Running Aimlessly Down Under - From 54 to 53 sec 400m

Pisco Sour

Nothing went to plan this evening. Got to Irishtown before 6, only to find out that at the last minute the session had to be moved forward because the BHAA had taken over the track for the evening, and that they get first dibs even if the club has it booked. I don't know whether the BHAA had this down on their calender for months and that the club just didnt do their research, or whether the BHAA only organised this very recently. No idea, but either way I missed the session, which was probably a blessing in disguise as no way would I have been able to do what those guys did. None of the girls were there and without them I'm way out of my depth. Chatted to the coach and told him that my right hamstring is feeling a bit tight so he told me to just do a 4 lap fartlek session, 200 easy jog, 200 stride at around 35 second 200m pace.

Did an 800m warm up and I could feel my hamstring. Then did some strides and drills and it just didnt feel 100% right. I did the fartlek session but didnt run as fast during the stride phase of each lap as I wanted to and was probably going at 40 second pace rather than 35 as I didnt want to risk anything. It will probably be grand in a day or two, but this evening it wasnt ready for a proper session.

A bit of a dissatisfying session this evening. I wasn't particularly tired after the session, and I hate walking off the track knowing I didn't give 100% but I didn't really have much choice today. Not really sure what I got from the session to be honest.

Afterwards I stopped past UCD to have a look at the old track which was brutally murdered last year. Was a very sad site indeed. Lots of gravel thrown over the track, and filled in trenches. I have obviously read all about it but to actually see it in such a sorry state was a bit upsetting. I tore off a small bit of the track and took it away with me. I have a little piece of history in my house now anyway.

Pisco Sour

Hamstring is annoying me. Got advice at the track yesterday to massage it with a golf ball. Now I can feel a small area of localised soreness, which has a bruise feeling when I push into it, but there's no bruise mark there. It surely cant be a tear or a pull as you would feel that happen mid session if that was the case. It's wrecking my head. I'm all out of my routine since I've come home and I feel the change has me very susceptible to injury.

RayCun

Pisco Sour wrote: »

I don't know whether the BHAA had this down on their calender for months and that the club just didnt do their research, or whether the BHAA only organised this very recently.

It's been on the BHAA calendar since the end of May.

Pisco Sour

4x260m hills today in Marlay Park with 5 minute recoveries. Wasn't sure how my hamstring would be so wanted to do this session on my own (Sorry Woddle). Jogged over from my house to warm up. Some stretches, a few drills, some run-throughs, and then the session. Hamstring seemed to hold up fine anyway. Thought I imagined an ache during my 3rd rep but maybe my imagination. Times were a bit uneven:

47-50-50-52

Probably went a bit too fast on the first one. I've measured out my run as best I can on mapmyrun and it appears to be 260m so I'll go with that. Times were ok I guess. Don't feel like I am firing on all cylinders at the moment to quote Eddie O'Sullivan. The hill is not as steep as my hill in Melbourne, though I did feel the lactic acid build up towards the end of each rep. I always remembered that hill to be more steep than it is, back when I was doing long plods around the park during marathon training. I guess it doesn't feel half as torturous when sprinting up it.

May be doing a similar session with a friend of mine tomorrow.

Pisco Sour

Did 5x200m hills with 4 and a half minute rests with a friend today in Marlay Park. The incline was about 9 metres over the 200m. Not a hugely challenging hill but enough of an incline to get a decent workout.

Firstly, anybody who thinks genetics and natural ability is not important in athletics needs to take their heads out of the sand. My friend is of West African origin, as one of his parents is from there. He doesn't do a lot of training but does 5K's and things for fun and gets out and does a few runs when he can fit them in, but no structured training. A few years ago when I ran the Rathfarnham 5K in 21:02 he ran a 18:45, off bugger all training. I had a feeling given his genetics he'd probably be even better as a sprinter, and today proved that. He has never sprinted before, and I have worked my balls off, and he killed me on the first 2 reps, probably by about 5 seconds and then 4 seconds. However his lack of speed endurance really showed then and I got closer and closer as the reps went on, and the last 2 reps I was within 2 seconds of him. I would kill to have his natural speed. He was dead at the end of the session though and has a new found appreciation for sprint training, and I've tried to encourage him to join a club, as with that natural speed combined with proper training and technique he could be something else.

