Tempo:
3km tempo @ 17-18s 100m pace
Medball/Core Circuit
Shot put technique work and throws
High Jump run throughs
Had my first experience high jumping and it went pretty well. I am beginning to understand the technical aspects of it and just have to make myself hit positions. On one of my jumps I cleared the bungee at around 5’6, feel like I can definitely jump higher soon though. Another practice today to get ready for the weekend.
Wednesday: Special Endurance
Javelin, High Jump, Long Jump Work
Working on a longer approach for the javelin, threw 60m from 9-step.
Jumped with the bar for high jump practice. Had a lot of trouble “running away from the bar”, and ended up landing ON the bar multiple times. Starting height at the meet this weekend is 5’10’’ so hope to GET UP for that.
Long jump mark stayed the same, technique in the air is getting a lot more natural, just have to take more speed into the takeoff.
Special Endurance: 2x250
250s in 32s. My endurance is lacking still, haven’t been doing special endurance for a very long time so my runs slow down a lot past 150. I have the 200m this weekend and hope to run sub24.
Thursday: Tempo
Traveled to the local high school and practiced pole vault for the first time ever. My teammate is a pole vaulter/multi who has a lot of experience in the vault and had me run through drills with him for about 2 hours. I ended the session clearing somewhere between 9-10ft. Technique was very choppy and I had trouble doing a lot of the basic things right. It was very exciting to do though and I hope to keep practice up at least once a week.
Tempo (pool) Medball and Core circuit
Friday: Light Speed/Weights
2x30m block starts on curve
Shot technique
Weights:
Back squat @95% of Monday 3x2
Bench @95% of Monday 3x2
Cooldown and Stretch
Getting ready for the meet tomorrow.
11:30am Long Jump
1:30pm High Jump
1:30pm Shot Put
4:05pm 200m
Shooting for PR’s across the board.
Results:
Long jump: 5.53m
High jump: 1.68m
Shot put: 12.62m
200m: 23.74s
The long jump was a disappointment. My jumps feel fine, but I think the speed is lacking. The board at the meet was not very stiff and would rattle if you hit it, but hardly an excuse for 5.5m.
High jump I should have cleared 5’8’’ and maybe more. My first jump was easy and probably my best, and then my mechanics were off for the jumps at 5’8’’. Good height, but stayed over the bar too long.
Shot put went well, a PR and finally broke 40ft in a meet.
200m my legs were shot, but still ran a PR. I had a great start, but the lane next to me false started due to bad blocks. My second start was not nearly as clean but managed to gain some ground near the end of the race.
Overall it was an okay meet, hoped for greater improvements in the jumps, but can’t expect it all the time. Really wanted to throw the javelin and can’t wait to do it next week. Will have some really good competition and shooting for 65m!
Monday: Speed Work
High Jump: Technique work. Some run-throughs and full jumps over bungee.
Javelin: Long approach throws.
Hurdles: Technique work and pop-overs.
2x30m blocks
1x60m high start
3xtoss for height (12lb)
2xdouble hop toss w/ runout
3x4 hurdle hops
Maintenance Weights: 4x2
Back squat
Squat to press
Bench
Military Press
Ice + Ibuprofen
Tuesday: Tempo
2.5k Grass Tempo 100s & 200s (17-18s, 38-40s)
*first half of tempo went well, all times came in 17, 38. Ended at 18, 40. Lower legs felt a little drained so went and did contrast and iced.
Medball/Core
Discus/Shot Technique and throws
Wednesday: Special Endurance
2x30m high starts
1x300m @ 90-95% 40.s
Weights: 4x2 Maintenance
Mid Thigh Pull
Power Snatch
Bent over row + Upright Row
Glute Ham
*Legs felt some pain today after warmup, tempo yesterday seemed to bother them and cut some of the 30’s today. Cold tank and some ibuprofen and hopefully they will be fine by tomorrow. Getting ready to PR in javelin on Friday, supposed to have competition, 1 guy throwing 67m and another 71m. Will be exciting to watch!
Thursday: Light Tempo
Some light pool tempo and a core circuit
Sand walks for shins
Stretching and ice
Some preparation for the javelin tomorrow, throwing in the mid-afternoon in 80+ degree weather. Going to be a scorcher!
