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SPP – Week 8
25 May
Warm Up 2
1 Mile Walk (12:04)
A Skip, B Skip, A Run, B Run – 2 x 20m
Dribble ACK – 2 x 20m
SL Scissor w run out – 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Build Ups
Tempo – 111,312,312,111 in 16.7, 34.2, 54.8 secs
Hurdle Mobility 1 – 3 sets
Waterloo – 2 x 10 in 3:12, 3:01
Bataan – 2 x 10 in 4:27, 4:34Hot! It was already 25 degrees at 8am and I was sweating as much in this workout as I do in a typical sauna session. I felt very fluid in the tempo runs and the times came comfortably.
26 May
Warm Up 1
Queens College Step Test
MB Throws – 4 x 5
MB Throws – 2 x 3
3 x 20m, 30m in 3.25 secs, 4.38 secs
5 x 60m (95%) in 8.0-8.2 secs
Back Squat – 8 x 90kg, 5 x 100kg, 3 x 105kg, 5 x 100kg
Bench Press – 8 x 67.5kg, 5 x 77.5kg, 3 x 82.5kg, 5 x 80kgDry track, 28 degrees, -2 m/s wind. Much nicer with the breeze and I didn’t really feel the heat. What I did feel was the time of day, starting at 8.30am and not feeling that sharp in any of my runs. My wearables are saying I’m in training overload, and I think several days of hot weather have been increasing the demand on my body.
27 May
Warm Up 2
A Skip, B Skip, A Run, B Run – 2 x 20m
Dribble ACK – 2 x 20m
SL Scissor w run out – 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Build Ups
Cooper Test – 3002m in 12 mins
Hurdle Mobility 1 – 2 sets
Gymnastics (Pull ups, Handstands, Dips, Rope Climb, L-Sit) – 2 sets
Abs – 5 minsI have wanted a 3km Cooper Test for at least 2 years and was thrilled to manage it today. I had set out the split times (24 secs per 100m) then immediately messed up by running a 27 second opening 100m, which it took me several laps to claw back. About 9.5 minutes in my breathing was gone and I had to slow down to recover, thinking my moment had passed, but I picked up the pace with 80m to go and crossed the line in 11:59.5, so spot on.
Given the pace is slower than my tempo I feel like I can probably train as normal tomorrow.
28 May
Warm Up 1
MB Throws – 4 x 3
Build Ups – 2 x 60m (to 90%)
2 x 2 x 120m (90%) in 16.3,16.0, 16.1, 15.8 secs
Step Ups – 2 x 7 x 50kg
RLESS – 2 x 6 x 75kg
DB Hyperextension Rows – 2 x 8 x 12.5kg
RDL – 2 x 6 x 90kg
Swiss Ball kicks – 2 x 20 secsGood session, nice and relaxed. It was 26 degrees but with a nice wind, and I feel like I’m well tuned to what 90% effort is. The RLESS was tough, I chose to cut one of the sets as it’s a deload week but maybe I should have also taken a reduction in weight too.
29 May
Rest
30 May
Warm Up 1
Everest – 3 x 3
3 x EFM 150m in 18.54 (70m, flying 30m in 9.00, 3.38-3.46 secs) Freelap
Back Squat – 8 x 90kg, 5 x 100kg, 3 x 105kg, 5 x 100kg
Bench Press – 8 x 67.5kg, 5 x 77.5kg, 3 x 82.5kg, 5 x 80kgDry track, 27 degrees, no wind. I was really frustrated that my Freelap cones failed to catch my most important split three times in a row and it only just dawned on me why. I had cones at 50m, 70m, 100m and 150m and because the 50m is still on the bend and the Freelap cone is on the outside of the lane, the receiver chip was likely too far away given how much I hug the inside of the bend and lean into it. I wish I’d figured that out at the track.
Without knowing my 50-70m split I can only say that it was likely faster than the 1.13/1.14/1.15 sec flying 10m runs I did from 70-100m on reps 1 to 3 respectively. I really like that whip off the bend and I was fading a little by 100m and then holding form to the line, which was roughly 1.20-1.22 secs.
I had a very mild strain of my left hamstring yesterday when messing around with my daughter, but despite feeling it a bit today there was no hesitation to run top speed. Last year I had a hamstring overload around the time I was fitting in all my annual tests (12 minute run, 1 mile walk etc.) so I’m more conscious of my volume this summer as a result.
