The past month, since the Victorian Police and Emergency Services Games has been spent in training for the 2019 Australian Masters Athletics Championships, which were held over the past few days from Friday April 26th to Monday April 29th at Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne.
Training during this time consisted of a lot of speed endurance work with some speed and hurdles practice for the first 2 weeks, then more speed in the third week, before tapering off in the 4th week. During a speed session nearly 2 weeks ago, I achieved speeds I haven’t done before, since taking up athletics 4 years ago, but not in a way that I can (yet) use in a race. More on that aspect later.
For these championships, I entered the same 6 events that I ran at the Victorian Masters - 60, 100, 200 and 400 metre sprints, as well as the 100 and 400m hurdles, and logistically, these events were on days 1-3 (Friday to Sunday), which meant I could get away with staying 2 nights in Melbourne, with an early departure on Friday.
Unfortunately, when the final program came out, my start on Friday was earlier than anticipated - 8:55 AM for the 400m hurdles. This meant I needed to arrive at the track by around 7:30, relying on public transport to run on time. This meant catching the 5:41 express to Melbourne, which would save a little travel time. Fortunately on the day, the train ran on time, and I arrived in Melbourne in pouring rain. A short tram trip later, and I was at the track right on 7:30 AM. I picked up my race pack and checked in for my 100 and 400m events, while I was there, leaving plenty of time to pin my numbers on and warm up for the hurdles.
After warming up for the hurdles, I arrived at the start, only to find that the program was running at least 15 minutes late, which made the race even tougher for everyone. I got around without touching a single hurdle and getting my technique into the strong and gusty wind the best it’s ever been, only to struggle with some of the “easier” tail wind hurdles. Being a bit cold, I also felt a little stiff when going over the hurdles. Finished in 5th place (4th among the Australians) with a slow time of 1:22.53.
Next event was the 100m sprint. This time, there were 3 heats. To progress to the final, I had to be either in the first two finishers, or one of the next 4 fastest overall. Unfortunately, a poor start saw me run a slow 13.64, and I failed to qualify.
My final run was the heat for the 400m. Knowing the calibre of the field, it was always going to be a tough ask to progress to the final. The first 3 placegetters in each heat, plus the next 2 best times were to qualify for the final. I ran well in the windy conditions and finished strong, but my time of 1:05.08 was a long way from what was needed to qualify. Still, I was happy with my time, considering the tough conditions, the fact I had run the 400m hurdles and a 4AM start and 2 hour commute.
This ended day 1. I left the track, walked to my hotel, checked in, found a place for dinner and settled down for the night.
Next morning was another early start, with my 60m heat at 8:40AM. This time, I only had to travel 2km (instead of 160!), but with breakfast only available from 7AM, timing was still going to be tight. Everything progressed well, until I missed my tram stop, due to a lapse in judgement. Attempting to find the quickest way to the track using the official app were fruitless, because the app assumed walking speeds and shorter walking legs than I’m capable of! In the end, a quick look at Google Maps and hopping on the next tram back did the trick, and I was able to use the 1.1km walk from the tram stop to the track as the first stage of my warmup to save time.
After a quick (but still thorough) warmup, I was ready and lined up for my race. There were 2 heats this time, with the first 3 in each heat and the next 4 fastest times progressing to the final. With a better start than the 100m, I finished 5th in my heat, but my time of 8.51 seconds was one of those “next 4 fastest”, and I qualified for the final.
In the final, I had another good start. Finished 9th with a time of 8.48 seconds. Slower than I hoped, but still my best time for the season.
My final event was the 100m hurdles, which, like the 400m hurdles the previous time was a straight final against time. Started out OK, but for some reason, I got out of stride at hurdle 6, necessitating a quick shuffle to get over safely, then a hard acceleration to restore a better hurdling speed within several metres, before having to go over the next one. I cleared the rest without any further incident. My time was slow at 23.05, and I finished 7th.
With the early finish, just before lunch, I was able to spend the afternoon catching up with a friend, before settling down for my second night in Melbourne.
I had only one event on Day 3, with the 200 metres starting at 9:30 AM, a much easier starting time. This time, it was 2 heats, with the top 3 in each heat and the next 2 best times progressing to the final. Had a good run, finishing third in my heat with a time of 27.26. My third place finish meant automatic qualification for the final.
Ran well in the final too, though finishing 8th (last!) by 0.01 seconds, with a time of 27.19.
Overall, I was pleased with my performances. The competition was tough, with quality fields from all over Australia, with some international invitationals. With my relative inexperience and still a fair bit to work on, I couldn’t expect too much, but qualifying for at least one final was one goal that would be a measure of success. Qualifying for 2 finals was a bonus! :)
The events of the past season have given me some more insights into my training and performances. My main challenges are:
Proprioception - getting inaccurate feedback about where my limbs are. This has been evident when watching video of races in the past. I am looking forward to seeing the video that was shot during these championships, to get some more feedback on my technique.
Slow conscious processing of movement. This makes it difficult to learn complex movements, and means I have to work on technique a small piece at a time. This is also making self monitoring during starts and acceleration, where things are rapidly changing, very difficult. I’m effectively on “autopilot” until about 30-40 metres into the race, when things stabilise enough for me to monitor and fine tune my technique.
Some interaction between my acceleration and top speed is limiting my top speed by at least 5%. This was the minimum estimate of the higher speeds achieved at training with a “rolling start”, instead of the block start used in races. This amounts to a considerable potential gain.
Now that this season has ended for me, my focus is on next summer. I’m going to be doing more work in the gym with weights and plyometrics for strength and speed. I’m also going to be using cross country and Parkrun for general fitness. Of course, I will be training at the track throughout, as well.
The more difficult part will be finding solutions to my neurological issues. I will need to find out more information on how best to deal with this aspect, and possibly consult with others. Progress here could make a huge difference to my performance.
Anyway, now is a time to regroup. Bring on the 2019-2020 season! :)
- Tony via Tumblr http://bit.ly/2WdNOxA
