Florida Atlantic University track schedule

I am proud to announce that the Florida Atlantic University track and field team will be competing in so many meets this upcoming season. The following schedule is of where the team will be traveling starting in January 2009. Feel free to visit the website, http://www.fau.edu/ and go to the athletics page to follow up on how the track team is doing. Go Owls!

2008-2009 Florida Atlantic University Track & Field Schedule

The following are indoor meets that the team will be traveling to:
01/16/09 Washington Indoor Seattle, WA
01/17/09 Washington Indoor Seattle, WA
01/29/09 Mountain T Invitational, Flagstaff, AR
01/30/09 Mountain T Invitational, Flagstaff, AR
01/31/09 Mountain T Invitational, Flagstaff, AR
02/01/09 Mountain T Invitational, Flagstaff, AR
02/06/09 New Balance Invitational, New York, NY
02/07/09 New Balance Invitational, New York, NY
02/28/09 Sun Belt Indoors, Jonesboro, AR
03/01/09 Sun Belt Indoors, Jonesboro, AR
03/13/09 NCAA Indoor Championships, College Station, TX
03/14/09 NCAA Indoor Championships, College Station, TX

The following are outdoor meets that the team will be competing in:

03/14/09 FAU Invitational, Boca Raton, FL
03/20/09 Hurricane Challenge, Coral Gables, FL
03/21/09 Hurricane Challenge, Coral Gables, FL
03/28/09 Golden Knight Invite, Orlando, FL
03/29/09 Golden Knight Invite, Orlando, FL
04/11/09 Miami Elite Invitational, Coral Gables, FL
04/23/09 Penn Relays, Philadelphia, PA
04/24/09 Penn Relays, Philadelphia, PA
04/25/09 Penn Relays, Philadelphia, PA
05/08/09, Sun Belt Outdoors, Murfreesboro, TN
05/09/09 Sun Belt Outdoors, Murfreesboro, TN
05/10/09 Sun Belt Outdoors, Murfreesboro, TN
05/16/09 Georgia Tech Last Chance Meet, Atlanta, GA
05/28/09 NCAA East Regionals, Greensboro, NC
05/29/09 NCAA East Regionals, Greensboro, NC
05/30/09 NCAA East Regionals, Greensboro, NC
06/10/09 NCAA Nationals, Fayetteville, AR
06/11/09 NCAA Nationals, Fayetteville, AR
06/12/09 NCAA Nationals, Fayetteville, AR
06/13/09 NCAA Nationals, Fayetteville, AR
06/25/09 USA Junior Nationals, Eugene, OR
06/26/09 USA Junior Nationals, Eugene, OR
06/27/09 USA Junior Nationals, Eugene, OR

GO OWLS! Make sure to check the website to follow how the FAU Owls do this season!

Accelerate yourself to the finish line

Acceleration is crucial to winning performance across numerous sports. Forget just running at your top speed. Athletes that can increase their speed, which is what accelerating is, more rapidly than their rivals can gain an incredible performance advantage.

The most obvious example is the 100m sprinter, who might not attain the highest top speed, but reaches the finish line first because they are able to attain their top speed before the other competitors. The event may be won or lost, in the first ten or twenty meters.

The purpose of acceleration is to analyse what makes for a quick getaway from a technical point of view, and identify the best training methods to develop this crucial aspect of sport performance.

Track coach, Owen McGregor trains his athletes to run the first 30 meters of every race. He believes very strongly that a race can be won or lost in the first 30 meters. If you are running a 400, you are on a stagger start. Which means since you are running around two turns, you need to try and catch the person infront of you. If you catch the person infront of you in the beginning, you have strengthened your lead.

Acceleration drills can be done with or without tape. Coach McGregor puts down about 20 pieces of tape all about a yard from each other. Try and run as fast as you can and step of every piece of tape. This will also help lengthen your stride pattern.

A stride pattern is important and instead of trying to explain it to you, the assistant track and field coach at Western Michigan University, does a great job doing so in this article.

