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

Chivito550

Frustrating session all round this morning. I went out for a few beers last nite, and while I didn't drink too much, I stayed out for the first half of the Ireland game so didn't get to sleep til 3am, and got less than 5 hours sleep. The night was dreadfully uncomfortable with temperatures being over 30 degrees throughout. By the time training started it was about 35 degrees, and a bit humid also. I drank a lot of water both last nite, and this morning to keep hydrated but it clearly didn't fully work.

Session was 3 x (250, 1 minute recovery, 100) with 10 min recoveries between sets. 250s to be run at 400m race pace, and then whatever is left for the 100m.

My first set I timed the 250 in 36.6, which seems a tad slow, although I think I stopped the watch a little after the 250 mark, so 35 might be more realistic. Didn't time the 100.

Then about 150m into the second 250 my left calf spasmed. This hasn't happened for quite awhile, and it never used to happen this early in a session which leads me to believe that this was down to dehydration. I decided to sit out the last set as from experience usually when it happens once in a session it will happen again.

Very frustrating. It's so unsatisfying to drag yourself out of bed (which was a challenge this morning) and across the city and to get bugger all out of the session. Not loving this weather!

Oregano_State

I think that your salt balance was off from sweating. Especially with the fact you were drinking. Electrolytes and all that jazz. Try throwing two teaspoons of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt (maybe a bit under) into 500ml of water (make sure to dissolve as much as possible) and getting it into you about an hour before training, or as soon as you wake up.

This doesn't just go for training, it's good for hangovers too.

Chivito550

Gym session this evening:

Bench Press: Lately I have rejoined the program I was doing before Christmas, when the change of gym disturbed my pattern. Today was 80%-85%-90%-95% of my max which was 175lbs

8 x 140lbs
8 x 150lbs
4 x 157lbs
2 x 167lbs

Leg Press: 3 sets of 8 x 476lbs

Deadlift:

6 x 75kg
6 x 77.5kg
6 x 80kg

Squat:

6 x 85kg
6 x 87.5kg
6 x 90kg

Core stuff also.

Chivito550

A speed session this evening. Same as last Tuesday with 3 x 180m flat out with 10 minute recoveries. I didn't time myself today and focused on running as fast as possible from a 3 point start. There were just 3 of us doing the session, along with a fairly handy girl (12.4 for 100m) who has recently joined the group doing 3 x 120m with us. I was around 5-7m down on one of my training partners who would be a good bit faster than me over 200m (ran 24.4ish last year) so was pleased with that. Was wearing the flats, as was he.

Chivito550

Weekly massage followed by gym session. Stuff came up and got delayed getting to the gym and by the time I got there I was a bit underfuelled so I felt a bit tired during my session.

Bench Press: Back to 75%-80%-85%-90% of max:

8 x 132lbs
8 x 140lbs
7 x 150lbs
4 x 157lbs

Leg Press: 3 sets of 8 x 476lbs

Goodmornings: 3 sets of 10 x 45kg

Deadlifts:

6 x 80kg
6 x 82.5kg
6 x 82.5kg

Struggled with the last set due to fatigue.

I weighed myself first thing this morning at 63.1kg (138.8lbs) so at the moment I am performing at the following relative to body weight:

Bench Press:

Max: 1 x 172lbs (1.26 times body weight)
95%: 2 x 167lbs (1.20 times body weight)

Leg Press:

8 x 476lbs (3.43 times body weight)

Though with the angle of the machine they say multiply by 0.7 which would be:

8 x 333lbs (2.40 times body weight)

Squats:

At a guess, about an inch or two above parallel. Might be closer to parallel than that. When I used to do box squats I may have been slightly below parallel.

6 x 90kg (1.43 times body weight)

Deadlifts:

6 x 82.5kg (1.31 times body weight)

Don't know what I could max at in the squat and deadlift but I'm not too bothered.

A friend of mine is putting on a low key unofficial meet in Geelong this Saturday for people who want to get another race in, so looks like I'll get an extra 400m race in.

