Nice day 14 C no wind, overall good conditions for a training.
Hills planned 2x4x40, focus on smooth running. Athlete Y did not attend the session. Athlete X was bit flat on the hills so we went for 30m runs.
Got to the track for 2x3x150.
First set was bit too slow, around 75% of max. Decided to carry on, set two was a totally opposite to set one, efforts of around 90% pretty good, on last 150 (around 100m in) athlete run out of juice.
Pretty tired.
Abs (asymmetrical positions) 300
Stretching.
Based on how the group looks and the fact that as of Monday we’ll be starting our fully structured gym session/programme I have decided that we’ll have a day off tomorrow.
Haven’t seen guys I coach for a few days, one went on trip and the other wanted to train in the morning due to an extra work commitments.
At least today I was able to work with one of them.
Planned session for today was:
4x10 from push up
4x20 from push up
4x30 falling start.
4x40 FE (20,20)
2x3x150
Athlete Y who was training in the morning apparently completed the session.
The other one, well, we stopped session after 2nd 30m. Athlete X told me that is concern about hamstring, went to the gym (btw no hurdles hops) squats 4x3, incline bench 3x10, hyper-extension 3x10 (skipped), Russian twists 3x10, abs 300.
I have asked how are the muscles, the response I got was that everything is fine nothing hurts, that it didn’t hurt in the first place, just athlete freaked out because felt twitch and apparently two years ago around the same period got injured after same feeling. Even though athlete X has been training with us for a whole season without any issues, looks to me like the whole situation appears to be little bit more complicated.
At the end of the day all is good, missed bit of running on the last day of GPP (I am not particularly bothered about it)
I thought that I know athletes I coach. Lol
Really good weather today.
No wind, 20 degrees.
Today we did
Small warm-up
Athlete X
Tempo/ general strength circuits
1,2,1 Waterloo,
1,2,1 Baatan,
1,2,1 Pillar
1,2,1
Stretching 10min
Hurdles walkovers/unders with one hurdle. 150 in total
TH abs circuit 10 reps x2
More stretching and mobility.
Athlete Y
Hurdles
10h 10feet apart, 91cm hight, one step in between rhythms, approach from 6/7 strides.
4x trial leg
4x lead leg
6x middle
Main focus on keeping hip high in between and square shoulders.
Tempo 2x 1,2,1
TH 10 reps x2
Solid stretching.
Hurdles rhythms looked quite good considering height and the fact it has been done with one step in between.
Today first day of our SPP I.
Had a talk to the group about importance of the warm up, tend to miss a lot of stuff, focus was shifted towards socialising instead of training (high quality training)
Planned session:
4x10 lying on the chest,
3x20 lying on the chest on the signal
2x30 falling start
3x3x60 falling start
Athlete Y completed the session, however started to rock from side to side I don’t know whether da hell got that from so the focus was on the good form through the finish line.
Athlete X was focusing on positive hip projection unfortunately I had to stop after first rep of set three it wasn’t getting any better. As a matter of fact was getting worst.
I don’t know whether I am too demanding, maybe delusional, confused or just frustrated. I thought that after 7 weeks of solid GPP we should be running extremely well, technically well.
(looks like 6 weeks break after season did more bad than good, I guess it was bit too long)
Moved to hurdles hops AY did 5h at 1m x7 and AX did 5h at 76cm x7
Hurdles looked way more comfortable than SE runs.
Weight:
Squat 4x3x85%
Circuit: Arnold press, hyper-extension, upright row, Russian twists, 3x10
Stretching.
I don’t know what to think about the first SPP session.
I guess tomorrow when I wake up all fall into the right places and I will be able to assess my session properly.
Great session today.
Guys were much more focused.
I have decided of not going further than 20m in our acceleration work, so we did 2x4x20 all from falling start.
Moved to speed change drill
2x3x(EFE) running form today was much better than on Monday.
Athlete Y did hurdles session.
4x20, 4x2h, 6x8h (91, 91, 91, 91, 91, 91, 100, 107cm.) two feet in, main focus on rhythms, athlete looked more stable than two weeks ago.
Hurdles hops only for athlete X. 7x4h @76/84cm
Weights:
Squat 2x5,
Bench 4x3
Bench row, lats 3x10, abs 250
Stretching.
I am quite happy with today’s session.
I guess Monday was just a bad day in the office.
No running today for two guys this thread is based on. One athlete Y didn’t turn up (again) athlete X was looking weird while warming up and doing drills, reported some tightness, after assessment I felt tightness in semitendinosus around insertion.
