well, since we’re at it, I’ve also missed a day of work.
but are you serious? you’d train in the heart of winter when you’re coughing and your nose is running faster than you are and you hardly have the energy to get out of bed?
I’ve made the mistake of training sick in the past and I’ve only ever gotten sicker from it. I think that resting early is actually the smart thing to do, and in fact, I’d much rather be running around a track than sitting around the house. I was very tempted to train but my coach advised me not to.
if you want to train while you’re sick, I guess that’s up to you, but I’d rather be a bit sick for 5 days than a lot sick for a fortnight…
good decision, training while you are sick is no good. Not only is your immune system already decreased trying to recover from the cold, but after training sessions, the immune system also is lowered and becomes more vulnerable to getting sick, or in your case, simply prolonging sickness and increasing the chance of injury!
take as much time off as you need, even for a cold, do what feels right and let your coach know when you believe your ready to return to training. You’ll become healthier faster, and train more efficiently, good luck!
after being sick last week I was left feeling as weak as a kitten for a few days. I did a few easy weight sessions to get back into the swing of things, but I found it difficult to get down to the track due maintly to work commitments (weekend band camp :rolleyes: ), and the fact that my energy levels were at absolute zero (zero calvin :)).
I managed to make it down this evening, though, despite darkness, wind and rain. ran a few 150’s with the middle of each set being into the wind again.
I found that the more I focused I am on form and reducing tension the faster I ran, even when I was tryng to run slowly. I guess that’s what it’s all about…
first session for a while where it wasn’t windy or raining. still pretty cold, though. I feel as though I am starting to get some consistency in my technique and in my recovery, although I’ve only been able to make it to the track about once a week. I’ll be missing a few more training sessions again this week because of work. only about 3 weeks till the school holidays, so I should be able to make it a bit more frequently then.
for now, I am just enjoying the fact that I am running injury free…
I spent 4 days away at music camp, so I wasn’t really able to get running for a while, but I was still able to keep in some sort of shape going up the 52 stairs to my room at least 10 times each day. I took them two at a time, so it was like doing a series of 26 one legged squats.
had my first training partner this morning, but it was my coaches girlfriend, so I’m not really sure if that counts for a heap. she wasn’t unfit, but as a former distance runner she found the routine a bit taxing.
I ran 8x150m today, and the coach was pretty happy with the way I ran. he seemed really pleased with my stride and form, probably more so than I was. then again, I was just running and he was watching, so he can most likely see the differences better than I can feel them.
once again I was really aiming for relaxation more than speed. rather than reaching forward or pushing into the ground, I’m just thinking of lifting my heels up to my butt and letting the rest take care of itself…
my right hamstring has been a bit tight again for a few days, but it has loosened up this arvo since I did some quad stretches. must remember that for next time. my chiropactor tinkered with me a bit before training and I felt 100% again and ready to go.
coach wants me to branch out into 200m runs, but he couldn’t be there to supervise due to work. he told me to do 6 of em, start slow and keep the time between 42-38s. I was feeling pretty good after 5 so I decided to go a tiny bit harder at the start of the last one. :rolleyes:
I can’t help feeling like I’ve actually been training for the 200m cruise, rather than the 100m sprint, but I know this is just the first phase of a long term plan. I just like to run hard and fast, I guess.
and I think I’m starting to get a reputation as a bit of a night runner. I always seem to turn up when it’s dark and everyone else is leaving…
throuh having a late night, not eating enough in the morning, and going out too hard on my first run, I wasn’t very disciplined in my approach to this training session. I knew in my warm up laps that it would be a struggle today, and I was right. my form got worse and wosre on each run, and my body was starting to feel pretty tight, so I cut the session short before I gae myself an injury.
