The least important part of this thread is the Title

Oregano_State

Sunday 25th Jan - Track: 120m, 120m, 150m, 200m
I joined up with a group at the track this morning for this one. The aim for this one was to go fairly flat out, with long recoveries of a minute per ten metres ran. I got to play with some fancy electronic timing gates; you wear a belt with a stopwatch on it that records splits when you cross the gates. To start off, you hold down a button on a pad at the start line, when you release the button, the time starts. All in all it was very good fun, and much more accurate than a wrist watch.
My legs were still feeling the accumulated fatigue from a heavy enough few days' training, with my right hamstring particularly a bit on the touchy side. I was half-debating with myself on whether I should do a slower paced session, just to be safe, but I loosened up fairly well during the warm up, and decided that if I ran fast but relaxed I should be grand.

The times were: 14.82s, 14.74s, 18.32s, 24.79s

I was doing this session with a training partner who's very close to my level, and it seemed to bring some decent times out of me. As I said, I tried to focus on staying relaxed once I'd gotten into my running. That 200m time is only 0.04s off my PB, and the 150m time is about 0.3s quicker than what I ran in a race on the same track in November. Have to be happy with that for a training session.

Oregano_State

Monday - Off (little bit of foam rolling)

Tuesday 27th January - AM - Grass Track: 2x600m
I could feel that the legs were a bit fried yesterday so didn't do much at all. This morning, I met up with the guy I trained with on Sunday. He's more of a 400m/800m guy but his session today fit in with what I need to work on so I said I'd hop on in. The plan was to do the 600s in 200m sections, the first was meant to be quick, the second easier, and the third quick again. My training partner was aiming for 30s pace for the first 200m, so I said I'd hang onto him and see what happened, figuring that I'd fade in the last 200m. We used the same electronic timing gates from Sunday for times. They're fierce handy yokes. The break between reps was 20mins.

Rep 1: 200m splits of 29.x, 33.x, 40.x (1:43.x total)
Rep 2: 30.x, 33.x, 39.x, (1:43.x total)

I did this one in an old pair of middle distance spikes, although I still found the going pretty slippy at times on the grass which made it difficult enough to run properly. Having said that, I should not be fading as much as I was on the last 200m so I really need to be working on the speed endurance side of things and aerobic conditioning. I felt comfortable enough at 400m on both reps but the wheels really came off from then on.

Oregano_State

Wednesday 28th January - Tempo 10x150m
I'm racing on Sunday in Athlone - 60m & 400m again - and based on yesterday's disaster of a session I'm not expecting a great showing in the 400m. I need work on my base fitness, no two ways about it.

This week, with the race in a few days and my legs feeling a bit banged up from recent training, I reckoned some more tempo work would be more suitable than a more intense lactic session. With all sorts of stuff falling out of the sky today, sideways rain, hail, and sprinklings of snow thrown in for good measure, I kept an eye on the hourly forecast and surprisingly managed to find 40 minute window during which I was only partially drowned and battered.

For the 150s, I didn't bother with a watch, used a slow jog-back as recovery, and kept the effort even and at no more than 70%. I kept the wind at my back for the reps, a welcome advantage of the conditions. I felt pretty OK throughout, only the last 3-4 were difficult. My right hamstring is a bit tight now but a heat-pack and some foam rolling later should sort it out ok.
Tomorrow is easy running and a PM gym session.

Chivito550

Strong chance we will be in the same race on Sunday. I'll try hang onto the back of you so you can drag me around to a quick time.

Oregano_State

Thursday 29th Jan - Gym
A1) Pull Ups: +15kg vest 4x6, BW x6
A2) DB Shoulder Press: 18kg 4x12
B1) Upright Row: 35kg 3x12
B2) Tricep Pushdown: 15kg 3x12
B3) E/Z Bar Bicep Curls: 30kg 3x8
C) Hyperextensions: +15kg 3x10
D) Core: Hanging straight leg raises 2x12, oblique crunches x20, kneeling roll-outs 2x12

Kept this to upper body to rest the legs as they weren't feeling the love from recent training.

