Hey, I’m glad your getting a break. Is your move to Greece a permanant one? Is that where you’re going to settle down?
No, no it’s not permanent for now, I still have to graduate from my masters in architecture, spring 2007. I’m going to Greece for 4.5 weeks of winter break.
But eventually I am settling down there (well that’s the plan for now at least…life gets tricky sometimes… :rolleyes: )
Squats: 5145, 9230, 7225
RDL’s: 12125, 12130
2(max push ups+max floor chin ups): 35+18, 25+17
larimore lunges: 212 each leg w/ 15lb DB’s
MR leg curls: 15 reps (ouch…my partner Tyziskben :mad: made these very hard)
Toe taps: (a bunch of these)
MR hip abductors: 12 each leg
Hurdle hops: 6 sets of 3 jumps (increasing the height)
Abs (mostly obliques)
Later on the day: abs again (non-obliques)
Hello everyone, from GREECE 
My trip was long as usual, we had a 2 hour delay from New York to Athens, but overall it went by fast cause I slept for about 6 hours on the plane, which was kinda sweet
I left on Friday, and when I was in New York I got the chance to do some plyos (alternate leg bounds) while my dad was ordering some pizza for lunch hehe I am nuts…
Ohhhh just on a side note: I was doing some great oblique abs with the medicine ball with my fellow Tysiskben on Thursday, and Friday I was pretty sore, so I enjoyed the trip (which was mainly sitting down and sleeping 
thanks buddy)
I got to Greece on Satuday (didn’t do anything that day, except go to a toddler birthday party and I was running around and picking up children the whole time, so you can count that as an easy general strength and conditioning day. Two hours in I was too tired so I crashed on the couch and sat with the boring grown-ups’ conversations).
Sunday was also an off day. I went to a cafe and then played some pool with my friend/current coach.
Monday TRAINING started. I am so glad I’m finally following a steady program, and I honestly trust my friend who helps me out.
Only…I thought Greece would be decent winter weather, but Monday was colddddd…and windy . Whoever thinks of Greece and the Mediterranean usually assumes summer weather all year long, but that is not the case my friens. We do experience winters here as well, only it’s not the insanity of New England winters, which is kinda nice and refreshing.
So Monday was cold…
Morning practice was in the weight room and for weights I decided to follow the program that I have from my college in the US, cause it wouldn’t make sense to do something too different for 4 weeks and then go back to what I was doing. Only some exercises had to be switched to accomodate the lack of a fully equipped facility, but thankfully our strength coach gave us a variety of alternates to chose from. On a side note: for this month all my weights will be in kilos, and ALSO: I am only trying to MAINTAIN the weight I was doing, I’m not trying to get any stronger, cause honestly, I’m running the 400m and too much “buffness” will only slow me down in the end. Any comments?
0) some abs
- bench press: 5* 35kg, 1150kg+1push up, 1050kg, 10*50kg
- inverted row: 1020kg, 1025kg, 10*30kg
- explosive push ups: 2*15 reps
- floor flies, 2*10w/ 2.5kg plates
- 4min leg circuit
- arm curls, 2*15 (or 12…don’t recall)w/ 20kg BB
- triceps (w/ BB), 2*15 (or 12…)w/ (I don’t remember weight…
) - some more abs
In the evening: We were outside and it was very cold and windy, and the schedule called for extensive tempo.
The workout was 4-5* 500s at about 2:10-2:20 time.
- 1:55
- 2:00
- 2:01
The wind was pretty cold, so my lungs started to hurt and I couldn’t really breathe, and since this was only supposed to be tempo and easy, we decided to stop it there.
Then my friend had to coach some 8 and then some 11 year olds for the next 2 hours inside ( a volleyball court) and so I joined and did more exercises:
ran around for about 10 min as a cool down
did a bunch of abs and floor hypers
4*12 push ups
medicine ball:
- w/ a 5kg ball, 2 sets of throwing the ball up in the air from a deep squat position (20 reps each set)
- 5kg ball, 3 sets of throwing the ball to the wall (overhead), 10 reps each set.
some abs in between.
Then I did another 4 min leg circuit and called it a day 
Tuesday: The weather is nicer today, the sun is out, and it’s not as windy, but still chilly, which I won’t complain about, since it IS winter…lets not be too greedy now
4 lap warm up
dynamic stretching
2low skips, 1 high skips
2* 50m striders
Special endurance: 3*300m @95% w/ 15min rests in between.
- 46.30
- 48.09
- 48.50
That was pretty good, considering my friend was expecting me to be around 48 on the first one, since I haven’t done such a specific workout all year, and it was cold and in the morning and without spikes…
1 lap cool down and a small chocolate cake that my friend, my sister and I split in 3
I am doing a “cool down” session in the evening. Probably a 20min very easy jog, some striders and abs.
