T-Slow's Training Journal: Indoor Race Season

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I’ve posted a couple of journals here before, and figured that this time instead of posting all my workouts one by one, I would wait until the GPP was over and the races were starting to post what’s been happening in my training. I’m 38, and started sprinting at age 33 with zero background. I was too skinny and weak in high school to consider sprinting, but I enjoy the training even though I’m pretty low on the genetic totem pole. I may run slowly, but I take it seriously! I want to run under 25.00 outdoors this season.

Last year, I was close to 200 lbs. when I was competing indoors, and basically ran the same times that I have run indoors in the 60m and the 200 for the past few years (8.04 and 25.72). Then I spent the summer down in Austin training with my Pfaff-style coach. Indoors I ran 25.72, and outdoors after two months of heavy summer training (with an admittedly sketchy outdoor prep preceding it in which I ran 26.01) I ran 25.74, which was no better. We spent a LOT of time on 30m accelerations, an area that is never going to be my strength.

Overall, I haven’t broke 25.50 FAT either indoors or outdoors in two and a half years. This year, I was starting to think about trying something a bit different, but I train at York University in Toronto, and most coaches work short to long. I am extremely lanky at 6’3, and very lightly muscled.

In late September, I went to visit ESTI in Michigan, and he convinced me to try KitKat’s program. He has had a lot of success with it. He said it best, “What you’ve been doing isn’t working, so why not try something new?” What can you say to that? It was time to try something new. I talked to my coach in Toronto, and he was OK with me trying KitKat’s program, so we got to work. We did two 6 week GPP blocks, followed by a 4 week transition block.

Overall, here’s what happened;
First 6 week GPP block tests:
60m: 7.56
150m: 19.24
300m: 41.29

Prior to this, I had never run faster than 42.50 hand times in a 300, and that was during the outdoor season on an outdoor track. I was shocked it improved that much in six weeks! We repeated the GPP, and in the second set of tests results were as follows:

60m: 7.48
150m: 19.20
300m: 40.95

The 150m time was surprisingly static. This may have been because I ran the 300 test rather erratically this time, rather than in the smooth way I ran the 300m test after the first GPP block. I ran the 150 about 20 minutes later.

During the 4 week transition phase, I was able to get down to San Antonio for a week of outdoor training, and ran 39.86 on an outdoor 400m track into a reasonable headwind. After I returned to Toronto, I headed up to Ottawa to run a 300m race at their indoor 400m track. It’s a pretty slow surface, the lanes are surprisingly tight, and I drew lane 1, but I was hoping to run 40.x and who knows, with a little luck possibly even threaten the 40 flat barrier.

I was absolutely ridiculously nervous, and was fighting terrible negative self-talk before the race began. I don’t know why I was beating up on myself, but I had a hard time getting myself to forget everything and just settle down and run. I was in shape, and just had to go out there and execute. (Interestingly, I had a much better attitude when I was out of shape and running the 200m at the Canadian Masters meet in June!)

My race plan was to drive out and relax, and just take it home without blowing up. I had never run a 300m race before. In retrospect, I was too cautious and should have taken it out harder in the first 150. The words of Angella Issajenko rang in my head after the race. “You have to take it out hard in a 300, because you aren’t going to run a negative split!’” I ended up running 41.11, which was still way faster than I could have hoped to run last year, but I’d like another crack at that distance.

After that, I continued with the last week of the KitKat transition phase. I raced indoors in the 60m and 200m about a week ago, and ran a very pedestrian 8.15 in the 60m, and 25.90 in the 200m. Still, I’m not really worried. Improvements on KitKat’s program came in the longer stuff first. Since starting on KitKat’s program my 30m time has definitely suffered, but everything else has moved ahead.

So basically, we transitioned into a traditional short to long setup for the last 8 weeks prior to my goal race (the SE runs start out at 2x200 however, and drop down in distance from there). We are currently in week 2. I think that since I’m now fitter (dropped from around 200 lbs. to 186 lbs. since October) I may benefit more from the short speed work I’ll be doing now than I would have at the beginning of the season. It seems my 30m time is coming back down. My coach would hand time me from first motion at 4.04 in the 30m last year, and about a month ago it was in the 4.24 range. Last week it was back under 4.10 which is positive.

Basically, we will continue with a short to long program on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the SE on Fridays will continue to drop in volume and increase in intensity as we get closer to the big indoor meet on March 10-11. There will also be some maintenance work in there for the longer runs so I can perhaps run a 400m race.

I feel like the KitKat GPP program worked better for my body than a traditional short to long setup, which I suppose is not surprising. I know in his materials Charlie repeatedly mentioned that taller leaner athletes tend to have a lower nervous system capacity for speed work, and I think that is clearly true in my case. Though KitKat’s program is not a traditional long to short, it is definitely less taxing on the nervous system than a short to long while still addressing speed elements. Overall, I am less sore, have better general fitness, I’m making steady progress, and doing the workouts feels like I’m working with my body instead of against it, if that makes any sense. Oh, and my ability to handle volume seems to have gone up as well!

