Sorry, just noticed.
Yes, the jade stone should work a treat
wednesday
reverse hyper 1:20 bw, 3:10 12.5
BE 1:10 bw, 3:5 12.5
hip sqt 3:5 (65, 78, 65)
rev hyp 1:40 bw
(knee soreness = zero)
thursday
short jog - 5 min
friday
upper body 3k kettle ball unilateral exercises
2x50/50 (-, 13s)
1x100 (13s)
various hip squat lifts 40-60kg
saturday
lawn mowing
hot/cold on hip joint
sunday
1x100 (60-8s, 100-13s)
2x60 (8s, 8.3s)
eccentric calves 2:10
the good news is that I have found a cool training partner. the bad news is - he cheats!
I started using a countdown timer to keep track of my training times. I set it to the time I want to complete the run in and press the button just before I start. it beeps and I take note of where I got to in that time. sounds great, but after using it for a couple of sessions I was feeling puzzled and disappointed with my results. having run 12.76s when at death’s door I found that I was now coming through in a touch over 13s! granted I was on spongy grass with no blocks, but I still wouldn’t have guessed that the time would be that much slower. until last night I worked out what was happening. when I press the button it does not wait 1 second before counting down to the next number! it changes almost immediately. so my training partner has been cheating.
so it looks like my times have been overestimated by close to a second, which is much more encouraging.
the solution is to count the timer down to zero before I start, then take off on the buzzer and count the beeps before I finish.
more good news is that my knee pain has faded into the distance. slightly concerning is the return of my hip/back pain while using the shipper snipper a few weeks back. it hasn’t stopped me doing anything yet, but I don’t want it to get wosre, so I’m seeing someone about it this afternoon.
hip belt squats have been great (no, they are not the cause of my hip pain. I started getting it just before I used the belt and I don’t get increased hip pain after a session). I’ve tinkered with a few things so that I can load/unload easier and not have to compromise with my stance. instead of using dumbells I now have the strap going through the plates themselves. that way they are not really wide, which was banging against my legs and endangering my manhood. using this method I should be able to load up with 100kg+ in a month or so. I haven’t been able to do that with squats for many years. probably close to 10…
monday
eccentric back extensions 1:10 bw
eccentric deadlifts 2:10 26kg
tuesday
ecc DL 2:5 26kg
cupping hamstrings
wednesday
1x60m grad (8.5s)
2x60m (7.8, 7.9)
3x100m (19, 17, 17)
ecc DL 1:5 26kg
hip squat 1:10 40kg
hamstring tendon was very sore on monday and most of tuesday. eccentric deadlifts had an instant effect. cupping was an excellent follow up treatment. I think I will only do eccentric hamstring exercises with my weights.
quads were a bit tight today, but I was still able to cross 60m in about 7.8s on grass and with no blocks. I’ve got no idea how much difference a proper track and a set of blocks would have made in terms of time. I’m guessing it would be something like .2-.4s difference, but I would be interested to hear any opinions on that…
thursday
light kettle ball exercises
ecc DL - 1:8 26
friday
SI joint massage
hip squat - 1:10 20, 1:8 30, 1:6 40, 1:4 50, 1:3 60/70, 1:1 80
ecc DL - 1:10 20
saturday
lawn mowing
the eccentric DL’s have worked wonders, in tandem with cupping. hamstring tendons are much better. I can actually sit down, now!
I noticed yesterday morning that even though my lower back, TFL, hamstring and glute were all feeling better from the treatment, there was still a dull ache in the pelvis area from which all other pain was eminating. I felt around and found a bony protruderance on the left side that I could not find on my right side. all around it was tender, so I massaged and mobilised the area. afterwards I found that the ache has vanished and with it was all of the joint soreness that I have been experiencing. I wonder if the various attachments to the joint have been tight causing pulling on the hamstring, etc.
anyway, I put it to the test with a session of hip belt squats and I have pulled up very well. only an appropriate amount of light general soreness the day after.
