Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Running Aimlessly Down Under - From 54 to 53 sec 400m
Options
Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
Just found out that the State Championships have been changed from a 2 day event to a 3 day event. As luck would have it the men's 400m is on at 9pm on the friday night
. So rather than get a good night's sleep and get up ready to rock on Saturday afternoon, I now have to run 13 and a half hours after waking up, and after a long day of work. Not ideal at all. Yes it is the same for everybody, but I'm running for a PB, no other reason. Again, not much I can do about it. Frustrating. It also is a very short programme on the Friday evening with no finals, so there will be piss all people in the stands watching it, unlike the Sat and Sunday. I might enter the 200m on the Saturday aswell now that they've made this change. 0 -
Just found out that the State Championships have been changed from a 2 day event to a 3 day event. As luck would have it the men's 400m is on at 9pm on the friday night. So rather than get a good night's sleep and get up ready to rock on Saturday afternoon, I now have to run 13 and a half hours after waking up, and after a long day of work. Not ideal at all. Yes it is the same for everybody, but I'm running for a PB, no other reason. Again, not much I can do about it. Frustrating. It also is a very short programme on the Friday evening with no finals, so there will be piss all people in the stands watching it, unlike the Sat and Sunday. I might enter the 200m on the Saturday aswell now that they've made this change.
I wouldnt worry about it too much, the colours t&f athletics back in the day used to be on Weds evenings after a full day of college and i always ran well. Ditto the Battersea road races i did this summer on Monday evenings at 7pm, i broke 18 for the first time there in a 5k. Just make sure you rememeber hydration and nutrition throughout the day. Waiting around all day in work will drive you potty though.
Don't all the best athletes in the world run at 9pm in the diamond leagues on Friday nights
0 -
Brianderunner wrote: »I wouldnt worry about it too much, the colours t&f athletics back in the day used to be on Weds evenings after a full day of college and i always ran well. Ditto the Battersea road races i did this summer on Monday evenings at 7pm, i broke 18 for the first time there in a 5k. Just make sure you rememeber hydration and nutrition throughout the day. Waiting around all day in work will drive you potty though.
Don't all the best athletes in the world run at 9pm in the diamond leagues on Friday nights
Usain isn't up at 7.30am and in an office crunching numbers until 5pm 0 -
Typical that the only race of mine to be found on youtube is my one and only distastrous race of the year. In any case I'll stick it up here as ya take the good with the bad. It really shows just how slow a 75-76 second opening lap really is, when the front runners are going through in 67. Murderous conditions that evening.
0 -
-
Advertisement
-
-
I received an email this afternoon, and as expected, I have not qualified for tomorrow evening’s 400m race at the High Velocity Club meet. Very disappointing. Just 2 more opportunities now to run a sub 59 before the season ends On the otherhand it may be a good thing as I’m genuinely feeling jaded from a long season, and a part of me is looking forward to the end of the season, while the other part of me wants to keep racing so I can get my times down further. I hope I haven’t reached my peak for the season.
Remaining meets:
1) Sat 18th Feb – Interclub end of season meet 1 – 800m, Long Jump
2) Sat 25th Feb – Victoria Decathlon Championships (Day 1 only) – 100m, Long Jump, Shot Putt, High Jump, 400m
3) Friday 9th Mar – Victorian State Championships – 400m
After the State Champs as far as training, that is it, I will officially end my season and take a complete break. There is a meet I will attend on Friday 31st March, which is the Interclub end of season meet 3, the very last meet of the season. However I will just be doing this for the laugh. Will have a final crack at the Triple Jump and try a couple of throwing events for the craic. Will probably run a 100 or 800 aswell but wont be focused on times, and will just focus on racing other competitors. Basically I will be in celebration mode that day.0 -
Did 3x300 with 4 minute recovery. The goal was more the speed endurance, rather than technique so wasn't up on my toes like I would be when in spikes (hard to do so in road runners). Times were:
53(very low) - 51(mid) - 50(mid)
Same session as above. Times were:
52(low) - 50(low) - 50(mid)
So about 2 seconds in total faster than the previous day.
Actually interested to know what I could do over the seldom run 300m. There has been no such races here at all for that distance. Around 42-43 I suppose.