31 May
Rest
SPP – Week 7
18 May
Warm Up 2
A Skip, B Skip, A Run, B Run – 2 x 20m
Dribble ACK – 2 x 20m
SL Scissor w run out – 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Build Ups
Tempo – 111,313,313,121 in 16.9, 36.2, 54.2 secs
Hurdle Mobility 1 – 3 sets
Tank (10 reps) – 6:24
Bataan (2 x 20 reps) – 8:46, 8:50
Abs – 6 minsI did some Kelly Starrett mobilisations last night and the adductor one left me feeling very tender. I’d warmed it up enough for tempo and ended up feeling strong, running all four 300’s within half a second of each other. Having tweaked my hamstring during Bataan’s hamstring lean exercise I substituted them for hamstring walkouts. It ended up being 40 minutes of conditioning if you include the rest periods which felt excessive.
19 May
Warm Up 1
CMJ – 3 x 3
MB Throws – 2 x 3
Blocks – 3 x 20m ,30m in 3.42, 4.47 secs Freelap
4 x 60m in ~8.0 secs (30/40m in 4.52, 5.67 secs)
Back Squat – 8 x 90kg, 5 x 100kg, 3 x 105kg, 3 x 1 x 117.5kg, 5 x 100kg
Bench Press – 8 x 65kg, 5 x 75kg, 3 x 80kg, 3 x 1 x 87.5kg, 10 x 75kgWet track, 13 degrees, -4 m/s wind. Conditions were not pleasant, I had a waterproof jacket and trousers on for the first few block starts until I realised how slow I was running (3.52 secs). Losing the trousers dropped me to 3.42 secs and I didn’t get a split for the 30m but it was with no jacket and was likely more like 3.32 secs.
I honestly felt really good so was a bit miffed at the times, with flying runs of only ~1.16 secs having looked so promising over the weekend. The back squat was a real grind so maybe my power isn’t there, I’ll keep the weight as it is and hope that I’m stronger the next time it’s scheduled. In contrast the bench press felt amazing, I definitely had 100kg+ in me and just to get a sense of my 1RM I repped out 75kg to 10, which equates to a 100kg 1RM and means I can move up next time.
20 May
Warm Up 2
Bleep Test – level 11 shuttle 6
A Skip, B Skip, A Run, B Run – 2 x 20m
Dribble ACK – 2 x 20m
SL Scissor w run out – 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Build Ups
Tempo – 111,312,212,111 in 16.9, 34.6, 56.3 secs
Hurdle Mobility 1 – 2 sets
Tank (15 reps) – 8:39
Nekka (2 x 20 reps) – 2:05, 2:01
Abs – 5 minsGreat session, I breezed past my previous effort in the bleep test but faded quickly once the intensity hit a certain point. I also learned from last time that it’s only a few minutes of hard running so I picked up the rest of the workout as planned. My left calf was feeling quite tight after the bleep test but not enough to impair my tempo runs.
21 May
Warm Up 1
MB Throws – 4 x 5
2 x 60m build ups (to 90%)
2 x 3 x 120m (90%) in 16.0, 16.3, 16.3 & 16.4, 16.5, 15.8 secs
Step Ups – 3 x 7 x 50kg
RLESS – 3 x 6 x 75kg
DB Hyperextension Rows – 3 x 5 x 15kg
RDL – 3 x 6 x 90kg
Swiss Ball kicks – 3 x 20 secsVery pleased with the consistent times, I have a good sense of what 90% feels like and without the headwind those were probably all around my target time of 16.0 secs.
There is a speed element to step ups but I can probably bump those 2.5kg, the hyperextensions were far too difficult and I’ll need to either do 27.5kg on a barbell, or go back to 12.5kg dumbbells. RDL is another one I can progress by 5kg, maybe losing a rep.
22 May
Rest
23 May
Warm Up 1
Rudiment – 2 x 20m
Blocks – 10,20,30,40m in 1.83, 3.18, 4.35, 5.50 secs
2 x (2 x 90m) in ??, 11.33 & ??, 11.20 secs (30/50/70m in 4.25, 6.51, 8.73 secs)
Back Squat – 8 x 90kg, 5 x 100kg, 3 x 105kg, 3 x 1 x 117.5kg, 5 x 100kg
Bench Press – 8 x 67.5kg, 5 x 77.5kg, 3 x 82.5kg, 3 x 1 x 95kg, 5 x 80kgDry track, 25 degrees, no wind. The one day you want wind… It was a high of 30 today and I did this at 10am, ending 11.30am. I took a few block starts to find my groove, the 40m was a good time. Pleased with my 90’s, the Freelap failed on the last split for both first reps which was frustrating, I did some 2.20-2.26 second 20m splits which was pleasing.
