no blocks, that was from 3 pt, and that was still .24 faster than what i just ran taking rt into account. i was mainly concerned about the 30 fly. i think some mechanical flaws of mine really got in the way bc stride rate was slow and knees werent hitting the top
10/6
max lift testing:
clean 3x225
squat 1x375
notes:
-at bw of 149
-the testing today went well, i think i’ve hit both the “goal” standards that coach set for shj’s (2.5x bw squat, 1.7x bw clean) so I may talk to coach to see if i should just maintain my strength levels now, maybe shift a little focus to benching, so that more can be left for what i’m weaker at (sprinting haha)
-did some flys and sprints after the lifting today to try and figure out what felt so wrong yesterday. switched to soft soled sprint spikes and really made sure to have good front side mechanics so i could have a powerful down/back stroke on each stride and made sure to triple ext at start. felt fantastic. terrible times probabl result of poor mechanics, tired from mondays workout and just an off day. coach let me test maxes so i feel more comfortable about my safety on the team because i think i would’ve been cut after yesterday if i were to be. plus i had one of the best testing days today so in the least thatd help my position
10/8
weigh in -> 149
submax weights
hip stretches
notes:
-read email from coach today, says cuts will be made over the break. haven’t received any notice of being taken out yet and i’d think the cut would be pretty immediate but who knows. hopefully my power ratio from the weights and the fact we’ve done no speed work will be enough to get him to give a freshman a chance at least until november testing
-really only gained one lb over the 6 weeks, haha. thighs are definitely larger and upper body looks more defined so i mustve lost some bf
10/11
jogging
2’ abs circuit
hip stretches
notes:
-training at college resumes tomorrow. wasn’t cut over the weekend so i’m happy, i’ll know if i get to practice on wednesday if i’ll be good through november testing
10/13
test bench max -> 225 (fail)
notes:
-205 went up easy, 225 failed, weights felt heavier than usually today, probably from the long weekend off and being torched from the running workout beforehand
-got put on the “advanced” weight program. i believe the volume is lower, which is perfect for me since i’tll leave more room for my specific running to develop as i require less adaptations for weights
notes:
-dropped a weight on my finger today, no broken bones but nail will come off and pretty bad bruising. will talk to trainer on monday to see what to do about lifting. might have to cut cleans for a while because of the catch
notes:
-finger is feeling pretty good, just gotta be careful while lifting
-starting speedwork, team runs further distances than im used to. cns felt roasted post-running, good thing the lifting days in hard running days are easy
notes:
-finger feeling good
-calves still getting sore easy
-found out that more cuts have been made already than people that left last year (I believe, something like 19 graduated and 20 are already out between either injury or getting cut). This takes some weight off my shoulders to have to compete for a roster spot so now as long as I perform i think my roster spot is safe!
-had a class thursday and gym was closed this weekend so took several days off from lifting (did some bw stuff today though) 
guess that’ll let my body adapt to more to the running aspect which is what i need anyways, just essentially 5 of the seven days this week i didn’t lift, next week might bing some soreness from weights, haha
10/28
notes:
-found out this week that i had been placing the squat bar too low on my shoulders and it was forcing a curvature in my back. i can stand more upright nw, but im getting used to balancing again so my squatting ability took a hit. definitely felt less lower back pressure and a more doms like soreness in my erectr spinae instead
-got trashed by this week cns wise, all my weights were down at least 20 lbs by the end. this was at 90% of max in the weight room and we did a good amount of sprinting so it makes sense. thank god next week will be an unload
11/4
notes:
-discovered this week the difference between a full high bar squat and a powerlifting squat to parallel. i prefer the powerlifting style because it hits my posterior chain heavier, less quads. also learned how to do an olympic style clean as opposed to a power clean. weight program here asks for full squats and power cleans, but ma testing is simply for a squat to parallel and a clean. i will probably switch to the oly clean and keep with the powerlifting squat because my body seems to respond better to them, feels more natural. maybe after i blow up testing ill start doing it them in the style the weightroom calls for, but until then for me its more important to put up big numbers in the upcoming testing, so ill practice how ill test. plus, stimulus wise, i can go heavier in the oly lean and powerlift squat than i can the other style
