The pursuit of speed

Members Area My Training Journal
1

A little background info:

I’m a long time lurker of the site who’s been training for almost 2 years. I’m 6’1", about 198 or so and my handtimed PB in practice for 100m is 10.7. We all know that hant times aren’t terribly accurate, so I’m flying blind right now. I had problems with tightness & cramping during my races, so I really didn’t have a chance to pinpoint my exact level at all last year. I do have a high vertical (35" last winter) and high squat & deadlift maxes (500 lbs), so I feel as though I do have the ability to run fast times.

My weakness has been my starts. I had the tendecy to come out of the blocks wide with externally rotated feet. Also, when pushing from the start, my muscles tensed greatly, which prevented me from getting out well. Instead of learning how to attack properly, I compensated by concentrating on the knee drive instead of driving the ground back. This got me out without being tight and without skating, but I didn’t start “running” until about 35M when I started to open up.

That being said, acceleration will be my focus for my upcoming GPP. I feel as though I’m powerful and flexible enough to learn how to push from the start instead of 15M down the track, lol

That was a nice Christmas day ramble. :smiley:

2

Sunday Dec. 25, 2005

Today was the start of my GPP. Of course, the weather is rainy and the gym is closed, but I’m happy to be back in the swing of things. In the offseason, I followed a basic workout plan which consisted of hills, grass sprints and weights. A normal week looked like this:

day 1: fullbody weights/hills/grass accels
day 2: gen fitness
day 3: fullbody weights
day 4: gen fitness
day 5: fullbody weights/grass split runs

My goal was to prepare for GPP, which I did. I haven’t been able to time myself, but I did box squat 305 about a week ago, which was a huge PB.

For right now, my weekly schedule will look like this:

day 1: accel/Max Effort upper body
day 2: gen fitness/tempo
day 3: plyos/Max Effort lower body
day 4: gen fitness/ tempo
day 5: split runs (runs no longer than 30m apiece right now)/Dymamic Effort upper body

I could only do my track work, since the gym was closed. It went as follows:

10x10m-walkback recovery (pushup & mountain climber starts)
5x20m 60-90 second recovery (falling starts)

very simple workout. the rain didn’t bother me. the starts felt good. i have the strength, flexibility, stabilization & balance to attack without skating or getting stiff now. i concentrated on the driving the ground back from the start instead of just trying to drive my knees forward while keeping my head down.

3

Monday, Dec. 26, 2005

Max effort upper body

Bench press

185 x 6
185 x 6
205 x 3
225 x 2
235 x 2

Smith over head press

3 x 8 115

Pullover machine

3 x 6 150

Lateral raises

3 x 8 15

Close grip BP

3 x 8 135

Today’s workout was smooth and somewhat easy. I would normally do tempo today, but I lifted due to the gyms being closed yesterday. I’m using heavier weights than this time last year with less effort and I’m about 20 pounds lighter. I’m looking forward to everything to come

4

Tuesday, Dec 27, 2005

Max Effort Lower Body/Plyos

Squats

225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 3
335 x 3
355 x 3

Unilateral Reverse leg press

3 x 5 90 pounds

The plates on the machine aren’t numbered, so I’m guessing they are 10 lbs apiece

GHR

3 x 8

Plyos

Split jumps 3 x 8
1 legged jumps 3 x 10
Quick Feet 3 x 10 seconds

Today’s workout was simple. I didn’t sit as low as I wanted during the last set of squats. My lower back and glutes are tighter than usual, so that may be the problem. My body takes to heavy weight/low reps really well, so it shouldn’t be long before I’m clicking on full cylinders. The plyos went well, also. I didn’t have much space, but that will change soon. I need to learn a few plyometric exercises that will help my reactivity and explosion from the blocks

5

Do you often do back to back ME days? It seems that it would really drain an athlete to do two intensive CNS days in a row like that.

