haha thank you thank you…
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
Back on track, yipeeee
But still on antibiotics. I wonder if these have any effects on training. I’m being a self-doctor on this one. (Nick didn’t read this… :o )
Felt fine though ! With my new tuesday/thursday training partner (in Milan), training is approached with a different color in the day. 
-
15min jog
-
dynamic stretching
-
few drills
-
few strides
-
7 x 150m (w/spikes), 2’ recoveries in between
(slowest one was 22.8 and fastest one was 21.3). Not so bad after illness and days off. I suppose. -
40min walk
My left calf has been flirting with an overstretch again since Tuesday, so I decided to take Wednesday off (again…i know i know), and devote it to stretching and therapy.
Thursday, March. 10th, 2011
With my new Milanese group =) I love my Sicilian group !!! They are two brothers, and their coach, who used to be a very good 400m runner. The older brother (the better one), just came back from a hamstring injury. I really like how they are both training in a quite devotional manner, and studying difficult fields at the same time while going to class and studying, unlike all of Greece, where athletes give up going to class for training, or finish in four-times-the-amount-of-time, if they happen to be training also !
Anyway!
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15min biking
-
10min warm up
-
dynamic stretching/ drills/ some static
-
3-4 strides
-
5 x 80m w/walk back recoveries (all were 11.3 or 11.4)
(5min rest)
- 5 x 60m w/ walk back recoveries (low 8s for all)
(5min rest)
- 1 x 300m @44secs (a bit surprising, under the circumstances, but the coach says he got it right, and the start-mark was certainly right also. Who knows…)
Gym:
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Leg press: 8x60, 8x70, 8x80kg
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One-arm DB rows: 8x14s, 8x14s, 8x14s kg
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Bench press: 8x36, 8x36, 8x40, 8x40kg
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Lat.pulldowns: 8x35, 8x50kg
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Chin downs: 8x55kg
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Seated rows: 8x40, 8x45kg
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Swill ball glute raises: 3x10
-
master gluteus: 10x20, 10x25, 10x25kg (each leg)
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upright rows: small bar+10, small bar+14kg
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dips: 2x15
-
abs here and there
-
15min biking
Friday, March. 11th, 2011
I don’t know where this headache is coming from today, but doing work this morning was intolerable (anyway, I did 4 hours of it), then I took a one hour nap and when I woke up I thought it was morning. So after going to the supermarket and eating some pop corn (I know well enough to eat something salt when I start getting headaches solely from standing up, but this was more than that actually…), I went training. Headache was hugeeeee :eek:
- 10min warm up
- tempo
100+100+100+
100+200++100+100+
100+200++200++100+
100+100+100+100
(total 1800m)
- 10min cool down
EMS
- 25min active recovery hamstrings
- 2 x 20min relaxing massage calves
And my head still hurts… But I’m reading anyway… because I get anxious when I think that I have 11 months to finish (that’s actually not a few, but anyway… better safe than sorry 
)
Saturday, March 12th, 2011
I gave up sugar since Wednesday. It’s impressive how I am still going… :rolleyes:
I also stopped drinking coffee since Tuesday (more because I am out, and decided to take a break from it, taking advantage of the coffee-shortage-circumstance). And while I thought these past two years (since I started drinking coffee in my life) that coffee has no effect on me whatsoever, I can barely keep my eyes open since last Wednesday, I suddenly need an afternoon nap, and I’m going to sleep at 10.30…
But I think that if I want to finish my phd one day, I should start drinking again… :o
Training:
-
15min biking
-
10min warm up jog, few stretching, few drills, few strides
-
6 x 200m w/2:20-2:30m recoveries, all at 32 and 31, except last rest was at 3min and last rep was at 30secs.
Gym:
(forgot to take my stats-paper with me, so all this is from memory)
-
leg press: 8x60, 8x80, 4x90 kg
-
incline press: 8x26, 8x36, 8x36 kg
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tricep pulldowns: 3 sets of 12 reps (don’t remember weights)
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master gluteus: 2 sets of 12 reps
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swiss ball glute raises: 3 sets of 12 reps
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3 way shoulder raises w/2kg plates: 3 sets of 3x12 (12 reps each way)
-
abs here and there
-
15min biking
how much were you using?
Not much, just a chocolate bar here and there (every 2 or three days), or chocolate pudding, and ice cream (much more sporadically). I think I will go back to having some very soon :o
Sunday, March 13th, 2011
Rain rain rain …
EMS day:
- 20min explosive strength on hamstrings
- 25min active recovery on hamstrings
- 2 x 20min relaxing massage on calves
I had some ice cream (after a 4 day marathon of nothing sweet), and I enjoyed every second of it!!! 
mmmmmm…
Very productive day, work-wise. And still going =) The better you understand something, the more devouring it becomes. Just like people-affairs. They capture bits of your heart, and bite on it. Sometimes it feels like a pleasant tingling, and other times it pinches.
Monday, March 14th, 2011
Wow, time FLIES !!!
I forgot about my titles for each day… so here I go again:
This might sound too technical, but
Trusting My Center of Gravity
This comes from technique, and important pointers, that seem to repeat themselves by crucial people:
Case A: When I trained with Charlie for that one day, one of the key things we concentrated on, was stepping right underneath the body, and not trying to create a larger-than-comfortable stride (the typical over-stride). He said that I might feel like I’m actually making smaller steps and going slower, but it’s not the fact, as the maximum force can be applied down there (center of gravity), and one ends up being up higher in the air for longer.
Case B: One year ago, in nationals. Preliminaries: Nikoluski watched my race, and told me that after the 300m mark when I am pretty much ‘toast’, I tend to try to over-stride when trying to push through.
