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.
Ngarambe reflects on her training period between May 10-23 in this post. To learn more about Ngarambeclick here.
Workout for the Week: May 10-16
Monday: - 60 minute bike (2 x 10 minute + 6 x 30 sec/30 sec) Tuesday: - AM: 45 minutes bike easy - PM: 5 minute run/1 minute walk + 4 mile run Wednesday: - 60 minutes (10 x 3 minute run /1 minute walk) Thursday: - AM: 45 minutes bike easy - PM: 5 minute run/1 minute walk + 4 mile run Friday: - 60 minute bike + Lift Saturday: - OFF Sunday: - AM: 45 minutes easy bike - PM: 5 minute run/1 min walk + 10 minute run warmup. 12 x 1minute run/1minute walk. 1 mile cooldown + Lift Commentary and Reflection of the Week: May 10-16 This week I had my first “workout” back. My initial reaction was disappointment after I completed it, but once I talked through it with the coaches, I realized that it actually went totally okay. This is going to be a relatively slow process, but as I move forward, I’m going to implement the thinking Coach B told me. He said that when coming back from injury, you never look at the future but always look back at your progress. This keeps me grounded and helps me see how I am doing better and able to do more and more with my achilles!
Commentary and Reflection from Coaches Amy and Andrew Begley for the Week: May 10-16
Yolanda continues to add more running to her weekly routine. She even had her first running workout this week! We aren’t completely out of the woods, but we are making progress.
We reset her race schedule, so we can refocus her training. Yolanda has until the end of June to prove fitness, and if she does, she will make the Olympic team. This is a nice situation, as we have plenty of time to get the correct training in, and not rush to race.
We would like to get one race in early June here in the States. From there, Yolanda will head back to Sweden for a series of races. The culminating event will be the Stockholm Diamond League. This is our new focus.
With injuries you cannot look ahead. You have to live in the moment, and make sure you are doing everything you can without focusing on the uncontrollables. I had to remind Yolanda that the only way to measure progress during an injury is to look back and see how far we have come. We can’t control how Yolanda’s Achilles will respond, but we can control how we react.
Next week will be a big week. The goal is to have her back to “normal” training by the end of the week. We are making progress!
Workout for the Week: May 17-23 Monday: - 60 minutes bike (20 x 1 minute hard/1 minute easy) Tuesday: - AM: 5 minute run/1 minute walk + 5 mile progression run (6:51, 6:20, 6:06, 5:45, 5:39) - PM: 45 minute bike + Lift Wednesday: - 60 minute bike (12x2/1)
Thursday:
- 5 minute run/1 minute walk + 4 miles Friday: - AM: 40 minutes bike - PM: 5 minute run/1 minute walk + 10 minute warmup. 8 x 2 minutes run/1 minute jog. 1 mile cooldown + Lift Saturday: - 60 minute bike (10 x 3 minutes hard/1 minute easy) Sunday: - 6 mile run (5 minute run/1 minute walk and then finish up the 6 miles) Commentary and Reflection of the Week: May 17-23 Things are moving forward. I was very pleased to be able to run back to back days and up to 6 miles on Sunday. The highlight of the week was my progression run as it was my first run at faster paces, and I was happy with what I could run in trainers at The River. I held back in the beginning because I wasn’t sure how my achilles would react, but it felt better and better as I went, so that was fun. Ricky biked with me for my progression, and that helped a lot too! I am not able yet to run on my toes, so that is still restricting me from hitting faster paces, but I’m trying to focus on what I CAN do and be grateful for that. For example, I was able to run faster in my progression run than in my 12 x 1 minute fartlek last week. Patience, patience, patience!
Commentary and Reflection from Coaches Amy and Andrew Begley for the Week: May 10-16
Yolanda made some serious progress this week! She was able to get three solid workouts in during the week. She was frustrated after the first session because her paces were not what she hoped. However, she made a big jump in the 2nd workout, so she really gained some mental momentum with this breakthrough.
Her last workout of the week was another big step forward, so we are getting back on track for the remainder of the season. We have decided to focus on training for the remaining time she has in the US, before heading to Europe to get in some racing.
Next week will be a big test, as she will step on the track for the first time. The next big hurdle is to get her back on her toes. This week she was running tempo paces, which allow her to strike on her midfoot. This puts less stress on the Achilles. As we shift to faster paces, this will put her up on her toes, so this will be a test of how well the Achilles has healed.
The final step is going to be getting back into spikes, so she is ready to race. Right now, we are on a good pace to get there, but we have a lot of work to do!
