Fraser_9to5

[Fraser_9to5]

SPP 2

20 Apr

Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 20m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
Tempo – 3 x 2 x 300m in 56.5, 57.5, 56.7 secs
MB Circuit – 10 reps in ~4:00
Waterloo – 2 x 15 reps in ~4:00
Mobility A

Drills (320m), Tempo (1880m), Circuits (480 reps), Mobility (9 sets)

I did ankle warm up exercises in the morning and was thrilled to be able to complete the full workout without any pain or discomfort. This was the switch from 200’s to 300’s and I handled the pace well. My speed session tomorrow starts with broad jumps and that will be a good gauge of how close my ankle/foot is to handling 100% sprinting.

21 Apr

Broad jumps, 4 – best of 248cm
Box Jumps – 3 x 5
Accels – 4 x 10, 4 x 20m
3 x EFE, 3 x FEF 60m
Front Squats – 3 x 5 x 85kg
Bench Press – 3 x 5 x 85kg
DB Rows – 3 x 6 x 37.5kg
A1 Sprinter Sit ups – 2 x 12 x 20kg
A2 Bear Dog w Tap – 2 x 15
A3 Fifer Scissors – 2 x 25
Mobility B

Jumps (19), Accels (210m), Max Velocity (180m), Lower Body Weights (1275kg), Upper Body Weights (2625kg), Core (6 sets), Mobility (6 sets)

No issues with the foot/ankle. Nice broad jump to kick off a very productive session. Only skipped pull ups as I had people coming round for lunch.

22 Apr

Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 20m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
Tempo – 111,212,212,111 in 100m 16.8, 200m 36.2 secs
MB Circuit – 10 reps
Nekka – 2 x 15 reps

Drills (320m), Tempo (1680m), Circuits (300 reps)

Same session as last week, comfortable.

23 Apr

MB Throws – 3 x 5
Accels – 2 x 30m in 4.22 secs freelap
3 x 3 x 60m (25m IL) in 4.25/7.82 freelap (30m/60m)
Step Ups – 3 x 8 x 50kg
RLESS – 3 x 6 x 77.5kg
Back Squat – 6,6,6 & 6,5,4 x 105kg
A1 RDL – 3 x 7 x 85kg
A2 Swiss Ball Reverse Hypers – 3 x 11
B1 Nordic Curls – 2 x 5 x 4 secs
B2 Seated Leg Kicks – 2 x 8 secs
Standing Calf Raise – 3 x 8 x 100kg (2 sec ISO)
Ab Ripper X – In & Outs, Bicycles x 2, Crunchy Frog, Fifer Scissors, 25 reps each
Mobility D

Throws (15), Accels (285m), Max Velocity (270m), Lower Body Weights (12840kg), Circuits (45 reps), Core (5 sets), Mobility (6 sets)

Dry track, 11 degrees, no wind. My ankle is allowing me to train but not recovering that quickly. This is a huge session and a bit too much for me, it took 3h10 to complete. I’m not having great nights of sleep which sort of negates the effort I’m putting in during these workouts.

24 Apr

Calf stretch, Bench step over 2 x 10, Massage ball on chest

Mobility (4 sets)

This is my office day and I met friends for dinner so had no time to fit in mobility work. Given the exercises that fall on this day require the gym I will change it up in future.

25 Apr

Trek – 3 x 20m
Bounds – 2 x 60m relaxed
Accels – 2 x 30m in 4.30 Freelap
2 x 3 x 60m (25m IL) in 4.35/8.00 Freelap
2 x 90m (25m IL) in 4.35/8.00/11.70 Freelap
Hang Power Clean – 3 x 3 x 45kg, 2 x 3 x 50kg
Back Squat – 3 x 5 x 105kg
SL Soleus Raise – 3 x 15 x 30kg

Drills (420m), Accels (260m), Max Velocity (300m), Lower Body Weights (5220kg)

Dry track, 11 degrees, +4 m/s tailwind. My legs were heavy today from a busy day in London yesterday, getting back late. I felt sluggish so glad the times weren’t too depressing. Nice to run further than 60m even though the intensity limit is 25m. I felt so much more explosive at 45kg in the hang power clean, I may rep that out rather than try to build up to anything really heavy. I chose not to push it in squats, my legs have done enough this week.

