The meet went alright. They didnt field a 4x100 team, so we cruised and just made sure we didnt drop the baton. In the 110HH I did the same thing as last week, but that was because I hadnt worked on my steps since the race last week, so I wasnt really expecting a big improvement. In the 300IH I set another PR, but no one was pushing me (the closet guy finished 4 seconds behind me) and so I know that I still can go faster. Then the 4x400 was a joke. Not a single guy on my relay team had a 400 PB under 65 seconds, so I just said screw it, I’m running the anchor leg cuz we’re gonna lose anyways and I dont want hurt myself. I just cruised through to a 59, but luckily they didnt field a JV 4x4 so we won that race by default. But just to put things into perspective, the frosh/soph 4x4 team beat us out by a good 80m, thats how slow my teammates were. The one really good thing about the meet was that my leg felt fine. The night before I did a self-massage using icyhot, and that worked wonders. Then the day of the meet I did an extra-long warm up and I had no tightness whatsoever. I felt really good. All the times and stuff for the races are here http://www.charliefrancis.com/community/showthread.php?t=8696
So far, in two meets I’ve been responsible for 35 points on the JV level, not too shabby (7 1st place finishes). I know that JV doesnt have the same competition as varsity, but I still find it a pretty good accomplishment for me.
And oh yeah, the the JV team beat their team 108-4. That’s gotta be some kind of record or something. They eked out a varsity win by 8 points or so; which means maybe I get to move up to varsity next time and maybe we’ll win that.
Still a little tired from the meet the day before, but I had to go to weightlifting in the morning. Nothign really special happened today. I made up the lifts I missed on Thursday in the afternoon. Oh yeah, next week we go against Notre Dame, and I’m gonna have the privelege of watching some pretty bad ass sprinters/hurdlers. Rodney Glass and Cary Harris are two of the top 100/200 guys in all of California, and they’ll both be hitting in the 10.4-10.6ish range for the 100m and mid to low 21s for the 200m. Then Garret Green is probably one of the top 3 returning hurdlers in the Souther California, and he’s gonna be getting from 14.2-14.5 in the 110HH and sub 40 in the 300IH. All three of those guys went to the California state meet last year for the 4x100m relay, just to give you an idea of how fast they are. We’re gonna get blown out of the water, but it’ll still be fun.
AM Weightlifting 6:00-7:30
Plyo Box Jumps 4x6
Med Ball Throws 6x4
Power Snatch 3x6
DB Front Squat 3x8
SLDL 3x10
Pull-Ups 4x10
Seated Cable Rows 3x10
Shoulder Shrugs 3x10
hey maybe you should try some 4 stepping in the 110s for a while. itll help you get better strides between the hurdles and act as a bit of a buffer til you can 3 step the whole race. itll also make you a two legged hurdler, which is good for the 300s, and sometimes the 110s. also itll be easier to run better times. i got to low 17s 4stepping, and ive seen kids run sub 17 with 4 steps.
I’ve tried that before, but it just feels so wrong. My left leg is my lead leg, and it just feels really awkward to lead with my right. I think if I emphasize the 110s in practice (which we havent been doing, our focus so far has been the 300) I’ll be three-stepping by the end of the month. Other than that, I just gotta start going balls to the wall during the races and try the three-step even though there’s a good chance I’ll end up eating it on the hurdle. I’ve come to the point where I’d rather try the 3 and then crash and burn then do the 5 and keep getting crappy times.
Today was possibly the worst practice of the year. It was one of those days when you show up to practice and you dont feel like running before you’ve even started. Then, to make things worse, the hurdle coach didnt show up and we had to run the workout by ourselves. So it was me and two other hurdlers, trying to motivate each other to run the fucking 400m hurdles at race pace. Like thats gonna happen. I ended up running horribly, my form was awful, and I just felt bad. I hope I never have a day like this again.