Friday - off

Saturday 31st January
Since the track session last Sunday my right hamstring hasn't been feeling the best; it's a bit niggly but I wouldn't class it as a pull. I've been resting it for the past few days and doing lots of rolling and stretching in the hopes that it would be fine to race on this Sunday, but having gone out this morning for a tester, it's still not quite right so I'm not going to risk it by racing tomorrow in Athlone. Instead, I'll take it easy on the legs for the next few days and hopefully will be back in business in less than a week. In the meantime I'll concentrate on gym and core work,and easy running.

Oregano_State

Chivito550 wrote: »

Strong chance we will be in the same race on Sunday. I'll try hang onto the back of you so you can drag me around to a quick time.

We most likely would have been, but thanks to my delicate hammies, it will have to wait another while. The nationals and Leinsters are two possibilities.

Best of luck anyway, you're mad to be racing two days in a row imo but it seems to work for you.

Chivito550

Oregano_State wrote: »

We most likely would have been, but thanks to my delicate hammies, it will have to wait another while. The nationals and Leinsters are two possibilities.

Best of luck anyway, you're mad to be racing two days in a row imo but it seems to work for you.

Well I got a cramp in my fecking calf today and dropped out at 250. Will make a call on tomorrow after warning up. Actually feels fine now.

Oregano_State

Chivito550 wrote: »

Well I got a cramp in my fecking calf today and dropped out at 250. Will make a call on tomorrow after warning up. Actually feels fine now.

Sprinting's really rough on the body. Deano having to give it up recently is proof of that alone. Mind yourself!

Chivito550

Oregano_State wrote: »

Sprinting's really rough on the body. Deano having to give it up recently is proof of that alone. Mind yourself!

I suspect the lack of long reps on the track in flats or spikes isn't helping. Irishtown resurfacing being so delayed is a complete hindrance to athletes. Doing longer reps in runners on grass is much easier on the calves so they perhaps aren't building up the same resistance that they would from a set of 300s on the track.

Oregano_State

Sunday 1st Feb: Gym
I stuck to upper body and core stuff today. I'm giving the legs a rest today and tomorrow; will do some easy running on Tuesday, possibly some strides on Wednesday, and then reassess at that point.

A1) Pull Ups: +10kg 4x6, BW 1x6
A2) Dips: +15kg 4x8, BW 1x8
B1) Hyperextensions: 10kg 3x15
B2) DB Row: 30kg 3x10 e/s
C1) BB Curls: 35kg 2x8, 30kg 1x8
C2) Upright Rows: 35kg 2x10, 30kg 1x10
D1) DB Pullovers: 22.5kg 3x10
D2) DB Curls: 10kg 3x10
E) Core: 2x[Russian Twist w/ 10kg x30, Reverse Crunch x20, Swiss Ball Knee Tuck x25, Plank 1min]

Oregano_State

Monday 2nd Feb - 20mins easy
Hammy situation ongoing.

Tuesday 3rd Feb - Gym
Did some hurdle mobility drills and shoulder mobility work as part of the warm-up. The hammy is coming along, I think it still needs a day or two before it's right though. I got stuck into some more upper body gym work in the meantime.

A1) Chin Ups: +10kg 4x6, BW 1x8
A2) Dips: +18kg 4x6, BW 1x12
B1) Hyperextensions: 15kg 1x15, 2x10 (these sets at a slower tempo, and paused at the top)
B2) Tricep Extensions: 12kg 3x12 e/s
C1) DB Press: 18kg 3x12
C2) Upright Row: 40kg 3x12
D) Hanging Straight Leg Raise: 1x12

Was caught for time so I only got the one set of hanging leg raises done before bolting out the door. I made up for it today however, as I did a core workout after my stretching and mobility stuff at home. This was made up of a couple of sets of V-ups, oblique crunches, reverse crunches, finishing up with planks.

Oregano_State

Thursday 5th February - Gym
Just back from the gym. The hammy is getting there, I'll most likely be able to run on it tomorrow. Tonight's gym session was a step in the right direction, my strength is good at the moment. With the two periods of training I've missed, over Christmas due to illness, and now because of a slight injury, it's left me in less than ideal shape in the middle of the indoor season. I've decided to start a new training block with a view to building a base for the outdoor season instead of trying to get through race-specific sessions now for the indoors, but not dealing with the fact that my base fitness isn't where it needs to be. For the next 10 weeks I'm going to do two extensive tempo sessions as well as one acceleration and/or max-velocity session per week. After the ten weeks, I'll start incorporating one special endurance session in place of one of the tempo sessions to get into race shape. This is a sort of ends-to-middle approach to 400m training, i.e. working on aerobic conditioning, and pure speed and acceleration first, then moving towards race-specific speed endurance.

