Driven By The Beast - My Journey

[Sprint]

[QUOTE=Sprint;998379]For some reason I didn't put in Tuesdays track session.
Wasnt the best.

Coach called them 70m power-ups.

70m run at 90%, straight into a 70m cruise, then straight into another 70m run at 90%

5 of these, in effect giving 10 runs of 10m.

QUOTE]

That should've been "in effect giving 10 runs of 70m." Not sure where the extra '1' came from.

[Sprint]

Plyometrics, legs & core today.

Started off with a nice steady run on the treadmill, only 1 km just to get last night out of my legs. Felt pretty loose anyway, but wanted to really ease them off nicely.

Plyometrics consisting of:-

Hurdle skips
Step ups focusing on light, fast steps
Step ups with isometric holds focusing on exploding from a dead stop
Standing jumps for length & height

Then onto the weights, keeping things light, very quick & explosive. From a dead stop each time. A brief pause at the bottom of the squats, and resting the bar on the ground for a second on the deads. Reasons being there's no bounce, so no momentum and each rep is explosive from a complete dead stop, like coming out of the blocks in a race. The first 10-15 metres of my sprinting is what needs work now.

3 x 8-10 squats
4 x 8-10 deadlifts
3 x 12-14 hip flexors each side on the multi-hip machine
3 x 12-14 adductors each side on multi-hip

Then a bunch of core work

3 x 25 crunches
2 x plank on exercise ball (Yep, a PT on an exercise ball. Not too stereotypical)
2 x 20 rowing sit ups
1 x 25 side leg raises each side

Some nice easy stretches to finish.
A good session.

Had to attack the multi-hip machine with a spanner& pair of pliers tho. The screw connecting the 2 plates had been overtightened, restricting the movement & pinching the pivot for the cable.
This means that the cable is constantly doubled back on itself, putting it under greater strain than the straight tension it's designed for. Obviously this is why the cable has snapped twice in a matter of months.
Whatever tit did it needs a kick in the face. Stupidity boils my piss.
No point in telling the management, they don't listen to the members let alone a self employed PT. You'd get "Uh, right. We'll get it looked at." Fuck that, I found the tools & went to work on it myself.

Anyway, my d.i.y. job means it's under slightly less stress now. Not perfect, but better.

[Legacy]

Looks good bro. I like the explosions you used. Good work.

[Sprint]

Looks good bro. I like the explosions you used. Good work.

Cheers dude, just doing what I can to get to where I need to be.

[Legacy]

Cheers dude, just doing what I can to get to where I need to be.

Thats what lifes about bro

[Sprint]

Hit up some chest, abs & core today.

Still keeping the chest stuff simple & brief. It's really doing the trick.

Seated chest press 4 x 8-10
Smith Machine incline press 6 drop sets to failure each weight.
Incline cable flyes
supersetted with
Decline press ups (It's all about the upper chest) 4 x 10-12 flyes, press ups to failure. 3 drop sets on 4th set flyes.

Nothing left in the chest, pumped to shit & veins sticking out all over the place. Good session.

Then 3 x 3min rounds on the punchbag (I had a minor disagreement with the manager & receptionist earlier in the day, & had my gloves in the car so off I went)

Followed by a circuit of crunches, rowing sit ups, side leg raises & various core exercises with an exercise ball.

[Legacy]

Hit up some chest, abs & core today.

Still keeping the chest stuff simple & brief. It's really doing the trick.

Seated chest press 4 x 8-10
Smith Machine incline press 6 drop sets to failure each weight.
Incline cable flyes
supersetted with
Decline press ups (It's all about the upper chest) 4 x 10-12 flyes, press ups to failure. 3 drop sets on 4th set flyes.

Nothing left in the chest, pumped to shit & veins sticking out all over the place. Good session.

Then 3 x 3min rounds on the punchbag (I had a minor disagreement with the manager & receptionist earlier in the day, & had my gloves in the car so off I went)

Followed by a circuit of crunches, rowing sit ups, side leg raises & various core exercises with an exercise ball.

