If this is meant to be extensive tempo a la Charlie Francis, you’re running too fast. You should run the 100m in about 16s and walk 50m in between.
So I just finished the BCHS Provincials today (equivalent to State finals in US). A few thoughts:
I qualified into 110MH with a time 15.21 - the fastest seed time. The second fastest was 15.7 I believe. I gained a lot of hubris because this margin is wide and I believed it was not my limit, since I ran it on a slow track, with essentially no competition. But throughout the week I’ve been getting nervous so I was afraid the race might go as planned. At the start today, when I was doing my warm-up, gave myself plenty of time, I saw other people, doing drills that I couldn’t do. I shouldn’t have felt this way, but I got afraid that these people will beat me. I was in heat 1, lane 4, the last lane. I just sat there and slowly got into my zone. I knew all the training was done and I just had to execute. When the starter called start, one person went off beside me. And I was really glad it wasn’t me who had false-started. Afterwards, the starter said that none of the sprinters were in “position”, so the guy was not handed the deadening red card. We were called back into position and I just focused again. I knew I had to push fast and good; I was thinking these guys are going to eat me up if I don’t! As soon as I heard the gun I was out. The guy beside me had a phenomenal start, but I didn’t focus on him. After the first hurdle, he disappeared from my sight. And I was really glad at this time, since that means the race was against the clock - no more pressure. I just executed and all I could think about was my lead arm. “Don’t bring it too far back” “Stop it at the knee!” After I got off the last hurdle, I glanced at the clock. It was a 14. I was very glad, I knew that 15.21 wasn’t my limit. And now all my pressure has been thwarted. I qualified for the finals and I was gonna show them a even better time.
After the 100m heat I got on the track - there was approximately 30 minutes left until my finals. The heats took a long time, they were 20 minutes behind schedule. But I knew a full warm up wasn’t needed. They called our finals pretty soon. We got on the line and someone false started again. I was kind of nervous at the start, I didn’t want to push it too fast out - seeing how many false starts there were at the meet, I didn’t want to take the chance. We got back on our line and waited for the set. I held my breath. And as soon as I heard the gun, the two next fastest guys popped out already. I knew I had a bad start. I went over the first hurdle, I knew I had to catch them. I went over around 5 hurdles and I was in front of them! I knew if I wanted to secure the win, I needed to push it faster. And then the worst thing a hurdler could do happened - I smashed the hurdle hard on hurdle 7/8. I slowed down so much, and the two guys went past me again. I got back on my feet and started sprinting, I felt like I could catch them. The winner ran 14.96 - a time I ran in the heats, 2nd was 15.19 - a time I could easily have beat. And I, the favourite - ran a glacial pace of 15.38. Immediately after my race, I wondered how it would feel if I could relive that race again. A feeling of sorrow that is congruent to someone close to you who just passed away. What if…
My breath was quickening. And one of our sister’s school coaches comes chat with me, giving me many, many encouraging words. I talked with a graduated alumni about the race - mainly about how aggressive, and focused I was, and especially about the disdain created by that 3rd last hurdle. I analyzed my race with him. He told me I had a bad start but I caught them. And I was thinking deep down - how said it really is seeing the winner running a time that you were completely, perfectly, capable of running.
After the race, when I was heading to the award ceremony, I heard a conversation about a hurdles race (this was approximately 20 minutes after the finals). He was saying how a guy who was leading and these two guys sandwiching him beat him off at the end. The leading guy caught a hurdle - a genuine representation of the worst and quickest way a medalist can head off into the bottom of the results. And that guy they were talking about, after many minutes of the race - was me. It felt really cool, having people analyze your race. I guess it was a good day 
Yeah that was unfortunate crashing hard into those 2 hurdles jc. I was going to introduce myself but was busy and never got a chance. I have a video of your race I’ll upload later. Do you have a hurdle coach yet? A friend of mine who’s a pretty good hurdle coach and is one of the all-time fastest youth hurdlers in BC said she’d work with you. PM me if interested.
