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

Chartsengrafs

That sounds like a lot of fun. Best of luck.

Chivito550

Speed session in miserable weather this morning. 2 x (3 x 60), with the first set from 3 point start and the second set from a rolling start. I just did 2 of each because I have a couple of races tomorrow and I don't want to be feeling tight for it. Since the injury I've been feeling tight the day after speed work.

60m at sometime between 11:30am and noon, and a 200m after 4pm. There is no hope of anything running to schedule with every kid in Connacht being there tomorrow. Set to be a long day, but the pros of going down will hopefully outweigh the cons.

Chivito550

First races back today at Connacht Indoors since that awful injury back in November. 8.33 for 60m (ran 8.05 and 8.16 last indoor season) and then at the end of a long day 26.96 for 200m from lane 3 (25.66 from lane 6 last season). Can't say I'm pleased with the times, but not all that surprised. The crazy long delays in the programme didn't help but am way off my best. Will still probably do Nationals next weekend but will have to give it some thought. Nice to be back racing in this great indoor facility all the same.

Chivito550

My first visit to Athlone this winter, for my first race of the indoor season, long awaited after suffering a terrible injury back in November. The events I entered were the 60m and the 200m.

The 60m was scheduled for 11:30am, but the organisers would not guarantee that the timetable would not run early so I had no option but to get the early bus down, and I arrived at 9:45am. At about 10:30am they start calling the first set of 60m runners, under 14s I think it was. I ask what is going on, and they said that it looks like it will run an hour early.

So off I go to start my warm up. A few 400m runners who I know are warming up for their event, so I chat briefly with them as I go through my stretches. It felt weird watching people warm up for an event that I would normally be competing in too.

After about 5 minutes of warm up I notice nothing is happening on the inner 60m track so I stop my warm up and opt to start from scratch as soon as the first 60m starts. The seniors are scheduled last (given how unimportant we seem to be relative to younger athletes!), and so all the underage races need to be run first. The under 14 girls are in their blocks soon after, when an announcement is made that they are pushing back the 60m to the planned time of 11:30, so the poor girls had to walk out of their blocks, and come back around 40 minutes later. I had never seen such a mess.

At this time I get chatting to one lad from Leevale who was running in the 60m and 200m, and spent a good lot of the day with him. Always nice to meet new people. Like myself, his patience was starting to wear thin about the disorganisation and delays.

I began my warm up at around 11:30, and it wasn't until 1:10 before I eventually raced. There was simply no way I could know how many heats of the 60m would be before me, so I was faced with the possibility of being under warmed up or over warmed up, depending on when I started. By the time I raced it was starting to feel like I was doing a session, given the amount of strides I did. In addition they were conducting 60m races at the same time as 1500m and walk races, which had the potential for absolute disaster, but they somehow managed to make it work.

60m:

There were 12 of us entered in the senior men's 60m, so there were 2 heats of 6, which were drawn at random and were unseeded. I was in the first heat, with an outside lane 7. It turned out I ended up in by far the stronger heat and was detached from the very start, running 8.33 seconds, about 0.7 down on everyone else. In the second heat there were a couple of guys slower than me, and a couple of guys running just under 8 seconds. Perhaps I could have mustered a few extra hundreths if I was in that heat, but overall the time was very poor, given I ran 8.05 and 8.16 last year. But I got through the race fine, despite the groin area feeling tight during the race.

200m:

Thankfully a lot of people had left by the time the 200m was on, so the wait wasn't quite as painful, though it was still impossible to plan the ideal warm up. I popped down to the 200m track to do some strides on the bend, given I haven't run on such a tight track in almost a year.

There were 13 of us divided into 3 heats. On this occasion they seeded it, and I was in the second heat, which contained 5 athletes, and I drew lane 3, a tight lane.

I think I was so tired from the long day that when I walked onto the track with my fellow competitors, a moment of madness descended on me, and I just assumed our race was next. So I walk over to lane 3 and start adjusting the blocks, to the dismay and confusion of the chap who was about to run his race. As it turned out it would be another 10 minutes or so before I raced, so I kept warm on the inner track.

In lane 4 was a lad who at first glance I thought was Peter Stringer. He was the absolute spitting image. That would have been quite awesome. Then it dawned on me that there is no way on earth Stringer would be spending his Sunday afternoon in AIT racing over one lap of the track at the Connacht Championships! In any case he said he'd be running 27 seconds when they were seeding the races. So I reckoned I should be past him at half way, as I expected to run a 26.

Gun went off, and the lad in lane 2 tears past me in no time. I turn onto the backstraight to find that Stringer has opened a gap on me. He must have been sandbagging a bit with his predictions. I try to power around the final bend, and at this time I go past the guy in lane 6 who is making painful noises, which were actually quite distracting. I thought he was having a heart attack or something. I start to close on Stringer lookalike down the home straight but not by nearly enough, finishing about 5m down on him, to come 4th of 5, and 10th of 13 overall.

It actually felt quite good, so I was very disappointed to see such a slow time of 26.96 seconds. This was 1.30 seconds down on what I ran last year. Admittedly that was from lane 6, so even allowing for maybe 0.3 difference because of the poor lane draw, I was still a full second off my time from last year. I expected this, but it's still disappointing when you see these times pop up.

I'm happy I got through the 2 races and have laid down a marker in what were testing competition conditions. With no delays next week I should go quicker. By my groin area, while healed, is still tight, which is impacting my ability to run fast, and I'm getting very frustrated at how this after effect of the injury seems to be going nowhere.

A quick word on the meet. I wouldn't be overly critical, but it is very much a frustrating meet to be part of. The officials worked crazy long hours trying to put on the best event possible. It's a truly thankless job, and it's also an impossible job. There is simply no way an event like this can be organised well, and it really isn't the organisers fault on the day. I don't think all junior age groups should be on the same day as senior. It makes the event feel like chaos, a circus, which can be dangerous at times on the warm up track, and in general it felt like a juvenille meet with token senior races. I do think seniors should be seen as the most important people at meets, but in this country there's a disproportionate amount of attention given to juvenilles.

I think maybe splitting it over 2 days would be better, having all the U14-U16 on one day, and the U17-Senior on another, but I assume if this was possible it would have been done by now.

I may still do the event again next year, but it certainly will be far down my list now.

Nationals next week to bring a close to the briefest of indoor seasons.

dna_leri

Chivito550 wrote: »

A quick word on the meet. I wouldn't be overly critical, but it is very much a frustrating meet to be part of. The officials worked crazy long hours trying to put on the best event possible. It's a truly thankless job, and it's also an impossible job. There is simply no way an event like this can be organised well, and it really isn't the organisers fault on the day. I don't think all junior age groups should be on the same day as senior. It makes the event feel like chaos, a circus, which can be dangerous at times on the warm up track, and in general it felt like a juvenille meet with token senior races. I do think seniors should be seen as the most important people at meets, but in this country there's a disproportionate amount of attention given to juvenilles.

I think maybe splitting it over 2 days would be better, having all the U14-U16 on one day, and the U17-Senior on another, but I assume if this was possible it would have been done by now.

I'm not going to defend bad organisation but it is predominantly a juvenile event with a senior race in which guests are permitted.
e.g. There were 50 girls U14 competing in the 60m and I think 5 Connacht men in the senior 60m.

