Fraser Young

[Fraser Young]

Post-Program – Week 3

22 February

Exercise Bike – 40 mins (105 down to 80 Watts)

Poor sleep and my Oura ring is saying I have major indications of an approaching cold/flu. I feel run down and it was no surprise that my numbers on the bike were so poor.

23 February

Pogo Jumps – 3 x 20 secs
5 x 30E20F in 2.12-2.18 Freelap

Damp track, 9 degrees, +6 m/s wind. It would have been another headwind but I set my timing gates in the opposite direction to give myself some nice overspeed training. Difficult to say what a true time is, I like to correct 0.01 secs per 10m for every 2 m/s wind, so the fastest runs might have been 2.18 secs or 1.09 flying 10m. The track was slippery so I couldn’t land broad jumps and the 5 bound with such a strong wind is pointless trying to measure.

I’m still feeling run down but my race isn’t for 7 days so not concerned.

24 February

MB Chest Pass – 8 x 5kg
MB Slams – 8 x 5kg
Bench Press – 3 x 2 x 95kg
Hanging Leg Raise – 10
Russian Twists – 30 x 5kg
Ab Wheel – 45 secs

95kg went up quite nicely considering I’m only 67kg right now.

25 February

A Drills – 4 x 2 x 15m
Dribble ACK, SL Scissor – 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Build Ups
Tempo – 10 x 100m with stretching in ~17.5 secs

Chilled tempo session, felt really sharp which is a good sign. I accidentally ran one in 15.8 secs and after that I really relaxed it down and ran some 18’s. My stomach has been dodgy the last few days and I feel like I’m turning a corner, hopefully in time for a fast weekend race. Initial weather forecast for Sunday is dry, so I will look to do some Freelap times in the warm up area before and after the 60m race.

26 February

Concept2 Exercise Bike – 40 mins (140 down to 100 Watts)

The other week I struggled to pedal hard enough to hit zone 2 and I had the same thing again today. I spent 5 minutes at 125W and my heart rate didn’t budge above 100 bpm, so I pushed on to 140W which was a bit tiring on the legs, but it got me above 110 bpm. I was planning to do more zone 2 on Friday but I might rethink now depending on how explosive I feel tomorrow at the track.

27 February

Full Race Warm Up
Blocks – 20, 30m (95% effort)
60m (90-95% effort)

Nothing too strenuous. I now know my race is at midday so I did this at 11am to mimic what will happen on Sunday. I felt springy during the warm up jog, not so much in the sprints but it was a strong headwind. I’m still finding it hard to mentally shake the 7.8* times that I ran the other week and I don’t really believe that I can dip under 7.70 on Sunday, which is a shame.

28 February

Concept2 Exercise Bike – 30 mins (130 down to 90 Watts)
Stretching – 25 mins

I cut 10 minutes off the bike and brought along my copy of Kelly Starrett’s Becoming a Supple Leopard. I chose one stretch for each area of the body and I really felt some of them.

1 March

AM Walk – 25 mins
Cold Pool – 45 mins

I got the blood flowing early with a walk, then later that morning I took my daughter’s swimming and the pool is pretty nippy so it’s a nice bit of cold therapy. I had a 25 minute sauna session in the evening and will have an elaborate bedtime routine to give myself the best chance at a good sleep.

2 March – Race Day

Sussex County Champs – 60m

Semi Final (4th) – 7.78 secs

Sprints – 30m in 4.26
Sprints – 2 x 50m in 6.48 (4.21, 5.33), 6.41 (4.18, 5.30)
Sprints – 60m in 7.46 (4.13, 5.24, 6.35)

I felt great in the warm up, my bounds were going out quite far. In hindsight I would have liked to do a flat out 20m run and a longer acceleration, as it was I tried a 15-20m sprint and then built up to no more than 10m fly at 90-95% pace. Looking at my times afterwards, which were aided by a tailwind, I’d say I had more than a 7.78 in me.

The race itself was an okay execution, maybe lacking some power in the first few strides but otherwise I was pleased with it. The time is a bit slow as I was hoping for low 7.7’s. Based on the outdoor times it’s my top speed that wasn’t there this time around.

All done for the indoor season now, a few days off and then into a new program on Thursday (though the first week is a gentle introduction).