I decided to abandon running.
Moved to hurdles hops after one set of six at 84cm. athlete didn’t report any issues with activity so we did eight sets of six hurdles.
Moved to gym.
Squat 4x3@90
Incline bench, bench row, Russian twists 3x10
Stretching.
Today session was indoors due to poor weather conditions.
After our short warm up athletes performed bike workout of 6x30" controlled bursts at lv10 with 4’30" moderate spins at lv3/4.
After bike we have performed stretching exercises, I think it’s a perfect opportunity for the athletes to work on the mobility and flexibility to get to the required range of motion.
Moved to hurdles walkovers of 120 hurdles in total.
Pedestal routine 2x10, dynamic core stability (series of bounces in plank position+ clockwise and counterclockwise hands walk with one leg up)
Good stretching at the end and we headed home.
I have reviewed videos of athletes I coach. I am facing of a problem, how to: stabilise athlete X around core during running at higher velocities. Athlete looks good and moderate, moderate/high runs, however as soon as we are going a bit faster there is (in my opinion) too much rotation around the hip in transverse axis, looks as the athlete cannot stabilise the hip, there is also anterior pelvis rotation. So, yeah, new challenge or actually first challenge of getting athlete X faster just become more challenging because of the conditions, lol (not really)
We had a solid session tonight.
We started with 4x10 lying on the chest, moved to 3x20m, 2x30m.
Last year we have tried 10m start from lying on the chest, we are moving much better from this position than last year, I think we have improved already our acceleration angles, I think it’s got a lot of to do also with steeper hills.
From acceleration work we moved to 3x3x60. Both athletes showed good form while running, much better comparing to previous session.
Hurdles hops
6x4h at 84/1m hight quite smooth.
Gym: Squat 3x3x90%
Circuit: Arnold press, hyper-extension, upright row, Russian twists 3x10.
Stretching
I have decided to drop one set from the squats (from 4 to 3) keeping all the other auxiliary lifts at the same volume.
Decision was based on the observation that fourth set of three wasn’t as comfortable, angle in knee joint has changed for both athletes during last set.
Keep in mind that it might be useful to have them perform some of the mid-range accelerations prior to the 10m accelerations. This is something that Charlie indicated in his programs prior to block starts.
For example, let’s take the session you posted: 4x10, 3x20, 2x30, 3x3x60
Next time you might consider seeing how they do by going 3x20 from stand or walk in, lying start 4 x 10m, 2x30 (low or standing start), 3x3x60 (with or without intensity limits depending on what your plan looks like).
By doing this, you provide them with a few high intensity reps to prime the legs for the explosive action of the starts (particularly once you introduce blocks).
Thanks for a good suggestion James.
I might do it on our Monday session.
Today’s session was: bunch of accelerations falling start 3x20, lying on the chest 3x20, three point start 2x20
Trying to tackle foot recovery, time to time guys recovering foot too high.
Moved to speed changes 3xEFE, 3xFEF.
Athlete X actually did well on rep two and three of FEF, first one was more of fast maintain fast, bit too fast to what we are trying to achieve.
Athlete Y did first two segments of acceleration and moved to hurdles starts 4x2h was looking very sharp unfortunately was not able to retain full control. Moved to 6x8h progressive hight over last couple of hurdles, six hurdles at 91cm, 7th at 1m, 8th at 1.07.
Had to slow athlete down a bit, lead arm tend to swing back too high.
Yesterday was quite cold evening.
Session went well.
Athlete X was moving really well, best session from technical point of view.
Athlete Y also moved well.
I told guys that we have to work on form of the runs.
Session:
4x10 lying on the chest,
3x30 falling start.
2x3x60+2x150
I was pleased with the 150s. Not particularly fast but technically well executed.
Weights:
Squats 3x3x90
Shoulder press 3x10
Russian twists 3x20
Stretching.
Today weather was poor, wind and rain.
After small warm-up Athlete X did bike workout of 12x(30"fast spin+1’30"easy spin)
Stretching 15min.
200 in total hurdles walkovers/unders
Circuit: Waterloo, TH, Baatan, TH 10 reps.
Stretching
Athlete Y did small warm-up.
Hurdle drills trial leg: standing by the wall trial leg rotation, trial leg slides.
Couple easy accelerations.
10 hurdles 12 feet apart 91 height.
