Training report spanning 2024 January 09 through 2024 July 12

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I’m so slow it hurts.

Imagine running a race where your competitor lines up 20 yards behind you…yet still beats you by 5 yards. As this journal starts (2024/01/09), that’s how my sprint times line up with my aspirations.

But knowing how massive the gap is from my A to my B is actually a gift. Rather than being discouraging, it fires me up to walk the long road ahead.

Here are the numbers, using fully automatic timing on hard turf wearing cleats. I weighed about 101 kg / 222 lb on these two test days.

• 2024/01/07, 60 meter from 3-point start: 9.06 sec
• 2024/01/04, 40 yard from 3-point start: 5.90 sec

How Slow Is That, Really?

A Perspective on NFL Speed

The slowest time in the 2023 NFL combine for the 40y dash was 5.50 sec, run by Henry Bainivalu of Washington.
The fastest time in the 2023 NFL combine 40y dash was 4.26 sec, run by DJ Turner II of Michigan.

That means I’m 5% slower than the slowest league prospect last year (who was more than 100lb heavier than me!) and 36% slower than the fastest league prospect.

A Perspective on Track Speed

Here’s another take: the slowest time run in 2023 NCAA D3 indoor track championships’ finals was 6.96 sec by Stefan Klechefski of Wisc. Eau-Claire. 

The fastest time run in 2023 NCAA D1 indoor track championships was 6.46 sec by Terrence Jones of Texas Tech. (Wreck ‘em!)

That means I’m 30% slower than the last small-school guy to make the 60m finals and 40% slower than the fastest collegian in the United States.

Athlete	Event	Mark	Mean Fly Speed
DJ Turner II	40yd dash (NFL combine)	4.26 sec	25.1 mph
Henry Bainivalu	40yd dash (NFL combine)	5.50 sec	18.2 mph
yours truly	40yd dash	5.90 sec	16.7 mph
Athlete	Event	Mark	Mean Fly Speed
Terrence Jones	60m dash (DI indoor champs)	6.46 sec	24.6 mph
Stefan Klechefski	60m dash (DIII indoor champs)	6.96 sec	22.5 mph
yours truly	60m dash	9.06 sec	16.7 mph

A Look At My Starting Point

My mean fly speed in both of those sprints is less than 17 miles per hour.

“High school football fast” is 20 mph.
“High school track fast” is 22 mph.
“Pro football fast” is 24 mph.
“World class track fast” is 25 mph.

Even the world class mark for a 30-39 year old masters sprinter is nearly “high school track fast”…so at 34 years old, I’m 5 mph too slow, however you slice it.

At 101 kg, compared to the 88 kg of a sprinter at my height, I’m also 15% too heavy.

With this as the starting point, I know it will be a long road to my goals.

How I Got Here and What I’m Doing About It

Given that I spent 2017 to 2023 gaining weight (not the athletic kind!), training endurance the wrong way, and losing strength, it’s little surprise that I’m not fast or powerful right now.

I’m heavier than I’ve ever been, total less in lifting competitions than when I started competing in 2011, broad jump nearly a foot shorter, and run the 40 about 0.8 sec slower than my last formal test. That’s what’s bad about this situation.

What’s good about this situation is it’s completely clear.

The best thing about track & field or weightlifting is that they are measured and objective. As Dan John and Pavel wrote in Easy Strength, these sports differ from football and gymnastics in that they are not “fuzzy.” There are no judges assigning points in weightlifting. There isn’t another player trying to knock you out in track. Sure, there’s a tiny bit of variability caused by weather and elevation, but those can be measured empirically, factored out, and noted in the records.

So the gift in all of this is that I know the measures of success. I know the process for attaining those measures. I know that if I train fast and lean out, I can expect to pick up every one of those miles per hour to be “world class 30-39 fast”.

The only question is how long it will take. So while I started this article in January, you’re actually seeing it after six months. Monthly progress is reported below.

How I Train To Lose Fat and Run Faster

SPEED 3 days per week

1. Speed drills for 10-12 minutes
2. 2-4 timed reps with 5 min rest between
3. 10-15 medicine ball throws, 2-4 hurdle reps, or 6-10 jumping/bounding exercises (never all three of these, rarely even two)

STRENGTH 2 days per week

1. 5-8 sets of lifting (Olympic lifts, pullups, KB swings), though occasionally I stack this on speed days instead
2. 30+ minute brisk walk OR playing with the family (skiing, hiking, riding bikes)

REST 2 days per week, minimum.

I weigh myself on the same scale & measure my waist with the same tape every day, track food in my training journal, time sprints with the Freelap timing system (on a lined field or marked track, with a measuring wheel as backup), and lift at home.

Progress Reports (6 months in 2024)

1 month in, here’s the progress report:

• 2024/02/02, 60 meter from 3-point start: 9.02
• 2024/02/02, 40 yard from 3-point start: 5.85
• Mean fly speed: 16.8 mph (+0.1 mph)
• Average bodyweight: 221.1 lb

I simply didn’t deliver in January.

My weight did not trend downward as intended because I let my sleep hygiene slip and didn’t document my food with the necessary rigor to meaningfully adjust week-to-week. I also missed 5+ training days that month due to adverse weather (speed sessions), my own poor planning (strength sessions), and the flare-up of an old injury (both).

