Elitetrack: Sport Training & Conditioning

is it possible to drop between .1 and .2 seconds within three weeks?

trying to hit low 42.X with a relay, everyone runs 11.2h or better but haven’t ran sub 43, if each person dropped .2 seconds that would be .8 seconds faster and put us in the runnings for states

I would do as much stride frequency work as possible.
as long as your length is okay but if it isn’t than work on both

but idk it depends on how hard you guys are pushed and how focused you are during the technical parts of the race like the handoffs and the zones and stuff

Just keep an eye on the stick and make sure it isn’t slowing down during the exchanges.

My HS 4x1 went 43.1 with me at an 11.1fat and the rest at 11.5+fat.  If everyone is that fast in the open 100 and it hasn’t cracked into the 42’s yet then I would think there is slowdown during the exchanges.

Stride frequency increases as ground forces increase and I’ve never found it beneficial to actively try to increase it. The only exception is if someone is clearly overstriding and they are landing in front of their COM, then cuing them to cycle through faster, in my experience, will tighten up their mechanics and bring them closer to striking under the body.

It would indeed be much easier to work on the exchange than actually drop .2 seconds in three weeks. We ran 42"22 with times around 11"10, 11"20, 11"50 and 11"90 (his start is obviously terrible).

It’s very possible but it depends more on what you’ve done in the preceding months than what you do in the next two weeks. This past weekend was a great example (for me). We had our conference meet this weekend. Our 100m times dropped almost 0.4 seconds on average (with a range of 0.13 to 0.51)from their seasonal bests. In the 200m, we got almost exactly the same improvement (about 0.5 from seasonal bests; 0.3 off all-time PRs). The 4x1 improved almost a second for both genders from seasonal bests. It can be done but at this point, if you haven’t set things up great previously your best bet will be to push the limits of your exchanges.

this week i planned on rebuilding/refreshing the base w/ 800’s and 600’s -(i don’t know if doing this for one week will make any difference at this point )
then next week into speed work (3x3x30m),intensive tempo(which is what we’ve done most this season - repeats range from 400m - 10m ), some weight room ( which hasn’t been consistent due to meets)
with the championship season starting the following week

Also one thing that i was thinking of is even though the open hundred times are good maybe my curve runners are not as fast on the curve- i am not sure how to asses this

premium - 06 May 2008 05:49 PM

this week i planned on rebuilding/refreshing the base w/ 800’s and 600’s -(i don’t know if doing this for one week will make any difference at this point )
then next week into speed work (3x3x30m),intensive tempo(which is what we’ve done most this season - repeats range from 400m - 10m ), some weight room ( which hasn’t been consistent due to meets)
with the championship season starting the following week

Also one thing that i was thinking of is even though the open hundred times are good maybe my curve runners are not as fast on the curve- i am not sure how to asses this

I don’t now how far in the season you are (I guess chapionship season is still early?) but we’re at the beginning and I would never give 800’s and 600’s this late in the preparation of the season. You have to build the base before the season and now you should be doing speed work. The best advice has been already give by Mike :“It can be done but at this point, if you haven’t set things up great previously your best bet will be to push the limits of your exchanges”

I agree with Horla. You don’t want to go back and do 800s and 600s. Even if you were following a long-to-short program (which I assume you are) going that far back is only going to do more harm than good. The sudden shift in training emphasis (from speed to endurance to speed in only 2 weeks) would be problematic on many fronts.

Did you get it done? What did you decide to do?

2weeks ago there was good weather two of my 100 runners improved .2
10.8-> 10.6 and 11 -> 10.8 (10.8 is his pr from last year but he has some consistency issues)my other 100 runner ran 11.5 and didn’t make it to the finals but i would guess that he would have ran and 11.2 and a 400 runner that ran 51 that day i would estimate him to be able to run 11.2 on that day. 10.6 +10.8+11.2+ 11.2= 43.8 We ended up running 42.6.  The hand offs were average meaning nothing that good (it needs more work) on the 2nd hand off the third leg went out early stopped then started running again. The anchor leg (11.2) was running for the first time.——- 1.2 difference
  The following week we didn’t run the same athletes because we were trying to win a division championship so the 10.8 and 11.2 400 runners were replaced by a 11.8 and 11.6 runner. The other 100 runners ran 11.2 and 11.6 that day.Since it was only a final (and it was cold and windy) on time i think they could have .2 or .3 faster 11.2+11.6+11.6+11.8= 46.2 - (.6 or .4) = 45.8 -45.6. We ended up running a 44.4 The previous weeks anchor ran 2nd and the 11.6 replacement ran 1st leg , their hand off was near perfect. The other legs were average.————-1.4 - 1.6 difference
  This week the times were 10.9,10.9,11.6, and the 400 runner i would estimate 11.3. So 10.9+10.9+11.6+11.3= 44.7 we ended up running a 43.2 The hand offs were average but on the 2nd exchange the 3rd leg left late so the incoming runner had to take the baton back because they were outside the zone ———1.5 difference

  I was thinking of teaching the silent exchange to help get rid of indecision but I’m not sure if the count is 7 steps on one leg or alternating.  I would like to be more consistently under 43 not just on a day when my runners are feeling good. I’m trying to get as much knowledge as i can in regards to coaching but i am a bit inexperienced. I am not sure if these improvements are natural or through training.