endurance and strength

Back in Sewanee today, seems much more humid than Atlanta.  Have been really surprised at how cool Atlanta has been at night the past few nights... 59º and 63º.   Good sleeping weather.   Too bad I'm not sleeping very regularly.  Last night went to bed at 2am, woke up at 4am.  Back to quasi sleep around 8:30ish for an hour then a short nap in the afternoon.

Did a mixed workout today... an endurance run and some hill sprints.

Saucony trainers on 

250m warmup, stretches, drills 

800m - 2:27  (70, 77) 

4 x 100m hill sprints w/ 90 sec rest - 17,18, 18, 19 

4 x 100m hill sprints - 17, 17, 17, 18

Hill sprints were done with much more effort and faster than the 200m hills.   The 800m was a pretty strong effort as well.   I think I'll go back out tomorrow and Thurs. for brief workouts.  I'm considering this Sat.-Sun. meet a training run.  Normally, I would taper more for a competitive meet but... I feel like I'm not quite there yet.  Never seems like I have enough foundation, enough speed, strength, or am ever light enough.

A constant struggle.  Thinking I should get back to the weights in addition to the hill sprints.

143.5 after workout.

tempo 400s, 200s

Low 80ºs and fair at Marist School in Atlanta on the longest day of the year.   I did a good amount of volume today, but not what I had originally planned.  I was going to do the grueling 4x4 w/ 2min rest, but I screwed myself by running the first one too fast and did just 3.

Hoka trainers on 

400m warmup, stretches, drills 

3 x 400m w/ 2 min rest - 65.5, 69, 73 

4 x 200m w/ 1 min rest - 29.5, 29.5, 31.5, 31

Bringing the last 200 in at 31 at the end of this was tough.  The workout seemed more painful than I expected it would be... leaving me with a few moments of 'why am I torturing myself?'

Off day

Probably shouldn't have run this meet.  Racing  three weekends in a row is never a great idea, and I'm committed to racing next weekend.

Not a great day in Atlanta at the Ga Assoc. meet.   Didn't sleep well and felt a little sick from a sports drink that I drank before the early morning 400m race  (that I later found out contained sucralose, terrible) .  When warming up, I said to Roya, "Running is the last thing I feel like doing right now," as my left ankle was a bit sore.  However, the weather was as cool as a mid June day could be in GA.  Only mid 70ºs but unfortunately, very windy.   I got lane 6 and Marcus was inside me in 5.   I went out at my usual pace but Marcus passed me going into the final turn.  I tried to stay with him, and I probably shouldn't have,  I rigged up in the last 20-30m and lost a lot of time.  He ran a 54 and I wasn't ready to run a 54.  We were both chasing an M40 guy from the UK that ran 52.  He beat me by 10m but I was moving so slowly at the end, it took me 2 seconds to run that last 10m.  Finished in 56.70.   I took a beating for my failed execution.

The 200m was similar.  A little beat up from my 400, I got an ok start, not as good as last weekend, I ran a decent turn but lost time at the end.  We had a -.09 headwind, but still... slowest 200m of my outdoor season 25.43.

Not sure what to do at this point, either business as usual or maybe a slight taper this week before next meet, and then ramp up afterwards to get ready for some hard training in preparation for Nationals.

Don't really think this was a failure in preparation... just not a good race.  I feel I'm in decent shape and should be better by Nationals.  I'll have plenty of competition with Jim, Corey and Tyrone ... all who have run 56.7 -56.9 recently.

This meet was a very well attended and competitive masters meet.  I did win my age group in both events, but since I wasn't happy with my times, I didn't collect my medals.

 

speed / event runs

A warm sultry evening at the Sewanee track.  84º, no breeze, humid.   I did a low volume long sprint speed workout.  Running everything fast.

Hoka trainers on 

600m warmup, stretches, drills 

split 400: 300m - 1 min rest - 100m  - 40.2, 14.5 

Puma spikes on 

2 x 30m from blocks

300m from blocks - 40

200m from blocks - 25.8

Running almost 40 flat in training shoes for my opening 300m was pretty good.  More than a second faster than I ran last week.  I did 2 split 400s last week on Wed., and worked out M-Th every day.  I wonder if taking Wed off this week will hurt me.

I thought I was in really decent shape til I ran that first sprint.  It was a maximum race pace effort and it left me whipped.  I took more than 20min before I ran my second 300m, at about the same speed.  I guess I'm just waiting for that superior level of fitness where I can run a 40 sec 300m and not feel exhausted.  Don't know if that will ever happen.  Actually, the second one was a bit easier, but still hard.  If I can do this in a race, and run under 15 sec for the last 100m ... which doesn't seem like it would be too hard, I could break the magical 55 sec barrier.  I guess I'll keep dreamin' on that one.

Relatively healthy, save for the usual foot/ankle aches.  It had always been my right foot and hip.  Now it's more my left.  It's definitely not too bad.  142.0 lbs after workout.  Definitely race weight.

USATF Nationals
The regular deadline is tonight and the late deadline a week away.  No major surprises in the 400m lineup, yet.  There are 15 signed up for the 400m, so we will have prelims.  Half of them are seeded over a minute, and there is at least one or two exaggerated (estimated) seed times ... which is the usually the case.  Looks like Ben isn't coming, and it will be a competitive race with Jim, Tyrone, David, and maybe Tony M.

