IndianaRunner

[Drake]

Here you can discuss Matt Dorsey's training.

Feel free to ask questions, make comments, critique or just read!

Hopefully, Matt will chime in and answer.

Here you can find his latest blog entry:
http://indianarunner.com/MattDorseyTrainingBlog2011.aspx

[DorseyRuns2Win]

If you can't tell by the username, this is Matt Dorsey here and im just itchin to start bloggin! If you have any questions regarding running, other sports, or just life at Lawrence Central High School feel free to ask! I will attempt to answer these questions to the best of my knowledge. Feel free to critique me or make fun of any misspells i have. It won't hurt my feelings. On a site note, i apologize for the lameness of the "About me" section of my bio. I'll slip in a lot more about myself and life as a lawrence central bear in my upcoming blog posts.



PS- FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER - @Matt_Is_Winning

[1bob11]

i have a couple questions for you dorsey. during track, your guys 4x8 team went from being one of the best in indiana to eventually blowing everyone away by the state meet. i'd like to know how your training progressed throughout the season, starting i supposed from the winter until june. like did you guys have huge bases coming in or did you hold yourselves back early to be able to run your best times later? it's so crazy looking at your guys splits and having a 1:56 be the slowest leg haha, god that's much better than what i can go for 800. also how was your guys' team chemistry on the 4x8? i'd assume that you guys were all friends and stuff, maybe outside of school even. i don't really have as much companionship in track, but in cross i know that we are really close knit since we rely on each other for the group's success. if you could elaborate a little on that, that'd be great.

so yeah basically just training progression and team unity would be nice to talk about. thank you

[DorseyRuns2Win]

Dear bob,
I could seriously write a novel about my 4by800 team and our season but i am going to try to keep it relatively short. With returning all of the members of our 4by8 team from the 2010 state meet, we knew that we would have a chance to go after the state record and trained with that in mind. Michael steele and Jeron brown both came to xc practices during the summer to build some miles and help improve their 800 times and i think that really helped. As we got into indoor season i can't tell you how many mpw we got up to but i don't remember it being anything crazy. Jeron brown and Michael steele ran with us twice a week to get some miles in. A big thing that happened for us in indoor season is Adam Turner really developed into a great 800 runner which allowed jeron to focus on the 400 more.

Our coach felt like we were running on tired legs towards the end of the 2010 season so we raced less this season and i felt like that made difference. We first realized at the conference meet that we had a realistic shot at taking down the state meet record when the team of myself, michael steele, jeron brown, and connor claflin going 7:45. Also that meet i believe adam turner broke 2:00 in the open 800. Things were starting to shape up around then and we started becoming more and more of a team.

It sounds cliche, but by the end of the season we were more like brothers to each other then just a track team. Adam turner, connor claflin, and i all live coincidentally less then 800 meters from each other. We spent the entire day before the state meet chatting and playing Rise of Nations online. (2nd best computer game ever, best is easily backyard baseball) My 4by800 teammates became some of my best friends and we were not going to let each other down. Personally, i think that made a huge difference. That we all were all willing to lay it on the line for each other and for our school like brothers in arms. We all ran at our best when it mattered most.


Spark notes:
-We raced less and didn't run as hard early in the season for we weren't running on tired legs toward toward the end.
-As the season progressed the members of my 4by8 team became more of brothers to me then teammates


Shout-out to Connor Clafin, Adam Turner, Michael Stele, Jeron Brown, and Aaron Laster for helping making June one of the best months of my life.


Hope i answered everything bob! if you have any more questions then feel free to ask!

[AGlove800m]

Hey Matt, I gotta ask, how did you go 1:51 with only 53 second quarter speed? I'm sure you could probably run faster than that in June, but still, I split 51.4 my third race earlier in the season and I would have had a lot of trouble running as fast as your 4x8 split. That was just one of the big things that stuck out to me when seeing your split the first time.

[DorseyRuns2Win]

Well we did some all out 450m sprints in june and the fastest i ever went for the 400 was a high 52. i knew that i didn't have the same leg speed as most of the people who i wanted to compete against so i put an emphasis on starting my kick with 300m left and that seemed to work. I'd go out in 54-55 in most of my 800s. Adrenaline, large crowd, and a national meet atmosphere also contributed a lot to splitting the 1:51.4

[LongRunner800]

Could you please tell us more about the life of a Lawrence Central Bear and how it may have proven beneficial in becoming the Indiana 4x800 meter record holders? Fell free to explain the daily routines in explicit detail

[ccrunner]

best is easily backyard baseball

YES.

[1bob11]

haha funny stuff with the computer games. personally, i'm a league of legends fan. you should try it! and yeah that's some cool insight, thank you.

[Flo-Rida]

I've been dying to know... how do you run as fast as you do with the form you have?

