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

Pisco Sour

Knees starting to feel a bit better. Tomorrow still may be a bit ambitious and a touch too early to get back training but I'll see how things go. If I don't get a run in by friday afternoon, then I'll just wait till Monday. Saturday is AFL Grand Final day in Melbourne (a BIG BIG deal down here) so I plan on having a messy one. I hope that by Monday I will be ready to run properly again. Hoping that 5 more days and I should be in decent nick. Will take an age before my knees look decent again though.

Pisco Sour

A couple of sessions to report on. Managed to get out on Thursday and Friday and my knees felt fine when running. Threw lots of antiseptic moisturiser on them (they are still stinging though).

Thursday:[/U]

4x210m, with 3 minute rest between each rep. I originally thought I had measured out 200m but when I saw my times I double checked and it was actually 210m. Ran them at about 75%, but I felt like crap and my body wouldnt let me go faster than 75%.

My times were: 37-36-36-?(messed up the timing)

I guess that translates to a 35 and 34(high) for 200m, but given I am now running on a paved road rather than a gravel road I thought I'd go faster. My shins were talking to me a bit on the last 2 reps also.

Friday:

4x200m, with 3 minute rest between each rep. Probably did these at around 80%, a little harder than the previous day, and I felt better and ran faster.

My times were: ?(messed up the timing) - 33(high) - 33(high) - 34(low)

For some reason my shins feel a bit more sore after the sessions the last couple of days than they usually do. Maybe the fact it is a paved road now rather than gravel road before.

Have some pics from the Decathlon:

Decathlon 1.jpg

Decathlon 2.jpg

Decathlon 3.jpg

Decathlon 4.jpg

Decathlon 5.jpg

Pisco Sour

Decathlon 6.jpg

Decathlon 7.jpg

Decathlon 8.jpg

Dan man

Just stumbled upon this log now...enjoyed reading the trials and tribulations of your decathlon venture. Sounds good craic all the same!! Makes you appreciate how hard it is for the elite decathletes...1,500m at the end of a gruelling competition, usually being held together by sticky tape. It was good how you described how you felt heading into each of the disciplines both physically and mentally. Fair play to you anyway for giving it a go!!

Pisco Sour

I'm really glad I got some sessions in last thursday and friday because it looks like I will be on the sidelines again for a while

On Saturday, my skinned knees again started hurting... really hurting. Stinging like mad. The fact I had jeans on did not help, as the rough material kept rubbing off the wounds. At the end of the night I was actually close to tears (slight exaggeration) with the discomfort, as I desperately tried to find a taxi (Melbourne has a serious shortage of taxi's!!), with my jeans rolled right up past my knees. Not fun.

So on Sunday, I got back into Benalla at around 3pm, and went in search of a hospital. Couldnt take this any more. A very kind middle aged couple offered to drive me and came into the hospital with me. It's amazing home kind some people can be. Thankfully, the nurse said that I wouldn't be needing a doctor (thus saving me a lot of money and the hassle of claiming off the VHI). She said it is not particularly infected and that the wound looks exactly like it should 8 days after that sort of accident. She cleaned the wounds out, put dressing over each and said to keep it on for 5 days. She said that running is going to slow the healing process, and the more I rest my legs the quicker it will heal (difficult when doing farm work!!). So I better take her advice and not run for the next few days. Hopefully I can get back running on Thursday and Friday again this week. So incredibly frustrating. I felt I was in the shape to smash my 200m PB on Saturday week, but now with such a lack of training behind me over last week and this week, I am worried I may lose the fitness I have built up recently :mad:

Also, the next time I run a 100m race is going to be tough mentally. This injury hasn't been a lot of fun, and it is sure to be in the back of my mind next time I am running the distance. Be tough to block it out and run 100%. This even happens to the elites. I remember Derval O'Rourke saying in an interview to the BBC after her silver in Barcelona that she had had a bad fall earlier in the year and it really took her awhile to get over it and really run hard at the hurdles!

thirtyfoot

Come on horse, you are making a meal out of this. The fact you are saying it will affect means it will affect you. It's no big deal. I coach 16 year old girls and this has happened and they are up and at it and it's no bother. Change of mindset. Looking forward to getting back out there. These things happen, won't happen again. Just need to run through the line. At least you don't have 3.5 foot barriers in your way. Stop saying this will affect you, start saying you are looking forward to racing again.

