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

RandyMann

Pisco Sour wrote: »

‎58.17 seconds for 400m today, just 0.16 off my PB which I ran 3 weeks ago. Good run, and would have been over the moon had I run that 3 weeks ago, but a bit disappointed as I feel I've trained well the last few weeks and I was well on for a PB today but died pretty badly in the last 100m, but I suppose better to go off too hard than too easy. Also they initially got my time wrong and had given me 57.39 so I was obviously over the moon thinking I had run a big PB, so bit of a come down to see my real time when they fixed it. Not unhappy but feel I am in solid 57 shape but for whatever reason it didn't quite happen today. Soon.

Earlier in the day I ran 13.19 for 100m with a +1.0, which is a legal wind PB, but not a wind adjusted PB. The form is so much better now as has been mentioned by quite a few, but the leg speed has obviously slowed a bit since I've improved my stride. I'm sure it will eventually come together.

I also ran my very first 4x100m relay. For once we assembled a pretty decent team so I decided to take part. We ran 50.69 and I was told by my coach that my changeover was among the worst he had seen in 30+ years of watching athletics.

Race report to follow.

Good runnning Pisco, they can't all be PBs but 57 is only around the corner.
I LOL at the changeover sentence!

Pisco Sour

After a weekend off it was back into AV Shield action yesterday, with the 5th meet of the 12 round series. For the 3rd time this season the venue was Doncaster.

Since my last 400m race which I smashed my PB with a 58.01 clocking I had trained for the most part very well. I was getting stronger in the gym and had run well on the track, with a high 58 during a training session in flats along with a 26.51 PB for 200m in the previous round of the shield. However the last week had not gone to plan and I had a bit of a calf scare which thankfully turned out to be nothing to worry about. Wasn't an ideal preparation for the race and mentally I was a bit exhausted from the self-inflicted worry I caused myself.

The 100m and 400m were the events on the menu for me this weekend, but in the car on the way out to the track one of the coaches said he wanted to see me run a relay on this occasion as some of my training partners were finally making it out to the track for a race so for once we could assemble a respectable team. I was hesitant as it gets in the way of my routine of warming up for the 400m, but on the flip side it could help get my mind off the 400m for awhile.

100m:

I was in the same heat as one of my training partners who was running his first 100m race ever. He's a recent recruit from Aussie Rules, who only got into athletics to get fitter during the footy off season but has got hooked on it now. He has run 2:11 and 2:12 so far for 800m, ran a 56.02 3 weeks ago for 400m, and went onto run 54.54 later in the day. My plan was to stay as close to him as possible. He has natural speed which I could only dream of.

Gun went off and I tried to do what my coach was telling me on Thursday, lift the knee immediately. I kept the head down for a good 40m or so but when I lifted it I found myself way behind my club mate (who also has a pretty bad start it has to be said). I kept pushing and focused on my form by trying to kick the bum and drive the knee forward. I probably closed a small bit on him at the end to finish about 5 or 6 metres down on him. It felt weird, I felt I had technically run very well, but it didn't feel fast.

I finished 5th of 8 in 13.19 seconds with a +1.0 tailwind. My clubmate recorded 12.45. It's the fastest ever legal 100m I have ever run (only my 12.96 with a +4.3 at the State Decathlon last season tops it), but if you adjust the wind to 0 it is actually slower than my 100m from round 1, and identical to round 3. A bit frustrating not to be making the progress on the clock, but it was nice to get a compliment from one of the elite decathletes afterwards about how good my form looked, so I guess one thing at a time. I do feel I lack the necessary power for this event though at the moment, but hopefully it will come together and I can get under 13 soon as I feel that's where I can definitely get to.

4x100m relay:

As it turned out one of my club mates who had run 12.20 in the 100m had to leave early so he was out of the relay, but one of the other guys who would be close to that level showed up just in time. So with me, him, the lad who beat me in the 100m and one of the other guys who ran 13.96 earlier in the day we had a respectable team. However no practice went into it and there was no time for any real advice so I hadn't a notion what I was doing. I've watched tons of 4x1s on TV but that really doesn't help come the moment of battle.

I was put on the second leg, which in one way was a blessing as my start isn't great, but on the other hand meant I had to be involved in 2 changovers. Literally 2 minutes before the start of the race I asked my competitor in the lane beside me where in the name of God am I supposed to stand and what do I do. We both got a good laugh out of it and he gave me the quickest of crash courses.

The coach put the lad who beat me in the 100m on the first leg as he has a poor start and wanted him to use the relay as a way of improving it. When he got close to me I started jogging (madness in hindsight) and only when I got the baton did I start to sprint. I've watched the GB and US teams make a disgraceful hash of the changover on so many occasions so I didn't want to do the same thing. The actual run itself went well enough, although it felt I wasn't quite going 100%. I held our ground reasonably well, though one guy who was behind us got ahead of me by the end of the second leg. Changing the baton over to the next runner felt a bit weird. I didn't know whether to slow down or not. In the end I did a small bit to ensure the safe changover.

We eventually finished in 4th place in 50.69 seconds which is pretty decent given the fact we usually come last and run 57-58ish. If we can get our other lad who left early into our team and we did baton practice in training we could knock a few seconds off that. It has the makings of a decent team for the Shield Final in February should we qualify, and should the club selectors go with that personnel.

Anyway after the race myself and the leg 1 runner patted each other on the back with what we deemed was a very nice changeover indeed. However us complete novices were put in our place upon being greeted by our coach who informed us that they didn't like the look of that changover one bit. He said that I am supposed to sprint (not jog) when he gets to 7m before me. He said that the other lad had practically passed me by the time he gave me the batton. To be fair, none of this was informed to me beforehand so how on earth was I supposed to know what to do. He said it was possibly the worst baton changover he has ever witnessed. We had a good laugh over it and it wasn't taken too seriously. At least I've learned for next time. I enjoyed the event, but mainly because we were competitive. If it was me, along with 3 slower guys then I wouldn't really bother. It wouldn't be worth the hassle of disrupting my 400m warm up routine if we were going to trail in last by miles.