-really working on applying a relaxed effort in everything i do. im starting to get the hang of it and it feels fantastic. ive always been too tense or had my mechanics or effort level dip too low when trying to relax. i think thatll be the key for me to get my power onto the track
-did some competative block starts this week. it was cool because ive never run in the same heat as anyone who’s run under 10.9x i believe, and the kids i was doing block starts with were all sub 11, and 3 of them sub 10.65 FAT. when i had a poor start i got destroyed, but through 30m when i had a fine start i was just behind the pack. they all can clock low 6.8 60’s so i think if im only a tenth behind at 30 and only lose a tenth in the next 30 i have a good shot at going sub 7. also found out that the sprinters here are much faster than all but two at the other ivy’s, few are consistent sub 11 besides those here
-no massage this week, but took two contrast baths and a cold shower. ive gotten into the habit of walking from the indoor facility to dinner (a 15 min walk) just in my shorts and a t-shirt to act as an icing session, as the nights are awfully chilly here
11/11
notes:
-older sprinters on the team are trying to help me relax while sprinting. my clearing of the blocks and first couple steps are good, but after that it looks like im forcing my running with my arms instead of running smoothly. i made the adjustment of cueing my arms swing after initial accel with the 90* swing at better block clearanceshoulders idea instead of the striking hands downwards i’ve been using and at least while upright it does looke significantly smoother and seems to have lengthened my stride without decreasing stride rate. i still have the relative drop off from ~20m-30m though, which i think has to do with transitioning from the hard arm swing and pushing mechanics to the upright mechanics and more closed arm swing. next time we have a sprint specific coach do some extra work ill ask him about it
-did blocks twice this week, i can feel my mechanics getting better, probably from increased strength and better block clearance. it’s cool that i’m with the 10.5x 100m guys through 15-20m, esp if i have a good start, and that im almost always ahead of a 10.9x runner through 30m. as i improve in relaxation and have better top speed when i get relaxation down, if i can fix the transition phase i think i’ll see an enormous amount of improvement in my times. as for now, relaxation for me is the key
11/18
notes:
-november testing starts tomoro and then we are in-season! first meet on the 3rd. i’m looking to have huge pr’s in the running portion of the testing because in the training sessions i’m getting better at being relaxed, i feel more natural running and we’ve unloaded a bit. my ROM for my strides is as good as it’s ever been and my stride rate seems faster than ever
-i really like the 90* arm swing cue, really loosened up my arm mechanics
-ran a 300 in one of our training sessions, clearly submax, wasn’t tired at all after it and started from an upright stance and ran it in under 39s. the fact that i could try so little and challeneged my pr seems like a good sign to me for my se! feeling more and more comfortable in the start too
11/25
weigh in -> 147
notes:
-november testing had its ups and downs, but i think i did well-enough that i’ll be on the team. i’ll know for sure when i practice monday, and once i get my jersey and race on next saturday then it’ll be official
-here’s the stats i had at last testing:
weight -> 145
(sat) vertical jump -> 32"
standing broad jump -> 9’6"
sit-ups in 60s -> 69
(mon) 30m standing -> 3.80
30m fly -> 3.40
500m -> 74"
(tues) sit and reach -> 42 cm
clean -> 250
squat -> 365
-my 30m standing, sit and reach and broad jump are acceptable, squat, clean and vertical terrific, and fly, 500m and sit-ups need to improve. with sit-ups i actually set up wrong, so i may have done better, in the 500m i got put in a fats group i believe to challenge me, but that resulted in me going out way too fast and dieing off hard and in the fly, i enter the zone going very fast but then cannot maintain peak speed well for more than about 10m
-some of the numbers may seem not so great for a d1 track team, but everythings just comparative (the fastest 30m fly was 3.02 and this kid runs for the spanish national team so im sure he can go faster than 10m/s) so the bad numbers are partially because of measurmeent methods (like my vertical is at least 36" knowing my reach is under 7’ and i can grab a basketball rim from a vertical)
-once i know i’m officially on the team i’ll start a new thread to track my progress
-weight standards for the team are getting up to 2.5x bw in the squat and 1.7x in the clean, so i think i c=will finally have weights no longer be a priority in my training. minimum is 2x bw and 1.3x but i’ve already hit the ultimate strength standards as a freshman and as a slower member of the team, so i’m not sure how the emphasis on the weightroom will change for me from here on out