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 February 22-March 7 in this post. To learn more about Ngarambe click here.
Workouts for the Week: February 22-28
Monday: 12miles easy + lift
Ran most of it with Megan and Brandon again which is always a good time. Hip felt good today so that made me happy. Had a good lift session with Coach B afterwards!
Tuesday: 6 miles easy
Recovery days are getting harder and harder. Ran with Rachael and Brandon and legs didn’t feel “good” until maybe last 2miles.
Wednesday: AM: 5x1k with 3min jog + 4x200m with 75s jog + lift. Goal pace 3.12-15 for the 1ks. PM: 50 minutes aqua jog
Ran at the Green Swamp, a gravel path, which I enjoy. Was a bit off for the first 1k, but then on pace. Kicked a little on the last two per instruction. Was really tired going into the 200s, felt like I was running for my life haha.
Splits: 5x1k; 3.18, 3.11, 3.11, 3.11, & 3.08. 4x200: ?, 31, 32, 31.
Thursday: AM: 60minutes bike. PM: 30minutes bike
Friday: 5miles + strides
Easy 5 with the girls. Didn’t feel great, but strides felt nice!
Saturday: AM: 2miles easy. PM: 600m TT + 2x1 miles + 3x300m
Had a very HOT shakeout in the morning, so wasn’t surprised when the temperature read 88 degrees once we went to the track. Ran 1.31 for the 600 and then 5.25 and 5.19 for the mile repeats. The coaches turned 3x300m into 5x100m controlled because of the heat and injury risk.
Not happy with the result...I didn’t feel focused and couldn't turn over quite as fast as I wanted. Went through in 60’’ so ran pretty even - that could perhaps be something positive with the run haha.
Sunday: OFF (traveled to see Dr. John Ball)
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Commentary and Reflection of the Week: February 22-28
I’d assess this week as a solid week of work. I was disappointed with my 600TT but at the end of the day, it was quality work in combination with my lifts, Wednesday workout and long run. I think I was also a bit emotionally drained come Saturday from some stuff that had been going on in the week. Coach Amy left me a nice note in preparation for the TT, where she reminded me to take care of myself, and I think that’s my lesson from this week. I’m really good at recovering physically, but sometimes I tend to over-extend myself emotionally or mentally - and I think I did that this week. I also ended my week with seeing Dr. John Ball and I’m happy to be back working with him for a few days!
Commentary and Reflection From Coaches Amy and Andrew Begley on the Week: February 22-28
Yolanda gets better every week! She had two great sessions in the weight room, and is able to hold form with more complex exercises each week. We added in some partner exercises, so that added a little fun into the routine. Now that we are starting to get her weaknesses addressed, we can start to work on our typical areas in the weight room.
Wednesday, Yolanda stuck to the paces and didn’t press. Saturday was the big session, so she stuck to the plan on Wednesday. A big part of her success is her ability to trust the plan, and follow it 100%. She looked easy running her 200’s even though they are the same pace she had to push to hit prior to camp.
On Saturday, Yolanda didn’t have the best start, but grinded out the pace and was able to run a solid 600m. Her hip gave her a little trouble on the longer repeats, but that is expected when we push her to the edge. She ran two solid miles, and then cruised through the strides. She is strong enough to have stuck to the original workout, but we can’t always push to the edge. The smart move was to call it a day and push to the edge on another day.
To learn more about the coaches click here.
Workouts for the Week: March 1-7
Monday: 12 miles conversational pace + treatment
Coach B (Andrew) told me that I could run 12 miles if I found a soft surface to run on, or stick to 6 miles, if pavement was my only option. So I researched the area I was in, and found a loop that was 0.75 miles long, and somehow entertained myself to stay on there for the whole run. I think I averaged maybe 7:00-7:10 pace. My watch also died halfway, so I finished the run by counting laps haha. I got a quick lunch before I spent the rest of the day in Dr. John Ball’s office for treatment. I feel so happy when I get treated by him because he always knows exactly what’s going on. That is so reassuring and validating for an athlete - having someone understand and solve any of our physical problems. He also said that I progressed a lot since I saw him last, and those were the best words I’ve heard in the past 6 months HAHA.
