Hi Charlie, Long to Short issues

CF Product Discussions Vancouver Series I
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Hi Charlie

I have been reading the forum for a while now and have picked up some great training ideas which I intend to impliment for season 2009. My intention is to get things as right as possible and have recently purchased the Vancouver 04 download and intend to do the Long to short programme as this better suits my physique, and for the reasons stated regarding tolerance to high CNS activities, poor access to therapy etc. I therefore have a few questions regarding gaining the whole picture for the forthcoming season:

  1. After SPP1 do you continue with a three HI day split per week of 2 speed endurance sessions (SE1 and SE2) and one speed session (accel. and/or maxvelocity)? If not when would this change?

  2. Typically (obviously depending on when the main competition is) is the SPP2 period 12 weeks in duration?

  3. After a 5 week indoor season how long should the GPP be after this?

  4. You also mentioned that with a long to short programme it tends to be double periodized rather than the triple periodized year you ultimately prefer. If this is the case how does one address strength issues in season? What I mean by that is if I compete from May to September the benefit of the triple periodization set up is early outdoor season period (May); training block (June) peak outdoor season (July/August into September), thus keeping in-touch with strength enough to see one through the competitive period. With the long to short double periodization one finds oneself either having to train later into the season (and I’m not elite and therefore cannot afford the luxury of a late start to the season) or competing in May and feeling whacked by trhe beginning of August. How could I get around this?

  5. Is there any mileage in doing the SPP1 long to short and a modified version of the SPP1 short to long (as outlined in the download) for my SPP2, with one of the SE days replaced with accelerations and starts to 30m plus 2x300 (gradually descending to 2x4x30 plus 2x150)? The rationale behind this being SPP1 (L-TO-S) focuses on speed endurance but SPP2 needs to focus on acceleration into maxvelocity- precisely what the focus of SPP1 short to long is. Would this work?

I am a 10.8 (11.00FAT) AND 21.4 (21.86FAT) sprinter.

Thanks for your time.

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1: You can do two or three speed sessions a week depending on tolerance. With two sessions, it’s usually one speed and one speed endurance. With three it’s two SE and one Sp.
2: The SPP duration depends on time available (usually only an issue with SPP2)
3: The second GPP is usually short- prob 2 to 4 weeks depending on level and weather etc.
4: You can adjust to triple periodization but the third block will be very short.
5: I never did long continuous runs

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  1. Is there any mileage in doing the SPP1 long to short and a modified version of the SPP1 short to long (as outlined in the download) for my SPP2, with one of the SE days replaced with accelerations and starts to 30m plus 2x300 (gradually descending to 2x4x30 plus 2x150)? The rationale behind this being SPP1 (L-TO-S) focuses on speed endurance but SPP2 needs to focus on acceleration into maxvelocity- precisely what the focus of SPP1 short to long is. Would this work?

Thanks very much Charlie that really clears alot up for me (Though I think you may have mis-read point number 5).

Based on your response then and what I have read from you with regards to the need to seperate the intensities of the two SE runs (that is why you stated on the one level it starts at 2x600 and the other end 2x300) how does one seperate the intensities with the need for intensification later in the training period? If one is already doing 2x150 in one, does one repeat this in the other or go to
2x250?

Thanks again

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5: I never did long continuous runs

Having just read my response I realise why you felt mileage meant long runs. Sorry its just the British way of saying ‘would there be any joy from doing it that way’?

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Probably not if you followed that program to the letter because doing 2x450 or 2x200 or whatever really doesn’t prepare you to run 12x60m or 9x60m or whatever. You have to always think about what you have already adapted to.

6

Eureka

I think I know where to go now for SPP2. Three high intensity days: one for Special Endurance 1 moving from 2x300 to 2x200; one for speed endurance ranging from 80-150m; and one speed session up to 60m. Just a couple of questions:

  1. Is the above the right way to go?

  2. I kept the SE1 AT 2X200 and not 2X150 to leave some separation between the SE1 and the speed endurance runs (80-150). Am I correct in doing this?

  3. How do I progress the Speed endurance runs/ Do I go for example 80 100 120 eventually adding the 150 when fit enough? Or do I do a number of reps at the same distance e.g 4x150 or 5x120. Or do I mix it up e.g. one week 4x150, the next 80 100 120 150?

Thanks again