400m:

Not much time to rest after the relay and it was immediately into more drills, stretches and strides. I was put in heat 7 and got lane 3. I went in the same heat as a lad I know from Collingwood (who was in lane 4) who is a 52 second runner but is currently coming back from a hamstring injury incurred a few weeks ago. He said he was going to pace on of the other guys (who was in lane 2) to a 57 and that I was welcome to go with that also. At first I thought this was a good idea, but then I thought more of it. Relying on pacers for a marathon is dodgey enough, but for 400m? How do I know if he is any good at keeping at a slow pace (for him) for just one lap? Even if he did run the 57, how do I know his splits would be even? In Country Champs, State Champs etc I wouldn't have pacemakers dragging me along to a nice time. I'd be on my own, so I thought it would be a bad habit to get into, so I decided to shut him out and run my own race. Instead he would merely be a guide as to how I felt I was going.

Gun went off and I felt I got out ok (though one of the guys at the club said I was really slow out of the blocks, but to me it felt normal enough). I powered the first 50m or so with the head down, and lifted to see myself eating up the stagger on the pacemaker in the lane outside me quickly, and after 100m I was past him. I was flying and I felt good. I took this as a good omen and assumed I wouldn't see this guy again in the race. I cruised down the backstraight holding my pace and form well. As I got near the 200m mark I heard some lad shout out "26...27". It was probably 28 by the time I got to the half way mark. I felt I was going really strong and a PB was surely there for the taking. With about 180m to go I got pretty close to the inside line of my lane on what were extremely tight bends (more about that later). However with 150m to go the bear started jumping on my back and with 100m remaining lactic acid shot up through my legs like never before. I pushed as hard as I could but the legs weren't responding. My form was now going to pot, the knees weren't going up as high as they should, and with 70m to go I heard the 2 Collingwood guys breathing down my neck. This came as a shock. I never get caught in the home straight. I'm usually the one who does the catching I told myself. With 40-50m to go the pacemaker cruised past me effortlessly, and with about 30m to go the lad he was pacing forced his way past and pipped me by about 2 tenths. That last 100m was immensely tough, and the longer than normal home straight certainly didn't help the feeling of mental anguish.

The coach said to me he timed we at 57.8 so I was a bit disappointed, but when I saw the time come up on the screen I was over the moon. 57.39. I couldn't believe it. What an emotional high. There was a high 5 with the pacemarker and I was buzzing. Then I stopped and looked again. The had me in 6th place. Something was weird here but the whole thing is a blur, maybe I was 6th. But I saw no sign of the pacemaker on the list. More alarm bells. Then he popped up in 8th place and my heart sank. I knew there and then they had mixed our times up. I informed them about this and the corrected it swiftly and thanked me for pointing it out. There was no way I could claim a time which wasn't mine. Instead I ran 58.17 seconds, finishing 8th of 8, which is my 2nd fastest clocking ever, and just 0.16 off my PB from 3 weeks ago. It was just a bit of a downer having thought I ran a PB, but when I thought more about it I was happy enough, notwithstanding the fact I died in the homestraight. The pacemaker ran that 57.39 so he was bang on the money with his pacing, but regardless I don't regret the decision I made to run my own race. Hindsight is a great thing. He told me I was about 7m ahead of him entering the straight so I was frustrated to hear this as it really hit home how much I died at the end.

Looking back at it, it was a pretty decent run. I gave it a go, and probably went out too fast, but the 400m is a damn tough race to get right, and I'd rather die at the end knowing I gave it a shot than go out too easy and not have a hope of making that time back late on. Another point that has to be mentioned is that the track at Doncaster is not great for 400m. Unlike Box Hill which has been resurfaced lately and has 90m straights and 110m bends, the track at Doncaster hasn't been resurfaced for a couple of years and has 100m straights, and 100m bends. These tight bends probably hinder a 400m time a bit. My training partner ran 51.1 twice at Box Hill so far this season, but yesterday only managed 51.6. I think had I run that exact race at Box Hill it would have been a PB, but not to worry, most of my 400m races for the rest of the season are at either Box Hill or Lakeside Stadium so wont have to worry about slow tracks from now on.

So a good day at the office but not without some disappointment. Plenty to improve on. Round 6 is at Ringwood next week where I will run a 200m, and if my body is able, an 800m for my sins.

Pisco Sour

After a near miss of the 400m PB on Saturday it was back to the gym this evening to kick start another week. Made a few changes today.

1) Our gym expert showed me how to do deadlifts today. Initially I tried 60kg but wasn't even close to being able to lift it, and my technique was all over the place. He was going to get me to do 40kg instead but the 10kg weights were too small in size which meant the bar sat closer to the ground, something he said changes the whole dynamic of the exercise. So instead he decided to start me off with doing deadlifts with dunbells, using a box behind me (like I do with squats) to help me keep my back straight and perfect the technique. He told me to start from a sitting down position and do 3 sets of 10. The total weight I was holding was 55lbs (25kg). He said my legs started to shake and turn in a bit on the second set which is simply a strength thing, He told me to stick with the dunbells for the next session or two and then when I'm confident I can move onto the big bar at a weight of 40kg. Slow and steady with this exercise. Don't want to do my back in.

2) Goodmornings were raised to 65lbs on my back, up from 55lbs. Did 3 sets of 15 as usual.

3) Box Squats, likewise were raised to 65lbs, up from 55lbs. Was knackered so left these at 2 sets of 2x10 today, rather than the usual 3

4) Bench Press - 4 sets of 8 at 80%, 85%, 90% and 95%. The 95% was 137lbs and I managed the full 8 on this occasion, and with a little bit of energy to spare. On Wednesday I will finally get up to attempting 100% (my max 8 weeks ago) on 8 occasions. Next week then I will attempt a new max, and then restart the 8 week programme from there.