I feel relatively positive about the County Champs, I still haven’t entered and the deadline is the end of this month. I’m inclined to do it this year and then not bother next year, I’m quite content relying on Freelap and maybe picking one or two Open meetings to get a legitimate 100m time in the summer when it suits me.

26 Apr

Bench Press – 3 x 5 x 87.5kg
Pendlay Rows – 3 x 7 x 72.5kg
Pull ups – 8,7,6
Rotator Cuff – 2 x 2 x 10
A1 Sprinter Sit ups – 2 x 12 x 20kg
A2 Ab Wheel Rollout with pull in – 2 x 8
A3 Prone Pull Through – 2 x 15 x 5kg
Mobility G

Upper Body Weights (4705 kg), Core (6 sets), Mobility (6 sets)

I had to do this at 6am so I was pleased the bench went up nicely.

Thankfully my foot/ankle injury is allowing me to sprint, I was in London and wore an ankle brace and cycled to/from the office to reduce stress on it.

Happy to transition away from quite so much weight training volume as it takes a lot of time and drains me of energy. One more big lower body session on 30th April and after that I should see my times come down.

[Fraser_9to5]

SPP 1

13 Apr

Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 20m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
Tempo – 3 x 3 x 200m in 36.1, 35.9, 35.9 secs
MB Circuit – 15 reps in 5:40
Waterloo – 2 x 15 reps
Mobility A

Drills (320m), Tempo (1880m), Circuits (540 reps), Mobility (9 sets)

Warmer weather made this so much more pleasant to complete. Glad to see the back of the upper body weights and med ball throws in this session, I’m used to it being 75 mins and it’s been closer to 2 hours so far.

14 Apr

Broad jumps, 4 – best of 244cm
Box Jumps – 3 x 5
Accels – 2 x (20m sled, 20m 3 pt), 2 x 30m in 4.25 freelap
2 x 2 x EFE 60m
Front Squats – 3 x 6 x 80kg
Bench Press – 3 x 6 x 80kg
DB Rows – 3 x 6 x 37.5kg
Pull ups – 8,7,6
A1 Sprinter Sit ups – 2 x 9 x 20kg
A2 Bear Dog w Tap – 2 sets
A3 Fifer Scissors – 2 x 20
Mobility B

Jumps (19), Accels (180m), Max Velocity (120m), Lower Body Weights (1440kg), Upper Body Weights (4260kg), Circuits (55 reps), Core (6 sets), Mobility (6 sets)

Dry track, 13 degrees, no wind. Loving the weather, sunny and 13 is all I ask for, especially with no wind. My execution of the 30’s was good but not great. I was amazed at how much my core strength was a limiting factor in front squats, enough that I immediately overhauled my ab workout to make it more challenging and get closer to failure on each set. Bench was a little weaker than I predicted but I’m expecting to bump it to 85kg in the next two weeks.

Quite excited at the prospect of front squat having a carryover to my 30m runs as there’s some beginner gains to be had, I would like to be at 90kg soon enough. I should add that I’m holding a lower body-weight for now (69kg) to see how it translates to 100m times. Last year I opened with a windy 11.95 at a weight of 71kg and if anything I’m trying to see whether I can cut some fat and be more like 68kg by mid-May.

15 Apr

Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 20m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
Tempo – 111,212,212,111
MB Circuit – 15 reps
Nekka – 2 x 15 reps

Drills (320m), Tempo (1680m), Circuits (360 reps)

16 Apr

MB Throws – 3 x 5
Accels – 2 x 30m in 4.22 secs freelap
3 x 3 x 60m (25m IL) in 4.22/7.77 freelap (30m/60m)
Step Ups – 3 x 8 x 60kg
RLESS – 3 x 6 x 77.5kg
Back Squat – 7,7,7 & 7,7,5 x 100kg
A1 RDL – 3 x 7 x 85kg
A2 Swiss Ball Reverse Hypers – 3 x 11
B1 Nordic Curls – 2 x 5 x 4 secs
B2 Seated Leg Kicks – 2 x 8 secs
Standing Calf Raise – 3 x 10 x 95kg (2 sec ISO)
Ab Ripper X – In & Outs, Bicycles x 2, Crunchy Frog, Fifer Scissors, 25 reps each
Mobility D

Throws (15), Accels (285m), Max Velocity (270m), Lower Body Weights (14020kg), Circuits (45 reps), Core (5 sets), Mobility (6 sets)

Wet track, 11 degrees, +4 m/s tailwind. I sprained my right ankle in my warm up runs but it wasn’t bothering me during the sprints, only on the walk back to the start. Once I got home I put an ankle brace on it and did the weights. It isn’t feeling great now.

