taking today off since I sat for my last exam this morning and then was traveling.
HONEY I’M HOME 
Went to watch my high school team compete last night- the girls team lost its first dual meet in 4 years (indoor and outdoor both) due to “lots of sickness”… riiiight, it’s because I’m not there! haha 
Probably good that they break the streak so that it doesn’t become the most important thing.
Had a workout this morning which took a lot out of me, for no apparent particular reason:
-full warmup + strides
- 6x30 seconds core, run 300@600 pace, 1 min. rest, run 300 hard, rest 3 min.
-6x30s core, 200@400 pace, 30s rest, another 200 hard, rest 3 min.
-6x30s core, hard 100, 15s rest, hard 100
Felt this one in my quads- I guess it has been a while since I’ve done a hard workout like that.
I went straight to lifting (the weights are literally IN the field house) and maybe I should have rested in between because I couldn’t finish everything.
-1 +1/4 back squats: go all the way to the ground, come up 25 degrees, go to the ground, then come up. I started at 46k intending to do it as a warmup set, but then it felt really heavy and I couldn’t add weight like I normally would. I got really frustrated but did some sets anyway- 4x6 paired with
-lying leg curl (feet turned outward) 2x5, 2x6 @40lbs. This too felt harder than normal- I have been doing 60lbs for sets of 8 at school. There were supposed to be 5 sets of this pair but I couldn’t manage to do a 5th.
-split squats with the back foot elevated- skipped this one completely because my quads wern’t just tired, they were actually hurting. I HATE skipping things 
-1 +1/4 incloine DB press: 25x8, 20x3,3,2,2,2,2,2,2,2. 15s rest in between each set.
-hanging garhammer raise for abs- 3x12 paired with
-L-overs (“iron cross”) for abs- 3x8
All in all kind of frustrating to not finish everything- the times in the running were not up to what they should be, but I won’t get too worried yet about one off-day. I figure it’s good that I at least did SOMETHING.
Came home and ate a lot and slept all afternoon… I must have needed it because I usually don’t take naps. I had an intense nightmare about getting fat and when I woke up I had to look in the mirror and satisfy myself that my ribs and collarbone were still prominent.
something is wrong…
-12 min WU jog to the track, drills
-2x stadium stairs (instead of strides)
- 3x (4x100 w/15s between them, 3 min. rest, 1x200 @600 pace, 1 min rest)
-12x30s core/supps
-12 min run home
I actually cheated a little- the workout was either 3x4x100 OR 3x600, but between being sick and then training with the field team I have been wanting to do some longer stuff again, so I thought I would do 4x100, 1x600, 4x100. I got through the first 200 of the 6 and realized with horror that I wouldn’t make it another 400, so I split the 600 up into 200’s as above.
Since when can I not run goddamned 600?
The times for the 100’s were… ok. The 200’s were horrible. I am used to being able to run repeat 2’s at my 400 pace of 29 and not think twice about it, but today running a 34 was hard.
Of course there are a million excuses, like always- I was on my feet working for 5 hours. It was cold and I was working out alone. I haven’t been doing long workouts lately, and I was flat from a hard day yesterday… etc etc. A lot of times bad workouts mean that I’m under some kind of emotional stress, but I have less to be anxious about lately than I normally would. I have had a few nightmares, frequent intense daydreams, and some headaches, but nothing TOO far out of the ordinary. I am wondering if it is the fucking pills, and if my slight weight gain isn’t in muscle, as I would have hoped, and instead if it’s just weight. I can’t tell by looking.
And of course on my cooldown run, PERFECTLY timed, I jogged past the horrifyingly anorexic woman in my neighborhood, out for her 100000 mile walk.
It is so frustrating to not know what the problem is, not to mention scary. I am trying to be optimistic and pass it off as just a couple bad days of getting back into shape after some time off, because otherwise I will get tense and worry and run even slower. I am supposed to go to my high school and coach their hurdlers in return for my old coach to give me some hurdle coaching, and I am so distressed that I don’t even want to run with them… I just want to do it alone. That’s the problem with being well-known; kids build up this vision of you that they work towards and god forbid that you mess it up.
When I was at the meet I was introduced to some new kids who would say, oh i’ve heard of you… you’re the best there ever was! One girl kept staring at me until I introduced myself, and she says- ‘oh i know who you are… you are like track god!’ :eek: what to do, what to do… little do they know!
