Fraser Young

[Fraser Young]

COMP – Week 4

5 July

Rest

6 July

A Walk, Skip – 2 x 10m
Dribble Calf, Calf Smashers – 2 x 20m
SL Scissor, Dribble Knee – 2 x 30m
Build Up – 2 x 60m
Accels – 30,30,40,40m in 4.30, 5.45 secs Freelap
2 x 80m (95%) in 10.15, 10.40 secs Freelap (30,40,60m in 4.45, 5.62, 7.90)
60, 50m in 7.68, 5.46 secs

Dry track, 20 degrees, +4 m/s wind. Thrilled with this session, truly flat out to 30m and only the slightest hesitation once I hit upright running. Tailwind helped with the times but overall a real confidence boost.

7 July

Rest

8 July

Dips – 3 x 15
Machine Incline Chest Press – 3 x 6 x 65kg
Machine Rows – 3 x 8 x 70kg

I was planning to do upper body at some point this week and happened to have some downtime near an outdoor free gym. Did a few sets of push and pull to tide me over.

9 July

A Walk, Skip – 2 x 10m
Dribble Calf, Calf Smashers – 2 x 20m
SL Scissor, Dribble Knee – 2 x 30m
Build Up – 2 x 60m
2 x (2 x 70m) in 8.9-9.0 secs Freelap
70m

Dry track, 16 degrees, no wind. The track I have access to on holiday is undersized so I couldn’t do 120m reps without a really sharp bend. Instead I did split reps and extended out the distance to accumulate more top speed work. For the second rep I eased into the acceleration, so it was more like a 40m flying run. The first 30m was 4.21 secs but I couldn’t back it up and other reps were 4.35, so I can’t be confident it wasn’t a faulty time. Top speed was 1.14-1.16 secs per 10m, quite sluggish, but it’s a very soft track.

Really pleased to do the session injury free on holiday, I’ll be back in Vilnius for the next session and then home in England by the time I start tapering and testing out my best 60m and 100m efforts.

10 July

Rest

A fair bit of walking. Really need to get some more exercise in as I don’t like back to back rest days. Could do some circuits and tempo runs from next week.

11 July

Rest

12 July

Full Race Warm Up
Accels – 30,30,40,40m in 4.30, 5.45 secs Freelap
2 x 100m in 12.18, 12.19 secs Freelap (30/50/70m in 4.25, 6.48, 8.74 secs)

Dry track, 24 degrees, +2 m/s wind. Great session, really nice to step up in speed again and recapture the form I had earlier in this program. I should hopefully be able to push on in the next 1-2 weeks and taper enough to set some season’s bests. I was consistently running 1.11-1.12 secs for flying 10m and had a few 4.25’s in the 30m, which was what I had written down as an expectation prior to the session.

I’m back in the UK on the 15th, before that I may do a drills session and flush the legs out before travelling. The plan is to run a flat out 60m next weekend and then a 100m/200m the weekend after that, relying on Freelap times as I’m no longer a registered athlete.

[Fraser Young]

COMP – Week 3

Rather than try to pick up where I left off, it’s much easier if I just continue from week 3 and accept that I didn’t complete every workout.

27 June

A Walk, Skip – 2 x 10m
Posture hold – 2 x 5 secs
Switches – 2 x 5 secs
Dribble Ankle, Calf – 1 x 15m
Flying runs – 2 x 20m, 1 x 30m (70-75%)
SL Scissor – 2 x 15m
Pogo Jumps – 2 x 6
Lateral Line Hops (2 foot) – 2 x 16 contacts

Short session to improve recovery. Made the mistake of skipping most of the warm up and could feel a pulling in the injured hamstring. Will teach me to not get complacent about my recovery.

28 June

A Walk, Skip – 2 x 10m
Dribble Calf, Calf Smashers – 2 x 20m
SL Scissor, Dribble Knee – 2 x 30m
Build Up – 2 x 60m
Accels – 30,40,40,40m (95%) in 4.45, 5.70 secs Freelap
100, 80m (90-92%) in 13.19, 10.74
60 (95%) in 8.11 secs Freelap

Damp track, 19 degrees, -6 m/s wind. I was nervous about this session but it went quite well. I scaled everything down in intensity by 5% in order to get a full session under my belt. Going through 30m in 4.45 is bang on 95% and into a headwind, the final 10m of the accels were 1.20-1.22 secs. The next two runs were 92% and similar flying times. Final run was a bit slower than I’d hoped and I was feeling fatigue and tightness in a few places so I didn’t do the final 50m run. Hopefully I’ll be fine for the gym tomorrow. I’ll be more confident about the 120’s on Tuesday as I can just slowly build up the warm up runs until I’m at a pace I’m happy with (probably 92%).