You can argue whether seniors should be the most important people at this event. Personally I think the juveniles are more important.

I do think the officials could do a better job of estimating the start times based on the size of the fields and their experience but I saw only small gaps between events (other than lunch) and good use of call-room and lining up next races. I also had a long wait while the 120+ juveniles went through their 800m events.

Officials probably do not put as much value on the estimated start time as those who arrive for 1 or 2 events - they know that they are there all day anyway and so are most of the bus loads of juveniles.

The event is already split over 2 days - the U12 & U13s were on Saturday, so most of the officials were on their 2nd day volunteering on Sunday. A 3rd or 4th day could be possible (as the Leinsters do) but that would require more officials, cost and more travel by parents & coaches. Another option would be to deny guest entry but the net effect of that would be negligible.

Chivito550

dna_leri wrote: »

I'm not going to defend bad organisation but it is predominantly a juvenile event with a senior race in which guests are permitted.
e.g. There were 50 girls U14 competing in the 60m and I think 5 Connacht men in the senior 60m.

You can argue whether seniors should be the most important people at this event. Personally I think the juveniles are more important.

I do think the officials could do a better job of estimating the start times based on the size of the fields and their experience but I saw only small gaps between events (other than lunch) and good use of call-room and lining up next races. I also had a long wait while the 120+ juveniles went through their 800m events.

Officials probably do not put as much value on the estimated start time as those who arrive for 1 or 2 events - they know that they are there all day anyway and so are most of the bus loads of juveniles.

The event is already split over 2 days - the U12 & U13s were on Saturday, so most of the officials were on their 2nd day volunteering on Sunday. A 3rd or 4th day could be possible (as the Leinsters do) but that would require more officials, cost and more travel by parents & coaches. Another option would be to deny guest entry but the net effect of that would be negligible.

Points taken. I wasn’t trying to be critical of the people involved. It seems like a complete nightmare for all concerned, and they did their best to make it work as smoothly as possible. If they gave an indication as to how long it would take before the seniors would be racing then that would have worked well and would have been appreciated. They had the entries in advance for each distance. I don’t think there were on the day entries (could be wrong), so they could have made a rough estimate of what time we would be on. I don’t think it is acceptable to tell a senior athlete to be ready at any particular time between 11am and 1am to race. They didn’t say these words, but it was the impression that came across. Seniors did come across as a bit of an afterthought. The chances are seniors are only running 1 or 2 events, so perhaps putting them on first before all the juvenilles could work too, as the juvenilles are more likely to be there all day anyway, doing multiple events.

I do stand by my comment that I believe seniors at these meets should be treated, at least, as importantly as juvenilles. The whole point of juvenile competition is so that they can progress to senior and stay in the sport hopefully for a long time. When senior athletics, outside of the elite level, is not see as important, it doesn’t exactly encourage people to stay in the sport IMO. Maybe it’s because I lived in Melbourne that I have this view. I always found there was equal emphasis on all age categories down there, and the numbers competing at senior level speak for themselves.

Oiriallach

Chivito550 wrote: »

The whole point of juvenile competition is so that they can progress to senior and stay in the sport hopefully for a long time. When senior athletics, outside of the elite level, is not seen as important, it doesn’t exactly encourage people to stay in the sport IMO.

Would definitely agree with those sentiments. This is something I've noticed more since I got involved in athletics again in recent years. I don't think it was as much the case when I was previously involved back in the 1980s, but that was perhaps because there was less of a distinction between "elite" and "non-elite" seniors back then (probably because there was very little additional support for the top athletes).

Chivito550

Oiriallach wrote: »

Would definitely agree with those sentiments. This is something I've noticed more since I got involved in athletics again in recent years. I don't think it was as much the case when I was previously involved back in the 1980s, but that was perhaps because there was less of a distinction between "elite" and "non-elite" seniors back then (probably because there was very little additional support for the top athletes).

I had a look back at the rankings from the 400m from my last season in Melbourne, and in AV Shield interclub competition (the equivalent of our National League) across the 12 rounds, 730 men competed at least once in the 400m across the state of Victoria. The breakdown was as follows:

U14, U16, U18, U20: 364
Senior: 202
40+: 164

% Senior and Masters: 50%

In the women’s there were 512 who competed at least once in the 400m. The breakdown was:

U14, U16, U18, U20: 312
Senior: 137
40+: 63

% Senior and Masters: 39%

If you look through the other events it would be much the same.

http://athsvic.org.au/rankings/?gender=Mens&group=All%20Ages&eventyear=2013/14%20Rankings&rankingsevent=400m

This really is in stark contrast to what I’ve experienced here. Over there there was a genuine buzz about the meets (maybe because all age groups from 14 up to infinity competed on the same day), while here we have a juvenile scene which appears to be thriving with numbers, clubs even have waiting lists they can’t cope with the demand, while the senior competition feels fairly dead (AAI Games being the prime example of an event which is lifeless). Ironically, the Connacht Championships is one of the best meets I have competed in for atmosphere, because there are so many people in the arena, but it’s a pity that senior meets can’t generate enough vibrancy.

One of the things I noticed from Sunday which I liked a lot was seeing Drogheda and District have so many people running the 400m in the 59+ second range in the senior competition. There is no reason why we shouldn’t have this calibre of runner competing for all clubs, rather than them ending up on the roads.

happygoose

Chivito550 wrote: »

One of the things I noticed from Sunday which I liked a lot was seeing Drogheda and District have so many people running the 400m in the 59+ second range in the senior competition. There is no reason why we shouldn’t have this calibre of runner competing for all clubs, rather than them ending up on the roads.

D&D AC have a good track ethos but they also massive numbers on the roads...really interested in seeing / hearing how they do it.

IvoryTower

happygoose wrote: »

D&D AC have a good track ethos but they also massive numbers on the roads...really interested in seeing / hearing how they do it.

I'm only with the club a year but in my experience it's incredibly inclusive. You're treated no different if you run a 5k in 60 min or 16 min. There's definitely a buzz about place the whole time and I guess through word of mouth it keeps growing. Everyone is invited to sprint no matter what level or even if they just want a change of scene from road racing. What usually happens is they urge everyone to get involved at the graded meets and the people that enjoy themselves keep up the track stuff.

Other than that it's the the good people in charge who love the club and want it to keep improving. They've bought fields near the track where there will be loads more room to train and for cross country to take place. If you want to coach they will send you on whatever courses etc. It's just well run I guess! Still lots of work to be done but they're on the right track to continue improving from what I can see

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

I'm only with the club a year but in my experience it's incredibly inclusive. You're treated no different if you run a 5k in 60 min or 16 min. There's definitely a buzz about place the whole time and I guess through word of mouth it keeps growing. Everyone is invited to sprint no matter what level or even if they just want a change of scene from road racing. What usually happens is they urge everyone to get involved at the graded meets and the people that enjoy themselves keep up the track stuff.

Other than that it's the the good people in charge who love the club and want it to keep improving. They've bought fields near the track where there will be loads more room to train and for cross country to take place. If you want to coach they will send you on whatever courses etc. It's just well run I guess! Still lots of work to be done but they're on the right track to continue improving from what I can see

That's all really great to hear. If all clubs could actively encourage its members to run track races then senior T&F would be in a far better state.

