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

Mid-Atlantic Open and Master Track & Field Championship

6/8/14 Sunday

It was a nice warm day.
Pretty cool to warm up and watch the young athletes perform.

Our heats were based on seed times and went from fastest groups to the slower.
For the 100m I was in the 4th of 7 heats, the other 45-49 yr competitors were in the 3rd heat.
I ran well, stayed under control and finished at 13.61 seconds, first place for my heat. A half second improvement over my Connecticut performance. This was good for the bronze medal for my age group behind Wayne Foulke and Jeffrey Grier.

In the 200m I was in the 7th heat, but these were pretty mixed up for seed times. I am still waiting for my results to post. It felt good, I was able to drive all the way through the distance this time. So it should be an improvement over Connecticut.

It was nice having the wife and kids there to cheer me on. I heard them loud and clear as I ran through to the finish line.

I also got to meet some great people; Renee "the jet" Henderson, and Wayne Foulke.

Flexibility and Resistance

5/30/14 - 6/6/14

I have been focusing on improving my hip mobility.
Also, I have backed down the training intensity to resistance and some starts.

Taking 200-400mg of Ibuprofen each day to keep the hip flexor ligamentitis in check.
Hip still has some tightness, I hope it is something that will eventually heal so I can increase my training intensity. I would like to get back to max velocity training at 90-95% for CNS improvements.

It was fun getting out and doing hill training last Sunday morning. It felt good to really dig in and drive hard.

Resistance and starts

Warm-up on stationary bike

Bench 3x135,155,185lbs combo with pull-ups 6xBW
Resistance band hip flexor holds standing and laying down
MB jump throws 3x5x10lbs, also underhand and sprint
Drills (hops, skips, high knees)
Starts 6x10m 4pt stance

Cool down on stationary bike
Static stretches

5/24/14, Saturday

Training at the high school track
It is very nice track, Eurotan with a soft turf soccer field.
I liked warming up on the soccer field, it was very easy on the legs.

Warm-up:
  10x10-20m striders
  Hops, straddles, twist hops, skips, high knees

Soreness prevented my from doing my workout.
I could not complete a 30m sprint without acute pain in my hip flexors.

Cooled down, stretched, and then went home and iced my hip and abs.

5/25/14, Sunday

Took my daughter to Knoebels for her birthday.
The whole family had a great time.
She even got soaked watching the boat ride splash down.

5/27/14, Monday

Pitched to my son D.D., we made a game of it, we had fun.
Day off, more ice.

5/28/14, Tuesday

Warmed up with drills (hops, skips, straddles, high knees)
Resistance bands holds for the hip flexor, standing and laying down
Incline curls 8x24,30,30lbs (need better biceps for the podium)
Cable pulldowns 8x50,60,60lbs

Iced my hip and abs at night before bed.

I'm seriously considering taking a yoga class next Monday.


 

Connecticut Master's 2014

First event of my season(and life).

50M              7.68 sec  Silver
100M          14.16 sec  Silver
200M          29.37 sec  Bronze
Long Jump 4.24 meters Silver

It was fun, I have never experienced something like this in my life.
I'm used to team sports, so to be out there on your own waiting for the bang of the gun was thrilling to say the least.

My mind was blanked out, and I just trusted that my training would take care of everything for me.

50 meter: this was just a take off and go as fast as you can. As I topped out I could feel my hip extensor start to strain so I just stayed at that pace and held.

100 meter: this was the one I trained for and felt the best about. I got a good start, and stretched my drive phase and reached about the same max velocity as in the 50 meter heat. I noticed that I was able to close on the leader at about the 80 meter mark. I'll never forgive myself for slowing down before the finish, probably costed me 0.2 sec.

200 meter: I knew I had already spent everything I had in the first two races, but I gave it my best shot. I drove hard for the first 50 meters, floated the rest of the turn, then tried to turn it on for the final 100 meters but I had nothing left in the tank. I did all I could to just keep running.
Hearing the crowd helped a lot.

Long Jump: I had no idea what I was doing in this event. My best two jumps came off the wrong leg.
Oh well, I wanted to try something different and this was the venue to test it out. I went all out on the final jump and almost broke my left foot on the landing.

What I learned:
1. Run to the finish! Don't leave anything to regret even when you are losing.
2. Work on flexibility, my stride needs to be a little bit longer.
3. Improve speed endurance, particularly on the 200 meter event.

Resistance:
   Bench 6x135,155,185 lbs
   Pull-ups neutral 4x6
   Incline curls 8x25,30 lbs
   MB throws, hops, skips, high knees

One mile run in the afternoon to stretch out the legs and hip, 9:45 pace.
   Hops, skips, high knees, stretching, foam roller
  

Final Tune-up

Warm up on stationary bike

Resistance:
   Jump squat 3x3x135lbs
   Decline bench 2x3x135lbs

On grass:
   Strider warm up: 2x20m
   Dynamic stretches, hops, straddles
   Buildup sprints: 4x30m

Stationary bike cool down

Static stretches

Excited about competing on Saturday.
I hope I do well.