Chivito550

One of my favourite sessions again yesterday. 3 sets of 3 x 60m from a walking start, with a set of standing jumps in the sand pit (single jump, double jump, triple jump) after each set. I felt good during the 60s and wasn't too far off one of the guys who'd be about 3 to 3 and a half seconds quicker than me over 400m right now. He may not have been in top form though. He was in spikes and I was in flats. Overall pretty encouraging.

My race this Saturday is going to be hand timed. Usually that would be annoying, but it's a low key meet put on at the last minute to give some people another race before Victorian Champs so I can't complain, it's better than no race. The only thing is, if I run 54 there will always be that lingering doubt. They say you have to round to the slower tenth of a second and then add 0.14 to your 400m hand time (0.24 for 100 and 200) but that assumes the person doing the timing knows what he/she is doing, which hopefully will be the case.

Chivito550

55.7 hand timed for 400m in a very low key race in Geelong. A little slower than hoped but good to get one last 400m in before State Championships in 2 weeks time and hopefully that 54!

Report later.

Chivito550

Track was unavailable this morning so we went to a very nice cricket oval which wasn't being used. Coach told me to leave the flats behind and just use the road running shoes. Our warm up consisted of 10 run throughs of approximately 80m, which is more than normal, so it sort of formed part of the session.

Next up was 6 x 170m with walk back recovery. I'm not sure of the exact distance but it was definitely between 150m and 200m so I am taking a guess at the distance. Coach told me to run it sensibly and not sprinting. Recoveries ranged from 1:43 to 2:10. Times were:

26.5 - 26.4 - 26.4 - 26.8 - 26.1 - 25.1

I pushed it a lot more on the last rep as I felt pretty good.

Afterwards we did another set of run throughs, this time 5 x 100m, to finish off the session.

Chivito550

With the Victorian Junior Championships on this weekend there was no other official racing going on throughout the state. A mate of mine however decided to organise a very low key unofficial meet down in Geelong for those who wanted a run. As I had no alternative I was delighted to take part.

The meet itself involved hand timing, and there was no starting gun, but rather the starter clapped his hands to simulate the starting gun. Sounds a bit mad, but it's not an official meet and it's better than no race at all, so I certainly had no issue with this.

Conditions were fairly decent. Sunny, a bit of a wind but it didn't seem too strong. Temperatures comfortable in the mid 20s but it was very humid so I was sweating buckets in the warm up.

400m:

I didn't take too much of a look at who was in the race. I was in lane 5, the mate who organised the race was in lane 6, one of the best 400m Hurdlers in Victoria was in lane 4, and a few others inside him.

I had a bit of a nightmare getting my blocks right as a fair few of them were a bit faulty, but eventually I got it sorted. It was a strange feeling sitting in the blocks waiting for a clap sound rather than a gun and I was afraid I wouldn't hear it. Thankfully I heard it ok and got out of the blocks without too much delay. Start was fairly average, but it was the first 60m that could have been a bit better. I don't think I attacked it with as much vigour compared to recent races. The lad in lane 4 went past me very quickly which was to be expected as he is a 49 second runner. Entering the backstraight and a gap is developing between me and lane 6. I definitely feel I was much more conservative here compared to recently and cruised pretty much all the way to 150m to go. At about half way a lad in lane 3 comes up on me, and from there on in it was a battle to the line between the 2 of us. I kicked on with 150m to go, knowing that I needed to finish very strong given my slower start (which wasn't helped by a mild headwind down the backstraight.

Entering the straight I am feeling good and am starting to motor. No noticeable lactic on this occasion. I'm about 6m down on this lad entering the straight and by the end I am just 2-3m down on him. It was a strong finish, but overall not my best race. Finished 4th out of 6.

The time I was given was a hand timed 55.79, but the guy who timed it said that he got me a little late because of how close I was to the other guy, after pressing the button for him, he couldn't press it quick enough for me, so he said I would be a bit faster than that time. The other lad got 55.3.

