Monday, June 19, 2017

Masters track/ update

     Hello! It's been a LONG time since I've posted a running update. The latest with me is that my motivation and mojo have come storming back, as strong as it's maybe ever been. For the last many years I've wanted to gain weight and get stronger which I've done an OK job at but I also wanted to be able to run if I had to. Be functional. In January, over 4 years post Leadman, I started to run with the sole purpose of not sucking at Ragnar SoCal in April. I didn't suck and my motivation to continue stuck.
     Masters track appealed to me because I love lifting and I definitely love intensity and the track. So I promptly lost my heart rate monitor and Garmin and began focusing on the 400 meters. I did my first track race since 1991 in Boulder on Jun 1 at the Boulder Road Runners Summer Track Series and kicked it off with a 100 meter dash. I figured since my last race was 100 miles it'd be a fun way to break the ice. I went 12.8 stumbling out of the starting blocks, my first time ever using blocks and my first 100 race ever. Then I ran the 400 thirty minutes later and went 58.6. This off of just 10 speed workouts.  
     That race really sparked my motivation and training picked up. Last week I ran 56.8 in the 400 and I had a little too much left in the last 100. My execution was great, but I could have started a touch faster.

     I essentially took a 4 year break from consistent running and I haven't focused on running fast for over 25 years. I've been training for the 400 for about 9 weeks now and I'm very psyched to run a 56 400 so soon. I have many weaknesses and I'm working diligently on correcting them. Recovery has been the biggest issue. 6 weeks ago I was borderline injured constantly and now everything is healthy and I'm adapting quickly to what I call violent running.
     I'm not going to promise to keep blogging but I will give it a shot. I want to get back to posting training logs and also talking about the various aspects of training. Masters training in particular.

 My workout for Sunday-
 Wu) jog easy for 1/2 mile down to the soccer field at my kid's school. Dynamic stretch routine with core and hip activation. Drills. My drill routine is still evolving but it's focused primarily on high hips and knees, dorsiflexion with a "bicycling" movement (foot over knee). Then 4 X diagonals relaxed but building.
 4 X 40 meters out of a 4 point stance (pretend starting blocks) on 3:00 recovery.
4 X 100 meter hills. I bought a 50 meter tape measure so I could measure out all my hill work. I did these in front of my house on ~4%-5% grade at 8200ft altitude. Splits were all 14". Recoveries 3:00, could have maybe taken more.
Jog back to the soccer field.
 4 X 40 meters again on 3:00 recovery. Hip and hamstring stretches.
 Jog home.

 Tomorrow is on the track. I drive down to either Ralston High (dirt track) or Monarch High (rubber). The plan tomorrow is to work on speed with 4 X 100 meters in 12.5-12.9. Considering that I RACED a 12.8 a few weeks ago this might seem impossible but sprinting is weird like that plus I've made great gains since then. I'm confident I can hit those times. Rests will be 5:00. The idea behind this session as it relates to the 400 is to improve critical speed. I split 26" in my last 400. In order for me to split 24" I need to improve my 100 speed.

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