Tara DiLuca Hurdles Training

Outdoor season is often a slow and difficult transition from indoor season. Spring season brings with it the 100 meter hurdles, which has ten hurdles, as opposed to indoor season, which is the 55 meters or 60 meters, and only five hurdles. Therefore, my training for outdoor season focuses on speed endurance and focusing on maintaining my rhythm over hurdles 7-10. My straight sprint workouts consist of interval training with 100s, 120s, and 150s, with short rest periods between each repetition. My hurdle workouts consist of training over more hurdles.

Sample workout week for outdoor season:

Hurdles Training DAY 1: Hurdle Rhythm Day

3 x (3 x 12 hurdles over the middle walk back rest) rest 5 minutes between each set.

Focus on:

Staying on balls of your feet
Keep knees in front of the body
Exhale as you drive knee towards the hurdle
Snap Leg down off the hurdle while simultaneously driving trail leg over and off the hurdle
Keep you eyes on the following hurdle

Hurdle Training DAY 2: Straight Sprint Day

4 X 150 meters
rest 3-4 in between each repetition
Focus on: maintaining form and running 19-20 seconds for each 150

Hurdles Training DAY 3: Weight Room

Spring season is lighter lifting alternate lower body and upper body.

Lower Body Workout

Squats rest 75 seconds
10 x 115
10 x 120
8 x 135
6 x 140
6 x 140

Swiss Ball Leg curl rest 75 seconds
x 6
x 6
x 6
x 6

Calve Raises rest 60 seconds
15 x 115
15 x 115
15 x 115
15 x 115

Leg Extensions rest 60 seconds
10 x 60
10 x 60
8 x 75
6 x 85
6 x 85

Leg curl rest 75 seconds
6 x 60
6 x 65
6 x 75
6 x 75

Pull-ups rest 30 seconds
X5
X5
X5
X5
X5

Push ups with claps rest 30 seconds
X5
X5
X5
X5
X5

Upper Body Workout

Push Press
5 x 3 reps rest 90 seconds start with 55lbs Dips 4 x 4-6 reps rest 90 seconds
Chin-Ups (Palms facing you) 4 x 5 rep rest 90 seconds

Flat Bench Press (barbell)
4 x 6 rest 75 seconds start with 65lbs

Bent over rows
4 x 6 rest 90 seconds start with 65lbs

Hurdle Training DAY 4: Hurdle Sprint Day

5 x (12 hurdles @ 30″) rest 6 – 8 minutes between sets
From blocks and discounted
Hurdle 1 is 1 step in
From hurdle 1 to hurdle 8 (each hurdle 8 meters apart, 28steps)
Focus on attacking each hurdle and keeping knees and feet in front of the body

Hurdle Training: Workout of the Day

Set up every other hurdle and do 4 x Hurdle 1-3-5-7 (discount steps, 1 step in, 3 steps in, 5 steps in, 7 steps in) rest 5 minutes between each rep. This workout will force you to run in between the hurdles.

Training Nutrition Supplements

Protein Extreme Energy in the morning
GSH Ignite about 1 hour before workout
Maxodin about one hour prior to race

Delicious Dish of the Day

High Energy Protein Oatmeal Pancakes

Ingredients:

• Liquid Egg Whites
• Quaker Oats
• Vanilla Extract
• Cinnamon
• 1/2 banana (optional)
• Protein powder Ignite Natural or Protein Extreme Energy)

Directions:

• 1/2 cup liquid egg whites
• 1/2 cup oats
• dash of vanilla extract
• few dashes of cinnamon
• 1/2 banana (optional)
• scoop or serving of protein powder
• Blend all ingredients in a blender (I use the Magic Bullet)
• Pour into a pan and cook over low heat for about one minute. Flip and cook other side.

Tara-Hurdles-Competition

January was a successful month for me competition wise.  I reached a goal of running my personal best in the 55 meter hurdles, and placed second in the Colgate Women’s Games held at Madison Square Garden on 1/31/10 with a time of 8.39 in the 55 meter hurdles.  I competed in the 60 meter hurdles in several other competitions throughout January and February, including Boston Invitational, USATF East Regionals (2nd place), and USATF Connecticut Championships (1st place).

I am not setting my sights on my outdoor season, which starts in April.  I plan on competing in the 100 meter hurdles at various outdoor meets, including New York State Empire State Games.  Check back for updates!

Supplements:

I have been taking Protein Extreme Energy in the morning before breakfast.

I take 2 Maxodin before I compete, and

GSH-Ignite prior to a workout.