Healthy tailwind means I can’t judge the Freelap times but I did feel fast and relaxed. An absolute mountain of weights, I almost backed out of it but I wanted to see how I’d cope. It was a lot but I managed well, legs failed me on the 6th set of squats. Mixed up the ab work again, Ab Ripper X helped my front squats at University so I picked some of the harder exercises here.

17 Apr

Mobility E

Mobility (4 sets)

My ankle is in a little brace I have, and I can’t really walk on it properly. I’m not that concerned because I can still lift weights and do some level of speed workout on the exercise bike, but it’s obviously still a setback and temporarily robs me of the joy of sprinting.

18 Apr

Bike Accels – 2 x 10 secs (lvl 15)
Bike Sprints – 2 x 3 x 20 secs (lvl 12)
Bike Sprints – 2 x 30 secs (lvl 11)
Hang Power Clean – 6,3,3 x 40kg, 2 x 3 x 45kg
Back Squat – 3 x 6 x 105kg
Soleus Raise – 3 x 12 x 25kg
Mobility F

Lower Body Weights (4440 kg), Mobility (4 sets)

The ankle is good enough to walk on but I’m still wearing the support. Thankfully it didn’t cause any pain during the bike workout. I had written down 6 reps of hang power clean but it’s quite tiring and I lose the explosive aspect with higher reps, so after the first set I broke it down into sets of 3. Pleased with the back squats.

19 Apr

Bench Press – 3 x 6 x 82.5kg
Pendlay Rows – 3 x 8 x 70kg
Pull ups – 8,7,6
Rotator Cuff – 2 x 2 x 10
A1 Sprinter Sit ups – 2 x 12 x 20kg
A2 Ab Wheel Rollout with pull in – 2 x 8
A3 Prone Pull Through – 2 x 15 x 5kg
Mobility G

Upper Body Weights (4705 kg), Core (6 sets), Mobility (6 sets)

Good upper body session, I made the abs harder but fewer sets. Ankle is in a brace for precaution.

Obviously not the best week given the ankle injury, I’m already considering scrapping the County Champs and just picking open meetings as and when I feel fresh and ready to race. I’m confident enough in the Freelap timing that I could even go the whole season without competing and just rely on training times to gauge my progress.

[Fraser_9to5]

GPP/SPP 2

5 Apr

Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 20m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
MB Throws – 3 x 7 x 4kg
Tempo – 3 x 3 x 200m in 36.8, 36.3, 36.6
Nekka (MB Circuit) – 2 x 15 reps in ~2 mins
– a few hours later –
MB Circuit – 30 reps in 10:40
DB Rows – 3 x 10 x 35kg
DB Incline Press – 3 x 6 x 30kg
OHP – 3 x 6 x 37.5kg
Skull Crushers – 3 x 7 x 31kg
Mobility A

Drills (320m), Tempo (1880m), Throws (21), Circuits (540 reps), Upper Body Weights (4510kg), Mobility (9 sets)

I did this workout in two stages as I was pressed for time. I also had to double up on the MB circuit and crank out 30 reps of each, which wasn’t too bad. I bumped the upper body weights then decided instead of going up a rep to go up a weight as the rep range will drop soon enough for SPP.

6 Apr

Broad jumps, 4 – best of 242cm
Box Jumps – 3 x 5
Accels – 5 x 10m, 3 x (20m sled, 20m 3 pt), 5 x 30m in 4.35 freelap
Hang Power Clean – 2 x 8 x 30kg, 8 x 35kg
RLESS – 8 x 75kg
A1 RDL – 3 x 8 x 80kg
A2 Swiss Ball Reverse Hypers – 3 x 11
Goblet Side Lunge – 2 x 8 x 30kg
B1 Nordic Curls – 2 x 5 x 4 secs
B2 Seated Leg Kicks – 2 x 8 secs
C1 Sprinter Sit ups – 3 x 8 x 20kg
C2 Bear Dog w Tap – 3 x 10
C3 Leg Lowers – 3 x 15
Mobility B

Jumps (19), Accels (320m), Lower Body Weights (4840kg), Circuits (55 reps), Core (9 sets), Mobility (6 sets)

Dry track, 12 degrees, + 4 m/s wind. My right leg was causing me problems, it was similar to the issues I had when I pushed my RLESS quite hard in the previous session. It meant I may have subconsciously held back on my sprints, given my 30m times. I still tried one set of RLESS after but my leg was having none of it so I did the rest of the session. No long term concern but wary that injuries are very costly to a season.