5) Leg Press - 3 sets of 8 as usual, but up to 301lbs, up from 286lbs.

Then just did a few of my other exercises to break things up (side situps, heel raises, body twists, crunches).

Pisco Sour

Coach had me doing 4x(2x150m) this evening. Within each set the recovery was a 50m walk, which was around 1 minute or so, and between sets the recovery was 250m walk, which ended up being around 5-6 minutes. Temperatures were in the high 20s which only added to the pain. I got through 3 sets (6 150s) before the familiar feeling in my calf put an end to my session. Didn't bother timing them all, but the first one was 20.4ish, although probably with a tailwind. The next one a minute later on the backstraight was around 22 or high 21. I timed 2 others which were both in the 21s.

Very tough session given the heat.

Coach said to me that I was too pumped up on the start line for my 400m race on Saturday, something which probably caused me to overcook the first 200m. He said I have to relax a bit more, stop thinking about times and just run.

He also said that my stride today was too long. What an interesting turn of events that is.

Pisco Sour

Weekly massage followed by gym session. Same session as Monday except the following:

1) Bench press - finished up my 8 week programme by lifting 4 sets of 8 at 85%, 90%, 95% and 100% of my max from 8 weeks ago. I miscalculated and ended up lifting 142lbs instead of 137lbs for my 95% set, which I managed the full 8 times. The 100% was 145lbs and I could only manage 6 reps. On monday I will attempt a new max and restart the programme again based on that. Excited to see what I can lift.

2) I sat out the leg press this evening. The left side of my lower back has been a bit sore the last week or so and I'm almost certain it's related to the leg press, so an evening off tonight and on Monday our gym expert will have a look at my technique and make modifications.

Pisco Sour

16x60m this evening. 4 sets of 4. Within each set the break between each rep was 30 seconds, barely any time to recompose yourself. After each set the break was 3 minutes. I got through 3 full sets (12 reps) before my calf spasmed on the unlucky 13th so I pulled the plug. No times, but it was damn tough. 60m reps sounds easy on paper but it's not. A bit like an intense bleep test.

One of the lads I was running with is a recent recruit from Aussie Rules. The acceleration he has in the first 10m is astonishing. I couldn't get close. Completely developed from years of footy training which requires short explosive bursts.

Forecast for Saturday is 30 degrees. Great for the 200m but not too enthusiastic about doing the 800m in that weather afterwards. We'll see how I am feeling anyway. The 800 is only a bonus. The focus is fully on the 200m. If I feel good I'll do the 800 after, but if I feel fatigued like I did a few weeks ago, then I'll sit out the 800m, given the fact I have a big 400 the following week.

ecoli

Whats your fluid intake like on a daily basis and during sessions if you dont mind me asking?

Pisco Sour

ecoli wrote: »

Whats your fluid intake like on a daily basis and during sessions if you dont mind me asking?

I drink a lot of water. Some of the people at work laugh at me for keeping a big 1.2 litre jug of water on my desk, when those jugs are meant for conferences and meetings.

During sessions I keep a bottle of water with me and try drink some between each rep.

Pisco Sour

http://weather.ninemsn.com.au/vic/melbourne/melbourne

34 degrees forcasted for tomorrow. Eh, think I'll give that 800 a miss and piss about and have the craic with the shot putt instead.

Krusty_Clown

Pisco Sour wrote: »

34 degrees forcasted for tomorrow. Eh, think I'll give that 800 a miss and piss about and have the craic with the shot putt instead.

Haha! Fair-weather athlete! Sure the 800 will be over by the time you have a chance to overheat.

Pisco Sour

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Haha! Fair-weather athlete! Sure the 800 will be over by the time you have a chance to overheat.

You'd be surprised how tough 2 laps of the track can be in such weather though, especially after running a 200 beforehand.

Last time I tried to run an 800 in such conditions I dropped out at half way feeling weak, and got fierce hassle for it (mainly from people on here mind you) so on this occasion I won't enter a race unless I am 100% up for it.

I guess the wind makes a huge difference. If it's coming from the south then it can cool you down. If coming from the north then forget it.

We'll see how I feel anyway. I could easily get through it but what's the point if I can't run it hard and challenge that weak PB of mine. The next 800 is on in Round 8 on Thursday week which is an evening meet at Albert Park, so one would hope conditions would be better on that occasion.

The 200 is the focus tomorrow. Everything else is just a bonus.

RayCun

Last time this came up, your coach suggested adding 500m reps to your 400m training to help your endurance. Have you been doing that?

Krusty_Clown

Just tongue in cheek. I wouldn't enter an 800m race in those conditions, unless I was in a position to complete for a place, rather than a time, as at least everybody suffers almost equally. With two laps of a track, does it really matter what direction the wind is coming from?

Pisco Sour

RayCun wrote: »

Last time this came up, your coach suggested adding 500m reps to your 400m training to help your endurance. Have you been doing that?

He wasn't my coach. He's the guy who coaches the 75 second 400 runners and 2:5x 800 runners. I did add 500s to my training for awhile and saw no benefit and dropped it.

This year I am not self coaching myself. I have a couple of coaches around me and I just do what they tell me. They don't have me doing reps longer than 400m. I'm training to be a sprinter not an 800 runner. Frankly I don't care hugely about the event. I do them mainly as a bit of endurance work for the 400, because racing them can be fun when running against people your own level, and to score some points for the club. If I finish the season with 55.99 and 2:27 I will be happy out and won't care what the distance naysayers say.

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Just tongue in cheek. I wouldn't enter an 800m race in those conditions, unless I was in a position to complete for a place, rather than a time, as at least everybody suffers almost equally. With two laps of a track, does it really matter what direction the wind is coming from?

Well if it's coming from the north it's like running into a hairdryer turned onto high temperature. No respite. With a south breeze at least it can make the temperature feel a bit cooler.

