed to grasp the concept and run it at about 1 second too fast
Weights
1a. Clean Pull + Hang Clean 5 x 2 (2+1)
1b. Squat Stretch 5 x 20 sec
2a. Hip Thrust 2 x 10
2b. Military Press 2 x 6
2c. Front Hold off Bench 2 x 30 sec
3a. Lat Pulldown 2 x 10
3b. Front Squat 2 x 6
3c. Kettlebell Overhead Walk (1 arm) 2 x 30 sec each side
Tuesday
Tempo - they have a choice between running, rowing, bike, swimming and 3 programmes for each.
Wednesday is off, although they most do another sport
Thursday - Resistance
1a. 1 Arm Suitcase Deadlift 4 x 4 each side
1b. Yoga Move 4 x 4 each side
2a. 1 Legged Squat 3 x 4 each side
2b. Floor Press + Push Up 3 x 5 + max
2c. Dragonflags 2 x 30 sec
3a. Arabseques 3 x 10 each leg
3b. Bent Row + Rev Push Ups 3 x 6 + max
3c. Side Holds 3 x 25 sec each side
Friday - see Tuesday
Saturday - Hills
- 2 x 20m, 2 minutes rest
- 2 x 200m, walk back between reps then 8 minutes
- 2 x 60m + 100m + 60m, walk back between reps then 8 minutes
They didn’t do there Tuesday or Friday session, as they were tired due to Uni and work committments - but still race a 7km race on Sunday. Haven’t spoken to them about that, only found out as a friend tried to beat them.
For smart people, they are stupid and old training beliefs espoused by family are difficult to break down.
3rd Week of training, planned format didn’t change much but a few things popped up so we had to modify training or cancel session
Monday - Speed and Resistance
- 1 x (3 x 30m), 2-3 minutes recovery - 3x 30 = 30 @30%, 30@nil, 30 @ 10% bodyweight
- 1 x 90m at 400m finishing pace. The 400m runner failed to grasp the concept and run it at about 1 second too fast
Weights
1a. Clean Pull + Hang Clean 3 x 2(2+1)
1b. Squat Stretch 3 x 20 sec
2a. Hip Thrust 2 x 12
2b. Military Press 2 x 8
2c. Front Hold off Bench 2 x 40 sec
3a. Lat Pulldown 2 x 12
3b. Front Squat 2 x 6
3c. Kettlebell Overhead Walk (1 arm) 2 x 40 sec each side
Tuesday
Tempo - they have a choice between running, rowing, bike, swimming and 3 programmes for each.
Wednesday is off, although they most do another sport
Thursday - Resistance
1a. 1 Arm Suitcase Deadlift 3 x 6 each side
1b. Yoga Move 3 x 4 each side
2a. 1 Legged Squat 2 x 6 each side
2b. Floor Press + Push Up 2 x 8 + max
2c. Dragonflags 2 x 30 sec
3a. Arabseques 2 x 12 each leg
3b. Bent Row + Rev Push Ups 3 x 10 + max
3c. Side Holds 3 x 30 sec each side
Friday - see Tuesday
Saturday - Hills
No training - had a University commitment
We are coming into Exam period, so the planned week (pretty similar to previous weeks) and next weeks (rest and test) have been moved. My University students are studying Engineering and Medicine (they are under enough stress). So the next 3 weeks will be on the fly.
Last night the athlete did
2 x 60+300+60. 60 at come home pace, jog to 300 (100m jog) run 300 in 40, walk back to 60 and run. Rest 10 minutes.
First set hit the marks, 2nd set was 48 for 300.
Weights was pretty same as previous weeks.
The athlete isn’t ready to be doing speed endurance work, but it was good to touch base and show him were he is at
Thursday athlete did a full weights session and Saturday half a hills session.
He has 3 exams in 6 days, then another 2 the week after. As he operates on the motto, to get better do more work. So my philosophy for this period is if you want to train we train. I am encouraging him to turn up.
Athlete is slowly getting back into the mental side of training after only coming to training at 80% (University exams)
Tonights session was
Track
- 3 x 15 Acc, 12m Fast, 15m easy, 4 minutes rest
- 3 x 200m, 200m walk; 26.2, 26.4, 27.1
Weights
1a. Box Jump 3 x 3
1b. Hang Clean 3 x 3
1c. Deadlift 3 x 4
1d. Straight Arm Ab Pulldown 3 x 8
2a. 1 Leg Step Down 2 x 5
2b. Push Ups with two bands 2 x 11
2c. Dragonflags 2 x 6
3a. Back Extension + Row 2 x 7
3b. Hip Thrust 2 x 7
3c. Side Thrusts 2 x 30 sec
This last week has been a test and rest week.
Monday test wasn’t great, but got the cobwebs out
Monday -
- Standing LJ (3 attempts) - 2.66 (best attempt) that is a 6 cm pb
- 60m - 7.40 (0.21 seconds slower than pb)
- first 30 - 4.06
- flying 30 - 3.34 - 150m - 19.34
- 300m - 42.80 (died coming into the 200m start)
I am okay with the the SLJ, 60m and 150m (would have liked a faster 150, but it is okay). Disappointed in the 300m.
The athlete had spent 3 days camping, after having a family funeral for their paternal grandfather, prior to the Monday session.
Tuesday to Friday he was aware having a short break in the snow with his girlfriend, before he goes back to Uni.
Saturday -
- 300m Hill - 46.2 (pb is 45.5)
Pretty happy with that effort. This time last year the hill was 49.5. If he improves by a similar amount his 400m time should drop around 4 sec.
what intensity was the 200s ? 26,26,27 seem to be pretty fast with 200 walk.
Sharmer based on KK’s 6 x 200 session. So last 100 of a 400m pace. I actually had planned 27 pace
Athlete had a calf injury, that I think was caused by doing over 8 hours of driving, 6 hours of bushwalking in 3 days. Then we did a 300m hill, and he then decided to help a club member with his hills.
The past three weeks, we have been rebuilding volume and specific speed. Next week will go back to a full load of running next week with the intent being on having full intensity at race specific workout, but keep a big eye on how he is feeling.