Chivito550

Monday: Gym

Right hamstring was very tight after Sunday's races so I decided not to do the Romanian Deadlifts. Other than that it was a full session.

A: Back Squats: 3 x 6 @ 60kg, 62.5kg, 65kg
B: Romanian deadlifts:
C: Shoulder Press: 3 x 4 @ 42.5kg, 42.5kg, 40kg
Chin-ups: 3 x 4 @ 6.25kg, 7.5kg, 7.5kg
E1: Floor one-legged hip thrusts: 3 x 10 on each leg
E2: Front Plank: 3 x 60 secs
F: Myrtl routine
G: Skipping

Wednesday: Track + Massage

6 x 120m, from 3 point starts in the sprint spikes, with jog recovery, with 5 minutes at half way. Felt this was an improvement on recent sessions and was closer to some of the others than I have been.

Massage after.

Thursday: Core & Bodyweight

With Nationals on Saturday, I opted against doing any weights, so I didn't head down to the gym, but did a 30 minute session in my house instead. Free squats, free split squats, myrtl routine, single leg hip thrusts, and 60 second planks.

This weekend will be my fourth appearance at Nationals (2 outdoor, 2 indoor) and the first time I will have competed in a track event other than the 400m. I'll be running the 60m and the 200m. It's very unusual for me to be entering Nationals not near my best shape, and so expectations are very low. If I see good improvements on my times from last weekend I will be happy with that.

Chivito550

Tough day at National Indoors. 8.19 for 60m, a decent improvement on the 8.33 from last weekend, though well down on 8.05 from last year. Then a disappointing 26.90 in the 200m from the horrible lane 2. Only 0.06 faster than last weekend, albeit from a worse lane, and still over 1.2 seconds down on last year. Time to forget all about it now and focus on getting back to full fitness for outdoors.

Chivito550

I'll write up a report of National Indoors in the next couple of days, but first an update on a session this morning. Usually I'd consider taking a day off after Nationals, but with 2 weddings coming up over the next 2 weekends, training will take a bit of a hit, so I felt I needed a good session today. I stayed the night in Ballinasloe (all hotels in Athlone were booked up), so I got up this morning early so I could get to AIT at around 9am. This was an inspired decision as the place was virtually empty, except for a few people setting things up for today's competition, so I got to do my session on the indoor track.

Session was 6 x 150m, with 150m walk recovery, with a longer break at half way, one of the bread and butter sessions. I alternated between lanes 5 and 6. After getting crap lane draws for my two 200m races, I wanted to get my fix of the exhilarating feeling of running in the outer lanes, and getting that wonderful slingshot effect coming off the final bend, downhill onto the straight.

This session is so much harder indoors than it is outdoors as the still indoor air makes things feel so much tougher. I did the first 2 reps very fast and was hurting after these, but I managed to get myself through it, easing off slightly in reps 3 and 4 to enable myself to get to through the session. Absolutely shattered afterwards.

I don't feel as bad about my 26.90 from lane 2 now, as this session really hit home, how unfair the inside lanes are relative to lanes 5 and 6. I could easily have lost at least half a second, maybe even more. One guy ran the final today in lane 1 and was almost a full second down on his heat time from lane 6 yesterday.

Chivito550

Back to Athlone for my second appearance at the National Indoors. My debut last year was a positive experience, as I ran an equal PB in the 400m with a clocking of 56.04. On this occasion I would compete in the 60m and the 200m, but I didn't expect to perform remotely close to the level of last year, given the hugely interrupted winter.

Last weekend I had a couple of rust busters in the Connacht Championships, with 8.33 and 26.96 (lane 3), so a reasonable improvement on each of these was the only goal, hopefully giving me something positive to take into outdoors.

60m:

Warming up for Nationals is so much smoother than the farce that was Connacht Championships last week, but it's still tricky as they don't call the heats until late on, and you have no way of knowing if you will be in the first heat or the very least heat, which could mean a longer wait, and extending your warm up. Fortunately on both occasions I ended up in the first heat, which is exactly what I wanted.

The call room procedure was uneventful. I'm fairly used to all this by now. But the woman who was volunteering in the call room throughout the day was absolutely gorgeous, so that made the wait to be brought out to the track so much more bearable.

I was drawn in lane 3. I didn't pay too much attention to who else was in my heat as I knew I'd be last, but Jonathon Browning was there, who was ranked number 1 in Ireland this year entering the championships.

I felt good in the warm up, a lot looser than last week, so was confident I could improve. Gun went off and I drove out as hard as possible. Lifted the head to find myself way down on the rest, except for one lad a few lanes to my left, who was a bit back from the rest. Then the race was over, and I was crashing into the giant crash mat. It really is all over in the blink of an eye. I was pleased with the run, and felt a lot looser and smoother than last week.

The time confirmed this. A clocking of 8.19 seconds, an improvement of 0.14 on last week. This doesn't sound like much, but it equates to almost a second over 400m. I was still well down on my 8.05 PB, but close enough to the 8.16 I recorded last year also. Overall reasonably happy with this result, and hopefully it would be something I could build on in the 200m.

200m:

I relaxed for a couple of hours, chatted to a few people and watched the 400m heats. Then it was time to start the warm up process all over again. I was feeling tight in the old injured area, so needed to loosen this out over the course of the warm up which I did.

After watching the 400m heats and seeing that they were seeded, I knew I was going to get turfed into lane 2, and so it proved. Heat 1, lane 2. With lane 1 empty I got the worst possible lane draw. For those not familiar with the indoor 200m, it is the most fundamentally unfair event there is, so much so that they don't even include it at World and Euro champs anymore. Not only do those on the outside lanes have more gentle bends, but they also have a crazy net downhill overall, and a slingshot effect coming off each bend, which those in lanes 1-3 do not have. I knew any chance of a decent time was gone with the lane draw, but with my 26.96 being run from lane 3 last week, I would at least have a reasonable comparison to judge progress on.

To make things more frustrating, the lad in lane 4 didn't show up, so that lane was left empty. In my heat out in lane 6 was Marcus Lawlor. To say I raced against him would be really stretching things, but it was nice to be in the same heat as a potential Rio Olympian all the same.

Gun went off and I drove as hard as I can to try pick up speed, but the first 50 metres are incredibly tight from that lane. As I entered the straight I had an awkward step which didn't help my momentum, again probably down to the tightness of the lane, and lack of experience in how to run in it. By this point the other lads are way out ahead and it was merely a solo time trial from here. I tried to drive the second bend as hard as I could, but I just struggled to get my speed going. The last 50m was hard as the other lads were so far out of sight, but I tried to stay focused and keep my form.

It actually felt pretty decent in spite of the challenges, so I was disappointed to see the time was only 0.06 faster than last week, with a clocking of 26.90 seconds. I was in a slightly better lane last week so that must be taken into consideration. Overall I wasn't pleased though. I was still 1.24 seconds outside my 25.66 mark last year, but that was from lane 6.

The next day I did a session of 150s in lanes 5 and 6 and it really is a different world, and you feel like you are flying in those lanes, particularly the downhill bit as you come off the bend onto the straight. After this, it really hit home, just how unfair this event is, and so I now don't feel as bad about my times.