Some good news. A new track meet has popped up out of nowhere. Next Tuesday evening Essendon AC are putting on the Essendon Track Classic which is open to all, so I'll be running a 400m that night
This makes up for the 400m that I missed out on at the High Velocity meet this evening. No idea yet whether it is hand timed or electronic. Not a lot of information about the meet out there really. 0 -
Pyramid session this evening on the track using road running shoes. 100-200-300-200-100 with 3 minute rest between each rep, except after the 300 when I took close to 4 minutes. Times were
15(high) - 32(high) - 50(low) - 32(low) - 15(low)
I finished that session strong which is good. Tough session but once you are over the 300 mentally you feel like you are nearly there.
The floodlights were off this evening, so I was running around in the dark Thankfully the lights from the nearby tennis courts and nearby buildings kept the track safe.
800m race on saturday where I hope to destroy my PB of 2:27.9. Very busy week coming up in fact as I hit the business end of the season. 800m race thus saturday as mentioned, 400m race 3 days later, and then 4 days after that day 1 of the Vic Decathlon. Fingers crossed I can get that sub 59.0 -
800m race on saturday where I hope to destroy my PB of 2:27.9. Very busy week coming up in fact as I hit the business end of the season. 800m race thus saturday as mentioned, 400m race 3 days later, and then 4 days after that day 1 of the Vic Decathlon. Fingers crossed I can get that sub 59.
Good luck on Saturday in the 800m, maybe you can run the whole way to the finish this time.:pac:
Do an extra long warm down ater the 800m and a longer than normal warm up before the 400m, 3 days is a little tight.0 -
-
Great run by my club mate last night in the Victorian Mile Championship to claim the bronze medal in 4:54. She's only really started taking the sport seriously in the last year. Very talented. When I look at this I'm actually quite pleased that I'm only 0.37 seconds behind her over 400m.
That's the track I've been training on of late in Melbourne Uni. Big stupid hockey pitch stuck smack bang in the middle of it!
0 -
-
With the shield over and the amount of meets for grassroots athletes pretty minimal at this stage of the year, the clubs in our region of the AV Shield have put on 3 extra, low key, end of season meets, to give people a few more races, and also for those who need a few more races before the State Champs, Masters Champs, Nationals etc etc. Today was the first one in Doncaster, the 2nd is out in Diamond Valley (a track I haven't raced on) on March 17th (skipping that for obvious reasons), with the very last meet of the season being in Collingwood on March 31st, the track where my season all begun back in September for the Decathlon.
The programme for these meets is much shorter than regular AV Shield meets, with less events and less competitors, meaning less heats. Today they had 400m Hurdles, 800m, 100m and 3000k, along with just 3 field events: the hammer throw, shot putt and long jump.
My goal for today was the 800m and long jump.
800m
My PB currently stood at 2:27.9 set back on December 3rd in the AV Shield. On that occasion I went out in 72 and came back in 75ish. That day I beat my club mate who went out too hard and died the last 300m to finish 8 seconds behind me. Even though he has a marginally faster PB than me, I knew based on this race that I shouldn't lose to him. There were 3 heats today and myself and him were towards the slower guys picked for the 2nd heat. Didn't bother me that I would be towards the back as I had my clubmate in the race who's level I knew was close to mine.
I was in lane 8, not that that matters. Gun went off and I got to the break in last place. Went through the first 200 in 33. My club mate was getting a few metres ahead of me but I just concentrated on staying with him, as I knew he'd blow up (he's the perfect pacemaker). I went past one lad with about 500m or so to go, and reached the bell in 71 seconds approximately. I kept my distance behind my club mate and right on cue, as I expected, just after the 500m mark he wilted, and I went past him. He had nothing left in the tank and he wasn't going to get me back. I went through the 600m mark in 1:48, and I was certain I'd run a solid PB when I heard that, as I was around 1:50 when I set my previous best (at least that's what I thought I was at). I pushed as hard as I can, but had nobody really to chase close enough to me, and nobody chasing me. Just pushed and pushed and crossed the finish line in 2:27.6, a PB by 0.3 seconds, to finish in 6th place. Was a bit disappointed after as felt I had run faster. I also should have ran through the line better. The last 3-4 metres I may have lost a couple of tenths due to focusing too much on stopping my watch as I crossed the line.