For anyone reading this that doesn't understand the jargon, Extensive Tempo, or ET, is high volume, low intensity training with short rest. An example session would be 2x(6x200m) in 32-35s off 90s, 3mins rest.
Special Endurance (SE) is race specific training. Say something like 3x300m in sub 40s off 10min rest.

Anyway, back to what I did tonight: After warming up, I did some hurdle hip mobility stuff and shoulder mobility work; lots of scapula retractions basically. I managed to do some overhead squats with an empty bar which I've been working towards for a while.
A1) Close Grip Bench Press: 50kg x10, 65kg 4x10
A2) Pendlay Row: 55kg 4x10
B1) Upright Row: 42.5kg 3x10
B2) Hyperextensions: 15kg 3x15 (paused at top, slow tempo)
C1) Bulgarian Split Squats: BW 1x10, 10kg 1x10 e/s
C2) E/Z Bar Curls: 35kg 3x10
D) Med Ball Single Leg DL: 4kg 3x10 e/s

My core was still pretty sore from yesterday's home work out, so I left out further punishment.

Oregano_State

Friday 6th Feb - Track 4x60m + 8x200m (<35s)
After another unwanted training setback in the form of a hamstring niggle that has stopped me from doing any quality running for more than a week, it was good to get back to the track this evening and knock out a solid session with all systems go. This was my first session of the new cycle, so I just wanted to establish a baseline to work off by giving myself a target for the 200s that I knew I would be able to handle.

The warm up went well; it was a lovely calm evening for training, if a little cold. The 60m were technical runs over markers and small hurdles to work on stride length, but done at close to full pelt. Onto the 200s then. 35s is a handy enough pace for me, so I said I'd go out at an effort I thought I could maintain for 8 reps and whatever that was, try to keep it consistent until the end. Recovery was jog 200m in a target of sub- 2mins.

The times went:
32.6s, 1:51 rest
34.3s, 1:52
32.7s, 1:53
31.4s, 1:54
32.4s, 1:54
32.8s, 2:05
31.9s, 2:25
28.9s

Average: 32.1s

So despite the pacing being a bit erratic in places, it was a generally solid series, well under target, and I handled the recoveries well until the last couple. I'm going to try the same session next week off 90s rest and no jogging recoveries, and aim for the same average time. All in all I'm a happy camper, but this is only the start of a long cycle. Ach tús maith, leath na hoibre.

Oregano_State

Saturday 7th Feb - Gym
Was all set to go for a leg-oriented session this morning only to find that a poxy circuits class was starting just as I arrived, meaning that the free weights area was off-limits for an hour. This meant I had to change things around a bit, but I still got a decent workout done.
After a quick foam roll, I started off with intervals on the C2 Rower: 2x5x(30s on, 30s off) with 3mins between sets. The "on" parts were done at average 1:41/500m pace.
I moved onto the treadmill then, with 4x1min at 16kph with 1min at 9kph rest in between. Was a right sweaty mess by the end of this. Next up was a bit of biking, with 5 mins easy for some active recovery.
I still had about 30 mins to kill before the free-weights area opened again, so I did a bit on the machines.

A) Lat Pulldowns: 50kg 3x10
Cable Rows: 50kg 3x10
C) Shoulder Press: 55kg 3x10
D) Chest Press: 60kg 3x10

...Cue more waiting around and putting on the weightlifting shoes. Finally, squat time.

E1) DB Hang Snatch: 10kg 1x3, 12.5kg 1x3, 17.5kg 1x3, 20kg 2x3 e/s
E2) Back Squat: 20kg x8, 40kg x5, 60kg x3, 80kg x2, 90kg 5x5

I didn't want to go too heavy as I was quite tired by the time I got to the squats, which is not an ideal scenario. Still, had the opportunity to work on technique. Feeling good now. Track session tomorrow morning, will be doing some Max V work if the legs are feeling up to it. If they're not, it will be more tempo stuff.

