Track & Field

Gradually increase running frequency and duration to safely reach desired mileage, being mindful of proper running mechanics.
 
Transcript: "Bring it good question. I would recommend scaling your mileage very gradually. Except where you are right now, understand where it is that you want to go. And more importantly, why you want to get to that certain mileage? How is it going to benefit you from a training standpoint? And realizing that there's no benefit in rushing to that total whatever you saw. I would start, first, by increasing the frequency of your run so that's going to help bring up your overall mileage. So if you're running three or four days a week, gradually bring it up to five to six. Slowly start tacking miles on to those runs five, 10 minutes at a time, spread that out throughout the week. And then eventually, start to increase the duration of your long run. Be really careful with that. So the last thing you want to do is add too much on it. Once be running with poor mechanics toward the end, and then therefore, not getting all the benefits that you should."

Racewalkers tend to focus on technique year-round, doing short intervals like 200-400 meters every week or two.
 
Transcript: "Well, the training is really similar. If you look at events of similar duration, so a 20k being an hour and 20, hour and 30 minutes, then that's a lot like a 30k run. It's not a really frequently contested distance, but if somebody's doing a 30 to 35k run, the training would be very similar. I think what's different throughout the year when you periodize your training, racewalkers tend to work on that technique year-round. You don't really want to lose it. So I'll do high end speed, short intervals, 200 to 400 meter intervals year-round. Not the bulk of my training, but I make sure that I always have that good technique. So I might do some hill repeats or I might do some short intervals year-round where a lot of runners will take the fall or take their endurance phase and just do mileage at a relatively easy pace. We do that as well, but occasionally every week or two, I'll do something high end, even during that endurance phase."

To reduce stress level before a race, I put a hoodie over my head, take a deep breath and reflect on all that it took to get there, and jog in place to shake out the nerves.
 
Transcript: "How can I reduce stress level before my race? How I reduce my stress is I always have a hoodie on no matter how hot it is or how cold it is, whatever it is. I usually put my hoodie over my head and block everything out and take a deep breath and reflect on what it took for me to get to the track meet. And that way I can just focus on the things I need to take care of. And that 99 percent of the time takes the stress off of me to be able to perform at the level I want to that day. I also will jog in place a little bit just to shake out the nerves and the stress just to clear my brain."

Yes, sprinters can jog as active recovery. The best advice would be to do something fun and athletic that has nothing to do with sprinting.
 
Transcript: "Can sprinters jog as an active recovery activity? Any advice? Absolutely a sprinter can jog as active recovery. Just so it's not to put any added stress on your body. For me, I prefer people just getting out, playing, throwing a Frisbee, goofing around, playing in the sand, doing something that is not the sports related activity. Something that's fun, that gets your mind off of the fact that you are going to be competing in the sprints. So anything that has nothing to do with track, if possible, and everything to do with having fun and being athletic."

We use hill sprints, track repetitions, strides, hill repetitions, strength work, Dan Path sprint drills, and mobility exercises to help us move better. We also recommend working with a physical therapist and massage therapist to address movement patterns and muscle function.
 
Transcript: "So I think what you're asking is some of the ancillary stuff we use to help us move better. Okay so the first thing we use are hill sprints. Okay and they are short hill sprints done on a ramp done normally around 8 to 12 seconds. They're done at max intensity. We want to recruit all our fibers and develop this strength right away. So we use hill sprints okay for maximum and our best strength. Okay maximum strength ability to move well. Okay we use track repetitions 200 300 meter repetitions on the track. We use strides even on some of our easy days just for the movement pattern. We use hill repetitions on an incline 8 to 10 percent going after both the ability to move and the ability for our cells and muscles to produce lactate. We use strength work in the gym that helps our ability to move. Okay we use Dan Path sprint drills which are sprint drills made for sprinters that go through a lot of different movement patterns and gates to make you move better like a sprinter. Okay firing the nervous system being in a pattern. Okay we also use mobility exercises that go after the ankle the hip the thoracic. Okay and also I think you want to work with a PT both a massage therapist to help your muscles function and fire better but also a PT that can help with movement patterns and help you give you a recipe for how to move better and be more aligned. This is huge."

50k race walking athletes may have difficulty adapting to the 10.55k distance as it is much shorter than what they are used to and prize money is distributed differently for this distance. The athletes that will most likely be able to succeed in this new distance are the ones who already participate in 20k races, as well as younger athletes who are used to doing 3k and 5k races.
 
Transcript: "Yeah, there certainly are 50k specialists in race walking throughout my career and the way the Scheduling is and how prize money is distributed You know, I've raced between the mile and the 50k and even beyond and even shorter than the mile 1500 meter races, but If you're an older athlete who's been racing 50k for a while Like I've been it's gonna be tough to drop down to 20 and it's certainly gonna be tough to drop down to 10k So the athlete pool is basically going to be the 20k athletes, you know Some of the younger 50k guys that do the 20 and the 50 can probably Okay in the new world of 10.55k whatever that is But you know 50k athletes are going to be left out in the cold if that's been their specialty So, you know, it's gonna be the 20k pool And maybe some of the younger folks coming from college that might be used to doing 3k and 5k can probably jump up to 10, 10.55k"