I suppose I have to be happy with the result. It's a PB, which you can't really turn your nose up, and I do not do specific 800m work, so how can I really expect the 2:15ish time that my 400m indicates I am capable of? I don't put in miles. I don't do 1k reps. My training is focused towards the 400m so really my expectations over the 800 are quite modest. I have taken 7.3 seconds off my time this season however.
Incidently, one of the coaches in the club was in my race, and he was streets ahead of me. He ran a 2:15, 12 seconds ahead of me. Over 400m this season I am almost a full second ahead of him. Says it all really.
Long Jump:
This was my 4th long jump competition of the year. Having the laugh on the Belfield track before leaving Ireland in 2010, I jumped a 4,50m long jump. I jumped around this mark in training in September. However in all competitions I have been way below this level. In my 3 previous competitions I have jumped 4.24m, 4.25m and a poor 4.08m. Today I was hoping for a seasons best at least, but I was shattered from the 800m so I knew I was in for a struggle.
My first attempt was sloppy. I had to stretch further than I wanted to jump off my right foot in time, or else I would have needed to take an extra step which would have ruined my jump. I managed a 4.18m. Something on the board at least. My 2nd attempt was awful. I ended up stuttering my stride coming up to the board, and also fouled. My final attempt was comfortably the cleanest, and I was perfect on the board, but disappointingly barely improved on my first round jump, managing just a 4.22m. Hopefully next weekend at the Vic Decath Champs, with just a 100 in my legs, rather than an 800, I can go further.
Enjoyable day, and quite relaxed, and had an end of season feel to it. Don't want to feel in relaxed mode too much yet. Still some big races coming up and I still haven't given up hope on getting that sub 59 before the season ends.0 -
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
It's time to try to proper justice to what was one of the most enjoyable weekend's I have had since arriving in Australia overa year ago.
I entered the State Championships Decathlon at Lakeside Stadium at Albert Park originally for one reason - to get a competitive 400m race. I knew there would be multi-eventers who would be near my level and that such a race would provide a great chance of hitting a PB. I had no intention of completing the entire decathlon and planned to finish up after Day 1. However that all changed as the event went on.
The weather was murderous throughout the weekend. Hitting around 37 celcius on the Saturday, and not far off that again the next day. The winds were northerly and therefore warm. Certainly not ideal conditions, but for sprinting and field events it is easier to handle than it would be for 800m and up.
The competition was of a very high level. In total there were 20 entrants (18 of whom finished). Among them was Australian Decathlon Champion Stephen Cain (who incidently doesnt yet have the Olympic B-Standard, I was incorrect in my previous post) and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist from GB Martin Brockmon.
100m:
My coach was in my heat so I knew that I would have somebody that I could beat. The gun went off and I got out ok, was a small bit slow through the early phases and was level with my coach, but pulled away from him in the last 60m to beat him comfortably. The winner of our heat was 11.0x with the majority under 12 seconds. I felt I ran quick, and in spite of a 4.3m/s tailwind, I was delighted to see that I broke 13 seconds for the first time, with a clocking of 12.96 seconds. The wind would have made a little difference but it was still a very good run, and a PB regardless. My previous best was a 13.36 into a small -0.4 m/s headwind. Looking at those online wind adjustment calculators, had I got a 2.0 m/s tailwind my time would only have been around 0.15 seconds slower than what I ran. In any case I was delighted and got my decathlon off to a great start with 475 points.
Long Jump:
An hour after the 100m and it was time for the Long Jump. There was great camaraderie among the decathletes during this event (and during most of the field events) with everyone chatting away to each other in between jumps and getting behind each other. Fantastic stuff. For my first jump I managed a season's best of 4.32m. I was very pleased. A great way to start. My second attempt was laboured, just a 4.16m. For my final attempt I thought I would take advantage of the camaraderie and started one of those typical field event claps where everybody starts off slow and speeds up towards the end, and all my competitors responded to my request. Some buzz I tell ya, and it really brought the best out of me. I pulled the type of jump out of the bag that I felt I was always capable of. In addition I was certain I was good on the board, but looked around and saw that I broke it by just 1cm. Gutting, but wasn't going to think much more of it. Then for some inexplicable reason they start to measure my jump anyway and inform me that the distance was 4.55m, a "would have been PB". Pure cruelty. In one way I wish I hadn't known this as I was pissed off for a short while after, but on the otherhand I now know that such a jump is there, given the right moment to bring it out. So 4.32m and 259 points from this event.