Do some strength work while laid up. Check Racoon Queen log for great core workout.

Pisco Sour

thirtyfoot wrote: »

Come on horse, you are making a meal out of this. The fact you are saying it will affect means it will affect you. It's no big deal. I coach 16 year old girls and this has happened and they are up and at it and it's no bother. Change of mindset. Looking forward to getting back out there. These things happen, won't happen again. Just need to run through the line. At least you don't have 3.5 foot barriers in your way. Stop saying this will affect you, start saying you are looking forward to racing again.

Do some strength work while laid up. Check Racoon Queen log for great core workout.

You're right, just need to run hard at it first time back and it will be out of my mind then. The fall didn't affect my mindset for the 400m later that day which is a good thing at least, even if it is a different event.

Pisco Sour

Knees feeling a lot better now. They've been covered for over 72 hours now and it seems to be doing the trick. To be honest I'd easily be able to run tonight but I'll air on the side of caution and wait until tomorrow for fear that I may slow the healing process by getting back into training a bit earlier than planned.

I've been doing core exercises in the meantime and will be incorporating them into my training from now on (though not updating all these sessions on this log as that would be fair boring and repetitive to type and read!).

At the moment, along with my heel rises, I am doing planks (normal 2x10 secs, and side 2x10 secs on right and 2x10 secs on left), Push ups 2x10 push ups, Back bridges 3x10 seconds, and Hip rises 3x10 seconds. The Hip Rises are tough and am not sure how well I am doing them. Will try to bump up the planks and push-ups over the coming days.

Any advice as to what other core exercises may help please let me know. I dont have any equipment or access to a gym so cant do weights.

So 10 days til the first AV Shield race of the year. I've got the 200m, 800m and 4x400m relay that day (and Triple Jump if it doesn't get in the way of the other stuff. These are the events I have on Program 1 which is used for AV Shield meets 1,3,5,7,9,11. The 800m is run straight after the 200m which is a problem. I'd have rathered a break between the 2, and it will be tough to chase fast times in both events each day, so I guess it is a case of prioritising on each day. I'll be targetting the 200m and a PB on saturday week, so the 800m time may suffer. On other weeks I may skip the 2 to have a proper crack at the 8.

Program 2 is more staright forward, and runs on AV Shield meets 2,4,6,8,10 and 12. I have the 100m, 400m and Long Jump on that day. The 100m is on early and theres a long break between that event and the 400m, so there's no problems with regards this Program and I should be able to do these 3 events for each meet.

These 7 events (100, 200, 400, 800, LJ, TJ and 4x4) are the only events I am doing throughout the year I have decided. The only way I'll do any other events is if the club really needs somebody badly to take part in one of the other events to score points. This happens from time to time in the throwing events. But I hope not to have to do any of them as I fairly suck at them. I have no interest in running a 1500m/Mile race this year and 800m is as far as I will go.

Not setting limits on myself, but have some inicial goals for the following events (some easier than others):

100m - Sub 13 (Current PB 13.40 into a headwind)
200m - Sub 27 (Current PB 28.20, should easily beat that next weekend hopefully)
400m - Sub 60 (Current PB 61.80)
800m - Sub 2:25 (Current PB 2:34.90)
LJ - 4.75m (Current PB 4.50m in practice, only 4.24m in competition)
TJ - 10m (Current PB 8.93m on my one and only competition. Had never attempted it in training before or since)

The jumps and the 800m are a bit of side venture. The sprints in general, and 400m in particular are the main focus.

Let the games begin

RandyMann

04072511 wrote: »

I'm really glad I got some sessions in last thursday and friday because it looks like I will be on the sidelines again for a while

On Saturday, my skinned knees again started hurting... really hurting. Stinging like mad. The fact I had jeans on did not help, as the rough material kept rubbing off the wounds. At the end of the night I was actually close to tears (slight exaggeration) with the discomfort, as I desperately tried to find a taxi (Melbourne has a serious shortage of taxi's!!), with my jeans rolled right up past my knees. Not fun.

