Spearmon won 200m medals at his first two trips to the World Outdoor Championships (2005, 2007) and will try to accomplish that same feat this summer in Berlin after finishing third at the 2009 USA Outdoor… + See More +
Spearmon won 200m medals at his first two trips to the World Outdoor Championships (2005, 2007) and will try to accomplish that same feat this summer in Berlin after finishing third at the 2009 USA Outdoor… + See More
- See Less - Spearmon won 200m medals at his first two trips to the World Outdoor Championships (2005, 2007) and will try to accomplish that same feat this summer in Berlin after finishing third at the 2009 USA Outdoor Championships in Eugene. During the 2008 Olympic Games 200m final in Beijing, Spearmon came roaring back from a slow start to finish third in 19.95 seconds, but was later disqualified for a lane violation, running on the inside line. Spearmon proved his versatility in 2007 by ending the season ranked in the top ten in the world by Track & Field News for the first time in the 100 meters (#10) and posting a personal best in that event of 9.96 seconds in Shanghai. Spearmon was superb in the 200 meters again in 2007, with his runner-up finish at the USA Outdoor Championships and by winning the bronze medal at the World Outdoor Championships in Osaka. Spearmon had 200m wins at the Nike Prefontaine Classic, adidas Track Classic and Reebok Grand Prix in New York, where he posted his fastest time of the season of 19.82 seconds. In 2006 he won the USA Outdoor 200m title and bettered 19.90 seconds on five occasions, moving to #3 on the all-time list with his personal best of 19.65 in Daegu. Spearmon improved his then personal best to 19.89 seconds in 2005 with his win at London, which was the fastest time in the world that season.
He capped off his tremendous 2005 campaign with his silver medal winning performance at the 2005 World Outdoor Championships, joining gold medalist Justin Gatlin, third-placer John Capel and fourth-placer Tyson Gay in a four-way USA sweep of the event. Spearmon sprinted away from an outstanding field on June 25, 2005 to successfully defend his NCAA 200m men's title in a then world-leading time of 19.91 seconds. Following his performance Spearmon announced that he would forego the remainder of his collegiate eligibility to pursue a professional running career…At the 2005 NCAA Indoor Champs, he fulfilled his potential with two American Records in the 200. He first ran 20.21 in the semifinals then improved to 20.10 in the final. Both broke the existing AR of 20.26 set by Shawn Crawford and John Capel in 2000. As a freshman, Spearmon became the first Razorback in history to win the NCAA Outdoor 200m title. He was a three-sport standout at Fayetteville HS, where he played basketball and wide receiver in football for two years. He earned all-state honors in the 100, 200, 400-meter dashes, the long (best of 7.14m/23-5) and triple (best of 13.94m/45-9) jumps, high jump (best of 1.98m/6-6) and 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay teams. He also competed in the decathlon and 300-meter hurdles. Spearmon’s father, Wallace Sr., was a two-time All-American for coach McDonnell at Arkansas and was a part of the first national championship team in 1984 as a sprinter. He was a 200m bronze medalist at the 1986 Goodwill Games and 1987 Pan American Games. He competed for Team USA at the 1987 World Outdoor Championships in Rome, Italy, and now coaches his son.
#96
Mista Righteousness May 10 at 9:51pm
all people who dont understand the jokes during the trainign that's why they are nuh athletes really,cuz if u r an athelte u'll undastand perfectly taht a sprinter use to show-off or jokes training,cuz it's necssary u can't be all time 100% focused and suffering in training u need sometimes relax ur brain to recover the pace of training again, if u act like a robot training u'll turn crazy for sure... all sprinters from all over the world understand this cuz this is a reality for real.hard work no doubt but dont forget we're young people and human beigns finally.... me tel unu seh Big Up Wallace
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all people who dont understand the jokes during the trainign that's why they are nuh athletes really,cuz if u r an athelte u'll undastand perfectly taht a sprinter use to show-off or jokes training,cuz it's necssary u can't be all time 100% focused and suffering in training u need sometimes relax ur brain to recover the pace of training again, if u act like a robot training u'll turn crazy for sure... all sprinters from all over the world understand this cuz this is a reality for real.hard work no doubt but dont forget we're young people and human beigns finally.... me tel unu seh Big Up Wallace
Obviously he works hard because he ran a 19.65 200 and a 9.96 100! just because he is throwing a football around having some fun doesn't mean anything. Tell me that at a distance practice if someone brought a Frisbee you wouldn't all be distracted. Sprinting and distance are completely different but you still have to work hard at both. This was two weeks before trials i doubt hes gonna be killing him self! This argument is stupid!
