October 20, 2009

NOTE
Intended to lift or run today. Not ready…left hip flexors were sore after lifts on Sunday – probably weighted snatch balance – first time doing them – hip flexor/lumbar still sore. Both calves are improved, but STILL sore from stair runs last Thursday. I thought I was being conservative stopping at 8. (I’d planned 12). Last stair or hill runs were in July – DOMS is predictable when I think about it. Left shoulder seems improved.

October 18, 2009

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION: Sunday, 9:30AM; General Conditioning; Sub-Max Week 2

SNATCH DRILLS – 5′ Stick
@ 100 reps

SNATCH (singles)
65 x 2
95 x 4
125 x 2

HEAVING SNATCH BALANCE
65 x 5
65 x 5

OVERHEAD SQUAT
125 x 1
105 x 5
105 x 5

FRONT SQUAT
165 x 5
165 x 5

DEADLIFT
245 x 5 (snatch/hook grip)
245 x 5 (clean/hook grip)

ABS/TORSO/PUSHUPS
Reverse Crunch x 20 + 20 Resisted Pushups
Repeat x 5 no recovery

2min plank

SUMMARY:
Both calves/achilles DOMS since Friday (Thursday stair runs). No running until Tuesday at the earliest.

October 15, 2009

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION: Thursday, 10AM; SubMax Week 1

WARMUP:
Row (easy to moderate)
2000meters @ 9min
Drills
Walk 1 mile (ankle weights)

STAIRS (approx 60meters run up at 60-70% effort)
4 x up/walk down
4-5 min recovery
4 x up/walk down

Walk 1 mile (ankle weights)

BENCH PRESS
225 x 5
235 x 3

OVERHEAD PRESS
145 x 2 (lats fatigued terminated OP)

FRONT SQUAT
185 x 5

SQUAT
225 X 1 (quads fatigued terminated squats)

DEADLIFT
245 x 5 (snatch/hook grip)
245 x 5 (clean/hook grip)

PUSHUP (against resistance band)
2 sets of 20

SUMMARY
8 x up the stairs. Quads were fatigued after second set of 4 and form was breaking on the last run. Ankle mobility was good overall. Goal is 5 sets of 5. Not much left for squats after running stairs.  Prior to last week my heaviest front squat ever was 145.  Plan – recover Friday/Saturday – Track & Weights on Sunday.

October 13, 2009

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:  Tuesday, 4PM; General Conditioning

SNATCH DRILLS – 5′ Stick
@ 100 reps

SNATCH (singles)
65 x 3
95 x 3
125 x 3

OVERHEAD SQUAT
125 x 1
95 x 5
95 x 5

FRONT SQUAT
145 x 5
155 x 5

SOTS PRESS (Behind neck)
65lb x 5

BENT PRESS
Bar – 3 sets of 8 reps each arm

ABS/TORSO
Hanging side curl ups – 10 each side
1 minute plank

NOTE
Both tibias still sore. Improved squat depth / range of motion.

QUOTES:
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“You cannot fly like an eagle with the wings of a wren.”
William Hudson

October 12, 2009

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:  Monday, 10AM; General Conditioning

SNATCH DRILLS – 5′ Stick
@ 120 reps

SOTS PRESS (Behind neck)
65lb x 8

BENCH PRESS
220 x 5
225 x 3
205 x 2 (+ 26lb chain)
185 x 5 (+ 26lb chain)

PULLUPS
ABS/TORSO
ARM DRILLS

Note:
Left scapula area tight/sore. Both tibias sore today – barefoot running?

10.11.9

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:  Sunday, 9:30AM; Sub-Max Training – Week 1

WARMUP:  1 mile walk; dynamic drills; 400meters (bounds, side jog; backward run)

800 Meters (6 minute rest each interval)

1. 3min 4sec
2. 3min 10sec
3. 3min 19sec

100 Meters x 4 (barefoot; exaggerated arm action)

400 Meters (easy)

1. 1min 40sec

Stretch; 1 mile walk

SUMMARY
Total volume @ 3200 meters. Each 800 meters was progressively harder.   Will shoot for 6 x 800 at 3min each before end of sub-max. Left shoulder/pectorals sore.

10.10.9

1896 Summer Olympics, Athens, Greece – 100 meters

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Tom Burke (USA)	12.0 s
2	Fritz Hoffmann (GER)	12.2 s
3	Francis Lane (USA)	12.6 s
	Alojz Sokol (HUN)	12.6 s
5	Alexandros Khalkokondilis (GRE)	12.6 s
–	Thomas Curtis (USA)

10.9.9

WORKOUT: FRIDAY; 11AM; Strength & Conditioning

SNATCH DRILLS – 5′ stick, repeat with bar
@ 100 reps

SNATCH (singles)
95 x 4
125 x 6

BACK SQUAT(High)
215 x 5
215 x 4

OVERHEAD SQUAT
115 x 5
115 x 3

BENCH PRESS
215 x 5
215 x 5
215 x 5

BENT PRESS
2 sets of 55lb barbell x 5 each side

PULLUPS
50lb x 5
50lb x 4

ATOMIC PUSHUP
20
LOW ROW (@ back 2″ off ground)
15

ABS/MID-TORSO
Reverse Crunch – 2 sets of 20

SUMMARY
Sore left deltoid and triceps, tight lat.  

