greg straining journal...

Members Area My Training Journal
61

saturday
200m: 24.7s, 3.1w
400m: 71.9s
tj: 8.49m
100mR: 48.4s

*upper body weights

monday
*upper body weights
*olympic lifts
*leg extensions (3x6 40kg)
*pilates

tuesday
*30m block starts x6 (shorter steps, feet behind COG, 10-55)
*some left glute tightness

was pretty happy with my recovery on the weekend, so I thought I’d get my weights in early to leave more time to rest during the week. turns out I really needed it because work is killing me at the moment.

finally got to do some block work with my coach and it was good to have another pair of eyes helping me out. he got me taking shorter steps and placing my feet further back behind my COG, which I think really helped me to get more power and speed for less energy. probably wasn’t a great idea doing speed work the day after I did leg weights, though.

here’s a run down of the weights routine I have been doing. I put it together so that I would be getting things started without really taxing myself too hard. I gradually inclease the difficulty every week or two.

bench press- 2:6, 30kg. 1:3, 40kg
curls- 2:6, 7kg. 1:3, 12kg
overhead press- 2:6, 7kg. 1:3, 12kg
shoulder swings- 2:20, 7kg
snatch- 3:6, 10kg. 3:3, 25kg
leg extension- 3:6, 40kg

this week my plan is to attack the first 30m hard. I have been pretty tentative out of the blocks, so now I want to be aggressive and see if I can lead from the front. timewise, I don’t want to make a prediction, except that I would be very disappointed with anything slower than my last one. hopefully it won’t rain too much on the day…

62

saturday
100m: 12.64s, -1.0w grade 1 hamstring tear
ice, elevation, ice, elevation, ice, elevation, etc.

sun-mon
ice, elevation, ice, elev… you get the picture

tuesday
pilates
bicep curls - 2:6, 7kg. 4:3, 12kg
overhead press - 2:6, 7kg. 4:3, 12kg
shoulder swings - 2;20, 7kg

wednesday
chiropractor - ultra sound
bench press - 1:6, 30kg. 1:6, 40kg. 2:3, 50kg. 1:3, 60kg.
lat row - 5:10, 7kg

thursday
pilates
bicep curls - 2:6, 7kg. 4:3, 12kg
overhead press - 2:6, 7kg. 4:3, 12kg
shoulder swings - 2;20, 7kg

friday
chiropractor - ultra sound
lat row - 4:10, 7kg. 3:6, 12kg

“probably wasn’t a great idea doing speed work the day after I did leg weights, though.”

I have a suspicion that this one thing might have set the time bomb ticking. I can remember feeling a tiny little bit of soreness after that session, but nothing that was concerning me especially. as it turns out, that’s pretty much where the tear occurred.

not as bad as I initially feared, but chiro still thinks I should wait about 3 weeks before getting into full stride. that means I’ll miss 2 weeks of training and 1 competitive meet. not too bad, I guess. the important thing is that I do all the right things in rehab.

decided that since I can’t work it on the track I might as well up the tempo in the weights room. this time off running is only making me as eager as ever to train! just got to make sure that I don’t progress too fast and re-injure myself…

63

saturday

bench press - 1:6. 30kg. 1:6, 40kg. 1:3, 50kg. 1:3, 60kg.
lat row - 4:10, 7kg. 3:6, 12kg.
javelin training - app. 10 throws.

sunday
pilates

monday
incredibly painful massage

tuesday
shot put - 4 throws, 5.5kg
pilates

wednesday
bicep curls - 1:6, 7kg. 2:3, 12kg
overhead press - 1:6, 7kg. 2:3, 12kg
shoulder swings - 2:20, 7kg
bench press - 1:6. 30kg. 1:6, 40kg. 1:3, 50kg. 1:3, 60kg.
lat row - 4:10, 7kg. 3:6, 12kg.