Interesting point re everyone suffering equally. Bit different though when you are the only Irish guy running against a bunch of Aussies who have spent their life in this weather.

Krusty_Clown

Pisco Sour wrote: »

Well if it's coming from the north it's like running into a hairdryer turned onto high temperature. No respite. With a south breeze at least it can make the temperature feel a bit cooler.

Those are those geographic differences that are impossible to understand, unless you happen to have been there. Sounds like a blast. Literally. Do athletes have a race strategy, specific to a wind direction?

Pisco Sour wrote: »

Interesting point re everyone suffering equally. Bit different though when you are the only Irish guy running against a bunch of Aussies who have spent their life in this weather.

Absolutely. It would be tough being the only individual from the Northern hemisphere, however, one of my residing memories from the heat in Boston was that it wasn't a case of those with the lightest skin-tones who suffered most, but rather those who had spent the least amount of recent time training in the sun (i.e. those with obvious sun-tans fared best). So don't let the sun be an excuse. Get out there and enjoy the training.

Pisco Sour

26.32 for 200m today with just a slight tail wind of +0.3, a PB by 0.19 seconds. Certainly wont say no to that The long sweeping bends and very short straights are a pleasure to run on. I'd love to get my hands on a 400m on that track but alas today is the only meet of the season at Ringwood.

The heat was unbearable but coming up to the 800m there was some cloud cover which dropped the temperature by a few degrees. Certainly took the edge off the heat a little so I decided to run it. Went in one of the slow heats and decided not to go 100% in those conditions. Came 2nd in a very slow heat in 2:40, one of the slowest 800s I've ever done. It actually felt a lot harder than a 2:40 should feel, but my club mate who ran 1:58 a few weeks ago went 2:05 today :eek: Not particularly bothered to be honest. I got points for the club which was the only real purpose of me running the 800 today.

Did my bit for the club today and did a rare field event. Managed 6.02m in the shot putt which is my second best performance ever (PB is 6.51m) and then jogged around on the second leg of the 4x4 to ensure we scored some points.

Enjoyable day. Full report to come later.

Pisco Sour

Round 6 of the AV Shield took us to Ringwood, the one and only meet of the season in the outer Melbourne suburb. Distance wise it is a complete trek from the centre of the city, but the track is nice. While it could do with a resurface soon, the dimensions of it are lovely - long gentle sweeping bends (around 125m) and short straights (75m), completely different to Doncaster last week.

The temperature was a burning 34 degrees with a suffocating breeze coming from the North providing no relief. Good conditions for sprinting, terrible for middle distance and longer.

The main focus on this occasion was the 200m, and after that was finished if my body was able to negotiate the conditions I would run an 800m.

200m:

Warm up for this was a bit funny. Because the straights were so short, we had to start well back on the bend when doing strides which was strange, but given the fact I was running a 200m it wasn't a bad thing.

The last time I ran on this track I broke 27 seconds for the first time, a 26.92 clocking with a +2.2 following wind. In the next 3 200m I couldn't break 27 and I was getting frustrating. Then 3 weeks ago at Doncaster things clicked and I smashed the PB with a 26.51 with a +0.0 wind.

Only lanes 3 to 8 were being used for the 200m as the women's 800m was using lanes 1 and 2 at the same time. I had lane 4. In lane 3 was a mate of mine from Collingwood, who is pretty talented, but lazy enough in terms of training. He said beforehand he didn't feel motivated because of the weather was going to make sure he just did enough to beat me and nothing more. In lane 5 was another Collingwood guy, the same guy who I raced 3 weeks ago en route to my 200m PB, and also a week prior to that in the 100m. He's my perfect pacemaker. I had no idea who the other 3 in my race were.

3 weeks ago my coach said my start was appalling, and I've done some work on it since. I kept focused and when the gun went off I made sure to drive the knees up immediately and keep them up over the first 40m as I kept my head down. I felt my start was pretty decent on this occasion. However my mate ate up the stagger on me after about 40 or 50m, unsurprisingly. Didn't think much of this and kept focused and kept my eye on the lad in lane 5 who was running a blinder and pulling easily away from me. Coming into the straight and he has a fair lead over me. I kept pushing and tried my best to maintain good form. He didn't pull much more away in the closing stages. My mate with about 50m to go eased up and practically jogged over the line by the end. In the last 30-40m of the race I noticed a guy in lane 7 coming up on me, but I just about held him off by a few hundreths to finish 4th out of 6. The last 50m were very tough as the track was pipeing hot which caused serious discomfort to the soles of my feet.

Like any 100m and 200m I had no idea if I had run a fast time or not. It felt pretty nice but I didn't want to get carried away with it. The gap between me and the Collingwood guy was about the same as the last time we raced. This could be a good thing, but it all depended how he ran. Last time he was 25.3ish. The results took an age to come through and when they did it was confirmed that he did indeed run a cracker, with 24.90, my mate with 25.9x, and myself with a brand new PB of 26.32 seconds with a tiny helping wind of +0.3. Naturally I was over the moon. I've finally started making big progress in this event, an event which was frustrating me a bit. The next 200m is Thursday week at Lakeside Stadium on the wonderful blue track. Hopefully I can lower it further, and after Christmas have a few shots at a 25.9x, which would be very nice indeed.

800m:

When I saw the forecast I made the decision to pull out of this event, a decision which was reinforced during my preparations for the 200m in suffocating temperatures. However in the half hour before the men's 800m, cloud covered the track completely, taking the smallest bit of edge off the discomfort. The heat was still unbearable but without the burning sunshine, the 800m became an option again, albeit at an easier pace than normal.

