I mentioned my idea of writing this training journal in the Café Pedro and the Runners Threads. Well, I decided to get a head start on this since I have a little bit of time on my hands these days with my Dissertation being stalled. The purpose of this is easily explained. Basically, a friend of mine, who is a superb 400mh (and recently beat the World Champion Jehue Gordon) made something quite similar. In his blog he said, that he draws his motivation from the fact that he is telling people what he will achieve in any given season instead of them asking him what he wants to achieve. That way he makes sure that the motivation is drawn from his own ambition and that the support from others only adds to it, instead of being the main factor! So, without further ado, I’ll give you my Introduction:
I have stated athletics three years ago when I got to college (or University for those of you who aren’t clear on that) and started off with training for the 100 and 200 metre distances, you know the “easy” ones because they are so nice and short… In two years of suffering I achieved mediocre standards, and when I say mediocre I am not talking at the end where I’m close to a decent standard. After last season my PB’s stood at 11.79 and 24.39 of 100 and 200m respectively. As you can see, not very good. I even had a very modest 400m pb of 56.10 from my first year of doing athletics. Last summer, a former Olympian over the 400m then told me during a training session that I had the potential to improve massively on my times across the board but that my progress as a 100/200m sprinter was somewhat limited as I have more the stature for a 400m runner and that I should specialise over the longer distance. Hey, who am I to question a former Olympian, right?
So for the current season (starting with winter training last September) I changed coaches left my Dublin Based Club (Crusaders AC) for Naas AC, which is based out of Kildare and happens to be the club that my new coach is affiliated with, while still being based out of Irelands capital. He immediately agreed that I had some potential over the 400. He also brought another 400m runner along (for the first time I have a proper training partner) and he will be the first coach to stay for more than 1 year (finally).
Results wise the gamble and the horrendous torture have paid off! I lowered my PB’s over 100, 200 and 400m all with massive improvements and highlights of my season include breaking a 10 year old record Trinity College over 200m indoors (just before my mate broke my new record 5 minutes later), and winning my first share of medals this year, but more on that later!
For next year, the goal is clear. I want to take the next step and lower my PB from 51.55 to a sub-51 time early in the season and eventually, by the end of next season, I want to break the 50 second Barrier (hence the title)… I believe this is a realistic goal, since my first race two races of the outdoor season were 51.55 and 51.58, coming off an indoor season that saw me lower my PB from 56.10 to 52.38 and a long break due to a nasty hamstring injury that prevented me from using the full benefit of my warm weather training week in Gran Canaria, plus my exams disrupted my season for a while with my exam week taking a massive impact on my performance (6 exams in 7 days). I think, losing 5 seconds on a pb is a tall order and the body just has to be introduced to new pain barriers. It will be a long, tough and sickening season, but I will reach that 50 second barrier (even if it is 49.99)! It is entirely possible, since the first year of a new event and training block is a shock for the system, so next year I will be able to push my threshold even further, afterall I had never run anything longer than 200m in training before this year!
I start this now, to get going, but due to some injury problems I will be cutting my season shorter than I originally expected. I have 1-2 races left on my calendar and after being out for a longer period of time, I won’t be back at full strength this year, and from mid-august onwards I will be taking a 3 week hiatus from any sort of training before building strength in the lead up for the first track training at the end of September… During that time, I won’t updating an awful lot, mainly cause there won’t be much to tell, but once in a while I will. During that period, feel free to ask any questions and I’ll try to answer them all
Palmares & Personal Bests
Distance|Time
100m|11.56
200m|23.45
400m|51.55
-Winner, Chariots of Fire 2014 (a race in Trinity College)
-2nd, Kildare County Championships 2014 (100m)
-2nd, Kildare County Championships 2014 (200m)
-3rd, Leinster Championships 2014 (400m)
-3rd, Le Cheile International 2014 (4x100)
-4th, IUAA Intervarsity Championships 2014 (4x400m)
-6th, IUAA Intervarsity Championships 2014 (400m)*
-Scoring 5 Points for Trinity College Dublin at the IUAA Intervarsity Championships 2014
*(Despite a strong lineup, I was the only Trinity College Sprinter to make a final and on top of that I also scored a point for the mens squad with 6th place)
And just to finish this post a picture of my two club singlets and my medal haul from 2014!