For the record my times were pretty good. Went a bit fast on the first rep, but was even after that:

33-36-36-37-37

Pisco Sour

Ballinteer St Johns gym is only open at 7pm every day this week which doesn't suit so I went to another gym in Ballinteer. Did the exact same session as last Tuesday, only doing the whole set twice, as opposed to 3 times. I was running short on time and I have a race on Wednesday so I took it a little easier as a result.

Pisco Sour

Did an easy session today as I have the graded meets tomorrow evening. Chose a hill near me and did 5x100m on it with 2 min 30 second recoveries. It may have been 105m but doesnt really matter. The net incline over the 100m was just under 5 metres so again not hugely steep but enough of a hill to make it worthwhile. My times were 18 seconds for each rep.

Pisco Sour

Did the 200m and 800m this evening at the Graded Meets. Results not up yet but the 200m felt good and I'm hopeful of bettering my PB of 26.92. The 800m wasn't great. Finished in 2:30 per my watch, in 2nd last in a pretty big field. A very slight improvement on my opener last season of 2:31 but well down on my PB of 2:27.6. Was in the same race as Krusty who appeared to run very well. Well under 2:20 at a guess. Dying to see the official results of the 200m.

Pisco Sour

Results are up:

200m: 27.32 with a wind reading of -1.3. They only have one wind reading though for all the 200m races so I've emailed in the hope of getting a wind reading for my specific race. Very disappointed to be honest. Really felt I ran faster than that and at least nabbed a PB. My PB is 26.92 set last January, 0.40 quicker than today, but with a wind of +2.2 so allowing for wind today's performance was right on that, and given the fact I haven't done much speed work yet a lot can be taken from it. But still disappointed and I should be going faster over 200m.

800m: 2:30.56. I could probably have gone maybe 2 seconds faster if I had worn spikes, but was advised to not use sprint spikes for the race so wore the racing flats instead. Was 3 seconds off my PB, but my PB is relatively weak. Not hugely happy with the result but no great expectations going in so I'll take it as a good endurance workout and move on.

I'll write a bit more on the meet later.

Pisco Sour

First race of the season which would hopefully give me a good idea of where I am right now. Nerves were building strongly throughout the day, as while I am experienced enough at doing track races at this stage, this would be my first ever track meet in Ireland so didn't really know what to expect. I entered the the 200 and 800 and convinced my friend who kicked my ass in training last week to come down and try it out also.

I stupidly left my road running shoes behind so my warm up jog and drills were done in normal runners. No real harm. This was followed by some strides in my flats and then in my spikes.

200m:

There was C, B and A races over 200n, but they had way too many people in the C category so they had to divide it into 3 C races. I went in the second one. There were 6 people in my race and I was in lane 4. Gun went off and felt I got out ok, but feel I didnt push 100% in the first 60 which may have let me down. Inexperience running 200m and I still can't get it right. Coming into the home straight I was in 5th place with the guy in 4th place about 4-5 metres ahead of me. I finished very well, kept relaxed and could feel myself closing fast on the guy in front of me on the outside. In the end he just pipped me by 0.02 and I stepped off the track very happy with how I finished the race so strongly. I spoke to the DSD coach after and he said I'd easily have got under my PB based on what he saw, so when I saw the results later than evening I was desperately disappointed.

I finished 5th in 27.32 seconds with a -1.3 headwind. This was 0.40 off my PB of 26.92 set last January. However that PB had a tailwind of +2.2, so adjusting for wind I was only about 0.14 off my PB and adjusting for wind I was only about 0.04 off the 200m time I did at the State Championships just 2 days after my big 400m PB.

The positives: I ran a time that was about half a second faster than my season opener last season (27.6h which is about 27.84 in electronic timing), and as mentioned above very close to what I ran in March when in peak 400m form.

The negatives: My 200m time is already well below where it should be based on my 400m time. If I am hitting a 58.68 off a 26.92 for 200m, then I'd really need to be getting into the mid 25's to have a chance at 55 for 400m, so today was a bit of reality check with regards this.