Ohhh…don’t worry a bit about “bad” track workouts. One week you’ll be like “what on earth is going on???”. Then next week will be so much better, I’m telling ya. The first time I did 300s after about 5 months, I thought I was going to die, and my times were not near to where I wanted them. Then the next week was SOOO much better. Same things happens with every workout. If I take some time off due to injury or whatever, my first week on will be disappointing and somewhat discouraging, but I’ve learned how the pattern goes, so I’ve stopped being worried, cause I know that as long as I finish the workout and do my best (regardless how bad my best will seem), then it will pay off the week after. That’s why there is no “bad” workout.
Just be patiend with yourself and do your best at each moment.
thanks… I’m feeling a little better about it I think. Having a crappy workout is better than doing nothing, at least most of the time.
-jogs +dynamics, drills, and strides
-4x150 buildups in spikes
-4-stage clean-grip pull: 1x3 @75, 2x3 @80, 2x3 @85, 1x3 @80
-mid-grip bench, 5 count down, 1 up: 1x8 @75, 4x6 @80, paired with
-lean-away supinated chins: 5x6
-abbreviated hurdles drills and jog-overs
-6x1h from blocks
My high school coach and I identified the problem, which i was already sort of aware of. Basically, I extend my lead leg close to straight so that I have to drop my toe to get any “claw” and to avoid landing on my heel. This in turn means that when I do keep my toe up, I land on my heel because I am landing too far away from the hurdle. This problem usually improves as I get faster during the season, but it definitely needs work so that i can improve my efficiency in getting over. My best races (8.36) were those where the hurdle felt like another running step because I carried enough speed over to not have time to extend the leg, and was probably landing 6-12 inches over.
Legs are starting to feel a little flat, but I feel better now that I am in control of the issue. Having a fantastic night’s sleep last night (without ZMA!) probably helped as well. I am never never never never having a roommate again.
short and sweet:
-warmup jog, dynamics, drills
-hurdle mobility
-2x300 (3 min rest) 2x150 (75 rest)
-12 minute intense core circuit
Didn’t time the runs on purpose, felt pretty good considering the volume lately. Tommorow is an easy run day, and probably some hurdling.
had a great workout, especially lifts- improved in all of them and felt like I got a solid workout out of it.
-easy day= half hour run, gradually increasing the speed
-back barbell lunges: 1x8 @75 (each leg), 2x8 @85, 1x8 @90
-close grip bench: 8x70, 6x85, 8x75, 10x75, paired with
-mid incline hammer curls: 17.5 x6,6,8,10
-standing calf raises: 10x105, 115, 120
-seated calf raises: 10 x55,70,70
-cuban press:10 x20k, 17k, 17k
-core+ supps
-stretching
Felt surprisingly good for having been standing and walking around at work for 6 hours. The run was really nice for loosening up, and I felt like I could have kept going forever.
due to time and space constraints, I had to shift my off day to today and will need to make up a workout on christmas. blahhh
“active rest” all morning 
so the day was not a total waste.
oh god oh god
I can’t move and tommorow I will probably be hurting, but at the same time an awesome lift feels soooo good.
I was supposed to do 12-16x200 yesterday, so today’s easy run would have made sense, but as it is I will have to try to do the 200’s tommorow, outside, and I did another easy day today. I am trying to stick to the workout schedule as best I can.
-30 min run, gradually increasing pace
lifts: this lift gave me major problems last week so I attacked it hard this time and brought the weights up for all of them:
-1 + 1/4 back squats (all the way down, 1/4 up, back down, all the way up=1): 100x8, 105x6, 105x8, 110x6, 115x6 (from 46-52 in K) paired with
-lying leg curl, feet turned outward: 2x8 @70, 1x6 @90, 2x8 @70 (31.7-40.8 K)
-bulgarian split squats, back foot elevated: 55x8, 65x8, 75x8
after all those squats, these hurt… in a good way
-1 +1/4 incline DB press (quarter range in bottom position): 25x8, 25x3, 20x3,2,2,2, 25x2, 20x2,2. 15s between sets
-hanging garhammer raise (abs) 3x12 paired with
-L-overs (abs) 3x12
-back hypers x50, “doggies” for legs, 25xinner+ outer each leg
-pushup/crunch set: 10 pushups, 10 crunches, 9 and 9, 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. no rest between reps.