[Fraser Young]

Post-Program – Week 2

15 February

Rest

16 February – Race Day

Sutcliffe Park Open Meeting – 2 x 60m

Race 1 – 7.83 secs

Race 2 – 7.89 secs

Well I wasn’t expecting that. My warm up felt decent, I did a standing 5 bound to 12.40m which is pretty average for me, but a flying 20m run in 2.17 secs with a bit of a tailwind, so maybe a 2.20 wind corrected. There was nothing inherently wrong with my race execution, though I did fade in the final 20 metres.

For the second race I did broad jumps in the warm up and managed 2.60m, almost a PB. My flying run was down at 2.28 by then and I tried a few block starts to 10m (~1.92 secs) then a 30m from blocks (4.31 secs), though that was with an experimental block setting that left me very slow to 10m.

I don’t have a timed acceleration for race 1 but if I put in 4.31 secs and 2.20 flying 20m into my 60m race calculator I get 7.82, so it really is a fair outcome. For context, last year in my final race I ran a 4.20 secs 30m in warm up and a 2.14 secs 20m fly, which was spot on for the time I eventually ran (7.62 secs).

This was only ever a race to get used to competing before the main run in two weeks time, but I was hoping for a faster time. There’s reasons to be optimistic from the training times and a good taper can make all the difference.

17 February

MB Chest Pass – 2 x 8 x 5kg
MB Slams – 2 x 8 x 5kg
Bench Press – 3 x 3 x 92.5kg
A1 Hanging Leg Raise – 2 x 10
A2 Russian Twists – 2 x 30 x 5kg
A3 Ab Wheel – 2 x 45 secs

Short and sweet.

18 February

A Drills – 4 x 2 x 15m
Dribble ACK, SL Scissor – 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Build Ups
Tempo – 3 x 4 x 100m (30 secs / 2.5 mins) in 16.1 secs, 16.0 secs, 15.7 secs

A big step up in intensity having read my old training logs and realised how fast I was doing these a few months ago. I was on the floor after the final set of tempo runs, the icy track didn’t help with acceleration or confidence at top speed.

19 February

Yoga – 45 mins

Relatively intense though most of that was on the upper body

20 February

Pogo Jumps – 3 x 20 secs
Broad Jumps – 4, best of 254cm
Standing 5 bound – 2 per leg, best of 12.10m
Blocks – 2 x 10m, 2 x 20m in 1.90 / 3.22 secs Freelap
Accels – 3 x 30m in 1.92 / 3.22 / 4.40 secs Freelap

Wet track, -4 m/s wind, 9 degrees. I was happy to not be cold but the wind was a real pain as it gusted to much more than -4 m/s. I was pleased with my broad jump as I felt a little flat, and then on the track I felt even flatter, no spring at all in the 5 bounds, which were into the wind. I had 1.90 in my head as a 10m time I wanted to go below but with the wind I’ll take it.

21 February

A Drills – 4 x 2 x 15m
Dribble ACK, SL Scissor – 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Build Ups
Tempo – 4 x 300m (2 mins) in ~54.7 sec average

I switched it up at the last second and opted for 300’s instead of repeat 100’s. The rule of thumb is to add 1 second per 100m for tempo runs so as I’ve been doing 100m in 16 secs it would be 18 secs per 100m for 300m, meaning 54 flat. Poor maths mid-run meant I thought I was aiming for 56 seconds on the first run and I eased down, which pulled my average up overall.

Reading over my training journal these past few weeks I feel like I’ve got a fast run in me, the weather never seems to behave which doesn’t help gauge where I am. More rain on Sunday and if there isn’t a strong wind that will be the key session for registering fast times, as the following Thursday will be very low volume.

[Fraser Young]

Post-Program – Week 1

8 February

Rest

Very much needed.

9 February

Pogo Jumps – 3 x 20 secs
Broad Jump – 4, best of 246cm
Standing 5 bound – 2 per leg, best of 12.30m
Accels – 20,30,2x40m in 3.11, 4.35, 5.38 secs Freelap
Flying runs – 3 x 30E20F in 2.22 secs Freelap

Wet track, 4 degrees, +2 m/s wind. Good session given the conditions, most pleased with the flying runs which were as fast as I’ve managed this program. More to come.

10 February

MB Chest Pass – 3 x 8
Med Ball Slams – 3 x 8
Bench Press – 4 x 4 x 90kg
A1 Hanging Leg Raise – 3 x 8
A2 Russian Twists – 3 x 30 x 5kg
A3 Ab Wheel – 3 x 45 secs

Back to my standard upper body session this close to a competition. In fact I’ll bring the reps down further in the coming weeks.