I didn't feel confident about running this event hard in this heat, and the last thing I wanted was to be trailed off last so I deliberately waited until the very end to race. I went in the 2nd last heat (though standard wise there was bugger all difference between the 2nd last and last heat). The opposition were appalling. 8 of us were in the race. Of my 7 competitors, 3 were from my club, and lets call a spade a spade they are very very slow over 800m (we're talking sub 2:50 would be around PB level), and then a few auld fellas. Deep down I was happy enough though as it took the pressure off. Being honest the only real reason I decided to run this was to help the club score some points as we were struggling for numbers yesterday.

I went very easy the first 100m, and even still I was settled comfortably in 3rd place, a position I held for the next 200m. I passed 200m in around 38 seconds and I decided to forget all about time and just race, not that it was much of one. After 300m I moved passed the guy in 2nd place comfortably. However the guy leading had about a 25m lead on me at this stage. I briefly thought about the nice idea of winning a race, something which would be very rare indeed for me (I don't usually pick soft races). However my body didn't feel up to trying to chase him down. Even though my pace was slow it was feeling like hard work. I hit the bell in 78 seconds which is astonishingly slow. I tried to pick it up in the second lap and moved well ahead of the rest of the field, but I was gaining no ground on the lad ahead of me, but rather dropped further back. With about 150m to go I upped the pace and closed somewhat on him but too little too late as he easily won the race in 2:33, while I finished in an easy convincing second place in 2:40.3, 4 seconds ahead of 3rd place. Last place ran a dreadful 3:22. No plaudits deserved for placing high in such a poor race but it was all I felt able for in those conditions.

I felt bemused as to how a 2:40 could feel like such hard work. To put that time into perspective the first time I ever tried 800m was a solo time trial in August 2010 on the hallowed Belfield track in 2:42, off no training and attempting to follow Brianderunner's pacing advice. My first ever 800m race was a 2:44 just a month after I arrived in Melbourne and off bugger all training. Now I am in the shape of my life, and while it is not 800m specific fitness, I had run several sub 2:30s, twice in fact in the last couple of months even. Yet when running a very slow time, it didn't feel like the jog it should have. This briefly annoyed me. That is until I found out my club mate who ran 1:58 a few weeks ago, only managed 2:05 on this occasion. Even though I didn't go flat out, without such tough conditions I probably would have gone low 2:30s with similar effort in normal conditions. I wrote the race off as a training session and points for the club and a bit of fun and nothing more.

Shot Putt:

My cousin is in Melbourne for awhile and he came along to watch me yesterday so I decided to do a rare field event for entertainment purposes, and what better banter event than the shot putt. It's so much fun. I find it impossible to get nervous for it. It's just so chilled out. I had time for one practice throw, and then it was straight into it. A few of us needed to get to the relay so the officials let us get our 3 events done before some of the others started which was very sound of them. My shot putting technique wasn't much to write home about but my grunting was 10/10, so much so that my coach who was also having a bit of craic with the event inquired what the hell am I at!

My first attempt was 6.02m which was my 2nd best throw ever, behind my freak outlier of 6.51m at the State Decathlon in February. I was quite pleased. Despite having no great knowledge of technique it was clear that my gym work had made a difference. My second effort was only 5.8x, and the third attempt was a dreadful 5.2x, but overall I was pretty happy and had some fun. Good practice ahead of the State Decathlon in February anyway.

4x400m relay:

Not much to talk about here. I agreed to run the second leg of the relay and jog around to ensure we finished and got the batton around. It was probably an 80 second run at best, but it matters little. We came last, by a mile. We got lapped.

So a very enjoyable afternoon in Ringwood despite the heat. We are now half way through the 12 rounds of the AV Shield. Round 7 next Saturday takes us back to Box Hill where I will be again at the 100m and 400m.

Pisco Sour

Back to the gym today. Had a pretty stressful day in work and while it didn't affect my motivation in the gym, it definitely did something to my energy, and I felt a bit drained at times.

Made several changes today:

Goodmornings: Up to 75lbs, from 65lbs. Just did 2 sets today

Box squats: Up to 75lbs, from 65lbs. Just did 2 sets today

Deadlifts: Moved over to the main Olympic bar today and did 40kg. Was told to try do 3 sets of 6. I decided to do 5 instead. The first set I managed 5, the second only 3, the 3rd 5. Then I decided to go for a 4th set and managed 4. Will take awhile before I get the hang of it. Feels tough.

Leg press: Gym expert watched me today and said that the weight is too heavy for me. He said that I should be pushing them quickly with pure power, not pausing for a couple of seconds between each press. He took 35lbs off my 301lbs and the difference was huge and I managed to do exactly what he asked very well. It's funny, when I was previously doing 266lbs I wouldn't have been able to leg press as quickly and as powerfully as that. It almost felt a bit too easy. Will put 10lbs on it on Wednesday.

Bench press: After finishing my programme last week I went in search of a new max this evening. Warmed up with 8 x 130lbs, and then got stuck into it. Well the evening was full of frustration. I first tried 160lbs and no joy. Went back to 150lbs and just about managed it. I was disheartened. I had managed 145lbs 6 times at the end of a session last Wednesday and here I could barely manage 1 at 150. After that I attempted 155 and managed it, but failed again at 160. But I'm a stubborn b@stard and a few minutes later tried again and got it. On I went and 2 or 3 attempts were required to manage 165. I had a go at 170 and it was awful, couldn't even lift it off my chest. However at the end of the session I got myself all geared up for one last big effort and I managed the 170, although I was told I didn't lower the bar right down to my chest, but rather stopped it about 3 inches above my chest, but I couldn't give a toss to be honest.

So my new max is 170lbs. I had hoped for more, but given how surprisingly poor I had been all evening I was releaved to eventually get up to a respectable number. It is 1.2 times my body weight (they say a very good bench press max should be 1.5 times your body weight) and it is 25lbs heavier than my previous max. But I definitely wasn't at my best in general this evening, but I'll take it.

So on Wednesday I will restart my programme based on 170lbs.