Looks good bro. That cardio on the bag is great, best way to do cardio in my opinion for heart health

[Sprint]

Yeah I don't think people fully appreciate how tough bag work or any kind of sparring really is until they give it a shot. Like I say, was a bit stressed following a disagreement earlier in the day. Fortunately I've mellowed over the past cuple of years (or is that matured?). Had the incident occurred maybe 2 years ago, the counter would've had an imprint of the receptionist's face in it, with the manager not far behind. The pair of them took an actual step back when I turned on them.
When the red mist's coming down, it's best to walk away. Part of growing up is realising the mist's about to envelop you.

Then the negativity got channelled into positivity, which is infinitely more productive to all parties.

[Sprint]

Nailed some back today

Pull ups 4 x 10 to warm things up
Barbell Row 4 x 8-10 (Using underhand grip, I prefer the feel)
Lat Pulldown on Hammer Strength Iso-lateral 4 x 8-10
Seated Row on Hammer Strength Iso-lateral 5 x 6-8 (Was going to be 4 sets, but Eminem's new album on the ipod...a 5th seemed like a good idea).

Treated myself to some dangles from the close grip pull up bars to finish. 2 hands, then 1 hand, other hand, both hands, 6 pull ups, followed by another dangle from both hands.

Forearms nice & pumped along with the rest of the back after that.

[Legacy]

Looks like a pretty solid back day bro. Love seeing the hammer strength equipment in there, wish more guys would realize the potential of them.

[Sprint]

Yeah to be honest I avoided them initially, soon as I used them the first time tho it was like Christmas. They're my favourite toys now. I love how it's actual plates you put on, as opposed to sticking a pin in a stack. Just brutally simple equipment as well.
Plus being iso-lateral they can show up imbalances the same way as dumbells can.

[Sprint]

Good track session tonight

Bit of a sprint pyramid.

50m, 60m, 70m, 60m, 50m twice through

Felt good & relaxed. Was really windy tonight, we ran with the wind as usual. Would've preferred doing them into the wind, or at least one set into the wind. Sort the men from the boys that way, but the coach is the boss.

[Sprint]

1 more outdoor competition to go this season. The BAL (British Athletics League) final. Held down in London (another new stadium I've never raced at) on 4th September.

Going to be a big one. Each athlete is only allowed to do 2 events, including the relay. So essentially only 1 individual event per athlete.
Only 1 athlete per event as well. Now, of the sprinters in the mix for the 100m and 200m there's myself, Neil and Chris. 3 athletes, 2 events. Somebody has to be left out. Granted, whoever doesn't make the individual events will be in the relay team. Which will be interesting in itself. It's a good 4 hour journey down to London from where we are, so we'll see who's prepared to make an 8 hour round trip just for a single run in a relay.
All things being considered, I should be in the 100m. Really, Neil should be the 200m. As much as I don't like saying this because Chris & myself get on really well. I'd much rather see Chris in there than Neil, however I have to admit Neil probably should get the nod.

As for myself, I should be in the 100m, & really want to be put in for it. Fuck I want it so bad, it's a higher level of competition than we normally compete at. We're the only club in the final who don't get funding. Just making the final has been an achievement & the general feeling is we'll just raise awareness of the club to attract new talent and hopefully secure funding ourselves. But I want to fucking win. At the very least, I want us to be competitive there.

From an individual point of view, that means whoever runs in whichever events are all going to have to be bang on form. It's going to take PB's just to be anywhere in the mix. I fucking thrive on that sort of pressure. I want to go in that 100m so bad. Still, if I get picked for the 200m instead I'll happily take that, & if I'm chosen for neither and have to make the 8 hour round trip just for a relay leg i'll be gutted but I'll happily take that as well. The club's bigger than any 1 athlete & even if we aren't competitive it's going to be a great day and the camaraderi & togetherness at club events is wonderful. I love spending time with people from the club, in training at the track or the special training days out the sprinters have when we go to the coast for a morning of sandhill training with an afternoon of football (soccer)or to Sherwood Forest (about an hour's drive) for a morning of running up & down hills in the woods, followed by an afternoon of football. I just enjoy hanging with them, I've known most of them for over 10 years & consider them as much a part of my family as I do my actual family.
The Final is going to be a great experience, doing what I love with the people that I love and I want to play a part in that, even just be a part of that, no matter how small that part may be.

