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.

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!