Track & Field - SpeedEndurance .com

I wrote about Kim Collins running 6.48 last month. He has since improved to 6.47 in the next few meets. Getting better with age. An inspiration.

I also discussed in that article how a THEORETICAL formula, based on the past world record holders, that a 1.53 X 60m time can be used to extrapolate potential. Thus 6.53 seconds would be “the minimum” to break 10 seconds. GBR’s Chijindu Ujah is a prime example: 9.96 for 100m and 6.53 for 60m.

In that article, I also had a list of the 40 top 60m times below 6.50 seconds.

However, Ireland’s Ian Graham quickly pointed this out to me.

Here are 12 guys who have broke 6.50 but never broke 10.00 seconds:

Richard Kilty (only world indoor medalist to never break 10.00 – but he only won world indoors last year)
Terrence Tremmell (Hurdler)
Colin Jackson (Hurdler)
Mark McKoy (Hurdler)
Dwight Phillips (Long Jumper)
Morne Nagel (RSA – 6.48 and 10.13)
Michael Green (JAM 6.49 and 10.02)
Marvin Bracy (USA 6.48 and 10.08)
Randell Evans (USA 6.49 and 10.18) American Footballer
Freddy Mayola (CUBA 6.49 and 10.10)
D’Angelo Cherry (USA 6.49 and 10.04)
Yunier Perez (CUBA 6.49 and 10.22) 6.49 in 2014 and 10.22 in 2009

12/40 is 30%.

Thus, the “take your 60m times X 1.53 to BREAK 10 seconds” rule is only 70% accurate!

MORAL OF THE STORY: the best way to determine your 100m time is to run 100m.

The best way to determine your 100m time is to run 100m
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Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Jimson Lee

Coach & Founder at SpeedEndurance.com

I am a Masters Athlete and Coach currently based in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA) and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

When I see a 10 foot or 3 meter standing long jump, I take notice.

But when you jump over 12 feet or 3.60 meters, I really take notice.

Two years ago, Jamie Collins jumped an impressive 11 feet 7 inches at the 2013 NFL Combine.

The Current World Record for the standing long jump is held by Norwegian Arne Tvervaag with 3.71 meters or 12 feet 2.1 inches.

UConn’s 6’1″, 199-pound defensive back Byron Jones unofficially breaks the Standing Long Jump World Record with 12 feet 3 inches or 3.73m. He also had an impressive vertical jump with 44.5 inches while recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum. Therefore, he will not run the 40-yard dash.

It’s not always the 40 yard dash that matters, explosive strength is equally as important, hence the reason why I like the Standing Long Jump and Standing Vertical Jump for potential.

Officially, landing is sand is used for a true Standing Long Jump, but the NFL combine requires you to stick to your landing on astroturf without falling. So I doubt this will be considered a true World Record, and besides, in order for WR to be set, you need a steel tape measure.

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Jimson Lee

Coach & Founder at SpeedEndurance.com

A few days ago Jimson asked me an interesting question that was a variation of a well-known puzzle:

Assume you race against Usain Bolt in the 100 meter sprint. Not surprisingly, Bolt wins the race, and the margin of victory is 10 meters (although if he did race against me, it would be much greater!) He runs a 9.58, and you run 10.58.

In a re-match, if you were to compete with him again, what would happen if you both ran at the same effort as the first time, and:

Race1: You get a 10 meters head start or handicap from the starting line (i.e. you run 90 meters), and Usain Bolt 100m. Or,
Race 2: Usain Bolt starts from 10 meters behind the starting line (i.e. he runs 110 meters, and you run 100m)

Intuitively, you would probably think that in both of the cases above, you would both cross the finishing line at the same time. It turns out that things are not quite as they seem.

In order to simplify matters, let us assume that Bolt completed the race in his world record time, i.e. 9.58 seconds. So in the initial race, when he crossed the finishing line, you would be left 10 meters behind, having covered just 90 meters. In other words, it takes you 9.58 seconds to cover 90 meters. The last 10m in covered in 1.00 seconds.

Now let us look at the first rematch case. In 9.58 seconds, Usain Bolt will have covered 100 meters and will just be crossing the finishing line. In the same time, you will have covered 90 meters, but as you started off 10 meters ahead of the starting line, you are also just crossing the finishing line. So for the first case, as expected, nobody wins.

In the second case, after 9.58 seconds you will have progressed 90 meters from the starting line. Usain Bolt, on the other hand, will have covered 100 meters and having started from 10 meters behind the starting line will be at the same point as you. So after 9.58 seconds, both you and Usain Bolt are positioned 90 meters from the starting line. Unfortunately for you, however, the race has not finished yet as there are still 10 meters remaining! Since Usain Bolt is a faster runner, he will complete the remaining 10 meters in a faster time than you, so he wins the race! It may be counterintuitive, but the two cases produce a different result.

The set up just described previously is obviously completely imaginary. This whole exercise, however, provides us with the opportunity to ponder a little on a more realistic situation, i.e. those races that athletes are handicapped according to their form. In some cases, for example, a 10 meter head start is offered for each second of difference in time. So if you were competing against Usain Bolt and you had been timed to run the 100 meters in 10.58 seconds, you would be given a 10 meter head start.

There are a few potential pitfalls here.

First of all, for this method to work even approximately, it has to be assumed that every athlete has been running to his or her full ability prior to the main event. If this is not the case, then an overgenerous handicap will be offered placing him or her in an advantageous position.

Furthermore, the method of taking a 1 second difference in time and translating it into a 10 meter difference in distance is, of course, not entirely accurate. (Some races use 1 meter = 0.1 second handicap)

Athletes do not run at a constant speed, as there are an accelerating and a decelerating phase at the start and the end of the sprint. A time difference of 1 second will usually not correlate to EXACTLY 10 meters of difference in the distance covered, thus corresponding handicaps offered will not be entirely fair.

The chart below shows every sprinter’s last 10 meter speed (and time) is different, depending on their ability. Based on velocity, the last 10 meter split ranges from Usain Bolt’s 0.83 sec to a split of 1.00 sec for a 10.60 sprinter, and finally a split of 1.15 sec for an 11.50 sprinter!

Image Credits: Derek Hansen Twitter: @DerekMHansen

On the other hand, of course, they are many that believe that with all its shortfalls, the handicap system still makes a race much more interesting. The first to cross the line is the true “winner”.

Nothing in sports, or even in life, is entirely fair.

Whatever you may think, one thing is certain. If you do ever get to race Usain Bolt and get offered a handicap, make sure that you choose the shorter distance to run and give him the longer one!

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Vassilios McInnes Spathopoulos

University Lecturer at Technological Education Institute (TEI) of Central Greece

Dr. Vassilios McInnes Spathopoulos graduated from the University of Glasgow (UK), with a joint honours degree in Aerospace and Electronic Engineering, in 1995. The following year he completed a MSc course in Flight Dynamics at Cranfield University (UK). In 2001 he obtained his PhD from the University of Glasgow, conducting research on the validation of a rotorcraft mathematical model by means of flight testing a gyroplane. His research interests include the aerodynamics of sports balls and improving engineering education.

I never thought I would be a product endorser.

However, times have changed. As that great American, Marvin Gaye sang, “Mercy, mercy, me. Things ain’t like they used to be”. We are all called upon to give little thumbs up or down on stuff we buy on websites. Netflix, iTunes and Amazon ask us to give them constant feedback on the content we acquire. My hotel and airlines drive me crazy each week asking me to rate my travel experience [as if it is so different, week to week]. To be relevant in today’s world means to have an omnipresent seat in the jury box.

This, though, is an unsolicited paean.

This past Christmas I received a wonderful gift from my daughter-in-law-to-be, Jasmin Way. It was a gift certificate for audio headphones made by a new company called Normal. Why did she not just give me the headphones? Ah, therein lays the magic of the gift! Normal makes customized headphones; manufactured to fit the exact contours of the individual ear. Earphones that permit precious sound waves to rattle around the hills and canyons of the typical ear produce a distorted sound. These babies fit snugger than OJ’s glove and eliminate the problem.