thursday
glutes exercise - 4:20
on the spot drills

friday
pilates
glutes exercise - 2:20
light jog

things seem to be going pretty ok with the hamstring. had a massage early in the week which nearly killed me, but it’s been feeling pretty good in the last couple of days. I was even able to go for a light job this evening. for the first 20 steps it felt really strange to be running again, but I was kind of getting back into the flow of things by the end. the left leg felt a bit stiff, but I guess that’s to be expected.

been doing light massage myself and I can’t feel any sore spots, so that has to be a good sign. when I get back to melbourne I want to book myself in for some chinese cupping. I had a guy do sliding on my hamstrings a few years ago and I remember that it worked really well. cost a bit of $$ but I think it might be worth it.

a friend recommended a particular glute exercise for me and I seemed to feel much better after trying it. I’ve also been keeping up with my core stability work and upper body exercises…

64

sunday
reverse hypers - 4:10
reverse flyes - 2:10, 7kg. 1:6, 12 kg
glute raise - 3:20 each leg
shot put - 3:3, 5kg each arm
box jump - 3:5, 20cm

monday
pilates
A skips - 3:6

tuesday
450m warm up
glute raise - 1:20 each leg
A skips - 5x20m
run throughs - 5x30m, 5x50m

finally got to have a run today, even though it was really slow. felt awful and clunky at first with my left leg flaying about all over the place. I think it took me a while to trust myslef to actually relax and let my leg do what it needs to do. I started to let go towards the end and the last couple of 50’s were half decent. felt a few strains here and there but I understand that is pretty normal. massaged and iced up afterwards and everything felt fine. in fact, it’s feeling much looser since I’ve been using it again.

this week there is a 100m and a 200m relay, but I am thinking (depending on how things go on thursday) that I might give them both a miss. I just know that even if I tell myself to take it easy I will probably still try and win my heat and twang it all over again. still, it could be an opportunity for me to have a go at some field events like shot put, discus and maybe even javelin.

anyone out there who has advice for me returning from this injury, I’d love to hear it…

65

saturday
*shot put- 7.90m
*discus- 21.41m
*4x100m jog
*deadlift- 3:3 30kg

sunday
*150m: 34, 33
*200m:44, 44
*pilates
*eccentric hamstring lowers

monday
*pilates
*reverse hypers 1:10
*glute raise 1:20

tuesday
*400m warm up
*3x20m A skips
*3x20m B skips
*3x30m run through
*3x10m, 2x30m, 1x60m, 1x80m @ 75%
*deadlift 3:6 30kg
*leg extension 2:6 40kg

wednesday
*pilates
*reverse hypers 2:10
*glute raise 1:20

thursday
*800m warm up
*2x80m, 2x100m, 1x120m @ 80-85%
*eccentric hamstring lowers

I’m finally ready to run on saturday, though I’m still going to take it pretty easy. I’m ok once I’ve got my momentum up but I’m still not overly confident accelerating.

on thursday I was training with a guy who also tore his hammy a few weeks ago. I suggested that since we were both recovering we might want to train together. we started off pretty slowly, but I got a sense that he was pushing hard to keep up with me. I suggested that he should take it really easy, but he insisted he was fine. everything seemed ok until the last run when he pulled up at the 60m mark holding his leg. he says that he got no warning, but I kind of feel a bit bad about it because I had a sense that he was going too hard :frowning: . still, I’m not his coach, so it’s not ultimately my responsibility. he’s a grown adult and it’s not really my place to tell him to go and sit down.

I’ve started doing eccentric hamstring exercises (http://www.ecse.monash.edu.au/centres/mucbe/Projects/Pubpdfs/2001BrockettMSSE.pdf) and these seem to be serving me well. on tuesday coach said that my stride seemed longer and more relaxed than before my injury. I was surprised because I felt totally uncordinated! :smiley:

prediction for the weekend?
100m: 12.9s
shot put: 7m

fingers crossed I make it through unscathed… :wink:

66

saturday

  • 100m 13.1s (-1.5)
  • triple jump 8.89m
  • shot put 7.36m (6kg)
  • hammer 14.53m (5kg)
  • curls 3:6 7kg, 3:3 12kg
  • OH press 3:6 7kg, 3:3 12kg
  • shoulder swings 2:20 7kg
  • snatch 1:6 10kg, 1:3 30kg

monday
*pilates

  • glutes 1:20
  • rev hypers 3:10
  • lying knee raise 3:10

tuesday

  • 400m warm up lap
  • 3x20m A’s
  • 3x20m B’s
  • 4x40m block starts
  • deadlift 3:6 30kg, 1:4 50kg, 1:1 70kg
  • hamstring lowers till the point of cramp

wednesday

  • pilates
  • reverse hypers 3:10
  • glutes 1:20

come tuesday I just couldn’t wait to try out my new hamstring on some speed work. it’s been feeling golden for about a week now and I feel that these new exercises have really been making a massive difference. getting really fast out of the blocks (wish I’d had the clock on), felt powerful after deadlifts, recovered like a dream.

now I’ve just got to get my right quad right. :stuck_out_tongue:
it’s been a little tight after training but settles down pretty quickly after some ice.

can’t wait to hit it on saturday. I feel a pb coming on… :rolleyes:

67

thursday

  • discus 1.5kg 4x3
  • 3x20m A’s, 3x20m B’s
  • 2x60m 85%
  • 2x80m 75%
  • 2x100m 65%
  • pilates

I’ve started to wonder if the recent quad tightness is possibly a result of the increased emphasis on shot put and discus while I was injured. it’s the right leg that is tight and that’s the leg I push off with. perhaps I should try throwing left handed at training for a while. for now, ice and gentle stretching seems to be effective at keeping it under control.

I’ll be quite disappointed if I run slower than 12.5 this week. my starts have been working well and I’ve been running really relaxed at training. in fact, coach2 predicted that I would break 12, but I’m not sure about that just yet.

I’ve also got long jump and 200m coming up and I am hoping to at least pb in the long jump. I haven’t yet taken the opportunity to work out what my run up is yet, but a few dry runs on the day should give me some idea. judging by how far back I’ve been taking off from so far, if I aim to foul by 30cm I’ll probably be reasonably close…

68

sat
*100m 12.7 1.5w
*200m 26.5 0.6w
*LJ 4.54m
*discus 21.28 2kg

mon
*chiro
*ice

tues
*ice
*core

wed
*core

thurs
*1 lap warm up
*3x30m A’s
*3x30m B’s
*2x40m blocks, 20m acc limit. 5.5, 5.5
*2:6 snatch 14kg

I’ve had a look back at my recent training an it occurs to me that I’ve been trying to do in-season what I should have been doing pre-season. I’ve decided that for the next few weeks I will focus mainly on core strength development and gradually return to my original relaxed running technique. I have been tightening up since the injury.

I’ve also had a good read of the ‘intensity limits’ thread and it has been an eye opener for me. it explains why in every race I am leading at 40m but get overhauled pretty easily. I’m reaching top speed too early. at training I need to deal with this by improving my top speed. on race day I think I need to hold back a little and accelerate more gradually. I guess if I aim to stay a little bit ahead of the pack I will get more out of myself, rather than trying to blast the field into oblivion with every step.

I’m going to start off with a 20m accel limit when I train with max accel, but I also want to work on stretching it out by accelerating more gradually to reach top speed by a certain point, say 40-60m.

I have also noticed that I recover better after short, sharp sessions as opposed to longer medium intensity, so I’m swapping my speed day to thursday. that being said, I probably overdid it a touch yesterday, given that I didn’t train on tuesday…

69

saturday
800m warm up
3x10m skipping A’s
3x10m running A’s
3x20m run through’s
1x40m run through
200m: 27.3s -3.9w, rain

most of the days play was called off today and no points counted, so I decided that just a 200m would do. I was hoping to run a pb in the 400m, but everyone started packing up. I decided to call it a day, just glad to have run another race without hurting myself.

my coach mentioned something to me on thursday, and that was that I seemed to be running a bit upright as I came out of my acceleration. I think he might be on to something. today I ran the first 100m pretty slowly (we were warned that it was slippery on the bend) and when we came in to the final straight I was horrified to see that I was in last position. I put my head down, leaned over more and put on a burst in the last 70m which moved me through the field into 3rd position.

