Specifics of a Training Day
By Tony Veney
Specifics of a training day. Now we are going to look into some of the things that really work into, what am I going to do on the day, specificity in track and field requires having a major theme for the week. What am I going to do this week? How am I going to do it? So is it going to be a speed and power week? Is it going to be a speed endurance week? Is it going to be a special endurance week? Now, speed and power is going to represent those things that are seven seconds and less. Speed work is going to be over seven seconds.
So, understand the difference between the two. Speed development is working on acceleration and things that are going to go out, hops, bounds, explosive work, stairs, hills, sleds, all of those things that are only going to cover about a six to seven second period of high power. You can only exploit that power for about seven seconds or less. Now, speed endurance goes beyond that. Now you are taking a percentage of that kid’s best effort and speed and now I am going to run them here and you can run longer. And then special endurance is going to be anything that is going to be about 20 percent over that kids race distance. So, if your young person is a 400 meter runner, 450 to 500 meters. If they are a 100, 200 meter kid, then they are going to be running their special endurance distances that are going to help them develop the speed endurance necessary to perform race after race, after race in a competition. It’s going to be 20 percent and for the 100, 200 kid, it’s going to be about 250 meters, 150 to maybe 180 for a kid that’s exclusively 100 maybe 100 hurdler, but make sure to include the meet as part of your emphasis or major theme for the week.
So if your athlete is going to run the 100, 100 hurdles. If they are going to long jump and maybe run the 4×1 relay, that’s a lower end speed development, speed and power, speed endurance week, but if they are going to run the 400, the 300 hurdles, run the 4×4 and maybe run the 800 or run the 4×8 at an invitational, now the special endurance capacity starts to move in and then you can squeeze them down in the middle. Your training year ultimately boils down to what you will do month to month, week to week, and day to day.
So I have already set up your year. Now we are looking at what are we going to do in a particular day, on a particular week or for a particular week as far as the training regimen is concerned. Now we are going to be getting a little bit more specific.
More from Tony Veney:
Developing the High School Sprint Hurdler
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Tony Veney is one of the most respected individuals in track and field. He has over 35 years of track and field coaching and teaching experience, including stints on the staffs at the University of Oregon, Portland State, UCLA, and currently Ventura College. During his extensive career, he has coached numerous all-conference and All-American track and field athletes. Coach Veney has experienced success coaching youth, collegiate, and elite sprinters and hurdlers. A 1976 graduate of UCLA, he was the 800 meter record holder for the Bruins and was a member of two NCAA outdoor track and field championship teams. Veney is a USATF level I-II-III instructor, with a Master of Coaching Certificate. From 1987 to 2000, Coach Veney was a regional and national Sprint Development Coordinator for USATF.