So on Sunday, I got back into Benalla at around 3pm, and went in search of a hospital. Couldnt take this any more. A very kind middle aged couple offered to drive me and came into the hospital with me. It's amazing home kind some people can be. Thankfully, the nurse said that I wouldn't be needing a doctor (thus saving me a lot of money and the hassle of claiming off the VHI). She said it is not particularly infected and that the wound looks exactly like it should 8 days after that sort of accident. She cleaned the wounds out, put dressing over each and said to keep it on for 5 days. She said that running is going to slow the healing process, and the more I rest my legs the quicker it will heal (difficult when doing farm work!!). So I better take her advice and not run for the next few days. Hopefully I can get back running on Thursday and Friday again this week. So incredibly frustrating. I felt I was in the shape to smash my 200m PB on Saturday week, but now with such a lack of training behind me over last week and this week, I am worried I may lose the fitness I have built up recently :mad:

Also, the next time I run a 100m race is going to be tough mentally. This injury hasn't been a lot of fun, and it is sure to be in the back of my mind next time I am running the distance. Be tough to block it out and run 100%. This even happens to the elites. I remember Derval O'Rourke saying in an interview to the BBC after her silver in Barcelona that she had had a bad fall earlier in the year and it really took her awhile to get over it and really run hard at the hurdles!

I'd swap a hamstring tear for two skint knees any day of the week. You have little to worry about.

Pisco Sour

Got back out training this evening. However I didnt have a lot of time between the time I finished work and the time I was due to head over to the host family for dinner so rather than run 5 minutes to the paved road and have to run 5 minutes back, I ran on a crappy country laneway by the house I am living in. This will not be a regular occurance but I was toght for time. I quickly scanned the lane to make sure it was safe for running on and it was fine (though I was cautious when running just incase I stepped on a rock or into a pothole, but generally speaking it was fine).

I left the watch behind as times on this road are irrelevant. It was more about effort than anything. Did 5x150m at about 70% with just 1 min 30 secs between each rep.

Good to get back out there.

Pisco Sour

Good confidence boosting session today. Did 3x300m reps with 4 minute walk back breaks between each rep. Went at about 80%, and maybe 90% for the last rep. Pushed that bit more on the last rep, thinking that the increased effort would be compensated by fatigue, but to my delight I didn't tire and ran faster on that final rep.

My times were:

54(low) - 54(low) - 52(high)

Pisco Sour

Been awhile since I did a good hill session so today seemed like a good day for it. Did 5x100m with 2 minute walk back rest between each rep, on a reasonably sloped hill. I pushed pretty hard on all of them and my times were:

18(low)- 18(low) - 17(high) - 17(high) - 17(low)

One thing I've noticed that I am not doing as well as I should is pumping my arms. When I run I subconciously let them go into passive mode, so for the last 3 reps I made a concious effort to pump the arms and the times speak for themselves.

Certainly something I have to work on.

Right onto the main business of the day. COME ON IRELAND. Time to take out a nice ice cold bottle of Carlton Draught from my fridge. Guilt free now that I've got my session in.

Pisco Sour

04072511 wrote: »

Right onto the main business of the day. COME ON IRELAND.

Ah FFS!!!

Pisco Sour

Decided to take a day off today, as I had done 3 days in a row after my brief time out of training, and perhaps 4 might have been a bit much. So did a core strength session instead (doing these around 3-4 times a week).

I don't particularly like the hip rises exercise and might leave it out and replace it with supermans. Feel like I am straining my back everytime I do it and perhaps I'm not doing it properly.

Pisco Sour

Had prob my toughest session today. Went for a 4x200m session on the paved road with 3 mins between each rep. Really pushed hard. Very very close to all out. Times were:

33(low) - 31(high) - 32(mid) - 31(high)

After the 3rd rep I had briefly made the decision to leave it at 3 reps for today as I was sapped, but I decided to do the 4th one and it ended up being my fastest so have to be pleased with that. Those 31 highs would prob equate to prob a 28 on the track with spikes. Hard to know.

Plan is to have 2 easier sessions for the rest of the week and be ready for battle on saturday. Hoping for a solid mid 27 second run for 200m.

Shattered now. Too tired to even go for a shower at the moment.

Pisco Sour

Did a pyramid session today. Not completely pushing it all out. Maybe going at 80%, but pushed harder on the 300. 3-4 minute walk back break between each rep.

100-200-300-200-100

My times were:

16(high) - 33(mid) - 51(high) - 33(high) - 16(low)

Felt a bit tougher than it should have. I was knocking a lot of cement off bricks today and I think that may have had a slight effect on my breathing and I forgot to bring my inhaler with me when I went running.