there’s another thread around here where silencer talks about how he feels faster when he bends his upper back. that’s actually something I relate to a bit, although I usually try not to because the theory is that your back needs to be as straight as possible. I have had kyphosis in my upper back since I was a teen following a condition known as scheurman’s disease. it’s not just sloppy posture, my bones are actually wedge shaped. despite all the theory, I know I feel a lot more tense down my back and into my legs when I straighten up and pull back my shoulderblades.

last week I was lying on my back and doing straight legged swings upwards from the hip and I noticed how much easier for me it was when I lifted my head and rounded my back slightly. my rom increased and my legs felt looser.

anyway, I’m going to try that out for a while and see where that gets me…

70

sun-friday

  • core work

tuesday

  • glucosamine

wednesday

  • cupping and sliding

I’ve decided that I need a bit of a break from running, so I’ve set myself a core strength routine to do every day for two weeks before I start training again. so far I’m pleased with the results. I think I’ve got the balance right so that I am recovering well before the next session. I’ve put a bit of extra focus on lower back strength, because I think that is a weakness for me.

my old wrist injury flared up again, and my left ankle has been a little tender, so I’ve started on a month long course of liquid glucosamine. only been taking it for a few days, so the jury’s out in terms of its effectiveness.

had some chnese cupping treament on wedensday and the results were a little surprising. first off, my right quad was a bit worse than I realised. lower quad is fine but the upper portion really came up. secondly, my left hammy was not as bad as I thought, although there is a big spot on the outer portion (almost my quad) that has come up bruised…

71

20/1-31/12
core strength and mobility (warm up)
*upper back mobility
*shoulder mobility
*lower back mobility
*hip mobility
*lower back strength
*abdominal strength

1/1
warm up
drills
run throughs
4x60m

2/1
WU/D/RT
6x60m

5/1
WU/D
7x60m high skips

7/1
WU/D
6x60m

drills
*3x20m high skips
*3x10m A’s
*3x10m B’s

run throughs
*3x20m
*2x30m
*1x40m

60m
*0-20m accel
*20-40m mtn
*40-60m deccel

stretch between each section

nearly 2 weeks of pure core exercise and no track work seems to have done me a world of good. I’ve been taking glucosamine during that period as well, and hopefully that has been helping my wrist to recover fully.

after my first couple of sessions back I was a bit tight in the quads, so I did my 60’s with a high skipping action that didn’t stretch the quad out too far. this allowed me to keep training without placing the area under further strain.

I’ve been doing the 60’s fairly slowly and concentrating mainly on technique, although they are starting to speed up a bit. I am only just now beginnning to trust my body again.

over the next few weeks I will stretch out the 60’s to 80m and add in some tempo days as well…

72

8/1
wu/d
6x100m 70% (20, 18, 17, 17, 15, 15)

9/1
wu/d
4x60m 80%
1x80m 90%

11/1
800m warm up
6x100m 70% (18, 18, 18, 17, 17, 17)

12/1
4x10 step up’s
3x10 step up’s 5kg
3x5 single leg snatch 5kg
core 5:10 each exercise (rather than 3:10)

13/1
extended warm up
core 3:10

14/1
extended warm up
core 3:10 (4:10 rev hyp)

15/1
wu/d
5x70m 85% (11, 10, 10, 11, 10)

16-17/1
wu
core 3:10 (4;10 rev hyp)

bad weather has kept me of the track in recent days, which is a shame because I was hoping to do a couple of vids.

I’ve had a bit of a sore arch in my right foot which has been bothering me a bit. it’s an old problem I used to get coaching soccer. every time I kicked the ball I jolted it in such a way that caused pain to radiate up into my shin. it’s not as bad this time around, but I have cut out the plyo component of my routine until I can get it looked at.

things are going ok other than that. it looks like I’ll be back in time for the meet on monday night, which is good. I’ll be able to run a 200m, a 4x100m and possibly even a gentle 400m. I don’t expect my times to be lightning as I have barely run longer than 100m this year, but I’ll give it a shot.

