6 replies to this topic

[dste6]

Hi all,
I'm very new to running as a competitive sport, so pardon the naivety. I'd like to get into the track and field scene, specifically sprinting 100-400m.

I'm 21 and have been very into weight training for a few years now, but have never done anything other than jogging until recently. I started doing HIIT (sprint intervals) this year to get my BFI down, and realized that I enjoy it alot more than distance running. This got me interested in sprinting.

So I'd like to ask, other than the obvious (just run!), how would someone like me get into this sport? Where can I learn proper form? Are there clubs and team training sessions? etc

I would deeply appreciate any advice that anyone could give me on this. I live in eastern suburbs of Melbourne btw.

Cheers.

[TrackRunner]

dste6, on Jun 17 2009, 02:08 AM, said:

Hi all,
I'm very new to running as a competitive sport, so pardon the naivety. I'd like to get into the track and field scene, specifically sprinting 100-400m.

I'm 21 and have been very into weight training for a few years now, but have never done anything other than jogging until recently. I started doing HIIT (sprint intervals) this year to get my BFI down, and realized that I enjoy it alot more than distance running. This got me interested in sprinting.

So I'd like to ask, other than the obvious (just run!), how would someone like me get into this sport? Where can I learn proper form? Are there clubs and team training sessions? etc

I would deeply appreciate any advice that anyone could give me on this. I live in eastern suburbs of Melbourne btw.

Cheers.

There is an old saying " you dont pick the distance the distance picks you" and it is very true. You must find the distance that your body is naturally better at. if you have good numbers of fast twitch fibres then sprinting fast will come easy. Can you break 12 sec for 100mtrs of break 11 sec ? if you can then you are doing well. Im a 1500mtr runner but still do sprint training to develop my speed but can only do 12.5 for the 100 so i have a ways to go. the good thing about sprint training is the volume of work is much less and longer recoveries between reps. Remember the best way to increase maximum speed is to train at maximum speed. like short 30 mtr accelerations, 50 mtr reps fast and 100 mtrs accelerations with full recoveries and wind sprints for speed stamina. And if you have been doing lots of weight training you may be to heavy for anything over 800 anyways. So my advice is to train like a sprinter for 6 months and see how your race times over the shorter distances pan out then you will know. joining a club is a must, find a sprint squad in your area. ( there will be one at any major track ) Good luck

Edited by LOVE22RUN, 17 June 2009 - 07:42 AM.

[walker1st]

You either know everything tehre is to know and some more and so You can coach Yourself.

Or You pick a good coach and join the club.

Where exactly do You live ?

Do You wanna stay close to Your residential address ?

If You are only some fun sprint races You can visit as a guest masters nights :
tuesday - Croydon, wednesday - Knox, thursday - East Burwood, allways from 7pm

But for coachinh You need to join the club, personaly I can allways see some sprint groups coached
at Knox athletic track.

Look at Athletics Victoria website and look for list of the clubs - with thier location and contact numbers.

further south east there is a new club - Cardinia which from memory uses track somewher around Berwick ?

[dste6]

walker1st, I live in Chadstone so I'll probably look at Oakleigh, Waverley or Malvern clubs, going by the look of Aths Vic site. Registering with AV and club comes to around $200, I didn't realize it would be that expensive. Is it possible to join a club without registering with AV, given that I wont be competing right away? Also, How much do coaches normally charge?

LOVE2RUN, yeah i definitely agree, I have been taught that while training can bring about some change in proportion of fast and slow twitch muscle fibers, alot of it is genetically determined. I'm pretty realistic, as I'm sure I have no Western African blood in me . I'm attracted to sprinting because I'm fairly short (5'7") and have always managed to produce good power while lifting, and lift above my weight class (I'm 68kg atm). I've never been able to put much bulk on though, but after growing out of the usual teenage Ronnie Coleman idolation phase, I realized that I don't really want to be bulky anyway . I do realize that squat strength doesn't necessarily translate to speed though, so I'll definitely try out some short sprint reps.

[walker1st]

dste6, on Jun 17 2009, 02:40 PM, said:

walker1st, I live in Chadstone so I'll probably look at Oakleigh, Waverley or Malvern clubs, going by the look of Aths Vic site. Registering with AV and club comes to around $200, I didn't realize it would be that expensive. Is it possible to join a club without registering with AV, given that I wont be competing right away? Also, How much do coaches normally charge?

I have no answers, sorry, I am personaly not registerd with AV or with any AV club as such,
only with specialist club - racewalking club of victoria, and that is much cheaper...

so actually I am club member but not AV member - so this is possible, and I am doing races every week with club and masters etc, the only limitation is I cant do AV championship races for titles, but I have raced few times at AV rounds as invite for $4 or $5

how much coaches charge - I have no idea, it must be very individual,

while marathon coaching somehow wrongly gets away with internet coaching, I cant see this working in sprinting.

If You find all option not acceptable, and are intersted in some form of loose coaching arrangements
send me a PM I can help You initialy.

[HillsAths1]

Get a coach and get a club, sprinting on your own is pretty boring after a while and you do not push yourself as hard.

(I was going to say that you need to be in a group, because if you do all that muscle flexing and preening that most sprinters do, then you would look silly doing it on your own, but I wont say that).

Check the AV site and then check the results page and check out the results for the clubs you mention and see if they have a sprinting program(sprinters doing sprints) otherwise you could end up joinging a club who only has throwers or distance runners and little or no sprinters, which would be of no help to you.

Another thing to try would be to look up on the Australian Track and Field Coaches website and see if there are coaches in your area.

[dste6]

Excellent resources, thanks everyones. Can anyone from Melbourne recommend a good sprint coach? I wouldnt mind driving out a little bit to learn proper form.