Spikes will make you run faster

Track spikes are very important. You never go to a track meet and find a sprinter running in their trainer shoes. Spikes are lightweight and have spikes on the bottom, which help you to run on your toes. If you did not wear spikes it would be harder to run on your toes which would make you flat footed when you run.

There are two types of running spikes, the most common type being worn by the sprinters. These spikes usually consist of an extremely lightweight shoe which has a base plate which allows the runner to insert spikes into the base of the shoe.

These spikes provide the runner with better traction on the track. They also help the runner to dig in better and also help to prevent slipping.

There are different types of spikes for different surfaces which ultimately you need to pay attention to. Most track meets have the rules listed and you will be able to see what limitations they have on the spikes. Certain meets don't allow you to wear some longer spikes.

Runners who plan to use running spikes should be aware of these rules and guidelines before they participate and should also carry replacement spikes as well as spikes of a different size to ensure they are properly prepared for each race.

Make sure you have extra spikes on you at all times. A lot of times a spike will come loose and you will lose it. It is bad to run with any spike missing.

If you are planning on running in spikes in meets, you should try to train in them a little bit to make sure that they fit your feet. Nothing is worse than having spikes that do not fit or that are not formed to your feet.

If you have any questions at all about running in spikes most sports equipment stores will be able to assist you in finding the right pair for you. This website answers some very important question about track spikes. If you have ever had a question about whether or not to wear them, check out this site.

Pool workouts can keep you running

A lot of athletes use the pool as a way to recover from injuries. Whether you are injured or not, working out in the pool is a great way for sprinters to stay in shape. Using pool workouts are great to take the pressure off of pounding and taking the strenous activity off of the legs, but all while keeping the athlete active.

Do sprints, kickboard and underwater swims will strengthen your legs tremendously. The burn you feel while in the pool is a different kind of burn than you get while you are running.

If you want to do a cardio workout in the pool you can do an easy pace cardio swim to burn fat at a higher rate.

If you want an intense workout in the pool, try this one that the FAU coach recently gave his injured athletes. Do five x 50m sprint freestyle, rest with 20 seconds, hydrate if needed. Then five x 100m sprints, any stroke and rest 40-60 seconds in between each set. When done with your sets, make sure to do a cool down.

Just like if you were running and needed to do a cool down, the same goes for in the pool. After an intense workout your heartrate will be up and you need time to let it slow down again. Try swimming a few laps in order to help that.

Also, if you are still feeling up to it, try to do something we call "under overs." "Under overs" are designed to help strengthen your lungs and help your breathing. Take a deep breath and then go underwater, try to swim as far as you can until you can't hold your breath anymore. At the last second before you feel like you can't hold it any longer, hold it for one last second before coming up. This will strengthen your lungs and help you with your endurance.

Happy swimming!

Beach runs will make you stronger

Running on the beach is tough. It is one of the most effective ways to boost edurance and strength in your legs. Running on sand is something that you really have to ease into, it is really hard on your calves. If you want really big calves, running on the sand is a great way to get them.

According to Florida Atlantic University track coach, Alex Smolka, running on the beach is very benefitial. Even if you do not do speed runs on the beach, just going for a distance run will help build muscle.The FAU track team will start doing beach runs in week eight, in order to start developing more footspeed.

Running in the sand will strengthen your body but could also strengthen your mind. With the breeze blowing and the waves crashing, a lot of people use this as a way to relax. Once you are done with your beach run, you could go for a light swim or cool down in the water.

I found a really good website that gave me some very good tips when it comes to beach running. My own personal tip is to wear shoes and socks. I know it is probably going to be hard to run in shoes, but I have learned from experience that by not wearing them, it is very likely that you will get blisters.

You should visit this website to check out the other tips that they give.

In the past for a sprint workout, we jogged a mile warmup and then did twelve 150 meter sprints, as fast as you can.

