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We had the week off over Easter. Went for a jog with some sprints mixed in on a grass oval on Sunday. Foot felt a bit sore initally but got better. Felt OK afterwards. Diclofenac didn't do much, but it's getting there anyway. I went to the physio again and he did more work on my calves. I think a lot of the nagging problems I've had lately are linked to tight calves. I work on them every night but just self-massaging them, haven't been foam rolling because it's awkward and I felt it wasn't doing anything. But I have been foam rolling them hard the last week or so and I think they actually respond better to that than self-massage. Will keep it up. For the record, my problem areas that pop up during high-intensity sprinting/jumping work (e.g. last few months) are:

- Tight lower back --> piriformis --> work with hockey ball and rumble roller every night

- Tight calves --> shin splints, plantar fasciitis --> roll calves hard with rumble roller, feet with softball

- Knee issues --> haven't been bothering me lately (knock on wood) but make sure hams/glutes are firing and not too much jumping in short periods.

Gym:

5 min row

Power cleans: 10@50kgs, 5@70kgs (just practicing form)

Squat: 1x6@60kgs, 1x5@80kgs, 1x5@100kgs, 1x5@120kgs

In between: usual supp ham/core exercises

Bench: 4x10@70kgs (failed last rep of last set, burned out)

In between: back/shoulder

BW: 78.5kgs

Just a do-whatever-you-want session. There's gym on Sunday then we have the whole week off until the following Sunday. That's when we start the Winter program. I only know what's happening for the first month or so:

Monday: Off

Tuesday: Track - drills and tempo

Wed: BW weights (lots of pushups, situps, chinups, pullups  - might struggle here initially)

Thursday: Same as Tuesday

Fri: Pool or Off

Sat morn: Hill sprints

Sun morn: Basketball court - med ball throws and JUMPS !!! 

It'll change to gym work and track stuff after this. There's also 4 weeks of plyos in there somewhere. The cool thing is we book out the indoor basketball court on Sunday for an hour to do medicine ball work and low level jumping drills. I will plan to do some rim jumps before the session as well. There's a lot of low-intesity running so I have to make sure I'm healthy going in. Will be paying attention to all my issues as listed above. I'll also be interested to see how I go with little gym work for awhile.

Went to the gym Sunday and last night (Wed) during this rest week. Did 4x10@85kgs Sun and 4x10@90kgs Wed for squat, both fairly easy. Foot is nearly there, I did the active warmup and stride-throughs last night and while it did hurt a bit near the end, it feels better today. I've noticed when I bend the toes back and rub along the medial arch it feels like bubble wrap. Heaps of adhesions there I guess. Getting a massage tomorrow then Sunday is the start of the winter training program.

that guy can go jump in a lake.

Whoa I've been slack updating. Last week:

Thurs - same marching drills as Tues w/ankle weights and 4x150m at 80-85%

Sat - 5 sets of sled dragging drills (16kgs) then 220m sprint

Sun - same indoor circuit, skipping, med ball throws, jumps, core, dunks on lower ring

Tues - marching drills with ankle weights, 4x60m 80-85%

Wed - 1200m time trial (4m30s - big improvement), fitness circuit x 2, 2 laps sprint-jog

Thurs -  marching drills and 5x150m@80-85%

BW: ~78-79kgs

These sessions have been really good. Getting fit. Running jumps are getting better as well. I just need to stay on top of all the niggles though. Shins are a bit sore with all the running volume.

how do you feel like sprinting has carried over into running jumps?

Tbh I haven't really tried running jumps lately just to be safe with my foot. I talked to my coach about it and he said he's generally seen increases in running vertical jumps corresponding with increased performances in acceleration and top speed in the 100m. Most of his top guys will naturally attempt SLRVJs when we dunk in the gym (well they dunk and I watch), and they get up. So hopefully it'll help me as well. As I've mentioned before, when I was 16-17 I was jumping ~35'' and nearly dunking off SLRVJ with just my 100/200m training, probably weak as a kitten back then.

Yeah that would be crazy. He looks uncoordinated in that windmill dunk video in MSG but I imagine that's only because he never practices dunking. With a few weeks practice he'd be flying.

_________

Saturday: sled work (5 sets dragging 16kg sled ~60m, high knee drill for 50m then high knee pump fast for last 10m) followed by 5x50m sprints, then 220m run. Cool-down UB after. Felt shins a bit jogging in flats, spikes actually felt better.

Sun: Some dunks on the <10ft ring, the the circuit work as usual. Definitely felt shins here 

BW:78kgs

Gotta be careful with my shins. Dorsiflexion is something I've always struggled with and need to make a conscious effort to dorsiflex more on landing to absorb the forces better. Doing calf raises a lot as well to strengthen the anterior tib muscles.

Sunday:

Basketball warmup then 8-10 dunk attempts on 9'9-10ish ring.

Skips, med ball throws, med ball core, DL/SL bounding work

Mobility stuff

BW: 78kgs

Tuesday:

6 sets marching drills w/ 1.5kg ankle weights (as in above video)

6x60m at 85%

200m sprint

Cooldown UB/core

BW: 78kgs

Feeling pretty good lately, foot is still a bit stiff during warmups but goes away, and shin splints are sort of there, don't really affect me atm but need to keep them under control.

I'm noticing I'm finally getting higher on my SLRVJs than DSVJ/SVJs. It's a bit hard to gauge how high on the bent ring. It gets a little more bent every week! When I have another chance I'll go down to the courts near my house and just do a bunch of SLRVJs.