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Running Aimlessly Down Under - From 54 to 53 sec 400m
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You must have been using a very small pole your high jump is only 4 cm less
It wasn't one of my prouder moments. It was actually an awful sight. Myself fiddling away at "heights" of 1.20m, 1.30m and 1.40m, holding up the whole show in the process. However an hour later brought me my lowest moment from the season. Lobbing a javelin slightly over 8m (not a million miles further than my shot putt) in front of my wide-eyed competitors was mortifying. The pole vault was funny, but this wasn't. It actually made me reconsider doing the decathlon again. Then I came back and beat half of them in the 1500m!! So maybe a bit of practice on the javelin next year rather than a DNS!
Solid improvement this season and fair play for the consistency
Cheers, consistency is what I am most proud of from my season. Holding my top form from mid December right through to mid February. Just a shame that I couldn't keep it going one more month but I think the body had enough after a long season.0 -
Pisco Sour wrote: »It wasn't one of my prouder moments. It was actually an awful sight. Myself fiddling away at "heights" of 1.20m, 1.30m and 1.40m, holding up the whole show in the process. However an hour later brought me my lowest moment from the season. Lobbing a javelin slightly over 8m (not a million miles further than my shot putt) in front of my wide-eyed competitors was mortifying. The pole vault was funny, but this wasn't. It actually made me reconsider doing the decathlon again. Then I came back and beat half of them in the 1500m!! So maybe a bit of practice on the javelin next year rather than a DNS!
Cheers, consistency is what I am most proud of from my season. Holding my top form from mid December right through to mid February. Just a shame that I couldn't keep it going one more month but I think the body had enough after a long season.
Regarding the javelin its all technique spend an afternoon at it and you will see huge improvement trust me. I used to be the same in multi events growing up Javelin was about the same as that. Went on the level one coaching course and we had to learn about technique. By the end of the afternoon I was up in the mid to high 20s IIRC and could out throw what I used to from a standing position
To be honest I think it is just down to such a hectic race schedule. Its impossible to hold a peak any longer than you did there was always gonna be a drop off but you managed to keep working whole year round
Apply that kinda mentality to distance events and we could turn you into half a decent 800m runner / miler
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Went for a swim this evening in a 25m pool. In total I did 32 lengths for an even 800m, but nothing more than 4 at a time. Some slow, some faster. Nice workout but the pool was cold. May go back to my usual 30m pool the next time.
Apply that kinda mentality to distance events and we could turn you into half a decent 800m runner / miler
Haha perhaps. My coach actually thinks I'm made for 800m. Perhaps in a few years, but while I'm young I want to keep going at the sprints. I enjoy 400m much more than 800m and the training that goes with it. I like the combo of power strength stuff in the gym, flat out speed work, and speed endurance work. 800m running would bring quite a change. There would never be sessions of 60m reps, and there would be the growing fear that the gym sessions (and all the banter around the club rooms that go with it) would be replaced by long boring runs by myself. No thanks. 0 -
Pisco Sour wrote: »800m running would bring quite a change.
Yeah- you'd actually have to train hard.... 0 -
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Oregano_State wrote: »Oi! We don't want to get into a stick-measuring contest, but I will say this:
400m training is not easy, and racing isn't much better, if at all!
Don't feed the trolls:D 0 -
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2012 finished in surprising style as I took almost 2 seconds off my PB with a 56.28 clocking just before Christmas. I was in absolute disbelief at the time. Where on earth did that come from? I was hungry to prove that this was no once off and I knuckled down into some hard training over the holiday season. I also had the pleasure, albeit distraction, of having 2 of my cousins in town for Christmas and New Year's which naturally brought a lot of alcohol and crap food consumption. Going into my first race of 2013 I did not expect a PB given the indulgences of the holidays and would be very pleased with any sort of 56 to back up my breakthrough run before Christmas.
January:
Just 4 days after my cousins departed Melbourne I had my first post Christmas race, another High Velocity 400m race (Meet 3), this time out in Knox, a far flug suburb. On a hot and windy day I battled blisters in the closing stages to come a close 2nd in my race, and notching up a small, but very delightful PB of 56.26, an improvement of 0.02 and satisfying proof that the previous run was the real deal. A job very well done.