Sprint training week six

It seems like you have been running forever, hasn't it? The calendar just keeps flipping from month to month and no races have happened yet. It's hard to keep doing workouts week after week but I promise, it is going to help you in the future. The workouts are getting harder and are meant to be run faster. So stay strong and push yourself to the limit. The first meets of the year are coming up and the training will make you stronger.

Monday:

Jog two laps around the field, stretch and do drills. Make sure you do the two new drills I added in a recent blog. After drills, make sure you grab some water and get ready to run. Do some quick runs for about 20 meters just to get your fast twitch muscles going.

Long sprinters: the workout is 500, 300, 200 x three. Run a 500, walk a 400, run a 300, walk a 200, run a 200 and walk a 100. Do that three times. Try to run your first 400 out of the 500 in 62 seconds. For the 300, try to run it in 42 seconds and for the 200 try to run it in 26 seconds. In between sets make sure you get some water and stretch out.

Short sprinters: the workout is 250 x six. Mark off 250 meters and run the first 200 meters in 27 seconds. Try to maintain that pace for all six of your runs.

Tuesday:
Both jog two laps around the field, stretch and do drills. Make sure you do the two new drills that I mentioned in a recent blog. After drills, make sure you grab some water and get ready to run.

Long sprinters: run 300+300 x two. Run a 300, rest for one minute, run another 300. Walk a 400 for recovery and then do it again.
Short sprinters: run six times 150meters. Walk back to where you started from for a recovery.

Wednesday: Both long and short sprinters warm up and do drills. You do not have to do the two new drills that I have recently mentioned in a new blog. Stretch out and then head to the weight room to do a lower body workout.

Thursday: Go to a hill somewhere that is safe and mark off 200 meters. Both long and short sprinters run 10 times up a 200 meter hill. If you can not find a hill, go to a gym and put a treadmill on an incline of at least five. Try to make it up the hill in under 35 seconds.

Friday: Jog two laps around the field, stretch and do drills, including the two new drills. After drills, make sure you grab some water and get ready to run.

Long sprinters: run ten 100 meters as fast as you can. Walk 100 meters inbetween.
Short sprinters: run 12 times 100 meters. Walk a 100 inbetween.

Congratulations on running for this long. Track is a sport that takes a lot of dedication. One of my favorite quotes is, "our sports is your sports punishment." If you think about it, all the other sports, if they get in trouble what do they have to do...run! That is all our sport is. We are runners and have to push through all the hard times.

Yoga for Runners

The key to being any athlete is flexibility. I have started taking yoga classes because I have not flexible at all. I could see how all the other girls on the team were able to touch their toes and hold stretching positions for at least 20 seconds. I was jealous and needed to figure out what I could do to become more flexible.

I talked to head track coach at Florida Atlantic University, Alex Smolka, who told me that "yoga is a great way to relax the mind and truly focus on your body. Flexibility is important for sprinters because you need to get the full range of motion out of your body. You can't do that if you are tight."

The website, http://www.yogaforrunners.com/, promotes a video of yoga made for a runner by a runner. According to the website, Christine Felstead's Yoga for Runners is an easy, empathic method of improving flexibility for all athletes, regardless of body type. The four-part format allows you to focus on any individual segment or run through the program in its entirety.
-Fundamentals - as a runner, how to integrate yoga into daily life to improve sitting, standing and running postural alignment.
-Lower Back
-Hamstrings
-Hips

After only taking yoga for four month, I can already see a difference in my flexibility. I am able to hold stretches longer and reach past my foot when I am sitting down doing stretches. It is amazing to me because I always thought I was semi flexible, but once I was done with my first few classes of yoga and could stretch further, I realized I wasn't flexible at all.

Yoga will also help keep you keep your balance. As a sprinter, you need to be able to balance yourself when you are coming out of the starting blocks. If you have ever competed before, you know that there are chances that a starter can hold you in the blocks a lot longer than he really should. If you have strong arms you can hold yourself up, but if you don't then it's over. Yoga can help strengthen your arms and help you keep your balance for those times in the starting blocks.

Yoga classes are available at most gyms and also at specific locations. To find a location just look it up online or in a phonebook!