You are looking quite a bit better JC. Looking forward to more updates!
[video=youtube_share;MfIwcqFnRQc]http://youtu.be/MfIwcqFnRQc[/video]
Had the opportunity to run at an indoor track last Saturday. Everything went expectedly well. I planned 90 minutes for my warm up which included the general dynamic stretch/jogging/basic technical model, accelerations, and hurdle run-throughs. I felt fantastic for the first 60 minutes. However, there was only one straightaway and hurdle races were happening… which meant that we could not run through any hurdles. The facility being an olympic venue is lacking and that took a lot away from my run.
I had an extremely poor start; popped up on the first step. If I had the chance to go through the hurdles a couple of times it would have been much better. I ran technically poor for the first two hurdles and was able to push through for the last three better. One thing I’m really satisfied about is the foot speed in between. I used Esti’s spacing and watching a lot of the training clips I felt like I was playing fast motion!! Very very useful, that was the biggest change since the last update. I also, to my shock, had NO trouble making up the differences of 36" vs 39" and 9 yard vs 10 yard. The adrenaline that came from being nervous really bridged the gap well. Because of my poor start, my entire race was compromised. I finished in 8.42. Though, I am very happy to get my spikes on and run and FAT. Are there any gaping things that I need to work on? Very happy that trail arm is staying back.
I realistically only have one more meet this indoor season and that will be coming up in the next 2 weeks. I believe running Sub 8.2 is completely possible; 8.1 feels like a big stretch because indoor meets are not popular here (I will probably run alone). The fastest time in Canada junior is 8.33. I would be ranked 2nd atm.
Way to go!! 8.42 is great time. The short spacing and smaller heights do help! It’s hard to believe it at first but your description is exactly correct. I moved hurdle spacing in practice to get a 1.00 split touchdown to touchdown between hurdles. My hurdler right now, not the guy from last year, uses 8 yards in the hallway in tennis shoes. Keep focusing on being technically better and quicker between, the times will drop.
Trail leg looks great! Appears to be coming to the front nicely. Head a tad high. The level shouldn’t change at all.
You appear to be doing the same thing my current guy does over the hurdler. IT’s a float over. Here are two drills we are doing to keep things quick over and tight.
The 3 step spacing is more for his trail arm, which has tendency to get really wide, so we use the wall. The single step rill is more for quickness over.
I also have him watch this video before every hurdle practice and often in between reps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-WW8oa4hm0
You are doing great. A lot of room to improve. Low 8s are possible, just keep at it and don’t worry about the race times. Just keep working in practice, time will drop when your preparation is good and the opportunity arises.
[video=youtube_share;dfzR7sYTSnQ]http://youtu.be/dfzR7sYTSnQ[/video]
Second ‘league’ meet of the season, and the first that I ran in.
Looking back at races and generally how they feel last season, I believe I was stronger in the first half of the race than the latter half. I’d have to tie that to not training until March last year and doing very little speed endurance work. David Oliver’s coach had an interview with speedendurance and said something along the lines of: “if you can run the last 5 hurdles in 5.5 then you’ll win every race.” My 8.37 indoor pb+5.5 = 13.8!!! This difference in prediction and actual performance made me have a deeper focus on speed end work. I realized I needed to race more and whip my body into shape and there is no better race to do that than the 400mh - the paragon of pain!
I ran the 400mh in 58.9s. I don’t really understand the race strategy behind it but a very fast 400m runner in BC mentions a 4P strategy. Push (running all out for first 100m), Pace (slow down a little), Position (match people) then Pray (ask god for the willpower to finish). Would this strategy work well with 400mh? I think I went 85% around the entire track. I was able to get over the hurdle with my lead leg without stuttering until around the 5th hurdle. Then my lead arm was going really far back, struggling to keep balance. I think the purpose of getting a good speed end. rep was met with the race.
Around 30mins later I had the 110. I didn’t bother warming up/doing hurdle drills; only a few strides. At the start time I could still feel some residual fatigue from the 400mh. I smacked the first two hurdles, probably because my tired legs couldn’t accelerate properly out the blocks. And because of the bad start I was slow and this lead to me taking off much further than I was used to. The entire race I tried to speed it up so I would be able to take off a little closer to the hurdle but that didn’t happen. I couldn’t change much though even though I consciously tried to speed up. I’d reason this to running with ghosts and no adrenaline. No quite satisfied with the slow touchdown times and floating in between the hurdle, but definitely glad to get another race under the belt.