11 February

A Drills – 4 x 2 x 15m
Dribble ACK, SL Scissor – 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Build Ups
Tempo – 3 x 4 x 100m (30 secs / 2.5 mins) in 16.7 secs, 16.5 secs, 16.4 secs

Great to get back into tempo runs, it’s been a while. Wasn’t sure where I’d start but I’m really happy with those times given how easy it felt.

12 February

Concept2 Exercise Bike – 45 mins (125 down to 100 Watts)

I enjoyed this for once.

13 February

Full Race Warm Up (35 mins)
Blocks – 10,20,30m in 3.10 secs / 4.25 secs
2 x 40m in 5.38 secs
2 x 30E20F in ~2.24 secs

Dry track, 4 degrees, +2 m/s wind. Good session, the wind chill made it quite unpleasant so I’m glad it was a short session. Pleased with the block starts having not done them all winter, though expecting jitters on race day. Flying runs were good too. I opened with 7.68 secs for 60m in each of the last two seasons, I’m almost resigned to the fact I’m likely to see 7.7* but really this Sunday is to blow the cobwebs out in preparation for the race in 2 weeks time.

14 February

A Drills – 4 x 2 x 15m
Dribble ACK, SL Scissor – 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Build Ups
Tempo – 10 x 100m with stretching in ~16.5 secs

No pressure to run these fast, I held stretches after each run which is my standard tempo workout before a race.

Excited to see my times on Sunday given how different this winter has been to my usual training. I have 2.5 hours between races so I might even try a Freelap timed 60 metres in the middle of those.

[Fraser Young]

Phase 5 – Week 3

1 February

MB Chest Pass – 2 x 8
Med Ball Slams – 2 x 8
Bench Press – 4 x 4 x 90kg
Pendlay Rows – 3 x 8 x 80kg
A1 Pull ups / Chin Ups / Pull Ups – 8/8/8
A2 BB OHP – 3 x 8 x 45kg
Core Decel COD – 3 x 7 x 5kg
MB Negative Hop Shot Putt – 3 x 4
MB Overhead Lateral Rapid 2 Step – 3 x 5
MB Diagonal High Toss – 3 x 4

Upper body session followed by the core work I missed yesterday.

2 February

Broad Jump – 4, best of 246cm
90/90 Hip Lift – 5 reps
Dynamic Warm Up 2
A Walk with Med Ball – 2 x 15m
A March – 2 x 15m
A Skip with Med Ball – 2 x 15m
A Switch – 2 x 15m
Triple A’s with Med Ball – 2 x 15m
Skips for Distance – 2 x 20m
Skips for Height – 2 x 20m
Bound – 2 x 20m
7 Cone Kneeling – 4 reps
7 Cone 2 Point Stance – 4 reps
Heavy Resistance Sprint from 2 point – 6 x 3 secs x 45kg sled
3 x 10m in ~1.85 secs
3 x 20m in ~3.06 secs
2 x 30m in ~4.25 secs
Reaction / Breakdown / Run Out – SKIPPED
Med Ball High Toss – 3 x 5 x 4kg

Wet track, 7 degrees, +2 m/s wind. Nice conditions, sunny and a favourable wind. I felt great warming up, thought I had more in me in the broad jump but I restricted myself to 4 attempts. My bounding was strong as were my skips for distance. I found 50kg hard to get moving from a 2 point so I went 5kg lighter today which helped. The flat out accelerations were a lot of fun, I know the wind was helping me but I absolutely nailed a few of those starts. I had to skip the change of direction drill again, though to be honest it wasn’t really suited to me.

3 February

90/90 Hip Lift – 5 reps
Core Decel COD – 3 x 7 x 5kg
MB Negative Hop Shot Putt – 3 x 4
MB Overhead Lateral Rapid 2 Step – 3 x 5
Foot Stability Lateral Line Stretch – 3 x 3
MB Diagonal High Toss – 3 x 4
Front/Back Fascia Line Flow (RDL Swings) – 3 x 4

I don’t have time on Wed 5th so I thought about doing a double workout but it is relatively challenging, so instead I’ll add it on tomorrow after max velocity.

