Time flies!
Biggest lessons I’ve learned in the past 5 months…
Ran 14.76 over the sticks this year. Thought I was capable of running 14.1… things aren’t that easy!
I opened up with a 14.8x. Last year I opened up with a 14.6 and finished running 14.1.
Things that I did a crap job in. I ate bad, bad food. Track was the only thing going on for me this summer. Last year I had a lot of other things going on. I’m seasoned now! Moving onwards.
…
Tell you guys a funny story. During my first coaching experience last year, I met a kid called V. He was a kid that was a time sink draining all my time and energy to help others who actually cared. Whatever. Early this year, he kept contacting me through text… email, to give him help on how to run faster. I made him call me and told him his options. He signed up for a club and has been training with them for 7-8 months.
What originally started off as a parasitic relationship is now symbiotic. He reminds me of me… someone who adores an agent role in their own athletic career. Just yesterday, we linked up to do a workout together. After his warm up he was flipping through his binder. Inside he had print outs of Freelaps articles and example workouts which he highlighted. It was awesome. He looks at the highlights and says, “I think I’m gonna do a 200m velocity workout today”. I tell V, “Dude you can’t just pull up workouts randomly, do them and expect them to work.” “Why not”
Last time we hooked up, I was doing a 50,60,50m session. “Dude your top speed is slow”. Days later, he’s sending me texts, telling me things I can do to improve my top speed. I told him I pair these sessions with weight workouts with an eccentric emphasis. After ‘looking up some information online’ he tells me he’s going to do an eccentric workout on Saturday. Yesterday he told me, “I was reading something online and you bring the weight slowly down, stop and then burst it up yea”. V in his natural habitat once again, just saying great things that stir me up.
While I was ripping 50m yesterday, he ‘figured it out’. “Dude i know why your top speed is so slow. You don’t use your arms.” He got me. I listened.
“Dude you’re just using your elbows. You need to use your shoulders.” I show him my interpretation and he comments. “Dude just use them. Aggressively trigger your arms.”
He was echoing other people that I respected so I put it in practice the next rep. “Much better dude! Now you’re using your arms”
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While I was spending great time reading up training esoterica, I forgot that what made greats great… was belief in their own experience. Gerard Mach story I love from here… “Those guys are talking about theory. I’m talking about history.” I’ve worshipped science, literature, that I forgot about my own experience. ‘I’m bouncing, I’m relaxed, yup I’m doing a good job.’ Meanwhile I’ve been exercising at 90% intensity for every max speed run I’ve ever done. Useless.
I was figuring what I needed to change. Improving RSI was my answer. Improve joint stiffness, decreasing amortization time. Doing low amplitude high velocity plyometric exercises. Run with sleds maybe. My arm needs to open when it goes back in the sprint stride because I can more effectively reuse elastic energy!!
I’ve been a fool. V showed me that by making one comment “Dude use your arms”
He’s a guy I’ve built a very good rapport with. He’s taught me, with his ‘immaturity’ that it’s best to just use common sense. I’ve concentrated so much on the 10% that maybe elites need to consider because they’ve exhausted the rest of their genetic well, that I neglected the 90% it takes to get there. Complicate, or simplify… I’ve loved the former too much.
We have so much to learn from those who we think we can learn nothing from. Those are the people I’ve been slowly realizing that truly understand life.
V also tells me right before my last rep, “Dude use your arms but don’t think about it too much or you’ll forget the 80%” He was right, I “aggressively triggered” my arms so much that I didn’t pick my feet up off the ground. He is a wise, young man.