Working out twice a day is great… Professional athletes are living the life…!! :o
Another side note: I can’t post every day…I’m staying away from the internet as much as I can. I will probably post three times a week or hopefully less.
Shoot any comments please, I will eventually read them in a couple of days.
So tuesday evening I ended up doing a 20min cool down and then some abs. It was very chilly.
Wednesday morning:
4 lap warm up, stretching, some skips, 250m strides
starts (20m): 13 point start, then various laying down starts for explosiveness (about 6 total)
stairs: 2*3(about 10-11 fast up and then the same distance down), 2min/rep, 5min/set
cool down
Wednesday evening:
4 lap warm up, stretch
Weights (legs)
Today is an active recovery day, I’m doing 7min fast-7min slow-7min fast (not too fast though) , abs, push ups, and then calling it a day.
Plan for the rest of the week:
Friday (speed endurance): 2*(2*150s) and weights (core)
Saturday: plyos, jumps into the pit, and a couple of full speed 100s.
Sunday: off and Marry Christmas.
last friday’s workout was moved to saturday:
22(150m) at 20,21,20,21
Sunday: 20min run and 4 80m strides
Monday:
full warm up, 5500m at 70%effort (1:51,1:55,1:54,1:56,1:52)
Tuesday:
weights (arms)
full warm up, 100m@95%(5min rest), 100m@95%, 5min rest, 200m@95%, walk back rest, 200m @95%
evening: 20min run, stretch, abs, push ups
Wednesday:
full warm up, plyometrics (into the pit), 380m at 95% (full recoveries)
evening: 20min run
Thursday:
full warm up, 7min fast (4 laps exactly), 7min slow, 7min fast (4 laps exactly)
weights (legs)
Plan for Friday: full warm up, thorough drills, core for about 45min
Saturday: 22150m
Sunday: off
Monday: one mile warm up, stretch, some drills, 5*300s with 2min rests, I didn’t time these, but they felt hard, and I had a pretty good pace for them.
weights (arms)
abs at night
Tuesday: one mile warm up, stretch, many drills plus some plyometrics, 4*80m at 95% with about 3 min rests (or 4…)
planning to do more abs in a little bit…
There’s a track meet here the 21st in Athens… I really want to go, cause I’m going to miss a track meet in the states that my team is going to…
I really want to know where I’m at, but mostly, get a track meet in before the Northeastern meet, which is very competitive and will be the first meet of my season at school, the 27th (i think).
The weather here is so unbelievably comfortable for winter standards…I don’t want to go back to New England weather… 
What distance are you thinking of, Stef?
400m
Do you think my practices are too short? (too much short stuff?)
I don’t think so and that wasn’t the reason I asked. Besides, you’ve done some decent 300s over there about 2 weeks ago. Some more special endurance and quality training might be missing -gathering from your concerns :)- but you can always build up on this later on.
It depends on your approach for the rest of the season, but since you seem to have 400 m indoor races already planned, it might be good to practise the exact distance at least once before the day that it matters most to you. It might be difficult as a first race (especially indoors) and you can always try the 200 m instead -I don’t know how you respond to races, you see. But after a 400 m race, I reckon, you’ll know where you stand, what you have to work on and most importantly it won’t come as a shock to you on a more important day. If you think that such work is missing to some extent, let a couple of races take care of this and fix the rest of your training accordingly.
Besides, nobody’s watching you in Greece! 
Stef, ur doing some really CNS intensive work, ex: 5x300m at a fast pace, but your rest is REALLY low, which kind of concerns me.
Unless that was a tempo session (which if it was I’ll shut up), you NEED to extend your rest per run, otherwise you’re making the mistake of replacing quantity for quality, because there is no way you can run 5x300m w/minimal rest and keep them high quality…
I mean, just as an example, I’m doing my 40m accels w/4min rest b/w ea rep and then for example if I do a set of 4 reps, I take 15-16 mins rec b/w sets.
Remeber, if you want to run fast, you have to practice running FAST.
I KNOW how impatient you are with resting b/w reps and sets, but its for your own good!!!
stef are you talking about the reebok meet on the 27th in boston? I think you are… in which case I will be there too! And possibly running a 400m, we’ll see what my coach decides.
how exciting
Thanks Nikoluski, I definately think that I need to work more on special endurance, my coach here is trying to do that slowly, cause in the U.S. for some reason my school never pays attention to it…all our special endurance is usually through races once the seasons start. I’m really struggling in being consistent with a correct training program, I might have to do MANY of my own workouts once I get back there Jan 23rd… I’ve decided since I’m running track every day of my life now, I might as well do it correctly and set some realistic goals for me, which I know I can achieve (cause I have the Greek power, hehe… )
Ben, in this case, shut up ( 
) cause that 5300m session with 2min rests was a TEMPO day and NOT a special endurance day! My special endurance would look something like: 3300m at 95% with 15min rests.