I went home early, hada meal and a rest, then popped out a few light squats to make up for it.
the last few days my back has not been great. an old problem flared up again and it caused a bit of tension in my hamstring. I spent a lot of time stretching and recntly have been taking anti-inflamatories, so it’s not so bad now, fortunately. didn’t keep me from training.
ran with my coach tonight. he decided to use himself as a pacemaker for me, as I have been a bit erratic with my 200m times. he splashed a bit of mud up at me, but other than that I think the idea worked out. he let me run in front for the last two and the times were a bit quicker. seems I can’t help myself. :rolleyes:
the weather has been absolutely freezing the last week, so I popped into ‘runners world’ and picked up a pair of ‘skins’. wow, these things are awesome! it feels like I am standing next to a heater. hopefully they will reduce my chance of injury and improve my recovery.
squats have been aggravating my problematic back lately, so to compensate I decided to try striding up and down the steep hill on the street outside my house. I didn’t keep track, but I must have done it about 15 times. I can tell you, I sure felt it the next day!
wednesday night was an all night poker session, so I took it pretty easy today, especially since the track was sodden. I concentrated on keeping an even tempo and driving my hands and elbows straight back, as they have been drifting a little far from my body recently…
monday’s howling wind and purple sky were ominous signs when I turned up at the track. the squelching underfoot wasn’t too great, either. I did my warm up and ran out a 200m, but I could feel every footfall sinking into the turf. a few fat drops of rain sealed the deal and I packed up and headed home.
the anticipated downpour didn’t quite eventute, so I decided to do some hill work to compensate for the short session. there’s a hill near my house that is fairly steel, and if I march up it with good sprinting form it takes around 130 steps. I went up and down 10 times on monday, thn another 4 the following day, before another heavy shower sent me home early.
I had a few busy and disrupted days plus a tightish hamstring. my chirpractor suggested that a few days rest might be a good idea, so I did. I plan to do shorter and less frequent hill sessions to avoid overworking my hammies in the future.
also, I called my coach and he recommended a track with a synthetic surface that I could train on when the usual track was too soft. I headed out there on friday when it stopped raining, only to find that the place was all locked up. not to be defeated, I poked around in my road map and found another aths track not too far away. it was a bit crummy and like running on concrete, but it was better than nothing.
it was freezing, so I had a shorter session with shorter distances and less recovery time, so I wouldn’t cool down too much. I was fairly happy with the times, considering the disrupted couple of weeks I have had…
get off the plane, get off the train, out of the automobile and onto the track.
spent the week in sydney and there wasn’t a track anywhere around that I knew of. I did some “weights” with my 11kg suitcase and did some hopping and jumping, etc. but that’s about it. so I was pretty keen to get going when I got home today. I had a few hours of rain to wait out, but as soon as it cleared up I was off.
left hip has been a bit of a bother, causing the familiar tightness in the hamstring, but a thorough warm up and stretch seems to fix that up pretty well. sitting down for long periods has been bothering me, too.
coach is still in perth, so it’s still up to me to monitor my own progress. I kind of know what tyson gay must be going through. until he returns what I want to aim for is lots of 200m runs done slowly and 150m runs done fairly quickly, then hopefully some brisk 100m sprints, as well…
the geek in me eventually had to put my training results into graph form to track my progress. happily enough, the “worm” seems to be heading downward at a steady rate…
the weather here has been freezing, lately. a couple of “coldest day in ten years” and stacks of rain. as a result, I’ve been doing a bit of indoors work, recently. today, on the other hand, was beautiful and sunny! I could hardly wait to get away from work and run in the daylight, for once.
coach seems pretty happy with my times, and he wants me to start to branch out into some 300/250’s next week. he’ll be back in town then, so it will be the first session I’ve had with him for about a month.
hopefully, if the weather holds up, I’ll be able to get in at least 2 sessions a week again…
sled 10kg
upper body weights
leg extension: 3x12 40kg
looking for a way to work my legs without putting stress on my spine. I decided to pull out the old sled and fire up the hammies. I tied the rope around my belt, tossed in a 10kg plate and marched up and down the square for about 20mins. like my early hill work, it’s a little hard for me to judge how much is too much and I’m feeling a bit tight right now. hopefully I’ll be ok tomorrow and I can do some light track work…
woke up feeling quite loose, which was nice. sun was shining, birds were singing. everything is coming up hornblower.
felt pretty heavy during my warm up, but seemed to do my run through’s ok. ran my 200’s into the wind to see if it would help me to pace myself. switched directions for the 150’s, which worked out well for the first one, but the wind changed for the second one .
so that’s probably it for that routine for a while. on thursday I’ll be moving up to 300’s and 250’s. we’re really trying to focus more on my fitness than my speed right now, but coach says I have natural speed, so that should come to me easily when the time is right.
oh, and I have a new training PB for the 150m!! :rolleyes:
came across this the other day. it was at the bottom of a pile of old unused stuff. got me thinking a bit.
not sure that history got it right? then try this one: gold star!