Had a near disaster moment today on the farm. In the middle of carrying bricks I tripped over some stupid piece of wire and in the process I think the brick dropped out of my hand and grazed off my right foot. I've iced it twice now, and when running I didnt feel anything at all so I dont think its a problem, but when I push against it it hurts a bit in one point, on the top of my foot, just below the toes. Hopefully it is only minor and isnt something that flairs up overnight (which I'm sure it wont), but I need to be extra careful working on the farm. There's hazardous stuff everywhere which would put your heart in your mouth. If you were training for a marathon and in the middle of a taper, you simply wouldn't be able to cope doing this work!!

Pisco Sour

04072511 wrote: »

Been awhile since I did a good hill session so today seemed like a good day for it. Did 5x100m with 2 minute walk back rest between each rep, on a reasonably sloped hill. I pushed pretty hard on all of them and my times were:

18(low)- 18(low) - 17(high) - 17(high) - 17(low)

Did this same hill session today. Ran hard but comfortable, maybe at 80%. For the last one I pushed harder but still not completely all out. Times were:

17(high) - 18(low) - 17(mid) - 17(low) - 16(mid)

Happy with the progress there.

So with the exception of a core strength session this evening, that's all training done for the week. Time to rest up and get ready for the first AV Shield track meet of the season on Saturday in Doncaster.

Pisco Sour

‎27.6 seconds in the 200m today, into a headwind. A PB by 0.6 seconds. Expected to go faster but the headwind didn't help I guess. Then 2:31.1 for the 800m, a PB by 3.8 seconds, which have to be happy with, though a little disappointed not to go sub 2:30. Then 8.97m in Triple Jump, 4cm better than my previous best. Finally jogged around in the 4x400 relay in 75 seconds to make sure the club scored some points. No point in going any faster as we were 150m behind in last place by the time I got the batton on the 4th leg. Good day, but the weather bloody changes every 5 minutes! Make up your mind Melbourne :-)

Report to come tomorrow.

Pisco Sour

So the first meet of the season took place in Doncaster yesterday and I had 4 events marked down for myself: 200m, 800m, Triple Jump and 4x400m relay. Wasn't sure whether I would do them all but in the end I did.

200m

It can be a bit hard to know when to start warming up, when to finish eating etc, because from week to week the numbers of people competing can vary. I started warming up when the women's 200m was called, but as it turned out there was about a million heats in this followed by loads of men's 200m heats before my race. There was a lot of standing around in a queue waiting for my race which was annoying but I made sure to keep warm and do strides. Lane 1 and 2 were being used for the women's 800m, so lane 3 was the tightest lane available. I was in lane 5, my coach in lane 3, these guys who I knew would be around 24-25 second runners outside me, and then the ultimate athletics bluffer in lane 4, on my inside.

Let me briefly explain the concept of the "athletics bluffer". It's the type of person who when asked how fast do they expect to run, tend to come out with bullsh1t like "I have no idea", "I don't really run this distance", "I'm in bad shape". Cut the sh1t guys. Leave the false modesty at home. The reason I ask people how fast they expect to go is so that I can get an idea of pacing and of how well I am going. That's all. I don't actually have any interest in their times other than for that reason.

So this punter on my inside says that he is in terrible shape, and reckons he'll go about 30 seconds. The gun goes off and immediately I know I've been fooled and he eats up the stagger on me after 40-50 metres and beats me by at least 1 second. Full of crap. Reminds me of those chancers back in school and college who would say they are "screwed" for an exam, "haven't done a tap" and then come out with more A1's than I've had hot dinners!

Anyway, back to the race. I got out well from the blocks, and basically pushed as hard as I could throughout. Began to hurt a bit the last 70, but I don't think my pace dropped much. 20 minutes before the race there was a seriously strong tailwind, but as luck would have it, by the time of my race, the wind had swirled 180 degrees, and I ran into a headwind the last 100 metres. It was significant enough to take a few tenths off my time. I ran 27.6 seconds, but with a tailwind, I feel low 27's would have been very doable. Bit disappointed, but can't control the weather and it is a PB by 0.6 seconds, and given the fact my previous PB had a strong tailwind, this certainly is a significantly better performance. I also pipped my coach by 0.1 seconds. Granted he already had a 400m Hurdles and a Hammer throw in his legs but was happy to beat him. He beat me by 1.4 seconds in the 400m, so this race shows I have the speed to go close to sub 60, just a bit more endurance needed.

