Craig Pickering wins the UK indoor 60m championships today in 6.58, Jason Gardner was 7th in 6.67 and Mark Lewis Francis was 10th fastest overall in the semi-finals - and did not make the final.
The results of the whole championships can be found at:
http://www.ukathletics.net/results/20070210_Sheffield/index.htm
I thinks some of MLF’s problems are apparent in the picture on this link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/6352035.stm
He looks too big and too tense. MLF has undoubted talent but I think he needs to take a new approach, and fast. I dont think his current form is down to a lack of effort, I think the style of training he currently does is not working for him and the sooner he makes a change in coach the better.
Pickering is very consistent. I can’t wait to see how outdoor goes for him.
His semi-final was very very impressive. He revovered from an awful start to power through the field and win the heat with ease.
Didn’t he change coach recently? To Tony Lester.
I recall that he said that Lester was “more strength based”.
It is sad though. So much talent going to waste.
Well done Pickering, almost looked like Gardener was catching him at one point but Craig’s top speed wasted the rest of the field.
Tony Lester is from an Army background, so his methods would fly in the face of what Charlie and most of us would prescribe for him. Craig does it again. I’d like to see a consistent 10.0 from him this year, but I’m not getting too excited! He is very good at hitting a new level, then maintaining that. His only real flash in the pan was that 10.22, but then he ran 10.27 later that year also!
Army training has NO place in Athletics. This is the origins of sprint training theory in British Athletics. In the past many PE teachers had army backgrounds, they have passed on that bullshit endurance type mentality that purveys in many sports in the UK 'til present day. We don’t need it and we don’t want it. Lester has single handedly retarded the development of many a promising or elite athlete, Tim Benjamin, Mark Richardson, Mark Lewis Francis and Marlon Devonish and Mark Hylton to name a few. The sad fact of the matter is that he equates endurance with speed. He equates puking and athletes doubled over EVERYDAY with training for speed. He is not the only one, there are many others. If there isn’t lactic then to them its not sprint training.
yep you said it right there unfortunately the majority of coaches over here in the uk do believe in the rubbish ideas of doing hugely excessive reps at very low intensities and it is fustrating listening to all these coaches over here who believe they are special purely because they have been very lucky in acquiring some very talented athletes. For instance a well respected person in the uk athletics scene was trying to tell me how the 400m was 50% aerobic and 50% anaerobic lol. I think it is good craig has left mike leonard as he is one of the sort of coaches im talking about and there is no doubt malcom arnold was a good move for craig especially because he is reknowned for having a bad start, though it all depends on whether he can make his 60m time equate to the 100m outdoors!
Clyde Hart believes the 400 is more aerobic than what previous/present theory suggests.
There are many different ratios out there in the literature. I saw an article a while back with all of them listed. Perhaps it was a Weyand one?
Purely aerobic work should not interfere with max speed special endurance, even when the aerobic reps are fairly high, as Hart and others have shown.
From my experience it is hard to implement many max speed sessions or speed endurance sessions while trying to follow a Hart/Guthrie program.
Something has to give. The smooth progression of each training block as laid out in a Hart/Guthrie program has to be compromised to some extent. It’s a tough call because speed is so very important.
I always stay high/low on the intensity scale so I’ve never run across a conflict except when I let the low intensity creep into the intermediate zone
CF, Yes I agree Your plan is sound and used by many with great success.
The Guthrie program has a continuing progression from very slow extensive tempo like running which then turns into very mild (for lack of a better word) intensive tempo. This inturn leads to a more difficult degree of intensive tempo. The thing is there are no real rest or low intensity days once you get going into the program. (other than rest on weekends when not competing)The higher amount of volume may be earlier in the week but the degree of intensity stays about the same… By the end of the year you are running faster with less volume, but by no means are you doing what we would call max speed development or speed endurance.
My guess is most speed improvement comes from increased strength through weights,hill running, drills, and some speedwork running via speed makers and accell runs that are sprinkeled in through out the season . More at later stages in the year.Plus you have the actual racing itself.
I know Harts general plan,as do many others, but have never seen it on paper from day to day throughout the season so I don’t really know what they do day to day,just the broad concept. All comments would just be guess work.
I remember watching Tony Lester’s squad out here before the Com games and thinking why the hell is he doing that or why is he not giving any technical feedback? It was quite a frustrating thing to watch.
I also spent some time training with Shirvo while he was out here and got chatting about training and he’s telling me how he’s been training like a marathon runner cause Tony’s squad is in general and it showed. He had thinned out alot and was running technically poor. He had planned to run in the demestic season but never did 
So it doesn’t surprise me that squad isn’t running well, I just hope Pickering dosen’t go there.
He ain’t going no where near that squad! lol…i think he’d quit if he got told he had to go there! Tony seems like a nice enough guy…but nice gets you no where…fast. 
And yet he’s held in such high regard by most of UK athletics?! I try not to make a decision on someone’s coaching based on hearsay but with all I hear it’s difficult not to…
They might not be the best judges.
I saw some film of Shervo’s starts. He had some technical issues that I know I could fix in 10min. Of course, I never got the chance.
All the technical issues could be fix in no time he just had excuses for all off them. At one stage telling us he was not strong enough to hold positions and that some gym work will fix that. And yet we did some 150s together and he runs 15.4 while i’m running 15.0 and there is no way i’m as strong as him. (mind you we where in different stages of training)
Shirvo said back in england he was doing one technical session a week with the coach of his last squad Michael Kehmel (spelling) and said he had been very happy with his running before coming back to aus. However he seemed to not be running well at all more so at top speed where he collapses his chest (runs with a bit of a hunch) and mistimes a bit. He didn’t do any block while here so i didn’t get a look. It was all too frustrating and I couldn’t say anything I’m just a kid.
But why does Tony have all this talent I mean shirvo isn’t there for technical work he does that with Michael and the work there doing can’t be special there not really performing.
Pickering will go well this season he did some work last year with Esta Putola (Patrick Johnson’s last coach) and chatting on gbap.co.uk with the junior Brits (craigs on a bit) he seems very confident and so he should be.