I don't think I will bother running the 200m at National Indoors anymore. It's a really fun event when in the outer lanes, and I will continue to race it when there's an open draw for lanes, but with seeding at Nationals, there is absolutely no point in me bothering as I will just keep getting the worst lane, unless I can run 23 seconds at the least!

While overall I left feeling a bit disappointed, the weekend as a whole saw great competition. The highlights were the men's 1500m which saw an epic battle for gold, and the women's 400m, where a former training partner of mine took gold in a fantastic PB, which I was delighted to see.

So that brings an end to my short indoor season, as I am away at a wedding next week and so will miss the Leinsters. Overall it wasn't anything to write home about, but after what I've gone through the last few months with regards the injury, I'm just happy I was able to be apart of it, albeit briefly.

Now it's time to focus on getting back to where I can be, and hopefully do myself proper justice in the outdoor season.

Chivito550

Some good stuff to report this week:

Monday: Gym

First week of a new phase of gym work:

A: BB Back Squat w/ 2 sec pause (with very low depth): 3 x 6 @ 42.5kg, 45kg, 50kg
B1: Split Squats: 2 x 6 on each side @ 10kg in each hand
B2: Romanian Deadlifts: 3 x 12 @ 30kg, 32.5kg, 35kg
C1: Flat DB Press w/ 1 sec pause: 3 x 8 @ 20kg, 20kg, 22.5kg in each hand
C2: DB Bent Over Row w/ 1 sec pause: 3 x 8 on each side @ 20kg, 22.5kg, 22.5kg
E: Glute Complex Series Hip Thrusts (Narrow, Wide, Single left, Single right): 3 x 12,12,12,12
F: Myrtl routine
G: Skipping

Wednesday: Track

250-200-150-100-50-50 with jog recovery between each rep, except before the last 50, where it was a very brief recovery, turnaround and sprint back. I wore the distance spikes for this but managed them all on the balls of my feet. The times for the first 3 reps were:

38.0 - 31.4 - 22.9

Recoveries were 1:58 - 1:53. After the 150 I didn't time any reps and started from a three point start. I was fairly exhausted after. Happy with the session. It's the first time since the injury that I felt sort of half-fit.

Thursday: Gym

Went up to my gym to do my session, when I saw that the senior gaelic footballers in my club were about to start their strength testing, so I decided to shake things up a bit and do what they were doing. The tests they were doing were:

Back Squat
Bench Press
Deadlift
Vertical jump
Chin-ups
Sit and Reach

I did all of them except the deadlift because I haven't done that exercise in over a year and a half. For the weighted exercises, in order to get the one rep max, they were doing reps instead, and then using a calculator to figure out the one rep max, to reduce the injury risk. I opted for 3 reps for both bench press and back squat.

I weighed in at 67kg. This is at least 2kg more than I usually am, though I don't monitor my weight and haven't weighed myself in ages.

Back Squat: I do my squats with full depth, going ass to grass, but everybody was doing this test with a bench underneath them, which worked out at a couple of inches or so above parallel. Weights would feel easy for me doing this when I am used to full depth. I eased my way into it though, to get used to having extra weight on my shoulders.

3 x 40kg
3 x 50kg
3 x 60kg
3 x 75kg
3 x 82.5kg
3 x 87.5kg
3 x 92.5kg
3 x 97.5kg
1 x 100kg

After a big effort at getting 3 reps at 97.5kg, I was tired doing the 100kg and could only manage 1 rep. But based on my 3 reps at 97.5kg, my one rep max is 105kg. This is 1.57 times my bodyweight.

Bench Press: Same idea as the squat, with 3 reps at each weight.

3 x 50kg
3 x 57.5kg
3 x 65kg
2 x 70kg

I actually can't recall whether I did 70kg or 75kg, but I will go with the lower of these. 2 reps at 70kg works out at a one rep max of 74kg.

Vertical Jump:

They had some electronic sensor which measures this. I did about 6 jumps in total and the highest I got was 32cm. I had a couple which didn't register which might have been higher. I've never done this test before. One lad got over 50cm. This was one area where the GAA guys seemed significantly better. It's the nature of the sport, jumping up for high balls.

Chin-ups

This was with a wide grip, fully extending the arms. I had two attempts. For the first I got 9 reps, and for the second I got 8 reps.

Sit and Reach:

I had one quick go at this, and got to only 7cm or something. My flexibility is awful, but my gym coach from last year told me not to worry one bit about not being able to touch my toes, so I'm not getting hung up on this one.

In addition I did the Myrtl Routine, two legged bench hip thrusts, skipping and side lunges.

Was very fun to try something a bit different. I could easily have just done my own session, but when I saw them doing their strength testing, I decided I may as well join in.

Nice to see three figures on that squat too even if it is a bit above parallel.

Down in Kerry for a wedding this weekend so training will take a hit. I'll do something Saturday morning but nothing too hectic, and I'll be taking Sunday off.

Chivito550

Took a bit of a break from logging, but with the track season almost upon me now, it’s a good time to get back into it, and log my training over the last 8 weeks. Training has been going well. For the first 5 weeks or so after Nationals I made a pact with myself to make sure I got 4 days training per week done, and not beat myself up if I didn’t manage 5. I had a lot of other things going on so I needed some flexibility. To achieve this I have also started using a steep hill near my house which is probably the best hill facility for a sprinter there is. This allows me too get a session in quickly if I have other things going on. I’ve been doing short fast reps on these very steep hills and I believe it is going to make a difference to my power over the first 40m. I also am stronger than this time last year and am squatting heavier weights.

My endurance is certainly not as good as this time last year, but because I am not doing 400m it doesn't need to be. In the last 4 weeks I’ve managed 5 or 6 days training, so things are starting to come together now, with my first 100m and 200m races of the season coming up this Saturday at the IMC meet in Greystones. I still have some tightness in the old injured area but it is considerably better than before and I don’t notice it in sessions.

Week 1

3 sessions in post above

Sat 5 March – Run

Down in Kerry at a friend’s wedding so just went for an easy run to clear the hangover, before the onslaught later that day. 2.6km in approx 12:30, around 4:45 per kilometre pace.

Week 2

Mon 7 March – Gym

A: BB Back Squat w/ 2 sec pause (with very low depth): 3 x 6 @ 50kg, 52.5kg, 55kg
B1: Split Squats: 2 x 6 on each side @ 10kg in each hand
B2: Romanian Deadlifts: 3 x 12 @ 35kg, 37.5kg, 40kg
C1: Flat DB Press w/ 1 sec pause: 2 x 8 @ 22.5kg in each hand
C2: DB Bent Over Row w/ 1 sec pause: 2 x 8 on each side @ 22.5kg
E: Glute Complex Series Hip Thrusts (Narrow, Wide, Single left, Single right): 3 x 12,12,12,12
F: Myrtl routine
G: Skipping

Wed 9 March – Track

2 x (6 x 60m with pushup). Back to backs, so just a short 10-15 second turnaround recovery between reps, with a pushup to start each rep. 5 mins between sets.