Thankfully we arranged to get the race recorded on video and I hand timed it myself based on that and I got 55.6. We then slowed the video right down to get an exact time (to the nearest one hundreth of a second) that I crossed the line (great quality video on an iPad with the lad standing right on the finish line). We took the time I crossed the line and deducted the exact time in the video when the clap went off and it worked out to 55.77. However while the finish was accurate, I still think my friend was a tiny bit off at the start when he did this, maybe by a few hundreths. If there was electronic timing it probably would have been 55.8x, so overall I'm going to take this result as 55.7 seconds hand timed and leave it at that. In a funny way I am glad I didn't run a PB as, being a complete statistics nerd, it would have drove me completely mad not knowing whether I ran 54 or not!

To be honest I wasn't fully 100% up for this race. I definitely had the pre-race nerves, but the low key nature of it had me on some level saying to myself that it didn't really matter. So given that I am happy with this result as a very useful training exercise.

One thing I need to do now though is stop being happy with consistent 55 second runs. I'm starting to settle a bit too much, and I need to stop that now. I'm going all gun out now for a PB in 2 weeks time at State Championships. If I tell myself I will be happy with 55 then that is all I'll get, so I need to stop that. My post Christmas performances have been very good and I am very happy with them but it's time to stop settling and kick on with some more PBs and aim for my "second peak" of the season (my first being just before Christmas). Hopefully these PBs can start this Thursday in the 800m, and hopefully a 2:12, and then on Saturday in the 200m (if I get fair conditions).

Chivito550

Gym session:

Bench Press: 80%-85%-90%-95% of my max which was 175lbs

8 x 140lbs
7 x 150lbs
4 x 157lbs
2 x 167lbs

Leg Press: 3 sets of 8 x 476lbs

Deadlift:

6 x 80kg
6 x 82.5kg
6 x 85kg

Struggled a bit on the 85kg and had to take a couple of seconds rest after the first 4 reps before attempting the final 2.

Squat:

6 x 87.5kg
6 x 90kg
6 x 92.5kg

Core stuff also.

PBs for the squat and deadlift.

Chivito550

An unusual session this evening. With an 800m race coming up on Thursday this evening we did 6 x 200m at 800m pace with a walk back recovery. The recoveries were very long (3-4 minutes), and so we ended up going way faster than 800m pace. Times were:

27.6 - 29.2 - 28.6 - 29.2 - 29.1 - 28.1

Average was 28.6. The first rep was way too fast even though it felt very comfortable, so slowed it down to a more sensible pace after that (although I think I stopped the watch a metre or two too soon for the 3rd rep). The final rep I emptied the tank. With the exception of the first 40m of each rep none of these were run on the balls of my feet, as ran them more in an 800m style, rather than in a sprinting motion.

The 800m race on Thursday has been confirmed to have a a curved line start rather than from lanes. There's only 6 lanes on the Melbourne Uni track and the bends are insanely tight there so I can foresee chaos. Will need to run flat out the first 50m to try stay out of trouble!

After training this evening I spontaneously decided to do some javelin practice. One of the coaches who was coaching a bunch of kids kindly gave me a 10 minute private lesson and after a lot of shocking throws, something just clicked and now I am actually able to throw the thing without fouling. The distance is still rubbish (about 14-15m was my best one) but at least now the correct side of the javelin hits the ground first so I won't like like a total tit at the Victorian Decathlon Championships in less than 2 weeks time. Apparantly I am now getting too much height on my throws. Will certainly take that over what my throws used to look like.

I'm sure I'll pay for it tomorrow with a sore arm and back. Once you see such sudden progress it gets addictive and you end up saying "one more" about 10 times. Must have thrown over 20 throws which is silliness but I have my massage tomorrow so not to worry.

pconn062

6x200m with 3-4 minutes recovery is not an 800m session, no wonder you ran them too fast! Nice splits all the same though.

Chivito550

pconn062 wrote: »

6x200m with 3-4 minutes recovery is not an 800m session, no wonder you ran them too fast! Nice splits all the same though.