Pisco Sour

Very anaerobic session this evening. 120m reps on the straight (we have a long straight at Collingwood, have no idea why it was built like that). 6x120m with 5 minute recoveries.

The first couple he had us doing this weird 2 step walk, touch the ground then go. However after a few of these he changed it to the usual "take your mark, go" as nobody knew what we were doing with the first method. I certainly didnt anyway and the others were a good 10m ahead of me before I got going, which pretty much ruined the rep for me. The second rep was better as I sort of jumped the gun a bit to avoid the same thing happening.

The 3rd rep was terrible. Form went to pot. Sort of let the huge gap between myself and the others early on get to me and I didn't run well. However after that the last 3 were fine.

The coach wanted us to run the first 60 flat out, the next 20 cruising, and the last 40 power home, but I pretty much bolloxed this up and just ran flat out the whole way without really having any confidence in the efforts I was supposed to be doing for each segment.

It felt weird running 120m in a straight line. The longest I'd ever run in training in a straight line would be the 90m straight, but starting right back where the hurdles start and having an extra 10m on that stretch definitely felt weird, but it was nice to do something different. Felt weird as I didn't feel particularly tired during or after the session. Probably the least aerobic session we have done to date.

It's 38 degrees on Thursday. Won't be killing myself that day in those barbaric conditions, especially with a race on Saturday.

Pisco Sour

Weekly massage followed by gym session.

Goodmornings: 3 sets of 15 with 75lbs
Box Squats: 2 sets of 2x10 with 75lbs, and then 1 set of 1x10.
Deadlifts: 3 sets of 6 at 40kg
Leg Press: 3 sets of 8 at 276lbs, up from 266lbs. Finding this so much easier now that I have taken a bit off the weight and changed the technique. Soon I'll be back up to 301lbs but with more power.
Bench Press: 4 sets of 8 at 65%, 70%, 75% and 80% of my 170lbs max. Heaviest weight today was 135.5lbs.

Also did some of my usual body exercises (side situps, crunches, body twists) along with heel raises to strengthen the calves.

38 degrees tomorrow and the middle distance coach said he is going to call off the session tomorrow and will suggest my coach to do the same. He says there is no benefit and too much risk training on a track in such soaring temperatures, and that it would leave you stuffed for 2 days afterwards, which would be silly given the fact we have races on Saturday. Not sure what my coach has planned but regardless I think I will probably skip it. It's not even that it s 38 during the day and then eases off. It doesn't reach 38 until 6pm, smack bang at the time of our session. I think training in it would be pointless at best and dangerous at worst, much like the people running on treacherously icy roads with screws nailed into their shoes (the screws which went loose in their heads!).

Pisco Sour

First track session skipped, but for good reason. Temperatures reached a max of 39.6 degrees today, at 6.11pm, right at the time I would have been on the track training. The track itself would probably have been 50 degrees. One of the coaches told me that there is no point in training in that weather, so I gave it a miss. Not sure who went, but whoever did is an eejit in my opinion. Not sure what can be gained from a session in that weather, when there's a 400 race 2 days later.

Some Thai food and a beer instead, and rest up from now until Saturday.

Pisco Sour

Good day at the track. 12.92 in the 100m with just a small tail wind (somewhere between 0.0 and +0.6), a big PB, and my first time legally under 13 seconds. Knew I ran a good one and was not surprised when I saw the result.

Then anchored the 4x100m relay team to 49.3. Finally a 58.18 for 400m, just 0.17 off the PB. Last three 400m races have been 58.01, 58.17, 58.18. Lots of consistency but a bit frustrating aswell, but I'm sure that 57 isn't too far away. I think the fact I define myself as a 400m runner sort of puts a bit of extra pressure on me for that event (which can be a good thing) and means I'm a bit more nervous before it, while with the 100 and 200 I don't see it as my event and so I am running a bit free of much pressure and expectation, and the times are coming down hugely.

Anyway, any day which you run a PB, even if not in your main event, has got to be a good day, so pretty happy.

Full report to come tomorrow.

Pisco Sour

Just seen that the wind for my 100m was +0.6. So it is a PB in every way possible: the fastest I have ever run, the fastest legal time I have ever run, and the fastest wind adjusted time I have ever run (12.97 adjusted for a +0.0 wind), so finally I know what my true 100m PB is!

RandyMann

Pisco Sour wrote: »

Just seen that the wind for my 100m was +0.6. So it is a PB in every way possible: the fastest I have ever run, the fastest legal time I have ever run, and the fastest wind adjusted time I have ever run (12.97 adjusted for a +0.0 wind), so finally I know what my true 100m PB is!

A nice milestone, you can now call yourself a 12 sec 100m runner, well done indeed !

Pisco Sour

The 2011/12 AV Shield officially passed the half way mark this weekend as round 7 of 12 took us back to Box Hill for the 3rd time this season. Since my 200m PB last Saturday at Ringwood training hadn't gone smoothly, with intense 39 degree heat wipeing out our Thursday track session.

The events of concern to me on this occasion were the 100m, the 4x100m relay and the 400m. The weather was a bit uncomfortable. While temperatures were not too bad at around 28 or so, the humidity was pretty high, which is unusual for Melbourne. Humidity is not what you want when you have a long day ahead of you at the track!

100m:

I didn't know much about any of my competitors in my heat. To the left of me there was a guy who said he would run a high 11 or low 12, who arrived a bit late and so missed the quicker heat. To the right of me was a guy who said he's probably be around 13 seconds dead. The rest I knew nothing about.

Weather was warm, track was dry, the headwind had seemed to drop and even potentially have turned around. I felt I could run a fast one here. I knew I needed a better start though and kept thinking about everything the coach has told me over the last few weeks.