Someone got the idea that the argument was between sprinting vs. distance workouts. The real argument is the attitude which is presented to us in the video.
Trying to get out of the workout, messing around with football and his coach. That's the attitude that a non-committed high schooler has, not an elite athlete. So all the people stating crazy "facts" about either distance OR sprint workouts being hard are arguing against themselves. What would you rather see, a hard-working focused effort, or a lazy attitude show-off-for-the-camera workout?
Anonymous Coward said: “lolol he says "yea.. we aren't like distance runners" (for recovery).. i guess he knows flotrack is mostly a distance site. and then he's like "yea.. i'd rather be doing a lot of other things."
i wonder if he's reading this..
but only like one person bashed sprinters and said distance runners work harder, and now everyone's posting stupid comments and stuff. lol.”
He's not bashing distance runners, he's just saying that the recoveries are different for his workouts because the training goals are different, that's all.
Obviously, d-runners need short recovery because they want to build endurance, and sprinters need long recovery because they want to build speed. Plain as the nose on your face.
You have no idea 400 guy. Distance running is a lifestyle and is done at 100% all the time. I'm a 403 miler and the 400 is a joke for me. No, I dont split 45 more like 48 but its still just something i do on the side "for fun". How many 400m guys can split a decent mile time "just for fun"? Most couldn't endure the pain day in and day out from our training at "60%" effort hahahaha wow.....
I suggest you keep your twisted view on reality/training to yourself, the same as you should stop critisizing the people that outwork you 100% of the time.
I am a sprinter....i run the 400...now distance runners might have to run a lot of distance but everyone knows the 400 is the hardest race in track...it's hard for a 100m runner just like it's hard for a distance runner...respect it....W. Spearmon Jr. ran the 400 and came in 2 before so respect him...the kind of work it takes to build up 400m endurance is HARD WORK...harder than some ass distance workout at 60%
his speech on old people and running is pretty funny, considering he'll soon be a 35 year old struggling sprinter biting his own words. more reasons why sprinters piss me off. i love this workout, id do it everyday, and im a mid distance runner. 6-8 minute rests? id get too bored. id run to 7-11, grab some chips, finish the bag, slap my grandma, and be back to sit around about 4 1/2 more minutes till the next interval. this guy comes off as a person who doesnt even enjoy running. thats why most sprinters rarely pursue running after college or pro, because they realize they have a talent, abuse it, lose it, and dont let go of the past. btw post of the day "they don't seem to want to work hard, and they just want the glory at the end"
and this is a true stonecold fact. i really shouldn't (even though 95% of this comment has been sarcasm) really comment upon Jr. here, he's just one sprinter of the plenty. just because he hates running doesn't mean all sprinters do.
"if flotrack could get a tyson workout you all would respect a real sprinter. I'm sure tyson doesnt around all day like spearmon does, maybe thats why keeps getting better while spearmon is starting to fall through the cracks of american sprinting."
and adam ward, stop talking, aaron mack, keep talking, your making a bit more sense.
Uncle Wallace & Wallace Jr. that was great the two of you working together. The family in Kent, Wa is with you guys all the way. Wallace Jr. you are a winner. We will see you in Eugene, Oregon. Plenty of Love!
lolol he says "yea.. we aren't like distance runners" (for recovery).. i guess he knows flotrack is mostly a distance site. and then he's like "yea.. i'd rather be doing a lot of other things."
i wonder if he's reading this..
but only like one person bashed sprinters and said distance runners work harder, and now everyone's posting stupid comments and stuff. lol.
this was an awesome video and I like how people interpret him having fun as him not training hard. distance runners joke around too and we have fun during our workouts, we just have less recovery time so we dont have as much opportunity. I know my teammates and I throw a frisbee around on our warm ups and cool downs, joke around with our coaches and have fun. Its part of the sport....fun. awesome video, favorite one
Coach or Dealer? A True Coach is hard to find. A Dealer is on every corner. A Dad Coach is what God had in mind. So you so call Coaches(Dealers) quit hating because he's not your Runner.
Ok distance runners, you guys are right. It's clear the what he SHOULD'VE done is that whole interval workout x15. My bad i forgot that you can't run fast if you don't run the same distance as everyone else. Man maybe ya'll should replace his dad........ and then he might be able to stand up to mean old Mr. Tyson Gay
I am distance runner and I think it is a tough work out. Lets put it in perspective.