[video=youtube_share;wMyD-hnBk5s]http://youtu.be/wMyD-hnBk5s[/video]
I was going to do a meet tomorrow (Sunday). It is at one of my biggest favourite tracks in the province. Apparently it’s made of the same material as the Beijing 2008 Olympic venue. But I handed in my forms late and was not able to participate in it. I don’t regret it as I was introduced to a lot of new training elements and I want to stabilize them first. Our club’s new coach is called Derek. He is a very busy guy and has a long history of coaching. Just yesterday, when he was breaking down the start of the race and demonstrating the infamous ‘toe drag’ - I was just watching and saying “That looks so damn cool”. He knows so much and hopefully we can lower our time together. We haven’t started doing hurdling work yet but I believe it will be there by next week. I want to ask him some questions like discounting the hurdle height/distances, special end. stuff… etc. I feel really fast after practicing the ‘toe drag’ with him. Every time I’m at home just walking, I’ll always have the first two steps as low heel recovery then eventually move it up to high knee mechanics - it’s so crazy how cool it feels. My next meet is Saturday - I’ll do the 110MH at 36" - this is great because I get to see a ‘speedier’ run. There were many comments in this thread about lower the height and decreasing distance in between during training. I realized that all the fast guys do this - ESTI’s 13.6 athlete, Steve McGill (and most likely Wayne Davis, 13.08!!) and even Aries Meritt (12.80!!!). It is not a coincidence! And after watching my video, it seems that I really am REALLY slow compared to these fast guys. So running the 36" will definitely capture more speed, and hopefully I can carry this to 39". I will also want to run the 200m. I was reading some hurdlesfirst posts (McGill’s blog) and he mentioned that sprint hurdlers should really want to work at the longer distances earlier in the season - to build up more endurance. And again watching my race, I lost the snappiness near the end, and it must be linked to not running enough distances such as 200, 400, 400mH etc… Last year, at our cities (USA equivalent of regionals?) I did A LOT of 4x400m, 400MH and I seemed to finish better at my races last year. I want to touch the 200m more and hopefully I’ll see some positive carry-over into my speed end. of the sprint hurdles.
Also some stuff about school.
I’m grade 11 and I’ll be graduating next year. The class of 13 grad ceremony was yesterday and I really thought about how fast high school is ending. I have to plan for post secondary. Before this year I was always wanting to do track just for high school and just go to a university close here - track takes up too much energy and time after high school. But really watching the olympic replays on youtube and being submerged in the essence of track and field meets, I realized I really love it. The olympic energy is absolutely riveting; I’m watching the 100m final on youtube right now and just through the screen, I can feel this electric atmosphere. I want to continue this ecstasy after high school. The question is: should I continue my education/track career here, in BC, or should I take it south, to the states. Taking it to the USA - the highest quality and quantity of hurdlers in the USA will definitely catapult my track career miles ahead. But can I make it? My PB probably would not even make the state finals in the USA; will they accept me, and even give me a scholarship? Do any coaches down there linger around on this forum, if so, please shed some light. Cheers!
Regarding making NCAA teams & scholarships:
Because the signing season for NCAA scholarships starts is February, track athletes are judged primarily on their performances in grades 10-11 (and the summer after grade 11). Scholarship money for guys requires some pretty serious times (which I’m not familiar with for male hurdlers); ESTII could tell you what the range is for when some money starts being offered. USA can get very expensive if you aren’t getting mostly full-ride, though you could walk on to places assuming you show progression into next year. The decision about Canada vs. USA is a personal one that should be discussed with family. There is a pretty long thread on it on the can.milesplit.com forums you might want to read through. I have a graduating athlete staying in Canada next year despite getting full-ride offers from good schools.
One thing to note: the BC Team standard is 14.80 with the 110m 36" hurdles, which I think is within your capabilities if training goes well and you put together a good race.
jcc110m
You have really done an excellent job virtually on your own without much direction or coaching or planning from anyone other than yourself … right?
This is not an easy thing because the kids that you have been competing with have been training consistently with clubs and coaches for a while now.
Your ability to have analyzed what you were doing has been incredible. Pay attention to this analytic side of who you are as it’s a valuable life skill.
Notice that if were aware who came out of the blocks first the race was already not yours. Essentially you panicked. It happens and it’s tough when it does as you know it could have been a very different result.
