Sounds like pretty good conditions to hit that sub 60s 400!!
Let us know…!
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Yo! Went really good for me, but didn’t run 400m. Ran 225m & 200m. The 225m is because the guy I trained with felt a slight tweak in his hamstring and pulled up, he was at ~55s pace at 225m, flying. I was at ~58-59s pace at that point, behind him. He was done after that, the safe thing to do. He wanted me to run 1 hard 200m, because he said I was at like ~28s on our first run, and he said i’d hit sub 30s by myself. So I did, and hit 29.4s!! Pretty cool. First ever sub30 for 200m.
EDIT: He was surprised I didn’t bring spikes… hah! He had some nice spikes. He told me after, he’s like man you will run way faster in spikes. I told him I have some but, the pair I have hurt my calves. They are 800m spikes, I think I need more like 1500m-5000m spikes, keep my off my toes less or something. The spikes I have destroy my calves - can’t finish workouts in them. So I just need something less intense initially. That’s cool though… To be fair, the shoes I was wearing are very fast, regardless of being spikeless. 3.4 oz shoes that are insane fast. Spikes give you that extra “pull” though so, been meaning to buy a potentially better pair. This gives me extra motivation for 2018 
Spike up and drop some serious (for me) times.
No idea why his hamstring pulled but, he didn’t warm up nearly as long as me. I got there at 6:15 PM, started warming up immediately. He got there at 6:35 PM, and only wanted to do ~10 minutes of warmup. So I did 20 minutes + 10 minutes of warming up = 30 minutes. I just said to him, that if he wanted to warmup more i’d be fine with it. He just wanted to get after it. Anyway, he’s 50 years old, absolutely incredible shape: but those are things you probably can’t get away with as much when you’re that age. Have to be extra cautious. So, after he pulled it (slightly) and we got to talking, I mentioned the warmup and he agreed. He should have warmed up much more thorough. 
sux.
Being injury phobic is good and bad… The good is that you don’t skip out on warmups and stuff like that. You also shut it down faster when you feel something weird, rest more, try to recover more, and try not to push through “weird stuff”. The bad is that it’s always on your mind.
I’ll post some data in a sec, it’s pretty cool. Nothing on the graph is over 3:59 min/mi … so that’s moving a bit.
Btw, this guy’s PR in his “prime” was 1:53.x for 800m… WUT.
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12/25/2017: rest, absolutely nothing
12/26/2017: 3 hour session @ 15 miles, mixed with speed, moderate running, and slow running. Just need to be careful with these LONG sessions with mixed speeds. By the end I can really feel my legs starting to ache - but I also know this will make them stronger. Need to make sure I just keep slowly building into these kinds of sessions, and cut them short if I feel anything odd.
data!
workout: mixed speed: BIG PR’s: 225m @ 33s/3:57mm (PR), 200m @ 29.4s/3:57mm (PR: FIRST SUB 30), LIGHTS OFF → ROAD TIME: 4 x 0.6 miles @ {2 x 5:3Xmm, 5:4Xmm, 5:5Xmm}, 2 x 420m @ 4:5X min/mi, 5 mile cooldown
- 2 PR’s: 225 m & 200m @ sub 4 pace
- PR: 200m @ 29.4s
BTW: ALL of the stuff before the first yellow highlighted line, is part of the warmup… so I guess I lied (miscalculated) earlier when I said I warmed up for ~30 minutes, it was exactly 41 minutes & 42 seconds according to that data.
~42 minutes before my first real hard sprint, and I felt great/fine. Just a sign of fitness/work capacity/preparedness. Don’t let people lie to you and say that “very slow running” will somehow kill your speed workout. Perhaps if someone is not in shape at all, then ok maybe. IMHO, it feels great. By the time i’m ready to really sprint, i’ve become very focused, warm, loose, progressively built up to my main effort, and am ready to drop the hammer. Anyway, it’s worth experimenting with. The key to point when running slow before speed, is to run “quiet” and “relaxed” … I refer to it as “ninja pace”. You don’t want to slap the ground… You want to barely hear yourself hit the ground, nice and soft contacts, slowly waking up the muscles for the work ahead. Not every athlete may like/prefer that, that’s fine. But if someone is “afraid” of it, ie thinking a bit of slow ninja trotting will make you slow for your speed session, I think THAT is most likely not accurate.
both:
225m
200m
both
From the data, both of those 200/225 efforts were pretty solid. That 225m was supposed to be 400m but that effort got aborted due to the hamstring tweak of my training partner I mentioned above. Sucks, quite possibly would have been sub60.
Also hit 16.4 mph tonight. Cool. Don’t hit 16 mph often.
At least i’m in the sub30-200m club with ironOne now.
peace!!
3 Likes
Hey man, interested to know your 100m sprint time?
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Hey man! Not sure tbh … I think I did a few in the 13’s not so long ago. But those weren’t max speed. I’m actually a bit afraid of hitting MAX V (maximum velocity). The last time I did (last year), I pulled my hamstring. Hitting max-V is pretty intense, so I stay well below those speeds. I’d like to improve my max-V by hitting these submax paces more often, but not actually testing my maximum velocity.
I also went too hard when I pulled my hamstring, I mean it was 100% max effort. I had been sprinting hard for months, but never an absolute 100%. I was up near 19mph before it tweaked, that’s pretty fast for me. Took several months to stop nagging me. Could run with it but not sprint with it… heh!
So yea not sure right now. I’ll have to figure out how to get some numbers eventually, without maxing it out.
I’m off to sleep.
goodnight man!
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Congrats! Sorry to hear about your partner. Hope I’m running like that at 50!!!
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Thanks alot man!
Yea, first time ever training with him and that happens. Thing is, he seemed so amp’d up and excited to run. But, that excitement also made it seem like he was rushing. This is the third time i’ve trained with someone “for the first time” and they “rushed a warmup”. I think when people meet up to train for the first time, they are more prone to making the mistake of not warming up properly. So to anyone going to run with people for the first time, show up early if you need to, because there’s a good chance they half-ass the warmup because of the excitement of training together… lol.
This other guy I trained with several times, would rush his own warmups but with me he did my exact warmup - and we had some great sessions. He was always trying to learn things from people so, I think he learned a bit about doing a longer warmup, light jog rest instead of walking rest for intervals, AND he definitely loved how I tried to run quiet - he mentioned that was something he found very beneficial and that he planned to continue doing it (for warmups/cooldowns/slow jogs).
re: 50, yea me too. Longevity performance goals. There’s lots of 40+ year old runners around here who dominate (or are ALWAYS threats for top 3 overall). It’s pretty impressive. I mean there’s a 59 year old who routinely drops 17:XX 5k’s, come on. beast.
pc!
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12/27/2017: rest
12/28/2017: speed!
- last training session of 2017!
Knocked sub 2:20 800m PR off tonight! 2:18.4 … that was rough. First half was too hard, second half became brutal. First half was @ 4:1X pace I think. HEH!
Only 2 more PR’s are up for grabs before 2017 ends, in the 12/31 5k race:
- 2 miles under 11:16 (though, the goal under 11:00)
- official 5k @ 17:XX
workout: mixed speed
- 15.5 miles total
- BIG PR: 800m @ 2:18.4 (-5s, 4:36mm pace, FIRST SUB 2:20, 1st half better than 2nd half lol)
- 1.77 mi @ 5:47mm (5:40.5, 5:54mm)
- 400m @ 72.9
- 7 miles slow
- 2 miles a little faster (7:38, 7:32)
good session.
very happy with the 800m… felt a bit beat up today. that was a tough effort. Legs were a bit jacked up after that for the 1.77 mi run, but pushed through it.
solid.
2 Likes
About to order some new spikes: New Balance LD5000v5’s
sexy.
My speed during my track sessions might get a nice bump when I spike up. Hoping these don’t kill my calves… Don’t think they will though, they are “made for 3000m to 10000m” … unlike my other spikes which are “400m to 1500m”. Those just force you up on your toes a bit too much, and since I love long track sessions, just become a major problem - calves die.
Also going to order some “normal running shoes”, heavier ones to wear during my long cooldowns. Just don’t want to “waste miles” in my racing shoes etc. Want to preserve their life a bit more… really love them and they are discontinued 
NB MRC5000v2’s, 3.4oz for size 12, insanely strong, insanely light, fast af.
I have one brand new pair waiting to be used. If NB ever makes those again, i’m buying like 10 pairs.
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Ugh so now I have to buy spikes lol
Nice 800 PR you machine!
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Thanks so much man!
and haha !! yup, I think we will both benefit greatly from spikes. I enjoyed trying to chase my friend, who was in spikes & very fast, while I was in normal running shoes. I feel like when I spike up, i’ll definitely get a boost.
Plus they are great to have in case you want to run in some open meets, which I definitely do and I imagine at some point you might want to as well. The moment that sub60 drops, you’ll start thinking about a ~56-57s 400m in an open meet, spiked up… haha.
Not using spikes on a professional-style track, is like never using chalk when lifting. We’ve basically been deadlifting heavy without chalk. Time for some track chalk. lmfao!
That’s actually kind of interesting when you think about it… Simply using chalk for the first time makes you feel different - more serious maybe. Same kind of feeling with spikes. When I trained in them the first time, just felt different. 8|
peace!!
2 Likes
Been following this dude for a long time. Come to think of it, he dropped comments on my dunk videos & such when he was probably 13-14 or something. He’s a dunk addict who “gets it”. Trains hard, tries to learn about himself (what works/doesn’t work for him), loves inspiring/motivating/helping others. He dropped a nice “short film” (his first such video) and it’s solid.
Some nice lifting/jumping/dunking/training clips, but an even better message.
^^ SOLID.
He’s now trying to branch off into photography, videography, and just all kinds of stuff: just expressing his creativity etc.
I actually met him last year, he’s a really cool dude. I tried to land some dunks with him when he was visiting his parents during Thanksgiving. Didn’t land any but came close, which I was really surprised with because i’d only been sprinting/running. Rim was probably ~9’11", not 10’.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNfLrjLgr8B/?taken-by=andrewdarqui
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12/29/2017: rest
12/30/2017: rest
12/31/2017: race, felt great
TLDR: hit several PR’s, missed the one I probably cared most about (2 miles under 11). Someone I trained with recently stuck to the plan and got it (10:54), I hit (11:19)… still a PR but not sub11. All good.
Main PR was 5k official PR @ 17:55 (-10s).
Here’s some data. Really screwed up in mile 3, shouldn’t have let it slip like that. Once I noticed it was slipping I picked it back up and got it back to a respectable split… mistake for sure. Easier to make when you’re tired.
Boca 5k Race: 6th overall & 1st for 35-39: BIG PR’s: First sub 18 5k @ 17:55 official / 17:50 watch (5:45 mm pace), coopers test @ 2.11, 2 mile @ 11:19 (-1s lmao), finally a decent 0.1 mi sprint to finish a 5k race
not what i wanted to do for 2 miles but whatever, turned out decent. happy with it. On to bigger things in 2018!!
easier PR objectives achieved.
first sub 18 5k (17:55 official / 5:46 min/mi, 17:50 watch / 5:45 min/mi) … 2 mile PR (11:19 -1s lmfao).
cooper’s test (2.11 miles) in 12 minutes (5:41 min/mi).
5 km minus 3 mi = 1s speed up over the last 0.1 mi !! :personal-record: So, 5:46 min/mi pace for 3 mi, 5:45 min/mi pace for 0.1 mi… lol. Had a nice sprint at the end. Closed the last ~60m or so @ ~4:10 min/mi haha. That’s not very normal. Had alot of juice left, should have used it up more in mile 3 (re: that mistake).
3 km @ 10:30 / 5:38 min/mi.
Closed off 2017 with tons of PR’s: December was good. Pushed it hard though, hunted PR’s. Need to stay healthy & PR hunt throughout all of 2018.
A few photos:
probably like ~10s back in this photo, but it’s a great photo::
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdYvCNvBBwO/?taken-by=andrewdarqui
The guy in purple/in front is someone i’ve trained with a few times lately. We’ll probably train alot more in 2018. This will be a good year for him I suspect, he’s got some serious ability.
Also one cool thing is, the last 2 people I tried with, finished ahead of me. lol. we went 4, 5, 6. 4th place dude was just 5s off, very close.
^^^ Also, check the kid in the green Ethiopia jersey … young dude, but he gets it. Finished first overall
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdYCnEyBVxq/?taken-by=andrewdarqui
open starts are the best:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdYt3sqhbhF/?taken-by=andrewdarqui
sprinting through the finish:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdYuqrWBnP7/?taken-by=andrewdarqui
happy new year folks.
- time to turn it up a notch.
but first, taking a week off!!! forced deload for rest/recovery.
peace!!
4 Likes
Good stuff, happy New year!
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Thanks man & same to you. 2018 go get it. About to check your log too jaja.
01/01/2018: 8.7 mile walk (4 miles hills!)
So as planned, in 2018 i’m going to introduce hills into my routine. Everyone tells me this is the “missing ingredient”, we’ll see. I’m lucky to have some weird set of “hills” nearby → very rare to have something like that nearby in South Florida.
Based on my watch data, the highest hill is ~50 feet. Grade goes from 3% to 30%, depending on which hill and what side of it. Plenty of runnable hills & power walkable/climbable ones too.
Apparently I got 642 ft of total “elevation” yesterday hah.
I also have a park ~25 minutes away which has more hills and lots of running paths.
No running this week … deloading. Also, icing my left calf/back of knee alot, trying to get it to loosen up completely. Left calf/back of knee has felt tight (off & on) for a while now. Mostly the day after training, or when i’m standing up alot. Don’t feel it when i’m actually running/training, which is good. If I did feel it during training, i’d have to shut it down → i’ve pushed through that tightness before while running and it wrecked my pretty bad … could be related.
Stretched it a little bit earlier, made it worse. Icing seems to help alot for whatever reason. Trying not to mess with it much other than the ice.
Probably going to check out that other park on Thursday.
Also, trying to “fix” my sleep schedule. Want to get back on a runner sleep schedule, ie 10 PM - 6 AM etc Made some progress the last few days. Need to push through and keep it going. Just don’t feel 100% for these morning races when I only get 4 hours sleep etc… Also miss out on the ability to train with groups that get stuff done around 5-6:30 AM.
01/02/2018: complete rest
The park I raced at recently had lots of huge trees:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BddzVlnh5Jo/?taken-by=andrewdarqui
I also got invited to join some relay team competing in an ultra marathon (6 hour event) on the 14th. Hilly course. 1.25 miles per lap (each runner), non stop for 6 hours. Team with the most laps wins. I think there’s prize money for the individual event ($1,000 USD), don’t think so for teams though. I agree, sounds fun. Just a hard 1.25 mile lap, then ~20-25 minutes rest, repeat.
peace!
3 Likes
Just noticed, I did 1500 ft elevation all of last year (2017). I’ve doubled that in one week of 2018 doing some hills. LMFAO.
all of 2017: 1,588 ft
first week of 2018: 3,228 ft
funny…
01/02/2018: rest
01/03/2018: rest
01/04/2018: light “hilly” walk: 7 miles (1030 ft elev gain) /// 7.2mi 1,030ft @ 19:02/mi
01/05/2018: light walk: 8 miles @ 2.5 flat/grass, 3 hills (676 ft total), 2.5 flat/grass
/// 7.9mi @ 17:18/mi
01/06/2018: fast walk, legs strong: 9.4 miles (876ft elev) @ 2 x flat (grass, 13:54, 12:5), 3 x hill #1 (16-17:XX, best=16:43), 1 x hill #2 (18:41, steeper), 2 x flat (grass, 14:XX) - fastest walking mile on grass /// 9.4mi 15:30/mi
Pushed the walking speed a bit today, just to see how my legs felt. Verdict: they feel very strong. Cool.
Legs didn’t “burn up” at all from these hills today. The first two times I did them, i’d feel some “burn” in my quads/glutes. None today. So I guess that’s a sign of some adaptations already.
Complete rest tomorrow. Then back to running on Monday.
As for my “routine” starting back into 2018, I really want to hit these hills more. Just curious to see what they do - if anything. I imagine they will produce some results, especially if i’m running them.
I might do something like:
Day 1: track: run/sprint
Day 2: light hills: light run
Day 3: very light hills: walk
Day 4: rest or repeat
I might do that for a little bit and see what happens. That would give me a bit more rest between track sessions, which I plan to hit pretty hard. It’s going to be a mile/1km grind fest for a while, I think. In a nutshell, I want to see how many sub3 1km’s and sub5 1-mile’s I can run in 2018. Like… I literally want to hit 100+ of them etc. So it might take a few months before I can hit them each session, then another few months before I can hit a few per session, then another few months before I can hit several per session. I mean that sounds like best case scenario training goals. I really need to be able to drop those efforts every session if I want to get to the next level.
Also the good thing about walking hills and such: it’s way less intense than fast flat walking. It’s way less impact, unless you go fast on the downhill, then that’d be equal or worse. But on the uphill, you can try to go as fast as you want and it doesn’t feel at all like going ~4.5+ mph on a flat surface or flat road - which really bangs me up. So walking hills for both recovery and strength could be a solid tool.
Anyway not sure yet… but I know one thing is for certain, if I want to get to the next level I need to be able to drop sub5 mile’s and sub3 k’s whenever I want, without question. So, might need to just face that head on and get it done.
Also: I need to do most of this in the early AM. Need to transition into AM running again, since most of my big races for a while will be very early, especially the half marathon I plan on doing (6 AM) and the ultra relay which is next week (6 AM). One thing about morning speed though is, whatever I achieve in the morning, i’m even faster in the evening. So, it’s nice to transition into those evening races when they are available - feel so much better. Anyway, been trying to wakeup early all week - making progress. About to goto sleep in a second (~9:30 PM probably).
another tree:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bdfr0gthqa5/?taken-by=andrewdarqui
peace!!
2 Likes
Made this yesterday:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdoIYJxBb71/?taken-by=andrewdarqui
Decent 1k, 1 mile, and 5k times. Atrocious 10k and half marathon times, relative to my decent times. Also, no marathon entry! I plan to fix all of that in 2018. Probably two official halfs, and maybe one or so unofficial marathon (training run).
I think my approach is pretty solid. Figure out how to go “fast” first, then extend it.
Also, my 2018 goals are pretty nuts but given how much I didn’t run in 2017, I think they are achievable, especially considering i’m allowing myself to achieve them on a track - spiked up.
I wrote this somewhere else. It’s subject to change but, I think it’s pretty solid so far. A bit ambitious, approaching “head on rim level” delusions, but not there yet, which has me confident I can pull it off.
BTW. AE*S means “Anti Ego * Squat”, R=Running, L=Lifting, T=Training. Just something I use with some people to denote “kill the ego and stay safe, health #1”.
The most important part will be this part, IMHO. Going to track every attempt, for the entire year:
- sub5 mile splits: ← success
- sub3 km splits: ← success
- mile splits: ← every attempt
- km splits: ← every attempt
When i’m not trying to “PR something”, I should be trying to hit “comfortable sub5 mile or sub3 km splits”. I need to grind that down until i’m capable of doing it multiple times per session. So, 4:59 mile or 2:59 km, any day of the week, multiple times per session. Sounds kind of nuts considering I only hit one of each in 2017, but I learned alot by trying to hit those numbers & finally doing so. It really just comes down to what I want… If I really want to hit those numbers, I will. So, I need to get myself locked into that grind, then as time goes on it should get easier.
peace!
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Just took some screenshots of my “Athlinks” (race history aggregator).
Do any of you have something similar for Powerlifting, Strongman, Olympic Weightlifting etc? For Boxing we’d have Boxrec, for MMA - Sherdog. etc.
My times are all over the place, lmao.
Here’s 2017:
My “career history” (lol) is still small enough that I can screenshot the entire thing:
My history seems to be a good illustration of the correlation between how serious we take something and the results.
Hoping to make 2018 look like an entirely different athlete. 
The key being: take it more serious than 2017.
pc!
Not really. There’s Powerliftingwatch which does something a bit similar but I think it’s mostly top 20 all time.
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