He is running a ladder and he starts 50 meters (or and additional 20% )fruther than is race distance. He then runs the intervals at about 95%.
So if you run a 1600 you would run a 2000 meter at 95% the go down the ladder from there with everything at 95%. Lets just say a 2000, 1600, 1200 and then a 1000 all at 95%....Man that sounds easy(please note sarcasm).
Thats pretty impressive.
Any distance runner that doesn't agree is just as annoying as the sprinters that don't think distance runner work hard...you are what you hate.
I'm glad the majority of distance runners get it. I wish the few idiots who are bashing would read the rest of the posts on here and maybe answer my question - what should Spearmon be running? 800s?
And yes, we're all on team T&F.
Ya'll need to chill out!!! WS working out with his Pops!!! you're all missing the picture!!! More men being a real Father to their Sons' Kudos to the Spearmon family, Win that Gold!!!! 19.22
I like this video, this sprinter, this workout. I just like every aspect of track. You got to respect it and appreciate it. My guess is that there is a lot more to WS and his training/preparation. You don't run that fast and win medals at this level off of natural talent and goofing around. Every athlete is different in their approach and training regimen. But they all have to step to the line and deliver. Afterward...honesty sets in.
Good luck WS. Give it everything you got and enjoy it just as much.
Throwers are a different breed. I went to college with a bunch of Swedes and Norwegians throwers....definitely different, but they were some of the best in the country and world at the time. You got to respect it and appreciate it.
Keep up the mix Flotrack!
would you relax? only a couple people made comments about sprinters. We all know sprinters and distance guys are different. We don't need you to tell us about it.
apples and oranges. This would be like comparing a thrower to a high jumper or pole vaulter. OR a baseball player and a basketball. It just doesn't make sense. I agree with some of the comments on here that the workouts are hard depending upon what you are training for (ie distance or sprinting). Why have so many distance coaches started to adopt sprint drills and adapt sprinting form characteristics into their training? Because it works. Vice versa, some sprint coaches have realized the value of some of the things that distance athletes have been doing. Again you are training different energy systems and muscle recruitment for their events.
Man - some people just dont get it. Sprinters work hard, too, but it is different work. They work on their form, their starts, their strength. They dont need to go out and put in huge miles, or hard miles everyday. They focus on the things they need to get better. To me, I like the attitude they have in this video. Distance guys are to serious sometimes. Lighten up and relax, and enjoy what you are doing.
Since when did tossing a football around at the beginning of practice mean that you didn't take track seriously? And you can't be serious if your coach jumps in the workout to help you finish? Last I checked, that would push you a little harder if you had someone to chase. You watched a few minutes of one practice, one workout. You don't have a clue how seriously Wallace takes track. I've witnessed world class witnessed laid out on the track in between intervals. When you run efforts close to 100%, you don't always recover immediately to go into a walk or stretch. He'll be ready when it counts!
wallace and his dad/coach seem like that have a good relationship. it was great how wallace challenged him at the end! seems like a real nice guy, i hope he does well
yeah im a hs sprinter and sprinters tend to be more relaxed about the workouts at my school and during summer track...but that doesnt mean we dont work hard. we push it hard but we need that recovery or it feels like you are just going through the motions and arent making any progress
unless you have seen tyson work out in person, how can you even say what he'd be doing?? that doesn't make much sense. speculations do us no good and you know what happens when you a ssume......
i didnt say tyson would do more work than him, i said tyson wouldnt mess around like spearmon does. you wouldnt see tyson sitting under a hurdle for rest, ud see him up and walking and stretching out so he doesnt get hurt. spearmon is no where near as serious as he should be. spearmon isnt even a thought to tyson and bolt now. i seriously doubt tyson would mess around with a football and race his coach 2 weeks before trials.