4 February

90/90 Hip Lift – 5 reps
Dynamic Warm Up
A Walk with Med Ball – 2 x 10m
A Skip with Med Ball – 2 x 10m
A Switch – 2 x 10m
Triple A’s with Med Ball – 2 x 10m
ACK, Bleed, SL Bound to High Knee Dribble – 2 x 20m
Wickets – 4 x 20m in 2.38 secs
20m Build 20m Fly – 1 x 20m in 2.30 secs
Accels – 2 x 40m in 5.45 secs (20/30m in 3.15/4.30 secs)
Hurdle Stiffness Jumps – 6 sets
1 Foot Dunk Session – 10 mins

Core Decel COD – 3 x 7 x 5kg
MB Negative Hop Shot Putt – 3 x 4
MB Overhead Lateral Rapid 2 Step – 3 x 5
Foot Stability Lateral Line Stretch – 3 x 3
MB Diagonal High Toss – 3 x 4
Front/Back Fascia Line Flow (RDL Swings) – 3 x 4

Damp track, 8 degrees, -4 m/s wind. The wind was difficult, it gusted a lot. Not the best session but comparable times to recent sessions. I added core to the end which worked quite well.

5 February

Yoga – 45 mins

Relatively intense and a lot of single leg stands / chair poses.

6 February

90/90 Hip Lift – 5 reps
Dynamic Warm Up 2
Reaction Footwork/Slide/Sprint – 6 x 2 runs
Hip Flip Partner Chase Level 2 – 4 x 2 runs
Reaction to Live Guarding – 6 runs
Jump Cut Plyos – 3 x 6 jumps
Rotational Hurdle Jump – 3 x 3 reps
2 Foot Dunk Session – 10 mins

Core Decel COD – 3 x 7 x 5kg
MB Negative Hop Shot Putt – 3 x 4
MB Overhead Lateral Rapid 2 Step – 3 x 5
Foot Stability Lateral Line Stretch – 3 x 3
MB Diagonal High Toss – 3 x 4
Front/Back Fascia Line Flow (RDL Swings) – 3 x 4

Final session! I did agility on grass, it’s firmed up nicely and it’s a little easier on the joints. I have a busy day tomorrow so my final core session was moved directly after agility.

I’ve planned my taper and will log that in this training journal, ending in a pair of 60m races on Sunday 2nd March.

7 February

Exercise Bike – 25 mins (level 6-7, 110-115 Watts)

A weird one today, I couldn’t get my heart rate high enough without feeling like I was working so much harder than previous weeks. This is usually at 7am and I did it at midday. I really lacked the motivation to get through it so I cut it short.

Rest day tomorrow and overall I’m looking forward to a real reduction in training volume.

[Fraser Young]

Phase 5 – Week 2

25 January

Med Ball Chest Pass – 2 x 8
Med Ball Slams – 2 x 8
Bench Press – 4 x 4 x 90kg
Pendlay Rows – 3 x 8 x 80kg
A1 Pull ups / Chin Ups / Pull Ups – 8/8/8
A2 BB OHP – 3 x 8 x 45kg

Reduced the volume here, though in hindsight I should have kept the volume of explosive work and reduced the heavy stuff. Good session, pleased to get 8 reps in the final set of overhead press.

26 January

90/90 Hip Lift – 5 reps
Dynamic Warm Up 2
A Walk with Med Ball – 2 x 15m
A March – 2 x 15m
A Skip with Med Ball – 2 x 15m
A Switch – 2 x 15m
Triple A’s with Med Ball – 2 x 15m
Skips for Distance – 2 x 20m
Skips for Height – 2 x 20m
Bound – 2 x 20m
7 Cone Kneeling – 4 reps
7 Cone 2 Point Stance – 4 reps
Heavy Resistance Sprint from 2 point – 6 x 3 secs x 50kg sled
Accels – 4 x 10m, 4 x 20m, 3 x 30m
Reaction / Breakdown / Run Out – SKIPPED
Med Ball High Toss – 3 x 5 x 5kg

Atrocious weather. I went out in a storm with freezing rain and strong winds to complete this session. Too wet for broad jump and too slippery to change direction for the runout drill towards the end. Did everything else while soaked through and miserable, including dragging my sled out in all that. No Freelap times as the wind is ridiculous and it would serve no purpose.

Tuesday is clear and dry so I will do the broad jumps then.