-stretching
came home and ate, and now I’m ready to pass out for a while before a short shift of work and then family bonding, i.e. eating a lot and reading a book on the couch.
happy holidays
was a bit sore today as expected, but not bad at all.
-10 min. run to a track, drills, dynamics, strides
-2x6x200, 45s between 200’s, 6 min. between sets, reps 3 and 6 hard. These were supposed to be at 1000m pace, with 3 and 6 harder, but not as fast as 400 pace. I wasn’t totally sure what an appropriate 1000 pace would be, but I think he wanted roughly 38 for the slows, and 35 for the fasts. I ranged from 36-40 on slows, and 33-36 for fasts.
-quick core set
-jogged 12 min. home
I’m getting more and more worried about the pills, and now I find myself in a dilemna. My upper body has not gained a single ounce exept maybe a little on my chest since it is pertinent to the hormones, but basically I am as lean as I was before. I think I have gained (not a ton, but enough that I can tell) exclusively around my thighs and my ass, and I’m worrying that I’m being slowed down. The only problem is that if I stop the pills outright, I probably would get another period before everything resets itself to the way it was, and after the disaster last time I don’t want to risk it again.
I don’t know what the alternatives are though. Add more tempo and stop eating pretty much sums it up. And of course I could just be really paranoid and digging for excuses about my training slump and the pills could have nothing to do with it- its pretty common for frosh to gain some lbs.
I’m still hoping that things will fall into place for me. Since it is CHRISTMAS 
I will try to just sit back and let myself relax. Two B+'s and an A- from three 200-level courses at williams in freshman fall… maybe I deserve a break! I know I will only become harder and harder on myself.
Its normal for frosh to gain a little weight.
I WOULD NOT restrict your eating. Are you taking good supplements? (multivitamin, Iron etc)
Dont forget you are young and still growing, you are definitely going to fill out a bit over the next four years. If you eat properly and train properly you’ll be much stronger and faster as a result!
Dont fight it, just eat right, sleep well, and train hard. You’ll consistently improve
Cheers and Merry Christmas!
Chris
thanks chris. I am trying hard not to fall into old habits, but I don’t even know if I have a normal conception of how much I should be eating anymore. At home I tend to eat whenever I’m hungry just because I can, but at school there are very specific times when I can get (free) food and I eat pretty much the same things every day. typically I would have:
Breakfast between 8:30 and 9:30
-small bowl of oatmeal
-bowl of fruit
-half a glass of juice, cup of tea
+(half a banana if I’m really hungry)
Lunch around 12:30
-cup of soup (the vegetable or vegan option always)
-half a sandwich of chicken salad or tuna (wheat bread, fairly little slices) just plain, nothing on it
-some cuke slices
-half an oatmeal raisin cookie when they have them- a couple times a week
-IF I’m hungry before practice I will have either a clementine or half a banana around 3
Dinner postworkout as early as 5:30 or late as 7:
-1 pretty big serving of chicken or fish
-some kind of cooked vegetables, usually I’ll take both options: broccoli and zucchini for example, or potatoes
-small bowl of salad (chick peas, green peas, cukes, baby corn) OR on lifting days I’ll have either a small bowl of cottage cheese+peaches OR peanut butter+ 1/2banana and raisins OR small bowl of raisin bran+ fat free milk
-1/2 glass of powerade
-cup of frozen yogurt a few days a week
It goes without saying that I drink a glass of water or two with lunch and dinner, and I drink water during the day in my room or at the library.
Now that it’s cold out i’ve started taking decaf coffee+hot chocolate back to the dorm with me which keeps me from being hungry, and since I go to sleep at 11:30 I don’t usually need to snack. If I get really desperate I have tea or maybe some fruit. Of course I don’t stick to this ENTIRELY- I cheat now and then like anyone else.
As for supps I am taking a multi-vit+anti-oxidant, flax seed oil, and calcium twice a day. I have been taking ZMA sporadically. I am usually in bed for at least 8.5 hours, but as I’ve complained, I don’t always get to sleep for the whole time… it’s often broken up.
Aaaaaand that basically sums up a good part of my daily routine at school.