800m

Wasn't terribly tired after the 200m so decided to give this a go, and had a 45 minute break or so between events, which was enough. I went in the sub 2:40 heat as I didnt know how fast I could go as havent been training for this event, but as my PB was 2:34.90 I felt the sub 2:40 race would be fine (of course the winners won in something like 2:20, you always get chancers entering a slow race to claim a victory. pathetic IMO). I wanted to go in the sub 2:35 heat but they had no space for me in it so I got bumped down.

The first 100m the negative thoughts entered my head saying "ugh, dont really want to do this event", but I blocked them out and just ran comfortable. Really didnt push at all and let the leading guys go off. Came through the bell in 75.5ish which was very encouraging as felt at that moment that I had so much left in the legs, and I just let rip on the final lap, went past one guy, and actually closed on the tail enders of the lead group of 6. Coming into the homestraight the time showed 2:10. I was certain I'd get 2:30. I gave it everything but alas I ran out of time and crossed the line in 2:31.10, a PB by 3.80 seconds. Very happy, but a part of me was sickened to not get under 2:30. Even splits though.

Triple Jump:

Went straight over to this event after the 800m. Was completely knackered after the 800m, but did it anyway. Decided to take a shorter run-up as I was fouling a lot on the long jump with a long run-up. First attempt was 8.85m, which was 8cm off my PB. 2nd attempt was 8.97m, a PB by 4cm. Unfortunately I lost concentration on the last jump and stepped with the wrong foot and fouled. I was told I was perfect on the board. There was a 9 metre jump there but not today. Another day.

4x400m relay

We have 2 teams in the relays. As most of our fastest guys weren't here I was put into the A team on the anchor leg. I'd be touch and go for a place on our B team if we had everybody there, so the team were always going to struggle. I was handed the batton at around 3:09 on the clock, easily in last place by 150m or so. There was literally no point in trying to run a low 60 second run against the clock as it wouldnt have made any difference, so I just made sure to get the batton around safely and jogged around in 75 seconds. Wasn't a particularly fun event. Running on your own is not enjoyable. Hopefully in the future I'll get to enjoy more competitive 4x400m relays.

So that's all from the first meet. 3 PB's so I guess I have to be happy enough.

Pisco Sour

Plan was to do 3 sessions this week, on Monday (today), Tuesday and Thursday, one speed, one endurance, and one hill. However I woke up this morning with a sore throat and am not feeling the best. The last time I ran after waking up with a sore throat I ended up with a chest infection and on antibiotics so I'm sitting it out tonight. It could have been a coincidence completely, but I'm not taking any chances.

If I am feeling better tomorrow then I'll do the 3 sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

If I'm not feeling much better and need an extra day off then I'll drop it to 2 sessions this week, on Wednesday and Thursday, just doing endurance and hill, and leaving the speed session out. I've a 400m on Saturday so I want to get some endurance and strength work done before then.

Bit annoying that a random sore throat has just popped up out of nowhere. Not the end of the world taking 1 or 2 days off though given how hard I pushed my body on Saturday.

Core strength session this evening and tomorrow evening in any case.

Pisco Sour

Sore throat is basically gone now (still not feeling the may west but more down to hayfever now, rather than the cold) so got back training this evening at last. First session since Saturday's track meet.

Am staying tonight in a different place than usual so I was running on a different surface, one which was very gravelly and therefore lacked any grip at all.

Did a 4x150m Hill session with 3 minute walk bacl breaks between each rep. Pushed hard on them all and the times were:

27(low) - 26(high) - 27(low) - 27(low)

Happy enough. Times a bit irrelevant given the surface I was running on.

28 degrees here today. I'm told this is considered a comfortably cool day given what they get in Summer time. Days regularly over 40 degrees.

Shins hurting a bit at the moment. Annoying!!

Pisco Sour

04072511 wrote: »

Good confidence boosting session today. Did 3x300m reps with 4 minute walk back breaks between each rep. Went at about 80%, and maybe 90% for the last rep. Pushed that bit more on the last rep, thinking that the increased effort would be compensated by fatigue, but to my delight I didn't tire and ran faster on that final rep.