legs are starting to look right. hopefully they will soon learn to fly right, as well…
sunday
1x50/50 (13.5)
1x100 (60m-7.7, 100-12.8)
ecc DL - 1:10 20
ecc calves 2:10 bw
monday
400 (75)
300 (55)
tuesday
cupping - back/hamstrings/quads
wednesday
60m grad (8.5)
60 (7.6)
100 (60-8, 100-13, -w)
60 (8, -w)
3x100 (slow)
ecc DL - 2:5 20
hip squat - 1:10 30, 3:5 40, 1:8 60
thursday
300/200/100/200/300
friday
ecc calves - 1:10
hip squat - 3:3 40, 3:3 60, 2:2 70, 1:2 80
ecc DL - 2:5 20
friday
light gardening
I had a surprise visit from and old friend (and forum member) on monday. we met up for a session (400/300/200/100), but we had to cut it short. still, it was good to catch up with him. we’ve been having some very interesting discussions about training and technique.
I’m finding the eccentric exercises followed immediately by cupping directly over the tendon is a great combination for me. my range of motion is increasing while my level of discomfort is decreasing. the latter effect is allowing me to recover faster and train harder/more often.
the little timing system is working well. it doesn’t take too long to get the hang of it. I’ve showed it around a bit and I already have two people who have gone out and bought one for themselves. my 60m time is heading down towards 7.5 without blocks, so I’m hoping it can get even lower when I get the blocks going. I haven’t been doing my sled work yet, either.
weights are going quite well. I got my squat up to 2 reps at 80kg. once I’m doing two sets of that I’ll step it up to 85kg. as much as anything, though, I’m looking to increase the volume of weights I’m doing cause I’ve got to get a bit of meat on my skinny pegs. seems to be working out, so far. I’ve got the hamstring/back/glute exercises on hold for a bit because my lower back has been playing up a little bit…
sunday
trampoline sprints - 1x15s, 3x12s, 1x10s, 1x8s
hip thrust - 3:10 40
tuesday
60m - 7.9h
5x40m
hip sqt - 5:5 60
wednesday
SI joint adjustment
ITB massage
soleus origin massage
we had a thunder storm on sunday, so I did some trampoline sprints to substitute for the SE work I was planning to do. rather than measure by distance I sprinted flat out for a certain amount of time. it was actually quite demanding. my hip flexors are still a bit tight from it, in fact. it seemed to hit the shoulders, too.
had a race on tuesday but I sucked. I knew I was feeling a bit stiff and sore, but I didn’t get any grunt at all. I was kind of annoyed with myself so I ran some very aggressive 40’s. I seemed to be able to get a lot more power when I used slightly wider steps in the acceleration. I also ‘bunched up’ a little more in my starting position. I think I tend to spread out a bit which feels easier but doesn’t provide enough coil to generate power over those first few steps.
it’s been a tough week for me, so I booked myself in for a bit of therapy. I was correct in my analysis that my SI joint was out - way out, in fact! I had some work done in that area but I still need another appointment to get it better. also, she confirmed that the “knee” soreness I have been getting is actually coming from first at the top of the soleus. I got a good solid painful massage on that, but it also needs more work.
going to have a bit of a shift in workload this week. also going to change things up a tiny bit…
friday
reverse hypers - 3:10 bw, 3:5 12.5
hip squat - 2:5 70, 2:5 80
saturday
hill sprints - 10x40m
it’s amazing how quickly your strength can improve. a few weeks ago I was struggling to get out one rep at 80kg. now I can easily do sets of 5.
there were cricket matches going on where I was planning to run, so I scouted around and found a nice hill to use, instead. in fact, it’s probably beter. as a bit of variation I’ll be adding in some hill/sled stuff over the next few weeks.
got a 100m race on tuesday. no idea how I’m going to go. I’ve been sleeping kinda badly for the last week or so. on the plus side, I’m getting better at managing my SI joint…
tuesday
1x100m (time?)