Case C: I asked my sicilian teammate during last Saturday’s 200’s what he thought my technical flaw is, and he said that after 150m, I tend to over-stride, and that I should ‘trust my center of gravity’… I like how he put it…
So today’s focus was this =) (during tempo)
-
20min warm up run
-
quick stretching (dynamic and static)
-
3 x 20m A skips
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3 x 20m running A skips
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3 x 20m B skips
-
long tempo
100+100+100+
100+100+200++100+
100+200++200++100+
100+100+200++100+
100+100+100 -
5min cool down
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
The end of the Sicilian phase One, and the pleasant realization of the weak feet.
(- 30min fast walk)
-
4 laps warm up
-
quick stretch
I say ‘pleasant’ in the title , because when I keep trying/training in a similar way, and times remain pretty consistent, it’s always refreshing to find out what kind of crucial element may be improved to speed up times.
-
As it was drizzling today, we went to the bleachers (which are covered) and we did double leg hops upwards, for a total of 26 steps in a row. While my friend was doing this all winter, and was comfortably doing 2 sets of 7 flights, I was dying with 2 sets of 5 (x26 upward double leg hops). (walk down recoveries, and 3 min between the two sets)
Good stuff !!! -
5min jog
-
300m relaxed (@ low 46)
Gym: (cut it a bit short, as I felt tired)
-
Leg press: 8 reps of 60, 80, 90 kg (improvement)
-
Bench press: 8x36, 5x46 kg (worse)
-
Lat. pull downs: 8x50 (fairly steady)
-
Chin downs : 8x50 (fairly steady)
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Seated rows: 8x45, 6x50 (improvement)
-
triceps pulldowns: 8x20, 8x20 (diff. machine than last time)
-
Few abs
-
30min fast walk
(dead)
(Thessaloniki on Friday)
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
OFF
Thursday, March 17th, 2011
EMS active recovery and relaxing massage on hamstrings and calves
- 20min easy run
Friday, March 18th, 2011
-
no sleep whatsoever the night before. Travel at 4am, then slept two hours
-
jog, stretching drill
-
250m (1min rest) + 150m (not timed but fast. felt ok)
-
cool down
I like being in Thessaloniki, but I do miss my Sicilian group. My Greek group is not paying so much training-attention to me, as I’m not officially part of them 
this may sound much harsher than meant but you you have a very high social connectedness need don’t you?
I confess to being a bit lost re the Sicilian connection, so they are 2 brothers and their coach you train with in Milan and don’t have a Milanese (is that the word?) group ? Did you join up with them because they made you an offer you couldn’t refuse? 
:rolleyes:
Top post re CF comments.
It’s a matter of receiving some motivation, sharing goals, and accepting training tips.
In Greece, there is a lack of ‘communal-interaction’ among different groups, and athletes in general (especially sprinters). in the U.S., experiences were completely different. I feel completely alienated in my own city in Thessaloniki, (on the track). While I have track-acquaintances and a few friends, I haven’t been able to get the help that I would want to. As if each little group is a little ‘maffia’ on its own.
In Milan, I’ve had the same problem, it might have been partly my fault, as I always went to the track on random times, and didn’t care too much for social relations. And also from the people who I talked to, no-one really ‘attracted’ me. It’s an instinct thing. I don’t bond with just anyone, if you knew me even a little, you’d understand. Need for social -connectedness? Me? Are you nuts?? :rolleyes:
Sicilians: yes, two brothers, very nice, intelligent and likeable. Their coach approached me in the first place (something that in Greece just never happens; people just look and gossip or try to extract information from third sources, there’s a ‘fear of directness’ in general, for whatever silly nonsense reason). I liked them right away, and stuck with them. They offer positive attitude and I offer it back. It’s as simple as that.
Stef, sorry if I offended you, as I started that post this may sound much harsher than meant.
Maybe your US experience was unusual as what you describe in Milan and Thessaloniki appears to resemble here …don’t know.
While I we haven’t met I do think I know you a bit and it was genuine question and as I said not meant to offend.
and yes, I am at times
I’m not offended John. I was just surprised with your ‘need for social connectedness’ comment, as I often appear to be the opposite (people tell me this, it’s not just my mere opinion), and I honestly don’t feel that way. It’s interesting if I give the opposite impression here on CF (from a psychological perspective, if you know what I mean)!
Are you coming to Europe this year? Maybe we could finally meet somehow 
maybe it wasn’t the best possible phrasing but the impression I get is you are often struggling emotionally with your surroundings and missing people / groups which to me indicated you were unsettled and didn’t have the types of people around you that you need / want. Again no offence intended, just an observation.
No trip to Europe in the near future. I’m off to Aus in November to watch http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/presidentscup/ and catch up with family. C & I are thinking of a trip to Africa in 2013 and then Europe in 2015 or 2016.
That’s my reality at this point of my life! But it’s ok.
Saturday, March. 19th, 2011
found the track locked, so did EMS instead
- 20min explosive strength on hamstrings
- 25min relaxing massage on hamstrings
Sunday, March 20th, 2011
-
20min warm up, quick stretch
-
6 x 30 double leg hops up-stairs, walk back recoveries
3min rest -
6 x 30 double leg hops up-stairs, walk back recoveries
4min rest -
4 x 100 stairs (doubles), walk back recoveries
8min rest -
2 x 150m hill, walk back recovery
-
5min cool down
Then my sister took me on her back in the house and I knocked my left kneecap on a door-frame (hard) . It still hurts, for a while I thought that I cracked my kneecap, but I think it will be fine (I hope).
Then I went to an MMA tournament (the first one hosted in Greece). Do these people test for contagious blood diseases before they start rolling around in each other’s blood?? :rolleyes:
too much relaxing massage on Hams…do 10-15 minutes…
Got it