7 Apr

MB Throws – 3 x 7 x 4kg
Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 20m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
Tempo – 111,212,212,111

Drills (320m), Tempo (1680m), Throws (21)

Another two part workout, I didn’t have time to fit all of this in so I took advantage of this 8 day week and carried the rest of it over to tomorrow.

8 Apr

DB Rows – 3 x 6 x 35kg
DB Incline Press – 3 x 6 x 30kg
OHP – 3 x 6 x 37.5kg
Skull Crushers – 3 x 6 x 31kg
MB Circuit – 15 reps in 5:30
Nekka – 2 x 15 reps in 2 mins
Mobility C

Circuits (360 reps), Upper Body Weights (3573kg), Mobility (8 sets)

Continued from yesterday. I wasn’t happy with my technique in the DB rows so I reduced the reps and did them with better form. I didn’t realise I had done more a few days ago so I did sets of 6 on everything today and it felt quite easy.

9 Apr

Box Jumps – 3 x 5
Accels – 3 x 20m sled, 20m 3pt
4 x EFE 60m
RLESS – 8,8,7 x 75kg
A1 RDL – 3 x 8 x 82.5kg
A2 Swiss Ball Reverse Hypers – 3 x 11
B1 SL Swiss Ball HS Curl – 3 x 11
B2 Lunge Jumps – 3 x 8
Standing Calf Raise – 5 x 10 x 90kg (2 sec ISO)
C1 Sprinter Sit ups – 3 x 9 x 20kg
C2 Stir the Pot – 3 x 30 secs
C3 Bird Dogs – 3 x 10
Mobility D

Jumps (39), Accels (160m), Max Velocity (120m), Lower Body Weights (9480kg), Circuits (66 reps), Core (9 sets), Mobility (6 sets)

Damp track, 9 degrees, swirling wind. I felt much better today but didn’t time anything. Nice to get back to weights though I didn’t attempt the final rep on RLESS. Knackered this evening so it will be nice to get into SPP soon.

10 Apr

DB Rows – 2 x 7 x 35kg
DB Incline Press – 2 x 6 x 30kg
OHP – 2 x 7 x 37.5kg
Skull Crushers – 2 x 8 x 31kg
Mobility E

Upper Body Weights (2720kg), Mobility (7 sets)

11 Apr

Trek – 3 x 20m
Accels – 3 x 10m, 3 x 20m, 3 x 30m in 3.12 secs, 4.25 secs freelap
Hard Tempo – 3 x 4 x 100m in ~14.9, ~14.9, ~15.1 secs
RLESS – 2 x 8 x 75kg
A1 SL Swiss Ball HS Curl – 2 x 11
A2 Lunge Jumps – 2 x 8
B1 Nordic Curls – 2 x 5 x 4 secs
B2 Seated Leg Kicks – 2 x 8 secs
SL Soleus Raise – 5 x 20 x 20kg
C1 Sprinter Sit ups – 3 x 8 x 20kg
C2 Ab Wheel Rollout – 3 x 15
C3 Prone Pull Through – 3 x 10
Mobility F

Drills (300m), Accels (180m), Tempo (1200m), Lower Body Weights (6400kg), Jumps (16), Circuits (34), Core (9 sets), Mobility (4 sets)

14 degrees, dry track, no wind. Much better session here, getting back in my groove again. The calf work was a lot but that should see me through the outdoor season without major Achilles issues.

Much more positive at the end of this week, looking ahead I have a few new things to get excited about like front squats and heavier weight in the hang power cleans.