hip sqt 2:5 60, 2:5 80
wednesday
4x200 75%
thurs-fri
sore hip - SI joint
saturday
6x100m (17, 17, 17, 16, 16, 17)
sunday
rev hyper 1:20 bw, 2:10 12.5
hip sqt 2:3 60, 2:2 80, 1:5 90
rev hyp 1:20 bw
tuesday - return to work
thursday
back ext 2:10 bw, 1:10 10
rev hyp 1:20 bw, 3:10 12.5
hip sqt 2:5 60, 2:5 80
saturday
treadmill 3x300 (9, 12, 9)
back ext 1:10 bw
sunday
1x60m grad (8s)
1x100 (60-7.6s, 100-12.1s)
1x60m (7.6s)
1x100 (60-7.5s, 100-12.0)
I had a race on tuesday that supposed to be electronic timing. it had been raining that afternoon, but I felt like I executed the run really well. there were a couple of other guys ing the race who are quite quick (around 11.5s) and I didn’t finish too far behind them. I was keen to know my time, and there was an announcement that the results would be on the website by the following evening. despite this I had to wait for nearly a week before they were available. when I eventually downloaded the results I was disappointed to see my time was 12.5. I then spent the next couple of days brooding because I have been training really hard and wasn’t getting any faster. heck, I had run 12.76s in qld when I was at death’s door with tonsillitis!
after a while it occurred to me that the times listed were all to one decimal place, so they must have been hand timed, but I was pretty sure there hadn’t been anyone timing the races. when I thought about it some more I remembered that I had to write down an approximate time that I thought I would run when I signed in (to assist with organising heats) and 12.5 had been the time that I nominated (I always nominate a slow time so I can be sure to beat it). I remembered the nominated time of another athlete from that meet, so I went back and had a look. lo and behold, his time was identical to his nominated time, as well! in fact, the more I looked the more I found things that didn’t add up. for instance, the guy who ran last place in the slowest heat of the night was way back behind the next slowest, yet his time was listed as being only .1s slower.
so it seems to me that the timing system has failed (possibly due to the weather?) and they have used the nominated times to guestimate the approximate results. no wonder it took so lo come out.
I wanted to test this out for myself, though. so this morning I headed to the track with a set of blocks and my timer. my suspicions were confirmed when I timed myself as running very close to 12 flat, rather than 12.5+. this means that I am actually reasonably close to personal best form. in fact, I may well have run a pb at the untimed meet.
looks like I have 2 more chances this season to nail in a good time…
What kind of timer do you use to time your own sprints?
I described it a bit earlier in the journal, but I’ll go into it again with more detail.
it’s a simple kitchen timer that I bought for $10 from dick smith. it counts down from a set amount, but when it gets to zero it beeps every second for a minute. if you set it beeping and take off right on the mark you can count them out as you run. I use them for speed sessions to know how fast I am going, but also for tempo runs so I can pace myself and hit the desired time. I just thread my pants string through the wire loop and tie it so that it just dangles in front of me.
the beeping pattern isn’t a single beep per second, so you can actually get a good gauge on fractions of seconds as well. of course, you have to estimate a bit and use your judgement, but I think it gives a pretty accurate indication.
in music terms (which I’m hoping you will understand, stormy), it starts off with triplet quavers for the first half of the second, then another quaver marks the halfway point. so if you number the beeps in order and use dots to signify silence, it kind of works like this:
1 - 0.00
2 - 0.16
3 - 0.33
4 - 0.50
.
.
5 - 1.00
6 - 1.16
7 - 1.33
8 - 1.50
.
.
9 - 3.00
etc.
of course, you aren’t thinking about it in that much detail when you’re at full flight. I just count "GO…1…2…3…4…5…6…(here I’m getting close to 60m)7…(I try my best to hit 60 before 7.5, but so far I have always been just a little bit after it). after I hit 60 I start to count again - 1…2…3…4…(getting close to 100m and trying to beat ‘5’)5(this is the 12 second mark - on sunday I crossed 100 right at this point, hence 12.0s).
clear as mud?? 
I had a similar experience with hand timing, unless you win, its hard to know if its remotely accurate.
Thanks for the explanation HB - is there a photo of it somewhere so i know what to look for?