AM Weightlifting 6:00-7:30
1 mile jog
Barbell Curls 3x10
Dips 3x10
Power Clean 4x6
DB Bench 3x10
DB Incline 3x10
Push Press 3x10
Side Raises 3x10
Rear Delt Flys 3x10
Medicine Ball Abs
Core Circuits
PM Track
1/2 mile jog
Agilities
Stretches
Hurdle Mobility
4x50yds Buildups
3x400m (with hurdles for the first 300m, supposed to be at race pace, but I was going at maybe 80% max, I just wsnt feeling it) (full recovery)
Cool-Down Lap
I’ll try and see how it feels to go over the hurdle with the opposite leg, but I dunno if I’m gonna be able to try it for the meet on Thursday. Today’s practice was better. For some odd reason, it rained before practice, then it stopped during practice, but as soon as it ended it started raining again. Weird. I think today was the equivalent of a fartlek, but it felt good for some reason. This week is finals week, so I guess the running just helped me burn off some of the stress.
PM Track 12:30-2:30
1/2 mile jog
Agilities
Stretches
4x40yds
Hurdle Mobility
2x10 min fartlek session (5 minutes in between) (52 sec jog, 8 sec run for each minute done)
2 Lap Cool-Down
Ugh, 4 finals down, 2 to go. Today’s practice was really easy. They shook up the relay team, so all I did was get my new marks at practice. It was really windy and drizzling a little bit, so I decided to take it easy and not do any hurdles. I just stretched really well, got my marks, stayed loose, and did some drills. Hopefully the meet tomorrow doesnt get rained out, but if it does at least I’ll have more time to work on my 3-step.
PM Track Practice 1:00-2:00
1/2 mile jog
Agilities
Stretches
4x40yds
Hurdle Mobility
Lead/Trail Leg Drills
Marks for 4x1
Cool-down
The meet today went better than expected. We ran against notre dame, and we got completely massacred (it didnt help that our best sprinter - top point getter - showed up to school and then inexplicably ditched the meet), but I did well. They swept the sprints, with one guy going 10.5 and another 10.6 into a headwind (handtimes though), and then when I heard them talking after the race the guy that got the 10.5 was complaining how he got a bad start! Unfortunately, I didnt get to see their best hurdler run (the 14.2 guy) cuz he tweaked his ankle and he didnt want to risk reinjuring it in a meet they were guranteed to win. All I’ll say is look for the names Rodney Glass and Cary Harris in the sprints at the California state meet this year. Also look for Garret Green in the hurdles, and then look for the Notre Dame High School (in Sherman Oaks) 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams. I can almost gurantee you that they’ll all make it to state finals. Here’s how I did http://www.charliefrancis.com/community/showthread.php?p=83824#post83824
With that out of the way, it’s time to address my training. We have all next week off from school and track practice, and so I get to train how I want to train (CFTS style), rather than how my coaches like to train (excessive volume, too much intensive tempo crap style). I’m basically gonna treat it as a weeklong camp with my main focus on developing MaxV with a secondary emphasive on SE. Heres what I’m planning on doing starting tomorrow.
24th Fri:Off
25th Sat: Plyometrics, Weights
26th Sun: Off
27th Mon: MaxV, Weights
28th Tue: Tempo (focus on longer distances)
29th Wed: SE, Weights
30th Thu: Tempo (shorter distances)
31st Fri: MaxV, Weights
Hopefully this will allow me to take a break from all the high volume stuff so I can recover a little while building my speed at the same time. I’ll probably throw in some hurdle work at the end of Monday (110HH), Thursday (300IH, form only), and Friday (110HH) to get my 3 step down. I’ll also do lead and trail leg drills as part of my warm up every day. That way I’ll be on track to set some massive PRs the first meet in April. Hopefully the weather agrees with me though, but I would still practice in the rain if I have to.
The day off yesterday felt really good, and today’s workout showed it. I love getting back to the weights in my garage as opposed to the ones at school, I can play my own music, choose my lifts, choose my set/rep schemes, and recover however I want to in between sets. I threw in plyometrics instead of running today cuz I knew I wouldnt be able to get out to the track. I’ll take tomorrow off for Easter, and then hit it hard Monday through Friday.