I will post workouts, and race results.

Coming up are races on the following dates:

February 12th: 60m, 200m

February 26th: 60m, 200m

possibly something in early March

March 10th: 200m
March 11th: 60m, possibly the 400m

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Good to see this up T. Pleased to see things coming together :slight_smile: I expect the nerves pre that meet were due to increased expectation. So while KK defines it as GPP and transition you used it more as GPP with varying elements? Given the success you had with it, why did you go S-L now and not L-S? :confused: Are there no indoor 400’s you can run?

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I had my 400/800 boys follow KK this winter as well. They are currently in week 10 of GPP and have already neared their season best 800m outdoor runs from the spring. One workout has been anything fast over 300 meters, yet their 800 times have dropped quite a bit. No 400m meet races have been done yet. They did run fairly well in a 200 and 4x200 a few weeks back.

Based on the summer group I had, T-Slow, and now the 800 guys, it’s quite remarkable the range of improvements KK’s program has shown for athletes in the 24-25 sec 200 range and mid to low 50 sec 400 range, not to mention the 22.3 and 48.9 kid I had in the spring off KK concepts.

It’s not the greatest for accel work because it isn’t until the transition you do any. However, you will find the 30-60m improvements are quite stunning. The same for my athletes as well this summer. Obviously there is an importance of lactic work for the 60 for the mid 7-8 sec 60 runner.

Following the transition, the thinking is to keep some long elements and some lactic workouts to continue on the 200 focus, while incorporating some faster runs traditionally seen in a s-l, as well as accel work.

Following KK’s program, I feel the athletes at this level can certainly tolerate a great deal more work at higher levels. One athlete I had followed a 6 wk GPP this summer, the 4 week transition, then took a 2 week break, before starting a GPP s-l followed by 8 weeks of s-l SPP. A year ago ran a hand timed standing 7.65. This year has run low 7’s standing in workouts, and has run 7.5x FAT in indoor meets this winter. He was able to handle 3x4x60 s-l progressions very well.

T-SLow is very tall and hopefully draws an outer lane at some of these indoor meets. I’m sure some of the 200 times will drop given these circumstances, but nonetheless, I expect a nice drop in 200 times over the next few weeks.

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John, good points as always.

I think ESTI pretty much addressed everything you mentioned, so I’ll just supplement below.

First, it’s true that the first 30 metres don’t get addressed until later in the program, but at the level I’m at, coupled with my height, I think this is ideal.

I have spent the last two summers in Texas under a Pfaff-type system loaded with 30m accel work. I didn’t improve my 30m accels meaningfully in that time, so why so much focus on it? There are far more gains to be made elsewhere, as proven by KK’s approach, and echoed by Charlie when he stated about developing athletes; “Why go for tenths working on a kid’s start when you can go for seconds at the end of the race?”

Interestingly my coach here in Toronto has basically been holding me off from doing maintenance work on the longer stuff (e.g. 300+150, or 2x200 with 90 seconds rest) in favour of some weights, sled pushes and short accels over the past week or so.

This is the same approach that had me busting my ass working hard, yet running mediocre times last indoor season, so I’m not too confident in dumping all the lactic work for the next six weeks in favour of just short speed and SE.

I think I will talk to my coach over the weekend, because it feels like we are straying from this years overall program approach too much. I like the SPP / Comp progression ESTI sent me for the final six to eight weeks. It makes sense, as it progresses logically from the GPP / transition into competition. I think I misspoke by labelling it Short to Long, it’s more of a mixed approach I think.

With regard to more indoor 400’s, I am avoiding them until the two day meet on March 10-11 where the 200 and 400 are on separate days, as just going out and running 60-200-400 on one day is a bit much for me mentally. I really like the 300 distance and wish there were a few more of them here indoors. It definitely bridges the gap between 200 and 400, and ends just before things get ugly!

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I wonder if your coach would agree to providing feedback and the planning be done by ESTI as I think what you were doing more recently was working really well so stick with it versus something that wasn’t.

A question, KK’s stuff is very much based around prep for the last 200m of a 400m and and a lot of the planning is done off race pace or what you want that last 200m to be. I am aware he also repeatedly states you can only go with where the athlete is at at any given point. Which structure did you use? Last 220m time or go more by feel?

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What is your current maxV? How does that compare with your maxV progression in past years?

Best,
Christopher

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The 5-6x200 runs have been 2x3x200. T might be able/want to post his times for these runs. He had a hard time with these and we aimed to run them at the same pace for each rep. It took a few workouts to figure that out. For the split runs, most were 75% tempo speed + full out on the second rep.