Hey Guys,
As mentioned in the introduction, I have decided to make this journal to motivate myself in a bizarre way and for you to get a view on how painful this route is gonna be!
A few things first. The banner in the first post (and probably the header for most posts for now) is Morton Stadium in Santry, Dublin, Ireland. Its the National athletics centre in Ireland but sadly its very far out from where I usually train, which is Irishtown in the west of Dublin near the Port. Ill try to replace Morton with Irishtown Stadium as soon as possible. Its just not the nicest stadium in the world so Ill have to find the right angle for a picture
Aside from that, I want to let you know about what you can expect again. First and foremost, I want to let you know about my sessions etc. I havent quite decided how to handle this yet update wise but we'll see about the frequency. One thing for sure, its gonna be painful and gut wrenching, but hey, you are just reading it. I have to do the sesions .
I also thought about getting you guys involved (the few of you that might read this journal, and I hope there are a couple of you!). So if you have any questions regarding my training etc or athletics in General, feel free to ask and I'll answer them to the full extent of my knowledge or opinion (I know there could be a lot of viewson the return of Gay, Powell and Campbell-Brown for example)...
Also important, the 2nd post will hold updates on my racing schedule and results as I go by, but that might take a while to be updated
Lastly, Picture updates and News from the Irish Athletics scene and the odd one or two updates outside of that. Interesting enough? SOUND!
So first entry Then:
The last few weeks have been a long road back... At the end of June I pulled my Hammie as a result of not being careful enough after equalling my pb of 11.56 (over 100m) in a race and half an hour later, during the 200 my left Hamstring went... Sadly enough, I was running well and potentially on a way to a new Personal Best over the 200.
So instead of carrying on my form from a great race day, I had to go to the physio. It wasnt a bad tear, but nonetheless required me to overthrow my training plan and take time off to recover. Luckily it was only two weeks. In retrospect, I should have taken more, cause shortly after being cleared I decided to start at the Le Cheile International in Leixlip where, despite finishing third in the 4x100 relay, my Hamstring acted up and I walked off in slight pain. I personally thought thats it, season over, nor nationals, no national league final, lights out, good luck next year.
Thankfully, my body decided otherwise and it turn out that it was only a severely seized up cramp... So another two trips to the physio, at least 9 needle stuck into my hip and a couple of painful days later, i could start doing drills again and last thursday I went back into spikes for the first time in 5 weeks again (YAY!). So all in all, despite missing Nationals U23 (where I could have won at least silver if not gold if I was fit, since it was a slow race) and National Seniors, I am still on track to help the Kildare County Team in the National League Final, where I hope to be running the 4x400m. After that, I only have one race planned for the rest of the season, so I doubt I'll be breaking 50 (or even 51) this year. But hey, its next year that counts!
I have a question to start off with. I'm not really familiar with the atletiek world. How professional are you, because seeing the effort you take, it's a few steps higher than recreational sprinting. You talk about some national leagues but what do they mean and what level are they? Maybe you could compare it with cycling or football (soccer), sports I'm more familiar with?
Ian Butler wrote:
I have a question to start off with. I'm not really familiar with the atletiek world. How professional are you, because seeing the effort you take, it's a few steps higher than recreational sprinting. You talk about some national leagues but what do they mean and what level are they? Maybe you could compare it with cycling or football (soccer), sports I'm more familiar with?
I wouldnt be close to professionalism at all (too slow... still ).