Gift selection is a tricky proposition. The giver gets kudos if the object is in synch with the recipient’s interests and passions. The gift is enhanced if it is unique, cool, and perhaps trendy. Finally, if the object is possibly used every day, the gift-buyer reaches Hall-of-Fame status. Jasmin, with this act, won the trifecta of gift-giving and my abiding gratitude.

I wear headphones for several hours every day. I wear them as I walk; as I drive; when I write. I listen to a lot of music [Pandora reported to me I listened to 483songs, just on their service, last month] and usually use a headset when I talk on the phone.

But, let me tell you more about the Normal process. To get the earphones made you have to visit the company’s factory/showroom in New York in Chelsea [150 West 22^nd St]. The facility is a modern, glass enclosed, high ceiling showroom decorated in white. The door handles are oversized aluminum ears. I noticed machines whirring behind glass panels on both sides of the showroom. It was later explained to me that these were the 3-D printers that were manufacturing orders for others. How cool!

The first thing I was asked when I introduced myself was how I would like my coffee. The sales associate then pulled out a camera and took three pictures of each of my ears. I mumbled something about earwax, and that perhaps I should have done some work with a Q-tip. The young man then generously said that everybody says the same thing.

It was then time for color selection; not only for the ear-buds, but also for the futuristic case that would have my name etched on it. I picked Aqua and Silver buds, and Orange for the case. Very Miami Vice!

I was then told that the finished headphones would be ready in 48 hours and they would bicycle-messenger them to me, at no cost, anywhere in the city. I told them I was leaving town that day, but would pick them up this week. That evening, shortly before boarding my 7:30 pm Jet Blue flight to Florida, I received a very clever e-mail from Normal. They wrote that at that very moment my buds were being fashioned by one of the 3-D printers I saw in the factory. It gave me an incredible feeling of being connected to a product that I, as yet, had not seen, much less received.

Grant Leboff, a marketing whiz from the UK, wrote a book called “Sticky Marketing”. Amazon has a tough time keeping it in stock. In the book he describes how the world has evolved in the 21^st Century and why “customer engagement” reigns supreme. Normal’s marketing techniques are at the forefront of this paradigm. I fell in love with a product that I had yet to hold in my hands.

This past Monday I finally picked up my gift. The sound quality is exquisite and the fit is extraordinary. I watched the futuristic printers in the showroom sculpting products for other customers. The facility felt almost like a club-house, and that I had been accepted as a member of a select new group.

Jasmin, my dear, you have won a lot of points on this one!

Note: I encourage you to visit the website, https://www.nrml.com. In it you can watch a very funny sales video. Also, you will see that you can place an order from afar merely by having someone take pictures of your ear with your camera phone. However, you will miss a pretty good cup of coffee and a lot of fun.

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Doug Logan

Adjunct Professor of Sports Management at New York University

Doug Logan is an Adjunct Professor of Sports Management, at New York University. He was the CEO for USATF from 2008 until September 2010 and the CEO, President and Commissioner for Major League Soccer from 1995 to 1999.

This article is guest posted by Dr Nicholas Miller, a Chiropractor & Kinesiologist. He lives and practices at HealthSpace Lane Cove in Sydney, Australia.

At some point in your life, you may have gone to a therapist, for them to say to you ‘wow, you’re tight’. This visit would shortly be followed by them digging in an attempt to loosen your muscles.

Believe it or not, tight muscles can sometimes be a good thing.

For many people, a short muscle is the same as a tight muscle, and that a tight muscle is a bad thing. There is a difference between the two.

Above: Nick Miller treating LaShawn Merritt

A short muscle is exactly that. It’s short. The relaxed state of the muscle is shorter than it should be. This causes a reduction in a joints’ range of motion because the muscle prevents full execution of movement. Full range of motion is important for any sport or movement, as it not only reduces tensile load but it allows for full muscle activation.

The muscles in your body are made up of bundles of muscle fibres called Actin and Myosin. A series of neurological and chemical processes causes these Actin and Myosin fibres to slide closer together; causing the muscle to shorten. The greater the number the fibres contracted the greater strength or power produced. When a muscle is already in a shortened state, it produces less power and has a greater risk of tearing.

A tight muscle is different, instead of tight, think stiff. This “tightness or stiffness” can be a good and a bad thing is depending on muscle and the athlete and activity.

How can it be a good thing? As much as muscles are a contractile tissue that shortens to create movement, they are also used to create tension and stability. Just like a spring, muscle and fascia can be used in movement to create energy, assist movement and produce power. This application is often used in the gym while deadlifting.

One of the final setup movements done is pivoting of the hips placing tension on the hamstrings. What this does is preload them assisting the body in creating stability. In a similar fashion, a tight or stiff muscle can assist in performance. For this reason, it is best to avoid any soft tissue work that relaxes the muscle on the day of an event.

Does this mean you should not stretch or do active recovery? No, quite the opposite. Work should still be done to ensure muscles don’t become short, and to aid blood supply post training to reduce lactic acid build up.

It’s best to avoid any soft tissue work that relaxes the muscle on the day of an event
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You should understand that it is ok to be tight if your joints and muscles still have a full range of motion. Now you can focus your active recovery on modalities (soft tissue work, massage, stretching, foam rolling, etc.) that will ensure a full range of motion through your musculoskeletal system.

Fron L to R: LaShawn Merritt, Joel Brown, Nick Miller, David Oliver

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Jimson Lee

Coach & Founder at SpeedEndurance.com

By Barry Cook. Part 4 of a 6 part series. Read Part 1 titled Personality-Based Winning first, then Part 2 Learning is a Cycle. Part 3 is Learning Driven.

This article appeared in the Athletics Weekly July 25, 2013 printed edition, reprinted with permission. For more coaching advice, visit http://www.athleticsweekly.com

Perception or Reality?

An expected win or a surprise defeat can produce over-confidence or insecurities within the athlete or team. How does that happen and how do we ensure that our interpretation as coaches, of what happened are facts and are based on reality? Understanding the process that can lead to either of these behaviours can give some insights into how we jump to conclusions and then consider how we can as coaches help athletes decipher the information that they are receiving.

We all react to what we see and hear in our own unique way. Two witnesses to the same event see it differently. Ask five people following a football match, “what was the game like?” and you will get five differing versions. Why and how does this happen and what are the implications of this for coaches?

We all react to what we see and hear in our own unique way
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The human brain cannot process all of the information that it’s getting at any one time. It’s far too much. So we select some of the data that is important to us and ignore the rest. We select that information on previous experiences, which is different for everyone.

Research by Chris Argyris and Donald Schon developed the idea of mental models we develop that enable the brain to cope with all the information that it is receiving at that moment in time. Mental models influence how we perceive the world through our senses by filtering the information based on those previous experiences. We all have our own memory bank that we use to decide which selective piece of information we

We all react to what we see and hear in our own unique way choose at that moment in time that is important to us. See how you perceive the picture below.

Do you see a vase or do you see two faces?

Argyris further developed his ideas to look at the process of how we interpret and draw conclusions from the information we select and in the 1970s developed a model called the “ladder of inference': This describes the thinking process that we go through, usually without realising it, to get from a fact to a decision or action.

Imagine an athlete competes in a race. We then debrief them in what they think happened. They begin with something that happens that is based in reality and fact —the kind that would be captured by a video camera. They then select some of that data.

To this selected data they add meaning to it by taking that experience and putting their interpretation on what has happened and develop assumptions about what they see, hear and feel. They then draw conclusions from the information they have now collated and reinforce these conclusions with their beliefs that have developed over their lifetime. This will form the basis of their actions (which in this case is what happened) based on their beliefs.

Case Study

A level-4 hurdles coach recounted a story of an athlete that took part in an indoor hurdles race at Lee Valley athletics centre. The athlete was expected to win but was beaten into second place albeit with the same time as the winner.