Gun went off and I came out well. Knees lifted high, head down, and drive! I was down on the guy to the right of me, so my start was far from perfect, but it was the best I had ever come out of the blocks. When I lifted the head at around 30-40m, I was half a metre down on the guy to the right of me. However I was now reeling him in and after about 60m-70m I went past him. I was flying. It's the first time in my sprinting life that I have ever felt that sensation over 100m. I was catching people all over the place now, and finished strong to pip another lad to finish 3rd of 6 in a race where I would have finished about 5th in previous weeks.

I knew I had ran well, but one can never be certain, but sometimes you just know. When the result popped up I was jubilant, but not surprised. 12.92 seconds with a wind reading of +0.6 m/s, a huge PB. My previous best was 12.96 with a gale force +4.3 wind behind me. I knew deep down back then I was not a sub 13 second runner. Finally now I have indisputably achieved this milestone.

4x100m relay:

I was put on the anchor leg of the 4x100m relay. Not sure what the reasoning was but probably because I am a relay novice they thought it would be best for me just to focus on nailing one change, rather than having to worry about two. Our lead off runner had run 12.15 into a big headwind earlier in the day and our second runner had run a 12.46. I was our 3rd quickest. However as our 4th and 5th fastest available on the day were knee deep in pole vault, scoring valuable points for the club, our 6th fastest (who had run a slow 14.5 earlier in the day) took the 3rd leg of the relay. I was disappointed by this. I really wanted to run with the best we had available on the day, and now this wasn't going to happen. However he is well capable on his day and has run high 13 this year, and low 13 in the past.

I was given plenty of tips on how to ensure I nail the baton exchange on this occasion, after my glorious cock-up last time. I was told to start running when he gets to 5m or so before me. I was confident enough it would go well, despite my inexperience. It couldn't go worse than last time anyway!

Our first runner got us off to a flying start in lane 7 and ate up the stagger on the guy outside him easily. A lovely changeover followed and our second runner flew down the back straight nicely. He struggles out of the blocks, but having a footy background this was more along familiar territory for him. We were well in contention. Then followed a sloppy changeover to our 3rd runner. Not surprisingly we lost a couple of places on the 3rd leg.

Now it was time to concentrate. I kept my eye on a certain spot and as soon as he hit that I would go! It helped having one of my coaches right by the track and he shouted out "now" also. So there was no way I was going to mess this up. I took off and ran as fast as I could and picked up the baton very cleanly half way through the changeover zone. It felt perfect. I was now in 4th place, but miles behind 3rd, and 5th place was way behind me, so all I really needed to do was consolidate. I ran hard, but probably left 2-3% in the tank, as I didn't really need to bring it out. But afterwards I was out of breath (as indeed I was after the 100m), much more so than usual. Maybe the humidity was making me feel more exhausted after these 100m sprints than usual, who knows.

Our time was 49.36 seconds, which is 1.3 seconds faster than the last time. One of our quicker runners couldn't make it on this occasion. If he was there, I'd be our 4th fastest runner in the team, and we would be knocking on the door of sub 48. It would be nice to get a crack at it with our best 4 available, but life gets in the way unfortunately. Not everyone can make it every week.

400m:

The 100m had me very confident. I saw it as a good omen. However on the flip side, I was tired. 2 races and sitting around all day in humidity. It kind of wares you down a bit, and it is challenging keeping in ideal shape for the 400m when it is the last event of the day.

However just before my heat started the rain came down out of nowhere. Not hard enough to soak the track, but enough to easy the heat a bit.

I was in heat 6 (heat 6 or 7 is usually an ideal standard for me) out of around 12 or 13 heats. I was given lane 5. In my race there were a few people which I had a bit of info on:

Lane 3: A masters athlete from Collingwood aged around 44. I seem him running every week and he's usually in the 56 range for 400m, although 57 early season. Interestingly enough he only ran a 13.2ish 100m earlier in the day however, which is slow for him. He's a good masters athlete and has won many titles and medals and has been to world masters championships I believe. Not sure what his PB is, but I knew what he was going to run around 56 on this occasion so I thought I'd try stay as close to him as I can, if/ when he eats up the stagger on me.

Lane 4: An African lad, who according to the results is 24, but that is nonsense, he looks around 16. I tried to be a little less nervous and fired up on this occasion to the advice of my coach (I was still nervous though!!) so I thought I'd make a bit of chat to ease the tension. I asked him what he is going for, and he said 69-70. Then one guy butts in and says "eh, don't you mean 59-60", and he then replied saying "eh, yeh that's the one". I got the impression that he didn't know much about his ability and had a feeling that I would be seeing him at some point during the race. I know it is a huge generalisation to assume that just because he's African he's going to be fast, but let's be honest, it is almost certainly going to be the case!

Lane 7: 2 lanes outside me was a 16-17 year old from Collingwood, who has gone 2:17 for 800m this year so far. He raced me in the 400m earlier in the year when he was after a sub 60. On that occasion I ran 59.24 and he faded to a 61.99. On this occasion he seemed confident that he'd hit the 60. I had no idea how he'd been training, but I assumed he'd be close to it now, a fair few weeks on.

The rest of the field I knew nothing about.

The gun went off and I moved well. Head down for 40m and lifted it to find myself eating up the stagger on the Collingwood guy 2 lanes outside of me, and after 80m I was past him. A bit surprised I had taken him that quickly. I then eased into a cruise. I went too hard 2 weeks ago so didn't want to let that happen again. However I may have cruised too much and actually ever so slightly drop the pace, and I noticed the Collingwood guy come back up on me. This could have been him making a hash of his race but I felt I dropped it too much and after 150m sort of upped my pace to a more intense cruise. Soon after the Collingwood masters athlete in lane 3 went past me, and then coming up to half way the African lad went past. By this stage I was well past the guy outside me again and never saw him again (he faded to a 62.2). With 200 to go I just put the boot down and pushed. It's all sort of a blur, and a part of me wonders did I think enough about my form, but the race is over so quick you don't have a lot of time to think, a lot of it is pure instinct.