Big steep hill repeats

After the rain, it had cooled down to about 80º and was extremely humid with thunder and showers in the area.

I measured a new 200m course for hill repeats today.  I found the absolute steepest paved road in Sewanee and went to the steepest part.   This section of Roark's Cove Rd. has a grade of 22% based on what geo maps I could find.  So much steeper than the previous hill repeats I had run near the Cross in Sewanee.  I measured that run and it turned out to be only 176m, not 200m.  I was able to run that in under 30 so I thought I might be able to do this in 32 or so.  Wow, was I mistaken.   The first 100m is steep but the last 100m is ridiculous, with the last 50m being the steepest.  When fresh, I could only muster a 42 second 200m up this hill.  My reps were about 46-48 sec.  This is my strength workout to replace the hip machine that I think was giving me problems.  The walk down and then some rest was a pretty good recovery in between.  8 hill repeats on this hill are equivalent to 16 on the other.

Saucony trainers on 

300m warmup, stretches, drills 

8 x 200m hill sprints ~ 46

The last 50m of the hill definitely feels like the last stretch on a 400m.  I tried to keep good form, knee lift and arm drive on the last 50m.  It was a hard one in the extremely humid weather.  A lush shaded north facing hill, I will likely do this again.

142.6 lbs after workout.

Tempo 300s and 200s ... again

Same bitchin' workout as last Monday.  Just as hard if not harder due to the much warmer weather.  Mid 80ºs and humid with the heat index in the upper 80ºs, but dropping with the sunset at the Sewanee track.  Air was completely still, no breeze.

Hoka trainers on 

300m warmup, stretches, drills 

4 x 300m w/ 2 min rest - 48.5, 48.5, 51, 53 

4 x 200m w/ 1 min rest - 29.5, 29.5, 31.5, 33

Similar but a more measured pace than last time.  That last 200m was really hard and my pulse was 164 one min after finishing.

The left ankle was a bit sore to start but felt ok during and after.  The foot joint issue in my right foot has not been a problem.  Overall, quite healthy, 143.5 lbs after workout and a drink.

KY State Bluegrass Games - meet report

400m - 56.16
200m - 25.01 (headwind)

First 400m race in almost 2 months.  I got to KY very late Friday, because I delayed my departure to watch the NCAA mens finals (and what a meet it was!).  I knew it was going to be hot, 90º+ so I tried to time my arrival so I wouldn't be there too soon.  Got lost in Danville and finally found the track at about 11:40 am.   When I walked onto the track, I saw they had already started the 400m women's heats, with the men to follow shortly.  I had just enough time to jog to the mens room, do a few leg swings and put my spikes on.  I contemplated bailing out on the 400m, but I wanted that M55 state record, which was only 60.70, set 17 yrs ago.

400m
It was a masters heat with guys 40 and up.  I had lane 4 on the 6 lane track, quickly made up the stagger and never saw anyone the whole race.   Next fastest was more than 12 seconds behind me.  I felt ok, executed pretty well, but tightened slightly in the last 3 or 4 steps and sort of coasted across the line.   That cost me a sub 56.  It was definitely a strong effort, it took me a while to recover and the heat of the infield artificial turf was nasty under the blazing sun.  The odd thing is that in this meet on the same track 2 years ago, my M50 record time was exactly the same: 56.16.   What are the chances of that?  A little better than my last 2 races before Nationals last year - 56.22 and 56.23.

200m
The meet was moving pretty fast so I had just an hour or so between races.   I had lane 5.  Got a great start and felt really strong coming off the turn.  The headwind hit me but I just stayed relaxed and felt full power the whole way, only fatiguing in the last few steps.  25.01 was my best outdoor 200m of the season, and faster than I ran in France.  24.98 would have been better.  My 3rd fastest time outdoors not wind aided.  Interestingly,  I've run three times faster than this indoors, so it's my 6th fastest without wind.  Since I had a head wind, I think I could go faster on a better track.  If I could get a little wind, I might have a shot at breaking the great Jim Mathis's 200m record of 25.0 at the TN State Games in 2 weeks.  That would be an honor, the record is 22 yrs old.  Unfortunately, the track sucks.

I stayed afterward to help Frank M., the meet director, pack up his timing equipment and pick up some trash.  Happy to help out as I had a lot of time.

I got a photo with Sonny Collins, whose M55 200m record I broke (25.62) set in 2008.  He is 64 and ran a world class 100m of 12.89.   He still holds the M55 100m record of 12.23.  I didn't even try to get that one.  Probably won't.  Last 100m I ran there 2 yrs ago was 12.36.

Forward
Only issues from the meet are a sore left ankle, back near my achilles.  Nothing serious.  Expecting to do a volume tempo workout tomorrow, hill repeats Tues., off Wed, and speed work on Thurs.  Today, I'll do abs and some resistance.  I think replacing weight training with 200m hill sprints is working for me.   I got a measuring wheel so I can go to the steepest part of Roarks Cove Rd and measure a 200m.

SE Regionals in Atlanta this Saturday.  Then, TN State Games the weekend after.  After that, I'll get 16 days to prepare for Nationals.  Summer is finally here.   A warm humid air has enveloped this area.  Not as bad as other places, but the dewpoint is over 70º now and it's one of the hottest days of the year 87º.  Still, with a breeze, I haven't yet turned on my AC.