29 June

Hang Power Cleans – 4 x 2 x 60kg
A1 Half Squat from pins – 4 x 3 x 125kg
A2 Squat Jumps – 4 x 2
Step Ups – 3 x 3 x 60kg (32cm)
Smith Machine Calf Raise (slow eccentric) – 2 x 8 x 50kg
Nordic Eccentrics – 2 x 4
—
B1 DB Push Press – 3 x 4 x 22.5kg
B2 Muscle Ups – 3 x 4
C1 Incline DB Press – 3 x 5 x 25kg
C2 Machine Rows – 3 x 8 x 35kg
Core, 10 exercises 20 secs on / 10 secs off

Another good session. I realised I’ve been doing upper body without a deload so I took a set off the first superset. Lower body was great, no issues and was able to do step ups as well. Weighed myself at the gym and I’ve put on 1kg recently, no doubt because I’m eating the same but only doing a fraction of the exercise during the rehab phase.

30 June

Rest

1 July

A Walk, Skip – 2 x 10m
Dribble Calf, Calf Smashers – 2 x 20m
SL Scissor, Dribble Knee – 2 x 30m
Build Up – 2 x 60m
Flying Runs – 2 x 30m in 3.60 secs Freelap
3 x 120m in 15.55, 15.50, 15.60 secs Freelap

Dry track, 22 degrees, -4 m/s wind. Again, gusting to -6 m/s and frustrating as it’s a regular occurrence. The plan was to do flying runs until I could hit a faster pace than I wanted to run for the 120’s. I was looking to go a bit under 3.60 (1.20 secs per 10m) but given the wind it was acceptable.

It’s a really tight bend on this track as one lap is ~300m, but I didn’t feel hugely impeded. Consistent first 40m in 5.70, then 1.20 secs per 10m to 80m and 1.22-1.25 secs per 10m to the line. I wanted three reps in ~92% and assuming my best time would be 14.55 secs, these runs were around 93% of my best (and into a strong wind).

I’m planning to sprint every 3 days with the exception of the next session, which has to fall in 48 hours time for the scheduling to work.

2 July

Rest

No lingering soreness, bodes well for tomorrow.

3 July

Full Race Warm Up
Accels – 30,30,40,40m in 4.45, 5.55 secs
2 x 100m in ??, 12.50 secs Freelap (40/60/80m in 5.50, 7.78, 10.10 secs)

Dry track, 31 degrees, -2 m/s wind (no wind on last rep). Great session given how sore my quads felt warming up, I knew 48 hours wouldn’t be ideal but now I can settle into a 3 day cadence. I was quite reserved during the 30’s as I had aches and pains popping up all over, and got more confidence by the 40’s. First 100m didn’t record but the second rep was stronger anyway. Times are as good as I could have hoped for, over 95% intensity with sore legs and no injury issues.

I will drop the weights completely in week 4 as I’ll be spending a week on the coast of Lithuania with no gyms nearby.

4 July

Rest

A decent week overall, would have liked to progress to top speed faster, still mentally holding back even when accelerating.

[Fraser Young]

COMP – Rehab Week

I still intend to complete the program, but rather than continue counting the weeks I will attempt a week of rehab and then pick up from Comp week 2 on 28th June, though likely only at 90% intensity by then.

20 June – Rehab

A Walk, March, Skip – 2 x 10m
Posture Holds – 2 x 5 secs
Switches – 2 x 10 secs
Ankling – 2 x 10m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee – 2 x 15m
Accels – 5 x 20m in 4.0-4.2 secs hand timed
Pogo Jumps – 2 x 6

Another progression, this time aiming for 60-70% over 20 metres. Flat out I run about 3.10 so 75% speed would be 4.1 secs.