Kras, I think we can finally meet in person , cause yes, we will be at the same track meet!! Exciting indeed. Look for the red and white uniforms…I’ll look for the purple and gold??
Today was raining ALL day long, so in the morning I lifted (legs), then in the evening I ran for 20min in a gym, then did abs with the medicine ball then abs without the medicine ball and push ups.
If tomorrow it rains again, I’m taking a short trip to the 100m indoor track for some speed with spikes on. I hope it doesn’t rain…I DO need some quality longer reps…!! But I’m not complaining…I know CT is freezing, and Greece is quite delightful weather-wise right now :rolleyes:
You can combine the two worlds to your advantage, but what I’ve highlighted above is, I think, the most important thing for your future on the track.
Let us know how it goes!
This morning was drizzling and windy and rather chilly, so I didn’t practice with spikes on as I planned, plus my shin felt some minor tightness from yesterday, and remembering my number one priority for this year “prevent injuries”, I played it safe.
Morning was 3*100m with full recoveries (which took about 5-6minutes), they came out about 13.8, 13.5 and 13.5, which was alright while running in trainers, some rain and cold. These were about 95%, but I really don’t know how to run a 100m at 100%…I don’t feel like I’m really “pushing it” when running short sprints, and in fact, running a 200m at full speed for me seems impossible at this point…which is why I find the 200m to be a VERY hard race…
The plan was to run 3*200m in the evening, with about 3-5min in between, but it was POURING…so I went inside and did a bunch of medicine ball throws with my sis for about 35 minutes, and then a 4min leg circuit.
Tomorrow, if the weather forecast is correct, I will be doing some special endurance 200s with spikes on. My plan on going to that Athens meet the 21st is looking good…my cousin who studies there will be hosting me, which is nice
Today was nice. Not too cold, not windy, some sun out, slightly chilly.
1mile warm up, drills, 2 strides in shoes, 2 strides in spikes (I loveeeee my new spikes…)
3*200m fast, with 2-3min rests in between (until heart rate went to 120bpm)
27.5, 28.6, 29.8
I was really happy after the first one, considering my 200m pr is a 27.02, during a spring competition
This was definately a lactic acid workout…my butt could feel it after the third rep
One lap cool down.
Competing on the 21st is a 95% certainty now I am very excited!
Don’t you think that if you want to break your personal best that you should keep your times in practice as close to it as possible? Your first rep was fine, but 28.6 is quite a bit slower than 27.5, and 29.8 is wayyy slower than your first rep at 27.5. Why not take more rest? Seriously! If you are running 27.5 now, and your spring PB is 27.0, then in a month you should break that PB without any trouble, if you keep your speed up in practice. Can you get 100m splits to your 200m from now on? What is your overall PB for the 200m and the 100m?
It has been a while since I looked over your journal here. What events do you do again? Where are you training at the moment? What are you running on the 21st? And what does your comp schedule look like for the month or so after the 21st? When is your first major competition?
I agree with Herb 110%. I’ve been trying to get you to realize this from the start of the year. You’re not taking enough recovery time b/w reps. You’re first rep should be as fast as your last one (or close to it) when you’re doing a speed workout of any kind.
If you want to run a 26, which you should be able to do this year, u cant keep running 28 and 29’s in practice, you’re body will just get used to going that slow.
And this was NOT a tempo workout, so theres no excuse for it!!! :mad:
I’m training for the 400m. The workout was a special endurance workout, which is why I didn’t allow full recovery. The point of the workout is to do 2-3200s back to back, with only little rest, with the first 200 being at about 95% (or even higher) and then the second one being as fast as possible (just like a 400m is run…).
That was NOT a speed session…but a special endurance session.
The 400 is what I’m concentrating on, and since my main issue about this race is completing it without running out of fuel at the last 100-150m, isn’t special endurance necessary in my training?
It’s not like I’m not doing any speed sessions…yesterday for instance my morning workout was 3100m with full recoveries.
I’m training in Greece until the 23rd, the 21st will be my first indoor meet, and I’m going to Athens for it, I just want to get a meet in before I start competing in the US for my universtiy since I am already missing two track meets (one was in December, the other will be the 20th).
After the 21st I have one track meet each weekend until the 17th of Feb, which is where I would like to peak for indoors (conference meet). Feb 24th is the last one (new englands) and then outdoor starts March 26th and ends May 13th, but really, my main goal is running my “bestest” in the summer (end of June) for the greek championship. I know that’s a longggg way from now, but I’m doing REALLY well staying injury free so far (((knock on wood!!!))). All I have to do is follow a steady program that makes sense and works for me, which will be my greatest challenge.
What do you mean “what is your overall pb for the 200m and 100m”? My pb for the 200m is 27.02, and I’ve never ran an open 100m, only relays…
Nothing is far away! It’s good that you know your targets from now, so you can plan accordingly!
There is only one way to see if and how a certain programme works for you! Be consistent and see what happens…