What about the wind?
I am in Tulsa, OK this week and guess what? It is windy! The wind is a constant in this part of the world. We had some decent weather today and I headed to the Memorial High School field in Tulsa for some running on their 6 lane track. Decent weather here is 15 to 18 MPH wind, 11% humidity and 60 degrees at 4:00 PM.
The wind on this track is typically right down the front stretch, which is also shady. To stay as warm as possible, I do my work in the sun on the back stretch. Today I worked on 100 meters repeats on the synthetic turf into the wind. I brought my parachute, but it was not needed.
I ran four 100 meter repeats into the wind and after getting some pretty good work, I got out my stopwatch and timed two 100 meters into the wind--15.94 and 15.90 were the times. I then ran two sets with the wind with similar effort and that was different. With the wind, the times were 14.73 and 14.60 seconds ! The moral of the story-- the wind kicks your butt while training and makes for a much more difficult workout. As I rule, I run my short sprints into the wind. More power and effort are required as the pressure on your body is basically doubled and I think the quality of work is better. Racing is different, you need upper and lower body power to keep your form and progress when bucking the wind. It is an hamstring nightmare on many occasions. You do not learn anything running with the wind.
I am starting to ramp up my training as I get chances to get on the track. About 4 weeks to go until the Indoor Nationals. I am really interested in running the 60 meters and that will be training priority going forward. I do not need that much fitness to run the real short stuff and the longer sprints will be a priority when we get outdoors.
The wind on this track is typically right down the front stretch, which is also shady. To stay as warm as possible, I do my work in the sun on the back stretch. Today I worked on 100 meters repeats on the synthetic turf into the wind. I brought my parachute, but it was not needed.
I ran four 100 meter repeats into the wind and after getting some pretty good work, I got out my stopwatch and timed two 100 meters into the wind--15.94 and 15.90 were the times. I then ran two sets with the wind with similar effort and that was different. With the wind, the times were 14.73 and 14.60 seconds ! The moral of the story-- the wind kicks your butt while training and makes for a much more difficult workout. As I rule, I run my short sprints into the wind. More power and effort are required as the pressure on your body is basically doubled and I think the quality of work is better. Racing is different, you need upper and lower body power to keep your form and progress when bucking the wind. It is an hamstring nightmare on many occasions. You do not learn anything running with the wind.
I am starting to ramp up my training as I get chances to get on the track. About 4 weeks to go until the Indoor Nationals. I am really interested in running the 60 meters and that will be training priority going forward. I do not need that much fitness to run the real short stuff and the longer sprints will be a priority when we get outdoors.
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