Had a good Easter yesterday, but now it’s time to work. I will be three-stepping the entire race next meet or I will crash and burn trying. Today was an excellent workout. First time I’ve managed to get in a true speed day in a long time. I also three-stepped (with the hurdles moved in a bit, but still a three step), and things happen so much faster than the 5 step. The only damper on the day was that it was sunny when I showed up at the track, within half an hour it was pouring and then it drizzled on and off for the last hour. Damn weather around here has been real screwy lately.
Track 12:30 - 2:30
1/2 mile jog
Agilites
Stretches
Hurdle Mobility
2x50m buildups (warm-up)
1x40m (full recovery)
5xFlying 20m (30m run in) (full recovery)
1x40m (full recovery)
Lead Leg Drills, Trail Leg Drills
3x40m (with 4 hurdles set up, each about 2 feet in from race spacing, I three-stepped em all) (full recovery)
Cool-Down Lap
Weightlifting 3:30 - 4:30
Lunges 6x4@
Power Clean 5x5
Incline Bench Press 4x8
Arm Running Motion w/ light DBs 4x15sec bursts
Overhead Shoulder Press 4x10 SS
Lat Pulldown 4x10 SS
Ab Work
Damn, I’m really feeling it in my glutes from the lunges the other day. I just hope the soreness is gone in time for the hard workout tomorrow. The only time I’ve ever had DOMS like this before was when I first started training, so I guess I gotta do some more self-massage and stuff tonight. Today’s weather was nice and sunny, so I got a nice tan at the track. Easy tempo session, everything was barefoot, which felt nice on my feet. My shin splints started to flair up a little near the end, but it doesnt seem to be that big of an issue. Also, tomorrow one of the other hurdlers will be working out with me so I can have someone to help motivate me instead of just me and my iPod out there on the track.
PM Track 1:00-2:00
1/2 mile jog
Agilites
Stretches
Hurdle Mobility
2x40m buildups (warm-up)
6x200m (on grass, barefoot, I did em all in about 31 seconds cuz my legs were a little sore, walk back recovery)
Cool-Down Lap
Stretches
No improvement whatsoever in the glutes. As a result, I replaced my lower body weightlifting with just body weight squats to at least go through the motions without putting additional stress on the muscles. Today was a special endurance workout at the track, I had originally planned something along the lines of 350,250+150 with full recovery between the first two runs and then a 2 minute break after the second one, but after warming up I changed it to 2x280m with full recovery. It felt pretty good, and I’d rather be guilty of not training enough than overtraining at this stage of the season, and I really want to be fresh for my hurdle work on Friday. Other than that, I’ve gotta nut up and go for an ice bath tonight to see if that can help with the soreness.
AM Track 9:00 - 10:15
1/2 mile jog
Agilites
Stretches
Hurdle Mobility
1x60m buildup (warm-up)
2x280m (full recovery) I got 37.2 into a stiff headwind on the first one, and a 36.9 into another stiff headwind on the second one. I don’t know how that translates to a 300 hurdle time, but I hope this means I can get sub 45 at the meet next week.
Cool-Down Lap
Extra Stretching, especially for my glutes
I was just looking back through my log, and I realized that I never told you guys who our new sprint coach. Anyone that was around about 7 years ago or so in Southern California, there was a sprinter named Sultan Macullough (sp?) who went to Muir High School. He set a whole mess of records, and he got like 20.6 FAT in the 200m, well his brother is our coach. It’s pretty tight.
Ah yeah, I remember hearing about him. He played football at SC didn’t he? Isn’t he in the NFL now? He was a damn good running back… Quite the sprinter obviously as well!
Yeah, I remember watching him at SC, he’s in the NFL (dunno what team, but in Madden I always pick him up for cheap and he always returns kickoffs and punts for TDs). He was a better sprinter than a football player IMO, but he’s in the NFL now so I guess I cant say anything against that. Apparently, he has a bunch of brothers and all of them were pretty good track runners. Our coach was an 800 runner and he had a 1:52 PR in high school, then in college he didnt do very well under his coach, and now he’s coaching our sprinters and he’s getting back in shape for the 800. He’s thinking about going for the Olympics in 2008 for the 800, and he’s already back down to a 48 second 400, so hopefully he does well. Either way, he’s a much better coach than the two we had to deal with the past two years.