I’ve already started to plan my GPP for the off season, drawing on my experience from last year and everything I have learned from this forum. can’t wait to get into it!! :smiley:

73

20/1
200m: 26.98s -1.9w
400m: 69.70s
4x100mR: 49.88

23/1
WU
30m drills
3x30m run through’s
4x60m 75-85% (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxLDNMXrlJ0)

25/1
WU (upper)
med ball (3kg) throws, different actions (8:25)
WU (lower)
box jump (waist high) 3:3
box jump with med ball (knee high) 3:3
rev hypers/lying knee raises 3:10

took a bit longer than usual to recover from monday night’s meet. no big surprise considering that I’m a bit under done and lacking in sleep of late.

got the coach to video one of my 60m runs. unfortunately it’s on my phone so the quality is not too good. hopefully I can get my proper camera fixed so I can get some decent footage in the next week or so.

coach thought I was getting a little bit too upright as I came out of my acceleration phase. he wanted me to see what he was talking about, hence the video. I didn’t feel too upright but the video evidence remains inconclusive :stuck_out_tongue: . what I did notice is that my hips seemed to be swinging around very early in the acceleration. I think this was due to me lifting my feet over the track rather than pushing back as I would usually do in my spikes.

I’ve decided to get going with more med ball work and plyo’s. I feel pretty good after todays little workout, and lately I’ve noticed improved posture and increased development in my upper and lower back. whether this is a result of the exercises I’ve been doing or from spending up to 30min at a time holding my 7.5kg bub I am not sure. I believe it to be the former since baby holding duties have been rather bad for my posture in the past…

74

28/01
800m walk, 400m lap
mobilisation
3x30m skips
6x10m A’s
3x30m run throughs
2x100m (19, 18)
2x150m (28, 27)
1x100m (17)
static stretching
3x3 box jumps (thigh high)
Rev hypers (RH)/lying knee raise (LKR) 5/4:10

29/01
400m
mobilisation
3x30m skips
6x10m A’s
3x30m run throughs
2x100m (17, 16)
2x150m (26, 24)
1x100m (15)
static stretching
RH/LKR 3/4:10

both sessions were supposed to be light looseners, and I think they served their purpose. for the second one I went no harder, it just came out faster. this suggests to me that the previous session was successful.

I’m still finding that plyo’s are causing some soreness in my right foot/ankle. however, a little extra stretching focus seems to be managing it quite well. I’ll see if I can get it looked at tomorrow.

I’ve had further feedback that I looked too upright in my video, so today I concentrated on not looking too far down the track, but rather focusing my gaze around 15m in frontof me. perhaps this is why I ran faster with no extra effort. who knows?

I really ant to put down a big pb in the 100m this saturday, as there’s only this meet and the state finals two weeks later left in the season. I feel as though I have missed a lot of opportunities in the 100 due to injuries and headwinds, as as this track is the only one that consistently provides a tailwind I’d like to take full advantage.

I would love to hear any suggestions as to the best way to prepare over the next 3 days to produce my best possible performance… :slight_smile:

75

1 lap walk, 1 lap jog
mobilisation
3x30m run through’s
6x10m A’s
2:3x30m (4.4, 4.3, 4.5)
static stretching
RH 5:10

early on a wednesday afternoon is not my usual time to train, but I was happy to see that the clubs two leading sprinters (pb’s: 10.8, 11.07) were doing some block work and max v sprints. I watched them train for about 30mins and it was great experience to see them at work, analysing and assessing each rep and pushing each other to perform at their best. it was fun to just watch and soak it all up. hopefully some of it will rub off on me.

anyway, I had a good session. I knocked out a few 30’s and the coach put the video on a few of them. my technique out of the blocks seemed pretty ok to me, although on one of them my arms appeared to splay sideways rather than front to back. I also took on board the advice of a few people and tried to maintain more of a forward lean. to me it felt exaggerated, but on the video it looked just right.