Oregano_State

Sunday 8th Feb - Track: 3x30m fly, 2x60m, 2x80m
It's been all systems go the past few days, the hamstring has been perfect. Out to a very foggy track this morning, training with a good group of youngsters. We did a very long warm-up, including some core work, which I'm not sure is the best idea before max velocity work, but I decided to go with the flow anyway. My legs were feeling stiff initially this morning, but by the end of the warm up I was well loosened out and good to go. I had a training partner that's a bit quicker than me to work off, I did a good job of keeping up with him at top speed, but he was taking a metre out of me over the first 10 strides every time. We had full recoveries, so 3mins between the flys, 6 minutes between the 60s, and 8 minutes between the 80s. It doesn't sound like a hard session, but I was tired by the end.

Gleedog

Long rests between reps are a KILLER.

And core before a session? Strange one, never heard of that before

Oregano_State

Gleedog wrote: »

Long rests between reps are a KILLER.

And core before a session? Strange one, never heard of that before

Yeah core before a session is a weird one, although it wasn't too long: 1 min front plank, then 1 min on each side.

Oregano_State

Monday - Off

Tuesday 10th - Grass: ET 2x10x100m in <16s + core
The legs are suffering a fair bit after the past few training sessions, with Sunday's max v work in particular giving them a right auld battering. Today's session was on a grass track which was on pretty good condition, and I wore trainers. There was a fair wind blowing, so with the reps going on the minute, every second one was against it. The effort was at 70% roughly, and I managed to hit 15.x secs across the board, even though it took a while for the legs to loosen out so the first 5 or so reps weren't exactly examples of stock-photo sprinting. I took 6mins between the sets. Happy enough overall, and the 10 mins or so it took to run to the track and back served as a decent enough warm up and cool down. I did some core work once I got back to the house, copying what's shown in the following video with former world champ decathlete Trey Hardee. I'd challenge anyone reading to try it out, I was in major major pain towards the end of it! Wallering around indeed.

http://www.flotrack.org/video/192900-2-minute-abs-wallering-around#.VNd_yIusXhU

Oregano_State

Wednesday 11th Feb - Gym
Found myself in Dublin with a few hours to kill so made up for missing my usual Tuesday night gym session by hitting up Flyefit on Lower Baggot St. It's a good gym and was empty enough while I was there in the mid-afternoon so I got through my session quickly without having to wait around for equipment.

Started with lots of foam rolling and mobility stuff. My shoulders are getting a lot better, overhead squats are becoming steadily easier now; I may try them with a bit of weight soon.
A) Back Squat: 50kg x10, 70kg x5, 90kg x2, 100kg x2, 110kg x2, 75kg 5x10
DB BSS: 2x15kg 3x10 e/s
C1) Neutral Grip Chins: +12.5kg 3x6, BW x6
C2) Dips: +20kg 3x8, BW x8
D) Upright Rows: 20kg x10, 40kg 2x10, 35kg x10
E1) Curls: 3xlots w/ 22kg
E2) Core: 2x[V-Ups x15, Alt Toe-Touch x15, Side Plank 1min e/s]

My legs are absolutely ruined now after that, as they weren't even in top nick beforehand. The glutes: lordy! :O
I'm in Cardiff now for the next few days and won't have access to a track, so I'll lob in some extra tempo stuff and keep working on the base.

career move

Oregano_State wrote: »

I did some core work once I got back to the house, copying what's shown in the following video with former world champ decathlete Trey Hardee. I'd challenge anyone reading to try it out, I was in major major pain towards the end of it! Wallering around indeed.

http://www.flotrack.org/video/192900-2-minute-abs-wallering-around#.VNd_yIusXhU

I might try that some day I feel like punishing myself

Oregano_State

Thursday - Off
Friday - Off

Saturday 14th Feb - ET: 2x10x100m in 15s
The legs needed a bit of rest after the weights and everything else; that was the most severe bout of DOMS I've had in a good while. As I'm away at the moment, I had to make do with a slippery enough rugby pitch for this session, and I was wearing trainers which wasn't ideal in the conditions. Anyway, it was a similar session to the last time I did this, in that each rep was done on the minute, but with a slightly faster target pace. Rest between the sets was just under 7 minutes.