However, I haven't done much speed work yet as I am still in winter training for the Australian season.

My mate ran the next C race after me and came 3rd in 25.97. He didn't know what he was doing with regards the blocks, has no technique and was wearing normal running shoes, rather than spikes. Just shows you what natural talent and good genetics can do for you. When you think of all the work I'd have to do to get down to that sort of level and he can just rock up to a track off no training and hammer out a sub 26. Don't tell me talent doesn't matter. I'm not having any of it!!

800m:

About 40 minutes rest between the 200m and the 800m. There was a D, C, B, and A category, but again there were too many in D so they ran 2 races. I went in the second one. Met Krusty beforehand who turned out to be in the same race as me. Chatted to the coach about what footwear I should use: my sprint spikes or my racing flats. I used my sprint spikes all last year for 800m races (stupid in hindsight) but he was adamant that I do not wear these as it will cause hell for my Achilles and he said to use the flats. I was drawn in lane 1. Went off a bit conservatively and reached the break with about 3-4 people behind me (there were 12 in my race). At about the 150m mark Krusty coming in from one of the outer lanes goes past me, and I never saw him again as he slowly stretched away from me. By the 300m mark I found myself in last place and was hating every second of it. Legs felt heavy. Got to the bell in 72 which is around what I went through when I set my PB of 2:27.6. However with about 300m to go I could feel a bit of lactic acid in the legs, which I haven't felt in that manner in an 800m before. However with about 250m to go I at last went past 1 guy, with another just in front of him in my sights. However rather than push on and overtake him also, he ended up pulling comfortably ahead of me. I had enough energy to hold that one guy off and salvage 2nd last in a time of 2:30:56. This is almost exactly 3 seconds off my PB, but a half second faster than my season opener last year. With a proper pair of spikes I could probably have gone 2 seconds faster and be very close to my PB, but my PB is pretty weak so the performance is nothing to shout about. However it is a very aerobic event and without doing the mileage you will be found out badly. It doesn't bother me as the 800m is just endurance work for my 400m.

Krusty ran 2:19 and my mate ran 2:25, after going out way too fast in the first lap.

Chatted to dna_leri after briefly who ran very well in the C race. Overall I enjoyed the experienced. Nice weather and lots of people showed up to run and overall a good atmosphere around the place. Good to be warming up on the same back straight as Steven Colvert, best 200m runner in the country at the moment.

For myself I'll just have to try take the positives out of it. I had built up my performance so a 27.32 is very disappointing. Just have to keep plugging away and trust that all the work I have done in the gym and on the hills and track will see improvements.

RandyMann

Pisco Sour wrote: »

First race of the season which would hopefully give me a good idea of where I am right now. Nerves were building strongly throughout the day, as while I am experienced enough at doing track races at this stage, this would be my first ever track meet in Ireland so didn't really know what to expect. I entered the the 200 and 800 and convinced my friend who kicked my ass in training last week to come down and try it out also.

I stupidly left my road running shoes behind so my warm up jog and drills were done in normal runners. No real harm. This was followed by some strides in my flats and then in my spikes.

200m:

There was C, B and A races over 200n, but they had way too many people in the C category so they had to divide it into 3 C races. I went in the second one. There were 6 people in my race and I was in lane 4. Gun went off and felt I got out ok, but feel I didnt push 100% in the first 60 which may have let me down. Inexperience running 200m and I still can't get it right. Coming into the home straight I was in 5th place with the guy in 4th place about 4-5 metres ahead of me. I finished very well, kept relaxed and could feel myself closing fast on the guy in front of me on the outside. In the end he just pipped me by 0.02 and I stepped off the track very happy with how I finished the race so strongly. I spoke to the DSD coach after and he said I'd easily have got under my PB based on what he saw, so when I saw the results later than evening I was desperately disappointed.

I finished 5th in 27.32 seconds with a -1.3 headwind. This was 0.40 off my PB of 26.92 set last January. However that PB had a tailwind of +2.2, so adjusting for wind I was only about 0.14 off my PB and adjusting for wind I was only about 0.04 off the 200m time I did at the State Championships just 2 days after my big 400m PB.