21 June – Rehab

A Walk, March, Skip – 2 x 10m
Switches – 2 x 10 secs
Ankling – 2 x 10m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee – 2 x 15m
Accels – 6 x 30m in 5.0 secs Freelap
Pogo Jumps – 2 x 8
Lateral Line Hops (2 foot) – 2 x 12 contacts

Yes, yes, yes. So happy to be making progress this quickly, as soon as I can do 90% intensity pain free I will stop fretting about losing my speed. I set up Freelap to get more reliable times, and I ran the first four in 4.95-5.00 and the final two (deliberately) in 4.82 with flying 10m of 1.42 and 1.36. The runs were effortless and smooth, but I’m still aware that I’m not fully into upright running at that point, and that’s where my hamstring will be under greatest strain.

Tomorrow is weights, which I plan to do as normal, then maybe a recovery day followed by some faster runs on the 24th.

22 June – Rehab

A Walk, March, Skip – 2 x 10m
Posture hold – 2 x 5 secs
Switches – 2 x 10 secs
Ankling – 2 x 10m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee – 2 x 15m
Hang Power Cleans – 4 x 2 x 60kg
A1 Half Squat from pins – 4 x 3 x 125kg
A2 Squat Jumps – 4 x 2
DB Step Ups – 3 x 3 x 12kg per hand (25cm)
Hip Bridge March – 2 x 8 per leg
SL Calf Raise (slow eccentric) – 2 x 8 x 20kg
—
B1 DB Push Press – 4 x 20kg, 3 x 4 x 22kg
B2 Muscle Ups – 4 x 4
C1 Incline DB Press – 3 x 5 x 25kg
C2 TRX Inverted Rows – 3 x 8
Core, 10 exercises 20 secs on / 10 secs off

Great session, did have to walk over a mile from the track to the gym after doing my drills. Everything went smoothly in the gym, probably too reserved in the step ups. I bumped the DB push press as it was flying up, glad I was able to hit every rep of muscle ups, albeit a bit sloppy on the form. Current plan is to make tomorrow a recovery day.

23 June – Rehab

Rest

A few moderate walks and some mobility work

24 June – Rehab

A Walk, March, Skip – 2 x 10m
Posture hold – 2 x 5 secs
Switches – 2 x 10 secs
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee – 2 x 20m
Skip for distance – 2 x 20m
Flying runs – 2 x 20m (70%) in 2.85 secs Freelap
Accels – 2x10m, 2x20m, 2x30m, 3x40m (85%) in 2.15, 3.52, 4.85, 6.15 secs Freelap
Pogo Jumps – 2 x 6
Lateral Line Hops (2 foot) – 2 x 16 contacts

Another nice session, no issues, though I’m still aware of the hamstring. Upright running is definitely where it’s in a more dangerous position and I can feel myself being more reserved. Flying 10m progressed from 1.35 to 1.28 and I pushed a little harder on the final two 40m runs, clocking 6.00. My best is 5.35 secs so 6.00 represents around 88% speed, though upright running is closer to 85%. I know what 90% feels like to run and I’m not there yet. It’s hard to find the balance between making progress and not risking a setback.

Will aim for 85-90% on the 26th and some longer reps.

25 June – Rehab

Rest

About an hour of walking and some evening mobility

26 June – Rehab

A Walk, March, Skip – 2 x 10m
Posture hold – 2 x 5 secs
Switches – 2 x 10 secs
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee – 2 x 20m
Skip for distance – 2 x 20m
Flying runs – 2 x 30m (75-80%) in 4.05 secs Freelap
Accels – 2x20m, 2x30m, 1x40m (90%) in 3.25, 4.55, 5.85 secs Freelap
60m, 80m (90%) in 8.30, 10.45 secs Freelap
Pogo Jumps – 2 x 6
Lateral Line Hops (2 foot) – 2 x 16 contacts

Dry track, 20 degrees, -2 m/s wind. Great to make progress again and I’m at the stage where I don’t really notice my leg while running, which psychologically makes a big difference. My flying runs were 1.21 secs per 10m, given the wind we can call it 1.20, which is exactly 10% slower than my best this year (1.09 secs). It’s really clear to me that top speed is where I’m more reserved, the accelerations could be 95% to at least 20 metres without phasing me, but I’m nervous when upright running.

