Track and Field Blogs - Dom Maio

Nice easy run today in the rain while I thought about training and stuff. I'm trying to remember what it was like to be a freshman. Mainly because their paces are much slower than mine and the feel of hard is a much different concept. 4:36 maybe all out for them and low 4:20's seems to be a regular occurrence for me now when it wasn't always the case. I rarely trained over summer or winter breaks. I do remember being pretty hardcore in just kicking the crap out of myself first couple of races until I got into shape. That was one thing that was good about the 800m for me and why I like that race so much. Ultimate commitment to just blasting the first lap and struggling to hold on for the last lap. Pretty much the definition of crazy. Watching the 800m at national was one of those races you would watch and one of the camera guys thought the guys in the back were going to catch the top two guys when they had a 40m gap. You’re not going to make up that kind of gap in the 800m unless the top guy wasn't in the shape he set out to run hard the first lap and dies. Watching the first guy come through in 51 you know he was going to fight to hold on and I knew the 2nd place guy had a good shot to pass. He positive split by 2seconds, which is very good in the 800m and is never easy in the last 200m of an 8. It is hard to control that in the 8 with the tactics and having to maintain speed. You need to run it enough times and get adjusted to all the variables in the 8. Go out hard, stay smooth and controlled in the first 400m and kick with whatever is left at 600m, or even try an even race. All the best 8 times were run out front to eliminate traffic and were in good enough shape to hold speed before drop off on the second lap of about 2 to 2.5seconds. Top 26 WR times all run similar except 2 higher on the list and still positive, but very even, which is hard. I remember being out of shape from not running at all when I didn't run indoor track at MSOE going into outdoor. First meet I ran was Wisconsin Lutheran. I recall going out very quick (under 60) and I think I ran 2:03-2:05? Most recreational runners would have went out slow and tried to speed up, but optimal times even for runners that try to run even/use other runner to positive by 1 or .5sec run their best times going out faster. Tempos and longer distances have always been more painful or difficult for me to handle, but I know it helps from pushing myself so far this past year. I started thinking about VO2 training. Right now the freshmen are doing 8x800m. Right now I'm thinking the 8's are ok for now even though they may only be getting very few minutes at VO2. I always op for faster than necessary times on intervals, so at least I start to build up lactic acid over the intervals until the level is high enough at the end that your training yourself to deal with the buildup of H+ at a faster speed. If anything your programming in a faster speed into your legs, improving some running economy, and dealing with build up before you’re ready to handle the longer duration for VO2 work. By opting for faster paces there is more of a chance of burnout from depleting glycogen and injury from H+ slowing enzyme activity, but I know how to recover and adjust where I need to adjust if I need to. The speed some of the under classmen are going for intervals is still 43sec at VO2 per interval, but with some races will see if they can push further than this. As long as they are doing something now it's good, but will have to start with longer duration intervals especially for 5k-10k racing. I'm not sure if all the freshman are running over the summer, but you can't force or pressure someone to train or do something they may or may not enjoy as much as you to see them do well. Some I know are and are starting off well and getting to know them more I will get to see what works best for them. The commitment and time and the willingness to get better has to come from them and I'm just there to put the thought in their head to see how far their willing to go. Most of the time I wanted to push much farther than training, but have to have some control and patience to not over-train. Especially with the workload at MSOE it can be hard to be mentally prepared if you already got a mental beat down at school and may not be ready for another. Running in the rain today means I maybe racing in the rain tomorrow. I already stole my cross spikes from my nationals shoes to put them my victory’s. Looking forward to rest and some fast racing tomorrow. My body already crashed for 3hrs after getting home and I'm still tired enough to fall asleep at the 12am bed time I've come to know in the past week. Good sign to want to sleep a lot before a race.

Current favorite running cites from the past 4 years:

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/--- Found beginning of Juror year. Very good for general knowledge

http://www.sportsscientists.com ?----Performance

http://www.mariusbakken.com ----Training

http://www.runnerstribe.com ----Training-- fun

http://www.flotrack.org ----fun----logs

http://www.letsrun.com/ ----forums