Pre race day: More light sprints and blocks

Test drove the new Saucony Showdown practice spikes.

They're great. Comfortable, durable and an excellent spike plate. Enough room for light socks.

T'was a cool blustery day, mid 50sº, windy and cloudy. I did a good long warmup and laced up the Showdowns.

1200m warmup, dynamic stretches, drills

Saucony spikes on

2 x 100m striders

Long sprints at 85-90% effort

300m - 44.5 (even 15 sec 100m splits)

200m - 28

several block starts

Worked on the blocks again. So many variables. Angle of blocks, distance from line, amount of forward lean, etc... Felt pretty good. My basic foot configuration hasn't changed from highschool, however, now that modern blocks have angle adjustments, thats another variable for experimentation. I do seem to start with a lot of forward lean and weight on my hands in set position. I concentrated a lot today on the alignment of the first steps.

Tomorrow's meet in Sewanee should be fun - particularly since I am NOT running the 400m. I would really like to pop a PR in the 55m. It is a fast surface, but it's a 160m track, not particularly fast for a 200m.

I remain a pound or 2 heavier than ideal, 139.8 after workout.