[Fraser_9to5]

GPP/SPP 1

29 Mar

Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 20m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
MB Throws – 3 x 7 x 4kg
Tempo – 2 x 3 x 200m in 37.1, 36.2
MB Circuit – 15 reps in 6:20
Nekka (MB Circuit) – 2 x 15 reps in ~2 mins
DB Rows – 3 x 9 x 35kg
DB Incline Press – 9,9,8 x 27.5kg
OHP – 8,8,6 x 35kg
Skull Crushers – 9,9,7 x 28.5kg
Mobility A

Drills (320m), Tempo (1280m), Throws (21), Circuits (360 reps), Upper Body Weights (4800kg), Mobility (9 sets)

30 Mar

Broad Jump, 4 – best of 247cm
Box Jumps – 3 x 5
Accels – 2 x 3 x (20m weighted vest, 20m 3 point)
Hang Power Cleans – 2 x 8 x 20kg, 8 x 25kg
RLESS – 3 x 8 x 70kg
A1 RDL – 3 x 8 x 80kg
A2 Swiss Ball Reverse Hypers – 3 x 10
Goblet Side Lunge – 2 x 9 x 25kg
B1 Nordic Curls – 2 x 5 x 4 secs
B2 Seated Leg Kicks – 2 x 8 secs
C1 Sprinter Sit ups – 2 x 8 x 20kg
C2 Bear Dog w Tap – 2 x 10
C3 Leg Lowers – 2 x 15
Mobility B

Jumps (19), Accels (240m), Lower Body Weights (6700kg), Circuits (42 reps), Core (6 sets), Mobility (6 sets)

I ordered a running sled but it arrived 4 hours too late for this session. Instead I used a very light weighted vest, only a few kg’s. It’s far from ideal, I want to increase horizontal resistance not vertical, but it’s hopefully better than nothing. I felt strong in the gym, 60 seconds rest means it’s not about very heavy weights yet so more like conditioning. Really excited to see my 30m time on Wednesday and I have sleds on Monday so will use Freelap to get the weight right (from memory I want to run ~10% slower with a sled). I also broad jumped 247cm, last year I hit 253cm in SPP 2 and my PB is 254cm so I would like to surpass both of those.

31 Mar

MB Throws – 3 x 7 x 4kg
Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 20m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
Tempo – 2 x 5 x 100m in 17.0, 17.0
MB Circuit – 2 rounds 15 reps (5:30, 5:32)
Nekka (MB Circuit) 2 x 15 reps (2 mins each)
DB Rows – 3 x 9 x 35kg
DB Incline Press – 9,9,7 x 27.5kg
OHP – 9,9,6 x 35kg
Skull Crushers – 9,9,7 x 28.5kg
Mobility C

Drills (320m), Tempo (1080m), Throws (21), Circuits (540 reps), Upper Body Weights (4820kg), Mobility (8 sets)

1 Apr

Box Jumps – 3 x 5
Accels – 3 x 20m sled, 20m 3pt in ~3.45, ~3.12 freelap
3 x EFE 60m
RLESS – 3 x 8 x 75kg
A1 RDL – 3 x 8 x 80kg
A2 Swiss Ball Reverse Hypers – 3 x 10
B1 SL Swiss Ball HS Curl – 3 x 10
B2 Lunge Jumps – 3 x 8
Standing Calf Raise – 4 x 10 x 85kg (2 sec ISO)
C1 Sprinter Sit ups – 2 x 8 x 20kg
C2 Stir the Pot – 2 x 30 secs
C3 Bird Dogs – 2 x 10
Mobility D

Jumps (39), Accels (120m), Lower Body Weights (8920kg), Circuits (60 reps), Core (6 sets), Mobility (6 sets)

Purchased a sled and loved the first session with it. The sled itself is light and I loaded it with 7.5kg, which seemed spot on for the goal of running ~10% slower than unweighted. 3.12 secs for 20m on Freelap is close to my best from winter so I’m also happy to have not lost a step with County Champs only 6 weeks away. Accidentally wrote down 75kg for RLESS and only realised one set in, it was very tough but glad I didn’t back out of it.

2 Apr

DB Rows – 2 x 9 x 35kg
DB Incline Press – 2 x 9 x 27.5kg
OHP – 2 x 9 x 35kg
Skull Crushers – 2 x 9 x 28.5kg
Mobility E

Upper Body Weights (3393kg), Mobility (7 sets)

Easy, could have bumped a few exercises.

