[David Gain]

David Gain on December 27, 2012 at 3:10 pm #18641

Came across this site while Googling to find people who had read and used the information in Dr Ralph Mann’s ‘The Mechanics of Sprinting and Hurdling’.

So thought I’d come and say hello. 🙂

I’m a UK based short sprinter, so I do 100 and 200.

200 is my main event which I have a PB of 21.39 for, and 10.90 in the 100. I also had a go at a 400 this season and ran 49.19.

Currently training 2/3 times a week on the track combined with a fairly physical job which keeps me active during the days.

My main aim for next season is to sort my start out, as you can work out from my times, if I’m doing 21.39 in a 200 and only 10.90 in the 100, it doesn’t take a highly trained coach to work out my start is letting me down in the shorter of the two distances especially.

So I’ve been reading Dr Mann’s book with great interest with regards to the information on starting mechanics and which directions I should be applying my effort in.

I really want to make some good progress this season, having competed in the UK U23 Championships and also the 2012 UK Olympic Trials. My overall goal is to now get my 200m time under 21 seconds, and I think my start is going to be the best place to knock some of that off as it’s the area of my race with the biggest room for improvement.

Anyway, I’ll carry on browsing the site, and if anyone has any questions feel free to ask 🙂

[Josh Hurlebaus]

Josh Hurlebaus on December 27, 2012 at 4:59 pm #118852

Welcome!

Question on your races: do you have any videos? Your 200 is much faster than your 100 or 400 would suggest you are able to run. From my experience someone with a high 10 100m ability and low 21 200 ability is typically 48’s or lower in the 400. Do you just not race the 400 very often?

Regardless, enjoy the site and happy training!

[Pete Diamond]

Pete Diamond on December 27, 2012 at 5:31 pm #118853

Agreed!

I was a 21.0x guy who ran 10.8x in the 100m. I ran the 100m over and over again, and never really progressed, but consistantly ran 46.high/47.low splits in the 4x400m. I only ran the 400m open 3 times in competition in college and they were far better times than my 100m times.

It may be that you’re looking at the wrong distance for improvement. A couple more 400s might give you the strength to drop closer to the 21.0 mark.

[David Gain]

David Gain on December 28, 2012 at 3:50 am #118856

I do have a video of a run I did at the U23 Champs where I ran a 21.47, I’m just uploading that to YouTube and then I’ll post up a link.

But no I don’t do the 400m at all really, that was the first proper 400m I’ve done in 3 or 4 year. I’ve done the odd 4x400m relay but I’ve never really had to try that hard because the rest of the team are so bad. haha

And you could be right Pete, maybe I am looking at the wrong end of my race. Perhaps I’m a Michael Johnson not a Usain Bolt?

The reason I say it’s my start is that I can run against a guy who does 10.7 over 100m and lose to him. But then I’ll run against the same guy in the 200m, have the same gap over the first 100m, but then I’ll catch back up and overtake him during the last 100m. So my logic tells me I need to improve the slower past of my race, not make the fastest bit faster.

But at the end of the day I’ll do whatever needs to be done to bring the 200m time down, even if that does mean a few longer runs.

[David Gain]

David Gain on December 28, 2012 at 4:09 am #118857

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkzXkRQ1vy4

[Josh Hurlebaus]

Josh Hurlebaus on December 28, 2012 at 6:48 am #118858

I do have a video of a run I did at the U23 Champs where I ran a 21.47, I’m just uploading that to YouTube and then I’ll post up a link.

But no I don’t do the 400m at all really, that was the first proper 400m I’ve done in 3 or 4 year. I’ve done the odd 4x400m relay but I’ve never really had to try that hard because the rest of the team are so bad. haha

And you could be right Pete, maybe I am looking at the wrong end of my race. Perhaps I’m a Michael Johnson not a Usain Bolt?

The reason I say it’s my start is that I can run against a guy who does 10.7 over 100m and lose to him. But then I’ll run against the same guy in the 200m, have the same gap over the first 100m, but then I’ll catch back up and overtake him during the last 100m. So my logic tells me I need to improve the slower past of my race, not make the fastest bit faster.

But at the end of the day I’ll do whatever needs to be done to bring the 200m time down, even if that does mean a few longer runs.

Definitely aim to improve acceleration and top speed, you’ll never go wrong there. However, if you are a naturally strong finisher then training it will make you an incredibly strong finisher. Don’t focus on the weakness to the point of excluding your strengths! I’m not saying go out and run some repeat 600s or anything drastic. Hell, just racing the 400 a few more times than you are used to during the season will have a good effect on your 200. Just some food for thought!