As for the leagues:
The National Leagues area competition that is run over three meetings where several clubs compete for the National league Title. Its divided into two divisions (Premier and Division 1). County Kildare (which I am eligible for) is competing alongside 15 other clubs and county teams (which represent a whole county of smaller clubs instead of 1 big club) in the premier division (the top tier league). The competition is stretched out over 3 meets, with the first two serving as qualifying rounds for the final. Only 8 qualify for the final (which we did). But you would be getting all kinds of standards across the league. For example in division one there is one team that has a guy running the 100 and 200m and qualified for the World Junior Championships that start today, but you can also race against guys who just do an event for the sake of scoring points to qualify for the final.
But at the final you'll get the best athletes from the qualified teams. So you'd have Brian Gregan (Irelands top 400m runner and a pb of 45 or 44 something) competing for his club in the 400 and the 4x4 and clean up the field, but at the same time the club isnt represented as well over 1500 and 3k, where county Kildare has Paul Robinson and Kevin Batt (both Professional Athletes) so it balances out and makes for a great competition.
As for my personal standard:
I treat it very serious. In the Intervarsity Competition (Inter University Championships) you meet some of the best athletes in Ireland over certain distances.For example my friend the 400mh runner is one of the top contenders in Europe and considered a favourite for the Europeans in August, so you have to be decent enough to compete for finals and points for your uni (only the top 6 get points). So I'd say its not professional but quite serious treatment of the sport to be competitive on many different levels.
Also, just as a mention: There is no such thing as recreational sprinting You have to work hard on yourself to get anywhere. its more than just running fast in a straight line. Its quite a technical discipline and requires a lot of focus. And its not just done with only doing running on a track as training. Sprint training also requires to do Weight sessions in the gym. So you see, it really is a sport that you have to commit yourself to, otherwise you wont be fast over your distance and even worse, might risk serious injury...
I hope that explains it well enough (In a comment thats WAAAAAYYYYYYY Too long )
I like the idea and the reads. Keep it up! Hopefully you'll get motivation reading our comments
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
I am delighted to have attracted a couple of you guys already and I am even more delighted about your supportive comments (and hey, maybe this can attract a crowd as big as some of the PCM Stories here, who knows)!
Anywho, lets get back to the actual journal entry!
Today I did my first proper sessions back in Spikes. Last Thursday was only two meager runs to see if I was ready to try an actual session. It consisted of 60 meter sprints at different speeds (60%, 75%, 85% and two at close to maximum speed). Overall, it went well, but the two runs at full speed were giving me a little bit of a headache. On the first one I dipped with my right heel (something that you want to avoid when sprinting) and on the second run I felt a slight twitch towards the end... Thankfully everything appears to be fine. The only thing wrong is that my left Hamstring is a tiny bit stiff but I still have equal range of motion in both legs and could do a full cool down. So I assume it was just a sign of fatigue. To be fair, my left Hammie has been feeling a little week all day... I guess Ill just have to continue doing my strengthening exercises and continue rolling out my hip, hipflexors and my Hamstring.
I was actually quite excited about today's session when I went down since I missed Tuesdays one and since some of my training partners were racing the day before, which always creates great banter and conversational fuel for the rests... Turns out, I was the only one of my group at training. Not to worry though, since my coach is always good for some comical conversations!
On a plus side though, I got a wiff of what I might be doing at the National League Final. Looks like I might be doing the 200m (if one of my training partners hasnt trained on his holidays [he said he would]) and the 4x400m relay. If so, I will be calling it quits on this season and take an extended rest till late august, if I wont have to do the 200, then I might do another race the week following the League final.
Oh and on another note, I finally could wear some of my new gear for the first time (its actually been warm enough to wear a singlet at 7 in the evening for once)! Here is a picture of it:
(Its manufactured by Ronhill... Sorry for that high-vis flash)
In other news, in a land far far away from Ireland, Tayvon Bromell, the clear favourite for the 100m title had a shocking race and finished "only" second. The winner of the race ran a pb 10.21 in the final, so its really a disappointment for Bromell, seeing as he set a 100m World Junior Record and became the 97th runner in history to run sub 10 seconds (9.97) at Hayward Field a couple of months ago at the NCAA Championships at Heyward Field (Oregon) where the World Juniors are currently held. Also, on a side note, Kyriu of Japan came third in the race. Some of you might remember him from 2 or so years ago when he equaled the World Junior Record with 10.00 which was consequently not acknowledged, since the timing equipment used during the race back then was not officially recognized by the IAAF. However, he still holds a pb of 10.01, which he hasnt run in a while, but he is still one of Asia's most promising talents in sprinting.