You mentioned something else that is a difficult thought to have before a race. It’s the feeling you had that you were not prepared. You began to loose focus on going out and repeating what you knew you already did in the heats.
I think this is an important aspect in coaching. When you begin to wind-down from competing, maybe think about coaching if it interests you jc! We certainly need more good coaches.
Thanks for the kind words Ange and rainy. That’s a characteristic that people around me never pointed out, even myself. I guess that’s cool. 
I did some very interesting stuff with my race footage. I was looking back at ESTI’s State Title thread and again, found some extremely useful information. He mentioned (also in this thread) that the hurdle spacing should match the pace you want to race at. Moving in the hurdle would create the shuffle speed needed to run your desired times. I took that to heart and decided to calculate my splits via frame by frame playback.
The FPS i captured at was 29.97. I’ll round up the numbers just to make it easier.
2.6 > 1.2 > 1.2 > 1.1 > 1.1 > 1.2 > 1.2 > 1.2 > 1.2 > 1.2 > 1.8 to finish
Most of the 1.2’s were 1.167. Only the last two were 1.234, 1.201 respectively.
It shows me the splits I need to run the 14.0. According to Brent McFarlane’s touchdown chart, I would need approx 1.0-1.1 through the hurdles.
I will try to move in the hurdles to create the pace which renders the 1.1 split. I will probably move it in by one yard until I hit the times. This should be very, very helpful to my speed. I am very slow in between the hurdles.
JC,
I have found schools will be interested once you run times in a zone they look for. Bigger schools recruit early so Junior years are important because after junior (grade 11) summer, the next time you will race hurdles might be indoors grade 12 year. My hurdler did not run great times as grade 11. I don’t think he was top 100 in his class that year. It was a great indoor season that got him noticed. Just keep training and getting better and finding races that you can run well at. It appears there is not a lot of competition around you. Seek out more races that might provide it, because it is likely you will run considerably faster.
I have “used” McFarlane’s tables too, but did not find them very valid for us. I found the first hurdle was quick and every hurdle after lead to really slow prediction times, which was not true, and double checked with my video touchdown analysis. You may find it works for you.
Reflecting back, I would say working to hurdle 6 at race pace with spacing is key. I noticed you mentioned endurance and thinking about going out to 400m. That might work in North Carolina where weather is nice 10-11 months a year. Where I am in Michigan, and you in BC, chances are that isn’t true.
For hurdle endurance outdoors, 5 step hurdling is highly recommended (I never used it) and also 12 hurdles. I can’t recall exactly but Aries uses a 12 hurdle workout as a “Race predictor”. Hitting a certain time leads to certain race times in 110H.
For working the first few hurdles, see if you can run next to a sprinter without hurdles. Maybe a fast girl or average boy. We did this a lot where I would have my 11.0 sprint do starts to 20m vs the hurlder (2 hurdles). He wasn’t challenged much out of the blocks and to work on getting out quicker this is how I arranged it. The more speed you carry into hurdle 1 the faster the subsequent hurdles will be and the more important the race model rhythm becomes.
Based on the 14.96 video, I would also suggest a more aggressive arm action to pull the trail leg through faster. On video, count frames to track flight times. The fastest we ever got was 0.30 for most of the race. His grade 11 year he was 0.33-0.36. You can see how improving 0.03 for 10 hurdles plus race rhythm improvements can lead to huge drops in times.
June 26, 2013
So today marks the first 36" 110mh race of the year. I’m a youth (16-17) but I wanted to qualify for the BC Junior team before this week so I predominately raced over 39". Unfortunately, I couldn’t reach the standard, which was 14.70. Boo. Now onto qualifying for the bc youth team.
Today I had to go to a completely new track. I’ve never been there so I was nervous on the bus trip there, which took 2 hours, exactly the estimation I had on mind. Their track schedule was ‘rolling’. I’ve never heard this term before but I assumed they do all the sprint events then eventually get to the longer distances. After they moved through the 100m heats, contrary to my thought, they did not run 110mh. But I was okay with that. I prepared my warmup well enough. Flash commented on Ben Johnson’s race thread, and he mentioned that Ben said that he just lets the warm up happen, not really rushing it. That was very interesting. In speed trap, Charlie mentions that Ben was napping away and when he was forcibly waken up, he said something along… “Don’t worry, I’m ready.”
