Race #1 - Video

First off, a big thanks to Laura for coming and making this entire multimedia post possible! I appreciated her cheering, taping, and interview-conducting skills.

First off, the race. I'm running in lane 2 with the white top and black shorts. I forgot to explain how to zoom in video mode, so things get a little distant down the backstretch but I am in 4th (from the camera's perspective) for much of that stretch. Enjoy!

The 400 Project - All-Comers Race - 400m - 05/17/2009 from The 400 Project on Vimeo.

You can see how tired I was approaching the finish line. I was also disappointed because I knew I wasn't going to hit my time. It also looks like my form suffered a little. If you look, you can also see me stutter-step a little bit in my first few steps. I also moved my back leg right before the gun went off; I need to pick a starting position and stick with it.

Post-race thoughts to follow...

Videos Forthcoming...

I tried to upload them last night but the files are too big... We'll see what I can manage.

Andrew

Week 19 - Day 6 (Race Day #1)

Wow. So much to talk about but the lengthy post will go up tomorrow.

The short version:

It was very gusty today but cool and nice. I warmed up well and felt primed to go. I was put in lane 2. I stumbled ever so slightly out of the blocks but ran a fast 100m. I ran well down the backstretch and entered the final curve with slight fatigue in my legs, which is what I wanted to feel. At the 200m mark, I turned it on 100% and powered through the curve. I entered the homestretch in 1st place. Then, the guy in lane 1 cruised up next to me and we were neck and neck with about 80m to go. A guy in the outer lanes was also in play. The wind kicked up hard in our faces down this backstretch and my legs started to fall off. I pumped my arms as hard as I could but lane 1 pulled ahead and my legs couldn't kick any more. I looked up and watched the clock...48, 49...50, 51, 52 and then I crossed. I ended up finished in at or just under 53 seconds (official time to be posted on Tuesday). I honestly don't remember the wind factor, but everyone else was complaining about it. It was right in our faces coming home. That said, it could have kicked up down the backstretch too and helped out there. I dunno.

I have a video of the race, as well as some post-race interviews, haha, which I will post tomorrow. I checked my splits on the race and my 100m, 200m, and 300m times were all fast. It's hard to pin them down, but they were between 11+/23+/36+ and 12/25/37. I dunno it's really hard to tell. This much I know: my last 100m was awful. I felt terrible and I was slow. The wind certainly hurt, but it's possible I went out a tad strong...my legs felt where they should be at the 200m mark, though. Anyway, from looking at my 53, I know in my heart that I can run much faster than that...it was slower than the 52.6 I ran last year. But, my legs wouldn't have believed you. I was spent.

May 30th is my next shot. Oh, and are you ready for this? I partially dislocated my shoulder this afternoon on a defensive bid at pre-season pickup/practice. (And no, I didn't get it.) So, today could have gone better in many ways, but I'm not sure there was a ton I would have done differently. I shall consult Alison on my race strategy/pacing and see if it was sound. The video will be invaluable. Until tomorrow,

Andrew

Week 19 - Day 5

Race day! I'm about ready to roll out this morning. Not much else to say. I'm excited to get out there. It rained overnight but things have cleared up, so I think I'll be in good shape. I won't be back around to post anything on my race until early this evening, but, I hope to have some video for you... Peace.

Andrew

Week 19 - Day 3

Today was the last hard workout before my race on Sunday...and I wanted to make it count. I took half a caffeine pill, went out to Cardozo and ran during a slight drizzle, which was very refreshing. I banged my knee pretty hard at pickup last Sunday night, so I treated today as a test to see how my speed was affected, if at all. Here's how I did:

Rest: full (8-9 minutes)
Format: rep - distance - target time (s) - actual time (s)

1 - 100m - sub-12 - 12 flat
2 - 100m - sub-12 - 12.1
3 - 100m - sub-12 - 11.8
4 - 100m - sub-12 - 12.1
5 - 100m - sub-12 - 11.9
6 - 100m - sub-12 - 11.9
7 - 100m - sub-12 - 11.9
8 - 100m - sub-12 - 11.7
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I'm happy with my results today. I focused on coming out hard each time and on pumping my arms as hard as I could - especially on the last 4-5 reps. My legs were a little sore from my plyos yesterday, which was a nice change. In the past, my legs have felt depleted after a plyo session but not sore. The fact that they were sore today tells me I had a good, hard plyo workout yesterday. At any rate, today I felt my glutes, in particular, get more and more sore as my workout went on. Again, I saw this as a good thing. I was pushing hard. My left calf also started to tighten up a little, but that's nothing new. I iced when I got home and feel good and prepared for Sunday.

My physical prep is over, but my mental prep is still ongoing. I'll be doing focusing and visualization over the next few days and will be trying out some meditation on Saturday. My priorities over the next 72 hours are to eat well, rest well, and stay healthy. I'm excited!