Did the 4x1 and 200m. 200m was 23.9HT. Stumbled off the blocks because they didn’t hold to the ground properly. Very relaxed. A problem with 2 200m races I did last year is that I feel a lot of tightness coming into the straight. Consciously relaxing and not pushing and generally being patient is definitely the remedy. I focused on fast arms and strong knee lift. It was a good way to finish off a 5 hour meet and 4 races.
5.5 might be good for top guys, however I feel through looking at hundreds of times high school estimates are 6.0+indoor 60 time. 8.3 is a great time and shows potential for low 14s.
Long hurdles they key is 15 steps between each. Find the rhythm and that should help. It’s not easy doing 15. Look at your race video if you have one and do a step count.
You are making great progress. Thanks for posting.
[video=youtube_share;61wCJCRq_Nk]http://youtu.be/61wCJCRq_Nk[/video]
Three hurdle reps from yesterday’s very rainy day.
Despite the weather, I had one of the best sessions ever. Hurdles were 36" 1 yard, 2yard… in between. I’d have to accredit the spectacular session to working on the basic drills. I did hurdle walk overs with an emphasis on pulling the trail leg through the armpit. I’ve never specifically addressed the lead leg with drills but it was much more efficient because it wasn’t waiting anymore for an effete trail leg. Once I strengthened the weak point of my hurdling, the whole became much more efficient. I also for the second time did the hurdle hops. Like ESTI suggested, it decreased floating over the hurdle. A good preparation for the upcoming speed reps is doing some run throughs over the hurdles with 5 steps. It gives my body more speed attacking the hurdle. This translation was felt when I was really moving in between the hurdles with 3 step.
My lead leg seems to be locking as I am over the hurdle. Not quite sure though. I was really focusing on the lead arm this session. I watched numerous videos of Aries’ races and tried to copy his downward arm swing. This builds up momentum as it reaches the forehead and it is able to power down very efficiently. I’ve had more success with this type of lead arm than I have had with Liu Xiang or Robles style. One thing I’m still working on right now is trying to finish the lead arm action before my lead leg even reaches the crossbar. This is very difficult. Aries’ lead arm cycling takes very long to occur so the lead arm must be ahead of the entire hurdling motion. I believe this will help with my clearance over the hurdle. Here is a picture of Aries’ incredibly successful lead arm style: http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/dam/assets/130301163155-aries-merritt-1-single-image-cut.jpg
As you can see, when my lead leg is over the crossbar, my lead arm is still in the air instead of already being almost finished. It is very challenging. I mentioned a few posts back that I don’t focus much on my lead arm during repetitions but after tuning it to the Wr Holder’s style, I realized how mistaken I was. When I try to bring the lead arm high and finish it quick, naturally, I lean forward much more aggressively (as you can see in the video). This forward lean raises my trail leg and makes the lifting through armpit much more effortless and clean. Changing the lead arm has been the biggest change since 3 weeks ago. Sorry if I’m going off on a tangent. The name of the ‘lead’ arm is not titular, it indicates how important and central it is to successful hurdling.
One thing I need to work on I think is on touchdown, my torso is still not rigid. My entire body should form a straight line but there is still a little lean. However, (I just had this thought as I am typing this), maybe this is something I should keep for the first 5 hurdles? If acceleration of the sprint hurdles is same as the 100m, I don’t want to be perfectly upright as I would until the 7th hurdle. If I keep my chest forward, even have a little lean, it will perhaps aid in my acceleration? Not sure about this. Other than that, are there any things that I can correct just by looking at the video? It’s hard to have a critical eye in the wake of such a happy hurdle session. 
Thanks!
Got someone with a stopwatch to clock how fast I am moving in between the hurdles. Three times I remember were 1.00, 1.03, and a 0.93. Each one of these times are from different reps. They don’t indicate the splits as accurately as a frame by frame analysis would but it definitely shows that a near 1.00s split is close. Here are the touchdown times for the video:
3hurdles: 2.60, 1.067, 1.067
4hurdles: 2.564, 1.0989, 1.0656, 1.032
5hurdles: 2.535, 1.01, 1.0677, 1.0677, 1.101
I should be capable of 14.3-14.4 but the time will come when opportunity arises and I am prepared for it.
Thanks all, really grateful to take advice from this community and keep on working at it!
Much improved. Great job since you started!! I tell my group to try to touch the trail leg knee with their lead arm hand to keep the arm in tight and low. I would say the most bang for your buck is to continue to work at spacing that allows for 1.0 splits, and then continue to work on speed endurance work. This is where there are many options, either doing 5 steps, 12 hurdles, or no hurdles and just doing longer speed endurance runs (my method). If you have a block of races, those races can also serve as specific speed endurance (my method as well). We have a April break, so from March-April, did longer speed endurance runs, then raced 2-3x 110H each week (1-2 races in a meet, Tues and Sat).