3 Apr

Trek – 2 x 20m
Accels – 3 x 10m, 3 x 20m, 3 x 30m in 4.30 secs freelap
Hard Tempo – 3 x 4 x 100m in ~15.4, ~15.4, ~15.5 secs
RLESS – 2 x 8 x 75kg
A1 SL Swiss Ball HS Curl – 2 x 10
A2 Lunge Jumps – 2 x 8
B1 Nordic Curls – 2 x 5 x 4 secs
B2 Seated Leg Kicks – 2 x 8 secs
SL Soleus Raise – 4 x 15 x 15kg
C1 Sprinter Sit ups – 2 x 8 x 20kg
C2 Ab Wheel Rollout – 2 x 15
C3 Prone Pull Through – 2 x 10
Mobility F

Drills (200m), Accels (180m), Tempo (1200m), Lower Body Weights (4200kg), Jumps (16), Circuits (32), Core (6 sets), Mobility (4 sets)

Wet track, 11 degrees, -2 m/s headwind. I felt relatively flat today, ~4.30 secs for 30m in Freelap is about what I’d expected. Really pushing it with RLESS, right leg struggles to finish. I still feel positive about the next month or so and will be attempting a very slight reduction in volume in the weight room to see if it helps me progress more week to week.

4 Apr

Mobility G

Mobility (6 sets)

Good week, next week I have to shift my sessions by a day which will be a new summer set up to accommodate working from the office more often. That means I will have an 8 day week and a nice break between my first and second speed sessions.

I’m still struggling for motivation, it’s either the weather, the fact there isn’t much flat out sprinting, or the stress from work & home life. Either way I’m feeling quite reluctant at the start of every workout instead of my usual excitement.

[Fraser_9to5]

COMP 8

8 Mar

Full Race Warm Up
Blocks – 20, 30m in 3.19, 4.39 freelap
Mobility C

Accels (50m), Mobility (8 sets)

Dry track, 7 degrees, cross wind. My race is at 11.20am on Sunday so I did this warm up at 9am. Worryingly I felt good out the blocks both times and yet the times are really poor. I was 0.06 seconds faster over 30m last Friday and that was a poor start, then 0.07 seconds faster in midweek from a 3 point start. It feels unlikely that I tapered too soon and have started being deconditioned so I’m not ruling out a fast 60m on Sunday.

At the very worst I can run a 60m and then do a few more timed runs on the warm up track outside before calling an end to my indoor season. That would leave my season’s best at 7.66 seconds, with last year’s being 7.63 seconds. I have to give a lot of weight to the redundancy process at work which has been a really stressful 10-14 days. I should really be looking to get 7.57-7.59 on Sunday if everything comes together perfectly.

9 Mar

Mobility B

Mobility (3 sets)

Did everything I could in terms of active recovery.

10 Mar

County Championships – 60m

Semi-Final – 7.62 secs

There was light rain the whole time we all warmed up which was a bit miserable. I woke up feeling good and timed my warm up to perfection, again choosing a timed 30m (4.20) and flying 20m (2.14) with a 15 minute break before the race. I reacted well and maybe 20-40m was the weakest part of my race, but pleased with the time as it’s 0.01 seconds better than last year. I wasn’t expecting the final but two people were ill so there were only 7 of us for a 6 man final and I made it through.

Final – 7.79 secs

Let me explain. The final was 45 minutes after the semi-final, which worked really nicely for me as I did the last part of my warmup, put on spikes, and only did a 10E20F, working on that transition to upright running. The starter was waiting ages before calling “set” and then firing the gun quite quickly (I only realised this in hindsight). Rather than a gun, it’s speakers and a noise that sounds _very_ similar to the sound of someone’s starting blocks when they move. So we finally get to the word “set”, I rise up, I hear a noise that I registered as someone false starting, so I didn’t move, and what seemed like an eternity passed as my brain processed the fact that everyone else was moving, cursed at the fact there’s no way I’m running a good time, and then kicked into action and started running. I’d love to see footage but I don’t think anyone recorded it. To be honest it could have been 8 flat given how long that delay felt, everyone had done a full 1-2 strides before I started moving out the blocks. Part of me is angry that I felt I had 7.60 or even 7.59 in me, part of me doesn’t care because even without the time I knew it was possible, and part of me is annoyed that my race profile is going to have a 7.79 on it.

Lesson hopefully learned. It was a short enough time between semi’s and final that I wasn’t _that_ frustrated, though I was probably in my car on the way home before the next race started. If you’d offered me sub 7.63 that morning, in other words an improvement on last year, I would have said yes, and that’s what I got. Also really pleased with my Freelap times, if you do 4.20 + 0.20 RT, then use 2.14 20m to say 1.07 secs per 10m, you get 4.20 + 0.20 + 3.21 = 7.61 secs. I can now use this in training to tell what shape I’m in and possibly even forego some of the 100m opens in favour of a Freelap timed run following a short taper.

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