USATF TAKES THE LEAD

One of the factors limiting the development of high school Track and Field athletes in Minnesota has been the lack of opportunities to compete during the indoor season. With virtually all of the meets squeezed into April and May athletes seemed to have only two choices: Compete too many times each week or limit participation and by doing so limit the opportunity to improve.

Beginning with a clinic and mini-meet at that attracted over 100 participants at St. Thomas last Sunday, USATFMN is taking a big step toward correcting that situation. Going forward there will be a series of meets, open to athletes of all ages and culuminating with the State Indoor Championship scheduled for March 11th at the University of Minnestoa.

The next meet will be on January 29th at St. Thomas. Information is available at http://usatfmn.org/2012-all-ages-indoor-track-field-meet

These meets are a great way for young athletes to learn about the sport and for middle school and high school athletes to sharpen their skills. Note to high school middle distance and distance runners: Here is a chance to run a personal best in the 1000 meters and take a break from the daily 5 mile run.

RUN YOUR BEST TIME

Greg McMillan, a coach and exercise physiologist, recently wrote an article for “Running Times” in which he breaks races into four segments and identifies the mental focus for each of them. His approach to racing disregards the presence of other competitors and is designed to have a runner achieve the fastest possible time, apparently believing that doing so will give the athlete the best possible place finish. I think it is a particularly good approach for young runners because it is far easier to learn how to run a pace than it is to learn how to race.

The key to the success of this approach is establishing a realistic goal time. Too much optimism leads to going out too fast, being jumped by the bear during the last lap and a long, slow trudge home. Lots of us have been there. Too much caution creates the flat-out sprint during the last 100 meters that gains back at most a second or two of the many seconds given away. Once the goal pace is established, McMillan says, the runner must be in a specific mental zone for each segment of the race, as follows:

START ZONE
The focus here is to get out fast and get up to race pace as quickly as possible. Hardly any more energy is expended running the first 50 meters in 7 seconds than in 9 seconds.

PACE ZONE
The second phase of the race involves relaxing and running under control without forgetting race pace. Too often runners confuse relaxing with slowing down the pace. In this key phase the focus must be on hitting split times through the first half of the race.

GO ZONE
This phase must begin just past the midpoint to the race and holds the key to success or failure. It is at this point that the runner must pick up the intensity and run faster than is comfortable. For 800 meter runners, this means that the third 200 must be attacked. Everyone will have some kind of kick coming off the last curve so unless you are blessed with exceptional sprint speed you must make a move much earlier. Telling yourself that you are entering the “Go Zone” will help you focus on picking up the pace and taking control of the race.

GET TIME ZONE
The key to running that great time is the ability to sustain the drive to the finish without breaking down. Focusing on form and concentrating on turn-over (think quick feet) and arm action will help maximize performance. Here is where that last set of intervals will seem worthwhile.

JEREMY DURUJI ACCEPTED TO NAVAL ACADEMY

The Track Minnesota community is thrilled for Jeremy Duruji, Owatanna High School junior, who has just been accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. An excellent hurdler and member of his team's 4 X 400 relay, Jeremy kicked off the 2009 season by posting personal bests in both the 110 and 300 hurdles. In an email to Track Minnesota his proud mom says, "His coach said that whatever he has been doing in the off-season, keep it up...It is Track Minnesota!...Thank you!"

TRAINING YOUNG 800 METER AND 1500 METER RUNNERS

• At Track Minnesota we have been very successful at developing young middle distance runners with a training program based on intervals. Of course we make sure our athletes have a good aerobic base and spend time working on flexibility and core strength at every practice. But the heart of our training is a combination of interval workouts developed (or stolen from other coaches) over many years.
  
  We teach our beginning runners to break their races into 200 meter segments and attempt to run even splits. For example most of our 10 year old 800 meter runners are capable of running in the 2:40 range or 40 seconds per 200. Once every week we will do 200’s at 40 seconds. We start the season holding the rest interval to 3 minutes and doing 6 X 200. We progress to 2 sets of 6 X 200 and finally to 3 sets of 6 X 200. We also cut the rest interval to 2.5 minutes and then to 2 minutes making sure there is a full recovery between sets. We use this basic format for all of our 800 and 1500 meter runners, adjusting the pace to fit their abilities.
  