5x trial leg, one step in between
6x through the middle,
100 hurdles walkovers/ unders
Circuit: Waterloo, TH, Baatan, TH 10 reps.
Stretching
Trial leg was not as smooth as I was expecting, too much overstriding.
Through the middle was very good, stable form, square shoulders, good arm action.
Yesterday session was quite interesting one.
Following JS suggestion, we did 3x20m falling start, 4x10m lying on the chest, 2x30m falling start. It works well.
Athletes did well, during acceleration.
When we got to 3x3x60m. First set they were moving really well, they were quite sharp.
In set two I have noticed that athlete X was dropping toe just before touchdown with right foot, going little bit further ahead of CM comparing to the left. Decided to carry on however I have dropped the speed of the runs and worked on better ground contact.
Athlete Y did run really well, I think that I would like to see bit more of lower heel recovery at the beginning of the runs.
Later on guys asked me whether they can drop hurdles hops,
The reason was that they wanted to do well in the weight room (btw this is our forth week of weights program, so Wednesday or Friday weights test)
We did squats 2x3@100kg both of them looked really comfortable with the load.
Circuit: 3x(Arnold press x10, hyper-extension x10, upright row x10, Russian twists x20)
Stretching.
Overall I am quite happy with the whole workout.
Definitely has to work on couple small elements which will have an impact on the future performances.
Yesterday’s session:
Smooth technical runs (Dribble Bleeds) 3x30m
Athlete X
Falling start 4x20m, lying on the chest 4x20m.
3xEFE, 3xFEF
In general quite decent runs however as I have pointed in the previous post asymmetrical foot position during ground contacts bothers me.
Hurdle hops 4x4
Athlete Y
4x20m falling start.
3x2h. 4point start
6x8h progressive (91, 91, 91, 91, 91, 91, 100, 107) at this stage wanted to focus on the rhythm and hitting the track at the right time. We are aiming at specific touch-down times around 1.10-1.12.
Athlete is more stable over the hurdles (keep telling them that they need to run towards markers) hip little bit too low between hurdles, running- wise athlete looks much better running flat than when is hurdling.
Weights.
No squat today I’ll decided to do it on Friday.
Bench test 2MR.
Athlete X 57.5kg
Athlete Y 77kg
Both have showed good improvements.
Lats, bench row both 3x10
Abs 250.
Stretching.
Their BW changed a bit.
Athlete X 66.8
Athlete Y 70.2
wermouth, I’m really enjoying this series of posts. A question - through my limited work and learning one thing that has been repeatedly stated is separating vertical and horizontal themes (from guys like Tolbert and Anderson stand out in my memory, though really just the coaches associated with the USTFCCCA Academy) - any reason to the blending of acceleration and max-v components in the same workouts? Just a lack of concern because its going to happen in races anyways or?
That’s right, it’s going to happen anyway. Also you need to prepare yourself for the workout. I think that without high quality acceleration maximum velocity workout will be counterproductive, you are not going to be able to get to the right place at the right time with right body posture.
Today’s session was quite good.
After warm-up we have done Dribble Bleeds x3 over 30m
Falling starts x3 over 20m
Starts on signal x3 over 15m
Starts were done from four point stance, very smooth.
I have to say that guys have enjoyed running together/competing.
Moved to SE runs.
2x3x60+2x150
First rep wasn’t as fast as I was asking for, after that was asking either to maintain quality or to slow down (it supposed to be our hardest week so far)
Moved outdoor, cold today, compressed breaks to 7min between 150s. First rep really good, good quality re form and time. Second one wasn’t as good, athlete X coming off the bend lost the form, retained it for 20m and then lost it again.
I think that core cannot stabilise the hip and when the hip goes to anterior rotation there is no way back.
Skipped hurdles hops.
Weights
Squat test 2RM athlete X did 115 quite easily (new PR by 15kg). We could go for 120 or even 125, however, I thought that improvements are more than sufficient and that there is no need to push.
Couple auxiliary lifts.
Abs 200
Stretching.
Strength really gone up over past four weeks. Thinking about dropping squats from Wednesday, focus more on the upper body development. We’ll see.
Regarding athlete X coming off the bend on the 2nd 150, aside from, as you mentioned, possible strength issue, there is also the possibility of a lack of technical/rhythmic commitment to holding form while maintaining as much relaxation as possible.
While holding form in and of itself is a physical quality, the fact that it is sustainable up to that point in the session and the 150m rep itself (even in and out of it as you stated) also suggests the possibility that the requisite “strength” is sufficient and, instead, there is a psychological breakdown related to the technical/tactical execution.