24 May
Rest
First week with the new structure of Mon-Thurs & Saturdays, ready to move into the competition phase soon.
SPP – Week 6
9 May
Sussex County Championships
100m – 12.09 (+1.5 m/s wind)
Great conditions, 20 degrees and what I was expecting to be more like a 3 m/s wind but it was swirling it a bit too. Hamstring didn’t concern me at all in the warm up so I was raring to go.
After a very long hold in “set” I got a really strong start, only to be called back. The second time around I was a bit too upright after 3-4 strides but again working on just lining up and not overly focusing on cues I thought execution was decent. I thought given the fatigue from having to repeat the start that I would be looking at 12.3* or high 12.2* so I was thrilled to see 12.09, which wind corrected would be 12.18. That’s my fastest performance in a few seasons and I think it’s an indication that my training volume is much better this time round.
I qualified for the final but I had already made plans with my family and my Achilles was a bit tender, so I DNS’ed.
10 May
Boundary Walk – 14.2km
A lengthy walk with my daughters, very chilled pace for me but still more than I’d have wanted to do the day after a race. Mostly travelling on both Monday and Wednesday, will pick up training on Thursday.
11 May
Rest
I had 11 hours of travelling which wasn’t ideal for recovery.
12 May
A1 Pull ups – 3 x 8
A2 Dips – 3 x 15
A3 Dragon Flag lowers – 3 x 6Lots of walking today, including 30 minutes each way to a calisthenics park to do a short upper body session.
13 May
Rest
This time it was only 8.5 hours of travelling, really looking forward to getting back in a routine tomorrow.
14 May
Warm Up 1
Rudiment – 2 x 20m
Blocks – 2 x 20m in 3.22 secs
Hard Tempo – 3 x 200m, 2 x 200m in 27.5, 28.2, 27.9 & 26.6, 29.4
Bench Press – 8 x 65kg, 5 x 75kg, 3 x 80kg, 3 x 1 x 87.5kg, 5 x 75kgDamp track, 13 degrees, +6 m/s wind. I was timing to 4 metres and the first one was 0.89 seconds and then the next two were above 1.10 secs, so I’m not sure what was going on there. I felt a lot faster than 3.22 secs, especially given the tailwind. This was the first proper 200m session that wasn’t doubling as a taper for competition. As such, the target time is meant to be flat out 200m + 2 seconds, which would be something like 27.5 seconds if not a touch quicker. I was pleased that my first attempt at the right intensity seemed to come out, but with the wind those reps were probably a little slow. It started hailing before my 4th rep which completely threw me off and I couldn’t check my 100m split on the stopwatch (previously 13.3 to 13.7 secs) which if I could would have shown me 13.0 secs, finishing in 26.6 secs. As expected, I was completely gassed for the next rep, going through 100m in 14 flat then almost walking over the finish line.
My legs were tired so I didn’t think they’d do well in a power matrix, so I opted for bench press only.
15 May
Rest
16 May
Warm Up 1
Rudiment – 2 x 20m
Blocks – 10,20,30,40m in 3.18, 4.31, 5.45 secs
2 x 70m (40m IL) in 8.90 secs (40m in 4.31 secs)
2 x EFM 90m flying 30m in 3.24, 3.37 secs
Step Ups – 3 x 7 x 50kg
RLESS – 3 x 7 x 70kg
DB Hyperextension Rows – 3 x 9 x 12.5kg
RDL – 3 x 8 x 85kg
Swiss Ball kicks – 3 x 20 secsDry track, 14 degrees, cross wind. Great session, hard to tell if the wind helped, and also how much I can trust my first flying run. I did feel good at top speed and caught the first one well, which would be 1.08 secs per 10m. Weights were also good, I feel like I’m back in the rhythm of training again.
17 May
Rest
A lot going on this week, obviously thrilled to run 12.09 secs for 100m. I’ve left my job which has freed me up to move my sessions around so I’ve immediately returned to a standard Mon-Sun training week instead of Sat-Fri.
SPP – Week 5
2 May
Warm Up 2
A Skip, B Skip, A Run, B Run – 2 x 20m
Dribble ACK – 2 x 20m
SL Scissor w run out – 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Build Ups
Tempo – 111,212,212,111 in 16.4, 35.2 secs
Hurdle Mobility 1 – 2 sets
Bataan (20 reps) – 9:28
Abs – 3 minsGreat session, I felt fantastic. A bit annoyed at Bataan as I did yogi hamstring leans and very slightly tweaked my left hamstring, which will worry me going into Tuesday’s race.