I will pick up the sessions as per the program, but modifying the intensity to suit my return to 100% effort. It will be quite disrupted as next weekend I’m away for a week to the beach, but it’s only 2-3 track sessions I’ll need to fit in so I think it can be done.

Textbook week of recovery, really pleased to be running again.

[Fraser Young]

COMP – Week 2

13 June

Run/brisk walk – 30 mins

I wanted to get away from my exercise bike so I tried zone 2 cardio by running. It went better than I expected, though I did need to have my phone in hand to constantly check my heart rate. My highlight was finding that for any decent incline, brisk walking kept me in zone 2 and saved me having to run.

I spent the evening flying to Lithuania, where I’ll be for the rest of the program.

14 June

A Walk, Skip – 2 x 10m
Dribble Calf, Calf Smashers – 2 x 20m
SL Scissor, Dribble Knee – 2 x 30m
Build Up – 2 x 80m
Accels – 30,40,40,50m in 4.31, ??, 6.64
Muscle Ups – 4 x 4

Dry track, 20 degrees, -4 m/s wind. Strained my hamstring. I spent the morning walking round the outskirts of Vilnius to investigate three tracks that were potentially open to the public. I returned around midday to train and my quads were feeling heavy before I’d even warmed up.

The warm up was fine, no hint of the hamstring issue I felt two days ago, and the 30m run was smooth. I brought my measuring tape but clearly didn’t space my cones perfectly because the times were all off for the 40m cone. The second 40m and the 50m run I could feel the outside of my left hamstring progressively getting worse. The next two runs were 95% and I thought I could run the 100m rep relaxed to gauge how my leg is, but I could really feel it struggling before I’d even reached 30m so I stopped the session there.

I was able to walk home without issue and an hour later as I write this I don’t notice it. The big test will be how I feel when I wake up tomorrow. If it’s okay I will go to the gym and at least do step ups on my good leg and then maybe some rehab for the injured leg.

15 June – Rehab

A1 DB Push Press – 4 x 4 x 20kg
A2 Ring pull ups (fast) – 4 x 4
Incline DB Press – 3 x 5 x 25kg
Machine T-Bar Row – 3 x 8 x 40kg

Hang Power Clean – 4 x 2 x 60kg
Half squat from pins – 4 x 3 x 125kg
Seated Calf Raise Machine – 8 x 40kg, 8 x 35kg

I went with the intention of only doing upper body today but after warming up I realised that hang power cleans don’t trouble my hamstring. It was a 30 minute walk to the gym and I could feel my hamstring if I tried brisk walking. I then tried half squats and was pleased that those didn’t trouble it either, though I obviously ditched the superset exercise (squat jumps). Finished with a seated calf raise. Tomorrow was a rest day anyway, I will ice my hamstring now and probably do 2-3 short walks tomorrow throughout the day, and possibly test it out with hamstring walkouts.

16 June – Rehab

Rest

A few short walks and some unweighted glute bridges.

17 June – Rehab

A Walk, March, Skip – 2 x 10m
Posture Holds – 3 x 5 secs
Switches – 2 x 10 secs
Ankling – 2 x 15m
Dribble Ankle, Calf – 2 x 15m

Warm up was only walking, no jogging. Despite constantly feeling tight on my left hamstring I was able to complete these drills without issue. The step change for me will be to wake up without the discomfort so hopefully that happens tomorrow. After the session I iced it for 15 minutes.

18 June – Rehab

90/90 Hip Flow – 20 reps
Hip Flexor Stretch – 60 secs
Adductor Stretch – 60 secs
Clamshells, hip bridge, side lying abductor – 10 reps each

Yesterday evening my hamstring was causing some sharp pain. I walked about 4km this morning as I had to go into town, and it was uncomfortable on the way home (all uphill). I did a few mobility stretches and glute activation, would really like to wake up with no discomfort at all tomorrow.

19 June – Rehab

A Walk, March, Skip – 2 x 10m
Posture Holds – 2 x 5 secs
Switches – 2 x 10 secs
Ankling – 2 x 10m
Dribble Ankle, Calf – 2 x 15m
Dribble Knee – 1 x 15m
Slow Step Ups – 2 x 5 x 25cm
Glute Bridge (3 sec pause) – 2 x 10

Woke up with a hint of discomfort, on my morning walk I realised my calves are incredibly tight and by loosening them I was able to relieve some of the tension on the injured leg. Pleased with the drills I could manage, no discomfort felt at all really but we’ll see what happens this evening.