Keep us posted. I get excited when I See you post!!
Your upper body looks squarer, well done on your improvement,
Re: quickness of your arm, arm quickness should come from quickness of your trial leg as a counter-balance movement. Quickness of trial leg comes from good take off and trial leg position during the movement.
You are sinking during your take off step, try to run taller between hurdles also your trial leg shin coming out way too much and because of that you are paying the price 1) you cannot bring your arm low all the way to the back, 2) slight lean to the left, 3) on the touch down off the hurdle shin is not perpendicular to the ground consequently your first step is not as effective and you are off balance. The shin of the trial leg during the movement needs to tight, heel close to your glut, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oahxEejIEEs
Couple of exercises:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8LBRHqVXro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E44VD0sc-oU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-5LtqNXOFE
Hurdlers are not perfectly upright through the race, there is a slight lean forward having said that the body position between hurdles 1-2 and 9-10 is the same.
Fastest touch down 1.03
At this stage of the season I do like 3-5-3-3 strides (3 strides 9m, 5 strides 12.8m-13m apart) the short spacing working for me at the end of GPP I and beginning SPPI. My opinion is at this stage is too close to the season.
Anyway, well done and keep the good work
Thanks ESTI!! Glad to hear it! I have another question. One thing I’m not really satisfied from that ‘immaculate’ session is the stride length I have between the hurdles. The first step off the hurdle looks good, but then the 2nd step is really short and the 3rd step becomes much longer. I think the last step before the hurdle (3rd step) should be the shortest step; the ‘cut’ step. Do you have a distance for touchdown so I can make sure the 3rd step is the shortest?? Thanks! Sub-14 is definitely closer now.
Can you elaborate on this? I’m not quite sure I understand. Does this mean on touchdown after I clear the hurdle, my hips are sinking?? But I 100% agree with you on my trail leg. I’ve taught myself to keep the trail leg shin out but I guess that is incorrect. I’m sure keeping it in is the missing factor in why it always feels off. I am sure doing those drills you provided will help tremendously.
Don’t mean to butt in but, your head seems to be looking at the finish line regardless of the position on the rest of the torso
The 1st stride is the shortest one, 2nd is the longest one, 3rd is little bit shorter then 2nd one. Schmolinsky (1981) proposed a distribution of the race between hurdles of 1.65 m + 2.00 m + 1.94 m, landing 1.35m from the hurdle and take off at 2.20m to the hurdle. However as we can observe top hurdlers taking off further to the hurdles then Schmolinsky proposed, 2.30-2.40m and landing closer at around 1.00-1.20m. Everything is up to hurdler how fast he/she is running.
I would have one day with focus on the rhythm of hurdling, longer hurdles 12H 1 to 2 feet in and bit lower 84-91cm height.
In the previous post I meant that you sink too much on your take-off, when your foot is touching ground your touch is a bit too much ahead of CM plus you are bit too low,
The whole process is a circle, there are always consequences of the actions, if your prep to the first hurdle is not great and take off is not efficient, that will influence your trajectory and your trial leg movement and because of that your landing off the hurdle is bit shaky and first step not as effective, consequently you have to make some ground and you have to over-stride to make to the next hurdle and that is leading to poor prep to hurdle two, etc…
[video=youtube_share;cxvLBVvDLrk]http://youtu.be/cxvLBVvDLrk[/video]
Ran 23.27 in the 200m.
Trying to work on keeping heel close to the butt and having it perpendicular to the ground upon landing. Doing 6H immaculately is the goal right now.
[video=youtube_share;RE1Q_UOHAeQ]http://youtu.be/RE1Q_UOHAeQ[/video]
Just finished a three day meet for provincial High school championships.
I was entered in 4x1, 110mh, 400mh.
110mh went terrible. Not only was I not close to the meet record of 14.1 (now changed to 14.2), I was not close to a time I ran alone last year. Doing 5 steps in between the hurdles felt really good and I thought it would be 14.7-8 in the heats. I clocked in at a 15.18!!! However I knew I sat at the start because people stayed with me to the first hurdle. Form was really garbage. Finals came and I was expecting a 14.4-5. I ran a 14.96 for another third in this event. Very very pissed off and disappointed.
