Javelin thrower Lee Doran shares with us the last part of his Warm Weather training as he moves on to Portugal, before coming back to Britain for his bow at the Olympic Stadium.
Monday – 24/04/12
I woke up this morning after a very long day travelling yesterday and I did feel it on my body. I was supposed to have a throwing session this morning but after a few throws I realised I wasn’t really getting anywhere so I decided to stop and do some rehab on my body. The throws I did carry out I looked quite heavy and everything was just slow and together and, as javelin throwers know, everything needs good separation! After a disappointing morning it was back to the hotel for some rest and a much needed Skype session!
This afternoon I had my weights session which consisted of Full Snatch, Split Jerk, S/L Squat and some Pullovers. After the morning session I know my body needs to try and recover so I kept my weights between 85-90% of my 1RM. The session went quite well and I was really pleased with the speed of my lifts although feeling tired. So plan is to watch some videos with Esa tonight and have an early night, ready for some jump tests tomorrow and hoping my legs recover for this!
Tuesday – 25/04/12
Today was a double session consisting of Jumps and Shots in the morning, followed by 300m, 200m and 3x100m. In our jumps we had standing, 3 bunnies and 5 bounds. My jumps were down from last week in Tunisia but I think I expected it, with my legs feeling drained and not having recovered well at all for some reason! Next up was shot testing, where I was very close to my personal best when legs weren’t feeling too good. My caber throw also went quite good with it being just shy of my personal best so all in all I was quite pleased with these results, especially with not feeling my greatest.
We were back in the afternoon for another session so, after my specifics in the gym, it was down to the gruesome stuff of the running (which I don’t usually do! Well not that distance anyway). We all carried out the running with keeping the 300m at 48-50 seconds and the 200m between 28-30 seconds and building up the 100m to me running 11.8sec (in trainers) and one of the other guys winning in 11.2sec (in spikes I must say lol). This was a good session and felt tired but really good afterwards so had a cool down, a dip in the cold cold pool, and went for a session with the physio Gordon Bosworth to work on releasing some parts of my body. Starting to feel better tonight so hopefully weights in the morning will be better than Monday!
Wednesday 26/04/12
Up early this morning and today we had a light session as we have a throwing session planned for the morning. My plan was slightly different today as I needed to do my specifics in the gym followed by some ‘wave load’ lifting and then to join the rest of the group for the afternoon session. I carried out my specifics followed by some Cleans but lifting around 80% of (120k for 2 and 107.5k for 2). I could have gone much heavier at the top end but the bar was really bent which meant the catch was a bit shaky and didn’t want to risk anything. I then had a light cool down and stretch. After the session I went to watch Tero Pitkämäki throw as he had a session here in Monte Gordo. The session was really good to watch and to analyse the technique and different styles of throwing.
This afternoon we had some co-ordination work followed by some specific strength in the gym. The session only really took around 1hr but the most important part of this week is our technical sessions, and having struggled on Monday I want the session in the morning to be much better than what it has been. So it is back to the hotel for food and little rest then a little physio for some recovery work to help me feel good for the session tomorrow. Pictures will be uploaded soon along with videos but it’s quite hard to upload when you’re overseas!!
Thursday - 27/04/12
This morning, the group had a throwing session and after Monday I was hoping this session would be better! After an appointment with the physio Gordon and a good warm up, it was time to go outside in a little rain for a throwing session with Esa. Today I wasn’t planning on having many throws as we were concentrating more on technique than anything else. I started with some nice and easy walks up and down the field then moved into some rhythm approaches.
The session started really well and to speed my technique held up and we kind of made a break through with the finishing to my throw, which I felt really hard to get today - but having got it on a few throws, there was good separation with my throw. However, this was too inconsistent so I must work on this over the next few weeks. This afternoon we have some hurdles, jumps and some shoulder rehab work! I will post some videos of this session on-line (hopefully tonight) in the media gallery of www.leedoran.com and you can take a look at my work.
Tunisia Warm Weather Training - Technical Session
Tunisia Warm Weather Training - Short Run up
Tunisia Warm Weather Training - a moment of rest (Saief Dance)