The positives: I ran a time that was about half a second faster than my season opener last season (27.6h which is about 27.84 in electronic timing), and as mentioned above very close to what I ran in March when in peak 400m form.

The negatives: My 200m time is already well below where it should be based on my 400m time. If I am hitting a 58.68 off a 26.92 for 200m, then I'd really need to be getting into the mid 25's to have a chance at 55 for 400m, so today was a bit of reality check with regards this.

However, I haven't done much speed work yet as I am still in winter training for the Australian season.

My mate ran the next C race after me and came 3rd in 25.97. He didn't know what he was doing with regards the blocks, has no technique and was wearing normal running shoes, rather than spikes. Just shows you what natural talent and good genetics can do for you. When you think of all the work I'd have to do to get down to that sort of level and he can just rock up to a track off no training and hammer out a sub 26. Don't tell me talent doesn't matter. I'm not having any of it!!

800m:

About 40 minutes rest between the 200m and the 800m. There was a D, C, B, and A category, but again there were too many in D so they ran 2 races. I went in the second one. Met Krusty beforehand who turned out to be in the same race as me. Chatted to the coach about what footwear I should use: my sprint spikes or my racing flats. I used my sprint spikes all last year for 800m races (stupid in hindsight) but he was adamant that I do not wear these as it will cause hell for my Achilles and he said to use the flats. I was drawn in lane 1. Went off a bit conservatively and reached the break with about 3-4 people behind me (there were 12 in my race). At about the 150m mark Krusty coming in from one of the outer lanes goes past me, and I never saw him again as he slowly stretched away from me. By the 300m mark I found myself in last place and was hating every second of it. Legs felt heavy. Got to the bell in 72 which is around what I went through when I set my PB of 2:27.6. However with about 300m to go I could feel a bit of lactic acid in the legs, which I haven't felt in that manner in an 800m before. However with about 250m to go I at last went past 1 guy, with another just in front of him in my sights. However rather than push on and overtake him also, he ended up pulling comfortably ahead of me. I had enough energy to hold that one guy off and salvage 2nd last in a time of 2:30:56. This is almost exactly 3 seconds off my PB, but a half second faster than my season opener last year. With a proper pair of spikes I could probably have gone 2 seconds faster and be very close to my PB, but my PB is pretty weak so the performance is nothing to shout about. However it is a very aerobic event and without doing the mileage you will be found out badly. It doesn't bother me as the 800m is just endurance work for my 400m.

Krusty ran 2:19 and my mate ran 2:25, after going out way too fast in the first lap.

Chatted to dna_leri after briefly who ran very well in the C race. Overall I enjoyed the experienced. Nice weather and lots of people showed up to run and overall a good atmosphere around the place. Good to be warming up on the same back straight as Steven Colvert, best 200m runner in the country at the moment.

For myself I'll just have to try take the positives out of it. I had built up my performance so a 27.32 is very disappointing. Just have to keep plugging away and trust that all the work I have done in the gym and on the hills and track will see improvements.

I wouldnt take too much from your 200m and don't beat yourself up about it. There is no way you are going to get faster at 200 if you are not doing the specific speed work. Looking back at your log, you have not been doing it and you are long way before your race season back in Oz. You are doing the strength work now with your hills etc.
Of course your 200m time will drop when you get back into the speed work. Its too early for that now though. My guess is that you will knock .5 sec of that 200m pb with a few weeks of speed specific training.

Pisco Sour

RandyMann wrote: »

I wouldnt take too much from your 200m and don't beat yourself up about it. There is no way you are going to get faster at 200 if you are not doing the specific speed work. Looking back at your log, you have not been doing it and you are long way before your race season back in Oz. You are doing the strength work now with your hills etc.
Of course your 200m time will drop when you get back into the speed work. Its too early for that now though. My guess is that you will knock .5 sec of that 200m pb with a few weeks of speed specific training.

That's true. I've done a little bit of speed work but not much. We did a 6x160m on the track before I flew back to Ireland, and I did a session with DSD which was 2x40, 2x60 and 2x80 all off a flying start. I also did 8x60 one weekend by myself but besides all that it has all been gym, hills and longer reps on the track of 300s.