Obviously a very frustrating week but I was only disheartened for a few hours before setting my mind to rehab and recovery. I haven’t written off the program just yet, the fact I can do some weights and perhaps build up to 90% runs by this time next week means I won’t lose much conditioning.

[Fraser Young]

COMP – Week 1

6 June

Cooper Test – 2,965m

I do a series of annual tests and slotted in the Cooper test today (12 minute run). As a sprinter I hope you appreciate my dislike for anything that resembles distance running.

7 June

A Walk, Skip – 2 x 10m
Dribble Calf, Calf Smashers – 2 x 20m
SL Scissor, Dribble Knee – 2 x 30m
Build Up – 2 x 80m
Blocks – 30,40,40,50,50m in 4.25, 5.37, 6.48
100, 80m (95%) in 12.68, 10.23
60, 50m in 7.59, 6.49

Damp track, 14 degrees, -3 m/s wind. Great session, I find I’m super sharp 3-4 days after a race and today was no different. 30m times were ~4.22 later in the session, which is on par with my fastest given the headwind. Lots of 1.12 second 10m flying runs which was a little disappointing (target was 1.10). Lots of positives though!

8 June

Hang Power Clean – 4 x 2 x 60kg
A1 Half Squat from pins – 4 x 3 x 125kg
A2 Squat Jumps – 4 x 2
Power Step Up – 3 x 3 x 60kg (33cm box)
Calf Raise (slow eccentric) – 2 x 6 x 70kg
Nordic Eccentrics – 2 x 4

Great session, everything moving fast and nothing too strenuous. I did double leg calf raises at the end, allowing me to be very controlled with the movement. This is the only lower body weights session of the week so I’ll hopefully be very fresh by the end of the month.

9 June

Exercise Bike – 30 mins (125W down to 120W)

Chilled, only doing 30 minutes max in the comp phase.

10 June

Standing Vert – 55cm
Broad Jump – 251cm
A Walk, Skip – 2 x 10m
Dribble Calf, Calf Smashers – 2 x 20m
SL Scissor, High Knees – 2 x 30m
Build Up – 2 x 60m
3 x 120m in 14.52 secs Freelap (60/80/100m in 7.65/9.90/12.18)

Dry track, 19 degrees, swirling wind. It was mostly a headwind but it varied so much I’m happy to call it 0 m/s. Annoyed that the first 60m of my final 120m didn’t record on Freelap, the last 60 metres of each rep was timed in 6.86, 6.86 and 6.83 and I knew I had a better first 60m on the last rep. Again I was around 1.12 secs for 10m fly but the way I set up the cones I didn’t record 40-60m splits which are usually my fastest. I loved the simplicity of this session and look forward to doing it three more times.

I do annual testing in June and I was really deflated after seeing my standing vert so low (21.5 inch), I was expecting 58cm and it’s given me a lot to think about in terms of my programming.

11 June

A1 DB Push Press – 4 x 4 x 20kg
A2 Pull Ups (fast) – 4 x 4
B1 DB Incline Press – 3 x 5 x 25kg
B2 TRX Inverted Row – 3 x 8
Core, 10 exercises 20 secs on / 10 secs off

I wanted to attempt muscle ups but my garage roof is too low, next week I can do this in a public gym and hopefully have space. I kept it light and fast, it’s short enough that I might add it on Sundays after my lower body weights.

12 June

Full Race Warm Up
Blocks – 30,40,40,40,50m in 4.32, 5.47, 6.62
2 x 120m in ??, final 60m in 7.03, 7.18

Dry track, 21 degrees, -3 m/s wind. Well that was appalling. I can only blame the headwind so much, those times were really poor. My 100m fly topped out at 1.15 secs, possibly an indication this session has come too soon after the last one (48 hours). I felt really flat and to top it off I had my first intermediate cone still set to “start” so it failed to record my first 60m on the final two runs. I could feel the outside of my left hamstring in the 120’s, I remember overstriding on a wet day recently and it’s almost certainly still that. May need to reduce the volume of top speed work if it still bothers me next week.

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