Rest and Recovery

It’s been just over a month since my last race.  Indoors is officially over and now its time to get ready for the real thing…OUTDOORS!! Throughout the indoor season I competed in an array of sprints events to help work on facets of my outdoor 400. 

After taking a week to chill and train in Texas, it was back to the grind.  The volume went back to what it was in the beginning of base training, but now the intensity is way up there.  The thing about getting faster is it doesn’t make workouts any easier.  I’m seeing a lot of improvements according to the stop watch, but its still just as hard as it was in October. 

For the past two weeks I’ve been on some what of a teeter-totter.  My goal for this year is to represent Canada internationally at some point to prepare me for next years Olympics.  In March I ran a ‘test’ 4x400 in Ottawa and I thought it went pretty well, it was my foot in the door for a possible Team Canada.  The problem with the foot in the door is sometimes the door swings open and shut, and that can hurt. 

Next week I get my opportunity to get my whole body in! I will get my opportunity to don the Red and White for the first time at Texas Relays in Austin (Texas of course).  This opportunity is both exciting and nerve racking all at the same time.  I know this is my chance to prove that I can run with the best of them, not only in Canada, but internationally as well. 

My training has been altered a bit to accommodate for this meet, so my body will be ready.  Now I just need to work on the mental part and I should be ready to go!

LoveJoy Weight Room

                                           

Indoor Field house with 40 yards of Field Turf

     

Full 8 lane outdoor track
	Field Turf infield

Fully Equipped Weight Room

 

                                                                                               

By far the best weight room I’ve ever lifted in and amazing facility all around!

In the Dirty South

Friday was the last workout of the week and I finally felt my body loosening. I put on extra layers for my warm up and made sure my body was gonna be ready to go. After jogging, stretching and all my drills sweat was drippin down my brow and I knew I was ready to go. As soon as I walked out of the field house I walking into what felt like a gale force wind. I looked up at the flags and both red, white and blues were fully erect from the wind. After doing a couple excels down the home stretch I knew I would have to do my workout on the other side. In the past 10x150 would kill me, but I looked forward to knocking this one out of the park. Working hard off the corner and maintaining down the stretch was the plan, and work that plan is what I did. Before I knew it I was on number 8, still moving good and not even feeling tired. I finished feeling amazing, which was something I hadn't felt all week.
I took my time and made my way to the weight room. The facility at my sister's school is amazing! I look forward to lift just so I can chill in the weight room. *note to self: take pictures of awesome weight room*
After I was all said and done we headed home to get ready for a little trip.
Shreveport, Louisiana is 4 hour drive away so we decided to hit it up for 'Mardi Gras'. Its a little smaller then the one in New Orleans, but still should be good.

Feels So Familiar

So around this time last year I found myself in a very similar situation, sitting on a couch in northern Texas. A lot has changed since then. I was training hard then, I'm training harder now. I was traveling a lot then, now I'm a little more settled. I had goals back then, I've made some accomplishments now.
I just finished a pretty successful indoor season, and I'm looking forward to what outdoors will bring. Every time I stepped on the track, I was able to set a new personal best, no matter what the distance. From 60m to 400m I've been improving. Finishing off the season second in the 400m was one of my many highlights. I was super close to breaking 39 in the 300m, if only I hadn't tightened up at the end, but now I know for next year.
I'll be in Texas for a couple more days, and I'll try to enjoy the hot weather while I can. Back to some hard training when I get back home, but I look forward to it.
I use to dread workouts that hurt, but now I look forward to them. The more I hurt in practice, the less I hurt in races....I kinda like it that way :-)

It’s Been a While

So it’s been a pretty long time since I’ve updated my blog, and quite a bit has happen.  I’ve been training my butt off and I’ve survived my hardest base training season EVER! Training has been taken up to a different level and I feel like its really paid off. 

In December I was able to go to a training Camp in St. Kitts (with the help of several great friends) then after Christmas it was time to get my game face on.  Last year I didn’t run an indoor season because I was in Trinidad, so opening up on Sunday felt a little foreign.  First of all, I don’t think I’ve ever run on a Sunday, and second, this is my first season competing out east. 

The races went pretty well none the less.  I ran a 60, which I haven’t ran since 2006, and a 200.  Both in the heats and the final for the 60 I was able to run a new personal best, 8.01, and in the 200 as well, 25.50 for an indoor personal best.  I can feel myself getting stronger and quicker and its nice to feel it pay off.  My starts are getting a bit better but they still need a little bit of work.

This weekend I will run a 300 at the University of Toronto and I’m really excited.  I feel better this week I did then last week and I’m ready to run another personal best.