The training is far from ideal since I've been back. Managed to get 5 days in last week which was good (2 gym, 1 track fartlek and 2 hills). This week will be 4 days (1 race, 1 hills and 2 gym), but next week I am worried about being in London. Sat and Sunday will be a complete write off so Monday morning I'll get a session in on the track, followed by taking part in a 3x1 mile relay race that evening.

RacoonQueen

My mate ran the next C race after me and came 3rd in 25.97. He didn't know what he was doing with regards the blocks, has no technique and was wearing normal running shoes, rather than spikes. Just shows you what natural talent and good genetics can do for you. When you think of all the work I'd have to do to get down to that sort of level and he can just rock up to a track off no training and hammer out a sub 26. Don't tell me talent doesn't matter. I'm not having any of it!!

How much of that is mental though? He doesn't train for it? Thus was maybe a lot more relaxed and wasn't thinking of technique, tactics, didn't care if he ran the last 50 ridiclously slow compared to the first 50. Yet you (we all) tend to over think during races wondering if we're going too hard, can't we maintain this, should I hold myself back until later etc? If you could completely wipe your mind of anything and just go out and run, could you run a lot faster?

Pisco Sour

RacoonQueen wrote: »

How much of that is mental though? He doesn't train for it? Thus was maybe a lot more relaxed and wasn't thinking of technique, tactics, didn't care if he ran the last 50 ridiclously slow compared to the first 50. Yet you (we all) tend to over think during races wondering if we're going too hard, can't we maintain this, should I hold myself back until later etc? If you could completely wipe your mind of anything and just go out and run, could you run a lot faster?

No way. His dad is from Ghana. He has those West African sprinting genes. He has natural speed, and I have seen it up close on a few occasions now, over many distances (200, 200 up hills, 800, and 5K). He's born with the sort of ability I wasn't born with.

RandyMann

You should have brought him out last night and test him in the 200

TRR

Pisco Sour wrote: »

No way. His dad is from Ghana. He has those West African sprinting genes. He has natural speed, and I have seen it up close on a few occasions now, over many distances (200, 200 up hills, 800, and 5K). He's born with the sort of ability I wasn't born with.

I can rock out 26 second 200s and I'm not from Ghana. Your sample of 1 is inconclusive.

Pisco Sour

TRR wrote: »

I can rock out 26 second 200s and I'm not from Ghana. Your sample of 1 is inconclusive.

Not a fair comparison. You are a fully trained athlete with a background in sprinting. My mate on the otherhand goes for the occasional jog and enters the odd road race for the craic. He banged out a 18:45 a few years ago over 5K off pretty awful training. The other day he suggested we go for a run. I informed him I only sprint these days so he agreed to try whatever session I was doing. He kicked my ass. I then suggested he give the graded meet a craic. He again kicks my ass, with no spikes or sprinting form or knowledge, or indeed any sort of sensible warm up.

If he became dedicated to it and trained hard for one year I reckon he'd be sub 24.

People who think talent only comes into the equation when you get to the very top level are delusional IMO. This doesn't impact on how much work I am going to put in, or what my goals are, but you just sometimes have to put your hand up and admit that some people are better than you, even if they don't treat such a thing anywhere near as seriously as you.

RandyMann wrote: »

You should have brought him out last night and test him in the 200

I did. He ran 25.97, with road running shoes and an appalling start from the blocks.

I find the whole "talent is nothing, hard work is everything" lark you see on this site as completely OTT and thought I'd post this experience to show that I do not agree with it. You need both to be great.

People seem to see this black and white. The fact is I cannot just rock up to a track and smash out a sub 26, while my mate can, easily. I will run a sub 26, but will be due to a lot of blood, sweat and tears. If he shows the same dedication as me then he'll stay a solid 2 second faster. It is fairly obvious that he has more talent than me. Talent is a relative thing as I have been harping on on that other thread a couple of months ago. It is not just the difference between making the Olympics and not making the Olympics as so many people here would like to believe.