Tuesday:6 miles easy + treatment
Ran at the same 0.75 mile loop today, and then back to the office until I had to leave for the airport. Had the BEST run of my life on the treadmill during my treatment (there’s a lot of treadmill running between treatments, and/or exercises) and I actually don’t have words for how amazing that was. If I can keep running like THAT, I will never doubt myself again.
Wednesday: AM: 3x(5x300m)with 100 jog, 4mins between sets. Goal pace: 48-49. + Lift. PM: 40 minutes bike
I was definitely worried that I was gonna feel a bit off in the workout, from traveling and enduring three days of (painful) treatment. The workout looked a bit crazy on paper with the 100m jog too. However, we were told that this was a “go to the well” workout, so that’s what we did and it ended up going really well. I didn’t record my splits, but they were mostly 49, with some 48’s’. The first set was actually the slowest with some 50-51, but after that we were on pace. My hip felt the BEST it’s ever had since last year so that was a great feeling.
Thursday: 60 minutes bike + Zoom with sport psych
Friday: 6 miles easy + strides
Ran with Allie and Rachael back in Atlanta and strides felt good! Still riding the high from my hip feeling good :) Then we made pancakes haha.
Saturday: AM: Vigil workout (run 100m at 65-66 then jog 100m. Add 100m to interval and jog until you can no longer hold mile pace) + Lift. PM: 40 minutes bike.
Splits: 100m: 15.5, 200m: 33, 300m: 48.7, 400m: 67, 500m: 1.23, 600 1.38 and 700: 1.56 in flats. Made it to 700m, which I ran 2 seconds over pace. After that, I ran 3x200m with 75sec rest in 30-31. Was lactic up to my ears once I got done haha. I’m happy about where I’m at though, as I did the same workout in January and only made it to 600m, but way over pace and with a bad feeling. My hip wasn’t super great today (I had to do corrective exercises between reps), but it never got really bad. As long as I can complete workouts and get better, I’m happy.
Sunday: OFF
Commentary and Reflection of the Week: March 1-7
Good week! Had a great trip to Phoenix seeing Dr. John Ball. I could rave about it all day, but if I start, I might not be able to stop. It was also nice to have some alone time after four weeks of camp - even an extrovert needs their solo time haha. On another note, I also got my period this week which actually explains why I felt pretty bad last week haha. I usually struggle a few days with PMS, feeling extra tired, running with heavy legs, emotional and overheated. Once I’m past that stage though, I feel great. It might not necessarily mean I feel extra good, I think it’s actually just the contrast of feeling normal again. This is something I wish we talked more about in sports, since the menstrual cycle really does make a difference in how female athletes feel/function on a monthly basis. All in all, I had a good week and feels good to be back in Atlanta!
Commentary and Reflection From Coaches Amy and Andrew Begley on the Week: March 1-7
Yolanda went to see running guru John Ball in Phoenix this week. He figured out her injury at the end of last year, and has been working to get Yolanda back on track. John told her that she is making good progress, and gave her the next steps to continue improvement. We are working to get Yolanda to run more like a sprinter again.
She traveled back to Atlanta on Tuesday, so we assumed her workout would be a little rocky. As a testament to her progress, Yolanda had an amazing workout! She ran 3 miles at mile pace, and looked easy doing it!
Yolanda still doesn’t feel great when running, but she hides it well. Although this might be frustrating, it is a skill to make things look easy even when it’s not. If competitors think you are not struggling, they are more likely to give up!
On Saturday, Yolanda kept the ball rolling with another strong workout. The workout started with 100 meters at mile pace, and each interval increases by 100 meters with the pace remaining the same. The rest is equal to the interval. Yolanda made it to 700 meters. We probably could have gone to 800 meters, but decided to do 3x200 instead. This was a huge improvement over what we did in the same workout about a month ago.
To learn more about the coaches click here.
