Where I live, the indoor track season starts the Monday after Thanksgiving. And if I expect to have a good season, I better have already spent some serious time planning and creating the annual plan for my short and long sprinters. (As well as my ‘super long sprinters’ who run the ridiculous 600m race here in…
Archives for 100 meter training
Blizzard of 2015: Video Playlist
Where I live, there’s a blizzard happening. I can’t tell you how excited I am to shovel the 24+ inches of snow that has fallen. By excited, I mean I will cry myself to sleep tonight. Regardless, I thought I’d share a video playlist from my YouTube Channel. And by ‘I thought’, I mean I…
Long Slow Running Builds Long Slow Sprinters
Many college coaches are perplexed with the short amount of time they are able to spend with their athletes during the fall months. Typically, coaches get to work with their sprinters and hurdlers for 6 to 8 hours per week, depending on their conference or other institutional factors. Though this time is limited, it is…
Every Sprinter Needs to Fix *This*…
Earlier this season we were doing race pace 50m starts as part of our 400m training. Obviously, these are submaximal runs. However, my top 400m runner said that it felt like she had to go ‘all out’ to hit her times, and she was using starting blocks. Why does it feel like this? Like most…
Answers to popular training questions (March ’13)
I spend a lot of time answering training questions. In fact, I’ve been answering training questions since first going ‘online’ in 2004. I’ve noticed a pattern in the types of questions I get. So today Here are answers to a couple that I see on a regular basis… Question #1: Latif, I could use your…
“Take A Week Off”
Despite access to trainers who specialize in athletic healthcare, when athletes sustain injuries, they almost always turn to their primary care physician for diagnosis. And the instruction is invariably the same no matter the injury… “Take a week off.” But some injuries require rehabilitation that includes a range of exercises to help push the recovery…
Floating
As I often reflect on my days at the University of Houston, I can recall a number of valuable coaching lessons I learned while under the tutelage of Mike Takaha and Tom Tellez. The cue “fast relax” or floating, is a term I became all too familiar with as Takaha and Tellez shouted the phrase…
Accelerate Daily
Student-athletes have returned from summer break, are settled into classes and are anxious about getting back on the track. Freshmen athletes are especially eager to begin their first collegiate season. The other day, one of the freshman athletes asked me, “When we will start doing speed work?” I responded, “Speed workouts start the very first…
3 Reasons Sprinters Fall Apart at the End of Races
Recently, I had the distinct pleasure of attending a 6 hour freshman/sophomore meet. The meet was very well run, it was just, you know, a 6 hour freshman/sophomore meet. I can’t tell you how many times I watched sprinters fall apart at the end of races. So, I’m standing there, minding my own business and…
Why even bother doing that drill?
Last week, I shared a new (to me) drill for teaching acceleration. However, since the athletes in the video displayed poor posture, poor mechanics (or both), there was some disagreement about the viability of the drill. And that brings us to an important teachable moment: You cannot separate reality from the observer. I may think…
Cusano Hurdle Push Drill (video)
One idea I’ve been stressing to coaches this year is that workouts don’t teach the skill of acceleration (like this hurdle push drill does!). Or top end speed. Or sprinting in general. Instead, the ‘workouts’ we use in practice are the byproduct of specific skills we are trying to teach to our sprinters. This is…
Workouts and Training During Breaks
For me, the holiday season or any extended break always brings about a sense of nervousness. It is less likely that I’ll worry if my wife will like the new pair of shoes I bought her, or how much snow I’ll have to shovel to clear the driveway. What keeps me up at night is…