My question is if your warm up is ahead of the planned schedule (which is good, rather be early than late), what should you do to stay warm and remain the laser focus. Ben demonstrates that in that story so I’m very curious as I want to anticipate if I’m ahead schedule.
So I was hoping to race between 7:30-8:00pm, but my race stalled to 9:20pm ish. That’s one hour off. I want to prepared more next time. But it’s good that I had this issue here, so I know how to act when the big championship meets come. But they should follow the schedule better as the races become more significant.
On the race: I thought it was a pretty technically sound race. But my ankle is not 100%. After the warm-up sprints each time, I was limping but I made sure not to step the breaks suddenly, in case the issue is exacerbated. I had a good start (relative terms). I kept my trail arm bent, behind hip (this got better through the race, I felt in the earlier hurdles it was in front of the hip). I kept my lead arm tight (not good enough yet). I made sure to pull it back fast so my trail leg could move faster. The problem was that I wasn’t aware of my legs. I’m sure that my trail leg was dull. Slow turnover. On focus, since it was long after my prediction of the schedule, I was less-focused. I could see my shadow ahead of me, and I was looking at that. Bad. Not enough focus. When I finish off the hurdle I kept looking at the clock on the side. I’ll stop this.
There was only 1 other competitor. I blew him off at hurdle 2 when he smashed a hurdle. So I was pretty much running a one man race. It sucks because my recent competition have pretty much zero competition.
I ran a 15.21. Absolutely not what I had in mind. I was expecting a 14.6. BC youth team standard is 14.8. To me it was a pretty technically sound race. I think regarding the warmup, little competition, did I lose quite a bit of time. My personal best was 15.04 last year. I ran a 15.17 at a 110MH 39" just last 2-3 weeks… smashing every hurdle. It was quite disappointing, because I thought the race was good! I’m hoping to shave off quite a bit of time at the next meet.
Injury:
I ‘tweaked’ my ankle last week or so. When I was running the 200m (I mentioned something about speed end. last post) I was in lane 1. The sharpest turn was in lane 1. I probably entered the turn too sharp so there was an imbalance of force at my ankle? It is only on my right so it makes perfect sense. I didn’t feel anything in retrospect, but 4-5 days over when it start to feel tight. After two track practices (speed sessions) I was limping. The worst part is that after the speed reps I’ll go cruising off, which is when it hurts the most. I made sure I iced, long socks, lots of rest and elevation. Essentialy RICE without compression. There is no bruising, nothing physically different than a normal, healthy ankle. It is only when I am inverting (i believe that is the correct term, turning my ankle inside) that my ankle is in pain. Any other movement does not hurt it. It is starting to worry me since it’s been lingering for a week. In the soleus strain thread, someone mentions that if postural muscles get injured, it’ll take a while for it to heal. Since my ankle felt great before it started to hurt and it happened suddenly, I didn’t expect the injury to last this long (1 week). I think long stress = long injury short stress = short injury. I believe my reason was short and sudden.
Sorry for the bad English in this post. Hopefully it’s somewhat readable.
Nice to get an update. I saw your results from last weekend and wondered why you were in the Junior 110mH. You’ve got too more years though, and this year they took several athletes who didn’t make, but were pretty close to standard.
My question is if your warm up is ahead of the planned schedule (which is good, rather be early than late), what should you do to stay warm and remain the laser focus. Ben demonstrates that in that story so I’m very curious as I want to anticipate if I’m ahead schedule.
It depends how far ahead of time you end up being. If the delay is under 20min, I’ll have them alternate sitting/strides of intensities appropriate to the race or event. If the delay ends up with my athletes being warmed up 20-40min early, I’ll usually have them sit around for a while then get them to do a mini-warmup closer to race time. I’ve never had delays cause someone to warm-up more than about 45min early. Last year at Jamboree the Youth Female Long Jump ended up starting about 90 minutes late (due to >30 Midget Youth, but no rescheduling was done), but a friend who was working the athlete control tent kept me updated so we could estimate when she should warm up. If you don’t know people - don’t be afraid to ask anyway as long as you’re polite! Most of the officials in BC are very nice and want to help (otherwise they wouldn’t be volunteering).