6

The gym was closed on Christmas, so I had to do upper body ME on Monday. You’re right, it was extremely draining!! I might do ME upper body on Saturday instead of Monday, because I’m going to have the same conflict this week because of New Years…

7

Wed, December 28, 2005

Tempo

10 x 100M in training flats

The runs felt good. They were nice and floaty with no excess effort spent at all. I’m going to do abs and maybe the arm action drill later on. I didn’t do anything else during the workout itself because waiting tables all day is tiring!!

8

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Dynamic effort upper body

bench press 3 x 15 (155)
unilateral standing overhead press 3 x 12 (30)
widegrip pulldowns 3 x 8 (170)
bent over lateral raises 3 x 10(15)
alt. dumbell curls 3 x 10 (25)

Sprints

3 x 3 x 30M/45 sec. recovery between reps, 2-3 min. rest between sets

The workout felt good. the weights were somewhat light, but that will gradually improve. There’s no worry there. My runs felt awesome. I am really starting to feel my strength when I’m accelerating. This should be a good sign as to what’s to come during my training year…

9

Sunday, Jan. 1, 2006

Sprints

11x10m alternating pushup and mountain climber starts/approx. 45 seconds recovery

6x20m falling starts/approx 90 second recovery

The workout was the same as last week with the addition of a rep, giving me an increase of 30m over the workout. i felt a lot more explosive than last week, which is what i need (of course). sprints are my stress relief. putting down some hard runs when i’m pissed greatly relieves my stress. my job scheduled me to work this morning, so i was forced to train in the dark after i got off. the gym also closed early, so i’ll do my max effort upper body workout on monday again. i’m not looking forward to it, but i’ll manage. you gotta do what you gotta do to succeed…i can’t let scheduling gaffs impede my training

10

i forgot to mention this, but i did static stretching on my legs and abdominal work after the runs

11

Monday, January 2, 2006

Max Effort upper body

Bench press

8x135
8x135
5x185
3x225
3x230
3x240

Pullover machine

3x6-160

close grip bp

3x10-135

front raises

3x10-20

side lateral raises

3x10-20

the workout felt great, nothing too spectacular. i’m feeling very explosive, even after doing 3 consecutive CNS days over the past 2 weeks. i’m glad it’s over

12

Tuesday, January 3, 2006

Max Effort lower body/plyos

Squats

5x135
5x135
5x185
3x225
3x225
3x275
3x315
3x325
3x340

Pistols

3x8

GHR

3x6

Split jumps

3x8

1 leg knee up jumps

3 x 10

seated ab machine

3x15-50

todays workout went well other than being tired from doing taxing work over the past 3 days. now that the holidays are over, i can go back to do doing my max effort upper body on sundays.

13

Thursday, January 5, 2006

Sprints

3x3x30m 45sec. recovery between sets; 3-4 minute rest between sets

Dynamic effort upper body

unilateral smith bench press

1x20 bar
2x15 65

1 arm bent over rows

2x6 80

My sprints went extremely well. The sessions get better and better each time out. My strength is better than this time last year while I am much lighter. This really shows during my short runs. I need to get a video recorder so that I can time myself and view my progress…

I didn’t spend much time in the gym because I was spent from the consecutive days of intense traning earlier in the week. Today’s sprints wore me out. I’m going to try to do some tempo tomorrow to make up for wednsday, which I missed…

14

Sunday, January 8, 2006

Accelleration

12x10m alternate pushup and mountain climber starts/60 second recovery

6x20m w/blocks 90 second recovery

my workout went smoothly. i was somewhat tired, but the runs were strong and crisp.
pushing the ground back hard is starting to become routine. i was too tired to lift, so i omitted it. i have a meet next sunday, so hopefully, i’ll be able to carryover what i’ve been doing in practice…