physiology 101 - the faster or harder you run a rep or interval, the longer RECOVERY you need in order to repeat that SAME effort, multiple times. I coach distance athletes and NO MATTER what event you participate in...sprints, distance OR field events you have to adhere to this scientific principle while training if you expect to achieve the proper goals of that given workout session. Distance folks, try running as fast as you can (faster than your best mile race pace) for 200, 300 or 400 meters and then just try doing it again & again with 1 or less minutes of rest. If you don't pass out, go into booty shock or quit after the 2nd or 3rd rep, then you will realize YOU NEED the longer break. On the contrary, sprint folks need to realize that distance running is "hard work". If you don't believe me, then go for a 13-16 mile run and then come back and do some plyo's or strides after that. Or run 3-6 miles worth of 400's at 5-10k race pace then go lift our "light weights" after your cool down of about 1.5-3 miles. Oh, yeah, all this usually after a 5-8 mile run in the morning. Like a previous person said, we are ALL on the same team (in theory). We should stick together. Tiger Woods in a play off match ON A MONDAY pulled more ratings than the entire WEEKENDS coverage of the NCAA DI champships combined. The whole weekend! All the areas of track and field can learn a lot from each other and together we can grow this GREAT sport, but we have to stop arguing over who works hard and who doesn't. In my opinion, there isn't a greater sport than track and field (& XC) and no one works harder than we all do or sacrifices as much. :) Heck, we run laps FOR FUN. Other sports run laps as a consequence for a mistake or not being in shape.
The workouts are geared towards his peak, so it looked he wasn't doing a lot. He ran the 200s in at least 21, which in essence is 100%. Hence, the long recovery. On the other hand, I hope he's serious underneath his playfulness because if he's not Usain Bolt will beat the crap outa him and bring him back to reality.
I dont know about some of the comments here, and if I watched Tyson warm up and Wallace i'm pretty sure it would similar because they did train together for 4 years. And Fyi Tyson's workouts are about the same as Spearmon's
You know... After reading all of the critiques and blather in the ever-so-old distance running versus sprinting wars below, I'd like to give some input. Sprinters put in just as much work, it's just compressed. There's more thought going into form, more focus, more tendon loading training, etc. I've done sprinting and I've done distance running work for the 400m-1500m and I've had coaches that emphasized more sprinting and I've had coaches that put more focus on more distance in my time, and work is work, whatever way you spin it. Crying out loud, don't assume you've seen all there is to see from one workout from one person and don't judge so quickly. Get over yourself if you are considering dissing either side and try to remember that these are still very elite athletes and they sure as hell wouldn't be on top if they weren't pushing themselves harder than most. Think more critically about it please. It would do a lot to keep comment spaces less clogged. Really, what are you gaining from critiquing anything? Have some respect for the people in the video and for each other.
Yeah...I agree with Trey everyone needs to chill out. I mean we're all track athletes here and need to appreciate seeing how each event functions at practice. We get no positive press in the mainstream so we need to support each other here instead of ripping on each other.
jesus christ i see more people defending sprinters than attacking them.. it was like 1 damn person who commented about sprinters being lazy, we dont need every person posting "ya'll distance runners dont know " because it was clearly 1 person. relax.
Get Terrence Trammell or Hayes on here. I would like to see Lagat and also if possible. I am a sprint guy and enjoy watching the distance workouts. I noticed how distance runners take a 10m run up before the interval.
Distance snobs are also underestimating how much time these guys (and women) spend in the weight room, doing plyos, etc. It is likely that Spearmon could bench-press most of the people dissing his workout.
Hilarous reading some of these comments of people who have no clue at all. It's silly to even think about comparing distance vs. sprinting when it comes to the training and practice involved. You are highly ignorant if you think sprinters should be training like distance runners.
Since when did endurance running become synonymous with "hard work" and sprinting with "laziness"? Seems to be a lot of pretentious distance runners here. Sure, these are "stride outs" and Shalane ran really fast at the end of her race... It's all relative--he runs 19.65 and few elite distances runners could break 23. Hell, there are mid-distance folks that can't break 22. Nobody is saying they're because they are slow, they are just training for a different event. If you really cared about the sport, you'd realize that.
yeah, you distance runners quit talking about sprinters, we can't do what they do and they sure as hell can't do what we do. That workout was probablly equal to us running repeat 200s and 400's a light speedworkout...we are all beasts!
yea reading some of these posts just proves how ignorant some people are...when your running that fast you need that kind of rest...calm down about his attitude and his warmup too...he stretched did the drills and jogged just fine...and you need an attitude like that to be a world cl sprinter...you need to think youre the best... may not show it or joke around but he thinks the same way
wow all you distance fanatics are idiots. If you knew anything about sprinting you would know wallace is obviously tapering down on his workouts. trials are two weeks away. he is trying to peak. kinda like when a distance runner goes from 100miles to 85miles to get ready for post season
stop critizing this workout and sprinters. obviously training for a 100-200m race is substantially different than a 800 on up. these guys spend a lot more time in the weight room and other strengthening exercises
dont hate on sprinters just because of him. i always thought he was a loser and he kinda practices like it.
if flotrack could get a tyson workout you all would respect a real sprinter. I'm sure tyson doesnt around all day like spearmon does, maybe thats why keeps getting better while spearmon is starting to fall through the cracks of american sprinting.
right now spearmon will have to work his off to make the U.S. team.
if you have never trained for this type of event, careful when you try to judge attitude and how hard someone is working. remember, he has run 19.65 and is currently ranked 3rd in the world. just something to think about.