the most pleasing thing for me is that the timing off the camera suggests that I was running through at around 4.5s, which according to the brain mac conversion calculator (dubious as that may be) is on pace for sub-12s. I realise that there’s other factors such as MV and SE, but I think that’s a pretty good step in the right direction for me… :slight_smile:

(I’ll post the vids as soon as I can get them from cam to comp)

76

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUDfa2-qVH4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JadU8g1Njj4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDP9c-LJ2VE

the first one only caught the start, and the second is a bit shakey, but the third one is pretty clear, although not zoomed in like the second one…

77

sat
100m: 12.73s, -3.1w
4x200m relay

sun
3:10 box jump (bj) shin high
3:5 medicine ball (mb) box jump
4:40 Rev hypers
2:20 mb crunch, chest to toe
3:10 mb crunch, overhead to toe

mon
3:5 shin high bj/100m walk
3:5 mb bj/100m walk
4/3:10 RH/LKR

tue
dynamic warm up/stretching
2 lap warm up
2x100m (18, 17)
2x150 (28, 26)
100m (16)

wed
3:10 shin high bj
3:10 mb mj

thurs
3:20 mb crunch, chest to toe
3:10 mb crunch, overhead to toe
1:50 mb snatch, ground to overhead
1:50 mb snatch, knee to overhead
4:15 rev hypers

fri
dynamic warm up/stretching
10x30m run through’s
2x100m (17, 16)
2x150m (25, 27)
100m (16)

reflecting on my 100m race on the weekend, I think I actually did a fair job. I took it quite easy at the start but my mid race and finish were pretty good. I really wasn’t too far off a pb, despite the headwind.

I’ve been finding that my soleus muscle has been getting quite tender recently, so I thought back to when I first started to feel it, and it coincides with me doing more running A’s. it seems that in an effort to drive my knees up quickly I am pounding my feet too hard into the ground.

so that’s out.

massage has been helping, but I’ve been trying to keep foot contacts to a minimum and do more core stuff, as well as small box jumps which don’t stress the calves too much on impact.

other than that, which is really only a discomfort while I warm up, I’m feeling pretty sleek and injury free. I’ve been disciplined in my light tempo sessions and keeping myself nice and loose. I also discovered (as I did months earlier) that some of my hamstring tightness seems to be actually as a result of a a tight TFL. a bit of massage down the side of the leg has been doing wonders to relieve that.

I’ve been selected to run in div 3 in the finals, which is lower than I should be but higher than I thought I would be. it might be a blessing in disguise for me, though, as it has taken some of the pressure off me, which means I am less likely to do something stupid in the lead up. right now, I’m thinking more about the training that I will be doing in the winter than about trying to run as fast as I can. remaining injury free is number one priority.

one week to go…

78

good luck. Try and get a semi high intensity day Wed or Thurs to avoid being too flat. If Wed say a few starts and a 150 or so at 95%, if Thurs you may want to do a light low volume tempo session and some bench to keep the intensity up without it being too draining.

79

sun
10x30m run through (60%)
5x60m run through (70%)
dynamic stretching

2x30m (85-90%): 5.04, 4.73
1x30m (90%): 4.77

medicine ball throws
underarmx25
leftx25
rightx25
chestx25
overhead bouncex15

static stretching

cold bath/warm shower

john, I’ve very wary about doing full speed work during this week given what happened to me last week. I’ve done my speed session on sunday to ensure that I have plenty of time to recover from any tightness that may have resulted. however, as luck (or good management) would have it, I have experienced no hamstring tightness as a result of this session. :smiley:

at this point I really need to keep off my feet as much as possible so that my calves can be as pain free as I can get them. I think I might have a very light session on thursday to loosen up, but nothing much more than an extended warm up.

the really good news is that I have scored myself a training partner. we’re both very keen to do weekly speed sessions together, including medicine ball work and general strength and conditioning.

feeling good… :slight_smile:

80

ultimately you know what’s best for you and how you feel. Hope things go well this weekend.

Good work getting a trainng partner :smiley: