Over the First Three and Keep Going Workout
by Steve McGill

One workout I like to do this time of year, when my athletes are preparing for big meets (conference, regionals, states, etc.) involves clearing the first three hurdles out of the blocks and then sprinting without hurdles to the 100/110m finish line. I have found that this workout serves as a good race indicator despite the fact that the athlete isn’t clearing the last seven hurdles. The reason, I assume, is that the race-day adrenaline and competitiveness make up for the missing hurdles. 

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Years ago, I used to use the zone drill as my go-to workout as preparation for big races. That’s the workout described in detail in The Hurdler’s Bible by Wilbur Ross. The workout involves clearing the first three, then sprinting through an open zone where hurdles 4-7 would be, and then clearing hurdles 8-10 and running through the finish line. Then I had a girl hurdler fall face forward upon hitting hurdle eight with her trail leg and she fell face-first and busted up her chin, requiring stitches. That was about fifteen years ago, and I haven’t used that workout since. The logic for dropping the workout wasn’t just based on my athlete’s face-plant, but also on the fact that I needed to come up with my own ideas instead of just blindly following everything I read in a book, and on the fact that the zone drill doesn’t mimic what athletes actually face in a race. There’s no point in a race where you’ll be free to open up your stride like a sprinter and then be forced to re-adapt to the hurdle rhythm again. 

The other workout I like for big-meet prep is to do three reps clearing the first seven hurdles, full speed out of the blocks, with a good 10-15 minutes between reps. The logic here is, if you can run at race pace for seven hurdles three times, you can run at race pace for ten hurdles one time. This month’s workout has a similar effect, with a similar logic. Here are the details of it:

2 sets of 2×100/110, clearing the first three hurdles and then sprinting to the finish line.

• Hurdles can either be on the race marks, moved in half a foot, or moved in one foot. Coach’s discretion should be used here. If the practice surface is slower than the race surface will be, move the hurdles in. Keep in mind that the first hurdle should always be on the race mark no matter what.
• Another coach should time each rep. Goal is for each rep to be about .5 faster than the target race time.
• Each rep should be done in spikes, from a block start.
• A coach or reliable teammate should give the start commands.
• Walk back to the start line between reps.
• 10-minute rest between sets.

This is not a time of year for heavy volume, so a total of four reps is enough. Athletes should warm up the same as they will on the day of the meet that week. This workout should be done two or three days before race day. The day after this workout should either be a day off or a very light workout just to keep the legs loose.

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