Last workout of the season

Went to the track today with a friend and former student visiting Sewanee.  It felt odd to have someone there with me.  Perfect evening, 72º, partly sunny.

I didn't do much.  My timer finally died ... after 5+ yrs and 6 titles, I'm sorry to see my little chirping mechanical friend die.

Did a full warmup, some strides, starts, one hard 100m in spikes which my friend timed in 12.51 from the 400m start, and a 90% 250m in trainers.  That's it.

Hoka trainers on 

400m warmup, stretches, drills 

2 x 50m strides 

Puma spikes on 

3 x starts from blocks 

100m from blocks - 12.51 

Hoka trainers on 

250m ~ 400m pace from back stretch to middle of home stretch

Never feel like I've done enough to get ready, but I think this will have to do.   I think maybe I should have done more volume.  Who knows.  It's just a matter of being loose, rested, relaxed, and executing properly.  Sometimes I don't ever think it's possible to be ready for a 400m.

I'm getting a massage tomorrow and taking the next 2 days off.  Will stretch and get ready for a relaxed 400m prelim in Toronto at the NCCWMA Championships on Friday.

My weight is on target... even had 2 pieces of toast this morning, first carbs in a while and still 144.8 after dinner, which is good.

Been at this since mid December.   It's been a long road, quite a journey.

Rippin' n ready

It was a good day at the office.  After yesterday off from the track, I wanted to do a light speed workout today, and it went well.  Did blocks, some race pace turns, and drills.  The funny thing about speed is that it is not commensurate with effort.  Some days I work very hard, feel like I'm running fast but the clock says no.  Some days, the speed is there, faster than expected.  Today ... the speed was there.

Hoka trainers on 

400m warmup, stretches, drills 

2 x 50m strides 

Puma spikes on  

3 x block starts 

100m from blocks, lane 4, 400m start - 12.8 

250m from top of the back stretch - 32 (12.7, 13.3, 6) 

150m from 200m start - 18 

100m strider on the turn 

Hoka trainers on 120m strider

My 250m and 150m were way faster than expected.  Granted, in the 250m, I took a 3 or 4 step flying start but I exceeded my goal of 33 by a lot.  It very well could have been 31 high.  Now, if I could just do that after running a 13 sec 100m... I'd be in PR territory.  To be fair, I probably was running a bit faster than 400m pace but it didn't feel like it until the end.  Same story with the 150m, right about 18 flat with the first 100m on the turn.

This is just what I needed to do today.  My weight is very good also.  141.8 lbs after workout.

All systems go!

Shake out / day off

Actually did go to the Fowler Center today and did a full warmup and some drills and hops, but no real running.  I looked at my archived workouts prior to some of my successful races in '15 and '16 that showed I pretty much adhered to the every other day regime, and since I did significant work yesterday and my feet were a bit sore, I just settled for a long bike ride today after my warmup.

IAAF
I'm enjoying watching the IAAF World Championships.  Seeing LaShawn Merritt go down today in the 400m Semis reminded me how even an experienced guy like that can run himself out in the first 200.  I could see it happen to him... right when he hit about 270m, his stride changed a bit and I could tell he was losing fluidity.  Having Van Niekerk making up the stagger on him also didn't help.  It also happened to Fred Kerley, who seemed to go out too fast, running against faster guys than he's used to seeing.  He ran about a half second slower in his semi.   Unlike Merritt, Kerley was lucky to make it to the finals.

Watching Merritt and Kerley today reminds me... it's a fine line and you never know how the body is going to react after the first 300m.   I do like the fact that the track in Toronto is an IAAF with short straightaways, unlike what I normally train on and the track at LSU that had 100m straights.  I sometimes wonder what intangibles go into finding that perfect balance and executing.  I think I'm able to only pull it off 2 or 3 times a year.  Daegu '17 (55.17) was one, Albuquerque '16 (55.22), and Jacksonville '15 (55.29) and Vanderbilt '15 (55.11) were my best executed races.  It's all about getting to that 300m mark with the least amount of effort and the most amount of speed.  What is interesting is that my indoor times 3 yrs in a row were faster than anything I did outdoor.  It's kinda strange.  If you include the indoor season, I had the fastest M55 400m times in the US, 3 years in a row 2015-17.  (In 2016 Corey ran 55.28 outdoor, I ran 55.22 indoor, World #1 for '16  indoor season M55).

I was happy to see the USA bring home sprint titles in both the Men and Women's 100m.  First time in a while, I think more than a decade.  Kudos Justin and Tori.   Sad to see people still demonizing Justin.  Pathetic really.  Wanted to see Bolt win, but was happy for Justin, he earned it.  Perhaps the USA can get their act together and beat the world in the 4x100s.

Back on track tomorrow.  Blocks and turns.

event run, blocks, conditioning

Perfect night in Sewanee, 70º, dry under a rising full moon.   Felt almost chilly by the time I left.  

I was going to do just starts and short stuff today but I felt I needed more.  Yea yea ... I said no more hard workouts but I think I needed this one.

Hoka trainers on  

500m warmup, stretches, drills, and more drills 

2 x 50m striders 

Puma spikes on 

2 x 50m from blocks, full speed 

100m from blocks from 400m start - 13 

350m event run - 47.8 (12.8, 25.8, 40) 

100m from blocks from 400m start - 13 

Hoka trainers on 

'split 500' - 300m - 42 / 1 min rest / 100m 14.8 / 1 min rest / 100m - 14.2 

2 x 80m striders on grass - cool down

It was a bit more volume than I intended, but I left the workout feeling good, strong.  I did the extra conditioning because I again wasn't happy with my event run.  My splits were ok but I pushed it quite hard on the front end and was already feeling tight by 350m.  It was better than last time, but not much.  Still 56 pace.  That's why I put the trainers on and went back to work.   I'm going to need to find that balance between an aggressive first 200m and running within myself.  The never ending quest.  Also, I feel my 3rd 300m on the turn could have better form.  I need to work on that tomorrow.  Tomorrow will be a lighter day.