I’m really excited to be finally doing something meaningful about what has been a quiet passion of mine for some years. even so, it saddens me slightly that my peak years are already behind me. part of me wonders what sort of level I might have reached had I continued with athletics and given cricket the flick. maybe I would be running 10.60’s and 20.50’s. or maybe I would have lost interest (as a late bloomer) at a young age and walked away from sport entirely. perhaps I would have turned into a podgy blimp with nothing better to do all day than tinker on his laptop :rolleyes: .
had a bit of an issue with my back during the week and my chiropactor advised me to take the week off. there’s been a sore spot on the left side of my spine causing a bit of tightness in the back of my legs. and did I injure myself sprinting? no, I did not. I did it lying on my side :rolleyes: . can you believe it?
anyway, I felt a bit rusty at first, but once I blew the cobwebs off I started to feel pretty comfortable. might be having another run tomorrow. just waiting to hear back from the coach…
I’ve been feeling a bit discouraged recently, for a few reasons:
niggling injury
coach has been too busy to train with me and might be passing me on to another coach.
personal/work commitments will make it very difficult for me to make it to the track for a while.
been described as not a particularly good runner
realisation that it will be difficult to juggle cricket and athletics in the summer
never the less, I remain focused on my goals and how I should go about achieving them. I will have to take things back a notch for a few weeks, but I am still confident that I can meet these goals and even loftier ambitions down the track.
I’m usually a pretty positive guy, and I’d prefer to focus on solutions rather than prblems, so here’s my 5 point plan:
regular ice treatment and anti-inflams after every session and ease up on the intensity for a while
self coach again for a while. take his program and extend it as intended. maybe join another training group later
I can work on core strength and flexibility in my down time, and there’s a footy ground in sydney that I can probably train at. all I have to do is pace out and mark the distances
what would he know? most people seem to think I am pretty decent, and I know I am capable of bigger things
I’ve been pretty busy the last week or so, and have had zero chance to make it to the track. however, the timing s good because a bit of an enforced lay off is probably just what I needed. been doing a fair bit of ice treatment and allowed myself to repair a bit.
got a couple of sessions lined up with my coach this week, which is good. unfortunately I’m going to disappear interstate for 3-4 weeks on saturday. might ask coach if he can line me up with a few programs to do while I’m over there.
had a bit of a trot this evening. the instruction was 5 200’s at 40s. felt pretty stiff in the legs and my form was all over the place. took it easy bit still felt pretty tired at the end. nothing I didn’t expect, though. had performances every night for the last 5 nights, and that can really take it out of you.
anyway, feeling better about the world now, and ready to move forward…
had a little training group tonight. just three of us plus coach. makes a huge difference when you’re running with other people as opposed to yourself. running-wise, I found it a lot easier to pace myself appropriately. keeping step with a group really helps me to hold back. also, I feel like having other people around makes me a lot more patient to go through the procedures properly, such as warm up, stretch and resting between runs. I tend to get a bit sloppy when I’m by myself.
felt a little bit crook this afternoon, but forced myself to get to the track. everything got easier once I started running. also still have a bit of hamstring tightness, but that seems to ease nicely when I’m warmed up. not feeling any discomfort when run, which is good. I’ve been applying ice every day for about 10mins and that seems to have settled it down.
on another note, I’d like to apologise for the whiney entry I made last week. I was tired and grumpy and said a few things that were quite unfair to certain people who have been very spportive of me, and I apologise for that…
until he returns what I want to aim for is lots of 200m runs done slowly and 150m runs done fairly quickly, then hopefully some brisk 100m sprints, as well…
