The will to prepare

Iska's Dad asked me last night, is it worth it? Good question.

Well, I have little else to do. I'm on vacation.

Considering the investment is more of effort than time, I'd say yes, it's worth it. Will I do this next year? I don't know. That t-shirt slogan I quoted last post comes to mind:

"The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare."

From what I've read, long sprinters must rely partly on aerobic capacity, which is what I think I'm missing so, on coach Page's advice, I'm going to add some distance intervals to my weekly regime. I'm thinking 2 0r 3 one mile runs under 6:20 with 6 min in between. (maybe not...):

UPDATE:

Coach Carver has a different opinion:

"I don’t agree that you need to work on your aerobic base. That is not very relevant to the 400 which is almost completely anaerobic. I think 3 X mile would do more harm than good for a 200/400 man trying to peak. A 3 X mile workout is almost a pure aerobic workout and you are not a 5K man at this point.

In my opinion, you should keep doing your sprint and resistance training and thereby keep your speed at your max level. The change in your training to make the 400 finish stronger is to work on your speed/endurance (which is neither speed nor endurance; it’s a mix of both). It is almost counter intuitive but in order to finish faster in the 400, you need to run workouts slower than your 400 pace, but not slow. Most sprint workouts are done at high speed with almost complete recovery. Most endurance workouts are done much slower with little recovery.

With speed/endurance you are trying to find a magic point in between. And you want to concentrate on form and balance as you tire. The speed of these workouts won’t get you, especially on the first couple.

Workouts to build speed/endurance based on your current 400 time of 55/56:

5 X 300 in 48 with a 300 walk recovery.

4 X 400 in 66-68 with a 400 walk recovery.

3 X 500 in 1:25 with a 400 walk recovery.

It is critical (a) that you don’t run faster than the target (even if you can) and (b) you stick tight to the recovery. The exception to the rule about recovery would be that you might discover that you want more than that on the last couple but you want to try to stick to it anyway (it will teach you to run strong despite being fatigued).

If you do this once a week and keep doing the sprint work, you should see an improvement in your ability to maintain your speed longer in the 400."

I think if I can be more disciplined in limiting my recovery, then I should be able to increase my speed endurance. So, instead of running mile repeats, I'll do some workouts as 'speed' with full recovery, and some workouts for 'endurance' slower pace with limited recovery. I admit, I've not been regimented on my recovery time in workouts.

Including today, I have 26 training days before the TN Games. Unlike previous meets, I feel no soreness today so I'll begin tonight:

I think I'll structure this coming week like:

Mon- long sprints 400s, 300s, 200s w/ full recovery: speed

Tues- Long intervals with measured rest (500s) - endurance

Wed- resistance

Thurs- sprints 300s/200s/100s, blocks w/ full recovery: speed

Fri- shorter intervals with measured rest 300s or 400s - endurance

Sat- resistance, plyos

Sun- rest

This may be to ambitious.... let's see how it goes.

With my 200 speed, I should be capable of a sub 54.00 400. I was reminded on Sat. : this race is a bitch.

Last night I gorged on a huge meal. It was Iska's mother's birthday. I ate all sorts of food I never eat - roasted potatoes, pie and ice cream (first time this year). I weighed 147.6 last night... 10 lbs heavier than I raced at just 36 hr before ... a testament of how much the gut can hold. This morning I'm already down to 143 after expunging waste. I can only imagine how quickly I could put on 10 lbs if I ate 3 meals today and did nothing but ride the couch. Screw that.