track chick wrote:
Learn to start but don't use blocks or do crouch starts, I'd do a standing start, but learn to start effectively.
Learn some decent drills.
Focus on under distance (80s, 100s), and over distance (250, 300) reps.
Find a decent training programme online and follow that.
I'd have thought you would see big improvements after a month or so if you've done no training for your 34 second run.
Sounds like it will be fun, running 200 in the summer is great.
OP, we have similar goals. You won't lose much time IF you learn how to do a standing start properly. That said, most adult recreational sprinters are atrocious in the start, whether they use blocks or stand. The difficulty in the standing start is that you have to hold your starting position a lot longer while runners using blocks are getting set. You can ameliorate this somewhat by practicing the long wait for your standing starts. I use blocks because my start is more consistent. If you have access to blocks to practice, you should give them a try. Once you figure it out, it's a bit like riding a bicycle. You don't forget how to do it, you just might lack the power to do it properly.
I'd add flying 30s or 40s to your drills. Accelerate smoothly for 20m, sprint all out for 30-40m, jog out another 20m, walk slowly back and repeat. Time these and try to improve.
The 200m requires leg power... something most distance runners neglect. Start by building strength and then add some more explosive power moves. I do air squats, hex (trap) bar squats, Bulgarian and Goblet squats, TRX or band one leg squats, back on edge-of-the bench barbell hip thrusters, and weighted sled pushing. After you feel noticeably stronger, add jump squats, box jumps, and weighted sled sprints (5m to 20m depending on weight).
Oh, I almost forgot. You should also work on cadence. I'm assuming your normal cadence is 165-180 and a little higher on sprints. Charles Allie, the 70-year-old you mentioned, has a cadence of 240.
After watching videos of Charlie and counting his steps, I realized that my stride was slightly longer than his! His time performance over mine was entirely due to his 240 STM cadence while I was running at only 205 steps per minute. To beat him, I would have to significantly improve my cadence. To date, I've never beaten him, but I have improved my race cadence and times since that race in 2015.
You need to work on cadence drills to improve your turnover. Super fast cadence is limited by the central nervous system as well as muscles, so you need to do drills to improve. I do "quick feet" cadence drills to try to get my cadence to 240-260 steps per minute and hold it for 20 seconds. Of course, I'm barely moving forward when doing this.
I also do cadence drills over the last 70m of my 200m and 300m repeats to increase cadence to 210-220 WITHOUT SPEEDING UP. This is a lot easier to do with a training partner who maintains a steady speed while you focus on increasing cadence.