As for today: I worked during the day and it snowed the whole time, so by the time I came home I was forbidden to drive anywhere (i.e. the gym) so I had to let another workout go undone. I compensated as best I could given the circumstances:
-10 min on the trampoline
-15 min core+ general strength: pushups, all kinds of crunches, reverse hypers, squat jumps, toes raises, etc etc
-12 more min of trampoline
-6 more min of supps
-quick stretching
I’ve realized as well that I have basically stopped stretching because it is not emphasized or even really mentioned at all in my program at school. I am naturally flexible but I should probably still remember to do some more stretching anyway.
-jog, dynamics, drills
-hurdle mobility, hurdle jog-through lead and trails and over the middle 5-steps
-2x1h, 2x2, 2x3, 1x4 out of blocks
-5x150 form running
-4-stage clean grip pull: 2x3@80, 3x3@85, 1x3 @90
-mid-grip bench, 5 count down, 1 up: 2x6@80, 85x6,4 5, paired with
-lean away supinated chins: 5x2 w/30s negatives
came home at 4:30am this morning and had a few hours of broken sleep before getting up to help coach my high school team and do a workout at 10.
-quick WU
-2x5 stps hurdle run-throughs
-2x2, 4x3 out of blocks- these were very fast
-1x200, 4x150, 1x200 with one every minute, so the whole thing took exactly 5:38
-12 minute core set of 40 on, 20 off
another pretty late night- this time about around 2:30 or 3am. yay for active rest
-WU, drills, dynamics
-2x split 500: run 300, rest 1 min., run 200. 16 min between sets. I ran these pretty evenly at 49 and 33, then 50 and 34. The turns in the fieldhouse are very tight, so I was happy enough with this.
lifts:
-lunges 2x6 (each leg) @90, 2x6 @85. legs were not happy with these after those runs.
-close grip bench: 6x85, 6x80, 8x80, 10x75, paired with
-mid-incline hammer curls: 15x6, 20x6, 20x8, 20x10
-standing calf raises: 3x10 @115
-seated calf raises: 3x10 @70
-cuban press: 6x45, 10x37.5, 10x32.5
-quick core set
Have about 6 hours of work ahead of me- my ankle has been aching lately and all that standing is probably not helping much. It’s not a sharp pain like it used to be, just more of a dull ache now and then. My left shin is aching a bit as well from the tight turns in the fieldhouse, so I’ll have to do a lower leg massage in the next couple of days… oh how fun that will be.
Have you counted your protein gram intake for the day? You should shoot for 3/4s to 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. (Some feel 1 gram per kilo of bodyweight is acceptable)
What you have listed sounds a little low to me. I would consider having a whey protein shake and some complex carbs an hour and a half or so before you work out, simple carbs/electrolytes during, and then your normal post workout meal with protein.
I think it’ll help your workouts a lot.
Cheers,
Chris
thanks chris, i usually try to be conscious of eating protein but I don’t really know how much I actually get in the course of the day.
took today as my one remaining off day before I go back to school- mostly because of scheduling difficulties. I jumped around on the trampoline and did some core, but that doesn’t really count as a workout.
active rest tonight, workout and lift tommorow. lovely.
yesterday I didn’t have access to a track to do a sprint workout, so I ran for 20 min. and concentrated on lifting hard.
-1 +1/4 back squats: 105x6, 110x6, 110x5, 115x4, 120x4, paired with
-lying leg curl, feet outward: 70x5, 90x5,5,4,4
-split squats, back foot elevated: 65x6,8, 75x6
-1+1/4 incline DB press, 15s rest between sets: 25x8, 20x3,3,2,2,2,2,2,2,2
-garhammer raise (abs) 3x12
-L-overs (abs) 3x12
Today I slept in waaaaay late after an active night and I need to pack and then go to work… blah. I am supposed to take today off anyway, so looking back at the vacation schedule I took only one extra day off, and substituted one “tempo” session for a track session. Considering circumstances and weather and everything, i feel pretty good about the training I got done.
I can’t believe I’m going back to school tommorow already. It’s bizarre, I was getting used to being back here. School should be fun though, it is winter study month, so i will take a photography class pass/fail a couple times a week and train hard, have a week off, and only in early february will I have to start worrying about classes again.
back at school…
Had a stressful drive back, I was trembling when I finally got back here and got all organized. I am having some kind of stress attack which is bothering my stomach, so I am going to sleep hard and get ready for winter study training which starts tommorow.
I have been on one of my upswings for the past couple weeks, I can kind of sense a downturn coming… or maybe I am just crazy