Well, this should be all for today. Until the next journal update, feel free to ask any questions. The outlook for myself will be a trip to the sauna, a couple of strengthening exercises and maybe the odd jog or two!
steve smink wrote:
Have you been down to that indoor track in Athlone?
I have indeed! In fact, I set my 200m Personal Best (which stands for both, indoors and outdoors) there at this years Varsity Championships in February. Its a brilliant facility (picture below for those of you that arent Irish ) and a really fast track.
Tough I wouldnt be opposed to the second (Proposed) facility in Adamstown. I mean, at least you'd have the option of getting to train indoors more often, cause it is quite a trek up to Athlone for just a 90 minute training session...
AIT ARENA
The AIT Arena is a €10m development on the Campus of the Athlone Institute of Technology. It is one of two new athletics facilities in the Midlands Town/City Athlone (indoor and Outdoor) and both are located on the AIT Campus.
One of the biggest events there was the AIT Grand Prix in 2014, which saw the likes of World Record Holder and Olympic Champion Ashton Eaton, his Wife Brianne Theissen Eaton and US Virgin Islands Olympic Athlete Tabari Henry compete in the inaugural event this year, and hopes are there for it to become as big as the Morton Games (a meet in Dublin) that regularly attracts a field of top-class athletes like World Champion Jehue Gordon amongst others International Champions!
Its been a couple of days since I last shared an update. Well, to be honest, there wasnt much to report. Since my last update I only went to training once and it was a complete disaster, as my hamstring just wouldnt play nice. In short it acted up again (on my very first run) and I had to call it quits on the season. My physio and my coach both said that its unnatural to be making such little (or really almost no progress) over a span of 7 weeks, so I was referred to a consultation with Aidan Woods, Irelands Head Physio at the 2012 Olympics, from my physio. Guess I wasnt diagnosed entirely wright for my second set of physio treatments as I still had an untreated tear in my hamstring... So for now, eventhough I wanted to rest completely and enjoy playing the occasional football game for the next couple of weeks, I am already working on my comeback for next year. Aidan Woods prescribed regular Physio Treatment (my first session is tomorrow), as well as daily stretching and back strengthening exercises and daily biking. The problem with the biking is, that its supposed to be on stationary bikes in the gym. Pretty Boring affair, seeing as 2 minutes into my prescribed 20 minutes I already have to fight boredom. Sadly, its more than necessary. During the last couple of weeks, I have lost a bit of Muscle mass in my left Hamstring and Glutes, due to weakness in the left leg and the inabillity to apply full pressure and in order to stop further loss the biking is required... Well, Guess Ill just have to suck it up for now.
My premature ending of the season also means that I didnt compete in the National League Final, which the Kildare Co. Men finished in 7th place in the final, with a shocking showing by our sprinters and at times having to rely on C runners to do the event, crowned by a last place in the 4x400m (mostly a C&D Team) and a disqualification in the 4x100m for which our Anchor Leg runner only arrived 15 minutes before the start of the race and did his first strides 5 minutes before the race...
Guess we'll have to bounce back next year. And hopefully with at least 3 sub 50 second 400m runners on the squad.
I myself will now focus on coming back for next season with my exercises and biking and physio treatments and what not, and then get a head start on the Heavy Weights in early to mid September. Until then, Ill probably wont post here an awful lot (if at all) but updates will increase/return once I hit the track in late September/early October!
Until then, Stay Tuned and feel free to ask any questions you might have!
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
The Time has finally come upon us (sort of) where I start training again. In all fairness instead of taking 6 weeks off completely after the national league final, I counted back from my last competition etc and figured out that I hadnt done any proper training in 6 weeks (if not more) anyway, and my break from weights was even longer... So, to slowly ease back into the season, I started up with weights again last week, two Max. Strength sessions to be precise (the session is below)! Needless to say, every single muscle in my body is aching ...