My times were:

54(low) - 54(low) - 52(high)

Did this exact session today, except was going close to full out in all of them. Times were:

52(high) - 53(low) - 53(low)

That's my fastest set so far. Am still amazed that I did a 51 high as part of my pyramid session last week. I must have had a breeze behind me as I was pushing damn hard today and couldnt get close to that. Maybe the cold I have had has taken a fraction out of me. I was drained after this session. It didnt help that I had to walk 10 minutes from where I train, back to the house afterwards, in 29 degree burning heat. I usually have the quad bike to zip back on after a session but it's broken at the moment. That walk back was a killer.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. Meet 2 is this Saturday. 100m (please give me a tailwind for once!), Long Jump and 400m are the order of the day.

Pisco Sour

On the train back to Melbourne so with time to kill I thought I'd set my goals for tomorrow's meet:

100m - Hoping to get a bit of a tailwind for a change. Unfaortunately can't control the weather, but assuming conditions are reasonable I am hoping for a 13.1 or 13.2 run.

Long Jump - No pressure on me here. As I dont have to worry about scoring points for decathlon, I can just let rip on all 3 attempts. If I fould 3 times then so be it, nothing lost. So with that attitude I am hoping for 4.50m. I've done it before, but not in competition.

400m - Sub 61 seconds. Time to hopefully take more chunks off that PB.

Pisco Sour

60.6 seconds today for 400m. GET...THE....FUK....IN!!!! Still waiting on the official electronic results, which could be a few days, but in any case it's a PB by over a second.

Things hadn't gone superbly before that. I don't have a time yet for the 100m but it felt average, probably 13.6, 13.7ish. Hard to know though, maybe the others ran a blinder rather than me running poorly, but I didn't feel like I ran a particularly great one.

Long Jump was 4.25m, which is a competition best for me, but still way down on what I have done in training with the club, and when mucking about on the track in Belfield last year.

Report to follow.

Pisco Sour

Official results wont be published for a few days but my coach got hold of them and sent me the following. He was in my 100m race and was about 2-3 metres ahead of me:

Official result - 60.9, 100m 14.35 in to a 1.7 headwind (sorry, I thought it felt much faster than that, I'm pretty gutted, I thought I had run well but only got a 13.87

The hand timing was a bit off for the 400m (was done by one of our coaches, not by official handtimers) but I'm still thrilled with a sub 61. I've now knocked 3 seconds off my time this season. Just 1 second to go

That 100m time is absolutely appalling. So appalling that it doesn't seem believeable. I knew I didn't run well, but WTF!!!!!

RandyMann

04072511 wrote: »

Official results wont be published for a few days but my coach got hold of them and sent me the following. He was in my 100m race and was about 2-3 metres ahead of me:

Official result - 60.9, 100m 14.35 in to a 1.7 headwind (sorry, I thought it felt much faster than that, I'm pretty gutted, I thought I had run well but only got a 13.87

The hand timing was a bit off for the 400m but I'm still thrilled with a sub 61. I've now knocked 3 seconds off my time this season. Just 1 second to go

That 100m time is absolutely appalling. So appalling that it doesn't seem believeable. I knew I didn't run well, but WTF!!!!!

Well done on the 400m. Which did you do first, the 400m or the 100m?

Pisco Sour

RandyMann wrote: »

Well done on the 400m. Which did you do first, the 400m or the 100m?

100m first, then Long Jump then 400m. I like it like that. It means I'm properly loosened up and in competition mode for my favourite event.

RandyMann

04072511 wrote: »

100m first, then Long Jump then 400m. I like it like that. It means I'm properly loosened up and in competition mode for my favourite event.

Ok, well that 400m time is impressive, looks like this is your distance.
Seeing that the 100m is mostly power, I would say that it would improve considerably if you did a weights programme but its hard to fit in everything when you compete in so many events.
I would not dwell too much on the 100m performance. It may have been inadequate warmup? I was last out of the blocks in my 100m race and I put it down to poor warmup and inexperience with starting blocks.

Pisco Sour

RandyMann wrote: »

Ok, well that 400m time is impressive, looks like this is your distance.
Seeing that the 100m is mostly power, I would say that it would improve considerably if you did a weights programme but its hard to fit in everything when you compete in so many events.
I would not dwell too much on the 100m performance. It may have been inadequate warmup? I was last out of the blocks in my 100m race and I put it down to poor warmup and inexperience with starting blocks.