Remember that the counter rotation resultant of the shoulder rotation (by way of arm action) plays a significant role in hip rotation and stride length. This then brings us back to the psychological/technical commitment to holding technique (in this case posture and arm action) and its implications on form.
Again, the issue may very well be a lack of strength in the torso; however, it also serves to assess the psychological realm; due to the fact that you stated the athlete drifted in and out of holding form so close to the finish.
Saturday morning guys looked bit tired after our weights tests.
Short warm-up wasn’t short they took their time, athlete X did bike workout 12x(30"lv10 fast but relax spin+ 1’30"lv4 easy spin)
Athlete Y didn’t performed squats test on Friday (wasn’t there) so was fresh. I have decided to have a slightly bigger session in terms of volume.
After wall drills with hurdle we did few accelerations over 25m.
Hurdles rhythms over 5 hurdles @91 height, 12feet apart, quick feet between,
Moved to trial led one step in between on the same spacing and height x3.
Finally moved to one step in between over the top x6
First couple were bit all over the place.
Athlete tend to drift to the right instead of running towards the markers.
As we moving along the drill was better and better with every rep. However it wasn’t as good as last week.
Athletes performed stretching 20min.
Hurdles walkovers/unders 180 in total.
Core workout 200 in total.
That’s it.
Today’s session went well.
It’s our recovery week.
After warm up we did Dribble Bleeds x4 over 30m
4x20m falling start
Athlete Y did
1x10m lying on the chest after one rep I was happy to move to 20m were we have performed another 3 reps.
However athlete X had to stay on the falling starts we were working on the first ground contact which I wasn’t particularly happy about it. Athlete tend to overstride with foot landing ahead of CM similar situation happened on the hill. So yeah, we were drilling acceleration mechanics.
Moved to 3x3x60
After second rep athlete X was told to drop the speed and focus on technique.
After that, reps were consistent. Athlete Y did all runs smoothly, I was asking today for more relaxation and more stepping over the knee.
Which was eventually achieved in last set of three.
Due to the fact that athletes looked bit trashed (still) after squats I have decided to abandon hurdles hops and squats and do only auxiliary lifts 3x(Arnold press x10, hyper-extension x10, bench row x10, Russian twists x20)
Overall I am quite happy with the way guys move at this stage.
There need to be more tweaking with their technique.
Last week we had a recovery week.
Wednesday we did
Dribble Bleeds x4 over 30m
Falling starts 20m x4
3 point starts 30m x4
2x EFE, 2x FEF, 2x40m.
Speed change drills looked relaxed and smooth.
However the first 40m rep was way too slow (athlete X) slower than EFE, second was way better.
Athlete Y did starts over 40 with other athletes due to the fact that it moves much better.
Auxiliary liftes.
Stretching.
On Friday we did falling starts over 20m x4, Dribble Bleeds 4x40m, lying on the chest 20m x3
Was very windy, wind was way over 10m/sec.
So I have decided to stay indoors and do something a bit different.
So we did relay exchanges in twos about 8 in total over 40m (20 acceleration, 20 changeover zone) outgoing runner also run around 40m (up to 10m to the zone, 20m zone, 10m to the finish line) in another words broken 60m
It was fun session.
Actually athlete X have accelerated mechanically better when was in outgoing position.
Hurdles hops 5x5
Auxiliary lifts 3x10 of athletes choice.
Abs 200 with medball.
Stretching.
Yesterday’s session:
Athlete X
Dribble Bleeds 40m x3
Falling starts 20m x3
Blocks 10m x3
Blocks 30m x2
EFE x2
FEF x2
2x40m.
Athlete Y moving well, however hips need to be projected higher, the power also needs to be develope.
Hurdles hops 6x4h @84
Athlete Y
Falling starts x4
4x2h, 4x3h
EFE x2
FEF x2
2x40m
First couple of runs over the hurdles where too high and consequently was collapsing off the hurdle, athlete Y was going too fast to the hurdle.
Flat running looked better than hurdles
Hurdles hops 6x4h @1.07
We moved to weight room.
Dropped one set of squats.
At this stage we have done 3x3x100kg
Auxiliary liftes in the format of circuit: 3x(Arnold press x10, hyper-extension x10, upright row x10, Russian twists x10)
Core 200 in total asymmetrical positions.
Stretching was partially completed, it was late missed elements had to be completed at home.