10.22 1.9 1 Melbourne 18 Feb
10.62 -2.2 5r3 Telstra Brisbane 3 Mar
10.20 1.2 1h4 CWG Melbourne 19 Mar
10.41 -0.5 3q3 CWG Melbourne 19 Mar
DQ s2 CWG Melbourne 20 Mar
10.42 1.1 6r1 PennR Philadelphia PA 29 Apr
10.42 -0.9 2r1 Seminole Tallahassee FL6May
10.28 1.6 5h2 Bislett Oslo 2 Jun
10.44 1.3 1h1 Pfingst Rehlingen 5 Jun
10.41 -0.2 1rA Pfingst Rehlingen 5 Jun
10.20 1.5 5 Norwich Union Gateshead 11 Jun
10.49 -2.7 2h1NorwichUnionGateshead11Jun
10.45 -0.8 3 Andalucia Huelva 20 Jun
10.60 -2.5 1h2 Andalucia Huelva 20 Jun
10.13w 3.3 1s2 NC Manchester 15 Jul
10.42 0.2 1h5 NC Manchester 15 Jul
10.28 1.0 3 NC Manchester 15 Jul
10.69 -0.6 5h2 KBC Heusden 22 Jul
DQ KBC Heusden 22 Jul
10.39 -1.3 6h2 Norw Union London 28 Jul
10.33 -0.2 2q2 EC Göteborg 7 Aug
10.37 0.6 1h3 EC Göteborg 7 Aug
10.16 SB (38) 1.3 5 EC Göteborg 8 Aug
10.30 1.0 3s2 EC Göteborg 8 Aug
That is absolutely horrendous for an athlete of his ability. The coach has got to take a huge part of the responsibility. It’s obvious why he’s running so badly when you hear about the way he trains…what do the Brits have against doing real speed work year round
The two consecutive days of rest are fridays and saturdays… Go clubbing on friday rest saturdays then go shopping. Thats the UK way its been like that since victorian times probably…its tradition you see. Can’t let progress stand in the way of British tradition now can we?
This “avoiding tempo” premis brings up an interesting delima I had when I took up sprinting again and one I definitely see in young athletes. And that is “I’d rather just do [the cool looking stuff] i.e. speed-related work.” I actually caught myself worried about who was WATCHING my workout. If willing to admit it, I think many athletes would have to agree that on some level they’d rather be seen flying down the track than doing tempo. Tempo work isn’t nearly as impressive and God forbid someone assume THIS is as fast as I can run. What gives the would-be sprinter more juice- I can run as fast as I can and rest as long as I want or I can run a Big Circuit and throw up at the end. But here’s the rub- as I was avoiding tempo, I found myself getting smooth. And when I checked the scale I had gained a few pounds. Dismissing my skipping tempo sessions as the reason, I tightened my diet. Resut? I didn’t get any fatter but wasn’t getting leaner either. AND my energy level dropped which I attributed to diet restriction. Simple coaching lesson: Do what you’re supposed to do NOT what you want to do. Well I guess I’m just stubborn. I wanted to avoid tempo so much that I ran through wall and did that (avatar) to my legs. Ha! I showed you. But now I’m fat as sh*t and for the ultimate kicker, tempo runs will be the first thing i’ll be able to do as I recover.
Well first off coaches now are being given the opportunity to go to see other coaches. Matt Faviere (Harry’s coach) went with him to see Tevor and reported back that they were basically doing high intensity, low volume, high quality. Harry is still running PBs when it counts.
As for Harry’s future development well Matt is a good coach from what I can tell. Also he has help from Michael Khmel who is very speed based (perhaps too much - how often do you hear that about a UK based coach). Problem with Harry is that he is very stiff. I can’t believe how bad he is through his hip flexors and ITB, i’m sure it is impeding his stride length.
As for changin the setup in the UK, for me the problem is that as old athletes become coaches they attract young tallent and rightly so. Problem is that if they train them the way they were trained then the new generation will have the same old problems.
No offense to anyone on here who was a world class athlete but when i spent 3 days with these guys it was obvious that for all thier achievements on the track they had never spent more than a few minutes thinking about track… at least not at the level we are used to on this forum. Then again it isn’t totally thier fault either. Unless you are exposed to discussion you can’t learn and from what I have seen of UK coaching seminars the disucssion has no roots because there is no common understanding for ideas like SE and Tempo and Explosive med ball and energy envelopes etc etc.
one of the main reasons to get out of the uk is because the temp in the winter time.LA would be a great base for any athlete but yet again charlie has coached great athletes in canada so i’m actually contradicting myself :rolleyes: .but my point is that the uk guys must get out of the uk and open their eyes up to the big picture.its as if they are in a world of their own…they are cocky as heck and still running 10.4s… :o :o :o get a grip!
TC and Martin said it clearly … its about ambition, degree of determination and willingness to leave the comfort zone.
Easier to stay in the UK, do what you have to, feel you’re doing the right training and go clubbing big-time at the w/end because you earned it training so hard during the week.
At this stage you could put MLF anywhere and I don’t think it would work … wrong attitude too deeply ingrained IMO.
Maybe we should cut him some slack, 10.16 is not that bad (Hell, he would be the Canadian champion!). I just think he has had poor coaching. I think he has perservered in spite of his training. Look at the above setup, is it any surprise he is getting slower? How can you have the necessary high quality speed work in that training week? He has gone to the U.S. to train and that didn’t work. At least he has the guts to switch coaches.
The difference for us is that we had a full indoor facility and I’m not sure what the situation is there now. the indoor work suited a short-to-long program well.
its more than likely that one of Aust’s top 100m men has made the initial moves to also train with Smith in LA.
im sure when he reviews his old program which included large numbers of overspeed almost weekly he will not be suprised to learn of his constant hamstring injuries over the past 2 years.
Every high performance centre has an indoor facility I think there are at least 7 across the country Sheffield, Loughborough, Bath, Brunel, Birmingham, Gateshead, Manchester I know for sure. There is no excuse you could easily train in the UK all year around IF you did a short to long approach which no one seems to even know about.
Watched him getting physio several times before races this year and his flexability especially internal rotation is nowhere near 45 degrees. Also during Thomas test there is obvious tension in the quads and hip flexors. From video analysis of his races his stride length is not as good as i would expect it to be and puttin the two together it kind of makes sense. From hearing comments made by his coach it appears he is also worried about his stride length.
However, with the medical backup he should now be getting i would hope he can correct these things as they must be reversible.
true charlie but as one of the guys said above…the uk has great indoor facilities all throughout the country.i think linford and his group base themselves in cardiff during the winter as the indoor facility is great.
i think the uk guys should get the heck out and start to train with serious athletes with the thought on is WINNING! some of the uk coaches are still administering 5mile jogs…to a sprinter!!! time-warp stuff
if you want to be the best,get the best coach and train with the best athletes.
- how often do you hear that about a UK based coach). Problem with Harry is that he is very stiff. I can’t believe how bad he is through his hip flexors and ITB, i’m sure it is impeding his stride length.