To start off, I actually went on to the scale to see what carnage the 8-9 weeks of injury had done, and I actually dropped 2 Kilos, which is kind of scary, but explainable, considering that I adjusted my food intake a little, meaning that I didnt eat just as much since I didnt feel the need to keep my high calorie and (stupidly and more crucially) my high protein intake up... So yeah, 2kg less in weight and slight loss in muscle mass.
Thats the bad news. The good news is, that I appear to have kept my strength more or less in check , as I equalled my PB's in both the Deadlift and the cleans with only two sessions in (I took it easier on Monday, just being cautious). The only one I am still cautious about at the moment is my squat, But id say, we'll get there quite quickly...
For now the goal is to quite frankly eat more again and bulk a little and keep the weights work up to start stronger into the season!
That should be all for now, so stay tuned for the next update, which probably wont come until there are major changes to my training plan or if I equal/set new pbs!
Weight Training Max Strength
Warm Up:
Bench Press at 60-75% weights - 7-10 reps, 3-4 sets, 2-3 min rest
-----------------------------
Session:
Squat at 90-95% - 3 reps, 3 sets, 10 min rest (full recovery)
Deadlift at 90-95% - 3 reps, 3 sets, 10 min rest (full recovery)
Clean at 90-95% - 3 reps, 3 sets, 10 min rest (full recovery)
P.S.: If any of you have any good (and healthy) meal suggestions (preferably with a high protein content, like chicken), send me a PM with the recipe. I am always looking for something different to cook Edited by miggi133 on 24-08-2014 13:22
Breaking 50... For Real this time! DAY 1 [22/09/2014]
Yes, the Title is correct! Today was the first official day of the new Training season... And I started it with a double Day!
This morning I started with a bit off a shake up Gym Session. After a slight niggle with my Hip-Flexor 2 weeks ago, I decided a week and a half off and go drinking during Freshers Week. So in order to get the oils flowing again.
The session was a mixture of Max Strength and Reactive strength:
The evening Session was a 3 Mile Long-run! As part of being a committee member of the Trinity Athletics Club, I was summoned to lead the group of 3 milers to at least the turning mark. Ended up running the whole thing at the front. I am still pretty knackered, and I have a feeling that I will pay for that little sprint at the end of the run, when two of the boys decided to race me on the last 100m...
All in all a pretty tough day alright, which will come back to haunt me during tomorrows training! But there is no time to think about that, cause tomorrow its Finally back to TRACK TRAINING!
Stay tuned for more updates and as always, dont hesitate to ask any questions about training regimes, and the like!
How could i oversee this for a month (especially after you mentioned the idea in the runners Thread)?
From one runner to another I wish you all the best for your aim!
Here is a small, unorganized list of points that catched my interest:
- Impressive improvement during that last year! If you can keep up your training then the 49:xx seems possible although it will need a lot of training..
- I found it a bit funny that you referred to the 400m as the " longer distances". Sorry, just the old " Sprinter vs. Runner rivalry" ( My main distance is 800m (2:00) but i also do everything else from 400m (PB: 53:xx) to 5000m and sometimes even 10km)
-That AIT Arena looks great. How often do you go on the trek to train indoor?
- You say that losing 2 kilo is scary. Do you notice that while running?
knockout wrote:
How could i oversee this for a month (especially after you mentioned the idea in the runners Thread)?
From one runner to another I wish you all the best for your aim!
Here is a small, unorganized list of points that catched my interest:
- Impressive improvement during that last year! If you can keep up your training then the 49:xx seems possible although it will need a lot of training..
- I found it a bit funny that you referred to the 400m as the " longer distances". Sorry, just the old " Sprinter vs. Runner rivalry" ( My main distance is 800m (2:00) but i also do everything else from 400m (PB: 53:xx) to 5000m and sometimes even 10km)
-That AIT Arena looks great. How often do you go on the trek to train indoor?