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ta, so the 2 x 3 x 200 were at intended last 200m?
Interesting re the split runs as tempo is slower than what I did them which was at fast relaxed and probably closer to 90-95% with a full on back up.

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The 200s were done at a pace that he could finish all reps at. I think the first workout was somthing like 27, 29, 20, 21, 33. One of the last times were near all 28s.

The first time through the opening rep was slower. Second time through he mentioned he’d push it, or at least the time appeared that way.

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To reply to Christopher, when I was down with Ku2u in Austin in December, I got a 20m flying time of 2.32, so hopefully it’s a little quicker now.

As for the 6x200, this was done once a week during GPP, and the first time through it my coach had to peel me off the track for the sixth rep, and I probably ran it in 36 seconds. I was DYING.

Let me check my coach’s notes here in Toronto. I don’t remember the exact progression, but I definitely improved at the 6x200’s a great deal over the GPP / transition. I even started looking forward to them near the end, which is saying something. These runs made me much tougher mentally!

If you are attempting a KK program in a cold climate, you will need to make some careful adjustments. The 6x200’s indoors did a number on my left hamstring and right hip. I’m 6’3 so negotiating that many turns even at submaximal speed in flats caused some serious soreness.

I spoke to Angela right around this time, and she rightfully admonished me for not staying outdoors on grass on a straightaway, and keeping the turns out of the equation for the longest possible time. Once I got sore, ESTI suggested replacing one of the 6x200’s with a bike equivalent workout. I would suggest in future I would either do the 6x200 workout outdoors on grass for as long as possible into the winter, or pre-emptively replace one of every four 6x200’s with a bike equivalent. It may not be as good as running, but it will keep you healthy.

One of the things I mentioned to ESTI recently was how much the longer lactic work suits my body, and how this type of work really helps me stay fit even if it’s only occasionally present (once a week) closer to the competitive phase.

This past Monday, I requested some longer work, so we did 2x4x30m, then 2x(300+100) with the first 300 at 85%- I hadn’t hit the long stuff in a few weeks, so I felt like I was jogging in the first 300, I figured around 46 or 47 seconds, but when my coach showed me the watch, it was 42.3, which would have been a flat out 300m PB last year!

I must be fitter than I thought. Let’s see how the races go this Sunday. I have a 60m and 200m race.

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So I raced today in the 60m and 200m. I was looking forward to an improvement on my embarrassing opening 60m race where I ran 8.15, but in the first heat today I ran even slower- 8.18! I felt like my steps were minuscule and I just never got going. Apparently I popped up coming out of the blocks.

The second heat I had a pretty good first 30 metres, then I tightened up once I got fully upright and ran 8.12, which is a slight improvement over the 8.16/8.15 I ran in the last meet. I’m not going to lie, even though I know I’ve been doing a more long-focused program, I expected to be running 8.0x at the very minimum at this point, not have to fight for 0.03 over a space of three weeks in the 60.

In the 200, I had lane 3 again. I wasn’t thrilled about that, but at least I’d be able to compare myself directly against the last meet where I had lane 3 as well. I didn’t feel focused before the race, but tried to just put it out of my head. I got a poor start, popping up right out of the blocks, and I never really got going until I got off the curve and onto the straightaway. I think I pressed the whole back straight, so when the last 50 metres came I tightened up. I barely had a race plan going in and never felt like I was in a groove (I need to fix this in practice). I ended up running 25.93, slightly slower than in the last meet.

I don’t want to get too tied up in the results, but I was certain I was going to improve my 200 time in this meet. I kicked my brothers ass in practice by like 5 tenths, then he runs 3 hundredths faster than me in the meet! I was definitely expecting to run better. I think it had a lot to do with mental execution. I needed to refocus after the 60 and just run my race in the 200.

Overall, I probably let the slow 60 times bother me. I need to just refocus, train well, watch my diet, get lots of sleep, and be patient in this last month of the indoor season. I’ve done a lot of hard work, and hopefully things will come together in the last month.

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T,
stay positive and take solace in good solid prep which will pay dividends over time.

A mental tip, don’t look at your results until all races are done. That is what I ended up doing as like you, a poor 1st race would then carry over into how I approached the 2nd one.

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Hey John,

Thanks for the wise advice. I have to remember that I did 12 weeks of GPP and the speed may not come quite when expect it to. I know I ran a sloppy race in the 200, and still posted a respectable time, so I think I’m not far off a good result there. Clearly since we spent less time on the 60 this year and got to the speed later, I can’t expect huge results right away. We shall see how the next month goes. It will be very interesting!

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Tyrone, does your coach also time your 30m? What is your current 30m fly?

Best,
Christopher

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My first 30 is in the 4.07 to 4.08 range from first motion, and my flying 30 (with a 30m run-in) is in the 3.40 range hand timed. I have always had a hard time finding gains in Max Velocity.

