Thursday 3 March 2011

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Steve Ovett 800 meter Training: Coach Harry Wilson

Posted: 03 Mar 2011 12:10 AM PST

Running My Way by Harry Wilson

22px-Flag_of_the_United_States_svg Running My Way by Harry Wilson  ( 22px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom_svg UK residents click here)

Who can remember the Steve Ovett – Sebastian Coe rivalry back in the late 70's and early 80's?

I was always an Ovett fan. Unless Lord Coe sends me complementary tickets to the London 2012 Games, I'll change my mind.

Once reason I like Ovett was the fact that he was a sprinter first, but showed up for the wrong training group.  (Just like Tommie Smith repeating 2nd grade because he went to the room with the number "2" on it… that's his story)  This just proves that Arthur Lydiard was right.  Take a sprinter, build an aerobic base, don't race them too much, and you can have a world class athlete.  Look what he did for Peter Snell.

Harry Wilson's book Running My Way is an excellent book because he has detailed training logs over an entire season.  (I bought mine used for a pence).  I knew Ovett was doing high mileage during the GPP phase, but didn't expect that many miles.  You can add them up yourself.

The logs below show a typical training week in the GPP phase, followed by his 2 weeks leading up to his 3:48.8 Mile world record in Oslo.  Ironically, Sebastian Coe set the world record 1 year earlier with a 3:49.0 (3:48.95) clocking on the same track!

Note how he only did 2 "track" sessions a week in the GPP phase below.  Again, I am firm believer that 800 meter runners must do multi-paced training to cover the rage from 400 meters all the way up to 1500m/Mile speed.  It also helps that Ovett was a sprinter first!

By comparison, the WR today for the Mile is 3:43.13 set in 1999 (before EPO testing).

A Typical Winter Week's Training

NOV – MAR 1979/80
Sun
a.m. 10 miles road – 57/60 min
p.m. 10 miles road – 54/55 min
Mon
a.m. 5 miles road – Easy 35 min
p.m. 10 miles road – Fast/steady 52/53 min
Tue
a.m. 10 miles road – Hard on road 4 x 300m approx. with fast jog rec then across another very steep hill, 4 x 400m approx. jog rec.
Wed
a.m. 10 miles road – 58/60 min
p.m. 10 miles – Plus technique work at Crystal Palace
Thu
a.m. 5 miles road – Easy 35 min
p.m. 10 miles road – Steady 55/58 min continuous
Fri
a.m. 5 miles road – Easy 35 min
p.m. 5 miles road – Easy 35 min
Sat
a.m. 5 miles road – Easy 35 min
p.m. 6 x 1000m park – Hard with 30 secs 1 min rec (in spikes)

Transition Period

Sun
a.m. 10 miles – road Easy – 60/65 min
p.m. 4 miles Easy + 5 x 3 x 200m (27/28 sec) [30 sec and 3 min recoveries between reps and sets]
Mon
a.m. 5 miles – road Easy – 35 min
p.m. Track session 5 x 300m (37.4 sec ave) [2 min rest]
Tue
a.m. 5 miles Easy – 35 min
p.m. 6 x 700m – in park Very hilly at start, long downhill to finish (90% effort) [2 min] (in spikes) + 10 x 100m strides at end
Wed
a.m. 5 miles – road Easy – 35 min
p.m. Track session Technique work – high knees etc, 5 x 150m (16"/17") [walk] +10 x 100m (change of pace 11"/13")
[walk] + 4 x 60m (standing start) [3min]
Thu
a.m. Rest Weights in morning.
p.m. Hills – park 6 x 30 secs (in spikes – 90% effort) [jog], 10 min jog, then 8 x 15 secs [walk]. Aim at good knee lift
and technique.
Fri
a.m. 5 miles – road Easy – 35 min
p.m. 5 miles Plus 4 x 5 x 100m (14"/15") [starting at 30 sec on the first set to 5 sec rec on the last set].
Sat
a.m. 6 x 1000m in park (in spikes) [30/60 sec]
p.m. 5 miles Easy – + 6 x 100m strides on grass
Sun
a.m. 10 miles – road Easy – 65 min
p.m. Strides – grass 10 x 100m (13/14 sec accelerations, change of pace).
Mon
a.m. Rest
p.m. Track session Change of pace 4 x 400m (first 200m 28"/29", last 200m 23"/24")) [5 min].
Tue
a.m. Easy run 35 min
p.m. Strides 6 x 100m – Relaxed
Wed
Rest day
Thu
Travel to London, then to Oslo
Fri
p.m. Easy run 30 min + strides
Sat
p.m. Race 1 mile Bislett Games – World Record for Mile