- You say that losing 2 kilo is scary. Do you notice that while running?
Thanks for sharing your experiences!
Cheers! Im delighted that you have found it eventually.
In regards to your points:
-I know its gonna be a lot of work and an even longer season. Thats part of the reason why I decided to write this blog. Maybe it helps the motivation to put in that extra shift or two!
-Im well aware of that "rivalry". Sure when im introduced to new middle and long distance runner im jokingly referred to as "just a sprinter". Though once the distance runners actually do a blocks session with me, including explaining the stances and different phases you go through during a start and acceleration produced, they do change their mind a little. Though, you gotta admit. from a sprinters point of view, the 400 is quite a long distance, and coming from 1&200m background, I am not inclined to try anything longer as a competitive distance
-Well AIT is about an hour, hour and a half away (I live in Dublin), so I usually only go out there when the Kildare County Squad (my Club is in County Kildare) are out there to train, which is about 3 times a year.
The last question is a little hard to answer actually.
I cant really comment on any differences cause once I started weights again, I changed my diet back to the amounts I took in during the competitive season and my High Intensity training blocks, so I regained the weight quite quickly. I was actually surprised how quickly I gained the mass back, and even more surprised that I hadnt lost the strength, cause within 2 weeks I was lifting new PB's by the order of ~ 2.5 Kilo's per exercise. But in the first week, I certainly felt that i had to slowly work myself up to my (then) PB's and that i was a lot more exhausted during and after my max strength workout than I used to be during competitions. Running wise I cant compare it since the I only went running (in any way, incl. sprinting) for the first time in 2 months. I hope that answers the question
Anyway, Im glad that you found it, and I hope you'll stick around a bit, cause Im planning to bring the next post up on my training in the coming few days, covering Tuesdays and Thursdays (tomorrows) sprint sessions...
Yeah, i have to admit that the 400m is a long distance - not only for sprinters ( at least if you run it at full pace). Imo, it is the most "ugly" distance (just ahead of 800m) because it is so f***ing intensive and you are "dead" so early.
Is it hard for you to motivate you in the coldest days to train outdoor? (I'm blessed enough that i can always go indoor all year long - even outside my training session times so I don't really know doing pace sessions outdoor when it is cold. I know, I am lucky!)
About that weight question : I was just curious because 2 kilo is about the normal variation for me. I'm between 55 and 57 kilos (at around 175cm) and i don't really notice the differences in that spectrum.
I think (from my experience) it is likely that your problems you had in the first week after restarting training are just the normal readjusting of the body with regular training and that the missing weight isnt the cause for the faster exhausting.
knockout wrote:
Is it hard for you to motivate you in the coldest days to train outdoor? (I'm blessed enough that i can always go indoor all year long - even outside my training session times so I don't really know doing pace sessions outdoor when it is cold. I know, I am lucky!)
About that weight question : I was just curious because 2 kilo is about the normal variation for me. I'm between 55 and 57 kilos (at around 175cm) and i don't really notice the differences in that spectrum.
I think (from my experience) it is likely that your problems you had in the first week after restarting training are just the normal readjusting of the body with regular training and that the missing weight isnt the cause for the faster exhausting.
How the hell can you train indoors all year around? Thats really unfair, from my point of view! But it's quite easy for me to motivate myself for the suffering during the winter months, cause my training partner(s) are at about the same level as I am, so we suffer together
As for having the benefit of training indoors all year, I have to say, it doesnt give you that much of an advantage looking at a whole season. One of the guys who studies at AIT has never beaten me in a head to head race over 400 and only on times twice indoors. His overall PB, which he set indoors is 50.9, whereas my indoor PB stands at 52.33 (again, I only moved up), but outdoors that guy isn't that quick. His advantage is only good for the indoor season, which in Ireland is very short.
As for the weight difference, I really havent looked much into it. Yes, you are right that it was more a readjustment period, but I think the quick weight re-gain comes as a direct result from that readjustment...