Running at high intensity drains your CNS. Too much heavy CNS work and you're no longer doing anything beneficial. Should Spearmon scrap this stuff and just run mile repeats instead? After all, that would be "harder", and that's the real goal of training, right? Teaching your body to run faster isn't the goal, it's being able to brag about how tough your workout is.
To those who criticize "easy" sprint workouts - what would you have them do?
the attitude he showed in this video and reluctance to work out hard show off when he races and jogs the curve of the 200 and then just relies on natural talent to carry him to victory (which is doesn't)
Flanagan DID run one of these... in the final sprint of her 30:34 10k back in May. And she did them in her 7.5 mile interval run, AND she didn't stop to take a snooze under the hurdles either.
This is pretty consistent with the sprinters I know- they don't seem to want to work hard, and they just want the glory at the end. Watch Shalane's workout Wednesday for some real work.
Wallace Spearmon Jr. is one of the top sprinters in the world. With PRs of 19.65 and 9.96 he'll be going into the US Trials as a favorite in the 200. Less than 2 weeks to go!!!
Episode #9 - Wallace Spearmon Workout
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Trying to get out of the workout, messing around with football and his coach. That's the attitude that a non-committed high schooler has, not an elite athlete. So all the people stating crazy "facts" about either distance OR sprint workouts being hard are arguing against themselves. What would you rather see, a hard-working focused effort, or a lazy attitude show-off-for-the-camera workout?
“lolol he says "yea.. we aren't like distance runners" (for recovery).. i guess he knows flotrack is mostly a distance site. and then he's like "yea.. i'd rather be doing a lot of other things."
i wonder if he's reading this..
but only like one person bashed sprinters and said distance runners work harder, and now everyone's posting stupid comments and stuff. lol.”
Obviously, d-runners need short recovery because they want to build endurance, and sprinters need long recovery because they want to build speed. Plain as the nose on your face.
I suggest you keep your twisted view on reality/training to yourself, the same as you should stop critisizing the people that outwork you 100% of the time.
and this is a true stonecold fact. i really shouldn't (even though 95% of this comment has been sarcasm) really comment upon Jr. here, he's just one sprinter of the plenty. just because he hates running doesn't mean all sprinters do.
"if flotrack could get a tyson workout you all would respect a real sprinter. I'm sure tyson doesnt around all day like spearmon does, maybe thats why keeps getting better while spearmon is starting to fall through the cracks of american sprinting."
and adam ward, stop talking, aaron mack, keep talking, your making a bit more sense.
i wonder if he's reading this..
but only like one person bashed sprinters and said distance runners work harder, and now everyone's posting stupid comments and stuff. lol.
i've learn to love them
bahahaha(please not sarcasm)
He is running a ladder and he starts 50 meters (or and additional 20% )fruther than is race distance. He then runs the intervals at about 95%.
So if you run a 1600 you would run a 2000 meter at 95% the go down the ladder from there with everything at 95%. Lets just say a 2000, 1600, 1200 and then a 1000 all at 95%....Man that sounds easy(please note sarcasm).
Thats pretty impressive.
Any distance runner that doesn't agree is just as annoying as the sprinters that don't think distance runner work hard...you are what you hate.
And yes, we're all on team T&F.
Hahaha
Good luck WS. Give it everything you got and enjoy it just as much.
Throwers are a different breed. I went to college with a bunch of Swedes and Norwegians throwers....definitely different, but they were some of the best in the country and world at the time. You got to respect it and appreciate it.
Keep up the mix Flotrack!
His legs look about eight feet long.
Slowpoke.
dont hate on sprinters just because of him. i always thought he was a loser and he kinda practices like it.
if flotrack could get a tyson workout you all would respect a real sprinter. I'm sure tyson doesnt around all day like spearmon does, maybe thats why keeps getting better while spearmon is starting to fall through the cracks of american sprinting.
right now spearmon will have to work his off to make the U.S. team.
To those who criticize "easy" sprint workouts - what would you have them do?
Sprinters call them intervals.
he just floats through those warm up drills.