400, 150s, weight pulls

Warm and a bit humid at the Sewanee track, light south wind, 76º.   I started today with a 400m,  with a conservative first 200m, and a max effort 2nd 200m.

Hoka trainers on

400m - 57.82 (28.19, 29.63)

2 x 150m - 18.88, 18.97

2 x 5 - 55m full effort sprint weight pulls w/ 45 lb dumbell on turf ~ 9 -11 sec

I set my goal for a 28/30 400m.   The goal was to make the first 200m as easy as possible, and I ran it more than a second slower than race pace.  I was happy to get the 2nd 200 under 30, despite some rigging in the last 20m.  My third 100m (14.34) was faster than my second (14.57).   My last 100m was 15.29.   I usually race at about 3.5 to 5 sec differential between my first and second 200, usually about 26.8 / 30.7.   The goal is to get my second 200m down to what I ran today.  That would yield a mid 56.   It's possible.  

The weight pulls were pretty exhausting at the end of a workout.  Got out at just before dark ahead of a dramatic storm front.  

137.8 lbs after workout.  

500, 2x300

It cleared up nicely this evening in Sewanee, low 70ºs and calm winds at sunset.  The track was just as I left it a week ago, same weight plates on the field, same small piece of plastic I left as a marker.   It was placid and quiet.  Really nice.  

Did a little more than last Monday.

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, 2 x 100m, 50m

500m - 76.93 (28.43, 32.00, 16.5 / 60.43, 16.5)

300m - 42.40 (13.09, 14.14, 15.17 / 27.23, 15.17)

300m - 42.94 (13.48, 14.49, 14.97 / 27.97, 14.97)

Felt pretty hard.  I took about 15 min between reps.  The 500m was tough, not as fast as last week, but I knew I wanted to do more so I hit the 400m in 60.43.  The last 100m I really fought the lactic.  

Plan on going out tomorrow as well.  Thinking about doing a neg split 400m then some quality short stuff and some weight pulls.  Definitely not racing tomorrow.

137.9 lbs after workout.  

schedule / gear

Schedule

Back to Sewanee after a week in ATL.  I want to do the same type of training this week as I did last week, except to up my game a bit.  I'm pleased that my body, especially my feet are holding up to some rigorous training (thank you Clifton 1s !) and hoping to do as I did last week, 3 consecutive days Sun-Tue.

I'm likely NOT going to race in Louisville tomorrow as the rain chances are greater than 50% at meet time, and driving 500 miles on wet roads is not worth the risk (... I say that now).   And, I will better be able to accomplish my goals by training rather than racing on Tues.  

One thing I will do however, as I now have only 2 more meets scheduled before Nationals, I will race the 400 and 200 in both meets.  Saturday's meet has the 400 and 200 scheduled 4 hrs apart (11am and 3pm).  Still in the offing is a visit to my parents in July and a race on the 11th.  It's a good possibility.   

Gear 

I use racing spikes that are by all standards, outdated technology.  My spikes of choice were released by Puma in 2013 or 14, the Puma Bolt Evospeed Sprint LTD.  It featured essentially the same spike plate as Nike but was an ounce and a half lighter and the fit was tighter.   It is superior to the next generation Puma because they are lighter and have the golfball dimpled upper that fit tighter.  These weigh in at about 5.5 oz. My Adidas are lighter at 4.9 oz, but I still like these, mostly because I can use the risers.  

Since it has the same spike plate as the Nikes, I continued using the risers beneath the spike that I used on the original Nike Superfly.  Here's what the Nike Superflys looked like, these came out in about 2010:

The problem is, these black spike risers are no longer available... at all, anywhere.  A couple years ago, there was a guy selling them on ebay, but no more.  There was also a hurdler from FL who was producing these out of aluminum via CAD technology in his garage.  He retired.  So...  Gone.  No more.  And... in order to use these risers, you need a special long thread XT spike made by one and only one company, Omni-lite, and they are no longer making them, although they still have some in stock.  I just bought 100 XT Xmas tree and 100 XT Pyramid spikes from Omni-lite.   They last a long time, one set can last a season+, so I think I may have enough to last me the rest of my track career.  There are really uncommon.  I've gotten some strange looks at the spike check table.  I feel they give a little more lift than conventional spikes, and every half inch helps.  And, I did find a way to preserve the risers from breaking.  I fit a thin washer under the spike to keep the riser from being deformed, then I coat it with super glue.  They are very durable.  What usually happens more often is the spike hole gets stripped and the threads in the shoe will no longer hold the spike.  That's what happened to my first generation of Pumas (Puma Bolt FAAS LTD).  Right now, I have 2 racing pair and a pair a half size big I have not yet worn, just bought them years ago as a spare in the closest size available.  I have reglued the soles with epoxy a few times, they're good.   I  should be good to go for a while.  

Here they are, with my chosen mixture of xmas trees and pyramids.   

They don't make 'em like this anymore.... literally.  

Can't get 'em.

Back to the oval office, 6x200m tempo

Warm and humid but cloudy with occasional sprinkles of rain, in the 80ºs at Marist school for my hard workout today.   I wasn't sure I'd be able to pull this one off today, after a late evening race yesterday, but I did, and even one upped myself. 

Hoka trainers on

Stretches, drills, 2 x 100, 50

6 x 200m w/ 3 min rest - 28.06, 27.74, 28.31, 28.20, 29.00, 29.10 /  28.40 avg

It was hard, and exceeded my previous 6x2 w/3 from a week ago by 0.30, which is significant.  It totally kicked my butt. Feeling pretty light and fit again.  Still looking to break 57 in the 400m. 

