Russ on Athletics

Long hurdles. Is it a forgotten event

Long Hurdles…is it the forgotten event.
The emergence of a couple of Cougar athletes in Elena Brown’s group (Shay Taylor and James Mortimer ) as intermediate hurdlers has rekindled an event that has virtually on the back burner for me since ex National Champion Nicola Kidd and husband Dirk DeJong started raising a family.

Long hurdles are probably the most difficult technique event in the explosive track area. Here are a few of the necessary ingredients if you are joining the drive to put this unique event back where it belongs on the athletic calendar.

Time…
If you’re a student and you are looking at this event, your life probably has to become a world of “cracking books” …”training”…with the odd party now and again to clear your head. If your not a party animal you have another day to work on flexibility.
Physical and mental attributes…
Height is not an absolute necessity (Current National Long hurdles event coach David Long was a pretty competent intermediate hurdler and even his best friends don’t refer to him as Goliath.) but it can make things a bit easier.
If you are vertically challenged you probably have to devote more time to flexibility, stride pattern and trail leg work.
Strength you need massive back and glute strength. Most of this will probably come from the weight room but training programs will have to include heaps of uphill work both short and long plus a fair amount of “running” time on you feet. My favourite is Fartlek work. What’s yours ?
Flexibilty is a must.Good long hurdlers need to devote an extra hour a day over and above their normal program to dynamic stretching and they probably have to do it at home. There is also a bit of room required for semi static stretches like ground hurdling and trail leg technique work.
The hurdle clearance phase needs to be efficient and the ability with the good and bad lead legs has to be very nearly identical. So.... Lots of round trips carried well into the competitive season. Round trips come in many different styles. Make sure that you are using them all.
Stride pattern Most athletes get ahead of themselves with this one. First learn to manage 15 strides all the way…only then do you start experimenting with what you can do with the first couple of gaps of a race. Sustained stride pattern work outs are difficult to build into a training pattern. Do too many (I usually find 2 or 3 reps with full recovery is about the average athletes limit.) before fatigue sets in and the stride pattern turns to custard. Some times you can push this a bit further if you use hurdle nests. (300m reps over 4 flights of hurdles 2 at the start and 2 at the finish)
Endurance has to come elsewhere.

Training. For long hurdlers it is a racing season where speed endurance and speed have to be melded together with great care. Long after the pure sprinters are on to time trials and flying 30m the intermediate hurdlers have to be still persisting with a lot of speed endurance work and this has to be carefully balanced with the racing program.
How does a coach find out when the pure speed should take precedence
It’s no good asking the athlete. Each race has to be carefully observed and assessed.
Heaps of uphills short and long and persist with the short sharp ones well into the racing season.
Technique. actual work outs that involve running over hurdles have to be year round. A minimum of once a week during the off season and depending on the racing program twice a week during the Summer.
Weights are a must and must be specifically aimed at the athletes individual needs.
Mental approach you need an athlete who has the ability to learn skills with relative ease.Starting them off on sprint hurdles and then transferring up to the intermediates is a good course for beginners. Incorporating hurdle drills into warm ups so that every session contains some specific hurdle learning skills is a good option.
Self starters are usually good long hurdlers They don’t have to be “loners” but they do have to be largely self motivated.
SUMMARY…
This is the toughest event on the explosive track calendar. If an athlete stumbles on a short recovery rep session don’t waste your time trying to turning them into a long hurdler. This event is not a resort for runners who are deemed too slow for sprint hurdles. If you can’t make a “gun” 400m sprinter out of them you are never going to turn them into a worthwhile 400m hurdler.
It’s an intriguing event to coach.ANY STARTERS OUT THERE ?

Want to be one of our "hard core" athletes

What are the necessary qualifications to become a “hard core” athlete with our group.

#1. You have to be totally involved in athletics without any interference from another sport and you have to have been in that situation for at least a couple of years.

#2. You have to train 5 days a week and compete regularly in season.

#3. You have to been under the control of at least one coach (The bus driver) for at least two years. Many athletes utilise more than one coach for specialty events but there must always be one coach who calls the shots and sets the programs.

#4. You have to work to a program that changes progressively through the season .

#5. You have to stop thinking that two training sessions a day is out of the ordinary.

Here’s some F.A.Q’s about “hard core” athletics.

#1. Do you have to have held a National Title ? Noooooooooooooo !
although being a Title holder will not bar you from membership.

#2. Do you have to have made a National Final ? Nooooooooooooo!
But there is a fair chance you will have.

#3. What does it cost to become a “hard core” athlete ? Time, Blood, Sweat and tears. Time…There is time in the average life for most things of importance. You just have to learn to handle it. Blood…First there’s the old fashioned red stuff. You are going to skin a few knees and twist a few ankles. Second there’s the psychological blood that rises when you compete both against people that you like and don’t like.
Sweat…You only have to do one hard training session to find out about that.
Tears…You are going to get upset when you do everything right and still don’t win
Sometimes you are going to feel like crying when you win…Suck it all in. It’s part of being hard core

#4. I have only been in athletics for 12 months is there anything I can do to join a “hard core group ? Yep ! do another 12 months toil.