Yeh it didnt feel good and my shins were a bit sore in the warm up which didnt make me feel good going into the race (they were nicely loosened up by the time of the 400m thankfully). I've done 13.4 (albeit handtimed 13.33 to be exact) a few weeks ago, so theres no doubt 1 second off that is a shocking performance, but I guess my 400m time showed that perhaps I wasnt loosened up enough for the 100m.

Pisco Sour

So after a solid opening to the season last weekend where I record PB's in the 200m, 800m and Triple Jump, I was in confident mood going into the 2nd meet of the season where I hoped to better my 400m PB of 61.80 seconds, set 4 weeks previously.

The last week's training wasn't ideal, with a sore throat putting me out of training for a couple of days but I got 2 good sessions in so was ready to go.

100m:

When warming up for this I just didnt feel right. My shins were aching me. A sort of shin splints type of feeling, which is a bit odd considering I dont put in many miles anymore. Anyway I did a good lot of strides to try loosen myself up but I just didnt feel completely loose.

I didnt run the race well, and finished last, although just 3-4 metres down on the winner (who was my coach, who I pipped in the 200m last week). Losing to him wasnt a good sign as a result, but I gave the race the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he ran a blinder, like a 12.9 and my result wasnt too bad. Nobody hand timed us and as the official results didnt come out until a day later I had no way of knowing. As it turned out it was a good thing I didnt find out the result as it could have damaged the confidence going into my 400m. I ran 14.35 seconds, into a 1.7 headwind, and my coach won in 13.87, which was way slower than he felt he ran. Overall it was a head scratcher.

I didnt run well, and I suppose I could make some excuses (my shins, my lane being quite wet from an earlier downpour of rain), and maybe the shins did affect me, more with regards to not loosening them up more. Maybe I should have done a much longer warm up. Who knows. I dont think I went 100% all out in the run, but more so because I dont think at that moment I was capable of fully giving it everything, rather than we conciously trying to hold back.

A shocking result. One to forget.

Long Jump:

This event really helped me for the 400m, as after I finished this I was nicely loosened up and my shins were not bothering me anymore.

My actual performance wasn't great. Jumped 4.01, 4.25 and 4.19.

4.25m is a competition best by 0.01m but it is way below what I can do. I was told I wasn't getting much lift off my jumps.

400m

Conditions were perfect for this event. Very little wind (felt it a bit with 120m to go), not hot or cold, track had dried significantly since the downpour earlier that day.

My coach was in my heat in Lane 1, and I was given lane 4. He said to me "I'll be very disappointed if you dont beat me here, as I have already done 9 events today". Cheers for putting that pressure on me As it turned out he wasnt a threat and ran 65 seconds, as he was well and truly jaded from doing basically every event on the programme that day, except the hurdles and walk (I still havent decided whether this is admirable or insane).

Anyway, the gun went off, and I ran the race like I have always done. Went off reasonably hard but conservatively. The guy on my inside went off like a man possessed and ate up the stagger on me after 50m. I called his bluff though and 100m later I had gone back past him. When I hit 200m to go, I felt great and really pushed to 100% effort. It was a long run for home and I wasnt prepared to take the foot off the gas from here on in. I was in 4th place out of 8 coming into the homestraight. The lactic acid had started to kick in with about 140m to go, but didnt get a whole lot worse after that. I ended up finishing in 4th place and knew I had run a good one. My other coach did a rough hand time and told me it was 60.6 seconds, which I was over the moon with. He told me I ran the race absolutely perfectly. The only thing that let me down was that I tied up a bit in the last 50m (I didnt feel like I had tied up badly to be honest), but more endurance training over the coming weeks will take care of that problem.

The official result (electronic timing to the nearest one hundreth of a second) confirmed I ran under 61 seconds, with a new PB of 60.90 seconds. A huge PB. Absolutely delighted with that. Getting closer to that sub 60 every race.

Some stats from the 400m:

My heat: 4th out of 8
Men: 50th out of 93
Overall: 54th out of 139

Was also the highest performer from my club, albeit with all our top guys not there it must be mentioned.

So a day that started off terribly, finished in style

Groin has been a bit sore the last day or so since the race so sat out training today. Hoping to kick this week off tomorrow. Next saturday is round 3 of the AV Shield with 200m, 800m and Triple Jump being the focus again.