Hi, not sure which section this thread should go in but here goes. I have a few of my training group on a L-S programme. They have just started SPP2 having ran just a couple of 60m indoor races, followed by a 10 day GPP2. They are new to S-L training, 2 of them having only joined the group from another squad in September. The SPP1 worked okay, we started from 500m, one of the guys is 16, he managed his 300s in 37/38. On the SPP2 I have started the longer sessions at 2x300m and in windy conditions he ran 37/40 with 15min recovery. What I wanted to know is how you guys regulate the recoveries to be appropriate for the intensity being ran. I want them to be able to run fast but I’m conscious that the outdoor season is a while off yet. Do I increase the recoveries compared to SPP1 to allow them to run faster or should I keep them relatively short until they get down to 200s in the weeks to come. If you need more background that’s not a problem just didn’t want to make this too long winded.
you have to consider the weather and temperature but 15 min is pretty short between all out 300s and the drop in the second time indicates it. My top people used 20 to 40 min recoveries depending on performance level and temperature.
Thanks Charlie, we had used longer in SPP1 but I thought that having gone back to basics for a while with GPP2 their intensity output would have dropped. Judging by their 1st reps it would appear they havn’t dropped a great deal. What sort of drop off in time do you normally expect between 2 reps of the same distance e.g. 300m or 250m, bearing in mind my athletes range from low 22s to low 23s for 200m. I increased the recovery on the next long rep session which was 300m and 250m to 20min. The guy I mentioned re the 2x300m was not there but a 16 year old guy I coach ran 38s and 31s. Do you advocate that I keep the recoveries as long as possible so that the times hardly drop off at all and keep with that emphasis right through to the competition season.
Hi Charlie, we went back up to 25min recovery today on 2x250m. My under 20 athlete ran 30.1 and 30.7. I reckon for his output this is about right. One of my seniors did the same session in 30.7 and 31.2. Would you be looking at the same ratio of drop off between the 2 reps for this standard of athlete, both ran mid 23s for the 200m last year.
really depends on time in the phase and weather. As you already noted, you wont regress in performace anywhere near as far as when you started phase one. As the phase goes on and weather improves, the second rep will get closer to and maybe even exceed the first rep. Also, as the weather improves, you can extend the rest to 30m. Although both reps will improve, the improvement in rep2 will be relatively larger, partly due to the athlete getting looser as the phase goes on and an increasing capacity to maintain the warm-up for longer.
What would you have the athletes do during the rest period? Obviously you need to keep warm but at the same time you don’t want any activities which may affect the performance?
this is where the tempo background comes in handy- the better the background is there, the easier it is to hold onto the warm-up and the less you need to do before the next rep.
Thanks Charlie, the weather wasn’t too bad, although there had been a frost the sun was shining and no wind so decent conditions for February (unlike your place ) so figured the quality would be quite high. They had previously ran 4x20m and 2x30m with falling start (as shown in GPP DVD) and they were looking ok so increased the recovery between the long reps. They put warm clothes on and walked round the track, took on fluids then with about 5 mins left of the recovery started doing drills and strides to prepare for the 2nd rep.