This probably should be discussed on that natural talent thread.

RandyMann

Pisco Sour wrote: »

Not a fair comparison.
I did. He ran 25.97, with road running shoes and an appalling start from the blocks.

Sorry missed that in your report. Are you persuading him to join DSD? He would run sub 24 if he put in a full season starting now I guess.

Pisco Sour

RandyMann wrote: »

Sorry missed that in your report. Are you persuading him to join DSD? He would run sub 24 if he put in a full season starting now I guess.

He enjoyed the 200 (not the 800 though lol). He's thinking about keeping it up.

Pisco Sour

Gym session today. Did my full routine 3 times. Happy to get that session in now as Sat and Sun in London will be a write off.

5 days last week and 4 days this week so overall not bad even if I have been out of routine. Bit worried about next week but hopefully I can manage 4 days of training while in London.

Right, off to the airport!

Pisco Sour

Went for a session this morning on the track but kept it short due to a minor injury suffered in bizarre circumstances yesterday (explained below). Did my warm up and drills and then 3x200m with 5 minute recoveries. Did them in lane 5, lane 7 and lane 2 respectively, and each of them in 31 seconds into a horrible headwind, so happy enough, given the fact I was pretty hungover. The last 2 days has been spent eating sh1t food and drinking lots of beer and that is unlikely to change for the rest of the week.

Yesterday myself and brianderunner were watching the women's marathon. However the crowds were pretty deep, so in order to get a better view of the action we brought along a recycling box, and the 2 of us standed on it, giving us a bit of a bird's eye view. Everything was going great, until, bang, the thing snapped from under us, the 2 of us go flying much to the amusement of the crowd around us, and I sustained a pretty reasonable bruise on my lower left shin just above my ankle. Nothing major though, could have been much worse, but is a little sore, so left it at 3 reps for today (was also in a hurry to get back to see the sailing).

It's not going to be a great week of training. I just want to get 4 reasonable sessions in to keep me ticking over.

Pisco Sour

Time to recap the last week since my track session last Monday, not there is much to talk about! :rolleyes: It was a pretty awful week of training. I literally was flat out running here, there and yonder in London. I ended up only getting one more session in, which was a quick hill session of 3x230m with 4 and a half minutes rest. I didnt bother timing my first rep but then force of habit I ended up timing the 2nd and 3rd which were 43 and 42 seconds respectively.

Arrived back in Ireland yesterday so back on the horse and I hit the gym today. Did my full routine twice and did the bench press for a 3rd time for good measure.

I've eaten a lot of sh1t the last week and drank a lot, but wouldn't swap it for the world. Was an amazing week. 2 evening and 1 morning session of athletics, 3 race walks, including an amazing atmosphere for the 50K, the women's marathon, Katie's semi final and final (which will stick long in the memory), a brilliant atmosphere in Hyde Park to watch on the big screens, and then a few banter sports thrown in for good measure (beach volleyball, indoor volleyball, handball).

Andy Murray was interviewed after he trounced Roger and he was talking away about how amazing Mo Farah is to close a 10000m race in 53 seconds, and he said that he regularly does 400 reps in training and that when he does one flat out, the best he has managed is 57 seconds. Nice piece of random info. So first goal for the season is to beat Andy Murray!

Pisco Sour

Time to get a good session in as things have slipped of late. Did a 4x200m hill session with 4 and a half minutes recovery. To freshen things up I picked a different hill, the one on Grange Road, the steep part close to the top of St Endas Park. The incline over 200m was 13.5m so close to 7% gradient. Times were:

38-38-40-39

Tomorrow it's back to the gym followed by more hills Thursday before flying back out to Melbourne Thursday evening.

Pisco Sour

Another gym session today. Did the full routine twice, and then the squats and crunches for a 3rd time.

Pisco Sour

Not enough time today to get in another session before I fly back to Oz. Overall, I got 15 days training in during the 28 days I was here and in London, which is not bad I suppose, even if the quality of some of those sessions wasn't as good as it could have been. London was the real damage, only getting 2 sessions in during my 8 days there. I'll probably be too knackered this weekend to train after what will be a 33 hour door-to-door marathon so will start back again fresh on Monday. Great time being back and a bit emotional leaving tbh.

