Hey folks, would appreciate any advice on what to do in bad weather. I set out my GPP as per the GPP download but it’s becoming apparent already that i’m going to struggle to do the speed and acceleration work as suggested as the weather in the Uk deteriorates. Our set-up is such that we can only do hill sprints on a sunday as there isn’t sufficient light to allow it to be done in the evenings during the week (daytimes not an option). We don’t have any indoor facilities so it’s just us, track and the elements to battle against. My concern is that when it is cold, windy and wet to what degree we will be able to do the MB squat throws/accelerations etc. Should we just concentrate on weights and tempo with hills on sundays & just do the speed/accelerations when the weather allows or can anyone suggest anything else.
Use Long to Short and and keep throws and weights going using indoor facilities where possible. I’ve used deserted car parks before which are under cover. If you have access to a sports hall buy some cow matt and roll it out and do 20-30m accelerations inside. You can also take this to the carparks.
Charlie’s system is written for his conditions in Canada where he could only train indoors. If yours are different you will have to change things around and do the best with the principles you have to play with.
Basic principles are:
Try and keep speed going all year round
Develop power and strength via medball and weights
ALWAYS run in a relaxed manner.
Try and divide sessions into Tempo and Speed
Maybe you can draw up a plan and post it here. Forget reps and sets more like progressions.
You can do hills for acceleration almost regardless of the weather but the top speed work will have to be slower - hence why i suggested Long to Short. If you can get 30m indoors then also look at doing sprints there. Again improvise.
Short distance back and forth work can be done- not enough distance to get the speed up too far but emphasizes accel and is very tough. ie sets of 8x30m back and forth between cones or 6 x 50 with 30 accel and 20 maintain, etc
Thanks guys,
I’ve just ordered the Vancouver download so hopefully can get a better idea of the L-S approach. Will post a plan once i’ve had time to digest the info.
If by bad weather you mean rain… then I’m sure you can just bundle up and run outside. You have to be creative with what you have. I have a heated changeroom at my track, so when it’s freezing cold and raining I go inside between reps/sets. I do all my stretching and warm-up stuff in there too.
Hey Szyzzlin, we do ‘get to it!’ in some pretty crappy weather. The track is on fairly high ground and we seem to be cursed by a rather strong wind all year round yet in competition it always seems to be a damn headwind. In winter we get biting winds with sideways rain and it makes it very difficult to do anything quick. I always plan the training and over the last couple of seasons i’ve tried to keep some speed work going throughout the winter but we tend to do it when the weather allows. I’ve tried to compensate for this by trying to do plenty of indoor races instead and almost treat these as speed sessions.
We’ll just have to summon up some British Bulldog spirit and get on with it as best we can
