Summer is here and I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how to approach summer training.

You’ve got a number of options, so here’s my take on getting the most out of summer training for sprinters (or any athlete in any sport, for that matter):

 

1. Consider not training at all.

Summer competitions are more popular in some places than others. Where I live, it’s not incredibly popular. And quite frankly, I’m cool with that.

I generally don’t steer kids toward summer training and/or competitions unless the kid is hardcore and keeps asking about it or they’re a scholarship caliber athlete who needs the work in a low pressure environment.

The type of athlete who is going to be interested in summer track is the kind of athlete who’s probably already got 6-9 months of training under their belt for the season. That’s a lot of track! Track isn’t like basketball or soccer where much of practice (or all of it in the bootleg programs) is actually playing the sport. Track is just straight up training and that gets tough to focus on after a while. So summer is a good time for kids to recharge their batteries.

If you think overtraining is a possibility, consider doing anything other than track during the summer. But for those people who insist on training and competing, I always recommend the following:

1. Drop down in distance from your primary event. If you’ve been running 400s all year, don’t run the 400 all summer. Drop down to the deuce or the 100. Your sprinters need the speed work anyway.
2. Don’t train every day. 3-4 days a week is sufficient. Your (developmental) sprinters need the break from training. You don’t want them to show up in the fall feeling like they’re already tired because they trained too much all summer.
3. Don’t worry about setting personal bests. Your sprinters peaked at the end of spring. Now is the time to focus on execution because they’re not necessarily ‘in shape’ to run PRs anymore. Take that out of the discussion and shift focus elsewhere so kids don’t freak out when they get a great start at a meet, but don’t run a lifetime best. I’m not saying they can’t or won’t PR, but I don’t focus on times during summer competition.

 

2. Focus on weaknesses

Instead of treating summer track like an extension of spring track, consider using it to work on training and competing weaknesses that manifested over the course of the season.

Having a consistently tough time finishing 400s? Spend the bulk of training developing lactacid capacity and some Special Endurance.

Bad start? Don’t worry about speed endurance and fancy progressions. Focus on accel work over 20-30m and establishing an efficient and consistent drive phase.

Get the idea?

I don’t want to run a regular training progression during the summer. I want to get athletes set up to achieve their goals for the upcoming season and continue to develop their self confidence. This can be done by turning their relative weaknesses into relative strengths.

 

3. Focus on strengths

I read a quote from a coach one time who said, in essence:

“We spend too much time trying to turn our weaknesses into strengths instead of making our strengths even stronger.”

It might have been Clyde Hart. Or not. Either way, it’s an interesting concept to contemplate.

There are 4 levels of skill acquisition and none of your sprinters have reached the point of Unconscious Competence. More likely, they’re hovering somewhere along the spectrum of Conscious Incompetence. So ‘strengths’ are quite relative for our developmental sprinters.

Got a great start? Keep cleaning it up and adding more technical elements to shave precious hundredths of your sprinters’ times.

Known for your top end speed? Focus on transitioning out of your drive phase and getting lift.

Spend more time focusing on the things you’re already good at and that’s going to lead to better results!

 

4. Weight Room!

Your sprinters don’t run faster because they’re not strong enough. Their lack of general, absolute and specific strength is the primary glass ceiling keeping them from the next level, whatever that happens to be for each individual athlete.

So, instead of trying to do all the fancy drills and workouts they aren’t physically capable of executing consistently and efficiently, spend the summer focusing on gaining strength in the weight room and improving the ability to handle more advanced plyos.

Technique in the weight room is, of course, critical. So don’t sacrifice technique to try and throw a million pounds around. Nail down technique and focus on developing the strength and power that allows your sprinters to take advantage of the technical skill you teach during the regular season.

 

5. Focus on acceleration

At the end of the day, success in the sprint events boils down to your sprinters’ ability to consistently execute (starting to see a pattern with the importance of ‘consistency’ and ‘execution’?) an efficient drive phase/acceleration pattern. And, more specifically, your ability to teach it.

So you really can’t go wrong spending the summer only focusing on acceleration development and block work. In fact, I’d argue that you could have a very productive summer if your sprinters never ran a step longer than 30m. If that doesn’t translate to a far superior ‘start’ in the next season, I’ll be absolutely shocked.

Of course, just running 30s out of a 3 point stance three days a week isn’t going to cut it. As the coach, you have to know exactly how to teach skills like low heel recovery, triple extension, glute activation/force application, etc. If the technical feedback from the coach doesn’t facilitate a learning environment for the athlete, then you’re really just reinforcing bad running mechanics and making the situation worse.

So please keep that in mind.

So there you go. Those are some basic ideas for you to let marinate in your mind in terms of how you can approach your summer training.

Feel free to ask your questions below.