Yeh I think it was more a session to get 400m runners ready for an 800m race, rather than an actual 800m session. We have done many 800m type sessions earlier in the season: 8 x 200m with 1 minute recovery, 3 sets of 3 x 200m with 30 secs within each set, and 5 minutes between each set.

dna_leri

2:12 should be achievable for your 800 maybe even 2:10.
Sharpen your elbows and get out hard over the first 50m as you would for a 400 to stay out of trouble.
Go through 400 in 64-65s - still comfortable for a 400m runner.
You will suffer in the 2nd lap but a 67-68s split gives you a nice PB.

Chivito550

With this evening's 800m race coming up, I did a slightly easier gym session yesterday evening compared to Monday.

Weekly massage followed by the gym session.

Bench Press: Back to 75%-80%-85%-90% of max:

8 x 132lbs
8 x 140lbs
8 x 150lbs
4 x 157lbs

One-legged Leg Press: 3 sets of 8 x 196lbs on each leg

Goodmornings: 3 sets of 10 x 45kg

Squats:

6 x 87.5kg
6 x 90kg
6 x 92.5kg

800m race this evening.

Chivito550

2:15.9 for 800m at Vic Milers meet this evening to come second in my race. Second fastest time I've ever run, 0.7 off the PB. Horrendous wind down the backstraight scuppered my chances of a PB!

Report to come and there should be a video of the race also.

pconn062

What was your position though? Damn sprinters and there obsession with time!

Chivito550

pconn062 wrote: »

What was your position though? Damn sprinters and there obsession with time!

Chivito550 wrote: »

2:15.9 for 800m at Vic Milers meet this evening to come second in my race. Second fastest time I've ever run, 0.7 off the PB. Horrendous wind down the backstraight scuppered my chances of a PB!

Report to come and there should be a video of the race also.

Damn distance runners and their lack of attention to detail!

Results here: http://www.vicmilers.com/results/VMC%20Meet%204%202013-14%20800m%20Results.pdf

pconn062

Chivito550 wrote: »

Damn distance runners and their lack of attention to detail!

Results here: http://www.vicmilers.com/results/VMC%20Meet%204%202013-14%20800m%20Results.pdf

Ha, and I'm a little embarrassed now, good result. And don't insult me, I'm a middle distance runner, not a jogger!

Chivito550

Having run an 800m PB in meet 1 of this season's Vic Milers Club, I missed meets 2 and 3. Meet 2 had no 800m on the programme, and I skipped meet 3 in order to get ready for the 400m at the Victorian Country Championships. Since that PB of 2:15.2 I have run a couple of decent 800m of 2:18.00 and 2:17.76 after already having a 200m and 400m respectively in my legs. This meet would provide me an opportunity to run another 800m fresh and a legitimate shot at my PB, with a target of 2:12 being at the back of my mind.

800m:

The venue was Melbourne University, which is one of the best venues for atmosphere (our beer mile location) but is one of the very worst tracks one can run a race on. There are several holes on some of the outer lanes and the bends are astonishingly tight. Probably not severe enough problems over 800m, but I certainly would not like to run a sprint race on that track.

Conditions were far from idea. It was partly sunny/ partly cloudy with temperatures in the high teens which suited me fine, but the wind was astonishingly strong and knew I would be in for some severe trouble down the backstraight. Frustrating it has to be said but just had to get on with it.

Due to the track only having 6 lanes the 800m started on the curved line rather than in lanes, to fit more people into each race. Again this was far from ideal but I can understand why they needed to do this on this occasion. Fortunately there were only 8 people down for my race so it was less of a worry than it might have been (most heats had 9, some had 10).

There were 11 heats of the men's 800m in total. I was seeded into the 9th of 11 (the I race, with the programme running in reverse order starting with the K race and finishing with the A race). On paper I was the second fastest of the 8 of us going by recent best. One lad had a 2:13 and there was another guy with 2:16. The rest were between 2:17 and 2:20.