Creative workout

5/13/14 Tuesday

Warm up on stationary bike for 10 min

Sit ups, plyos, and medicine ball throws and sprints

400m cool down on treadmill

Stretches and foam rolling

I liked the MB workout, I really busted a sweat.

Intensive Tempo Work

5/12/14 Monday: Speed Endurance

PSU Outdoor Track

Warm-ups: 0.5 mile, light stretching

Intensive Tempo: 2x(5x100m @ 65-75%)
    (run 100m - walk 100m, 10min break between sets)

This was harder than I anticipated. I hope it doesn't fatigue me for my meet this weekend.

Tomorrow: hit the weights
Thursday:   3x40m sprint build ups
Friday:       light jog

Taper what?

5/11/14 Sunday: Speed

I'm not sure how to taper for my upcoming meet in Connecticut.
I have not been on a particularly aggressive schedule.
Although, it has felt that way based on my body trying to adapt to a new skill, painfully.

Today, I concentrated on block starts, and did a few build up sprints.

Spring Creek Park: Soccer field
Warm-up: 600m jog, dynamic stretches, straddles, hops, skips, high knees

Acceleration:
10x10m bock starts

Speed:
3x40m build-up sprints

Cool down: 600m walk, static stretches

I felt sluggish today, my body may be more fatigued than I realized.
Hopefully, things will come together before this upcoming weekend.

Couple of speed days and massage

5/6/14 Tuesday: Speed Strength
Warm-up:
   1 mile on treadmill, hops, straddle hops, side hops, skips, high knees

   On the grass outside the gym
   Speed Strength/Acceleration:
   Sled pulls 4x10m heavy, 4x20m light
   Block starts, in spikes, 8x10m

5/7/14 Wednesday: Sports massage!

This massage was great.
Worked out a lot of the pain in the psoas, hip flexors, and chins.

5/8/14 Thursday: Speed Endurance at the Track

Warm-up:
   One lap, hops, straddle hops, side hops, skips, high knees, dynamic stretches

   Speed:
     Build-up sprints on grass 3x40m

   Speed endurance:
      3x(20m build - 80m hold): 100m @ 14.8, 14.4, 14.4 sec

One lap cool down, and static stretches
I need start thinking about the 10 day taper at this point.
Keep up the speed work for muscle memory, but at lower volume.

Quick blast

Oatmeal w/raisins, milk, nuts, iced tea

Warm-up: hops, straddles, skips, high knees, dynamic stretches

Acceleration:
8x10m starts; 4-point

Speed:
4x40m sprint buildups from 4-point start

Cool down: one lap, stretches

Celery, carrots, broccoli, iced tea, nuts

Felt refreshed today after taking the entire weekend off to recover.
Some soreness in hip, not too bad though.

Running on fumes

Special K cereal w/strawberries, nuts, Gatorade

Rough night of sleep last night, up until 4am.
My stomach was in overdrive, I feel this way when I over train.
But I am short on availability, so I will try to schedule in some block training today.

Warm-up lap, hops, straddles, high knee skips(no runs), and dynamic stretches.

Acceleration:
10x10m blocks

Did not feel too bad.
I think I will need at least 9 more sessions of these to get this technique locked in.

Carver's chicken sandwich, potato chips, nuts, Gatorade
Dinner: Quarter pounder w/cheese and large fries

Psuedo Speed Day!

Oatmeal w/raisins, milk, nuts, celery, carrots, broccoli

PSU Horace Ashenfelter Facility
Warm-up
   Jog 
   Hops, skips, high knee runs, side straddles

Workout
   Speed:
   8x40m sprint buildups
   *10x10m block starts(scratched his because I need pyramid skips for indoor)

Training feels so much better using Ken's program.
I am feeling healthier, and more confident at speed.

Celery, carrots, broccoli, potato chips

Texas Roadhouse 10oz. ribeye, steak fries, caesar salad, sweet tea

Hump Day - 4/30/14

Special k w/strawberries, honey-roasted nuts
Tabata
   Bench 135lbs(95lbs) 8x20sec/10sec
   800m run at 7.5-8.5 mph pace
   KB swings 8x20sec/10sec
  
  Bench was tough, I had to drop down to 95lbs after the second round.
  All of the fatigue was in the shoulders. My chest was fine.
  The run felt good, great that I only had to do half a mile.
  Back was a little sore after the KB swings, probably due to fatigue affecting my form.

Kick wrap from Carver's, wish I had more mayonnaise, macaroni and cheese, and apple.