To your success,

Latif Thomas

Resources I recommend:

Complete Speed Training Volume 2: How to Build Champion Sprinters

Complete Program Design for Sprinters

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This entry was written by Latif Thomas, Athletes' Acceleration and posted on June 28, 2010 at 12:38 pm and filed under Coaching Theory, Training and Conditioning, Workout Planning/Program Design. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.

Another wonderful post by Latif Thomas, who has a distinct style of presenting his perspective. I like several things he says here, in part because I feel like he is describing summer like I'm experiencing my rookie season. Anyway, this will jog your mind with summer training ideas.

I recently posted about the California State Games. The National Congress of State Games is the national organization that works with the states to continue to foster the Olympic spirit. This group is organized by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

This is the website for another potential running circuit to participate in. I'm planning on running in this year's event and looking to run another personal best as I look toward the 2011 National Senior Games.

Although this angle is head-on, I thought I'd share a clip of my qualifying run at the 2010 California Senior Games. I'm in the 3rd lane from the left wearing the blue & gold So Cal Track uniform.

Well, it's nice to know that even super sprinters have Achilles issues. Get healthy Usain.

Today, I'm headed out to WalMart to buy a foam roller. I've been needing and wanting to get one for some time and had actually found one on Craigslist. After comparing how much it would cost me to go to the near-by city vs. getting a new one at WalMart, I decided to get the new one. While I'm sure there are pros and cons, I need to have one on hand so that I can do these exercises in preparation for this weekend's California State Senior Olympics. This video does and excellent job of demonstrating the effective use of a foam roller on the calf and heel areas in myofascial release technique.

I can feel it. I can see it. Stress. And I'm very well-acquainted with stress. With 3 young sons, a new educational path involving home schooling, a reduction in salary and a whole host of other things, stress and I are, unfortunately, closer than simply roommates.

What I like about this article is that it reminds me of the things I can do to set my self up for success in re-establishing healthy boundaries between me and stress, some of which I'm actually doing.

Here are a couple of the author's suggestions (with my responses mixed in)

# Start with physical conditioning. If you struggle with this, then do it first thing in the morning (5am or 6am). Get a trainer, attend a class, set goals, find a workout accountability partner or sign up for an event like a triathlon. Making a commitment to health and fitness will have a huge impact on your physical and mental health.

[I especially took note of the suggestion to 'sign up for an event like a triathlon.' And one man's triathlon is another's Senior Olympics. So, I have already been able to see some benefits of making this commitment]

# Make sound nutritional choices. Eat like a king or queen in the morning, a prince or princess at noon and a pauper at night. Plan ahead for trouble zones (i.e., air travel, late night hotel arrivals, lunch and dinner presentations that cause you to miss a meal, etc). A great idea I heard from a client is to refuse the menu (too many temptations) at restaurants and order without one. Ask for simple fish, grilled chicken or lean steak prepared without oil or butter, lots of steamed veggies and a side salad without dressing. Request dressings or sauces served in a small portion on the side (or not at all).

[The nutritional challenge was the one I feared the most really. I like to eat and getting that in order seemed pretty daunting. As it turns out, I decided to try the Zone diet (or eating lifestyle as I prefer to describe it). Within a week ot so, I began to feel the difference eating more meals with a healthier balance could make in my life. Within two months I'd lost nearly 20 lbs. After receiving my blood work from my recent physical, I determined I wanted to fine tune my diet and be more focused on staying in the Zone. Again, I seem to be moving in the right direction and can definitely feel the benefits of a healthy diet.]

# Get a good night’s sleep. Nothing lowers our stress threshold faster than lack of sleep. How much sleep do you get? If you are a five hour a night sleeper, I challenge you to get six or seven hours in. If you are a 10 hour a night sleeper, I challenge you to exercise more. A healthy adult should not need 10 hours a night. Here’s a good rule: go to sleep relaxed, and you will wake relaxed. That means turn off the computer 30 minutes before going to bed, disconnect from all electromagnetic waves that can actually disrupt the quality of your sleep, put some lavender on the pillow, read a great book or take a hot bath before retiring to bed. Any of these things will set the stage for a restful slumber.

[Last night when I read this, it was already past my "bedtime" and I'm definitely bedtime as the time I had intended to go to bed. lol Operative word? Intended. This seems to be my struggle and, while naps are helpful, that's not the best approach. Here then is an area where I need focus and discipline: Sleep.]

And so it goes, that now that I have been reminded about ways I can reduce the influence of stress on my performance - particularly this weekend as I seek to qualify for the 2011 National Senior Games - I must be determined to get the rest I need so that I won't be so stressed. Now if only the thought of bringing my sleep habits into alignment, wouldn't cause me so much... stress.

My goodness! This one page is jam-packed with great excercises to put into one's core and strength training routines. As I have time, I'll share with you which ones I decide on. For now, I'm working on the lunge-like stretch as tonight I'm planning on getting to bed earlier. Which of the exercises are you doing? What've been your results?