27 January

90/90 Hip Lift – 5 reps
Core Decel COD – 3 x 7 x 5kg
MB Negative Hop Shot Putt – 3 x 4
MB Overhead Lateral Rapid 2 Step – 3 x 5
Foot Stability Lateral Line Stretch – 3 x 3
MB Diagonal High Toss – 3 x 4
Front/Back Fascia Line Flow (RDL Swings) – 3 x 4

Took my time with these and it was much more enjoyable. I do not feel good today, that session in the cold rain yesterday has left me feeling run down.

28 January

Broad Jump – 4, best of 244cm
90/90 Hip Lift – 5 reps
Dynamic Warm Up
A Walk with Med Ball – 2 x 10m
A Skip with Med Ball – 2 x 10m
A Switch – 2 x 10m
Triple A’s with Med Ball – 2 x 10m
ACK, Bleed, SL Bound to High Knee Dribble – 2 x 20m
Wickets – 4 x 20m in 2.36 secs
20m Build 20m Fly – 1 x 20m in 2.28 secs
Accels – 2 x 40m in 5.36 secs (20/30m in 3.10/4.22 secs)
Hurdle Stiffness Jumps – 4 sets
1 Foot Dunk Session – 8 mins

Wet track, 8 degrees, – 2 m/s wind gusting to -4 m/s. I felt very fluid in these runs, fast without feeling like I was exerting myself a lot. I got the stride pattern really honed in as I hit the wickets which is why the times were so quick, otherwise no different to previous weeks. A little down in the broad jump compared to the other week but since I usually test before the acceleration session it’s harder to say whether I’m improving.

That session has given me a lot of confidence that with slightly warmer conditions, with less wind and rain, I can run some good times.

29 January

6.00AM

90/90 Hip Lift – 5 reps
Core Decel COD – 3 x 7 x 5kg
MB Negative Hop Shot Putt – 3 x 4
MB Overhead Lateral Rapid 2 Step – 3 x 5
Foot Stability Lateral Line Stretch – 3 x 3
MB Diagonal High Toss – 3 x 4
Front/Back Fascia Line Flow (RDL Swings) – 3 x 4

12.30PM

Yoga – 45 mins

5PM

Med Ball Slams – 3 x 6 x 6kg
Speed Bench Press – 3 x 3 x 55kg
A1 Bench Press – 3 x 5 x 80kg, 5 x 85kg
A2 Pull ups – 4 x 5
B1 Single Arm DB OHP – 3 x 8 x 20kg
B2 Cable Face Pulls – 15 x 20kg, 2 x 15 x 25kg

Office day, snuck in core at 6am but there’s a lot of med ball work and it isn’t fair on my neighbours so I won’t do it again. Yoga before lunch, then a gym session before meeting friends for a curry. I thought it was the time of day that meant I was handling the bench press so well but it turned out I had picked up a 15kg bar by mistake, which means my explosive 60kg reps were only 55kg and my 85kg heavy sets were only 80kg.

30 January

90/90 Hip Lift – 5 reps
Dynamic Warm Up 2
Reaction Footwork/Slide/Sprint – 4 x 2 runs
Hip Flip Partner Chase Level 2 – 4 x 2 runs
Reaction to Live Guarding – 6 runs
Jump Cut Plyos – 3 x 6 jumps
Rotational Hurdle Jump – 3 x 3 reps
2 Foot Dunk Session – 8 mins

Cold but sunny today. The volume went up a bit and my toes are getting beat up from all the change of direction work so I’ll be glad when agility finishes.

31 January

Concept2 Exercise Bike – 40 mins (120 down to 95 Watts)

Foot Stability Lateral Line Stretch – 3 x 3
Front/Back Fascia Line Flow (RDL Swings) – 3 x 4

I had another office day so I used the gym there and it was a fancy Concept2 bike. It was a bit alarming how fatigued I got across the 40 minutes, with an average of 106 Watts and HR of 117 bpm. I did the mobility parts of the core day and will do the med ball stuff tomorrow.

The weather continues to bother me, averaging 5 degrees (~40F) and generally quite unpleasant. Looking ahead I will start planning my taper, likely matching whatever I did following the Verkhoshansky program, before competing on 16th Feb and again on 3rd March.

My body could do with a break and some extra calories, it’s been a long program and I’m eager to see how fast I am when I go back to my more traditional workouts (and no more agility!).

[Author]

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