400mh. I ran the heats with a near 5-8 m lead however I wanted to preserve myself for the final and ended up placing 3rd in the heat. I qualified barely for the final and got lane 8. I pushed hard on the curve in the final and cruised controlled the straight. I went into the curve trying to push again and found myself not being able to take the same number of steps. Then I got ate up and saw the other 2 guys pushing ahead of me. I remember thinking “nice, going to get the bronze”. however nearly 5 meters before the finish line i caught from the corner of my eye someone on my left. i took a lean and was very disappointed when I placed fourth 0.18 from the podium. this meet was an awful way to end off my high school career and im irate that it didnt finish another way. however, i think doing so poorly will slingshot me into other great performances this summer. my goal is still the elusive 14.4 that I know I can run.
One lesson that I learned from running the 400mh is that I should always be pushing myself. I wasn’t hungry enough and I drifted the curve and didnt push hard enough down the straightaway thinking I would walk away with a medal. I was content with being 3rd place but that power-sapping self doubt and arrogance landed me the fourth. I will have to keep working and executing and until then the times I want to run and the places I want to place will be far away from me.
[video=youtube_share;fXjt7kVd5F0]http://youtu.be/fXjt7kVd5F0[/video]
Thoughts on a very short block start:
Coach is telling me to get to the first hurdle (though this clip is with a dearth of hurdles) with higher knees because this will elevate my hip height and I will be able to clear the barrier with more efficiency. She is not very happy that I am dragging my toe on the second step. I am neutral to her suggestion. I understand that dragging the toe is moving from point a to b the most efficient way because of less distance displaced. And there are people who are against it as well as the side for it - the evidence that I should perpetuate this little Jamaican tick is just as prevalent as changing it. Also I get my arms a little wider in the blocks because it can get out faster than if it was more narrow. She says that I am skating during the first two steps. I am again impartial to this because it is a visceral action that I do when I think AS MUCH FORCE in AS LITTLE TIME. I am not trying to actively go side to side so as much as it happens naturally. Lean could be better but this seems seems hard if my knees are cued to drive very high along with great levels of hip height. Head could stop getting lost in my neck.
Thoughts??
Is it such a problem to go side do side? People have been telling me I do that a lot, but I also happen to beat nearly everyone over the first 40. I’m pretty sure I’ve observed quite a few top line springers with good starts doing that, as well…
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There are some block setup issues. Your foot pads look too close to the line - it appears to me that your front knee is in front of your elbows, and the knee on the ground is too far forward also.
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It might sort itself out with different block settings, but your hips are a bit low in your set position. The shin angles are a good indicator, as the angles to the ground look too small.
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Nice power out of the blocks and excellent extension.
Have a look at this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsXHPpL78_U
You are too crowded in the blocks your back leg in set position is flexed at 92 degrees and front at 73 degrees, basic set-up is 130/90 then you can play around.
When you are leaving block you are projecting your body at 45 degrees but during first ground contact you already at 60, ground contact two you are at 70 (around 70 you need to be at the stride 5 if you are hurdling)
When you are dragging you toe you are increasing friction! Basic physics theory says that by increasing friction you are reducing speed and on top of that you are paying price on step two, you are recovering your leg too late and therefore your step two lands ahead of centre of mass and consequently you are breaking!!! Ground contact on stride three is pretty good right under CM, stride four over-striding again, breaking!!!
About “Jamaican tick” if you are strong enough and powerful enough you might get away with toe dragging as the same to wider stance “arms a little wider” but if you are not then you are going to pop-up, game over.
About side to side movement, Leaner force application/acceleration, always. The whole idea of acceleration is to apply as much force as possible, but the question is where during side to side movement does this whole force go? In other words if try to skip/bound for the distance but at the same time go side to side (skating) how far would you go?
My advice is to:
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Go back to basic set-up. -
Set the blocks on the line. -
Get the acceleration right from falling and rolling start.
regards
wermouth
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Personally I think the toe drag is fine, and that it won’t really matter either way. You’ve already mentioned it’s a current fad among Jamaicans.
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Your knee drive seems a bit too much coming out. It gets you a little bouncy in the early steps. You are getting the top of your thigh to parallel on your 3rd step and your 5th step your foot lands clearly in front of your centre of gravity. I agree that higher knees will get your hips up leading into hurdle 1, but I don’t think you should be quite so high in the initial strides as it looks to be reducing your speed into hurdle 1.
Others may want to chime in here. ESTII… ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzADETA5lf4
-justin gatlin toe drag at 0:56secs, looks like an easy relaxed start into a tempo stride. Actually his is more a low heel recovery reference more close to the ground, without actually dragging on ground, just a dragstyle reference.