First Indoor season

Philadelphia Master's Development Meet 1/11/15


My first indoor event, so technically I'm going to consider this still part of my rookie season.


This was a developmental meet, which means it's basically a chance for athletes to get FAT (fully automated timing) times for their events. It's the beginning of the year so it's a good place to find out where you are starting.


The venue was Glen Mills school. I believe it is a boy's school for troubled youth, but I could be wrong. No spikes were allowed because it is a high school track. The track itself was nice but due to the weather many people were bringing salt in from the roads onto the surface making it a little slick.


Because it's been so cold I have not trained out on the track this winter so far nor have I made it to the Penn State indoor facility. Which means I have not practiced sprinting on the turns. That being said, I decided not to run in the 200m and only participated in the 55m.


I got lost trying to find the school so by the time I arrived and registered in the facility I was within 10 minutes of the start of the 55m event. There was no time for warm-ups and dynamic stretching. So I did some side hops, about 10 hops, and 2 short 50% buildup runs. That's it!


I put in 8.20 seconds for my seed time which put me in the second heat. So at the start I was a little nervous. Only to find out I was assigned to lane 6 which did not have starting blocks set up. I searched for the bolt in blocks and scurried around to find the bolts. Got them to the starting line and the low and behold, the bolts did not screw all the way down into the track. They only fit half way down. So when the starter told us to get on our marks I left it loose. I figured if the flew out when I took off so be it.


When the gun went off I got out well. As usual the other runners accelerated leaving me behind but once I got my legs started turning I pulled them back in. It felt like I was just floating effortlessly. I finished with a 8.03 which was better than expected and better than anything I did last year. Also, this race was in my Saucony Kinvara running shoes, not spikes. And on a lighter note, I did run down the high school kid in the lane next to me.


So the 2-day workout weeks are serving me well in my beginning stages of sprinting. My plyos and buildups are slowly getting me faster. Patience!

End of the Season

Season Recap

Connecticut Masters:
  100m - 14.16s, 200m - 29.37s,
  Long Jump 4.24m (50m - 7.68s)

Mid-Atlantic Champ:
  100m - 13.61s, 200m - 28.25s

East Region Champ: 
  100m - 13.48s, 200m -28.04s

Keystone Masters:    
  100m - 13.66s, 400m 1:08.60


This was the best summer I've spent in a long time. I trained hard, dealt with ligamititis in the hip and lower legs, strained abs, and hyperextended foot (from the long jump). But it has been great. Traveling to all the different venues, having my family there cheer me on, and making all the new friends.

Looking forward to taking a break and then preparing for the next year. I may even try the indoor track and field.

Keys to improvement:

Increase flexibility - yoga
Improve stamina and speed - long-to-short program with accel/max vel training year round.

Reving up a little

6/17/14 - Street work

1 mile jog
Drills
Buildups 4x20m
3x20m accelerations
Cool down and stretches

6/20/14 - Street work II

1/2 mile on treadmill
Drills
320m 55 sec
260m 45 sec
Cool down and stretches
Soreness in lower legs, hips feel OK.

Weekend Training

6/14/14 - Saturday

One mile jog
5x40m hill sprints

6/15/14 -Sunday

One lap jog
Drills: straddles, hops, skips A/B, high knees, fast leg
5x10m block starts
185m, ~26.5sec
300m, ~50sec
one lap cool down and stretching

As hard as these felt when I was running them I felt good after.
I used a full recovery in between the 185m and 300m, about 20 minutes.
Went out really hard in the 185m but I had to back off because I could feel the strain in my hamstring. So took the 300m a little easier so I could complete it.

Still can't imagine how that 400m dash must feel.
I started doing these 300m to try to increase my stride. I'm still running too short and need to find a way to improve.

Workout Rehashing

The basic elements of my workouts will be:

1 day of rest

2 days of speed work (2-3 days apart):

1. Max velocity/acceleration
2. Speed Endurance (20/80 or 3x4x40m) or Special Endurance (2x600m, 3x350m, etc)

4 days of strength training (combination of the following):

• Resistance
• Plyos (bounding, jumping, hurdles, etc)
• Sled
• Heavy starts, 20% for 10-15m
• Light accelerations, 10% for 20-30m
• Hills
• Short, 30-40m
• Long 100-150m
• Long easy runs of 2-3 miles (these can be worked into the hill training sessions).

My cycles will be 4 weeks (3 hard/1 easy), the easy should proceed competition as a form of taper.

The objective is to have effective training sessions but keep things simple, fresh, and fun.

Plyos and abs

6/12/14 Thursday

Stationary bike, 5 min

Step ups 3x6x30lbs
Depth drops 3x6
Depth jumps 3x6
Split Jumps 3x6x25lbs
Decline sit ups 3x10
Leg raises 3x10

Static stretches

After the Mid-Atlantic Championship

6/9/14 - Recovery day

   Ran an easy 2.5 miles, race up some hills hard for a good burn.
   Felt good, I think my body needed it for recovery.


6/10/14 - Light Resistance

   Stationary bike warm up
   Incline Bench 2x5x135lbs
   Pull ups 2x6
   Snatches 5x95,115,115lbs
   High knee holds 2x30sec
   Stretches

6/11/14 - Speed Endurance

   Treadmill 1/2 mile jog
   Drills - straddles, hops, skips, high knees
   2x3x100m (80% intensity, 30sec/6min)
   Stretches