Results:
Javelin: 63.81m
Discus: 38.13m
Both throws went very well this weekend. I threw another 2m farther in jav and 3m in discus and came in 2nd overall in the javelin. My technique from the short approach is getting better and better, but from watching the videos I still lack a significant blocking motion and much speed into the throw. Luckily now I have some video to work with technically.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKs2GWQV8-E
Just 2 weeks until conference, next weekend we go to a small meet so I can practice pole vault and either high jump or the hurdles. My javelin mark will likely get me to regionals, so I can relax a bit on my focus there, but definitely want to throw a little farther for conference to get on the podium. It’s going to be a tough 2 weeks of technique work.
Monday: Speed
Shot Technique
Hurdle Technique
4x30m blocks
2x60m blocks
3x4 hurdle hops
Weights: Maintenance
Back Squat
Squat to Press
Bench
Military Press
*Legs felt fresh, no shin pain. The warm weather definitely helps the workouts. I had some technique difficulties with both shot put and hurdles, but some things went well. Just having trouble getting into a good position from the glide, I had a few stand throws around 12.5m but couldn’t throw further with a glide. Hurdles I just have to work on more consistently and hopefully will have it down enough to finish at conference.
Tuesday: Tempo
Pole Vault
High Jump
1k tempo @17s 100, 37s 200 pace
Medball/Core
*The technique work today was not as good as it has been. I had some upsides to both vault and high jump, but very many things to work on still. In both I am still not hitting positions and I could take more speed into the jump (if the technique holds). I feel that I could safely clear 9ft in vault and 5’6’’ in high jump, but these marks are much too low to score good points in the dec.
Wednesday: Special Endurance
Javelin (~8 throws)
Long Jump
4x30m runways w/ popups
6 landings
1x350m @ 46s
1x4 hurdle hops
Weights: Maintenance 4x2
Mid Thigh Pull 350
Power Snatch 135
Bent over row/Upright Row
Glute Ham
*My technique for javelin has definitely improved, but there are very specific things that I need to work on like staying behind the block and keeping my leg straight. Long jump we moved back to an 8-step and my running mechanics improved a lot, I feel more smooth approaching the board and could pop-up more effectively. My landing still needs some work.
Thursday: Tempo
Pool tempo
Stretch + Ice
*Busy day. Feel fine, shoulders a little sore. Going to get some discus and high jump practice tomorrow then vault and high jump on saturday
Friday: Light Speed
HJ Approach
2x30m blocks
Weights:
Partial Squat 2x2
*Did not do military press, shoulders feeling a little sore right now presumably from bad vault mechanics. Blocks went very well and HJ approach is getting more consistent. I think tomorrow’s competition will go well as long as the weather warms up a little bit. Plan on eating well tonight and taking it easy, then competing at 12 tomorrow.
Results:
Pole Vault: 8ft
High Jump: 5’8’’
The vault was a little rough, didn’t get into any sort of rhythm after the first jump and had trouble maintaining any sort of technique at the next height. The vault will unfortunately cost me some points, but I believe I can get a bit higher at conference.
High jump was an improvement. I am looking and feeling more consistent at higher heights, I believe that I can clear 6ft soon, or 5’10’’.
At this point it’s all javelin and hurdle prep for the decathlon. It starts Thursday morning early right after the open javelin, which luckily is the very first event of the meet. I am already nervous and excited about performing, I am currently ranked 3rd in the conference and would love to move up at conference to 1st. With a new javelin ready (60m nemeth) I think I am ready to bust out some big throws.
Returned to gym early and did military press:
2x3 @ 90% maintenance weight
&
core circuit and cooldown/tempo
Monday: Speed
Hurdles
Javelin
2x30m over 1 hurdle
3x~50m over 4 hurdles
3xfull tempo throws with javelin
*Hurdles went very well today, after 1 mistake over the first hurdle I had a lot of success thinking “attack” at each hurdle. Had the first hurdle @ 39in and then the rest at 36in and it was very smooth (comparatively). Im excited now for the 110’s because I have some experience now going over multiple hurdles.
Javelin was good, had a throw at 60m that was not really technically sound, (I generally never throw very far in practice), and was able to work on some aspects of my throw. I am confident that I can go over 65m at this meet.
Time to rest and take care of nutrition and hydration, lots of vitamins and good food, ice, rest, etc. Feeling good for conference!