Lots of anticipation followed me to Week 1 of the Colgate Women’s Indoor Games.   I have had this recurring nightmare for years that I either forget my sprint spikes, or that I am late for my race.  Well, this week, the meet was running ahead of schedule, so when I arrived, my heart jumped as I saw the hurdles set up and ready to go.  I had to do an abbreviated warm-up, while quickly saying hello to long-time friends and fellow-competitors, who come together only at this time of year, every year, for the Colgate Women’s Games.  Keep in mind, that each week athletes advance to the next week based on their performance, in hopes of qualifying for the finals at Madison Square Garden.  This is a six week track series.  There were a lot of women competing in the open 55 meter hurdles, and I placed second in my heat in the trials and second overall in the finals.  My time was faster in the trials, and I felt a little strain in my right lead leg hip flexor, that has been plaguing me on and off for a few weeks now.  My left hamstring was also a little sore.  As far as training, we added plyometrics and power exercises to my training this week.  Coach Johnson incorporated box jumps and cleans after my hurdle workout, which will help me with my starts and exploding out of the blocks.  Keep in mind that the open athlete has a different training schedule than a collegiate athlete.  A collegiate athlete trains with the expectation of running their peak times in late January and February at championship meets.  As an open athlete, my major competitions are in February and March.  Therefore, I started speed and hurdle training a little later this indoor season, so I did not feel as sharp and quick over the hurdles as I would have liked, but my training is devised so that each week I run a little faster….so stay tuned!

The goal for this phase is to build a foundation in strength & power  before starting speed training.  My weight training during this phase is 3-4 sets of shorter reps and heavier weights.

Tara DiLuca USA Track&Field Hurdles

This phase focuses on developing strength and power, which will be important when working on block work to the first hurdle.  I am also focusing on developing ankle flexibility, which is important for a hurdler.  The start requires explosive and controlled drive and power.    Right now, my training phase on the track includes Sprint Day 1 of mobility training over 5-7 hurdles close together.  No rest period.  This is a continuous workout performed on the balls of my feet.

Day 1 Training:

Hurdle mobility

Step overs  x 5 each side

Side Step overs (walking) x 5 each side

Leading with the left

Leading with the right

Lead leg shuffle (over side of hurdle) x 5 each side

Leading with the left

Leading with the right

Side Step overs (QUICKLY!!!!!) x 5 each side

Leading with the left

Leading with the right

Day 2 Training:

Consists of training over 8-10 hurdles and covering a distance of approximately 100 meters.  During this workout, I do repeat 5 step drills over 8-12 hurdles (depending on week) with trail leg, lead leg and over the middle.  I position the hurdles about 40 feet apart (counting with my own feet), so that I can get some good speed in between each hurdle.  I am focusing on not reaching for the hurdle, quickness, and dorsi-flexing my toes and driving my trail leg through and snapping down my lead leg.  Rest period is key, and I take 3 minutes between each rep and 5-8 minutes between each set.  (2 sets of 3-5 reps with lead, trail and middle).  By the end of the workout, I have gone over about 90 hurdles!

Tara DiLuca Hurdles Competition

Elite Sports and Fitness is pleased to welcome Tara DiLuca aboard as the newest contributor to the blog. She’ll be blogging under the name ‘fit law girl.’ Tara is a high-energy, high-achieving person – to put it mildly. While working as a litigation lawyer, she’s won 1^st place in the women’s 55 meter hurdles at the Colgate Women’s Games, Madison Square Gardens, every year since 2007 and just recently placed 1^st in the 100 meter hurdle event at the 2009 USATF East Regional Track & Field Outdoor Championships, amongst other achievements.

She has also competed in NPC (National Physique Committee) and INBF (International Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation) as a Figure Competitor. We’re all looking forward to reading her tips on training, competing and balancing a demanding professional life with a high-intensity workout schedule.

Here is list of Tara’s events from 2009

Indoor 2009

• 2009 Colgate Women’s Games, Madison Square Garden-1st place 55 meter hurdles

• 2009 USATF Indoor Connecticut Indoor Track & Field Championships- 1st place 60 meter hurdles

• 2009 USATF New England Indoor Track & Field Championship-3rd place 60 meter hurdles

• 2009 Valentine Invitational, Boston, MA-7th place 55 meter hurdles

Outdoor 2009

• 2009 MAC Association Track & Field Indoor Championships-1st place 60 meter hurdles

• 2009 New Balance USATF Club Nationals, held at Icahn Stadium in New York City-4th place 100 meter hurdles.

• 2009 USATF East Regional Track & Field Outdoor Championships in-1st place 100 meter hurdles

• 2009 USATF Metropolitan Association and Empire State Liberty Track & Field Outdoor Qualifier-2nd place 100 meter Hurdles

Last year – the summer of 2008 – at age 44, my body and life were coming apart at the seams. Everything was falling apart – I had joint issues, recovery issues, low energy, and was just not able to perform athletically like I used to. Due to a problem with my elbow joint, I could not even pick up my 4 year-old daughter, do a pull-up or curl a dumbbell.

Then a friend recommended I try a product called Protein Extreme Energy. Within 3 days of taking it, my elbow joint recovered. I could do pull-ups and exercise with no pain during or after. I had more energy for daily activities, and friends began complimenting me, saying I looked younger.

I felt younger too, more like I had when I was at the top of my game. I began training seriously again, and went on to become the Worlds Fastest 200m indoor sprinter in 2009, in the Master category. I was running my times from 12 years ago, faster than the average college student times. I can not express how amazing it feels to be able to do this again – this is my life and my work.

I continue to take Protein Extreme Energy every day. With this product I notice faster recovery times and overall better health, which enables me to train at the levels I need to achieve my goals.

My goal now is to run faster than my times in the 1992 Olympics, and I believe I will.