Thu 10 March – Gym

A: BB Front Squat (with very low depth): 3 x 6 @ 40kg, 45kg, 50kg
B: Side Squats: 3 x 8 on each side @ 4kg in each hand
C1: 30 degree DB Press: 3 x 8 @ 20kg in each hand
C2: Chinups: 2 x 4
Double Legged bench hip thrusts: 3 x 15
E: Myrtl routine
F: Heel Raises: 3 x 8 on each side @ 15kg
G: Skipping

Fri 11 March – Hills

It was my sister’s wedding so I got a session on my nearby steep hill beforehand. 10 x 40m steep. Times were: 9.3 – 9.5 – 9.1 – 9.3 – 8.8 – 9.1 – 9.2 – 9.2 – 9.2 – 8.9. Recover approx 1:45.

Week 3

Mon 14 March – Gym

A: BB Back Squat w/ 2 sec pause (with very low depth): 3 x 6 @ 55kg, 57.5kg, 60kg
B1: Split Squats: 2 x 6 on each side @ 12kg in each hand
B2: Romanian Deadlifts: 3 x 12 @ 40kg, 40kg, 42.5kg
C1: Flat DB Press w/ 1 sec pause: 2 x 8 @ 22.5kg, 25kg in each hand
C2: DB Bent Over Row w/ 1 sec pause: 2 x 8 on each side @ 22.5kg, 25kg
E: Glute Complex Series Hip Thrusts (Narrow, Wide, Single left, Single right): 3 x 12,12,12,12
F: Myrtl routine
G: Skipping

Wed 16 March – Track

4 x 200, three point start in distance spikes, with slow jog recovery. Got through the first 3 and 120-130m of the final rep before my left calf spasmed.

Thu 17 March – Hills

6 x 60 steep (20 steep – 20 flat – 20 steep). Times were: 11.7 – 11.7 – 11.6 – 11.6 – 11.8 – 11.6. Recovery approx 1:50.

Sat 19 March – Track

2 x (150-120-100-80) with walk back within sets and 7 minutes between sets.

Week 4

Mon 21 March – Gym

A: BB Back Squat w/ 2 sec pause (with very low depth): 3 x 6 @ 57.5kg, 60kg, 62.5kg
B1: Split Squats: 2 x 6 on each side @ 12.5kg in each hand
B2: Romanian Deadlifts: 3 x 12 @ 42.5kg, 42.5kg, 45kg
C1: Flat DB Press w/ 1 sec pause: 2 x 8 @ 25kg in each hand
C2: DB Bent Over Row w/ 1 sec pause: 2 x 8 on each side @ 25kg
E: Planks: 5 x 30 secs
F: Myrtl routine
G: Skipping

Wed 23 March – Track & Massage

3 x 20 second runs from 200m start line with 5 minutes recovery. Run as far as you can in 20 seconds until coach says stop. Distances covered were 149.5m – 147m – 144m.

Fri 25 March – Hills

5 x 80m steep. Times were: 16.2 – 16.5 – 16.0 – 16.9 – 16.6. Recovery approx 2:25. Sunny and about 12 degrees, though very windy, so I ran in the direction that would give me a tailwind.

Sat 26 March – Hills

6 x 40m steep. Times were: 8.8 – 8.6 – 8.5 – 8.5 – 8.5 – 8.3. Recovery approx 1:15. Ground was wet and it was raining lightly and I had a light headwind.

Week 5

Mon 28 March – Hills

5 x 60m steep (40 steep – 20 flat). Times were: 13.0 – 12.7 – 12.7 – 12.9 – 12.8. Recovery approx 1:30. Cold but sunny.

Tue 29 March – Gym

A: BB Back Squat w/ 2 sec pause (with very low depth): 3 x 6 @ 60kg, 62.5kg, 65kg
B1: Split Squats: 2 x 6 on each side @ 14kg in each hand
B2: Romanian Deadlifts: 3 x 12 @ 45kg
C1: Flat DB Press w/ 1 sec pause: 7, 8, 6 @ 27.5kg, 25kg, 25kg in each hand
C2: DB Bent Over Row w/ 1 sec pause: 2 x 8 on each side @ 27.5kg
E: Plank: 40secs-40secs-50secs
F: Myrtl routine

Wed 30 March – Track

2 x (6 x 60m with pushup). The same back to backs session as above and 5 mins recovery between sets. Fitness not as good as in the past and found this very tough. Stunning weather, and to make things better, our old coach came back for a surprise visit to watch us train.

Sat 2 April – Track

2 x (3 x 150) with walk back recovery, with 5 minutes at half way. I got through this session well, and finished strongly which was encouraging.

Week 6

Mon 4 April - Gym

A: BB Front Squat (with very low depth): 3 x 6 @ 52.5kg, 55kg, 57.5kg
B: Side Squats: 3 x 8 on each side @ 5kg in each hand
C1: 30 degree DB Press: 6, 6, 8 @ 22.5kg, 22.5kg, 20kg in each hand
C2: Chinups: 3 x 6
Planks: 3 x 50secs
E: Myrtl routine
F: Heel Raises: 3 x 8 on each side @ 15kg
G: Skipping

Tue 5 April – Hills

10 x 40m steep. Times were: 8.6 – 8.5 – 8.5 – 8.5 - ? – 8.4 – 8.5 – 8.7 – 8.6 – 8.3. Recovery approx 1:20. Mild and still with intermittent sun.

Wed 6 April – Track

I did not enjoy this one. 4 x 300m with 100m walk recovery. This is an 800m type session, not even a 400m session, which I’ve been looking to get away from this year. I’ve had enough 300 sessions to last a lifetime, but to be good at 200m you still need some of these sessions. Times dropped off drastically as the session went on. Recoveries were 2:06 – 2:24 – 2:10, the shortest I’ve ever had for a set of 300s. Windy, cold and wet, though the sun stayed out long enough for us to get our session done. Used distance spikes and flat footed. Times were: 47.2 – 49.2 – 51.9 – 52.6.

Thu 7 April – Gym

A: BB Front Squat (with very low depth): 3 x 6 @ 55kg, 57.5kg, 60kg
B: Side Squats: 2 x 8 on each side @ 6kg in each hand
C: 30 degree DB Press: 7, 5, 6 @ 22.5kg, 22.5kg, 20kg in each hand
Planks: 3 x 60secs
E: Myrtl routine
F: Skipping

Sat 9 April – Track

A fun session. 6 x 60m from blocks. Conditions were very nice. Bright, sunny, cool and not too windy. It went well and my coach said I was getting good starts throughout. We analysed slow motion video after each rep.

Sun 10 April – Hills

7 x 60m steep (40 steeo – 20 flat). Times were: 12.3 – 12.5 – 12.2 – 12.1 – 12.6 – 12.5 – 12.4. Recovery approx 1:30. Strong cross wind, dry, mild, cloudy.

Chivito550

Week 7

Mon 11 April - Massage & Gym

Massage in the morning, gym in the evening. First week of new gym programme.