Easy workout today. My training partner cancelled on me, but it wasn’t a big deal since it’s just a tempo run. My glutes are still a little bit sore, but I’m confident they’ll be fine by tomorrow and I can do a lower body lift. My hurdle form is coming along, and tomorrow I’m gonna bring the video camera out to the track and have someone tape me so I can see how I look. I’ll try and post it if I can figure out how.
Track Workout 11:00 - 12:00
1/2 mile jog
Agilites
Stretches
Hurdle Mobility
10x120yds (I did each run in about 17-18 seconds, barefoot, on grass, walk-back recovery)
Cool-Down Lap
Stretches
Man, today was hard. I think I’m fatigued from all the work this week, with most of it coming during the hot heat of the midday sun. Anyways, I had originally planned to do more than what I did, but it got to the point where I dont think it was helping me and it felt like I just couldnt go any faster. My CNS took a toll this week, so I’ll be taking the weekend off, and I possibly could be skipping the weightlifting I had planned for today. If I end up going out tonight then I’ll skip, but if not then I’ll do a lighter weights day than usual. The good thing that came out of today was that I three-stepped 4 hurdles, each was only 2 feet in from race spacing, and I got one of the runs on video tape. I’ll see if I can figure out how to post it on here to see what people who know more than I do think. The one thing I can tell though, is that when I 5 stepped my form was a lot better cuz I was going slower and I could think about it. Now, my legs are fine, but with the three-step my arms are going all over the place. I gotta figure out how to fix that for the meet on Wednesday.
Track Workout 12:00 - 1:30
1/2 mile jog
Agilites
Stretches
Hurdle Mobility
2x50m buildups (warm-up)
Lead Leg Drills
Trail Leg Drills
2x4 hurdles, at easy 5 step
1x40m
4x4 hurdles at 100% effort, 3 step (approx 40m each run)
Cool-Down Lap
generally if you bring your trail leg up right away youll stay on balance and not flail about with your arms. it will also help you take a deeper step to the next hurdle, making it easier to 3 step.
I’m not sure I know what you mean, but I probably didnt bring my trail leg up all the way seeing as my arms were out like a frickin eagle or something. After spending the better part of an hour looking at the video, here’s what I’ve concluded.
-My overall rythmn on the hurdles was off because we didnt have access to blocks, as a result I involuntarily (I didnt notice I did this until I saw the video a bunch of times) did a slight stutter step right before the first hurdle, and as result the clearance over the hurdle was a little high, which affected the following hurdles
-I cannot seem to get my arms to stay close to my body. I think part of the problem is I’m not bending my arms at my elbow, and so they just kind of bounce off to the side. I’m gonna try and correct this by consciously thinking about bending my arms like a natural swinging motion like I’m sprinting when I go over the hurdle.
-I have good acceleration to the first hurdle, but after that I kind of stop accelerating and go over the hurdles at a submaximal speed, even though I’m trying to give a 100% effort. I think this might be psycological, or the fact that I’m not in a racing situation, or maybe I’ve been so ingrained from the 5 step that I’m not used to accelerating as much as I should be. The only way I can think of to fix this problem is just practice the three step more and have my coaches and fellow hurdlers yelling at me to sprint while I’m going over the hurdles.
-Once I clear the hurdle, it seems that I’m letting my trail leg just sit there for a bit before I pull it down. I need to be actively snapping it down once it clears the hurdle. I dont really know how I can work on that other than to specifically focus on that during a hurdle run. However, I’m gonna push this issue to the side for a moment and instead focus on my arms.
Those were the things that really caught my attention. If anyone has advice on how to correct them I’d love to hear your input in regards to drills, technique, or just hurdling in general.
I will do my best to get a video of me hurdling up, but I can’t seem to find the right cable to connect the camcorder to the computer, so I may have to wait until my dad comes home on Sunday to help me out with this technology mumbo jumbo.