2 months in, here’s the progress report: 

• 2024/03/10, 60 meter from 3-point start: 8.36
• 2024/03/10, 40 yard from 3-point start: 5.52
• Mean fly speed: 18.1 mph (+1.4 mph)
• Average bodyweight: 217.9 lb

Improved 0.66 sec in the 60m and 0.33 sec in the 40y…while I know I’m building some power, really those 3.2 lb make a big difference too. That’s 1% bodyweight, after all. What I liked about this month was that I got 13 practices in, plus a reasonable volume of lifting. Basically, I did the work that I knew needed to be done. Then I was rewarded for it!

The month to come is heavy with work travel and family events, so keeping the momentum will be challenging.

3 months in, here’s the progress report: 

• 2024/04/04, 60 meter from 3-point start: 8.24
• 2024/04/07, 40 yard from 3-point start: 5.42
• Mean fly speed: 18.5 mph (+0.4 mph)
• Average bodyweight: 219.0 lb

Made meaningful progress this month, especially since my weight essentially didn’t budge. There were a lot of nights of poor sleep, considerable travel for work, and a 10-day stretch of sustained stress. What I liked about this month is that I stayed consistent with training, despite the variables. I appreciate the power gains, but really want to see that bodyweight fall.

In the next month, there aren’t many known distractions or trips, so I hope to see everything trend the right way!

4 months in, here’s the progress report:

• 2024/05/02, 60 meter from 3-point start: 8.70 
• 2024/05/05, 40 yard from 3-point start: 5.50
• Mean fly speed: 17.6 mph (-0.9 mph)
• Average bodyweight: 212.0 lb

Not so much this month. I attacked my eating habits and the weight started peeling off, but between a run of sloppy bedtime routines, not doing my rehab every night, and pushing too hard in training, I spent more days hurt than I did training well. May tends to be a solid month of family activities and volunteer work, so I readily anticipate a lot of barriers to success. My real goal is to keep dropping weight and not backslide any further – which means discipline about sleeping and rehabbing that I didn’t show last month.

5 months in, here’s the progress report: 

• 2024/06/21, 60 meter from 3-point start: 8.24
• 2024/06/21, 40 yard from 3-point start: 5.34
• Mean fly speed: 18.7 mph (+0.9mph)
• Average bodyweight: 207.9 lb

Had my first hurdle race since 2017 a week ago, then jumped into another Highland Games with my brother-in-law. It’s all supposed to be “just for fun”, but I’m actually racked with anxiety and being somewhat unkind to myself. That said, I found a rehab mode that didn’t work for me, refreshed the good habits for modes that do work for me, and am in less pain than I was in late April/early May.

As for the progress, well, I had to make a massive and disruptive weight cut to compete as a Lightweight in the Games (down to 198lb!)…then I spent nearly 10 days recovering from that shock to my system. In those same 10 days, there were health issues in my family, which resulted in absolutely peak stress. So I was a mess all month, but still managed to improve my 40 yard dash. Pleased with it. 

6 months in, here’s the progress report: 

• 2024/07/01, 60 meter from 3-point start: 8.20
• 2024/07/01, 40 yard from 3-point start: 5.09
• Mean fly speed: 19.5 mph (+0.8mph)
• Average bodyweight: 205.5 lb

The stress didn’t get much better throughout June and I knew our Great Family Birthday Week (07/04 – 07/06) would be disruptive. So I went out for a serious training session, set up just like a meet. I brought my pop-up tent, a blanket, a lawn chair, snacks, extra water, and various changes of clothes. I took my time with warmups, settled in for long rests between attempts, and made ample use of my headphones.

All that energy poured into having one great day worked for me! But, to be candid, I’ve been pretty flat since. I’m recording this update on 07/12…I had my first training session since this day (except for a light hurdle technique walkthrough on 07/05 morning) just last night. That’s what a peak experience is – you break through, but the next step is always DOWN. Better to step down than fall off. [That’s Mark Reifkind’s line.] I think I did a bit of both. But now I’m eager to build on it. Track meet next week to wrap up this season, two weeks of light work, then I’m off to be a weightlifter-who-sprints again, rather than a hurdler-who-lifts like I need to be during track.

How Fast Am I Now?

Over 6 months, I progressed from 16.7 mph to 19.5 mph, a 17% improvement.

I dropped from 222 lb to 205 lb without giving up my health or performance (except for that ugly weight cut), an 8% improvement.

My gap to high school track fast is still 2.5 mph so the work isn’t done.
But I know how to get there and I don’t plan to stop there when I do.

Hear me: this training program was incredibly boring… on paper.
Honestly, I was never bored!

Every morning was an opportunity to see progress on the scale or with the tape.
Every training session was an opportunity to see progress on the timing board or against the tape measure or with weight on the bar.
Every month writing out this progress with the threat of publishing in July was incentive to do the little things — food prep, rehab before bed, stretching on rest days.

These six months were the critical beginning for me. I’m back to competing in track because I finally accept that it is my greatest love in sport and that I don’t have to be done competing in it if I don’t want to be.

This is what’s possible when you train fast, lift heavy, and eat clean, from a guy trying to eat his own cooking. You can do the same. I’d love to help you with it, just reach out.