15

Monday, January 9, 2006

Tempo

8x100M (w/flats) approx. 30 second recovery

I didn’t warm up much became directly from waiting tables for a few hours. i was already nice and loose. the runs felt fine–i was able to relax and concentrate on not using too much energy. i’m going to try to take the day off tomorrow. i want to be well rested for my squat session. it’s my last until my next meso; i want it to be memorable. i’m going to stretch and do some abs in a bit…

16

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

ME Lower body

Squats

5x135
5x135
5x185
3x225
3x275
3x315
3x335
3x365

GHR 3x8 (bodyweight)

Decline situps

3x15

Very short workout today: Little volume and no plyos. No excuses, I’m almost spent from the last 3 weeks workouts. Nevertheless, I feel great. I’m stronger, I’m dropping my ass a lot lower and (most importantly) I’m really attacking the track. I can’t ask for much more right now…well maybe a qualified coach!!

17

Thursday, January 12, 2006

DE Upper/Split runs

Gym

Bench Press

10x185
11x185
15x135

Push press

3x8x95

unilateral close grip pulldown

3x10x60

5 minutes travel

Sprints

3x3x30m

Other than tempo tomorrow, this was the last workout of the meso. It felt like it, too. I felt explosive in the gym, but I didn’t have the energy to have a longer workout. The split runs felt good for the most part. My body is really surging forward when I accelerate. It’s an awesome feeling. I feel as though my body wants to fall forward at times. It’s weird, almost as if I were running down a hill or on a speeding treadmill. Any thoughts?

18

Tuesday January 17, 2006

This is my unloading week, so I haven’t been doing a lot of training. I planned on racing last Sunday, however I was too tired to do so. One of my goals for the indoor races this year is to learn how to stay composed during my races. I could have ran, but putting down the type of effort I wanted would have been too difficult to risk. I can’t afford to tighten up and run sloppy during these races.

Anyway, the first meso went extremely well. I feel as though I improved my starts more in the last 3 weeks than the first 20 or so months of my training. I did about 200-300 reps of abs, arm motion work and light stretching today, but that’s been about it so far this week. I will do some light sprints and lifting later in the week.

19

any suggestions or comments?

20

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Yesterday’s workout was one of my best ever. I didn’t even plan on running until I recieved an invite from my occasional training partner (will remain undisclosed b/c of privacy reasons) who happens to post here as well. It’s amazing how having someone to challenge you increases the quality of the work done.

The session went as follows:

warm up: 1 lap jog, run ups up to about 80m, light stretching (all in flats)
a few lying starts in spikes

runs: 3x25m started off of a clap

these weren’t all too hot compared to what i’ve been doing recently. i didn’t feel a lot of pressure coming off of the groud during my first few steps, but i did start to turn it on at about 15m.

4-5 minutes of rest

60m

this run went well. i played the chaser. i made up a little bit of the headstart, but not enough to pass. i pressed a little bit at the end, but a lot less than my past competitive situations.

3x25m

these went well. i started crisply and held my form throughout. i didn’t triple extend, but i applied decent force from both legs at my start.

rest

80m

I started first this time. my partner didn’t give me a lot of room to breath, so I went out with a fury. he caught up to me by the end, but i had started to decelerate at about 60m. i had a nice sized lead from about 20-50m, but we ended neck and neck.

rest, of course

60m

i chased on this one, but i slipped up a bit before i started. i ended up giving too much of headstart, but i didn’t lose any ground during the run

rest

80m

i started first and held the lead til about 60m then i died a little bit. my partner got a few meters on me, but i hung tough without tightening up or pressing.

The workout was totally different than what I’ve been doing and it was quite an eye opener. My form was so-so, but I was fluid & composed, but highly agressive. This is a huge breakthrough for me. My speed endurance is lacking right now, but my top end is better than thought considering that I haven’t started speed work yet. I did have an injury scare late in the workout, but it’s not major. I did a 20 for a handtime (the blue hurdle markers…i forget if they’re yards or meters) but i pulled up because of a slight left groin strain. I’m going to be careful for the next couple days. I went 2.91 incase anyone wants to know.