For some reason, I've been heavier.  144 lbs even after workout.  It's not bad, same weight that I've run my best times.

light conditioning

Was going to do short stuff today but there was football again in Sewanee so I went to SAS. When I got to SAS, a storm was about to hit.  Thinking the storm would chase away the football players, I headed back to Sewanee, after warming up.  The football teams were gone but by the time the rain stopped, there was very little daylight left.   So instead of dragging out the blocks, I did a brief conditioning workout and called it a day.

Hoka trainers on 

400m warmup, stretches, drills 

3 x 200m w/ 1 min rest - 28, 28.5, 29.5

I felt ok, I got some work in by the 3rd 200m and left the workout for the first time in a while not feeling like I tortured myself.  I guess that's good for this time of taper.

One unfortunate thing is that my trusty Gymboss interval timer is beginning to fail.  It doesn't beep loud enough to hear it so I have to put it in vibrate mode, and the clock itself sometimes gets stuck.  Funny that after 5 yrs and 5 Nat'l Titles, this essential little device is dying just a few days before season's end when I need it.  I can't overstate how important this piece of equipment is to me.  I've halted my workouts to go and get a fresh battery when it has died.  It is vital to my training.  I ordered another but won't receive it til late Monday.  I even thought about driving an hour each way to buy one but this one will do for 2 days.  I do want to run at least one more 300m event run in the next few days.

NCCWMA Championships
Not happy to see the 400m Final in Toronto is just 80 min before the 200m semi.  The M55 200m field looks like it could be the fastest in many years with an entire heat of 8 capable of running under 25.   (Compare with this year's European Champion who ran 25.10). Several present and former World Champions represented: Don, Alan, Jim, Rob, Val, myself have all won World titles, and then some really fast guys from the Caribbean and Canada: Jamaica, Trinidad: Ray, Martin, and Michael.   That's NINE guys that might run under 25.   It's crazy - (Consider I won Bronze in Lyon with a 25.08).     This semi totally favors the 100/200 guys who had their 100m Final 5 hrs before.  It should not have been scheduled like this.  They could have put the hurdles in between.  Out of us 9, I think only me and Jim are running the 400m.  It's going to be tough to make the final.

Alternate track

I was looking forward to this workout but when I arrived at the track, there was a football scrimmage going on so I had to go to the SAS high school track, a very hard worn tartan track, not particularly fast and hard on the feet.  Just a thin cracked red layer over blacktop.  

I was looking forward to NOT running a rippin' 500m to start.  I thought I could maybe run a PR 350m, which would seem a lot less taxing than a 500m.  I need to taper but need to practice splits.  I was shooting for a 47 350m, which would definitely be 55 pace, but no, 48 is what I ran.

Hoka trainers on  

400m warmup, stretches, drills 

2 x 50m striders 

Puma spikes on 

3 x starts from blocks 

350m - 48.2  (13, 26.2, 40.4, 7.8) 

more starts 

100m from blocks - 13 

200m from blocks - 25.8 / 45 sec rest / 100m - 14.8

I was still feeling a little soreness from previous workouts this week in the lower quads.  I think I need to work on my form and short game, as well as my splits.  I was a bit tight tonight, need to combine an aggressive start with total relaxation while pushing the pace to the max.  My starts were a bit inconsistent.  May try another 300 or 350 on Sat, hopefully back on the Sewanee track.

spikin' up for speed

Perfect mid 70ºs and cloudy in Sewanee at sunset, calm winds.  I've reached out to some wise elders in the masters track world and am convinced that I need to start tapering now.  George H. suggested to cease the heavy weight workouts and hill sprints.  I need to go now for more specificity, technique, and race modeling.  I can say that I'm in much better shape now than at Nationals.

I put the spikes on and went for it today, doing the same workout I've been doing but taking it up a notch.

Hoka trainer on 

400m warmup, stretches, drills 

2 x 50m striders 

500m - 73.2  (56.8, 16.4) 

'split 500' - 300m - 41 / rest 1 min / 100m - 14.3 / rest one min / 100m  - 14.2 

Hoka trainers on 

2 x 80m strides

It was the fastest 500m I've run in training.  (As usual, I measured the stagger with my measuring wheel so I could run it all in lane 6, starting about 30m ahead of the 100m start on the straight).   I was nervous before I started, thinking it would really hurt if I hit the 400m mark sub 57, and yes, the last 100m was tough but it didn't kill me.  Felt OK.  I set my goal splits for the first 400m at 13, 14,14,15 or 13, 27, 41, 56.  Was running a bit ahead at 200, right on at 300, and a tad behind at 400m as the 4th 100m was run on the turn.  The last 100m I did ok bringing it home in just over 16.  The first 400m was comparable to the 400m I ran at Nationals.

 After that, I thought about just running a smooth 200m, but no... I did the 'split 500' (300+100+100 w/1m rest).    It was a killer as usual.  I thought, 'one more hard one for Toronto.'  I'm tempted to go back out tomorrow but I think I'll just swim and some light cross training, maybe some resistance bands.

I definitely think I've done the work this time and if I can't run sub 56 now, shoot me... I'll probably never do it.  I feel like I'm in the best shape since Daegu, maybe better.  Now just have to maintain, stay healthy, and sharpen.

After my 500...