I hate to say it vic, but I think your result was pretty accurate. perhaps your race could have been measured in metres, though?
how’s the recovery coming along?
stormy, I’ll send you a text…
Wednesday
4x40m blocks
Thursday
Cupping - hamstrings
Saturday
4x40m blocks, soft grass (5.7-5.9s)
Sunday
Rev hyper - 2:20 bw
Hip squat - 2:5 60, 2:3 80, 2:3 90, 1:3 100
My squat has hit triple figures for the first time in nearly 10 years. 60kg now feels like nothing. If I want to go heavier I’m going to have to get creative.
Sunday speed session was on grass. The ground was so soft that the blocks slipped for every start and each step left large divots in the turf like I’d been running on sand. The times were between 5.7 and 5.9, but it is harder to judge late in the second.
Work has restarted so I won’t have as much freedom/energy to do as many sessions as I have been. I’ll try to bump up the intensity a little to compensate…
tuesday
treadmill 3x300 (9,9,9)
quickness drills, 2:5 for each movement
wednesday
2x50m grad
3x40 3pt (<5.5)
1x60 (<7.5)
thursday
hip squat 5:3 60, 5:3 80, 5:3 60
saturday
treadmill 3x300 (9,9,9)
sunday (wet track)
2x50m grad
1x40 (5.5), 1x60 (7.8), 2x100 (12.8, 13.5)
rev hyp 1:20 bw, 1:10 12.5
hip squat 1:3 60, 1:3 80, 1:3 100, 1:3 110
added another 10kg to the squat today. times on the track were slower than they have been lately, but I put that down to the wet track and waterlogged spikes. I conked out a bit for the last run and finished badly…
wednesday
2x50m grad
3x10m blocks
3x40m (5.5)
1x60m (7.7)
thursday-saturday
right hamstring sore and tight
ice, rest, etc.
sunday-monday
kettle ball exercises - mainly upper body, 1/4 squats
tuesday
kettle ball and cupping
wednesday
6x100m (60%)
saturday
treadmill 3x300 (9kmh)
sunday
10x100m (20, 20, 19, 19, 19, 18, 19, 19, 17, 17)
rev hyp 3:10 bw
hip squat 3:10 30kg (bar)
tuesday
cupping - back/shoulder
wednesday
2x3x60m grad
1x50/50
thursday
cupping - hamstrings
saturday
massage - hamstrings/back/calves
chiro
had a bit of a setback with a slight hamstring strain a few weeks ago. I think I have dealt with the recovery pretty well. I did it during a 40m accel out of the blocks where I had a bit of an over step. I felt a strained feeling up at the very top of the hamstring, but I didn’t really think much of it. it only started hurting the following morning.
the kettle ball exercises served as a good for of tempo substitute, although my mid back got pretty tight from it. chiro fixed that today.
got a week before state masters, so I’ll be doing a speed session tomorrow and another one on wednesday. I won’t be taking any great risks, though…
sunday
2x50m grad
1x50/50
2x20m 3pt
rev hyp 3:10 bw
hip squat 1:5 30, 1:5 50, 1:5 70, 2:2 90
rev hyp 3:10 bw
hip squats are a lot harder with the bar than just hanging the weight directly downwards. balance is tricky. I think I will have to set up a couple of handles to stop myself from tipping backwards.
acceleration was crap today, probably due to tiredness as a result of the heat and humidity. I was struggling for breath a bit…
Heat n humidity…Sydney… Pfft 
Sydney gets pretty humid. We’ve been getting a fair bit of rain/sun/rain/sun weather…
wednesday
2x50m grad
2x60m blocks
thursday
back injury during heroic rescue
friday
chiro, accupuncture, TENS, cupping, NSAIDs, etc.
saturday - masters state championships
warm up, massage
100m - 12.14s, 6th
massage
sunday
warm up
60m - 8.12s (-2.7w), 3rd
and that’s the end of my season!
even though the time was rubbish I was happy to get a bronze for my efforts in the 60. I think it was a pretty good run, but the headwind was firm for most of the event. all competitors were disappointed with their times.
In the 100m the day before I was happy enough just to have competed, given the events of thursday. it would have been nice to go under 12s, but 12.14s is not too bad a time. something to improve on for next season…