Shot Putt:
This event was the first example of what would turn out to be a weekend of competitor bonding. One of the lads from Collingwood AC gave me a crash course on how to throw the shot properly, and would continue to give pointers after each event. He did this for the high jump, discuss and a few other events after. My love for decathlon was growing by the minute, and I was beginning to feel extremely guilty for even considering skipping day 2. My first throw I completely nailed. I couldn't believe I managed to hit 6.51m, but apparantly I had my throwing technique fairly spot on first time around. The 2nd and 3rd attempts were both just 5.41m however as I couldn't replicate what I managed to pull out the first time. A big PB, by close to a metre, and 279 points. The scoring was certainly going well.
High Jump:
The one and only time I attempted this event in competition I managed 1.15m. I hadn't jumped since so asked could I start at 1.05m. The organisers grinned their teeth and said ok. Thankfully they had 2 high jump zones so they could put the best guys into one and then the lower standard athletes onto the other. The bar started at 1.04m in the end. Cleared it first time. Passed at 1.07m, and then cleared 1.10m first time. Passed at 1.13 and cleared 1.16m, I think at the first attempt, it really is hard to remember as I had a fair few jumps throughout the competition. A second attempt clearance at 1.19m followed, followed by a second attempt clearance at both 1.22m, and again 1.25m. I was thoroughly enjoying this. 1.28m proved a bridge too far though. The final attempt was agonisingly close but it was not to be. I was getting tired as there were only 2-3 of us jumping at such low heights, and I was doing the bulk of the jumping. My legs felt dead at the end of it, and I was delighted to be out early so I could have extra recovery time ahead of the 400m. So 1.25m, and a very welcome 218 points.
400m:
The heats were seeded which was one of the best decisions made all weekend. As a result we had 3 genuinely competitive races. I was in a real race and there was no threat of a 49 second guy blowing me away. In my heat there was supposed to 8 but 2 people pulled out of the decathlon at this stage. I was given lane 8. Wasn't too pleased but what can you do. It's all random. In my heat was my coach in lane 1, his son in lane 2 (good over 100 and 200 but fairly poor over 400m), 2 brothers from Collingwood AC and then one other lad, who I happened to beat in the 100m earlier. I had beaten both the brothers earlier in the year during AV shield races so expected to be up close to them. However there was always a doubt as to whether these guys were going fully all out in those races, as they do a lot of events, so they could have been conserving energy when I beat them.
Gun went off and away I went. Very weird feeling running in lane 8. My initial feeling afterwards was that maybe I didnt go out hard enough in the first 50m and that because I couldn't see anybody outside me it felt like the start of a training rep. However come 130m and one of the brothers in lane 6 has eaten the stagger up on me and is flying. Sh1t! I hoped that he was running a cracker, otherwise there was no reason why I should be so far behind. I kept going anyway, cruising until 200m, at which point I noticed the other brother come past me in lane 3 or 4. I could easily have panicked here but just focused on myself. I pumped hard around the 3rd hundred and coming into the home straight I notice my coach in lane 1 for the first time. He is right up on me. No way am I letting him beat me. He's the jack of all trades, and is pretty good at many events, but no way am I letting him get me at my event. He's been behind me since the 3rd or 4th week of the season and I'm not going to let that change now. It's a battle. I push push push. Probably pushing too hard. I didn't feel myself tie up however, unlike at the Essendon Track Classic 4 days previously. At the end I was about 80% confident I pipped him but bloody hell it was close. I was certain I hadn't PB'ed given the fact I was about 20m behind the winner, but as it turned out he ran a blinder and went 55.8, with his brother coming 2nd with 56.6. 3rd place was 58.0 and then myself in 4th place, in a new PB of 59.18 seconds, bettering my performance in Bendigo in January by 0.26 seconds. I was over the moon. I hadn't got under the 59 barrier but I had convinced myself that I hadn't PB'ed so to see this result was music to my ears. My coach finished in 59.35, a great run, but a satisfying victory for myself. The only downside was that my new PB was still a mere 0.11 off my female clubmate's 400m time from a few weeks back. So I still have been chicked in the 400m on season's bests.
So 436 points for me, bringing my day 1 total to 1655 points, over 300 better than at the same stage during my decathlon back in September.
Tune in tomorrow for the Day 2 report.0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFY72EMUW4Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4UoKEbHFik
Advertisement