As a side note, there is a meet on Friday at U of T that offers a 60m and 300m race. The 300m is on a flat 200m Mondo surface which is not ideal, but it will be fun to get another shot at the distance. I ran at this meet last year, and am comfortable there. I signed up yesterday, and I am just going to go out and run it and forget about the expectations I was heaping on myself last Sunday.

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I don’tknow your exact following of kitkats plan, but I think you should not expect too much for the 60m
it takes me a full spp/ttransition of 6 weeks to get some decent speeds.

This year i changed the plan a bit because i am now a master athlete and indoor is now an option for a national championship on the 60. The change mostly involves an extra speed day in the week.

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Hi Tyrone, regarding the 4.07 to 4.08 30 meter from first motion, is that hand time too, or did you use an electronic touch pad?

Best,
Christopher

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Pindaman, thanks for the tip. I can see how the program is not going to help the 60 as much as the longer distances. I’d be interested to know how you modified the program specifically.

Christopher, we hand time everything, but I have had the same coach for like five years, so my hand times are at least dependable when compared against themself.

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while there has, quite rightly, been a lot of focus on the GPP and Transition details KK provided the is the following model

[i]Anyway, in the program structure I have used it is possible to work on all elements concurrently.

A Sample Week:

Eg: Day 1 (Rest Day);
Day 2 (Speed, maybe 3x block, stand, fly, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60m);
Day 3 (Specific 400m endurance, such as 6x200m in sub-24sec with 2mins jog-around recovery);
Day 4 (Rest Day);
Day 5 (Special Speed Endurance, such as 300m, 250m, 180m all max with 15min> recoveries);
Day 6 (Endurance, maybe long hills with jog recoveries);
Day 7 (Maybe temp, such as 2x5x100 for form, rhythm & relaxation, or pool session);
then the cycle of rest-train continues, hence Day 8 would be a Rest day again.

Weight lifting would follow the track/speed sessions ( on the above model, that would come in the PM on Days 2, 5 & 7).

The concurrent concept allows the 400m sprinter to maintain a decent amount of speed year-round. So I would never ask an athlete to run say, 6x200m, in any pace closer than about 2sec of their running-start-1RM for 200m current at the time of the session.[/i]

Like most things I expect it is the concepts rather than the specifics that are key. KK recently posted in response to

[i]Kk many years and conversations have passed since you posted details regarding your GPP and transition, have you reviewed your set up and changed anything?

What would your thoughts be now on this development?[/i]

A-J not much has changed. I spoke to Charlie about John Smith’s belief that runs of 40sec at race-pace were required and it was Charlie’s belief that there was no need to go beyond the 320m mark as I was using (mostly post GPP & Transition period) because the split runs would cover that area. The main difference now is that I sometimes vary the depletion sets away from always using a long rep (200 to 300m) to build a little acidosis in the blood and tap into muscle glycogen fuel stores before than asking for a back-up rep of relatively high quality. Such as tempo 300m, 30sec rest, 100% 150m sprint. Instead I’ve attacked the opposite end of the fuel route by exhausting the phosphates stores and then asking for a longer rep to complete the set. For example 4-6x80m at moderate pace on 30-45sec recoveries (mostly 30sec is requested) with a 30sec “rest” before sprinting 200m to 300m at 100 %. The 400m sprinters who have done this set says the 200m feels exactly like the second half of a 400m race. Other than that, not much has changed. The results achieved by those who followed the original programme have stood the test of time fairly well, with Darren Clark’s 44.38 and Maree Holland’s 50.24 both in or near medal contention in 2011. But of course elite athletes do a lot more to get themselves ready than follow a programme. They did so much rehab and regeneration work, as much as they could afford (ie, massage, physiotherapy) and they were both meticulous with diet and drink. Over the years I coached Maree she brought her bodyweight down from about 60kg in 1984 to 54kg or just under in 1988. She did not “diet” she was just sensible avoiding fatty foods, sugary items and alcohol etc. Darren’s wife peeled the skin off the chicken she cookede and he ate a lot of balanced salads during 1988.

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Hi John,

Interesting that he keeps the long hills in during the SPP. I liked those runs a lot, they get you fit in a hurry, and they don’t seem to tax the muscular or CNS systems much seeing as perceived effort is high, but actual speed is low. I like the idea of keeping that day in throughout the season if possible. I am finding that going to a more or less short speed oriented program after the GPP / transition results in somewhat of a loss of overall fitness, with body fat creeping back up a bit.

I have a race coming up this Sunday, 60m and 200m. I was planning to run the 400m as well, but it comes before the 200, so I’m not terribly keen on that idea. I will of course keep everyone posted on the results. I got some new spikes (Nike Zoom Superfly) with the stiffest of stiff plates, and my accels feel MUCH better. It will be interesting to see if the shoe change has an impact on my results. It feels like it might!