Sprint Training

Chris Faust
Head Boys and Girls Track Coach
Cherokee Trail High School
jfaust2@cherrycreekschools.org

Track Success at Cherokee Trail High School

-In 13 years of being a varsity program, the CTHS Boys Track Program has
-won 7 League Championships
-finished in the top 7 at the State Championship nine times
-won 2 State Championships
-won 9 State Championship relays (two 4x100m, three 4x200m, four 4x400m)
-30 CTHS male athletes that competed are currently competing at the collegiate level
-In the first year of being the Girls Track Coach
-League champions
-State Champions
-State Champions in the 4x100m, 2nd at State in 4x200m, 3rd at State in 4x400m
-While we have had several talented and successful throwers and distance runners, I believe the
bulk of our success as a track program has been due to our sprinters/jumpers/hurdlers, who all
do some variation of our sprint workouts.

Before the Season:

-Be visible
-Try to attend at least one athletic contest for every team at the school
-Talk to every student that you can!
-Attend track clinics
-CTHS sprint workouts have been influenced by several presentations from track clinics
(TJ Henderson, Teenan Anderson, Barbara Crousen, Mark Brady)
-as have our techniques involving relays (Stuart Leinemann, Phil Wollbrink, Pat Busteed)
-Talk to your former athletes competing at the collegiate level
-ideas for new drills and workouts

CTHS Sprint Training Philosophy

-We train all our sprinters to be quarter-milers for the majority of the season
-It’s much easier to train for the 400m, and drop down to the 100m, then it is to train for
the 100m and try to run the 400m
-Through hard work, less talented athletes can have more success in the 400m than they would
in the 100m.
-Running the 400m is hard, and having every member of the team run the open 400m and the
mile relay promotes team building and the idea that we are all in this together
-It makes athletes mentally tougher
-It prepares athletes for the multiple rounds of the State Meet.
-For our athletes that are part of the Short Sprints group during the last portion of the season,
400m training gives them a base that allows them to decelerate less in races, particularly in
200m
CTHS Sprint Training Philosophy (continue)
-Track and field is a process
-Fast is fast, but the more consistent work an athlete puts in, the more successful they will be
-two parts:
-first part of practice (warm-up drills, hurdle flexibility, wicket drill)
focuses on proper form and technique
-second part of practice (intervals, hand-offs, field event work) focuses on
getting stronger and more competitive
-The longer an athlete is in the program, the more successful they will be
-We highly encourage athletes to participate in our winter track program
-Allows us to put athletes through a modified training cycle
-November through February
-Compete at the Simplot Games, and take a week off before the outdoor season
-Only for athletes not playing a winter sport
-Competing, and being a multiple sport athlete, is still the best option, but not always
a reality

Warm-up Routine
-This is done every day prior to the main workout, and a modified version is done on meet days
-1200m jog (distance runners do 1600m, this gets everybody done at same time)
-dynamic warm-up
-drills (toe touches, high knees, butt kicks, A skips, B skips, carioca, alternate fast leg, etc.)
-hurdle flexibility
-wicket drill
-individual stretches
-jumpers and hurdlers have additional drills that are event specific
-the last 3 weeks of the season, we will add a series of 25m accelerations off of plyometric boxes

Monday Workouts
-Typically the most difficult workout of the week
-This workout is at the core of our philosophy to train all sprinter to be quarter-milers
-For the last portion of the season, we will break into groups
-Short sprints (100m/200m sprinters, horizontal jumpers, 100m/110m hurdlers)
-Long Sprints (200m/400m sprinters, 300m IM hurdlers, 800m runners)
-300m IM hurdlers may do part of their workout over hurdles

Chris Faust | Cherokee Trail HS CHSCA Track Clinic 1/30/16 2

 -Monday workouts over the course of the season:

Week #1: 4x600m (float 100m, 400m in 60-70 seconds Boys, 75-85 Girls, float 100m)
Week #2: 2x600m, 3x300m (the 300m’s are on a hill)
Week #3: 2x450m, 4x40m, 3x200m
Week #4: 2x450m, 2x350m, 1x250m
Week #5: 2x500m, 2x300m
Week #6: Off the Monday of Spring Break
Week #7: 2x450m, 4x40m, 2x200m
Week #8: Long Sprints: 4x300m, 4x60m
Short Sprints: 6x150m, 4x75m, 4x50m
Week #9: Long Sprints: 1x500m, 1x400m, 1x300m, 1x200m
Short Sprints: 2x250m, 2x150m, 6x75m
Week #10: Long Sprints: 2x300m, 3x200m
Short Sprints: 4x150m, 6x75m
Week #11: Week of Centennial League Championships
Long Sprints: 1x400m, 1x300m, 1x200m, 1x100m
Short Sprints: 1x200m, 1x150m, 2x75m, 2x50m
Week #12: Week of Colorado State Championships
4x150m as part of 4x200m exchanges

Tuesday and Thursday Workouts

-Field event days of the week
-Jumpers and hurdlers will do a modified workout designed by their event coach
-Sprinters will do a combination of 150m (Tuesdays) and 50m-75m (Thursdays) involving relay exchanges
and blocks
-For relay exchanges, exchange zones are created on the track so that athletes can
-practice 4x200m exchanges while running 150m (Tuesdays)
-practice 4x100m exchanges while running 50m (Thursdays)
-For starting block work, groups of athletes will run repeats of
-150m on Tuesday to focus on coming out of blocks on the curve
-50m-75m on Thursday to focus on coming out of blocks on the straights
-We will decrease the length of these workouts as the season progresses:
Tuesday Thursday
Week #1: 3x(4 sets of short hills) 3x300m hills
Week #2 8x150m 8x75m
Week #3 8x150m 8x75m
Week #4 8x150m 8x75m
Week #5 8x150m 8x75m
Week #6 Spring Break 8x75m
Week #7 7x150m pre-meet workout (Friday meet)
Week #8 6x150m 6x75m
Week #9 6x150m pre-meet workout (Friday meet)
Week #10 5x150m 5x75m
Week #11 4x150m League Championships
Week #12 4x50m State Championships

Chris Faust | Cherokee Trail HS CHSCA Track Clinic 1/30/16 3

Wednesday Workouts
-Variation of the “Endless Relays” workout from the coaches at DeSoto High School (Texas)
-One of the premier high school track programs in the country
-Presented at the New Mexico clinic a few years ago
-Series of repeat 200m’s
-As season progresses, the number of 200m we run decreases, and the speed increases
-We do not run as an endless relay unless we are near the end of the season
-During the early part of the season, inconsistent hand-offs tend to separate
the groups
-One coach starts groups of athletes on one side of the track, with another coach at the finish line
-finish line coach give hand signal at 100m mark to indicate the correct pace
-Athletes walk across infield, generally get 2-2 ½ minutes rest
-Athletes need to focus on consistency, not running too fast early, and then not hitting the
marks the rest of the workout.
-Most varsity athletes hit the fast end of the required times, and the workout really builds their
confidence in their abilities as the season progresses
-Weekly Progression for Wednesday Workouts:
Boys Girls

Week #1: 10x200m 36-39 seconds 42-44 seconds

Week #2: 10x200m 36-39 seconds 42-44 seconds
Week #3: 10x200m 35-37 seconds 40-42 seconds
Week #4 8x200m 32-34 seconds 38-41 seconds
Week #5 8x200m 30-33 seconds 37-40 seconds
Week #6 7x200m 29-32 seconds 36-39 seconds
Week #7 7x200m 29-32 seconds 36-38 seconds
Week #8 6x200m 28-31 seconds 35-37 seconds
Week #9 6x200m 27-28 seconds 33-35 seconds
Week #10 5x200m 26-27 seconds 31-34 seconds
Week #11 10x50m League Championships on Thursday
Week #12 5xflying 30m State Championships on Thursday

Friday Workouts
-JV athletes are usually at a meet
-Allows the coaches not at the JV meet to get more individual work with varsity athletes
-Fairly short practice
-dynamic warm-up
-review meet information (busses, meet schedule, meet entries) during individual stretching
-jumpers will take some run-throughs to confirm their marks
-sprinters in open events or and lead-off legs of relays will come out of blocks a few times
-4x100m will work exchanges in zones they will be in during Saturday’s meet
-4x400m and 4x800m will practice exchanges at the finish line
-everyone will run 5 or 6x75m off the curve

Chris Faust | Cherokee Trail HS CHSCA Track Clinic 1/30/16 4