30 second hypothetical: What would you do?

i recall some folks using the hallway from their highschool when the weather wont do

other than that id work with heavy olys/squats/dl and plyos

Paul,
When are these cold weeks? What time of the year/part of the training plan?
From there we can develope a need analysis and figure out some things.

I'm not sure if this is the best place for this thread, but I figure someone will move it if need be. Plus I know I'll get a good responce on this forum…

Here's the situation…

You're at a college, south of the Mason Dixon, with no indoor facilities. 90% of the year is great weather, with no problem training outdoors. But for about 6-8 weeks, it gets pretty cold (into the 40s), at least too cold for high quality sprint work.

How would you address the issue of getting good quality work in when the weather won't allow for any real speed work?

Any and all thoughts on the subject are welcome. Just want to see what people think.

heavy weight room work, plyos, med throws, resisted runs

40s is too cold? HA! Here in PA we have to run meets in the 30s. I would suggest doing slightly lower volume sprint work with very long warm-ups (at least 45mins) to increase body temp. You could even park a car close to the track and sit in there between longer reps.

If you aren't wearing tights and layers, then you're already a step behind.

shoot man, weather here is in the 40s, rainy and windy all year!  wear sweats, warm up, and youll be fine.

it isn't never cold for run! i came from milano, this winter i had several trainings with temperature under 0°,and snowing…but nobody and nothing stopped me! don't worry if for 15-20 days at year is cold,put on long throusers and run!

4ever athletics! ( excuse me for my "maccheronico"english! )

I would generally stick to UT's plan. I think this could especially work well for short sprinters. Long sprinters would need to get in some longer runs but if addressed appropriately (warmup, dress, etc) athletes could theoretically do it. I worked with one athlete who lived in the midwest and would warmup inside, go outside in tights, gloves, hat, etc., do a fast speed endurance rep, walk a little, slowly jog over and got in to his car where he turned up the heat while he rested for 15 minutes before going out to do it again.

im frum New Orleans but when i moved 2 texas we practiced outside until the high twenties or the track was iced, whichever came first

I'm from Michigan, so temperature is definitely an issue for a good portion of the year, but most of our workout modifications have already been listed, and work quite well.  However, there are frequently days where there's a foot or two of snow over everything, and since we're rural, it takes a while before anything really opens up.  My question is, do you think running through the snow constitutes a moderately effective "resisted run" workout, or are the mechanics so terribly far from normal running that it's detrimental? 

You have a few options. If there is no way you can SAFELY run, you could do strength endurance work on top of the weightroom/plyo work. You could do running  A's (high knees) for extended periods of time in the snow (which would make it even tougher) and would be really great for younger people who need the fitness anyway. You could also pay someone a few bucks if they have a snow plow (like they use for driveways and roads) and have them plow off ~100m or so. I know of a couple D1 schools that do this with success.

I'm from Michigan, so temperature is definitely an issue for a good portion of the year, but most of our workout modifications have already been listed, and work quite well.  However, there are frequently days where there's a foot or two of snow over everything, and since we're rural, it takes a while before anything really opens up.  My question is, do you think running through the snow constitutes a moderately effective "resisted run" workout, or are the mechanics so terribly far from normal running that it's detrimental? 

Paul –

Since I've been at said hypothetical university, let me tell you my experiences.  UT hit the nail on the head.  We also focused on the speed of our drills.  Most people don't realize that the Mach drills were designed to be done at a rate of 3 contacts per meter, so you have to fire pretty quickly to get the foot back down.

I also tried to use that time (early Jan. especially) to re-visit some GPP type work, since the kids often came off of break in average shape.  A four week cycle of that brings you into early Feb., just when you're ready to start rolling on some fast indoor tracks.  The other suggestion I would offer is to re-visit a short hill and teach basic acceleration mechanics.  If you have snow, stadium ramps make a decent alternative. 

The years that we were successful in doing this, we ran 23.6, 52.5r, 53.9r, 45.2, and 3:38.  Previously we had been on a tempo-based long to short program, and the kids just didn't respond as I would have liked.  The last few years we did an "ends to middle" approach and had our best years in the sprints and hurdles. 

Good luck-

i was on the track down not long ago doing 150s and the 200m curve from the 3-8th lane was all iced over.. happens all the time. Just cover all your skin, especially fingers, then burn!!!!