The only other time I had run 800m from a curved start was in Moscow in the World Championship media race and I wasn't prepared for it at all and it was carnage and I spent an age in lane 3 as I could not force myself into lane 1 ahead of the faster runners. On this occasion I decided I would use my speed to try get to the front quickly and get out of trouble. It was very unlikely that any of the other 7 would be as fast as me over 100, 200 and 400 so it seemed like the right call, go hard for 50m and then settle.

For most heats they call out our names before we start but either I missed it while striding or they didn't do it, and when I stepped on the line, the starter announced "on your marks" which threw me off momentarily. I reacted a couple of tenths slow to the gun before taking off. There was a bit of elbow bumping but as planned I got myself up towards the front quickly, and within about 50m I was in lane 1 in second place. Job done with regards to this aspect of the race. I was a bit worried I would get tripped so I was relieved once I got into lane 1, and whatever happened in the next moments I at least had my spot on the inside lane. Down the backstraight I eased into a comfortable pace, at which point about 3 athletes went past me. I reach the 200m mark in 32 seconds, which was a tiny bit slower than my 31 I went through when I ran my PB, but the wind probably played a small part in that. I didn't notice the wind much on the first 200m it has to be said.

Coming around the bend there is a bit of swapping for positions before things settled a little in the home straight. The leader went through in 61 I think and by the time I reached the bell in 66 seconds I was in about 5th place.

As I reached the bell I kicked up the pace. My race starts here, being a 400m runner, is what I tell myself. I went past one lad, and upped the effort levels significantly. I feel I am moving well, that is until the backstraight when I get flattened by a crazy headwind. I'm well down on the next guy ahead of me so I have no protection from the elements. I'm also thinking to myself that the times people put down must be bullsh1t as I was supposed to be second on paper and here I am well down the field. I reach the bell in 1:42, meaning I took around 36 seconds for the third 200m which was damaging. I knew now that a PB would be touch and go and hoped the wind could bring me home fast down the home straight.

At around 200m to go some lad sprints past me in a moment of stupidity because 50m later I go right back past him with ease. I am pushing extremely hard now and with 150m to go I can feel a horrendous level of lactic building up. As I enter the straight I go past one lad and to my pleasant surprise I find myself in third place, higher than I though I was. I am now running flat out and am in excruciating pain but I am flying. With 100m to go I am about 20m down on second place, but the poor lad was dying a death and with about 30m to go I sailed past him and got him by about a second and a half. The winner, who had an entry time of 2:19 took it out in 2:12.1, with myself in second place with 2:15.9, which was frustratingly just 0.7 seconds down on my PB, my second fastest time I've ever run.

I believe I would have run a PB had it not been for the very strong wind, though probably more in the 2:14 range, rather than 2:12. Maybe the track itself isn't the best for fast times, or maybe that makes no difference. Who knows. I do believe it was a PB in performance levels, if not on the clock, so I'll take confidence from this that I am pretty fit right now and is a good sign ahead of State Championship 400m next weekend.

Day off today, before tackling some more races tomorrow morning. Round 10 of the Shield takes us back to Albert Park, and a 200m followed by my second 800m in about 40 hours.

ecoli

Looking at your race report I still reckon you have a 2.10-2.12 in you. Personally I think you might be running your first 200 a little too hard given that you are relying on your ability over shorter distances.

Generally strength based runners tend to go hard from the gun while more speed based runners aim to try and wind it up in the second half of the race. Running 31-32 opening is hard and is gonna to be very difficult for you to maintain and could even negate the effect of a kick (Either by not having one or slowing too much in the 3/4 that it cancels out the time made with winding it up) I reckon your speed would stand to you more by going out in 33-34 pace and trying to up it from there (thats still close PB pace or quicker)

(Just an opinion)

Chivito550

ecoli wrote: »

Looking at your race report I still reckon you have a 2.10-2.12 in you. Personally I think you might be running your first 200 a little too hard given that you are relying on your ability over shorter distances.