I'm not sure either of the other 2 guys are willing to do that. We've had in the past athletes refuse to go to meetings just for the relay. I can understand where they're coming from, but at the end of the day, if you're not good enough to be the best in your individual club at your event, you need to either accept it or dig the fuck in and try to claim your place. Fucking earn it, don't sulk about it.

The decision will be the team manager's though, we should find out either on thursday or maybe he'll leave it until the very last minute next week. We'll see. Either way, I'll be there on 4th September. Hopefully in the 100m, maybe in the 200m, but even if it's just the relay I'll be there.

Giving it everything I've got. I know no other way.

[Legacy]

Good track session tonight

Bit of a sprint pyramid.

50m, 60m, 70m, 60m, 50m twice through

Felt good & relaxed. Was really windy tonight, we ran with the wind as usual. Would've preferred doing them into the wind, or at least one set into the wind. Sort the men from the boys that way, but the coach is the boss.

I like your thinking bro

[Sprint]

I like your thinking bro

Just makes sense to me to train with all different conditions, can't choose the direction you're going to run in at a competition. If it's a really strong headwind, that's what you're running into. At least if you've trained running into the wind on a few occasions you've got more of a feel for it. Plus the extra strength that comes with it. If it happens to be a tailwind on the day, it's a bonus.

[Sprint]

Went back to my old gym again today for another session with my old training partner.
He's a real volume trainer these days, & wanted to show me the monster he'd put together which unfortunately included chest (mine's still a bit sore from sunday) and biceps (which are feeling my back session a bit from monday) but Im up for anything. He said he was going to break me, I said he wasn't. He didn't.
The session went as follows...

Incline dumbell flyes 3 x 8-10
Flat bench press 4 x 8-10
Incline smith machine press 3 x 6-8
Preacher machine reverse curls 3 x 8-10
Preacher machine single arm curls 2 x 8-10
Preacher machine forced negatives (Hellraiser) 2 x 8+4

Cable crossovers 3 x 10-12 supersetted with
Close grip pull ups 3 x 8-10

Seated chest press 1 x 8-10 with 4 drop sets
Isolateral bicep curl machine 2 x 8-10

[Sprint]

Good track session tonight

50m, 150m, 50m, 150m twice through with jog backs inbetween each run.

Done this session a million times with walk backs & it's testing, but tonight was the first time with job backs. I preferred it to the walk backs, helped keep the rhythm flowing through the session but ramped up the intensity by a long way. Felt like I was going to barf by the end, coach's daughter did actually barf.

Good session.

[Legacy]

How many other people do you do your running with?

[Sprint]

Well it's an actual club, broken down into senior sprint, middle-distance and long distance groups. Then there's a junior group for youngsters who move up into the relevant senior group when they're good and/or old enough.

Depending on the session, the sprint group gets further broken down into pure sprinters and 400m runners, usually throughout the summer as the speedwork differs for each event. For a 100m runner, our speedwork consists of stuff like 40m, while speedwork for a 400m runner is stuff like 250m.
Within THOSE groups, athletes are sometimes paired up or put into groups of 3-4, again depending on the session. Typically you'll be put into a group of around 4 for each individual run. Overall in terms of the sprint group as a whole there's usually around 12-15 of us.

[Cellardweller]

at the end of the day, if you're not good enough to be the best in your individual club at your event, you need to either accept it or dig the fuck in and try to claim your place. Fucking earn it, don't sulk about it.

Giving it everything I've got. I know no other way.

I don't care what the hell you're doing, this is truth.