This is Part 2 of the Cool Down on trying to improve recovery & regeneration. Part 1 can be found here. I briefly mentioned Autogenic/Parasympathetic Breathing Techniques from our Zoom Pandemic series of 2020. Well worth a listen on my Youtube channel. I also wrote about Deep Breathing Exercises to Relax or Calm Pre-Race Jitters way back in 2010. Andrew Huberman has entered the chat If you aren’t following Andrew Huberman on YouTube, either his long weekly 3 hour podcast series or his shorter Labs Clips series, you should… if you like science based research. I know I do. In this short sni ..read more

How important is the cool down after your workout? or race? I wrote about the importance of the warm up earlier. Nowadays, for me, it’s the long walk to the weight room or locker room that will suffice. That is, after I drink my post workout protein shake. If I race a 400m, I’ll just jog 1 lap after putting on my sweats, very slowly, just to “flush out the lactate” as they say. That takes about 2-3 minutes. Photo credits: Kampus ProductionsOld Research Back in the 1980’s, there was an experiment (citation needed!) where they had lab mice run to exhaustion, then inject radioactive lactate (or l ..read more

There really isn’t any secret on how to race the 400m. You hear about the 4 P’s (Push Pace Position Pray). But at the end, you need a good top end speed, and the ability to maintain that. As ironic as this may sound, you have to put MORE effort after 60m to get LESS speed as the race progresses. Especially at the 200m point where one can ‘fall asleep’ and really slow down! A good read and 3 minute video can be found in Iwan Thomas & Michael Johnson: How to Race the 400m. Wanda Diamond League Final 2023, Hayward Field, Eugene 400m Wanda Diamond League Final 2023 Omega Timing does a good job ..read more

I had a few comments about my pre-race routine, with a 55 or 60 min warm up before entering the Call room. I usually take a full 60 min, but have cut it back to 55 minutes on race day. Prob because of nerves, or I’m slightly rushing it. Or, I don’t have my teammates with me to “talk, yack or gossip like grandmothers”. In fact, James Zois (back in 2012) suggested 1 hour was way too much. See our Skype recording from 2012. Yes, we used Skype back then. The reasoning behind this was Post-activation Potentiation. The duration of the warm up has a lot of factors, such as call room times, weather, i ..read more

People think Video Analysis software is too time consuming, resource intensive, or just too expensive. This 32 page ebook is packed with good tips. Yes, you have to sign up, but they won’t spam you with your email address. I signed up many months ago, and have yet to receive a follow up email. Download this free ebook from Dartfish to learn how to: set up a video analysis system set clear analysis expectations and objectives measure the performance of your athletes evaluate the results and adapt your action plan Click here >> https://www.dartfish.com/trackandfield-ebook Today, we all ..read more

I remember the expression “Building a Base”, and Dan Pfaff would say “Building a Base of what?”. There is some truth to that. More on that later. So this is the final instalment of a 5 part series: The Journey & Realistic Goal setting The 10 changes I needed to do to avoid injury as in the past Race Report, part 1 (including the superspikes) EMAC in Pescara (part 2) Some changes for 2024 to prep for WMA in Gothenburg Moments before heading to the Call Room2023 in Review.. Success? Let’s review my goals for 2023 (on a limited 7 month training block): (sub) 28 & 60 for 200m and 400m r ..read more

This is Part 4 of a multi-part series. The Journey & Realistic Goal setting The 10 changes I needed to do to avoid injury as in the past Race Report, part 1 (including the superspikes) EMAC in Pescara (part 2) this article Some changes for 2024 to prep for WMA in Gothenburg Getting there & getting sick! The only direct flight to Pescara was a train to London Stanstead. Else, it was fly direct to Ancona, then take (an Italian) train to Pescara. Given the track record, I simply didn’t trust UK trains and their strikes. I got there eventually, with the usual EasyJet delays, only to be g ..read more

This article has photos & videos of some of my races. Everything below is listed in the UK Power of 10 rankings, which is all public information. No hiding or lying on Seed times (which is a whole different story!). (Pescara results are still pending at the time of this writing) This is Part 3 of a multi-part series. The Journey & Realistic Goal setting The 10 changes I needed to do to avoid injury as in the past Race Report, part 1 (including the superspikes) this article EMAC in Pescara (part 2) Some changes for 2024 to prep for WMA in Gothenburg In short, I broke the 2023 season d ..read more

This is Part 2 of a multi-part series. The Journey & Realistic Goal setting The 10 changes I needed to do to avoid injury as in the past (this article) Race Report, part 1 (including the superspikes) EMAC in Pescara (part 2) Some changes for 2024 to prep for WMA in Gothenburg If you are attempting a Masters comeback, or simply want 10 tips to apply for your training, here goes: 1. Lose Weight, Realistically You need to get your weight down using habits that are manageable (no crash weight loss). 400 meters is a LONG way to carry 10 kg of excess luggage. In my case, I lost 6 kg or 13 lbs ..read more

I started this Blog in May 2007, trying to dump my coaching & athlete experience in the “book I never wrote“. 2007 was also my 1st year running Internationally (for Canada) at the WMA (as M40) in Ricionne, Italy. Those stories & videos are here on this blog. Honestly, I didn’t expect a hiatus of 16 years before my next International meet. I would be in a new age group (M60) and running for a new country (UK). The primary reason for not racing was INJURIES, primarily Achilles tendonitis…. Since 1998! And it did blow up in 2016, 7 years ago! I didn’t think I would race again after my ful ..read more