About Hometown Hopefuls Hometown Hopefuls follows Atlanta Track Club Elite Team members Abe Alvarado, Brandon Lasater, Keturah Orji, Yolanda Ngarambe, Jarryd Wallace and Allie Wilson as they continue their journey toward Olympic glory. Be there every step of the way from training camp to the Olympic Trials and to Tokyo with every workout, every split, athlete reflections and coaches' comments too. Six athletes. Six months. Six shots.
Alvarado reflects on his training period between February 8-21 in this post. To learn more about Alvarado click here.
Workouts for the Week: February 8-14
Monday: 14 miles @ 6:14 average
Tuesday: 6 miles @ 7:10 average
Wednesday:
- 2 mile wu
- 15x200 with 60 sec jog (32 down to 26 seconds)
- 2 mile cd
- Lift right after workout
- P.M. 5 mile double @ 6:47 average
Thursday:6 miles @ 7:08 average
Friday:5 miles @ 7:30 average plus strides
Saturday:
- 2 mile wu
- 2:30 minute time trial (made it past 1025 meters) - 6 min rest
- 3x3 min tempo with 2 min jog in between
- 4x200 with 75 sec rest - 27-26 seconds
- 2 mile cd
Sunday:Off
Commentary and Reflection on the Week: February 8-14
I started the week with a good progression long run (14 miler) with my teammate Wilkerson. The first mile was 6:58 and we cut down to a 5:28 for the last mile (6:14 average pace). Later in the week I had some 200’s to get the legs moving for a time trial on Saturday. On Saturday I woke up ready to go. However, due to terrible weather conditions the original time trial got pushed back and modified. Being an elite runner you have to learn to adapt and that’s what I did. We had a 2:30 minute time trial instead followed with a workout after. The objective was to try and run as far as you can in 2:30 minutes. I didn’t make it as far as I wanted to, but I walked away putting good quality work in that will set me up well later in the season.
Commentary and Reflection From Coaches Amy and Andrew Begley on the Week: February 8-14
Abe is enjoying having teammates to workout with on the strength and speed side. He ran the long run at the 10 Mile Clay Loop with Wilkerson Given, a marathoner, and had one of his best long runs. The rest of the week was set up for a time trial on Saturday. The workout on Wednesday was 15x200 meters with a 60 second jog recovery, working the 200s down to 800 m pace. The workout was on a couple of turf soccer fields. The first half we had them turning right and once we went back the other direction turning left they felt more comfortable and the times got faster. Due to COVID we are not going into the gyms, which means we brought all the weight room supplies with us. The garage is the makeshift gym. We hunted around Florida to find Olympic weights for the bar. Abe was finally able to lift with weights this week.
Abe handled the uncertainty of Saturday really well. We were scheduled to do a time trial relay but the stormy weather delayed everything. Once the weather cleared we did a 2.5 minute time trial. Abe got just over 1,025 meters. We did 3 minute tempos and 200s after the time trial. Abe was able to run with Wilkerson in the 3 minutes and Avery in the 200s. He continues to look strong and controlled in the workouts.
To learn more about the coaches click here.
Workouts for the Week: February 15-21
Monday: 10 miles @ 6:55 average
Tuesday:
- 2 mile wu
- 12x400 with 90 seconds jog(every 3rd one fast) - 68, 68, 61, 67, 66, 59, 66, 65, 57, 64, 63, 55
- 2 min jog
- 200 - 26 seconds
- Lift
P.M. 5 mile double @ 6:38 average
Wednesday:6 miles @ 7:08 average
Thursday:
- 2 mile wu
- 12x400 with 90 seconds jog(every 3rd one fast) - 68, 68, 61, 67, 66, 59, 66, 65, 57, 64, 63, 55 seconds
- 2 min jog
- 200 - 26 seconds
- Lift
- P.M. 5 mile double @ 6:38 average
Friday:5 miles @ 7:07 average
Saturday:
2 mile wu
400 all out - 48 seconds
7 min rest
6x800 with 2 min jog in between - 2:21,2:18, 2:13 ,2:12, 2:13, 2:09
4x200 with 75 sec rest - 25 seconds
2 mile cd
Sunday: off
Commentary and Reflection on the Week: February 15-21
Commentary and Reflection From Coaches Amy and Andrew Begley on the Week: February 15-21
Abe continued to make solid progress. This was a three workout week. We do this to simulate the demands that championship racing place on athletes. We had two primary workouts with a secondary workout sandwiched between.
Tuesday, we worked out on turf fields. The brand new wheel we bought for camp broke as we were measuring the loop, so we had to GPS the 400 meter course. After the fact, we found it was a little short, but the turf is slower than a track, so it all panned out. Athletes have to be able to adapt to changes. At meets, there could be delays from weather, timing issues, or a host of other issues. We try to throw challenges into our planning, but this one happened naturally. The athletes handled it well.
Abe looked strong. We did 2x400 at tempo pace, followed by a fast one. We repeated this 4 times. Abe looked strong on all of the tempo intervals. We knew he was on a roll when he started to push the pace on the last few tempo intervals. He has always been able to push the fast ones, but it’s good to see Abe developing strength to rival his speed. Abe hammered the last fast interval, and put a good distance on his teammates. We had a surprise 200 in store for the athletes. He nailed it! In the past, when we have surprised him with an extra interval after he has finished hard, he got mad. Today, he didn’t say a word. He just executed the plan. The mental growth is matching the physical growth.
For the second workout, we had a light tempo, followed by some 100 meter sprints. We ran into the Hanson’s team, so that was a nice surprise. Abe looked easy on both the tempo and the sprints.
Saturday was the big workout. Abe battled Avery Bartlett onthe 400 meter interval, but ultimately pulled away with a 48.2. We were interested to see his strength tested on this workout. Historically, he has struggled on aerobic intervals after a hard effort like this. Today, he switch gears with ease. Wilkerson Given’s workout overlapped, so he helped push Abe to his limits on the 800 meter intervals. He hung strong until the end. On the last interval, he fell off a little, but responded instantly when Amy told him to correct the gap. He’s still learning to trust his new-found strength. Avery and Abe battle over the last 200’s. They made 25’s look easy.
This was a good week! Abe is starting to put strength, speed and mental toughness all together.
To learn more about the coaches click here.