Next up was Round 10 of the AV Shield at Doncaster. In the 200m I continued a rich vein of form by destroying my PB with a time of 25.62 (+1.2), an improvement of 0.70 on my previous best, narrowly losing out by 0.01 in an epic and memorable head to head battle with a mate of mine from Collingwood, possibly the most enjoyable of all races during the season. All this in spite of losing my balance and almost going to ground in the last 30m. There could have been another tenth or so there for the taking. I also threw 6.13m in the shot putt.
The following weekend took me back to Knox for meet 4 of the High Velocity Club series, again at Knox. I was competing against the same lad who narrowly defeated me 2 weeks previously on the same track. On this occasion he again got the better of me, but an identical margin. However both of us were underpar and my time was 57.26, which was my one and only poor race in a 2 month stretch from mid December to mid February. A combination of sitting in the sun all day at the Australian Open the day before, and messing around with new spikes were probably a factor in the strangely below par performance.
Next up was the Victorian Country Championships in Geelong, one of my big target events of the season. It saw a speedy return to form after the previous week's blip. In the 400m I managed a clocking of 56.57 to rank 10th overall, missing out on the final by 1.2 seconds, in a race where I was sort of in no man's land the whole way. The following day I managed 25.75 (+1.3) in the 200m, in perfect conditions, to finish 11th, 1.5 seconds off the final. This was my 2nd fastest run ever and capped a very good weekend.
February:
The 12th and final round of the AV Shield at Albert Park saw a 26.11 (-0.8) in the 200m in what were shockingly cross-windy conditions. I backed this up with a big PB of 2:23.8 in the 800m, bettering my previous mark by 3.8 seconds. A shot putt of 6.22m rounded out an enjoyable afternoon.
The following weekend was the Victorian Decathlon Championships at Albert Park, one of the big highlights of the year. In my first 100m in 2 months I managed a PB of 12.82 (-0.7), the best I have ever run over the distance by a country mile. A very satisfying result, tinged with frustration that I couldn't have had a tailwind which would have helped me to a 12.6x.
Next up was a solid Long Jump of 4.40m which was a PB in my first proper attempt at the event all season. The shot putt was a disappointment as I managed 6.13m, which was down on my SB and PB and the high jump was poor as I could only clear 1.22m.
Going into the 400m I felt shattered after a long day. Throughout the race my right calf spasmed 3-4 times. Despite all this I came away with 56.39, just 0.13 off my PB in what, given the circumstances, I still feel is the best race I have ever ran. I was in PB shape that day, my absolute peak for the season, but the nature of the decathlon took it's toll. On the plus side I beat one lad by 1.5 seconds, avenged 2 previous defeats in decathlons to him, a real benchmark of progress.
Day 2 the wheels fell off. A DNF in the hurdles, was followed by a semi respectable 16.67m in the discuss, a laughable 1.30m in the pole vault (not far ahead of my high jump) and a truly shameful and embarrassing 8.37m (not far ahead of my shot putt). I saved face with a big PB of 5:04.36 in my only 1500m race of the season, a 24 second improvement on the same race from the previous year and a 12 second PB which went back to the West Leinster Schools back in 2003. My overall decathlon score was a PB of 2561 points.
Training the following week was quite disrupted due to after affects of the decathlon and my season never really got going again. At meet 5 of the High Velocity at Albert Park I ran a disappointing 57.18 in a farcical race involving only myself and a 52 second runner which didn't start until well after 9pm.
March:
Despite my best efforts to get myself ready for the State Championships at Albert Park and feeling very positive about my chances of a 55, I got handed lane 1 and only managed a 57.56 clocking which was an incredible anti-climax and letdown. The following day things got worse as I managed a terrible 26.80 (-3.0) in the 200m into gale force winds. My worst meet of the year in the State's showpiece event was quite hard to take.
A few days later and confidence was restored as a friend of mine paced me to a PB in the 800m in a time trial in a time of 2:19.3. It was now full steam ahead to the 2 final meets of the season at the end of March. I trained extremely hard, the hardest my coach said he has ever seen me train. I have no idea what shape I was in in terms of PB potential but I felt good. And then I got sick. I skipped one meet and pig headedly ran the second, in 57.93 to close the season in a whimper.
What wen't well?