Times
1st Set: 15.2, 14.7, 14.7, 14.7, 15.2, 14.7, 15.1, 14.8, 15.1, 15.0
2nd Set: 15.2, 14.4, 15.4, 15.3, 15.5, 15.0, 15.0, 14.9, 14.7, 13.9

Pretty happy with that now to be honest. The first set was very solid, and while the second was a bit more erratic, I finished it off well. The effort was probably good for another 0.3-0.5s faster per rep because the conditions were so slippy.

Sunday 15th Feb - 40 mins easy
The combination of Saturday's training and a few beers for the first time this year, left me and my legs in a less than ideal state by the time I got out of bed in the early afternoon today, but this leisurely run around Bute Park beside Cardiff Castle was exactly what the doctor ordered. It was mostly at a very very handy pace, but I picked it up for about 3-4mins around the half hour mark. Feeling great overall now, but the legs are still a bit tight.

Oregano_State

Monday 16th Feb - Short ET: 2x4x150m on Grass
The legs were mostly recovered with the help of the easy run yesterday, and although my right hamstring is still a little bit tighter than I'd like, I won't be running tomorrow so it should be good to go again on Wednesday. Today's session was back in the same park in Cardiff, on a slightly mucky but flat grass surface between a rugby pitch and a cricket...pitch? I paced out 150m myself using sticks as markers every 50m, and I was aiming for 29s/200m pace which is a shade under 21.8s per rep, but judging by the times I ran, the distance was a bit off and it was probably more like 160m. Rest was a slow jog back to the start between reps, and 5 mins between the sets.

Times
23.3s, 1:23 rest
24.6s, 1:29
23.3s, 1:34
23.0s 4:57

21.8s, 1:31
22.7s, 1:51
23.6s, 1:58
22.3s

I was happy to have the second set faster than the first; I started concentrating on keeping the leg turnover up after the first set and it seemed to make a difference. I felt strong, and I think I would have hit my target pace handily enough if I was on a proper track. The overall volume was on the low side for ET, but with the short recoveries it was still very aerobic and I didn't hit lactic at any stage. I'm enjoying my training at the moment.

dna_leri

With all this aerobic work you might even do an 800m this year?

Oregano_State

dna_leri wrote: »

With all this aerobic work you might even do an 800m this year?

I might!

Oregano_State

Tuesday - Off
Wednesday - Off

Thursday 19th Feb - 25min easy + Gym
A) Overhead Press: 20kg x10, 30kg x8, 40kg x5, 50kg 2x5, 40kg 5x8
B1) Close-Grip Bench Press: 40kg x10, 50kg x8, 65kg 2x8, 1x10
B2) TRX Row: BW 3x12
C1) Chin Ups: BW 3x10
C2) Hypers: BW x10, +10kg 3x15kg (slow tempo, paused at top)
D1) Upright Row: 25kg 3x15
D2) Core: V-ups 3x20, Side Plank 2x1min e/s

Friday 20th Feb - Track: Long Warm-Up + Strides
Was coaching at the track and did the warm-up with the group.

Saturday 21st Feb - Core, Mobility + 6.2km easy w/ 7x30s on, 30s off
Felt OK to get out running, probably shouldn't have addded in the fartlek stuff but felt ok at the time. The pace was probably around 70s/400m pace but I was just going off feel. Was tired by the end of the 7th one particularly as the whole fartlek section was done on a gradually steepening incline, ending in the hill I do my hill sessions on.

Sunday 22nd Feb - Track: Warm-Up + 4x80m Strides; PM: Core, Stretching + 100 Push-ups
My right hamstring started to give trouble again last week. It's the same, niggly type of problem that I've had a couple of times over the past few months but it's annoying to say the least as it disrupts training. I've had to scale back the intensity and rest a lot more than I'd like but hopefully in another few days it should be OK to get back to doing full sessions. Getting the balance right between resting properly to recovery, and minimising fitness losses is tough, but injuries are part and parcel of every athlete's life so I'm not going to whinge too much, even though I want to.

