Race Weakness?

This weekend I ran one of my first races in 10 months, actually
first time in block in 6 months…

I ran 6.70 in 55m…

I did the analysis 100% accurate.

  • 30m Time FAT 4.16
  • From 30m to 55m 2.55, flying 25m 9.8m/sec
  • of steps from 30m to 55m 11.5, step length 2.17m

  • Step freq @ 30-40m, 4.50

Height 5’7
Measurement grenter trochanter to floor (no shoes) 30 inches

From the numbers above where is the weakness?

Max velocity, Frequency, Length, strength.

Should I be taking more or less steps from 30m to 55m?
Maybe my SL is too long.

I ran 6.40 last year, what’s wrong?

My gym strengths are the same. Bench 225lbs 8 times
Squats 315lbs 10 times

Thanks

Kenny Mac~~~~

I remember you posting some images of yourself running and they showed you not getting full triple-extension. It seemed to be a question of flexibility. Has this improved?

That’s a great point, I’m slightly tighter in the hip area since last
year. But not excessively tight.

That could be an issue tho!

Thanks

Kenny Mac~~

4.16 is better than 6.70. You should be able to run at least 1 tenth faster, assuming 4.16 is accurate.
2.17m stride length, in regard to your height, isn’t too long, i think it’s the opposite. But becareful in puttin gthe emphasis on stride length, the risk is to overstride and create other problems. Lack of triple extension is probably the reason of that relatively small stride.

regarding what thor touched on–you were very tight last year.why???

get to a therapist and check out out range/flexibility and work on that first.this could be your weak link kenny.by remaining tight around those specific areas you will eventually pick up injuries due to the overload of loose areas trying to make up for the tight areas.sounds funny but happens.work on flexibilty kenny and i think you will be faster in the longrun and especially over the longer distances!

at this moment in time don’t push your SL as this will cause maechanical and injury probs.it will happen as you address the problem of your tightness with therapy and exercises

Kenny,

I wouldn’t worry too much about it till you get another 3 or more races in. you mentioned it was the first time in blocks in 6 months and the first race in 10 months? I would attribute it mostly to being rusty. Your 30 meter looks pretty good, with a few more races your top speed will be back.

Didnt you have a heel injury I like did? That might have affected your elastic strength. (which will not necessarily show up in the weight room)

Good luck and nice times!
Chris

Thanks guys, I’ll touch on all areas.
I felt rusty/tight and off rhythm.

Hopefully it’ll come back later in the season.

I’m going to see a specialist later in the week regarding my
ROM.
Thanks again,

Hey why don’t you have a Training journal.

Yes! Be careful of exaggerating your stride length as this will usually have the opposite effect. The best way to optimize stride length is to relax and let it happen naturally (so as not to cut off the stride prematurely, or push to the point where elastic ground reaction is lost.

As a coach, I have a similar problem - athletes running very good in training, but cannot produce the same times in races. What went wrong?

One of my 400m athletes - running 20,5’s as a junior for the 200m a few years ago - could not get under 21 last week (in his first outdoor race this season). In training last week, he ran a PB in his 80m … the first in 3 years. In small meetings, he looked very good - 100m.

I assume you’ll have to know how the training programme looked like:
Monday - Speed Endurance, WT
Tuesday - Rhythm exercises and run through’s
Wednesday - Warm up only, massage
Thursday - Warm up, 1 x 30m (bend) and 3 starts + 10m
Friday - Competition

We have travelled the Friday morning. he slept for 2 hours Friday afternoon, and raced in the evening. When he has started with his warm up, I could see problems - bad ground contact times (flat footed), could not run tall, bad turnover, etc … not enough time to correct this. He looked relaxed … maybe TOO relaxed … could not get any accelerations, etc

What could be the problem? Training programme? The massage too late, the sleeping before the race?

I am depressed!!! And I HAVE to do SOMETHING before the next race … the first 400m of the outdoor season!!!

Could be any of the factors you suggest. When was the PB in the 80m recorded? How long before the race did he wake up? 2 hours is far too long for a nap- it indicates that he was poorly rested before the trip.

The PB was run last Monday - 8,01 (timed from first foot contact). The competition was on Friday. It has to be enough time to recover?

He woke up about 3 hours before the race.

What about the massage? Too late?

Exactly the same thing happened before - in the warm up, I could clearly see that there are problems. What do you recommend? More run through’s? Less? More stretching? Dynamic exercises only? More rhythm?

Have you asked him how he felt throughout that day? I think you’ll get more important feedback from him than you will anyone on this board.

What about the idea of more runs 2 days out, ie 4 x 30m block starts and one short, sub max run, with the day off before the meet? That way he won’t be flat.

Thank you very much, Charlie. We will try this out and let you know the results.