Pisco Sour

Back to my club gym in Richmond this evening. Did my full routine 3 times. Best gym session in quite awhile. After being at home and switching to kilo's for my weights (llbs for many of the weights in my gym), upon coming back I have realised that I was never lifting what I thought I was. I thought the bar was 30lbs, but in reality it is 15lbs, or maybe 20lbs. I have no way of knowing as it does not say on it how much it weighs and there is no scales in the gym. So I'm going to assume it is 15lbs. It doesn't really matter anyway.

So for my bench press I was lifting 86lbs (I thought I was lifting 91lbs before, but in reality it was just 76lbs), and for my circuit upper body I was lifting 45lbs, (I thought I was lifting 50lbs before but in reality it was just 35lbs).

If the bar is 20lbs then I can add 5lbs onto both of the above, but it matters little, except from a nerdy statistical point of view.

Pisco Sour

Just got hold of the draft calender for this coming season. Not going to bother even considering the post Christmas races as until I get sponsored (which will be difficult to manage) then I just have to assume that I wont be here for them, which would mean no State Champs, no State Decathlon, no Country Champs. On the bright side, the vast majority (9 of 12) of the AV Shield meets are before Christmas. The calender is not available for the sprinting specialist meets yet (High Velocity Club) but once they are I'll add them to the below:

Sat/Sun 6/7 Oct - Magpie Multis Decathlon (100, 400)
Sat 13 Oct - AV Shield Round 1 (100, 400)
Sat 20 Oct - AV Shield Round 2 (200, 800)
Sat 27 Oct - AV Shield Round 3 (100, 400)
Sat 3 Nov - AV Shield Round 4 (200, 800)
Sat 10 Nov - FREE
Sat 17 Nov - AV Shield Round 5 (100, 400) - May be Lakeside Stadium, TBC
Sat 24 Nov - AV Shield Round 6 (200, 800)
Sat 1 Dec - AV Shield Round 7 (100, 400)
Thu 6 Dec - AV Shield Round 8 (200, 800) - Lakeside Stadium, Albert Park
Sat 15 Dec - AV Shield Round 9 (100, 400)
Fri/Sat 21/22 Dec - Decathlon in Bendigo (100, 400) - TBC

It's fairly full on, with only one weekend free in the schedule once the season starts in 7 weeks time. I'm delighted they are beginning with the 100-400 programme this year, instead of the 200-800 one as that means I'll get 5 AV Shield 400m races before Christmas, instead of 4. Hopefully it will stay that way when the official calender is announced. Add the decathlon on Oct 6 and that's 6 400m races and once the High Velocity meets are announced there could be (dependant on scheduling) another race for me, so plenty of opportunities to hopefully lower that PB again!

RandyMann

Pisco Sour wrote: »

If the bar is 20lbs then I can add 5lbs onto both of the above, but it matters little, except from a nerdy statistical point of view.

Pisco Sour wrote: »

Just got hold of the draft calender for this coming season. Not going to bother even considering the post Christmas races as until I get sponsored (which will be difficult to manage) then I just have to assume that I wont be here for them, which would mean no State Champs, no State Decathlon, no Country Champs. On the bright side, the vast majority (9 of 12) of the AV Shield meets are before Christmas. The calender is not available for the sprinting specialist meets yet (High Velocity Club) but once they are I'll add them to the below:

Sat/Sun 6/7 Oct - Magpie Multis Decathlon (100, 400)
Sat 13 Oct - AV Shield Round 1 (100, 400)
Sat 20 Oct - AV Shield Round 2 (200, 800)
Sat 27 Oct - AV Shield Round 3 (100, 400)
Sat 3 Nov - AV Shield Round 4 (200, 800)
Sat 10 Nov - FREE
Sat 17 Nov - AV Shield Round 5 (100, 400) - May be Lakeside Stadium, TBC
Sat 24 Nov - AV Shield Round 6 (200, 800)
Sat 1 Dec - AV Shield Round 7 (100, 400)
Thu 6 Dec - AV Shield Round 8 (200, 800) - Lakeside Stadium, Albert Park
Sat 15 Dec - AV Shield Round 9 (100, 400)
Fri/Sat 21/22 Dec - Decathlon in Bendigo (100, 400) - TBC