Generally strength based runners tend to go hard from the gun while more speed based runners aim to try and wind it up in the second half of the race. Running 31-32 opening is hard and is gonna to be very difficult for you to maintain and could even negate the effect of a kick (Either by not having one or slowing too much in the 3/4 that it cancels out the time made with winding it up) I reckon your speed would stand to you more by going out in 33-34 pace and trying to up it from there (thats still close PB pace or quicker)

(Just an opinion)

Hard to know. In a race before Christmas I went out in 34 and still only managed a 2:18 (admittedly I had run a 200m before it). They say the first 200m is always going to be quicker due to the 5-6 seconds of free energy at the start. I've another crack at it this morning, but after a 200m on this occasion.

Chivito550

Solid day at Shield meet today. 25.61 for 200m, into a -0.1 headwind, my 3rd best time, 0.17 off the PB. A bit disappointing. The 200m has been a frustrating event this season. Conditions weren't the best though. A bit on the cold side, slightly wet track, and headwind for the first 100m. 45 mins later ran 2:15.69 for 800m, my second best time, just half a second down on the PB. Pleasing run after having a 200 in the legs, and my second 2:15 in the space of 40 hours. Finished off with a bit of banter in the shot putt and a PB of 6.75m. Roll on Vic Champs 400m and decathlon next weekend.

Will throw up a report later.

dna_leri

ecoli wrote: »

Looking at your race report I still reckon you have a 2.10-2.12 in you. Personally I think you might be running your first 200 a little too hard given that you are relying on your ability over shorter distances.

Generally strength based runners tend to go hard from the gun while more speed based runners aim to try and wind it up in the second half of the race. Running 31-32 opening is hard and is gonna to be very difficult for you to maintain and could even negate the effect of a kick (Either by not having one or slowing too much in the 3/4 that it cancels out the time made with winding it up) I reckon your speed would stand to you more by going out in 33-34 pace and trying to up it from there (thats still close PB pace or quicker)

(Just an opinion)

I would disagree with 800m strategy for 400m runners. Speed based runners will not have the aerobic strength to wind it up in the 2nd half. A 64-65s opening lap will be relatively easy for a 55s 400m guy and could still do a 68 2nd lap. Whereas a distance runner should go closer to even splits since he has the strength to finish without slowing down as much as the sprinter.

Chivito550

Last night in Melbourne was White Night, which is a concept borrowed from Paris, where the centre of the city shuts down and becomes a centre for a celebration of music, creative arts, movement and lights. Something like 500,000 people were in the city last night and the event runs from 7pm to 7am, with over 100 different attractions on the various streets and laneways. It's a fantastic event.

The downside to all of this is that I didn't get to sleep until about 3:30 so I only got 4 and a half hours sleep before getting up for training this morning. However I made a great decision to stay away from the heavy boozing last night and just had one bottle (no alcohol is allowed on the streets, only in the usual bars and restaurants which must have cleaned up last night with the huge crowds around). So I was able to battle the tiredness. Had there been a hangover to deal with on top of this it would have been grim. However my legs felt heavy during the warm up. Not only did I have a 200m and 800m yesterday but at White Night I spent the best part of 7 hours walking and standing on my feet. It really takes it out of you.

Session this morning was 2 x (300 -2 mins recovery - 100) with 20 minutes recovery between each set. Coach timed us so I could focus fully on starting properly from a 3 point start. Times were:

40.3 - 13.7
42.3 - 13.7

The 100m times are pretty rough times. My first 300m I felt great. This is the fastest I have ever run a 300m rep, and on a poor track and in flats. This brings a lot of confidence ahead of Vic Champs next Friday. The second 300m rep I felt a fair bit of lactic in the legs and I think the lack of sleep and the White Night started to catch up on me. Coach reckons I lost a bit of concentration during that rep also. It didn't feel great so was surprised it was a 42.

Coach says I will run a PB next weekend. Lets hope he is right.

ecoli

dna_leri wrote: »

I would disagree with 800m strategy for 400m runners. Speed based runners will not have the aerobic strength to wind it up in the 2nd half. A 64-65s opening lap will be relatively easy for a 55s 400m guy and could still do a 68 2nd lap. Whereas a distance runner should go closer to even splits since he has the strength to finish without slowing down as much as the sprinter.