Complete Speed Training

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Bud Winter Biography, San Jose State University 1940-1970, Part 1

Posted: 02 Mar 2011 09:00 AM PST

SprinterCover_200x300

This is Part 1 of a multi-part article.  Along with the award nomination, this this biography was compiled by Urla Hill, M.A., Guest Curator at SJSU.  Her website is Speed City: From Civil Rights to Black Power

Lloyd 'Bud' Winter, architect of 'Speed City' who propelled San José State to the pinnacle of track and field during the mid-1900s, is the 2010 Posthumous recipient of the Pacific Association Legacy Coach Award.

Coach Winter created a legacy not only through his ability to coach, but also through his ability to mentor other coaching hopefuls, and promote the sport of track and field. In all, he would coach 102 All Americans, 27 Olympians, and 49 NCAA and 37 world record holders throughout his career as the Spartans' coach, which took place between 1940 and 1970. Notable Spartans include sprinters Ray Norton and Bob Poynter, ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the world, respectively, during the late 1950s and 1960; 1968 Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who placed first and third, respectively, in the 200 meters, and Lee Evans, who took the gold in the 400, and on the 4×400 meter relay team; Ben Tucker, a prominent member of SJSU's '62 and '63 NCAA cross country championship teams; Olympian Willie Steele, who captured the gold in the long jump in '48 (He competed at SJS before enlisting in World War II.); and '68 Olympic Greek pole vaulter Christos Papanikolaou, who became the first to vault 18 feet.

Of Winter's nomination, Poynter noted: Other track and field coaches – such as Stanford University's Payton Jordan or the University of Oregon's Bill Bowerman – may have received more recognition and acceptance because their programs had great wealth and media support, but Bud was a creative, competitive, fun-loving teacher, who had great passion for the sport.

"I learned how to develop a quality track program on meager resources, how to organize a track team, and build a support group," said Poynter, who coached Olympians Millard Hampton ('76) and Andre Phillips ('88) while at San José's Silver Creek High School. "He taught me that it was important to be a good teacher and to share the knowledge with others. He was a fun-loving coach who made the grueling practices fun, and encouraged all racial and ethnic groups to work together. I have been blessed to have mentored hundreds of athletes with his basic principles." Poynter also coached sprinters at San José City College for six years, and SJS for eight years. He began coaching sprinters at West Valley College upon retirement, and is in his 12th year.

clip_image002Bud Winter had three children with his wife Helen: Michael, Jane and Kathi. Kathi and Bert Bonanno, his assistant during the mid fifties, recall Winter's effort in having the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing's (3M Company) Tartan track placed on SJSC's campus during the late 1960s. It all started with a "test strip" laid in the early '60s on the infield.

"I remember him in meetings with 3M and talking about it all the time," said Kathi, who spoke on her father's behalf at the induction ceremony when he was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1985. "He was so excited about it. I recall dad working on it multiple times, calls that came in at night to discuss the funding and his work with the college."

"It was invented so the horses could run in the snow and rain," Bonanno said. "Bud thought, 'If the horses could run on it, why couldn’t we?' "

Bonanno, who became an assistant coach for the 1968 Mexican Olympic team with Winter's assistance, was in Mexico when 3M provided the world with its first artificial turf for Olympic competition. "It had been red cinder at the Olympic Games up until then. 3M hired Jesse Owens to assist them to convince the Mexican Olympic Committee to put that track in," said Bonanno, whose storied career as coach and athletic director at San José City College includes Olympians who either train or attended SJCC from Hampton to Bruce Jenner, to John Powell and Marion Sidler, to Mac Wilkins and Al Feuerbach. Bonanno also coached the Peruvian Olympic team in 1972; and numerous indoor and outdoor teams in countries including Hungary, Scotland, and New Zealand throughout the 1970s, '80s and '90s; and brought the USA Track & Field Championships to San José for the first time in 1984, and then in '88. Bonanno also started the Bruce Jenner Invitational, which ran for nearly 20 years.

This is Part 1 of a multi-part article.

Complete Speed Training

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