The season as a whole was a huge personal success. I took enormous chunks off all my PB's: 2.42 seconds in the 400m, 1.30 seconds in the 200m, 0.50 seconds in the 100m (when adjusting for wind) and 8.3 seconds in the 800m. My pre-season PB in the 400m of 58.68 is now only 12th on my all-time list, and my pre-season PB in the 200m of 26.92 now ranks just 8th.
I have got exponentially stronger in the gym, from the first day when I could barely do 2 pull-ups to the very end when I was managing 3 sets of 8 on leg press at 426lbs. My form has improved dramatically as the season has gone on, my top speed has seen noticeable improvements, and as always my speed endurance was my strength as noticed by a few of my competitors.
I have integrated well into a great training group with very knowledgeable and helpful coaches. The club may be small and lacking in huge depth but the setup has been fantastic for me and there is a really good vibe about the place. I wouldn't have ran what I did if it was not for all those guys around me, coaches and training partners pushing me on to improvements.
I believe what I did best however was actually get out and race. In order to improve you have got to race. I can't emphasise that enough. And regular massage is a must also in keeping injuries at bay. I didn't have anything more than minor niggles this year, something which can largely be put down to weekly massage.
Where can I improve?
A lot. I need to get stronger in the gym. My leg press is very good. I'm pretty happy with the bench press but I can make more gains there, but the squats and deadlifts could do with more weight. Last winter I was a gym novice and I really didn't lift heavy until track season started, so this winter that will be an area where I can make significant gains - start lifting heavier, earlier.
In addition my stride really only started improving in October last year. A full winter with a more economical stride will yield further gains throughout the off-season hopefully.
I have a few numbers swimming around in my head with regards to next season. I have no concrete targets as of yet but 54.9x for 400m, 24.9x for 200m, 12.4x for 100m and 2:14.xx for 800m feel like challenging but achievable goals for next season.
At the moment I haven't got my mojo back and it's hard to get too excited about a season which doesn't start for another 6 months when on a non-permanent visa which is anything but secure. I plan to start training again in 3 weeks but am in no rush back yet. The motivation needs to come back of it's own accord, it can't be forced. I feel I gave absolutely everything physically and mentally last season that I don't even want to think about training for awhile.
Final words:
I hope those who read this log found it interesting and informative. I wouldn't define this as any sort of 400m bible and it is littered with dreadful mistakes but I hope that there is also some good stuff in there too which can be of help to people looking to take up sprinting. I'd like to also thank those posters who have regularly given feedback. There's nothing written here that doesn't get at least considered. Sprinting is still (and probably always will be) a minority aspect of this forum, but it's good to see more awareness now towards it and much more discussion happening on both the logs and the main forum. Hopefully going forward we'll see more people give it a go.
The 2012/13 track season has brought me a lot of pleasure, joy, pride, humour, satisfaction, friendships, camaraderie, competitiveness, intensity, nerves, rivalry some frustration, disappointment and set-backs. The full range of emotions, mostly positive. I wouldn't change anything from it. I was disappointed that I did not achieve that 55 but I know I gave it my all and there's not much more I could have done. It just wasn't meant to be....yet.
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Pisco Sour wrote: »pleasure, joy, pride, humour, satisfaction, friendships, camaraderie, competitiveness, intensity, nerves, rivalry some frustration, disappointment and set-backs
manage to fit any love in there, eh?:pac: 0 -
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As soon as this beer mile is over, you will have to haul your ass back to the gym and start lifting big time
I have May 6th set down in stone as the beginning of gym training, which is the exact time I started last year. Won't start the hills until a week or 2 after and will leave the track until my exams are ocervin mid June. Will be a busy time for me so will have to fit things around study.0 -
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Pisco Sour wrote: »Yeh, and my name isn't on there. I'm appalled. I'll beat a good chunk of those guys on that list come Saturday if I have a good one.
Ah well, there's really only 3 guys who have a chance of winning and that's a stretch. It's Harris's to lose.
EDIT: Just seen some Letsrun chat about the big race. http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5150480
But there is another boardsie listed
Can always get a price request:D0 -
But there is another boardsie listed
Can always get a price request:D
There is indeed. I got him 7 months ago but I suspect he's in much better shape now.
We may see an Irishman sub 6 also which would surely be a NR. Open to correction though.
Exciting weekend of racing ahead. Session soon. Will report back.0 -
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