The athlete’s perception was that it was a terrible race and then recounted everything he had done wrong. The reality was, as the coach pointed out, his second fastest time ever over the distance while the winner pulled a PB out of the bag that was far superior to his previous mark and could not have been expected. Things that happen like this are out of the control of that coach’s athlete.

Your view of what you saw may be completely different from the perception of the athlete and your role as a coach is to get to the reality of what happened. We may well be planning the next stage of their training based on this view. There is no time-scale for going from bottom rung to top rung. It could be in seconds. It may happen over a much longer period of time.

The athlete may feel that they have not competed well or they may feel they have performed beyond what they expected. They may not have seen something that is crucial to the outcome or they may not have selected that particular piece of information.

Practice

The coach should also take time to explore their assumptions and the beliefs underpinning them and then consider:

Are my observations and actions taken based on facts or are they the facts as I see them?
Have I ascended the ladder of inference or am I still based in fact and reality?
Do I tend to jump to certain rungs?
Do I tend to select only part of the data?
Did I see a vase or two faces?

In a future article I will discuss a communication model that can help communicating reality with our athletes.

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Barry Cook

Barry Cook is a qualified endurance event group coach, British Athletics coach educator and an accredited practitioner in TDI and FIRO. In March 2014 Barry has been working with the elite coaches of the England Squash and Racketball Association developing their coaching skills.

A few years ago, I made a quick video of explaining the best weight room exercises for Sprinters and Jumpers. I don’t reveal the best 5 exercises until 2 minutes into the video.

Why? Because answering that question is like answering “How long is a piece of string?”.

There are so many variables in determining the best 5 exercises for sprinters, but it’s in the video, so I won’t repeat myself.

Here they are, for a typical College runner:

Power Cleans (and all its variants)
Squats
Deadlifts
Glute Ham Raises
Reverse Hypers
(Honourable mention, for those use use starting blocks) Bench Press

I was given an East German workout of the “2 plus 1″ system by Bob McCrindle back in1987. At the time, he was studying Physical Education at McGill, and today he is a Counsellor and Consultant specializing in ADHD and Concussion Management.

This “2 plus 1″ system specifies 2 primary exercises, and 1 ancillary exercise.

So in the above list, you would do in one workout (example): 2 primary (cleans and squats) and 1 ancillary (Glute Ham Raise)

13 years later when I met Charlie Francis, he also emphasized this “2 plus 1″ system. (Gee, I wonder where he got that from?) The weight room workout should not be more than 45 min after a track workout. If you are in the weight room more than 45 minutes, you are probably doing endurance training for your tongue and jaw muscles.

If you’re in the Weight Room more than 45 min, you’re probably training your tongue muscles.
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Now we got that out of the way, let’s talk about Glute Ham Raises.

Readers are probably tired of me doing my own demonstrations, like my Achilles Strengthening video, so what better way to demo this than to have Darya Klishina performing the Glute Ham Raises.

For beginners, you can use a machine at the gym by using your thighs as the fulcrum, which makes it easier.

Once you are advanced, you can have someone hold your ankles, which makes this exercise much more difficult.

Give it a try, report back on findings, and add it to your weight program for Sprinters or Jumpers.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=867880839921728

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Jimson Lee

Coach & Founder at SpeedEndurance.com

Paul Hoffman has read and researched several research papers on sprinting and performance articles, so you don’t have to.

If any of these articles interest you, feel free to research the case studies and methodology and come up with your own conclusions.

>> Click here for Part 1

>> Click here for Part 2

>> Click here for Part 3

>> Click here for Part 4

>> Click here for Part 5

>> Click here for Part 6

Sprinting Research Review (Part 7)

1) International Journal of Sports Physiology Performance, 2015 Feb 24. Paralympic Sprint Performance Between 1992 and 2012. Grobler L, Ferreira S, Terblanche E.

A very interesting review of these great athletes.

2) Should Athletes Eat Fat or Carbs? Gretchen Reynolds, NY Times, Feb 25, 2015

Concludes that, based on today’s best science, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet conceivably could be useful for some athletes, especially if they participate in prolonged, endurance-based activities.

3) Monitoring changes in Jump and Sprint Performance: Best or Average values? H. Al Haddad, BM. Simpson and M. Buchheit.

In this study, both methods were comparable.

4) Bedtime ‘has huge impact on sport’. By James Gallagher, Health editor, BBC News website.

Very interesting article. Let’s hope they schedule your event at the right time!

5) Groin pain in athletes: Differential diagnosis, assessment, and management. Abdulaziz Z Alomar. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, King Saud University, Medical College, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Up-to-date research on this common injury.

6) What Can the First 2 Months Tell Us About Outcomes After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction? A Cross-Sectional Study

Jesse C. Christensen, DPT, SCS; Laura R. Goldfine, MS, PTA; Tyler Barker, PhD; Dave S. Collingridge, PhD. The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital, Murray, UT

Demonstrates this is a good predictor for future outcome.

7) Multiple Sprint Exercise with a Short Deceleration Induces Muscle Damage and Performance Impairment in Young, Physically Active Males Brandon P Woolley , John R Jakeman and James A Faulkner. Journal of Athletic Enhancement

This study indicates that a bout of multiple sprints with a short deceleration phase elicits greater reductions in sprint performance than drop jumps.

8) Effect of Supramaximal Spinning® on Running Performance of Male Collegiate Soccer Players Michael C Rumpf, Amanda J Salacinski, Pamela A Macfarlane and Marilyn A Looney. Journal of Athletic Enhancement.

This study demonstrated a promising new training technique for improving acceleration.

9 & 10) The Evidence Behind Ice, and To Ice or Not to Ice.

https://forzahealth.wordpress.com/2014/06/08/the-evidence-behind-ice-part-ii/

https://forzahealth.wordpress.com/2014/03/07/to-ice-or-not-to-ice/

Two very interesting articles on the use of ice by Andrew Cammarano, who is a physical therapist and conditioning coach in Perth, Australia.

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Paul Hoffman

Paul Hoffman is a psychotherapist, musician, and sprinting enthusiast in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. He writes a blog entitled My Two Cents: Thoughts of a Small Town Therapist.

The post Sprinting: 10 Research Articles for Effective Sprint Training [Part 7] appeared first on SpeedEndurance.com.

When Christopher Taylor ran the 400m in 48.72 last year at age 14, nobody really noticed because superstar Kirani James holds those records at age 14 and 15 with a 46.96 & 45.70 respectively.

But this year (at age 15) when ran 45.69 easing down the last 20m, the whole world took notice.

Christopher Taylor of Jamaica now joins the impressive list of 400 meter Olympic medallists including Luguelín Santos and 1988 OG winner Steve Lewis.

You can see the list of all Age Group World records here at http://age-records.125mb.com or the European records here at http://statistics.homepage.t-online.de/a.htm (Thanks Ian Graham for pointing them out to me)

Age	Time	Athlete	Country	YOB	Location	Date
6	70.20	Torrie Cox	USA	2003	Orlando FL	2010
7	65.00	Torrie Cox	USA	2003	Orlando FL	2011
8	63.44	Tyler Mapson	USA	2003	New Orleans LA	2011
9	59.40	Tyler Mapson	USA	2003	Atlanta GA	2012
10	56.83	Kenneth Gilstrap	USA	1991	Omaha NE	2002
11	52.16	Bryce Love	USA	1997	Greensboro NC	2009
12	49.47	Bryce Love	USA	1997	Greensboro NC	2010
13	48.62	Bryce Love	USA	1997	Durham NC	2011
14	46.96	Kirani James	GRN	1992	Ostrava	2007
15	45.70	Kirani James	GRN	1992	Bydgoszcz	2008
16	45.14	Obea Moore	USA	1979	Santiago de Chile	1995
17	44.71A	Luguelín Santos	DOM	1993	Guadalajara	2011
18	44.45	Luguelín Santos	DOM	1993	Hengelo	2012
19	43.87	Steve Lewis	USA	1969	Seoul	1988

Race Execution

Christopher Taylor does all the right things… runs a great 80m curve to start the race, then “floats” down the backstretch, conserving his arms like Roddie Haley back in my days. He puts a stronger effort on the 3rd 400m, where the race is usually won or lost. Finally, he digs deep over the last 100m, but he eases up at the last 20 meters. Grrr!