#5. My Mum was very good at sport would this help me join the group ? Sorry sunshine it will not make any difference.

Here are some reasons why being a “hard core” athlete will help your sport.
Athletics is an individual sport and fronting up for regular training irrespective of weather conditions and other commitments is tough. It helps a lot if you know that there will be another 4 or 5 athletes to work with when you arrive. After a while it becomes a bit like a trip to the Mall or the Pub depending on your age and inclinations. It’s not every ones cup of tea. In fact a lot of very good athletes demand the individual attention of a one on one coaching situation but the sheer joy of knowing that you are working along side someone who wants to win as badly as you do and who will happily beat you if you let them is the secret and inner strength of a group of hard core athletes.

May training schedules

The May 2012 Development Group training schedule can be downloaded here

NOTHING HAPPENS UNTIL SOME ONE SELLS SOMETHING

I went to this year’s Nationals and came away with a dream…(Or was it a nightmare)
A friendly foolishly ask me. What did you think of this years Nationals ? I have several friends who think that they are the best 3 days of the year. The days when Challenges are made and titles and dreams are won and lost. Doesn’t matter to me if the overall standard is poor or the number of competitors are up or down. Doesn’t matter to me if the wind blows and the rain falls ….I love ‘em !
So why did I leave Waitakere stadium with an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach.

This was the 125 anniversary of our sports National champs. Rumour was that the “suits” were investing some money to really make it swing. So why, try as I may, couldn’t I hear or see anything that told anyone outside of the athletic fraternity about the damned meet. I believe they had a nice dinner. Great idea ! I will bet that everyone that was invited was a friend of the sport, but did anyone outside of the sport hear about what happened at the meet or… pre champs what might happen at the meet.
When I open my daily paper I see pictures of sports that have a huge following in N.Z… sports like AmericanFootball… Baseball…There must be hundreds of N.Z.ers that have a thriving interest in those two sports. No I’m not blaming the journo’s I am blaming us.
So I have some questions….

#1. What are we doing to sell athletics to the average “Joe Bloggs” N.Z er.

#2. Do we need some one to jump off the top of the Waitakere Grandstand before we can get the local and N.Z. press interested.

#3. How many people do you know that play under water hockey ?
#3a.How many people do you know that play netball ?

This one I know the answer to…I don’t know anyone who plays underwater hockey.
I know hundreds of people that play netball. Might just have something to do with the publicity the two sports get.

#4. How much time and money and energy good old fashioned sweat do athletic administrators spend on selling our wonderful sport to the great unwashed masses.

#5. Wow ! that big t.v. screen was great but how come it wasn’t used to introduce the finalists and cover the Medal ceremonies.

#6. We had a roving mike. What were we and the few stalwarts on the terraces told about what is going on at all the field events.

#6. Did we have any instant indication if anyone shaved a National record.

I was at a basketball game many years ago. I went early to get a good seat. There was a little guy there, long before the game started and when ever he said anything to any of the cameramen or announcers or media the effect was instant. I said to one of the t.v. cameramen, “Who is that little guy !” he smiled and said “He is the producer and when he says jump, we jump.”

So..What did I think of this years Nationals ? Great !. Am I going next year ? Wouldn’t miss it. Best three days of the year. So why did I leave this year’s meet with and empty feeling in the pit of my stomach ? I’m thinkin’ it’s because I would like to share this wonderful experience with a few more kiwis.
Is that too much to ask ?

April 2012 training schedule

The April 2012 Development Group training schedule can be downloaded here

CHECKING UP ON THE NORTH HARBOUR COLLEGE CHAMPS.

HOW DID THE TRAINING SQUAD MAKE OUT AT THE North Harbour College Champs ?

Not Bad…..

Without looking outside the group to other club members successes our Development group managed to wrack up.

5 golds
6 silvers
7 bronze
6 finalists
Not bad for one training group. Guess we must be doing something right.

SO WHY AREN’T MORE OF YOU RACING MORE OFTEN ?

Wednesday nights at Mt. Smart !
Every Saturday at the Auckland Centre meets !
There is not much that you can do in a training situation that will improve performances now. We can work a bit harder and concentrate on technique (All of the training program is speed work now anyway) but the thing that will give you the winning edge is competition. Those of you who have qualified for the Auckland Champion of Champions or are going to the North Island College Champs with the Harbour team …….
“need to compete”

March 2012 training schedule

The March 2012 Development Group training schedule can be downloaded here

I have a mate who is 77. Here's what he does

I Have a mate who is 77………………………

I never got within a bull’s roar of him competitively but we spent many hours of suffering together on the training track, Piha and Bethell’s beach. The Waitakere Ranges. The Auckland Domain. He occasional joins my training squad and does a work out. Now and then he comments on the low work load that the group manage.
So what do you do for an average training work out ? I asked.
Two days later he sent me this

This workout for all round fitness takes approx. 20 minutes to complete.