A: Squats (with very low depth): 7,5,3,7,5,3 @ 55kg, 60kg, 65kg, 60kg, 65kg, 70kg
B1: Romanian Deadlifts: 2 x 6 @ 45kg, 47.5kg
B2: Walking Lunges: 2 x 6 on each side @ 12.5kg in each hand
C: Single leg bench hip thrusts (with pause): 2 x 6 on each side
Myrtl Routine
E: Skipping
F: Planks: Front-Side-Front-Side-Front 30 secs on each, 2:30 continuous

Wed 13 April – Track

5 x 200, with walk back recovery, from three point starts. Wore distance spikes. Got through 4 of the reps before the leg calf spasmed at 150m into the final rep. Ran the first 4 reps on the balls of my feet, but was sort of holding back a little on the 4th rep for fear of the calf spasming. I flat footed the last rep, but the calf still ended up spasming. Good session overall in nice conditions. Calm, dry and mild.

Thu 14 April – Gym

A: Front Squats (with very low depth): 3 x 4 @ 60kg, 62.5kg, 65kg
B: Split squats (no step): 2 x 6 on each side @ 5kg, 6kg in each hand
C1: Bench Press: 3 x 4 @ 52.5kg, 57.5kg, 62.5kg
C2: Chin-ups: 2 x 4
Myrtl Routine
E: Skipping

Sat 16 April – Grass and Hills

Every track in the Dublin area seemed to be booked up, so we did a grass session, and something different. We practiced relay drills and baton changeovers. Hopefully something we can put into practice during the summer. Logistics the hardest part when it comes to competing in relays. Getting 4 people together at one time is harder than one would think, but hopefully we can make it happen.

As that was an easy session with very little running with the exception of a few fast changovers at the end, I did a hill session on my steep hill later that day. 8 x 40m steep. Times were: 8.7 - ? – 8.5 – 8.2 – 8.1 – 8.2 – 8.0 – 8.1. Recovery was approx 1:35.

Sun 17 April – Hills

My first time at hills with the group since early February, and what a dirty one to come back to. 10 x 190m with a jog back recovery, but with 6 minutes recovery at half way. Times were very consistent except for the 6th rep: 34.6 – 35.4 – 34.9 – 35.1 – 34.0 – 37.2 – 35.7 – 34.8 – 34.9 – 33.5. Recovery jogs were about 1:40, Very tough session.

Week 8

Mon 18 April – Gym

A: Squats (with very low depth): 7,5,3,7,5,3 @ 57.5kg, 62.5kg, 67.5kg, 62.5kg, 67.5kg, 72.5kg
B1: Romanian Deadlifts: 2 x 6 @ 47.5kg
B2: Walking Lunges: 2 x 6 on each side @ 14kg in each hand
C: Single leg floor hip thrusts (with pause): 3 x 6 on each side
Myrtl Routine
E: Skipping
F: Planks: Front-Side-Front-Side-Front 30 secs on each, 2:30 continuous

Tue 19 April – Hills

8 x 40m steep in glorious weather. Times were: 8.0 – 7.8 – 8.2 – 8.3 – 7.9 – 8.3 – 8.1 - ?. Recoveries approx 1:25. Those times are noticeably faster than when I started doing this session back in early March. Delighted to see this. Hopefully a good sign.

Wed 20 April – Track

40-60-80-100-120-150 with walk back recovery. Some faster work to make up for not having the track on Saturday. Glorious weather again.

Thu 21 April – Gym

A: Front Squats (with very low depth): 3 x 4 @ 62.5kg, 65kg, 67.5kg
B: Split squats (no step): 2 x 6 on each side @ 7.5kg, 8kg in each hand
C1: Bench Press: 3 x 4 @ 57.5kg, 62.5kg, 65kg
C2: Chin-ups: 3 x 4 @ 5kg, 6.25kg, 7.5kg
Myrtl Routine
E: Skipping
F: Singe leg bench hip thrusts: 2 x 6 on each side
G: Heel Raises: 2 x 6 on each side @ 15kg

Sat 23 April – Track

Another fun session, although very intense. 12 x 50m with around 2 minutes between each rep, with 7 minutes at half way. The odd numbered reps were run with a sled strapped to me, weighing somewhere between 5 and 10kg at a guess, and the odd numbered reps were run without the belt. Nice conditions at 11-12 degrees with intermittent sun.

Sun 24 April – Hills

2 x 5 mins run, with 5 mins recovery, which we call the 15 minute run. Start at the bottom, run 180 up, 80 down, 80 up, 180 down, and keep going in that order until the 5 minutes is up. Then try get as close as possible on the second set.

Set 1: 180 up – 80 down – 80 up – 180 down – 180 up – 80 down – 80 up – 180 down – 150 up = 1190m
Set 2: Same as above but 145m on the last = 1185m.

Delighted to get within 5m of the first set. Never a fun session this but better than when doing it with 230 and 130 like last year.

Week 9

Mon 25 April – Gym

A: Squats (with very low depth): 7,5,3,7,5,3 @ 60kg, 65kg, 70kg, 65kg, 70kg, 75kg
B1: Romanian Deadlifts: 2 x 6 @ 50kg
B2: Split Squats (no step): 2 x 6 on each side @ 15kg in each hand
C: Single leg bench hip thrusts (with pause): 3 x 6 on each side
Myrtl Routine
E: Skipping
F: Planks: Front-Side-Front-Side-Front 30 secs on each, 2:30 continuous

Tue 26 April – Massage & Hills

Massage in the evening, followed by my nearby steep hills. 6 x 40m steep. Times were: 8.3 – 8.0 – 8.0 – 8.1 – 8.2 – 8.2. Recovery approx 1:25. Sunny but cold, with a cross wind.

Wed 27 April – Track

Horrid session. 2 x (150-200-250), with 5 mins between sets, and walk around recovery within sets. Wore the distance spikes and ran on toes for reps 1, 2 and 4, and flat footed for reps 3, 5 and 6. Nice evening for it. Only 7 degrees but very sunny which made it feel warm. One of the hardest sessions I’ve had in quite awhile.

Thu 28 April - Gym

Went for an early morning gym session is a different gym this morning, as I have plans this evening. Short on time so didn't get a full session done.

A: Front Squats (with very low depth): 3 x 4 @ 65kg, 67.5kg, 70kg
B: Walking lunges: 2 x 6 on each side @ 16kg in each hand
C: Bench Press: 4,4,2 @ 60kg, 62.5kg, 65kg
Myrtl Routine
E: Skipping

However there was also about 80 minutes of walking this morning too. 15 minutes to the gym, and then over an hour as I ended up walking the LUAS tracks into town when I realised, to my dismay, that the LUAS wasn't running today, and that there wasn't a bus arriving for another half hour!

So that's 8 weeks of training updated since I last logged at the start of March. The track season is almost upon me.

Chivito550

Pretty good season openers at the Irish Milers Club meet in Greystones in far from ideal conditions. First a 13.02 for 100m into a very strong -3.2 headwind, with nippy overcast weather at around 10 degrees. Adjusting for wind it's a 12.65, which is very close to PB level. Then 25.72 for the 200m into a -0.2 headwind. Wind died down but it was still very nippy and was also raining. Delighted to be just 0.3 slower than my PB in those conditions. As the season progresses and the weather warms up hopefully I'll get under the PB and give that sub 25 a good rattle.

Chivito550

After a really good block of training since indoors, particularly over the last month, it was time to open up my season. Like last year the Greystones AC Irish Milers Club meet would be the curtain raiser to the season. 12 months ago I competed in atrocious conditions. On this occasion, it was much improved, but still poor for sprinting purposes.