October 7, 2009 – End of Base Period

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION: Wednesday;  5:30PM: Conditioning – Week 14

WARMUP: 1 mile walk; 20 minutes dynamic mobility drills

RUN
5 Kilometers – @ 24min 11 secs

1 mile walk

SUMMARY
A minute faster than Saturday.  The first two miles were about 7:30 mile pace.  In the last mile I was up against my limits. This one hurt – maybe not enough interval work.

NOTE:
At the end of July my base period goals included:

• run 3 x 5k at 7:30 mile pace each week.

By the end of August I still wasn’t adapting to distance.  I modified my goal:

• Mid October run 5k non-stop two or three times a week (no time specified)

I had problems with calves, right knee through mid- September.   First complete 5k was about 3 weeks ago. The following is base miles over the past few weeks:

1. 9/14 – 5k – 27 minutes
2. 9/18 – 5k – 24min 40sec
3. 9/25 – 5k – 24min 5sec
4. 10/1 - 5k – 25min 30sec
5. 10/3 – 5k – 25min 5sec
6. 10/7- 5k – 24min 11sec

Thought I’d be running 5Ks from August through September. I wanted a larger base than I have going into the next phase.  I’m running with some consistency, and next off season, I’ll know what to expect.  A summary of the base period.

• Completed 3 x 5K this week (7:45 – 8:15 pace) and six over the past 3 weeks
• Consistently running over the past 8 weeks
• Consistent frequency & volume the last 3 weeks

PLAN
Begin “transition” period – sub-max repeats up to 800 meters at 60 – 70%,  hill/stair repeats, 2 mile runs @ 7 min pace.  Essentially, the same volume with increased intensity and recovery between intervals.

October 7, 2009

Deadlifts & Sprinting: Masters Sprint Training

Most visitors to this site locate it by searching for “deadlifts & sprints.”  I imagine they’re looking for a short-cut to speed development.   Usually, they link to my past workouts.  For those of you just dropping in, this is an update about the deadlift and its impact on my sprint training.

First, because it’s critical to my point – I will be 50 years old this year – so my results are influenced heavily by age related factors (reduced growth hormone, longer recovery).   My experience does not apply to athletes under 40.  (Until that point, I was still durable enough for 3-4 intense workouts a week).

I’ve found the deadlift to be a useful, practical strength building exercise.  One can move a heavy load, safely, efficiently and frequently.  I found I could maintain a decent strength level and lean mass with minimal volume of work.

Here’s the bad news.  Once I began to regularly lift weights of 85% and above of 2.5 x body weight (for me – 410-420) the dead lift was no longer productive.  In fact, it required longer periods of recovery and resulted in inflexibility (a kind of “super stiffness” of the lower leg – tibias, ankles, feet) that interfered first with sprinting, and eventually running at any speed.

My experience over the past couple years:

• PRs in sprints were accomplished after one month of focused training with short maximal sprints and deadlifts at 2.3 x body weight.  This was subsequent to a 3 week break from both sprints and dead lift training that was consistently applied over a period of a year.
• Sustained intensity 85%+ of 2.3 – 2.4 x bw dead lifts AND sprint train every 5 days was accomplished without injury, however, resulted in declining sprint performances after a few months of consistent training;
• Attempts to sustain intensity of 85% + of 2.5 x body weight AND sprint training 1 x per week resulted in chronic injuries to my calves. The inflexibility (tightening and stiffening of connective tissue in lower legs, ankle, feet) did not impede DL progress; however it eventually prevented running altogether which had a significant general detraining effect.
• In less than a year, I went from age group All-American 60meters speed to a sub-average dead lifter with a fast 40meters, and gradually progressed to an un-athletic slug who couldn’t jog around the block without pulling one or both calf muscles.

In sum, the dead lift was effective up to a point but progressively interfered with sprint training and speed development.   I learned sprint success can’t be achieved through singular focus on optimal strength.    There are no short cuts to speed development on the track – especially beyond 40-meters. We are not powerlifters or deadlifters.   The run training needs to be a priority.

I’ve discontinued deadlifts until I’ve reclaimed some of my previous levels of general conditioning and have re-established a foundation of running capacity.    As evident in my entries over the past month, I’ve avoided injury and gradually increased running volume and intensity.