Jog 50 metres

12 sit ups with twist. Hands clasped behind head. Elbows back. Left elbow outside right. Then right elbow outside left knee.

Jog 50 metres.

12 push ups. Body straight, forehead to touch ground.

Jog 50 metres

Hamstring stretch. Left leg straight, right knee on hurdle. Chin to left knee, hold for 12 seconds, then right knee straight, left knee on hurdle. Chin to right knee, hold for 12 seconds. Stand straight with feet together, Hands to touch toes, with legs straight. Hold for 12 seconds.

Jog 50 metres.

Leg swings. 12 with right leg then 12 with left leg.

Jog 50 metres.

Hurdle trail leg exercise. 12 with right leg then 12 with left leg.

Jog 50 metres.

Adductor strengthening. Lie with right side on ground. Left foot on steeplechase hurdle. Raise right foot to hit underside of hurdle with right hip coming off ground 12 times. Then repeat 12 times with right foot on hurdle.

Jog 50 metres.

Adductor stretching. Right foot forward, left foot back. Hold for 12 seconds then reverse. Hold for 12 seconds.

Jog 50 metres.

Burpies x 6.

Jog 50 metres.

Arm Circling x 12.

Jog 50 metres.

Deep walk x 6.

Arm Flings x 12.

Jog 50 metres.

Deep bounds x 6.

Jog 50 metres.

Side bends. Left side, hold for 12 seconds. Right side, hold for 12 seconds.

Jog 50 metres.

Butt stretch on ground. Hold for 12 seconds.

Jog 50 metres.

Groin stretch on ground. Hold for 12 seconds.

Jog 50 metres.

High march, 25 reps. (Sprint drill).

Jog 50 metres.

High march with bounce. 25 reps (Sprint drill).

Jog 50 metres.

Butt kicks. 25 reps. (Sprint drill).

Jog 50 metres.

I do this workout twice weekly. Usually Thursday and either Saturday or Sunday.

I jokingly said, “Is that all” ?

“No he said”

SO YOU HAVE A STUDENT THAT YOU THINK MIGHT DO WELL OVER 400M

Russ Hoggard talks about ,
NINE WEEK TRAINING SCHEDULE FOR A COLLEGE 400M RUNNER.

Russ is Development Program Manager for the NorthSport Academy in Auckland and has had nearly fifty uninterrupted years of Track and Field coaching. (The last fourteen as a full time professional ) He coordinates the development program of about 20 athletes at the A.U.T.Millennium Institute.
Professional coaches are lucky. When an athlete presents themselves 9 or 10 weeks before a major College meet and asks for a program to compete in a 400m event we usually run a couple of simple trials and in most cases say. Yep ! Start training now for next season. This year settle for ones and twos. College teachers don’t always have that luxury. So if you are brave enough to give it a try here is a training format that at least gives you a 50/50 chance of some sort of success.
Rule #1. Don’t let the athlete run too many 400’s in the preparation training period. Encourage them to run 100m and 200m races every week. And make sure that you build at least one day into the program that just entails easy running all wrapped up in a track suit. This sort of training gives the muscle groups a well earned rest in at least one of the weekly training sessions.
Rule #2. Build in plenty of starts and make your runner run further in their starts than the rest of the group. If the normal start distance is 30m. get your 400m guy to start over 50m. and give them a bit more recovery time between starts,
Rule #3. At least one training session has to involve 200m reps. If you go to any track meet all the good coaches are usually at the 200m mark when a 400m race is taking place. They know how crucial this point in the race is. Getting the correct split time for races is vital and of course it varies from athlete to athlete. Most College athletes get a drop off (Difference between the 1st 200m and the 2nd.200m.of a race )of a couple of seconds. You need to consider your runners 200m race times and use this as a basis to calculate the speed that you expect them to run the 1st 200m of their 400m race. Once established this time is considered when the rep times for the 200m training work out is established.
The time decided on must be physically challenging without fatiguing the athlete too much. The recovery times vary a lot but should never be longer than 6 minutes and you need a 200m rep session once a week. To do the operation properly you would start with training sessions that involve 8 x 200m. Then gradually decrease the reps and demand faster times until the athlete is doing 4 reps at a pretty fast clip with around 4 minutes recovery. Then you drop the reps and once a week do back to back 2 x 200m. (2 minutes recovery ) aiming at the time you have selected for the first 200m of the race. However in 9 weeks you don’t have time to do that so just stick with a regular 6 x 200m work out and look for the times getting better and better as the week progress without the athlete self destructing..
Rule #4. Get it right on race day. On the days that the athlete runs 400m. make that their mission for the day. No other events. No relays. Just the 400m. Over a nine week period. your athlete should not attempt more than four 400m races.

February 2012 training schedules

The February 2012 Development Group training schedule can be downloaded here