I think its an interesting debate (rather than clog up the training log probably best to move this to middle distance thread here

Chivito550

ecoli wrote: »

I think its an interesting debate (rather than clog up the training log probably best to move this to middle distance thread here

Fire away here guys. All debate welcomed on here.

Chivito550

In light of the 800m debate, here's the video of my 800m race at Vic Milers last Thursday evening. Certainly nothing wrong with my finish here .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNy6ww_QPpc

Chivito550

Will write the report of Saturday's Shield meet soon but first an update on this evening's gym session.

Beginning the taper now ahead of Friday evening's 400m State Championship race. Took out the squats completely.

Bench Press: 80% - 85% - 90% - 95% of max of 175lbs

8 x 140lbs
8 x 150lbs
5 x 157lbs
1 x 167lbs

Leg Press: 3 sets of 8 x 476lbs

Deadlifts: 3 sets of 6 x 80kg, dropping back the weight just a tad from last week.

And some core stuff also.

Will have a very light gym session on Wednesday with very little leg work.

Chivito550

After Round 9 being cancelled due to extreme heat we were back to AV Shield action with Round 10 at Albert Park, with an unusual morning time start. The early kick off meant the atmosphere around the venue was a bit flat with lower than usual numbers, though it did pick up as the morning went on.

200m:

Conditions weren't great. The track was wet from on and off light rain during the morning, the temperatures were on the colder (by Melbourne standards) side, and there was a fairly strong cross wind blowing into competitors faces around the bend. Overall, the morning kick off was not ideal for a good 200m on this occasion.

I went in the 3rd heat. I was in lane 7, with a club mate of mine (not a training partner though) who is around a 26 mid runner in lane 8. The other 6 guys I didn't know much about with the exception of one lad from Collingwood who is around a 25 second runner whenever he does 200s (is an 800m runner).

My start was solid, got out hard but the wind was tough, both at the start, and as I came off the end of the bend. The entire field inside me ate up the stagger on me by the time I entered the bend, with the exception of one lad who ran 28 seconds and was clearly in the wrong heat. I was level with my club mate as I entered the bend. I expected to be ahead of him at this stage but to be fair he runs a decent 100m with around 12.8 being his best. Once on the straight my far superior speed endurance meant I eased away from him (he's only a 59 second 400m runner). As I'm running down the straight I could feel the wind, which felt like a headwind, but the eventual wind reading hints that it must have been almost a complete cross wind. The final 40m were tough and my legs were starting to feel very wobbly (a sensation that only seems to happen in 200s) but I held myself together to cross the line in 6th place out of 8, just beaten by the lad from Collingwood and the guy on my inside by the tiniest margin in a blanket finish between us.

The wait for the times was crazy long, and I wasn't rewarded with a PB for my patience. A clocking of 25.61 seconds into a -0.1 m/s headwind, which doesn't tell the real story about how the wind impacted our performances (a real flaw with regards the 200m IMO), my 3rd fastest time ever, just 0.17 seconds off my PB, and in conditions that were not conducive to fast running. Perhaps I should have been happy, but I wasn't. This was my final 200m for the season and it summed up my season with regards this event, frustration. I've taken huge chunks off my 100m, 400m and 800m times this season, yet over 200m, my PB has only come down by a couple of tenths. It is the event that I get conditions for the least. I wanted to run sub 25 this season, or at least get down to the 25.2 range, but I'll have to be satisfied with 25.44 which I don't think reflects how fast I can run the distance. In any case, the 200m is only a means to an end, so as long as I hit my 400m targets then I won't worry too much.

800m:

Just 40 hours after my run in the Vic Milers meet and I was back on the start line for another 800m. While the conditions were not great for 200m, they were pretty nice for the 800m, as the lower temperatures suited somebody like me who doesn't enjoy running the distance in hot weather. The colder weather made the recovery after the 200m easier also, and 45 minutes later I was in the start line ready to go.