[DorseyRuns2Win]

dear longrunner800

Well for starters at LC we are highly recommened as track athletes to take a weight training course. The past 2 years which i've been at LC coach holman, head track and xc coach at lc, has also been in charge of the weight training class. This time is really beneficial for we are not only able to lift weights but do any strecthing, icing, running, or anytihng else that we need to do. I really liked this time esspecially when i had the class on meet days for i just felt looser and more ready to race.
Second we have a great coaching staff at LC lead by coach Holman. I would not be the same runner i am today with out coach Holman. He has really helped show me what running is all about and he has given me opprutunites which i never even dreamed of having, like going to nationals. Holman knows a lot about the sport of running and life (he has been around since dinosaurs roamed the Earth) and i coulnd't have asked for a better coach. I can tell you that every single track coach at LC, even the throws coach, has helped me becoming a better person, student and runner.
Also at LC we have alumini who now help coach (tyler mccreary and Roosevelt washington). Having them there is VERY beneficial for it wasn't too long ago when they were in our shoes. The morning of the track state meet Nick Middleton, LC xc, 3200, and 1600 school record holder, came in and talked to us about what it takes to be successful and talks like that from former LC runners really means a lot because you are running for the same school they were.
And the last thing i can think of is we worked to get to north carolina for the national meet. I spent countless hours shoveling mulch and mowing lawns to help get myself and my teammates to the national meet for a chance to compete against the best runners in the nation. Even members of the LC track team, cole hester and alston gholar, who werent going to nationals helped to raise money. The extra work that was involved to get to nationals just made me want to preform well there that much more.
everything that i mentioned here are all small things but i truely believe that all the small things make a big difference. i imagine that there are a plethora of typos in here for i typed this inbetween rounds of call of duty with alex schulke and cole hester, so i apologize for that

[DorseyRuns2Win]

I've been dying to know... how do you run as fast as you do with the form you have?

i knew someone was going to ask me this and i still couldn't think of a clever answer for you. I'm working on improving my form this summer. its not going so well.

[runner1727]

Are you going to win the Brosman Milk Mile?

[DorseyRuns2Win]

Are you going to win the Brosman Milk Mile?

I will be running to win the brosman milk mile, just like my IR name says. But don't count out maddy roach. she may be small, but her stomach is a TANK.

[AGlove800m]

Are you going to win the Brosman Milk Mile?

I will be running to win the brosman milk mile, just like my IR name says. But don't count out maddy roach. she may be small, but her stomach is a TANK.

+1

[runner1727]

Are you going to win the Brosman Milk Mile?

I will be running to win the brosman milk mile, just like my IR name says. But don't count out maddy roach. she may be small, but her stomach is a TANK.

Haha ok. I'll definitely be there to see this.

[Drake]

What are your predictions for the milk mile tonight? Can you go sub 5? Can anyone beat Jake Waterman?

[DorseyRuns2Win]

What are your predictions for the milk mile tonight? Can you go sub 5? Can anyone beat Jake Waterman?

The only prediction that I will make about tonight's race is that I will puke and there is also about a 99.975% chance that Connor Claflin will also be puking his guts out. From what I've heard, Jake Waterman is a professional Milk Miler.

[Always_A_Runner]

Will there be video of this Milk Mile?

[DorseyRuns2Win]

Will there be video of this Milk Mile?

I have a flip video camera and I should be able to get one of my volunteers to record the race and possibly get pre and post-race interviews. Should be fun. There will also be an amatuer photographer there to take pictures of people (mainly puking) that should make for some solid facebook profile pictures.

[Always_A_Runner]

Will there be video of this Milk Mile?

I have a flip video camera and I should be able to get one of my volunteers to record the race and possibly get pre and post-race interviews. Should be fun. There will also be an amatuer photographer there to take pictures of people (mainly puking) that should make for some solid facebook profile pictures.

Thanks!

[EN-XC-RUNNER]

I wanna know your thoughts on the form question posted above!

[DorseyRuns2Win]

I get asked why I move my head so much when I run all the time. Honestly, I have no idea why I do it. Its something i do subconsciously. I never realize how much my head is moving when I'm racing. Lots of the track guys like to call it "doing the bobblehead" and many even attempt to mimic my running form in warm-ups and such.


This summer I have probably spent about 3 hours doing yoga on the Wii Fit because i feel like it would make since for yoga to make your running form better.

[xcrunner830]

Hey Matt, I tried that constant hydrotherapy on my legs today.
It made my legs feel really good after I did it. (We had a workout today)
But my legs are reallying sore after a couple of hours.
I just wanna ask what you found is the most effective ratio that you use during your therapy and also if you have seen significant effect on how your legs feel.

[DorseyRuns2Win]

Hey Matt, I tried that constant hydrotherapy on my legs today.
It made my legs feel really good after I did it. (We had a workout today)
But my legs are reallying sore after a couple of hours.
I just wanna ask what you found is the most effective ratio that you use during your therapy and also if you have seen significant effect on how your legs feel.

The ratio that i usually use is 2:1 (hot:cold). Sometimes i just do it based on how I feel, like once i get really comfortable with one temperature i switch to the next. After I do it, my legs feel pretty fresh but that fades as the day progresses (like you said). I have found taking these constant hydrotherapy showers most beneficial when i take them in between my AM & PM run.