In my mind, he runs a textbook 400 meters with the push-pace-position-pray formula of 400 meter racing. Read Michael Johnson’s racing strategy in the 400 meters.

He should be like Lee Evans, where over those last 3 steps, it’s push-push-push-DIP for the line! Races are won and lost by inches. Or less. Sometimes 2 way ties. (If you haven’t read Lee Evan’s article from 1984, read Planning Training and Racing for Quality 400 Meters. A MUST READ!

Also note the mechanics of his stride mechanics which differs from the first 300m, to the last 100m, something GB’s Iwan Thomas pointed out in his 2008 podcast.

Take a look at the video below and watch the arm action and stride differences on the 2 straightaways. Read Ground Contact Time, Stride Length and Fatigue in the 400m and you will know why.

And yes, he’s only 15 years old!

Does he want to move to London?

Video of Christopher Taylor’s 400m Age Group WR

Here are the two races on YouTube:

and this..

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Jimson Lee

Coach & Founder at SpeedEndurance.com

The post Christopher Taylor 400m Age Group World Record [Video] appeared first on SpeedEndurance.com.

This article was written by Michael Wright, Senior Partner and Chief Statistician for All Star Foot Racing. As a primer to this article, read Why Handicap Races are Unfair.

As Chief Statistician for AllStarFootRacing.com, I was faced with the challenge of designing a handicap system for our 60m races to ensure all competitors of various abilities cross the finish line more or less together.

In order to achieve this I used the following procedure:

1. Gather as much data as possible

I gathered as much data as possible on the 50 to 60m split times from a wide a range of people spanning from the Olympic athlete to the 70 year-old veteran sprinter, male and female.

This was achieved through data available online for world class athletes and through the use of our Freelap Timing System for regular club athletes and older, slower veteran men and women.

A total of two hundred 50-60m split times were used.

2. Plot a Graph for “Best Fit”

Using the data, I plotted a graph showing the 50 to 60m splits versus the athletes’ 60m season’s best times. A “best fit” line was then established.

3. Add “Best Fit” to spreadsheet

I transferred the data acquired from the best fit line onto a spreadsheet so that the 50 to 60m splits can be seen against the 60m times.

4. For 60m Race, use 7 seconds for scratch

We have based our handicap on the scratch runner doing exactly 7 seconds for the 60m. All athletes with a season’s best of over 7 seconds are therefore given a head start.

To determine the head start each athlete is given, I subtracted the athlete’s 60m season’s best from 7 seconds then divided this figure by the athlete’s flying 1m time calculated by dividing their flying 50 to 60m time by 10. For instance, from my spreadsheet I can instantly see that I, Michael Wright, have a season’s best of 7.72s and that my 50 to 60m split time is 1.07575s. The handicap I should be given is therefore: (7.72-7.00)/(1.07575/10) = 6.69m.

5. Apply to real life competition

I applied this handicap system to a real life competition.

Because a “best fit” line was used in my graph, I calculated the handicap required for each individual athlete to the nearest cm based on their 60m time to the nearest hundredth of a second.

At our latest AllStarFootRacing.com event, all 50 competitors submitted their 60m times and I handicapped each athlete using my spreadsheet.

The results showed that my handicap system worked very well. Theoretically, if all competitors ran to their season’s best form, all should have hit the finish line together in a time of 7 seconds dead. The results of the A and B finals were as follows:

A Final:

1st F Parker: 6.96s
2nd A Turnbull: 6.97s
3rd D Wilson: 6.98s
4th K Pease: 6.99s
5th S Bayou: 6.99s
6th J Capocci: 7.05s
7th R Savidis: 7.09s
8th H Carson: 7.11s

B Final:

1st L Smith: 6.91s
2nd M Bates: 6.98s
3rd G Fenwick: 7.03s
4th D Towart: 7.05s
5th P Donaghy: 7.07s
6th B Towart-Adams: 7.10s
7th A Manganiello: 7.10s
8th D Njai: 7.13s

Furthermore, my handicap calculation system allows an adjusted time to be derived showing the time each athlete theoretically would have achieved for the full 60m distance.

Again, using myself a an example, in this competition I was eliminated in the heats but ran a time of 7.10s. My adjusted time for the full 60m can be calculated by adding on the time it would have taken me to run the distance I was awarded as a handicap (6.69m). This time can be calculated by adding my actual time to my flying 1m time (1.07575/10) multiplied by 6.69m: 7.10 + (0.107575) x 6.69 = 7.82s. A week after this competition I ran a time of 7.81s at the UK Masters’ Championships, which shows that my adjusted times calculation is accurate.

Limitations to my handicap model include the fact that younger athletes grow and can therefore improve dramatically on their season’s best form. If for instance, a 10 year old was to enter an AllStarFootRacing.com race, we would firstly derive his/her handicap based upon their season’s best time and then pull their mark back by maybe 1m if they haven’t competed for say 3 months.

I am planning on designing a more comprehensive spreadsheet to show the handicaps which should be awarded to each individual athlete for distances ranging from 50 to 400m.

At AllStarFootRacing.com, we believe that this system is the most accurate handicapping system out there because it is based on hard statistical data and gives marks accurate the nearest cm rather than the nearest 25cm or 50cm which is seen in most other handicapped sprint competitions around the world.

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Jimson Lee

Coach & Founder at SpeedEndurance.com

The post Sprinting: The Secret to Fair Handicap Races appeared first on SpeedEndurance.com.

Alonso Edward is most famous for his 2nd place finish at the 2009 World Championships 200m behind Usain Bolt. That 19.81 is obviously a National Record for his home country of Panama. He also has a 10.02 100m PB set last year to his credit.

In fact, he is pictured on the cover of my book, The Rocket Sprint Start (2011). Maybe I’ll send him my book :)

His full name is Alonso Reno Edward Henry, and he is often referred to Alonso Edwards in the media (with the extra ‘s’, like Jonathan Edwards)

L or R: Ramon Clay, Maurie Plant with Alonso Edward – in Sydney, March 2015

Photo Credits: Mike Hurst

Alonso’s agent is now retired USA’s Ramon Clay, who also boasts a 20.05 200m set in 2001.

Currently, Alonso Edward is training in Australia and Mike Hurst had a chance to interview him, along with Ramon.

Click here for all interviews and podcasts from Mike Hurst, including Henk Kraaijenhof, Lashawn Merritt, David Oliver, Mike Agostini (former WR & Worlds Fastest Man) and Peter Fortune (Cathy Freeman’s coach)… these are also MUST LISTEN podcasts…

The podcast has a lot of training tips, including his secret workouts, the infamous toe drag, and if he plans to switch allegiance. Below is a video of Alonso’s start. Check it out.

Listen carefully when he talks about the “day in the life”… starts at 9:30am to avoid the Florida heat, and doesn’t end until he finishes his weight session at 3:30pm. Part-time athletes produce Part-time results. Alonso Edward is certainly not a part time athlete.

L or R: Ramon Clay and Alonso Edward – in Sydney, March 2015

Photo Credits: Mike Hurst

Interview with Alonso Edward

Presenter: Mike Hurst
Broadcast Date: March 2015
Duration: 24:50
File Size: 47.7 Mb

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Jimson Lee

Coach & Founder at SpeedEndurance.com

The post Interview with Alonso Edward [PODCAST] appeared first on SpeedEndurance.com.

Watching the finish line collision with the “tape holder” at the 2015 New Balance Indoor Championships brought back some bitter memories. (story and video below)

We all remember the Usain Bolt crash with the flower girl at the Oslo Diamond League in 2012.

Or, even worse, the Gabriela Szabo – Kofi Amoah Prah crash on the long jump runway approach.

Then again, who can forget the IAAF World Relay championships in 2014? With a crash on the 4x1500m relay?

My Masters comeback came to an abrupt halt back in 1997 when I collided with a jogger in Lane 2. I was doing some top speed 150m, and a jogger was in Lane 2. We had yelled “Track” which is similar to “Fore” in golf… that means watch out or get out of the way. Or both.

Instead of staying put, or moving out to Lane 3, this jogger moves into Lane 1, thinking he’s getting out of the way. I am running at over 10 meters per second, or 22 miles per hour, or 36 kilometers per hour!

Needless to say, I collided and crashed onto the cement infield, tearing my hamstring in the process. Season over. Go hard, or go home. I went home.

At the 2015 USA New Balance Indoor Championships, we have Taylor McLaughlin crash with the finish line tape holder.

The worse outcome was Taylor McLaughlin ran a meet record of 46.50 and was later disqualified for a lane violation!

Here is the link to the video on Flotrack

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Jimson Lee

Coach & Founder at SpeedEndurance.com

The post Worst Post-race Crashes in Track and Field appeared first on SpeedEndurance.com.

When you think of high jump, it’s always the Fosbury Flop (or the Brill Bend) as no one uses the straddle roll anymore, except for Masters meets.

The last time we saw the straddle technique was Vladimir Yashchenko (2.33m & 2.34m World records from 1977-78) or Valeriy Brumel (2.23-2.28m World records from 1961-63). That’s a long time ago. Makes me feel old.

In the long jump, most Elite men (if not all) use the hitch kick. The Hang technique is still most commonly used in women. When was the last time you saw a world class man use the Hang technique in the long jump? My answer for the best long jump “Hang man” would be USSR’s Robert Emmiyan from the late 1980’s. But let’s not forget the 8.71m from Germany’s Sebastian Bayer from the 2009 indoor season.

One of the biggest arguments in the long jump is whether the hang or hitch kick is better. As as you get top speed on the runway, you need to add height off the board, and prevent forward rotation, so either one will do. Time is not on your side. Elite male athletes will have faster speeds and higher take-offs, which is why you see women use the hang or modified hangs or sails.

Remember, the primary purpose of the hang or hitch kick is to prevent forward rotation.

Just like sprinting where all the force is applied to ground contact, there is nothing you can do in the air, but to prepare your body for the next footstrike. In the long and triple jump, the actions you do in the air is to prevent forward rotation.

In the long jump, the purpose of the hang or hitch kick is to prevent forward rotation.
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Here is a great look at Jessica Ennis (UK), Jennifer Oeser (GER) and Kamila Chudzik (POL) from the 2009 IAAF Biomechanical study. It’s a great clinic on a detailed look of the hang technique.

Can you spot a few areas of improvement?

Hitch Kick – in the Step Phase of the Triple Jump?

Now this is too funky for me.

The step phase of the triple jump is just that.. a step.

Why we are seeing this hitch kick in the Step Phase of the Triple Jump is beyond me.

Not recommended unless for entertainment value.

https://instagram.com/p/wmWrtIiAjY/

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Jimson Lee

Coach & Founder at SpeedEndurance.com

The post Hang or Hitch Kick – in the Step Phase of the Triple Jump? appeared first on SpeedEndurance.com.

A counterintuitive proposition is one that defies perceived logic or common sense. Science based truths are said to be counterintuitive when they fly in the face of emotions, and other cognitive processes outside of rationality.

The most famous brain teaser related to this paradox is named the Monte Hall Problem after the host of the television game show Let’s Make a Deal. The problem was originally posed by mathematician Steve Selvin in a letter to the American Statistician in 1975.

“Suppose you’re on a game show, and you’re given the choice of three doors. Behind one there is a new car; behind the other two, goats. You pick a door, say No. 1, and the host, who knows what’s behind all the doors, opens another door, say No. 3, which has a goat. He then says to you, ‘Do you want to pick No. 2?’ Is it to your advantage to switch your choice?”

Most people refuse to switch. At worst, they intuit that the odds are 50/50 at that point. However, the factual mathematical probability deems that the contestants who switch have a 2/3 chance of winning the car, while contestants who stick to their first choice have only a 1/3 chance. Trust me! Look it up.

In dealing with the human body, sometimes we have to go against what our body is telling us. Take the issue of dealing with moderate pain in arthritic joints. One of our body’s warning signals, wracking joint pain, seems to be encouraging us into immobility. However, as any arthritis sufferer will tell you, the best way to mitigate the pain is to move. Gentle exercise and movement of the joint brings heat and blood flow to the affected area and a reduction of pain. Every morning, the first four blocks are the most painful. One has to counterintuitively work through the pain to get relief.

At the elite levels of competition, similar counterintuitive tools are needed to counter the body’s messaging system. Tim Noakes, a University of Cape Town emeritus professor of exercise and sports science, and author of “Lore of Running”, calls a part of the human brain the “central governor”. It is the neurological warning siren that tells a person that they are nearly [but not completely] out of fuel or is building up toxic levels of lactic acid. It screams at the body, “Slow down!”

Tellingly, this warning usually comes at the part of a race when the competitor needs to put on a finishing burst; a “kick”; a “stretch”. As Elizabeth Weil wrote recently in her article “Growing Up Fast” in the March 8^th Sunday New York Times, “Elite athletes excel at ignoring the signals from the central governor and pushing through exhaustion”.

There are plenty of memorable “finishing kicks”: Emil Zatopek in ’52, Steve Ovett in ’77, Seb Coe in ‘79, Billy Mills in ’64, Jenny Barringer at the Pre, and Mary Decker in the ’83 World Championships. Lauryn Williams once overtook six or seven runners in a relay leg at Penn. All, I am sure, fought with their intuition, and better judgment at the moment of breakdown, and willed themselves to victory.

My fellow Cuban, Alberto Salazar, sometimes finished races so depleted that he needed IV fluids at the end of a race. As Weil recounted, “Once, in 1978, at age 19, at the end of the Falmouth Road Race on Cape Cod, he collapsed, his temperature spiked to 107 degrees and a priest read last rights”. Another Cuban, Alberto Juantorena, had a devastating “kick” in the middle distances. His legendary nine-foot stride produced epic finishes against his rival, the Kenyan Mike Boit.

I had a memorable ajiaco dinner with El Caballo in Havana in 2009, where he tearfully described the race when he realized he no longer had a closing kick and knew he had to hang his spikes up.

Theories on weight loss also lend themselves to counterintuitive conclusions. In an amusing piece last year in the Washington Post, Lenny Bernstein contradicted one of the myths about dieting. The article, titled “Where does fat go when you lose it?” summarized a short, but important, paper released in the British Medical Journal. Authored by Reuben Meerman and Andrew J. Brown, the study debunked the theory that fat is burned off and excreted in urine and feces. It is not, for the most part, converted to heat and radiated into the atmosphere. And, unfortunately there is no “fat fairy”, that comes at night and carries it away [the reason why you always weigh less in the morning].

So, where does it go? The answer is that you release it as water and carbon dioxide through your lungs. “Our calculations show that the lungs are the primary excretory organ for fat. Losing weight requires unlocking the carbon stored in fat cells.”

Why is weight loss so difficult? Imagine how much “stuff” you have to breathe out to account for one pound. No quick fixes; no magic pills; no diuretics; no sweat boxes. Just one simple, tried and true, formula.

Eat less; move more.

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Doug Logan

Adjunct Professor of Sports Management at New York University

The post Win the Goat [SHIN SPLINTS 2015] appeared first on SpeedEndurance.com.

This article is guest posted by Robert Marchetti of Rider University and organizer of the LinkedIn Track and Field Coaches Group with over 6000+ coaches.

I coach track and field as an Assistant Coach at Rider University, a small NCAA Division I school, in Lawrenceville, NJ. One of the events I coach is the triple jump.

A common challenge our freshman have when they arrive on campus each September for fall training is that they have a very short middle phase in the triple jump. The middle phase is otherwise known in track lexicon as a “step” phase (some call it a “skip”, as hop-skip-jump). These athletes have a very long first phase (the hop), a long last phase (the jump), but the middle phase (the step) is dramatically shorter. This is a major error.

A main cause of the error is that they have gotten into the habit of doing the TJ by performing 2 long jumps that book-end a middle phase which is nothing more than a running step. This happens when they try to jump too far on their first phase.

A solid triple jump is the result of a lower angle take-off through the board than the long jump, with the body moving further past the foot before release, and manifests in more evenly distributed jumps. Most world class long jumpers use around a 21-23 degree take-off angle (1). Triple jumpers should have a slightly lower take-off angle (2). So the first thing our athletes must learn is to not “long jump” on their first phase. Long jumpers can stop after one landing, while triple jumpers must land their phases in ways conducive to continuing onward.

If I have an athlete who’s personal best in long jump is 21 ft, and in the TJ he tries to jump 21 ft at the board, he is going to end up too high, and will crash down on the runway before his step phase, killing his momentum. The first phase affects the second.

Instead, he should aim to travel much less than 21 ft on the first phase — more like 15-16 feet — but not on account of running slower. He must still be moving toward the pit with great horizontal momentum after the hop landing — this is a requirement, as momentum is neccessary to keep going. After all, there is a reason jumpers run down a runway, and that is to have horizontal velocity to carry them through.

Conceptually I never tell athletes to think of the triple jump as three jumps. I tell them that only the last two phases are actually jumps. The first phase is not a jump, but rather, it is essentially running THROUGH the board with almost no height. It’s a sprint off the board, or it’s a long stride landing back on the same foot. The next two phases are actual jumps, or what I like to call them which is “bounds.”

Our strategy is: Run through the board first, then do 2 bounds as far as possible, then land in the pit.

For at a low trajectory on the first phase the triple jumper moves toward the sand pit, progressing along nicely through their phases down the runway.

Sometimes even with a better take-off angle through the board the jumper still has trouble taking off into the step phase. This is often caused by faulty postures.

Ideally the jumper’s torso should remain upright through the last steps of the aproach all the way through the phases. Leaning can cause negative shin angles, putting the knee joint into a weak position, with susceptibility to buckling, or as we call it “mushing out.” With upright posture a more suitable positive shin angle can occur, where at landing after the hop the lower leg is perpendicular to the ground or slightly tilted back.

At this point it should be mentioned that I believe it is a mistake to over-cue athletes to land with the foot under their center of mass during phases. For some this perceptually may be a good cue if they are chronic over-reachers, but in looking at the photo sequences of some of the world’s best triple jumpers, one will note that their foot tends to land slightly ahead of the body’s center of mass on touchdowns (2). They also plant their foot with a slight heel-first contact. Touchdowns that are ahead of the body are important as it permits time for the body to pass over the planted foot — allowing muscles of the leg to load up like a spring. In passing over the foot — from one side of it to the other side — the jumper has time to use their arm and knee drive, and they can push off to launch into their step.

Conversely, if the foot lands too close to the body, the athlete will tip over in a forward direction, start to collapse, and rush the takeoff to salvage themselves. This will also result in a short step phase.

One other solution to a short step phase is to switch the first foot. If in high school they took off from the board on their right foot, I switch it to the left. So… left-left-right, instead of right-right-left. I do this on account of motor skill interference with the long jump. My reasoning is as follows…

The long jump is an exacting event, and calls for more of a lowering on the penultimate step than the triple jump, to produce a slightly higher angle at take-off. Since athletes who also long jump are accustomed to this motion, sometimes it’s very difficult for them to lower subtly less — or eliminate lowering — since the long jump habit interferes with triple jump.

However, by using the other foot, the body has no pre-conditioned motor-skill program needing adjustment. Kids tend to run through the board better because they don’t know how to go higher off board from their other foot. I’ve had many athletes “PR” in a very short time by switching them, and letting them use the bounding skills they’ve learned in training for the step and jump.

Lastly, before we ever get on runways to practice the triple jump, we spend about 4 to 6 wks practicing plyometrics such as single leg hops, alternate bounds and soforth on grass to gain the skills needed to land properly during jump repetitions, and strengthen both legs. The athletes are taught to do all jumping exercises with heel first landings, with upright postural alignment, and to push off into the next bound when doing them in a sequence. We also train to improve our sprinting mechanics, and general conditioning to prevent injuries. Once these basic parameters are starting to show improvement, we can then start to rehearse hop to step transitions with short run-ins on grass using a cone for a take off spot, and then graduating to the runway a few weeks later.

Good luck and have a great season.

References

1. Penultimate and Takeoff Mechanics in the Long Jump by Tom Tellez
2. IAAF Biomechanics Report WC Berlin 2009 Triple Jump

Author information

Jimson Lee

Coach & Founder at SpeedEndurance.com

The post Solving the Problem of a Short Step Phase Triple Jump appeared first on SpeedEndurance.com.

By Barry Cook. Part 5 of a 6 part series. Read Part 1 titled Personality-Based Winning first, then Part 2 Learning is a Cycle. Part 3 is Learning Driven. Part 4 is Perception or Reality.

This article appeared in the Athletics Weekly September 19, 2013 printed edition, reprinted with permission. For more coaching advice, visit http://www.athleticsweekly.com

My background as a network communication engineer helped me to understand the similarity between a communication network system and how we as humans communicate and interpret what we see and hear happen around us. At the heart of the problem is that each person will interpret what they see and hear in a different way depending on their past experience. This is substantiated by witnesses, for example, at a road accident in which each person will invariably give a different version of what took place. In this short article, I will explain a typical communication system and illustrate the potential problem areas that can lead to any misunderstanding.

In its most basic form we have a sender (transmitter), a channel of communication, a message and a receiver of the message. The sender transmits a message to a receiver. If only it was this simple though!

The Message

The first thing to consider is the purpose of the message. It could be for many reasons and the sender must decide if it is to inform, persuade, influence, change opinions, change behaviour, stimulate, entertain, activate, present a new idea, provoke thought, create interest, raise questions or to motivate. How we transmit that message depends on its purpose. The message we send is what we intend the other person to hear.

The Channel of Communication

The channel that the message is sent on can be many things — a written document, the air through which we speak, a fibre cable or a photograph. The message then has to go through a series of stages before it gets to the receiver and that can affect or completely change how the message was received compared to what was originally intended.

People interpret what they see and hear in different ways
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If it is a spoken message it will contain many factors that influence how that message is received. The words themselves, the loudness, the intonation, the speed at which we deliver it and the body language that accompanies it can all lead to people receiving a different message to that which we intended. If it is a typed message then the perils of people misinterpreting emails are great. It is sometimes very important that we ensure that the tone of the email suits the situation.

The Code

The message needs to be in a code that the receiver can understand. The many code examples include: language, pictures, tictac, the written word, sign language, Morse code (light and sound), semaphore, jargon, radar, style of dress, flags, body language, cubism, photos, voice inflection, icons, logos, shorthand, text, slang, music, etiquette, expressions, acronyms, numbers, smoke signals, facial expressions or perhaps even a diagram.

The important thing is that the sender needs to ensure that the person who receives the message also understands the code which is being used. Jargon can be a particular problem. This could be difficult, for instance, for a new person to a group or organisation who doesn’t understand a particular jargon, especially if it is of a technical nature. Banter can also be an issue and can easily offend if it isn’t understood or if it compromises people’s values. Modern text-speak used by youngsters on mobile devices can be largely misunderstood and more so by their older peers. If you want to relay an important message to your coach, do so in plain English!

Filters

Filters are unique to each person and mean that they will perceive the message they are sending in a way that is meaningful to them, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are received in the way that was intended by someone else who has a completely different set of filters. We are continually receiving information from our environment through our five senses. This huge potential input of information has been estimated to amount to around 2,000,000 bits of data per second. Only a fraction of this amount is important and so we have many filters in place to limit the amount of data that reaches our conscious mind. If these filters were not in place, we would simply be overwhelmed with information. The brain is a comparator and will draw on past experiences to help us make sense of what we are seeing or hearing at a moment in time. This is a normal function and was initially intended for us to see or hear something that has previously happened and using those filters we can quickly interpret the situation as being dangerous or safe.

These filters operate in three ways:

They delete information (parts may be missed altogether)
They distort information (something is added by assumption that was not there in the first place)
They generalise as a way of simplifying and categorising information

In times of danger, this manifests itself in the way that we react in a completely random and unpredictable way and results in the fight, flight or freeze reaction. We use many filters — all interacting with one another at different levels. In fact, the data-handling that we can achieve is quite a computational feat and far beyond anything that the fastest computer in the world today can accomplish. Some examples of filters are: experience, prejudices, opinions, stereotyping, personal history, religion, education, personal values, personal agenda, own beliefs, memories, values, attitudes, current state of mind, culture and personality preferences. It could also be the coach’s agenda, such as their favourite issues or sessions or even what the coach wants the athlete to achieve. There are other factors and we are barely on the threshold of discovering the effect to which our DNA may affect our likes and dislikes.

Another factor that can affect the message is noise in the system. Noise is the current things that could be happening in your life that can affect how you behave (the things you say and do) and that can lead you to being pre-occupied.

Some examples of noise are: current personal issues, work, money problems, a sick relative, headache and music. The message then has to continue through the channel and go through all the same factors for the person who is receiving the message.

Coaches need to be sure that their message is the intended one
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The message has to go through the filters and coding system of the receiver, which may put a completely different interpretation of the words, tone, body language or the jargon used based on their filters, noise and understanding of their meaning of certain words. It eventually gets to the receiver. However, the sender wants to be sure that the message that has been received is the message that was intended. Unfortunately at this point the sender doesn’t even know if the message has been received.

So how can coaches ensure that the intended message is received and understood? This is done through the feedback loop which then has to go back through both the receivers’ and senders’ filter system and noise with all the issues discussed earlier. This may be a question, a facial expression or some clarification that the sender then has to interpret through their filter system that the correct message has been received. If coaches encourage this process with their athletes then they can go some way to ensuring a correct understanding.

A comedian gets feedback that his joke has been understood when everyone laughs. As coaches, it is necessary to keep going through this feedback loop until the coach is sure that the message received is the one that was intended. If this doesn’t happen then the enormity for misunderstanding can be easily seen. This is a process that is continually going on every time we communicate with each other.

We now have a two-way communication system and the chances of the message being received and understood have increased. The problem for coaches of teams can now begin to be understood where the problem is multiplied by the number of people they are addressing. Because each team member will have their own set of filters, decoder and noise that the message has to go through, the coach will be getting the same number of feedback messages that they have to interpret.

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Barry Cook

The post Say What You Mean appeared first on SpeedEndurance.com.

What do Monica Lewinski and Pete Rose have in common?

Both made big mistakes several decades ago. For both, their transgressions offended the moral indignation of the self-styled pure of heart. Both have paid a huge price in the cruel marketplace of celebrity pundits and voyeurs. Both were guilty of “going down”: Rose on his preferred sports betting choice of that day; Lewinski on the 42^nd President of the United States. Both are now asking for re-instatement: Rose by the newly installed tenth Commissioner of Major League Baseball, Rob Manfred; Lewinski by the arbiters of public opinion.

They have taken two different paths on their journey towards redemption.

Lewinski began her quest last June in an intimate and revealing article in Vanity Fair. She is attempting to get her life back after years of living down the humiliation of being “that woman”. Actually, that is one of the more benign ways that she has been described. The Wall Street Journal called her the “little tart”. The ever genteel New York Post delighted in describing her as a “portly pepper-pot”. She has endured such sobriquets as “slut”, “ditsy”, “predatory”, “twerp”, and worse.

The demonizing got so ubiquitous that Lewinski, after a brief fling as a ladies’ handbag designer, went into hiding and ultimately left the country. She earned a Masters of Social Psychology degree in 2006 from Mick Jagger’s alma mater, The London School of Economics. She has become a poised, forty-something, wiser woman who today wants to lead a “normal” existence.

Several weeks ago she delivered a polished, 22-minute TED Talk on “the culture of humiliation”. She discussed what it was like to be young, star-struck and in love with her boss. Her rhetorical question “Who has not done something they have regretted at age 22?” certainly resonated with me.

She retold a humorous anecdote about being “hit on” recently by a frisky 27-year old. He promised to make her feel 22 again. She went onto ruefully state that she probably was the “only person over 40 who does not want to be 22 again”.

Lewinski has endured decades of cyberbullying and hypocritical moralizing. She is an intelligent, attractive adult who has paid an unfair and disproportionate price for a youthful indiscretion. Her “outing”, a first for the merciless Drudge Report, marked the beginning of the era of media homicide that we now find ourselves in. The “slut-shaming” of female celebrities is just another noxious aspect of modern sexism. The male protagonist, the perverted Bill Clinton, got away with an impeachment slap-on-the-wrist, and leads a multi-millionaire’s good life, replete with influence and adulation. Not fair; not right.

Rose has taken a different path in his interregnum.

He is the reigning MLB record holder in lifetime base-hits, with 4,256. He had a colorful career marked by aggressive play in the field and on the base paths. Nicknamed “Charlie Hustle”, he broke the catcher Ray Fosse’s shoulder in a violent head-first slide at home plate during the 12^th inning of the 1970 All-Star game.

In the off season of 1989, Rose, then the field manager of the Cincinnati Reds, was questioned by the outgoing Commissioner, Peter Ueberroth, and the incoming Commissioner, Bart Giamatti, about alleged gambling activities. Ueberroth dropped the investigation, but, Giamatti resumed the probe three days after taking the job. He hired NY lawyer, John Dowd, to investigate these charges and Dowd delivered a summary of his findings in May. The report documented his alleged bets on 52 Reds games in 1987, where Rose supposedly bet a minimum of $10,000.00 a day. Others have reported the true number was more like $2,000.00.

After initially denying the charges, and fighting them in court, Rose accepted a permanent place on baseball’s ineligible list; effectively a life time ban. Under baseball’s rules, he is allowed to apply for reinstatement.

There is no doubt about Rose’s guilt. Dowd characterized him as a “habitual gambler and probably a full-blown addict”. It is interesting to note how benevolent Major League Baseball has become in recent years with issues of addiction. Many justify the draconian punishment meted out by Giamatti by mentioning Rose’s denial of his actions. It took him until 2004 to finally admit only some of his misdeeds. However, those who know something about addiction will tell you denial is almost always a component of the disease.

Rose has comported himself like a lout in the intervening years. He was charged with tax evasion. He has become a “memorabilia whore”, constantly on the card show circuit. He will sell his autograph on just about anything. But, he was guilty of illegal gambling; just like Michael Jordan; or Charles Barkley; or any one of a number of other sports stars who never faced the same punishment. He was also guilty of lying; just like Alex Rodriguez; or Raphael Palmeiro; or Bill Clinton; or just about every politician we vote into office. And, none of them got the “death penalty”.

What both Pete Rose and Monica Lewinski have in common is that they are both guilty of the crime of not being very likeable. And, in the eyes of the media celebrity machine-gunners, this is the most grievous felony of all. They have assailed and excoriated this duo with venomous language and poisonous incivility. And it’s time this unfairness stop. Rob Manfred, let Rose back into the fold. TMZ, let this aggrieved woman be.

It’s just time.

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Doug Logan

Adjunct Professor of Sports Management at New York University

The post Pete and Monica [SHIN SPLINTS 2015] appeared first on SpeedEndurance.com.

Sub 45 seconds is the Holy Grail of 400m sprinters. When you can say your PB is 44 point… nobody cares the rest of the decimal numbers, whether it’s 44.1 or 44.9. 44 point is 44 point.

As a 17 year old, Akeem Bloomfield ran 44.93 for 400m at the 2015 Champs in Jamaica.

It was a National Junior record, but not quite a World Junior record, which is held by Luguelín Santos. But he broke Javon Francis’ meet record of 45.00 seconds set only last year!

Jamaica is showing a lot of talent in developing 400m sprinters, including Christopher Taylor’s 400m Age Group World Record for 15 year old, but where are they at the world elite level? We’ve seen Jamaica win 1-2-3 at the Olympic 200m level, but shouldn’t we see this for 400m like USA?

Akeem Bloomfield is coached by Neil Harrison of Kingston College. He quotes:

“I am proud of Akeem. He entered new territory, and there is no limit for him now”

His race plan was flawless. Get in front of everyone at 250m and let everyone catch you. He had to run the last 100m hard, and he even dipped for the line. That earns my respect. If he didn’t, he would have run 45.01 and not break either records!

You can see the list of all Age Group World records here at http://age-records.125mb.com or the European records here at http://statistics.homepage.t-online.de/a.htm

Age	Time	Athlete	Country	YOB	Location	Date
6	70.20	Torrie Cox	USA	2003	Orlando FL	2010
7	65.00	Torrie Cox	USA	2003	Orlando FL	2011
8	63.44	Tyler Mapson	USA	2003	New Orleans LA	2011
9	59.40	Tyler Mapson	USA	2003	Atlanta GA	2012
10	56.83	Kenneth Gilstrap	USA	1991	Omaha NE	2002
11	52.16	Bryce Love	USA	1997	Greensboro NC	2009
12	49.47	Bryce Love	USA	1997	Greensboro NC	2010
13	48.62	Bryce Love	USA	1997	Durham NC	2011
14	46.96	Kirani James	GRN	1992	Ostrava	2007
15	45.70	Kirani James	GRN	1992	Bydgoszcz	2008
16	45.14	Obea Moore	USA	1979	Santiago de Chile	1995
17	44.71A	Luguelín Santos	DOM	1993	Guadalajara	2011
18	44.45	Luguelín Santos	DOM	1993	Hengelo	2012
19	43.87	Steve Lewis	USA	1969	Seoul	1988

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEHvaPHGfcw

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Jimson Lee

Coach & Founder at SpeedEndurance.com

The post Akeem Bloomfield 44.93 400m at 17 Years old appeared first on SpeedEndurance.com.

See race video via Flotrack.

There comes a time when an ageing or no longer dominant 400m sprinter decides to move up to the 800m.

Usually it’s the coach who decides this. I’m not sure of Jeremy Wariner’s case.

Why would you want to move up? For me, anything over 400 meters I take a taxi.

But seriously, there are several factors. The number one reason is they aren’t getting any faster in the 400m. They have stagnated in progression. Most of these coaches train their 400m long to short. And you wonder why their speed or acceleration development hasn’t progressed?

But by using a short to long approach, these same coaches assumes it’s easier to train for speed endurance (and special endurance), and thus the decision to move up to the 800 meters.

It’s a bit ironic, isn’t it?

Considerations before Moving Up

There are hundreds of reasons or considerations on why you may consider moving up to the 800 meters. Here are only a handful:

current 400m time and desired 800m time (try to compare with standards in your age group, or local competition) If you don’t rank well in the 400m locally, there’s a possibility you won’t run well in the 800m if you look at conversion calculators (more on that later)
chronological age of the athlete (i.e number of candles on your birthday cake)
training age of the athlete (i.e. how many years of serious training)
physical attributes of the athlete (tall, skinny, etc)
current coach, teammates and support group
desire for aerobic work
mental toughness… at 500m they are all going to start kicking for home. Are you ready for it?

Jeremy Wariner 1:53.02

You have to break the ice sometime. But when you see a 400m sprinter with 43+ speed going through 400m in 55 secs, that is jogging with all that speed reserve!

So, based on his raw 400m speed, and if the training is in place, what should (could?) he run?

Bring out the Calculators

I remember watching Adam Steele, the 400 meter 2003 NCAA Outdoor champion from the University of Minnesota, move up to the 800m and never materialized.

I’ve seen several theoretical calculators, from the “4 seconds per lap rule” for distance events, “5 seconds per lap rule – or double 400m time plus 10 seconds” and even as high as double 400 meter time plus 12 seconds.

Canada’s Gary Reed is very close to double plus 10 second conversion.

If you use the double 400m plus 12 second rule, you will see a 50 and 1:52 for a 400/800 combo. But I’ve seen guys break 1:50 but never go under 50. And I’ve seen guys break 50 but run 1:55. Or 1:59 in my case.

It’s like asking, which is tougher, 45.55 or 1:45.40? These were the 2009 Berlin WC IAAF “A” standards. The “B” standards are 45.95 and 1:46.60. If you do the math, that’s double 400m time plus 14 seconds! Or 7 seconds per lap.

So you know what you can do with that calculator, right?

Speed is the Key

The bottom line is: You need 400m speed to run a good 800 meters. Period. Don’t argue with me.

Sometimes, you have to ask a 800m runner to run a 4×400 (a relay where you can use 200m, 400m, 400mH and 800m runners). Canada did this in ‘88 with Paul Osland and ‘92 with Freddie Williams.

Once upon a time, Kenya was a contender in the 4×400 meter relay. They won a Silver at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, and then a Gold in the 1972 Munich Olympics. Julius Sang also won a bronze in open 400. Where are the sprinters now? (I’ll save that for another post)

Speaking of Kenya, David Rudisha is a good example. He closed his 2009 season with a Sept 09 1:42.01 at Rieti. Then in early 2010, he ran a 45.50 400 meters plus a 1:43.15 in Melbourne, winning by 3.5 sec!

How does 45.50 and 1:42.01 rank?

I took a random sample of a few well known athletes (my favorites… if you have some to add, please comment below)

It’s interesting that the men in 1:41 range “only” had 46 second 400m speed!

So what can Jeremy Wariner potentially run?

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Jimson Lee

Coach & Founder at SpeedEndurance.com

The post Jeremy Wariner 1:53.02 – When 400m Sprinter Moves up to 800m appeared first on SpeedEndurance.com.

The 4x400m should always be the last event of the meet program.

I have never been to the Jamaican Champs track meet, but it’s on my bucket list!

With all the young talent Jamaica has for sprinting, you know the 4x400m is the pride of the school, track program and sprinters!

You have to give the Coach a lot of credit to put your 15 year old as anchor in the 4x400m relay. Check out Christopher Taylor’s earlier age group WR.

Strategy is important in the 4x400m. You want a mentally strong lead-off leg, as with a 3 turn stagger, you never can judge yourself with the others. You must run your own race and not let the runner in the lane ahead of you affect your judgement. If you catch him, you might be going too fast and be in a world of hurt down the stretch.

The 2nd runner must run an aggressive first 100m curve before breaking for the pole position. If you want to see a textbook 2nd leg, see Quincy Watts’ 1992 4x400m relay.

The 2nd and 3rd runners must deal with 2 exchanges.. receiving, and passing the baton.

The anchor of course must have the mental pressure to keep the lead, or the “hunt mentality” to chase a leader if not in 1st place.

The 4x400m can have so many lead changes, and it will all come down to the final straightaway. It’s the most agonizing 3 minutes a sprint coach can have!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33jbOkikBQQ

Here are my recommendations for products & services I’ve reviewed & used personally that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks.

Freelap – Accurately time yourself to 100th of a second (i.e. 9.53)
SpeedCoach EMS – the only EMS for training, recovery and rehab
GymBoss – Run 400m? The best $19 timer for Circuit Training
Complete Speed Training – Complete 12 DVD set for training speed

Author information

Jimson Lee

Coach & Founder at SpeedEndurance.com

The post Why I Love the 4x400m appeared first on SpeedEndurance.com.