The heat had 10 people in my heat, the 3rd heat, with 6 of them being from Collingwood, including some very decent juniors. The 2 from that club that I kept an eye on was an O40 lad and an U18 guy, both who would be around the 2:13 mark. Also in the heat was a clubmate of mine who shared lane 6 with me. Our backgrounds couldn't be more different, albeit we are similar ages. He's very much a distance runner, and his speed is very poor. He's run some fairly decent times across a range of distances over the last few months (77 minute half marathon, 35 flat for 10k, 17 low for 5k, sub 10 for 3k, and 4:37 for 1500m). His only previous 800m was from last year and a 2:23ish, and he was in much better shape now and he said he hoped to run 2:15. I decided to go in his heat as I was shooting for a PB and 2:14.

The gun went off and I used the 5-6 seconds of free energy, shooting past my slow twitched club mate (who afterwards said he was trying to go flat out the first 50m also, he just has no real speed). After 50m I settled and by the time we reached the 100m mark and the break, my club mate had gone past me. By 200m he had opened up a 1 second gap on me and I was sitting second from the rear of the field. I ran the first 200m in 32 seconds.

The second 200m I kept relaxed but at a decent pace, perhaps one of my better second 200s I have done and reached the bell in around high 65/ low 66. However I was still second last. At this point I upped the effort levels. My club mate was now a good 2 seconds ahead of me, and his superior endurance was too much for me. To beat him I needed to be close to him with 200m to go and then outkick him, but the gap was now too big and he was gone. Closer to me were the 2 Collingwood guys however, and I was only about a second and a half down on them, so I dug deep to stick as close to them as possible down the backstraight and not loose contact with them. I reached the 600 mark in 1:40, and I am 2 seconds up on where I was at the same point 2 nights previously. However on that occasion I had a strong tailwind the last 200m and perhaps a bit more in the tank. This time I had to battle the wind in the closing stages, and growing fatigue, perhaps the 200m earlier taking the edge off my finishing kick. I didn't seem to have the energy to real in the 2 lads ahead of me, and on some level I think my mind gave up on it also when the body hinted it couldn't go faster. I was giving it everything I could muster at the time, but perhaps my focus wasn't the best the last 100m, maybe a product of fatigue. Despite this, the 1:40 at 600m had me thinking I would definitely get a PB, so when I stopped my watch at 2:15 I was a bit disappointed to begin with, but after a minute or so I was very satisfied with what was a very solid run. Official time was 2:15.69, my second fastest time ever, just half a second down on the PB, and backing up my 2:15.9 from just 40 hours earlier, and with a 200m in the legs already. Hard not to be pleased with it. My club mate performed brilliantly to record 2:12.8, and the 2 Collingwood guys both recorded times of 2:13.

A nice side effect of this result is that it puts me in a commanding position to take at least the silver medal in our Club Championships now, with an outside chance of becoming Club Champion.

Shot Putt:

After a hard morning's work it was time to kick back and have a bit of fun with the shot putt. My first throw was 6.30m, my second 6.51m, but my 3rd turned out to be a nice PB of 6.75m, bettering my previous best by 0.17cm. Hopefully I can go over the 7m barrier next weekend.

So that's my final competition before this coming weekend's State Championships. Friday night I will compete in the 400m, where I will hope to peak for the season and run 54 seconds. The competition will be fierce. There are 49 of us entered, including Alexander Rowe (around 12th in the Moscow last year over 800m) Sean Wroe, former 45.0 guy. I'll be one of the slowest in the field, but that doesn't bother me. Hopefully the occasion and the high quality opposition, and hopefully decent conditions will drag me around to the PB I think my training deserves. The following 2 days will be my annual visit to the world of multi-eventing and the decathlon where I will get another crack at the 400m, along with a range of other events. Always one of the highlights of the calendar, but I'm not thinking much about it until Friday evening's 400m is out of the way. Here's hoping for a memorable weekend ahead.