I was fighting back however. The gap ahead of me had stopped stretching now and coming into the homestraight I started to make my move to catch the guys ahead of me. I was about 10m down on the Collingwood masters athlete, and 5-6m down on the African at this point. I pushed hard and was running well, but so were the guys ahead of me, who were looking strong. I caught them a little but not nearly enough, and finished in 6th place out of 8.

I felt I ran well, but being about 8m down on the Collingwood masters runner made me think it would be touch and go whether I PB'ed. I wanted to get closer to him, and I know I can get closer, but on this occasion he was simply stronger. His time was 56.97, the African was 57.3ish, and I finished in a clocking of 58.18 seconds, an agonising 0.17 off the PB, and just 0.01 off my time from 2 weeks ago.

My last 3 400m runs have been within one metre of each other. That is consistency I have to be proud of. I've taken my running to a new level and have backed it up. But I was frustrated not to have pushed on further into the 57 range on this occasion. It almost felt like a bit of an anti-climax after such a good 100m. But I know that PBs wont come all the time. The faster you go, the rarer they become. It's a long season, and after Christmas there will be a lot more "400m only" meets for me where I will enter the event fresh with full focus on the day going towards that event. So just have to keep working and it will come.

Richmond won the division 2 this week which further cements our position in 2nd place in the overall standings, so we are looking good to qualify for the Shield Final in February.

Round 8 is next Thursday evening (because the Zatopek 10 is on Saturday) at Lakeside Stadium. It's the highlight of the AV Shield for me: Brand new blue track, in a lovely stadium, under floodlights, in the evening time. If you can't get up for that then there's no hope for you. The 200m will be the main event, but I want to use the occasion to help me run a good 800m also.

Pisco Sour

After a good day of racing on Saturday it was back to the grind today in the gym:

Goodmornings: 2 sets of 15 with 75lbs
Box Squats: 4 sets of 10 with 75lbs
Deadlifts: 3 sets of 6 at 40kg
Leg Press: 3 sets of 8 at 286lbs (130kg)
Bench Press: 4 sets of 8 at 70%, 75%, 80% and 85% of max. Highest weight today was 145.5lbs and I managed the full 8.

Also moved up to 15kg on the body twists and did 2 sets of 15. Did some side sit-ups, crunches and heel raises aswell.

Pisco Sour

An update from my track session yesterday evening. 4x150m flat out with walk back recoveries (around 2 to 2 and a half minutes(. Just 2 of us doing it, myself and our top 400 runner, who ran a season's best of 51.07 at the weekend.

Didn't time myself. Just wanted to focus on running hard and with good technique. Coach was onto me to not pump my arms as far forward and to focus on getting the elbows back. For all 4 reps I was about 13m down on the other lad, which I was pretty happy with. He was in spikes and I was in flats so I could have been a couple of metres closer again with spikes. Happy with the session. I maintained the gap between me and him for all 4 reps and didn't drop further back as the session went on.

I'm currently training 5 days a week: 2 days gym, 2 days track, and 1 day racing (the best form of training), but the coach says I need Sunday mornings in my life, and that my 400 would improve more dramatically with 6 days a week. The thing is I'm finding the training tough enough as it is on 5 days a week. It's only my 2nd season of sprinting, and my first season with this particular training routine. I'd be worried about adding a 6th day. And then there's the whole thing about at what point does it become too much that it takes over ones life? As it is I stay in on Fridays so I am in good nick for Fridays (something which I am happy to do), but then Saturday evening is my time to unwind with some beers, celebrate a good performance, and meet my many non-athletics friends. Throwing in 9.30am starts basically changes how I can spend my Saturday evenings. And I don't have a car, so getting to the track by 9.30 would require being up at 7.30am for breakfast! Add to that the fact the legs are usually not able for much the day after a race! Being honest I'm happy with 5 days a week at the moment and the balance I have in my non-work life. The thing is some of the others who train on Sunday mornings have only got out for 1 or 2 races so far. I've been out there every single weekend racing. Racing is training!

I also said to the coach that I want to run an 800m tomorrow evening after my 200m and he asked me why on earth would I want to do that, and he sees little benefit I'm still going to do it though. It could end up being the last one I do all season. It would be nice to run one good one.

Pisco Sour

Weekly massage followed by a lighter gym session given the fact I'm racing tomorrow evening.

Goodmornings 1 set, Squats 3 sets, Bench Press 4 sets topping at 80%, Deadlifts 3 sets, and Leg Press 3 sets.

One of the highlights of the year tomorrow night, the Thursday night evening meet at Albert Park's Lakeside Stadium. Last year at that exact meet I ran a shocking 13.86 over 100m into a slight headwind, and a 60.35 for 400m which was a PB at the time. A lot has changed in a year.

Pisco Sour

26.50 for 200m this evening at Lakeside Stadium, 0.18 slower than my PB from 2 weeks ago. My second fastest time ever (just!). Don't know what the wind was but I have a feeling it was a cross wind as I could really feel it into my face coming around the bend. Decent time, but didn't feel I ran all that great this evening. Evening races present a different challenge with having a long day of work behind you. The State Champs 400m will more than likely be a Friday evening kick off in March so it's something I will have to get used to.

Cheeky season's best in the 800m after with 2:28.4. Will probably be the last 8 I'll do for the season.

Threw 5.97m in the shot putt at the end of the evening, just 5cm down on what I managed 2 weeks ago. Just a bit of fun though really.

Full report to come later.

Pisco Sour

Will write the race report tomorrow but have seen that the wind reading for my 200m race was a -1.3 tailwind. Using this wind and lane adjustment calculator http://myweb.lmu.edu/jmureika/track/wind/200altwind.html my time adjusts to a 26.36. My PB of 26.32 adjusts to a 26.34. Of course these calculators don't take into account what direction a cross wind might be moving in the first 100m of a 200m, but overall I'm pretty pleased to have run so close to the PB when I didn't feel I ran all that brilliantly at all.