5/5/2013
Last Week
We had a great week last week. The weather turned out to be great for a few days, including for the Sundown Invitational. Seems like everybody was waiting for a nice night to run, because there were PR's and season bests all over the place. I was really proud of how the meet came off. Then on Friday at the Dream Mile, we had our highest finisher ever and broke the school record in the 1600 and mile on the girls side.
The work we've done with the split-800's the past couple of weeks paid off when some of the kids decided to finally run the first 600 of their 800 like the workout and not worry about the last 200. We had several big PR's in the 800. I've always been a believer that fast times in the 800 are made in the 3rd 200, and that split-800 workout encourages them to maintain the pace of the first 400 and not worry about the last 200.
On Saturday, the distance runners did a "shift" workout to get a little speed and work on changing pace. We do 150m with the first 50m at 75%, the second 50m at 85%, and the last 50m at 100%. I really look for distinct changes in pace, not a gradual acceleration. We then walk/jog 50m to the middle of the next turn and do it again. So we do two reps per lap for four laps, take a little rest, and then do four more laps. I like to do a little bit of tempo beforehand to keep that system intact while we're concentrating on speed.
Sprinters got a little bit of speed with some 200's on Monday and Saturday and a confidence-building 45/56-second drill on Tuesday. We're really just maintaining all the gains they've made over the last few months.
Next Week
The schedule below takes us through the end of the season. We're pretty much just maintaining and sharpening up since, as they say, "the hay is in the barn" at this point. The main goal is just to get them to race day feeling good and feeling confident.
On Monday, the sprinters will do some flying 30's, which is accelerating gradually until hitting top speed at a cone and holding for 30m to a second cone and then gradually slowing. The distance runners will do a similar workout to Saturday with a little tempo and a little speed. The speed portion this time is what I call "shapeners," but it's really an adaptation of an old Arthur Lydiard workout. We sprint the straight and float the turns for four laps. The important part is that the "float" not become a jog. We try to maintain tempo pace around the turns. Those are the only new things on this schedule.
Since this schedule takes me through the state meet, this will be the last entry in this season blog. I've enjoyed sharing what we do, and I hope it's been informative. As I said at the beginning, this is intended only to represent one approach, and there are many valid ones. Hopefully, Jonathan can convince another coach to do this next year so that I can see the interesting things that others are doing. Thanks for reading.
Track Workout Schedule for May 6-18, 2013
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Sprint |
400/800 |
Distance |
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Monday, May 6 |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 4 x Flying-30 Hand-offs/Blocks/hurdles/field Stretching |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 2400m Tempo 2 x 1600m Sharpeners Stretching /Core strength |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 2400m Tempo 2 x 1600m Sharpeners Stretching /Core strength |
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Tuesday, May 7 |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up Hand-offs/Blocks/hurdles/field Stretching |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 30:00 Distance Run 6 x 100m Strides Stretching /Core strength |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 40:00 Distance Run 6 x 100m Strides Stretching |
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Wednesday, May 8 |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up Hand-offs/Blocks/hurdles/field Stretching |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 30:00 Distance Run 6 x 100m Strides Stretching /Core strength |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 30:00 Distance Run 6 x 100m Strides Stretching /Core strength |
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Thursday, May 9 |
KHSAA Class AAA, Region 3 Championships, Christian Academy, Louisville, KY
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Friday, May 10
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3:45pm: Full team meeting for all returning athletes in cafeteria. |
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Rest |
On your own: Warm-up 50:00 Distance Run 6 x 100m Strides |
On your own: Warm-up 60:00 Distance Run 6 x 100m Strides |
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Saturday, May 11 |
OC Middle School Invitational, OC Track
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After meet: Warm-up 2 x 200m w/ 4:00 rest Hand-offs/Blocks/hurdles/field Stretching |
After meet: Warm-up 2400m Tempo 2 x 1600m Shift Drill Stretching |
After meet: Warm-up 2400m Tempo 2 x 1600m Shift Drill Stretching |
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Sunday, May 12 |
Rest |
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Monday, May 13 |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 4 x Flying-30 Hand-offs/Blocks/hurdles/field Stretching |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 4 x Flying-30 2400m Tempo Stretching /Core strength |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 2400m Tempo 2 x 1600m Sharpeners Stretching /Core strength |
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Tuesday, May 14 |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up Hand-offs/Blocks/hurdles/field Stretching |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 30:00 Distance Run 6 x 100m Strides Stretching /Core strength |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 40:00 Distance Run 6 x 100m Strides Stretching |
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Wednesday, May 15 |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 45/56-second Drill Hand-offs/Blocks/hurdles/field Stretching |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up Race Pace Work Stretching /Core strength |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up Race Pace Work Stretching /Core strength |
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Thursday, May 16 |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up Hand-offs/Blocks/hurdles/field Stretching |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 30:00 Distance Run 6 x 100m Strides Stretching /Core strength |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 30:00 Distance Run 6 x 100m Strides Stretching /Core strength |
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Friday, May 17
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3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up Hand-offs/Blocks/hurdles/field Stretching |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 20:00 Distance Run 6 x 100m Strides |
3:50pm @ Track: Warm-up 20:00 Distance Run 6 x 100m Strides |
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Saturday, May 18 |
KHSAA Class AAA State Championship
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