100m:

I arrived at the track about an hour and a half before my race, so relaxed for a good while, and got myself sorted. Throughout my warm up, the sun was out, and it felt quite nice, but the wind was swirling a bit, so seemed like a bit of a lottery whether it would be a headwind or tailwind. However come the start of the 100m races, the sun has completely disappeared, it's overcast and nippy at only about 10 degrees, and the wind has picked up significantly, and is blowing in our faces.

I was in the B race, and drawn in lane 2. There were 4 listed for my race, but the lad in lane 3 got bumped up to the A race, which meant I had nobody beside me, with my competitors being in lanes 4 and 5 on this 6 lane track. The lad in lane 4 was from An Riocht. From a quick Google search last week I saw that he was a high 11 second and low 24 second runner for 100 and 200. The guy in lane 5 from Crusaders I know quite well, and he's another high 11 and low to mid 24 runner at his best.

My 100m PB is 12.58 seconds with a +2.7 wind, from October 2013 in Australia. My fastest ever wind adjusted time was 12.68 into a -1.2 wind at Leixlip last year in nice sunny temperatures (Converts to 12.56). I felt I was in good shape and would run something equivalent of 12.6ish when adjusted for the wind. I expected to be about 0.75 seconds down on the other lads.

Gun went off and I drove out hard, but was greeted with an extremely strong headwind. I couldn't see any of my competitors initially because of the empty lane, but as the race progressed I could see them a few metres ahead, side by side. I felt quite rusty and my form felt a bit untidy, but battling the wind can't have helped in this regard. I finished about 5m down on the 2 lads ahead with the clock stopping at 12.26 seconds, a slow time for him.

I anticipated the time being close to 13 seconds, and when it was announced as 13.02 seconds, I was a bit disgusted, but once I found out the wind was -3.2 m/s I felt much happier. Adjusting for wind this converts to a 12.65 second run, which is only 0.09 off my best every wind adjusted time, and in far colder conditions. The signs are there that once I get better conditions and a tailwind there's a PB there for the taking.

200m:

A brief spell of rain appeared after my 100m which dampened the track a bit. There was a 55 minute turnaround between my 2 races, so I chilled for about 25-30 mins and then did a shorter warm up, as I'm already warmed up from the 100m. Met Dubgal briefly during this time. Apologies for having absolutely no idea who you were until you mentioned your username, if you are reading.

For the 200m I was again in lane 2, but there were 5 in this race, operating lanes 3-6. The same lads from An Riocht and Crusaders were in lanes 5 and 6. In lane 3 was a Clonliffe lad who seemed to be around 24 seconds, and a Donore lad who I know runs under 24.

The conditions are still overcast, still cold, and now the rain is coming down again. But at least the wind has died down at this point. I get out hard and drive well over the first 50. The other lads are getting a bit away from me and I hit the straight, I am well down on the rest. But I feel like I am moving well, and holding my form much better than in the 100m, probably because there doesn't appear to be any wind. I start to tie up a bit in the last 40m but just power through as best I can. I finish about 10m down on the rest of the lads, who were all quite close to each other. The winning time was 23.95.

I wasn't sure what my endurance was like and was more confident going into the 100 than the 200, so I was delighted to see that I had run 25.72 seconds into a very slight -0.2 m/s headwind. This is just 0.30 down on my PB of 25.42 set in May 2014. Mind you, last year I ran 25.45 into a -1.6 m/s headwind, so I'm perhaps over 0.4 seconds down on my best ever 200m run, but this is very early season, and the conditions were not very good for fast sprinting, and on a pretty poor track lets be honest.

So overall, this was a very positive opening to the season. I know there are good PBs to come. I just need to keep doing what I am doing, and hope that I get some good weather this year. I had no luck last year in that regard. Of course, Murphy's Law, as soon as the 200m was over the sun came out, and conditions were nice for the 1500 and 400.

The big target over the next few weeks is the Ton na Gaoithe wind sprint meet on the mondo track in Waterford on Saturday 14th May. I'd like to get another race in before then to get in the racing mode. I'm entered for the 100 and 200 at Leevale this coming Saturday, but I'll only do that if the weather is forecasted to be glorious. Otherwise it is not worth the trip down. If the weather is bad, then I'll opt for the 200m at the Graded meet in Tallaght on Wednesday week, though I'm not mad about racing on a weekday evening.

After Waterford, I have a 3 week gap with no racing, and then there will be races every weekend in June leading up to Nationals at the end of June, which is when I want to be peaking this season.

Here's a video of my 200m race:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI3tFxlhcvk

Dubgal72

I'm reading Nice to meet you. Not sure if you noticed a bit of hesitation before I told you my boards name. I was trying to see if anyone was listening. Feels too weird saying 'I'm dubgal'

Here's to a sunny summer of pbs for you

Chivito550

Dubgal72 wrote: »

I'm reading Nice to meet you. Not sure if you noticed a bit of hesitation before I told you my boards name. I was trying to see if anyone was listening. Feels too weird saying 'I'm dubgal'

Here's to a sunny summer of pbs for you

Haha, I agree. It's awfully weird introducing oneself by a username. It almost feels very juvenile!

Chivito550

Thought I'd draw up a plan of races that I want to target this summer season. I plan to race both the 100m and 200m at each of the following meets:

April/May

1) Greystones AC/IMC meet - Greystones - Sat 30 April - [100m - 13.02 (-3.2), 200m - 25.72 (-0.2)]
2) Ton Le Gaoithe: Wind Sprints meet - Waterford - Sat 14 May

June

3) Leinster Championships - Tullamore - Sun 5 June
4) National League Round 1 - Santry - Sun 12 June
5) Northern Ireland/Ulster Championships - Belfast - Sun 19 June
6) National Championships - Santry - Sat 25 June

July

7) National League Round 2 - Belfast - Sun 17 July
8) Le Cheile International/IMC - Leixlip - Sat 30 July

The bulk of the racing will be in June, as that is when I want to be at my best this year, with Nationals being early. So the plan is to train mostly through May, with just one meet coming up during the rest of this month, although a big one down in Waterford, which is designed for fast times.

June will then see me hopefully racing every weekend. After Nationals there is a bit of a lull, and there is also a strong chance I will head over to Amsterdam for the Europeans. This will pose a challenge to consistent training. There's not a whole lot on really after Nationals, so I've only got 2 meets locked in for July. They are there to keep me motivated to keep training after nationals, as it could be easy to ease off with the way the schedule is this year. This track season is going to come and go extremely quickly compared to other years.

I might throw in the odd graded meet in July too, but for now I don't think I'll bother. I hate racing in the evening after a day in the office, and now that I am doing the 100 and 200 I have another perfect excuse to not bother with them. I want to be able to do both events during each meet, and the graded meets only ever offer one of these events (sometimes none). So I get far more bang for my buck from racing at these weekend meets.

5 of the remaining 7 meets listed above are on Mondo tracks (Waterford, Santry, Belfast), so that hopefully will help with fast times.

I'm sure there will be changes as the season progresses, but the above is how I see it right now.