Not sure about racing in Louisville on Tues.  Could be 6.5 hrs of driving for one race.  The weather is iffy as well.   I don't have anything pressing or anything else to do... although I've been practicing guitar more lately than I have in several months and would like to start doing some recording, but I have plenty of time.  I decided to race in the ATL area again instead of going to AL next weekend.  Next race will definitely be a 200m.  I definitely plan to take the weekend off from racing on the 19th.  Getting down toward the end of the season, I may only run one more 400 before Nationals, unless I go to FL in July.

137.9 lbs after workout.  Last night's paella didn't weigh me down.  

Sunset Summer Classic Meet report / Schedule

Redemption from last weeks bad performance.  

Another M60 World leading time: 57.49 - matching my last year's WL.  

At Wheeler High School in Marietta,  a 6 lane black track, not great but not bad... although not what you'd expect from the high school of 2 Olympic Gold Medalist alumni: Aries Merritt (110H), and Reggie Witherspoon (4x400m).  

The Saturday night all-ages meet started at 4:30pm, and I got there at 4:15.  I thought I'd be done by 6:30 but the meet was dragging on very slowly.  Lot's of kids.  Then, a pounding rain storm hit about 5:30, closing the stadium, and forcing a 90 min rain delay.  I got back in the stadium at 7:15, and warmed up again.  Walking around a lot, trying not to get tight.  They were doing the races from youngest to oldest, so my heat of the 400m was the very last heat of countless 400m heats.  

I didn't race until almost 9:30 pm, and I have to say, despite the wet track, I really loved the conditions.  Cool, no wind, dark, under the stadium lights, lane 4.  I really much prefer racing at this time in the evening than I do in the morning.  

They ran the masters and open together, 2 heats combined into 1.  It was just me, a 23 yr old guy and Tom, a 78 yr old who has the WL time in the M75 400.   

I was surprised the 23 yr old didn't pass me right away.  I didn't see him until midway through the last turn.  I felt pretty good at the 300m mark, and ran a decent home stretch, not rigging until the last 20m or so, which is good.  The 23 yr old beat me by several meters, but I knew it was a decent run, I didn't feel whipped.   

The big difference in this meet for me was weight and a good hard 4 day week of training.  Last week at Atlanta, I weighed about 143.5 lbs.  This weekend, I was 138.5 lbs.  The 5 lbs made a big difference.  Sean said everyone was complaining about their time at Atlanta Relays, no one seemed to run well. Maybe the wind.  Unfortunately, Atlanta relays dumped their entire results to Masters Rankings, so I'm stuck with that 59 time on my record.  Wish I could erase it.  

After my race, it started raining again, it actually felt great.  After the meet, I met Roya for 'paella del mar para dos' at a nice latino place.  The rain had stopped and we were able to dine outdoors. 

Photos:

I saw Sean there, he was waiting on his M35 4x100 team, trying to increase their WR, but apparently there was a no show.  I didn't see him after the rain delay.  

Spoke with Tom, the lean and fit 78 yr old who has been a prolific racer this season.  He came all the way from London, KY to race.  He ran a 74 and got a tremendous ovation from the crowd coming down the home stretch.  He was by far the oldest competitor.  

Schedule:

Today is a training day and I'll be training in Atlanta at Marist this evening.  I have an opportunity to race in Louisville on Tuesday, yes, day after tomorrow.  This will be the FIRST meet on a newly opened track at the Norton Center, adjacent to their new indoor facility.   In all, this is a $53 million facility.   just wish it weren't 250 miles away.   Tuesday is an evening meet, so I could show up and just run the 200m.  Long way to go... 500 miles to race for 25-26 sec.  I'll decide last minute, depending on weather and how I feel.   I had planned to race the 200m this coming weekend in ATL.  

250s

Warm at Marist school today, 80º and then cooled by a brief light rain, light winds.  I ran 400m race pace today, or close.

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, 2 x 100m, 50m

250m - 33.17 (25.50, 7.67)

250m - 33.82 (26.50, 7.32)

250m - 34.04 (26.50, 7.54) /  2 min rest / 100m - 13.57

I knew the first one was way too fast, felt some tightening even by 250m, last 50m was slow.  The 2nd one was about right, and the third as well, but tired.  Amazing both 2 and 3 had exactly 26.50 first 200m.  I think #2 had potential to be 57 low 400m.   

Still, these are not exceptionally fast, all extrapolated to about 41.5ish 300m, which would require a 16 last 100m to improve on my present best time.   Still, have the tendency to run a too fast first 200m.  Thinking after this 400m on Sat, I'll take a 3 week break from the 400, run the 200 the following weekend, and then start a new cycle including more over distance.  

Nationals will be tough this year, already the guy who edged me out for a medal in '18 has signed up, and he'll have a better lane - due to his fake seed time!  It's going to take some work to get ready.  After Sat, I may only run one more 400m before Nationals.  Or, I may do one last one in FL on 7/11.  

Down 5 lbs since my race last weekend.  138.3 lbs after workout.  

400, 200, 2 x 100

 At the Marist track third day in a row.  Body is holding up pretty well for a brief workout.  Mid 70's at sunset, light winds.  again, completely empty.

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills 2 x 100, 50

2 x 100m relaxed - 13.22, 13.65

400m - 57.79 (27.19, 30.50) /  5 min rest 

200m - 28.93

The 100s were an experiment.  I tried to run a relaxed 14 sec but was too quick on both.   I intended to run the first 200m of the 400m in 28 and set a goal of 28/30.   I was again too fast on the first 200m, and that resulted in a little rigging in my last 100, which was 15.89.   I rested 5 min and piled on the lactic with a 200m with what I  had left.  So, I learned I still have to be conservative on the first 200m if I'm going to break 30 on the second.

Tomorrow will be an off day from the track for sure.