Tuesday: Light Core
Shot Put
Discus
2x20/30 Core exercises
Threw about 3-4 throws a piece for shot and discus, just to get the feeling. Feeling very fresh now, spent a long time with light stretching and then sat in the cold tank for 10min. Eating lots of good food and taking vitamins as well as hydrating. Very focused on my events. I plan on PR’ing first in open javelin, and then having many personal bests in the decathlon and scoring 6000+. I believe that physically and mentally I’m in a good position to do so, just going to put things in motion and execute what we have practiced so far this season. Won’t have access to computer so next time I post will be POST-Conference with results.
HERE WE GO.
Results:
Lots of results from this weekend:
Open Javelin: 64.57m (4th place & PR)
Decathlon: 5510 (9th place)
100m Relay: 43.30
**The 110HH cost me 7th-8th place. I had a poor race and did not execute, having to stop in order to not crash and then 5 stepping the rest. I should have the ability to go 18-19s in the hurdles and possibly 7th or 8th. Very disappointed there.
The javelin went well, I threw 7 times this weekend over 60m including the PR of 64.57m, currently 25th in the East Region. Disappointingly this only placed me in 4th, less than a meter away from the podium. Motivation for next year.
My first decathlon was exhausting. It challenged me in many ways that I had not fully prepared for, but it was an amazing experience overall. In this year alone I have gotten to compete in 10 new events and have a new appreciation for track and field as a whole. Everything about the sport is demanding physically and mentally, and it’s always amazing to have a supportive team including great coaches who allowed me to compete in new events. This was my 3rd outdoor conference meet and by far my favorite; I got a chance to watch almost everyone on my team compete at their best, and made new friends on other teams. Overall, besides the hurdles and the javelin placing, I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend of track and field.
And now, approximately 6 weeks until regionals. My shoulder is very sore from this weekend, I feel like I may have tweaked it a bit from the vault/javelin combo so I’m going to take a week off from throwing. I’m going to push the weights for maybe a week and then begin another period of maintenance before competing at Ohio State and then at NC A&T for regionals. I am very excited to compete at a high level and expect more improvements as I begin to work on mechanics again. I still believe I have 70m in me this year, just have to keep my arm healthy and get my steps down correctly.
I have the next day or two off from training to recover from the weekend, going to do some light core work and maybe some pool or bike tempo. Until then I have begun analyzing what I need to do to throw 70m this year, beginning with an effective block.
Based on video analysis and javelin technique research I need to begin to work on getting my left foot down quicker. Until now I have been so concerned about turning my right side that I have begun sitting on my right too long, causing my center of mass to shift over to the left, making it impossible to effectively extend my left and block. By stepping quickly, I should be able to hit a low block and use my upper body technique to sling the jav over 70m, especially with a longer approach. Talking to some javelin coaches I should be able to add around 50ft to my farthest throw with an effective block/approach. This should put me well over 75m, but I don’t expect things to come together all at once, so 70m first.
Also, my goals for next year in terms of the decathlon:
100m: <11.6
Long Jump: >6.10m
Shot Put: >13.00m
High Jump: >1.80m
400m: <53.5
110HH: <19.00
Discus: >40.00m
Pole Vault: >3.5m
Javelin: >70m
1500m: >5:00.00m
Total Score: >6300pts
I believe that these goals are all attainable within a year, and some I will definitely surpass before then. My focus will remain with the javelin, but if I am confident of winning the javelin at conference next year, I believe that scoring in multiple events will be a huge asset for my team. I would like to be an effective member of a 4x100m team as well, and hopefully can focus on my speed.
All that out of the way, it’s javelin time. Less than 6 weeks until regionals and I have to hit 70+m to go to Nationals, so I’m focused on making that happen. Here we go.
Another day off, tomorrow begins the training again at 5x5 for weights. I’m excited to get back into preparing for competition even though its only been three days. I have a lot of motivation right now and a lot of supportive people surrounding me so I want to make big things happen this year. I believe that I am fully capable of bigger throws very soon and as I progress I plan on achieving more and more.
I’m shooting for the Olympic trials for next year. I would like to throw high 70s- low 80s by the end of next year and with a lot of technical work and devotion, I will make it happen. We recently had a speech by an Olympic Trials marathon runner who said that even though she wasn’t a natural at running, she made it her purpose to compete in the Trials. I have that same mindset now and believe that there is nothing that will stop me from competing at the highest level possible. So from now on…
Olympics 2012.