Where Does The Day Go

Monday’s and Wednesday’s always feel like the longest days ever.  I wake up around the same time everyday, but each time something different hurts.  Today as I woke up and tried to get out of bed, I realized my abs were still hurting from an intense core workout last Thursday.  I tried three times to sit up, but the only thing that would rise was my head.  I accepted defeat and just rolled out of bed instead.  This looked like it was going to be a great day already.  Every morning I start off with a protein shake, just milk and a couple scoops of the grossed protein I’ve ever tasted.  I’ve always learned though, if it taste bad, its going to work…Thanks Buckley’s for that life lesson :-s  I choke down the concoction along with the ten different vitamins and minerals I take to start off the day.  After drinking my shake my taste buds are usually pretty disgusted with me, so I wait a while to eat anything.  I use this time to creep! I spend a little time on Facebook to check out what my friends are up to and try to respond to any emails that I get. Creepin’ definitely makes me miss home a lots, but I just remind myself that I’m here for a reason and I just focus on that to get me through it. 

After the nasty taste finally dissipates from my mouth, I can finally eat breakfast! I try to eat the same thing every morning, that way I know it won’t mess with my stomach at practice and I will have enough energy to train.  Once I’m done eating I still have a bit of time before practice starts so I do a little on my own before I head out.  I took a yoga class in my last semester of school as a joke, but now its actually paying off.  I spend about 45mins doing yoga to help loosen up, and stretch out any nagging tightness before practice.  After yoga I shower up then start packing and get ready for practice.  I’m use to dressing in layers for practice because around this time in Regina it would be starting to get really cold.  Old habits are hard to drop, so five layers later I’m ready to go to practice! I pack extra clothes because after practice I still have lifting to do, and lifting in sweaty clothes is no fun.

Every practice is hard, but Monday’s always seem the worse.  This Monday is no different, 600-300-200-200 is on the  plate for today.  I’ve slowly getting better at running 600s but no matter what they still hurt.  The five layers of clothing turn out to be too much, so after my warm up jog, I’m already down to two.  As the layers come off I know the workout is coming closer and closer.  I work through my drills and dread what’s coming at the end.  Once again I stretch out anything that is tight, then I’m ready to go.  The first time I did this workout I ran the 600 in over two minutes, my goal this time is just to beat that.  I line up and tell myself that its going to be ok and just to give it all I’ve got.  I take off pretty hard and at first I worry that it may have been too hard.  I set myself into a good pace and just tell myself to hold it.  300 meters in and I’m actually still feeling pretty good, I’m actually a little surprised.  I pick it up just a little and continues to keep my form.  With 200 meters left I expect fatigue to set in, but nothing, I’m still feeling great.  I pick it up one more time and pump my arms faster. I finish in just over 1:38, I’m more then pleased with my results!  I can’t believe the improvement, now just to finish the rest of the workout.  We have a rest before the next rep so I try to conserve my legs and prepare for the next one. Anything after a 600 feels like a piece of cake, I fly through the rest of the workout and leave the track pretty satisfied.  After the running portion we still aren’t done.  A couple lengths of drills are up next.  When your tired running As and walking Bs are just that much harder. My legs can barely lift, they feel like 100 pounds each. I activate my core to keep my balance as my hips and my legs burn with each step. Thirty meters feels like 100 and the drills seem like they take forever to finish.  Even though it all hurt, taking off more then 20 seconds in the 600 in just a couple weeks felt pretty awesome. I’m excited to see how this will improve my time in my races.

Even though the workout is done, I’m still not done training for the day, off to the weight room.  I take a bit of a break though before hitting the weights.  I give my body a minute to recover so I can put in a solid effort with the weights.  This week I’ve only got 3x3reps of bench press, back squat and hang cleans.  Even though its low reps, its going to be pretty heavy so I need all the energy I can get to do them. 

After the little break my body feels ready to go, and I hit the weight room.  I am able to do each rep and each set with no problem.  I’m pretty close to where my maxes were at the end of last season, and I’m just getting started.  Once weights are done my body is exhausted.  I spend a good ten minutes in the ice cold tub to give my body the therapy it wants.  I never though water that cold could feel any good, but today it feels amazing.

By the time I get home its been close to six hours.  All I want to do is sleep, but I muster the strength to cook myself a nice little supper and plop in front of the TV to finally relax.  I’m not really sure what’s on but I know it feels good to finally sit. 

This is day 1, only 4 more to go…

Feelin Good'

So coming to this group and this training program was a pretty big shock to me. I’ve been doing running like I never have been before, and getting my butt whooped in workouts like I never did before.  The first few weeks were pretty hard on the body and the ego.  I was never good at running anything over 300 meters in a workout and now I’m getting distances like 600 meters thrown at me.  I tried my best when I started to not get too down on the long runs, but the home stretch was always a killer.  I would lose my form and the pack would just get farther and farther away from me. 

This week started off a little different for me though.  The workout was still really hard, but something felt different, something felt better.  Monday’s workout was 6-3-3-2-2-2 with 15-5-3-3-3 minutes break in between.  The first 600 meter I did when I came was 2:10 and ever the couple after that were still in and around there.  When I stepped to the line for this one though, I knew it was going to be different.  I pushed through the first 400 meters with ease and kept my form and my rhythm.  When I came to 200 meters left I expected my legs to get heavy and my form to break down.  It didn’t happen though, not this time.  This time I felt fine.  I was able to bring it home with easy and 20 seconds faster then before.  I was able to complete the rest of the workout with ease.  The last two were hard, but I still gave it my all.  I can feel my body adapting to the workouts and it feels great!