Oregano_State

Monday 23rd Feb - Home Workout
Started off with a good ole foam roll and some hockey ball torture. I then did some hip mobility stuff. Then 3 rounds of the following with no breaks, 3mins between sets. I did this in front of the fire at home; I was sweating buckets by the end of it, not least because I did 200 high knees at the end of the last set .
20 Push-ups
15 V-Ups
20 Crunches
45s Side-Plank e/s
30 Chair Tricep Dips
100 High Knees

Tuesday 24th Feb - Gym
Foam Roll, Shoulder Mobility, Hurdle Hip Mobility.
A1) Pull Ups +10kg 4x6, BW 1x10
A2) DB Press: 18kg 2x12, 1x10, 1x9, 10kg 1x20
B1) Upright Row: 30kg 2x15, 1x20
B2) Hypers: +20kg 1x12, 1x15, 1x12 (slow tempo, paused at top)
C1) TRX Row: BW 2x10
C2) Spiderman Pushup: 1x12, 1x2
C3) Kneeling Ab Rollouts: 2x12 (slow)

Hopefully will be back running in a couple of days.

Oregano_State

Thursday 26th Feb - Gym
Lots of stretching and rolling. Shoulder mobility work. Spent almost half an hour warming up altogether.
A) Bench Press: 50kg x8, x6, 60kg x5, 70kg x5, 80kg 3x5
B1) Chin Ups: BW 3x10
B2) Dips: BW x15, x20, x12
C) Core: 2x[V-Ups x15, Crunches x20, Supermans x20, kneeling roll-outs x10]

This was a less intense session than most of my gym work. I spent much more time on stretching and mobilising than I normally would. Hadn't benched in ages but the strength hasn't tailed off too much which is good to see. I'm still monitoring the leg, it needed a few days of no running to calm down, but I'm going to start building back up again now starting this evening. Thursday-Sunday was hectic, I had a horrible toothache that ended up needing root canal treatment, so I'm halfway through that now, with another session to come. Consequently I've been pumped up on pain meds since Friday morning, and I'm only starting to ease back on them now. Training was put on hold as a result. I'm itching to get back to sprinting but I want to build up slowly and work on some strengthening before I start doing fast stuff again. I'll get there in the end.

Oregano_State

Tuesday 3rd March - Gym
Hurdle Hip mobility, foam rolling, stretching.
A1) Pull Ups: +10kg 4x7, BW x10
A2) DB Seated Press: 18kg 4x12
B1) Upright Row: 35kg 3x15
B2) Hypers: BW x30 + 5kg 2x15 (slow)
B3) SL Hamstring Curl: 5kg 3x15 e/s
D) Core: Hanging Straight-Leg Raises (toe-to shoulder-level) x20, Ab Rollouts 2x15 V-Ups x15

The leg is coming along. The hamstring curls highlighted that the problematic hamstring is definitely weaker, so I'm going to work on sorting that out with more unilateral work. I may do some running tomorrow, depending on how this evening goes. Planning a mobility and conditioning bodyweight workout at home.

Oregano_State

I'm going to try to get back in the habit of posting here.

2015 was a bit of a write-off for me athletics-wise. I was plagued by a persistent hamstring injury and was never able to string more than a few weeks training together before breaking down. I ended up doing all sorts of stuff, including a 6-week stint playing gaelic football with my old GAA club as they were gearing up for a big championship game.

More recently I got back on the track for a few weeks in October/November but again the hamstring trouble reared its head. On a positive note, even after only a couple of weeks I was getting through some decent sessions.

The situation now is that I've rested and strengthened up the hamstring enough now to start back into some running, which I intend to continue, and work towards first getting into decent shape, then working towards competing in the outdoor season. I've spent a good bit of time over Christmas coming up with a sensible and progressive training schedule, with a 'deload week' every 4th week to mitigate against too much accumulated fatigue and put the kebosh on any more injuries with a bit of luck. I also went back over this log and focused on my last sustained period with no injuries and tried to take some lessons from it.

I have some goals in mind but I'm not going to post them yet until I get at least a month of uninterrupted training behind me.

Anyway, that's me. I'll be back again soon with some training to post.

pconn062

Good to see you back! Hope you can get over your injury.