  We use a variety of other interval-styled workouts and ladders, believing that they give us the most effective way to build both aerobic and anaerobic fitness. We also make sure that every week includes at least one day of long easy distance running, preferably on grass, one day of speed work such as 3 X 300 or 3 X 600 faster than race pace with full recovery between runs and one day of rest. A sample mid-season week might look like this:
  
  Sunday: 3-4 miles easy running
  Monday: 2 sets of 6 X 200 at goal race pace (3 Min. rest interval; full recovery between sets)
  Tuesday: 3 X 1200 (90 sec 400 pace) full recover between runs
  Wednesday: 3 X 300 faster than goal race pace – Full recovery between runs
  Thursday: Distance ladder: 1 X 1000 meters at 3000 or 2 mile race pace; 2 X 500 at 1 mile race pace; 4 X 300 at goal 800 race pace (rest interval 3-4 minutes; heart rate return to under 100 bpm)
  Friday: 3-4 miles easy running
  Saturday: Rest day
  
  We work very hard to give every runner a time for every training run. We have them take turns leading the intervals and making them responsible to hit the split time so that by midseason even the younger runners have developed a sense of pace.
  
  

SHIN SPLINTS

Shin splints is the general name given to pain at the front of the lower leg due to inflammation of the tissue surrounding the tibia, the lower bone of the leg. The most common causes are:
· Increasing running mileage too quickly
· Improper or insufficient warmup
· Worn or inferior running shoes
· Intensity of workouts
· Jumping or sprinting on hard surfaces

With the very short high school track season in Minnesota, we frequently hear of coaches who have their athletes sprinting across the parking lot or in the school hallways during the first few days of practice. Almost as frequently we hear many of those athletes complaining of shin splints or pulled muscles. Competitive athletes should be encouraged to report for practice with a base, built on endurance work along with strength and flexibility work. Coaches should be encouraged know which athletes are prepared for intense workouts and which athletes need to begin more slowly. Most importantly, coaches and athletes should err on the side of caution. Rather than focusing on a personal best in the first meet of the year, point toward the Conference, Sectional and State Championship meets at the end of the season. Too much too soon very often means not being healthy when the season really counts.

TREATMENT:
· Rest to allow the injury to heal – This means no running.
· Maintain fitness with other non weight bearing exercises such as swimming, cycling or running in water.
· Apply ice or cold therapy in the early stages, particularly when it is very painful. Cold therapy reduces pain and inflammation.
· Stretch the muscles of the lower leg.

PREVENTION:
Make sure your warm up includes stretching the calf muscles and Achilles tendon
Choose the right shoes. Make sure shoes provide cushioning and replace them every 350 miles
Strengthen the leg muscles by doing toe rises and leg presses
Build mileage and intensity gradually
Get off the blacktop and run on grass when possible

NUTRITION FOR MEET DAY

TIming is everything - Plan to eat a high carbohydrate meal between 2 and 3 hours before you will begin warming up for your competition. Every athlete will need to find the right combination of food, amount and time needed. Avoid protein and foods that are heavy in fat or fried. Here are some suggestions:

• Bagels - Try with a smear of honey


• Oatmeal


• Bananas


• Yogurt (low fat or no fat)


• Energy bar such as PowerBar or ClifBar - Avoid bars that are high in fat or protein

HYDRATION - Athletes need to consume enough fluids before, during and after competition to prevent dehydration. Water is best before and during competition, however after a long race, sports drinks that replace electrolytes may be helpful. Dehydration depletes energy stored in mucsles (glycogen), resulting in early fatigue.

DO NOT EXPERIMENT ON MEET DAY! NEVER EAT OR DRINK ANYTHING THE DAY OF COMPETITION UNLESS YOU HAVE TRIED IT OUT BEFORE A HARD WORKOUT.

What about meets when you have more than one event? Make sure you drink fluids between events. If you have more than an hour between events you should eat something light, such as a banana, grapes, yogurt or half a bagel.

After competition- After competition it is important to continue to replenish fluids by drinking water or a sports drink. After your cooldown, eating something light, such as a sandwich or fruit will help your recovery. Avoid soda, cookies, chips and fried foods.