It's fairly full on, with only one weekend free in the schedule once the season starts in 7 weeks time. I'm delighted they are beginning with the 100-400 programme this year, instead of the 200-800 one as that means I'll get 5 AV Shield 400m races before Christmas, instead of 4. Hopefully it will stay that way when the official calender is announced. Add the decathlon on Oct 6 and that's 6 400m races and once the High Velocity meets are announced there could be (dependant on scheduling) another race for me, so plenty of opportunities to hopefully lower that PB again!

If it is an olympic bar they are close to 20kg/44lbs. You could be selling yourself short there.

Thats a busy schedule above, I will read with interest to see those PBs coming down Will you try any 200s? I guess the 100s are out if they are on the same day as the 4s

Pisco Sour

RandyMann wrote: »

If it is an olympic bar they are close to 20kg/44lbs. You could be selling yourself short there.

Thats a busy schedule above, I will read with interest to see those PBs coming down Will you try any 200s? I guess the 100s are out if they are on the same day as the 4s

I used an Olympic bar in Ireland. The bar in my club gym is not Olympic, not even close. My club wouldn't be one of the wealthier clubs around and a lot of our equipment is quite old, hence the measurements in llbs!

I'll definetely be doing 200s and 100s. The 100s are on the same day as the 400s but that's not a problem. The 100 is usually on early in the schedule at around 1.30pm, with the 400m not til the very end, around 5pm. That gives me loads of time to warm down, have a bit of lunch, relax, warm up again. Every week I do a 400m I intend on doing a 100m aswell. It's good prep for the 400m.

On the alternative weeks I have 200m and 800m. The problem here is that the 800m usually comes just 45 minutes after the 200m, so to get the best out of myself in the 800m I'd have to skip the 200m, which I can't see me doing very often. So the result of this will be a lot of 200m, and a few 800m, which would be more than likely after a 200m. I'm not too bothered about the 800m though. I don't enjoy them and only do this distance as endurance work for my 400m.

Pisco Sour wrote: »

First hill session in 2 and a half weeks this afternoon. Did it on a pretty nice steep 150m slightly windy hill in a park near my house. Session was done on my own. I did 6x150m with 4 minute rest between each rep. I messed up the timing of the last rep but the times of the others were:

29-30-30-30-31-?

Have to say I am delighted with those times. Obviously can't compare times between different hills but what pleases me is the fact that the times didn't drop off significantly throughout the session. Would have loved to have known my time for my final rep but no major drama.

Did the exact same session as above this afternoon. Usually I would train with the club Tuesday evening but I have something on this evening and as I am not working yet I thought I would take advantage of the afternoon off and get my session in early. My times were:

30-30-30-31-31-31

Happy with the consistency of the reps, especially given the strong wind into my face for much of each rep. Absolutely knackered now.

Pisco Sour

I've been getting very bored of my gym routine of late, particularly the step-ups which I am completely over at this stage, so today I asked our gym expert for some new routines, focusing on the leg area. So the following changes to my routine have been made:

1) For the box squats I am now adding 25 lbs onto my shoulders, and am doing 2x8, as opposed to 2x15 when I was doing them free of any weight.

2) Out with the step-ups and in with one legged squats. Basically I stand about 2.5 feet above the ground and hang my leg down and push back up. It's tough enough. 8 of these on each leg.

3) Out with stomach ball crunches and in with body twists with Medicine ball. Basically sit up, keep the legs and head still, and swing a 3kg ball from side to side. 20 swings in total. When I get stronger I can lift my legs when doing this. I didn't feel like I got much out of this so I will try with a heavier ball the next time.

4) For the lunges, I have now added 2.5kg dunbells to each hand, and have brought the amount down from 30 to 15.

With regards the exercises containing the weights, he said I can either aim to increase the number of reps, or increase the weight as I get stronger. Whatever suits.

Did my full 10 exercise routine just twice today, so I wouldn't overdo my body with the new exercises.