3 May
Warm Up 1
CMJ – 3 x 3
MB Throws – 2 x 3
Blocks – 10,20,30m in 3.21, 4.37 secs
Hard Tempo – 3 x 200m, 2 x 200m (28.7, 30.7, 29.7 & 29.3, 29.4)Wet track, 13 degrees, -2 m/s wind. Nice, short session. Blocks felt sharp, roughly what I’ve been running the last few weeks. My expectation is that by dropping weights today I can take off a few hundredths from my 30m time and perhaps something like 1.10 secs for 10m fly. Sadly that means I may only be looking at 12.3* for Tuesday, and maybe sneaking into 12.2* for the Saturday race.
4 May
Rest
5 May
Tonbridge Open
100m – 12.41 -0.1 m/s wind
I did indeed feel my hamstring from the small tweak three days ago. I did my usual warm up, then when it came to longer accelerations I was aware of my left hamstring during the transition to upright running. I did a 60m to 90%, then a 30m build up to 95% and finally one to 98%, which I could feel slightly in the hamstring. I ended up accepting that if I pulled out here, I’d have no confidence in being able to run on Saturday, so I committed to run it.
I got out well and up to 27-28 metres everything was fine, and that last bit to upright running I started to feel it, so I backed off slightly and held almost top speed through to the line. I also chose not to overthink the race rather than holding multiple cues in my head, and I felt that worked well. I will rest up tomorrow then do a light session on Thursday, which will tell me whether I should go on Saturday as it’s quite a long drive. I don’t think I’ll be able to run without thinking about my leg, but if I can do the same again and maybe commit a bit more at top speed then it’s followed by 4-5 days of rest.
6 May
Rest
7 May
Warm Up 1
Rudiment – 2 x 20m
Blocks – 2 x 20m in 3.22 secs
Hard Tempo – 3 x 200m in 29.1, 29.2, 29.0Dry track, 14 degrees, +4 m/s wind. A little sore today, mainly calves. Sharp out the blocks and pleased with the consistency in the 200’s, though with a helpful tailwind to hit my times.
8 May
Rest
SPP – Week 4
25-26 April
Away in North Wales, unfortunately barely any walking so quite a sedentary weekend and a lot of sitting as a passenger in a car.
27 April
Warm Up 1
CMJ – 3 x 5
Blocks – 10, 2 x 20, 30m in 4.37 secs
3 x 30E20F in 2.22 secs
2 x 60m [35m IL] in 4.38/5.50/7.82 secs
Back Squat – 8 x 90kg, 5 x 100kg, 3 x 105kg, 3 x 1 x 117.5kg, 5 x 100kg
Bench Press – 8 x 65kg, 5 x 75kg, 3 x 80kg, 3 x 1 x 87.5kg, 5 x 75kgDry track, 16 degrees, +4 m/s wind. I spent the first few block starts reacting to an app that simulates a race start and I felt reassured about my upcoming races. I always practice not twitching when it’s a long hold on “set” but I sometimes get caught out when the gun goes quickly. I wasn’t expecting fast times given the weekend I’ve had so I’ll take whatever. Nice to do the Power Matrix for squats and bench press, mainly because it starts out gently so it works as a little deload before next Tuesday.
28 April
Warm Up 2
A Skip, B Skip, A Run, B Run – 2 x 20m
Dribble ACK – 2 x 20m
SL Scissor w run out – 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Build Ups
Tempo – 111,3121,3121,111 in 17.1, 36.8, 57.2 secs
Hurdle Mobility 1 – 3 sets
Tank – 15 reps in 9:03
Waterloo – 2 x 20 reps in 5:36, 5:32
Abs – 5 minsQuite a laboured session, I didn’t have a great sleep and I’m used to having a day off prior to this session. Pleased to drag myself through the circuits.
29 April
Rest
30 April
Warm Up 1
Trek – 3 x 20m
Accels – 3 x 30m in 4.38 secs
3 x 60m with 35m IL in 7.82 secs (30m in ~4.36 secs)
2 x 90m EFM in 11.3 secs (flying 30m in 3.33 secs)
Back Squat – 8 x 90kg, 5 x 100kg, 3 x 105kg, 5 x 100kg
Bench Press – 8 x 65kg, 5 x 75kg, 3 x 80kg, 3 x 1 x 87.5kg, 5 x 75kgDry track, 21 degrees, cross wind. Great session, I had a few niggles warming up (left Achilles, left knee) but the runs felt strong.
1 May
Rest