Andrew

Week 19 Workouts

Race week! I still need to sign up for my race, but here's my schedule:

Tuesday - Off

Wednesday - Conditioning mile, explosive plyos.

Thursday - Track - 8x100 meters, full recovery, aim for sub-12

Friday - Off

Saturday - Warm up and practice curve starts

Sunday - Race

Monday - Off
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Week 18 - Day 6

I went to Cardozo on Saturday for some full speed work. I went out a little harder than I'd anticipated the night before, so I struggled to get to the track in time to do the full workout prior to my 2pm spring league game. It was also hot out. I warmed up well and then got into the workout.

Rest: full
Format: rep - distance - target time (s) - actual time (s)

1 - 100m - full speed - 11.5
2 - 200m - full speed - 24.7
3 - 300m - full speed - ~39.5
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My workout called for another 200m and 100m, but due to heat/ultimate game, I decided to end after the 300. I was happy with my 100m time, which is a personal best. I was pretty upset about my 200m time, though, and I didn't get an accurate time on my 300m because I stopped my watch on the wrong line; it wasn't a particularly fast time, though.

I was annoyed with my 200m time because I ran in the high 23s/low 24s last year in a full-speed workout just a few days before my race; I wanted to get mid 23s this time around. Anyway, I have one more full-speed workout on Thursday before my Sunday race. On the slate: full-speed 100s. I'm going to visualize/focus in the days leading up to this last workout so I can get the most out of it.

Week 18 Workouts

My schedule looks a little different this week...and will from here on out. I've moved my tough weekend workout to Saturdays to keep me fresher for pickup on Sundays. This led to a similar flip during the week. Anyway, less than two weeks until May 17th, race day #1. Staying healthy and being smart are my top priorities from here on out. That said, my Saturday workout left my left calf a little tight. Monitor monitor monitor.

Monday - Off

Tuesday - Track - 6x150 meters, 5 minutes recovery.

Wednesday - cross-train 40 minutes, moderate pace, weights

Thursday - Warm up, 10xuphill repeats, explosive plyos

Friday - Off

Saturday - Track - 100, 200 (26 sec), 300 (38 sec.), 200, 100, full recovery.

Sunday - Track - 8x30 meters, rolling start.
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I'm really eyeing Saturday's workout. I haven't done a full speed 100m or 200m yet this season... My Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday workouts have left me depleted but I know I'll be primed for Saturday morning. Everything's lining up. I want some good times.

Andrew

Week 17 - Day 5

Wow. Today's workout was absolutely exhausting. I decided to move my Sunday workout up a day so I could go to pickup tomorrow and not have to worry about fitting in a tough workout. Also, after speaking with Alison, I changed my goal time from 27-28 per 200m to 25-26 per. I went to Cardozo and ran by myself again. Here's how I did:

Rest: 5 - 5 1/2 minutes
Format: rep - distance - target time (s) - actual time (s)

1 - 200m - 25 to 26 - 26.2
2 - 200m - 25 to 26 - 25.5
3 - 200m - 25 to 26 - 26.3
4 - 200m - 25 to 26 - 26.6
5 - 200m - 25 to 26 - 26.1
6 - 200m - 25 to 26 - 26.9
7 - 200m - 25 to 26 - 26.5
8 - 200m - 25 to 26 - 26.8
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My legs were very tired after this workout but I am very happy with the results; I was annoyed when I poked over 27 the last time I was supposed to run 26s, so I really wanted to work hard today. I also got sick, which was surprising just because I made a point of running before I'd eaten anything today. I'm absolutely spent. I ended up resting closer to 5:30 prior to the last two reps, but I made a point of staying faithful to the prescribed 5 minutes. Right when I was about to run rep #2, one of the dudes who was playing soccer decided to run a lap for fun; merely chasing him made a huge difference...I ran an "easy" 25.5. Right before rep #5, some soccer players asked me how fast I was running and complimented me on my times; this was enough to pump me up for that rep and I ran a 26.1...noticeably faster than the times around it. Examples like these make me think that had I had someone helping me down the homestretch (or pumping me up), I'm sure I wouldn't have killed myself today (and, in addition, would have run faster). But, as it were, I had to get myself up for the challenge. There was music playing for a soccer tournament on the field, so that helped. I also did some visualization and occasionally some *light* face slapping to stop me from dipping in-between runs (perhaps that's weird, I dunno). After running my last rep, I made it back to my stuff, but could hardly keep on my feet. I sat down and kind of sagged there. I had to help my feet off the ground to change out of my spikes and had a little water (which would come back to haunt me). I then pulled myself up and tried some halfhearted stretching but then my stomach started feeling bad. My friend Erik, who had been playing in the soccer tournament (and who had spoken with me briefly earlier in my workout), then came over to see how things had ended up, but I felt awful at this point and had to cut things a little short. After a quick visit to a nice spot behind the bleachers, I got on my bike and rolled home.

2-3 more tough workouts and then it's game time. I hope all this work will lead to a good result.

Andrew