Chivito550

Update since my races in Greystones last weekend:

Sunday: Hills

2 x (5 x 80) with jog back recoveries of between 30 and 39 seconds, with a 5 minute recovery at half way. Times were:

12.2 - 14.4 - 14.6 - 14.2 - 13.5
12.9 - 13.7 - 14.6 - 14.2 - 13.6

Monday: Gym

A: Squats (with very low depth): 7,5,3,7,5,3 @ 62.5kg, 67.5kg, 72.5kg, 67.5kg, 72.5kg, 77.5kg
B1: Romanian Deadlifts: 2 x 6 @ 52.5kg
B2: Walking Lunges: 2 x 6 on each side @ 16kg in each hand
C: Myrtl Routine
Skipping
E: Planks: Front-Side-Front-Side-Front 30 secs on each, 2:30 continuous

Wednesday: Track

Woke up with a sore throat on Tuesday morning. Had planned to do short hill near my house but knocked that on the head to try recover. Wednesday I didn't feel any better, and throughout the day in work I was 50/50 whether I would train. I felt lathargic and drowsy, but decided to go to the track and do as easier session than normal, as I felt I wasn't bad enough to skip it entirely, and all my symptoms were above the neck.

The session was 5 x split 200s (150 - 30 secs - 50), with walk back recovery, with 5 minutes after the first 3 sets. I opted to do 3 x split 200s and did the 1st, 3rd and 4th reps the rest were doing, as that worked out at about 5-6 minutes recovery between each.

I felt good for the first 2 sets, but after a strong first 60m of the third 150 I felt a very tiny sort of half spasm in my left calf, so eased back the effort and pace and just finished the rep. It wasn't a full spasm, but I didn't take any chances. Disapointing to not be able to finish this rep well, but I did have a reasonably good 50 to finish after the 30 seconds break. I felt tired throughout this session, so only doing 3 sets was definitely the right call. Nice conditions, reasonably warm at 14 degrees.

Saturday: Track

Took Thursday and Friday off completely to try knock the cold on the head, and got back into it on Saturday, as I was around 90% better. Session was 6 x 40m from 3 point starts, but rather than flat out, they were at about 90-95% with the focus being on trying to run with a slightly more bounding style. I was told I was doing it well, but truth be told I didn't feel any different to normal except I was going a small bit easier.

We then finished off with 1 x 200m flat out. 2 of my training partners who are around my level, running 25 seconds, were outside me, and despite being told I drove out well, I felt I had an average second 50, and entered the straight about 5-7m down on the other two. I reeled them in on the straight and finished about 1-2m down on one, and pipping the other in the last few metres. We were all close to each other. Ideal to have guys like that to train with. Hopefully we can all push each other to sub 25 this summer. No times for this rep.

Sunday: Hills

2 x (3 x 190) with jog back recoveries, with 6 minutes between sets. Times were:

31.6 - 37.0 - 35.6
32.4 - 35.7 - 32.5

The second rep in each set seemed to be where I struggled most.

Afterwards the 4 of us who were training did some relay changeover practice down on the cinder track by our hill.

Oregano_State

Nice work.

Chivito550

Some good training this week to update on:

Monday: Massage & Gym

Massage in the morning, gym in the evening.

A: Squats (with very low depth): 7,5,3,7,5,3 @ 65kg, 70kg, 75kg, 67.5kg, 72.5kg, 77.5kg
B1: Romanian Deadlifts: 2 x 6 @ 55kg
B2: Walking Lunges: 2 x 6 on each side @ 18kg in each hand
C: Myrtl Routine
Skipping
E: Planks: Front-Side-Front-Side-Front 30 secs on each, 2:30 continuous

Those squats are seriously tough. Averaging 70kg over 30 squats in total. Overall I am feeling stronger than this time last year. I'm lifting noticeably heavier weights.

Tuesday: Hills

Back to my local short steep hill after missing out on it last week. 8 x 40m steep with approx 1:30 recoveries. Times were:

7.7 - 7.8 - 7.9 - 8.2 - 8.1 - 7.9 - 8.0 - 7.9

Conditions were not ideal. The grass was wet, it was raining, and there was a strong cross wind, which was nippy enough despite the mild 14 degrees. Very happy with those times. They are continuing to improve which is very pleasing.

Wednesday: Track

Mild and humid evening at the track for a speed endurance session. 250-200-150-100, with walk recoveries. Wore the sprint spikes and started from three point starts, so no times. Though the coach timed the 250 and I crossed the line after he shouted 35 and before she shouted 36. I probably ran them at 90%, so by the time I got to the 100 my legs were filled with lactic. Felt I ran very well in this session, and the endurance is coming on.

So tomorrow I will do a very light gym session so I am fresh for the 100 and 200 in Waterford on Saturday. Feeling pretty good at the moment.

Chivito550

So after seeing the timetable for Saturday, to my surprise, I will be getting 2 races in the 100m. This is great news as it doubles my chances of nailing a PB in the 100m. Both these races are before the 200m so I am hoping it doesn’t take away from my 200. But back in my Melbourne days I was well used to running multiple races and events per day. In fact, in the 2014 Victorian Championships I ran 55.56 in the 400m, after being well rested and tapered. I then did the decathlon the very next day, and after already having this 400 in my legs, along with a 100m, long jump, shot putt and high jump (very tough on the legs!), I managed to run 55.34 in the 400m, which was at the time my second fastest run ever, and to date, is still my third fastest. So I will be thinking back to that accomplishment on Saturday if I am feeling a bit tired having to warm up for a third time in a few hours.

Chivito550

With Waterford coming up on Saturday I went for a very light gym session yesterday evening. So light in fact, that it wasn't a gym session at all. I opted to do my session outside the gym in the glorious sunshine of Marlay Park, to make use of this rare settled summer weather. So I did no weights, focusing on bodyweight exercises, and the session took me 30 minutes:

A: Skipping
B: Myrtl Routine and other hip exercises
C: Floor single leg hip thrusts (with pause): 3 x 6 on each side
Plank: 2 x 2:30 min continuous (30 front - 30 side - 30 front - 30 side - 30 front)

I wouldn't go so easy with the gym before every race, particularly if the race is on a Sunday rather than a Saturday, but this meet tomorrow is one of the key meets I have marked in the calendar along with Nationals, so no harm in having a bit of a taper going into it.

Excited about tomorrow now. Conditions look like they will be great, and I have three races with a tailwind on a great track, with good competition around my level, so hopefully I can come away with at least one PB. I've been given lane 8 for the 200m which isn't ideal, but I can use it to my advantage. Less curve than the rest, and the best lane to take advantage of a tailwind. Would still have liked lane 6 or 7 more though.

IvoryTower

good luck man looking forward to the report

Chivito550

Great day at the Ton Le Gaoithe sprinters meet in Waterford. First up 12.53 for 100m with a +1.2 tailwind, coming a very close second in my heat, a new PB, bettering a time that stood from my time in Melbourne. Then an hour later I managed to win my heat (very rare that I've won any races) in 12.54 into a -0.3 headwind. Just a fraction slower than the first race but a better run adjusting for the wind. Finished off the meet after that with a 25.26 in the 200m with a +1.6 tailwind, a new PB by 0.16 seconds. My first sprint PBs since running the sub 55 for 400m at Nationals almost 2 years ago. And all my Australia sprint PBs are finally all broken. Absolutely over the moon, and particularly satisfying after that awful injury back in November. Time for multiple PB beers!