[David Gain]

David Gain on January 7, 2013 at 8:15 am #118916

I’ve run at 2 competitions so far this year, both indoors.

In the first one I reduced my 60m time from 7.25 to 7.19. I then ran again today and brought it down to 7.13, and then in my second race reduced it even further to 7.10

Which now means my PBs stand at:

60m – 7.10
100m – 10.90
200m – 21.39
400m – 49.19

I also ran a 200m indoor last weekend in 22.19 seconds which isn’t anything to shout about, but the indoor tracks are horrible to run on (steep banked corners and they slope up/down before/after the corners too, so you can’t run properly flat out on them)

But it was still the fastest time of the day and also enough to put me at the top of the 2013 UK rankings for 200m…for now. lol

And in other news, because of the 200m time I ran last year I’ve been invited to the 2013 British Athletics European Trials and UK Championships which are being held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield on the weekend of 9th & 10th Feb, so I’ll be mixing with the likes of Jess Ennis, Holly Bleasdale and Dwain Chambers in the warm up area. 🙂

[Ryan Banta]

Ryan Banta on January 7, 2013 at 1:44 pm #118917

David! Nice to meet you! You have some serious talent. Hopefully we can help you in your development.

Regards,

Ryan Banta

"Nature hides her secret because of her essential loftiness, but not by means of ruse." -Albert Einstein

[David Gain]

David Gain on January 12, 2013 at 9:04 am #118944

One other thing that would be interesting to get an opinion on, although I know it’s difficult to answer without seeing my training and knowing what my level of ability is like.

My PB last season was 21.39, which I got with only 2 x 90 minute sessions per week until about June, and then an extra 120 minute session on Saturdays from June until now.

So given that I do relatively little training for my speed, how quick do you think I could go if I were to train full time? e.g. 5 hours a day, 6 days a week.

[Roswell]

Roswell on January 13, 2013 at 9:00 am #118954

It’s impossible to estimate exactly how much you’d improve, but you definitely would without extracurricular distractions. That said, it’s not necessarily training more – 30 hours a week is kind of excessive – that would help, but making the most out of your time on the track. If you only have 2 sessions a week for most of the season, then you have to be 100% for each of them, every time. This means taking care of your soreness, cramps, whatever that would inhibit yourself on the track. I won’t say exactly what you should do during those sessions, because I don’t know your training.

As someone who trains around 15 hours a week, still the most important thing for me is to be ready for every practice. For me this includes contrast showers, foam rolling all the time, fish oil out the whazoo, taking really good care of my nutrition, liniments, and BCAAs.

[maris]

maris on May 9, 2013 at 12:12 am #119887

It’s impossible to estimate exactly how much you’d improve, but you definitely would without extracurricular distractions. That said, it’s not necessarily training more – 30 hours a week is kind of excessive – that would help, but making the most out of your time on the track. If you only have 2 sessions a week for most of the season, then you have to be 100% for each of them, every time. This means taking care of your soreness, cramps, whatever that would inhibit yourself on the track. I won’t say exactly what you should do during those sessions, because I don’t know your training.

As someone who trains around 15 hours a week, still the most important thing for me is to be ready for every practice. For me this includes contrast showers, foam rolling all the time, fish oil out the whazoo, taking really good care of my nutrition, liniments, and BCAAs.

So how many track sessions would you recommend? Is it not unrealistic to expect more than 3 speed sessions a week? Even then, that is quite a lot I think. Part of the reason I ask is because I am moving away in late August and I believe I will only be able to train on a track on Sunday and Tuesday evenings, for 90 minutes a session. I am starting to think about how I will structure the rest of my training around that. The grass should be decent quality and I will have gym access, so can Olympic lift etc, and hopefully be able to do some sort of plyometric activities. That is dependent on my achilles though, as it sometimes gets sore from plyos, so may have to substitute/omit them. Thoughts?

[David Woods]

David Woods on May 11, 2013 at 11:46 am #119903

You’re not approaching this right. I can’t tell you how much you NEED to train, but I can tell you that even THREE speed sessions in a week is excessive. That’s not to say you couldn’t work out 4-6 days a week in some capacity, but you need to factor in lifting, plyometrics, starts and accelerations, form, and conditioning (to the extent you run the 200).