Learning is Comeuppance

I've just been reading "What I've Learned From 50+ Years of Sprinting," by a world master's record holder in the 100 meters, Steve Robbins. It's humbling, to say the least, and also offers good observations and advice. For me, for some reason, the most heartening piece of wisdom is that "most of us can only aspire to decline at a slower rate than our competitors."

Here's what Steve has to say:

• Keep a journal of workouts--that way I can tell what I did or didn't do before a really good or bad performance.
• The tough news: speed is maybe 70% inherited--I've got a decent start, but all I can do now is work on the 30% that can be improved by training. 
• If you're just starting, have patience and listen to your body--Amen to that! It's much better to curtail a workout than injure myself, setting back training by weeks (as I've already done) or months. 
• Speed declines over the years due to shortening length of your stride--stretching the groin and hip flexors may be the only things that help.
• Track workouts should be no more than three times a week--distance and reps may vary, but should include a few high-effort trials, rather than more slower trials. For example, 4×150m at 80% speed with a two-minute recovery
• Use it or lose it--Even in off-season, one full-out workout every couple of weeks is needed. 
• Both upper and lower body strength is needed for sprinting--progressive resistance training about three days a week.
• Additional fat will slow you down--I should drop about 8 pounds
• Run "relaxed"--I can do this.
• Change training shoes about every 4 months.
• Injury management is essential to keep me on the track--that means listen to my body, rest, massage, stretch, and use my workout journal to see and eliminate patterns that led to injury.

Onward.