Spaghetti, cran-raspberry juice, and some snacks

Tuesday 4/29/14

Special K w/strawberry cereal, green tea
Peanuts, biscuit

Resistance
  Jump squats 3x3x135lbs
  Calf raises 3x20x225,245,245lbs
  Depth jumps 3x6
  Incline dumbbell curls 3x8x30lbs
  Decline sit-ups 3x10 (still sore)

Celery, carrots, biscuit, potato chips

Dialing it back a bit

Monday 4/28/14

Oatmeal w/raisins, one fried egg, cranberry/raspberry juice
Nature Valley Oat's n Honey bar

Resistance training
  Bench 3x135,185,205,225lbs
  Pull-ups 4x6xBW
  Abs still too sore to workout
HIIT on Stationary bike
   17x15sec (45sec rests)

Strawberry yogurt, apple, biscuit, cashews

Sunday 4/27/14

Training on grass at Spring Creek park to help body recover.

Warm-up:
  Jogged one lap
  4x10m of various hops
  4x10m of skips and high knees

Workout;
  4x40m of buildup sprints to 70%

Some soreness in hip, but legs felt great(they like the grass).
Track is cool, but the grass is great for the body.

The kids worked out with me.
Especially Mya, she did all the movements and the buildup sprints.

Discussed training with a new friend, Ken Taylor, on the phone last night.
He's an expert on the west coast, great background and knowledge.
I learned a lot from him.
I read his books, SPEED - How to Run Faster Immediately: The Crucial Steps Every Athlete NEEDS to Know  and You Just Can't Teach That!: Or Can You?

I have read a lot of books and materials on speed training, and now I wish I had read these first.

In the first book, he takes all the technical concepts and vocabulary and boils it down into simple elements necessary to achieve results. This book is perfect for a novice like myself looking for effective methods to improve speed to compete in track and field.

The second book breaks down the sports psychology elements of competing with speed and the benefits of learning how to improve it.

Both were good, quick reads. It takes a lot of intelligence to break all that knowledge down into an easily digestible format like he has done in these books. There are clear instructions and links to video examples of all the techniques involved.
    

Assessment Day 4/19/14

Nice day at the Horace Ashenfelter facility

One mile road warm-up, and drills.

Asics Spikes
Fly 30m's: 4.64, 4.44, 4.18s
Standing 30m: 4.74s
Block Starts 10m: 2.21, 2.15, 2.24s

Still had a lot of soreness in the hip flexor/extensors could not push of very hard from the blocks.
I will take a week off from running to try to recover. I will focus on upper body resistance training and some stationary bike for cardio and jogging.

 

Me with good extension out of the block last month

Poor extension due to hip flexor pain

ACTN3 CC – Origins of a Sprinter?

History is cool. My parents passed away at a relatively early age when I was young so I never got to share with them the things about them that make me what I am. I remember them telling me little snippets of their lives and family stories. They were both athletic. I know my Dad played HS football, and my mom played softball for Galileo high school (our football rival in my days). But I do miss the opportunity to discuss these things with them now.

Socially and culturally we all know who we are. When people ask it is typically a pretty quick response, "I’m black… … from an inner-city… … parents are from the south… ...blah blah blah." But sometimes you may ask yourself "where did I originate… …who am I?"

So a couple years ago I had my DNA tested so I could learn more about my past. The largest portion of my ancestry was 48% West African (68% Sub-Saharan African total), Wahoo! That was followed by 26% European, and 4 % East Asian and Native American. Cool huh?

One of the most interesting findings was that I have two copies of the alpha-actinin-3 gene (CC) which produce protein which means I have one type of fast-twitch muscle fiber. This means my fast-twitch muscles (white muscle fibers) have a very efficient metabolism and require less oxygen for energy production.

Studies of elite sprint athletes show that they have at least one copy of this gene. Absence of two of these genes is an advantage for endurance athletes which allow their muscles to rely on efficient oxygen consumption.  

Now that is just the genetic side of the coin. Environment can then determine the other 40-60% of your abilities. So in an effort to embrace my past I felt compelled to give sprinting a try. Hence, my current quest… …three years to see what is possible.  That is how I am currently choosing to connect with my past.

Belly fat

While I'm in the general physical preparation phase of training I can't help but think about the difficulty of getting the weight down.

My BMI is 27 and I would like to get it down to 24 by the time I get to competition.
That would require me to lose 23 lbs! (or grow to 6'4" - daaah! that's not it.).
Whew, can't imagine what 178 pounds will feel like again.
Timing will be crucial because I don't know how maintenance would effect my competition training.

The training I have down, now it's going to be experimenting with the proper diet.
The challenge is to maintain the muscle and lose only fat. So I will need sufficient protein and fat, but watch my timing on the carbs.

According to my food journal, it's not a quantity problem but a quality problem.
More natural foods; fresh vegetables, and home cooked meals. Keep an eye on the sugars.