Hope the injury goes away quickly. Without being able to examine myself I wouldn’t want to guess a diagnosis. You’ve got lots of time to the Jamboree which is when the team is decided anyway. Are you going to try for the youth team standard at Trevor Craven?
Thanks for tip, rainy. I also do long jump, if you are aware of that. My best is 6.33m. I think Trevor Craven will be the last time I’ll do long jump this year so I’ll have to pull off all brakes and try to get a new, big PR. I think if all the conditions play along, I’m in the 6.5x range.
Last year at Trevor Craven I ran a 15.5 (not even a medal finish, lol). It sucked knowing that I gave it everything I had, didn’t brush a single hurdle, and even had a 2.0 tailwind! I was like wow, I’ll never make the standard (14.8?). But then at Jamboree just the next week, I ran a 15.13 heat and 15.04 final, hitting the first hurdle. It’s amazing how I gave everything I had on two occasions and within such a short time then dropped the time significantly. With my slow 15.20 this week, I’m walking down the path similar to the one I set last year. So the answer to that question is yes. I’m going to give it everything I got, and really see the difference I can make. I am hoping for a 14.6. It’s feasible because I think TC is one of the bigger meets of the year.
Funny story: *I was new to the club scene last year. I’ve never been to any club meets so Trevor Craven was the first big one. Held in Swangard stadium. Our friend, who was part of Vancouver Thunderbirds, said that TC was a ‘kid’s meet’. And I was like okay, no pressure - I didn’t expect any competition to be there. Then when I did go there, there were a lot of kids for sure. But as I was talking with a friend, I see this black athlete wearing stylish glasses with headphones walking our way. I look again and it was Nick Fyffe. (Nick Fyffe is one of the athletes coming out of BC that I respect the most. I competed at BCHS in long jump with him last year and I was in full contact with his unparalleled charisma…) And I knew the competition was there. Trevor Craven had a lot of funny stories for me; Australians came last year and my friends and I took some tourist-style pictures with them. It was fun.
There are 4 people in BC that have already run under the standard, with ease. If I run under, I’d be the fifth. The BC team should be some real competition. However, since the Youth championships are held in Langley this year, I am almost sure not all these athletes are going to be attending the jamboree. That’s also a fail-safe for me. If I don’t make it - no pressure. 30 minute drive and I’m there.
I’m impressed with your hurdle technique, I think you’re a natural.
Lol.
My progression this year was 15.21 > 14.96 > 15.17 > 15.20 > > 15.66
With this pattern I might be able to run a 16! How exciting!
Yeah - not the desired progression. A fast time is definitely in you, but it seems a bit shy and it would be nice for it to make an appearance soon.
I remember when I went to a meet as a young Jr competing against girls who were much stronger and more developed and older. I was crushed by not making this team which eventually went on to compete in Venezuela.
My parents would not have spent the money at the time to send me to this meet in Edmonton but offered me to take a bus that my father drove from Windsor , Ontario ( across the river from Detroit) to Vancouver. It was from there I flew a shorter flight ( cheaper) to Edmonton to compete.
It was one of the first times I ran full height and full distance 100 meter hurdles.
I came 3rd behind both the woman who were clearly more experienced , bigger etc as I described earlier.
I was crushed.
I felt my entire track career was over.
I was not yet 18 years old.
I later found out the meet in Venezuela was a disaster and everyone including one of the girls I raced against who had beat me got food poisoning as conditions at this meet were sub par.
What I did not know at that time and stage of my life is how many things were not in place for me to have done better than what I basically accomplished on my own.
I don’t think I had run 6 full races at 100 meter hurdles in practices or competition up to that point.
I was not doing any speed.
I was practicing alone with little consistency.
I was weak having never lifted weights.
Up to that point I was not expected to do better than I did.
All these years later I realize that my time was very good as was my performance. Given my situation and circumstances it’s a wonder I was third.
If track is something you wish to excel at or in your interest and curiosity has been cemented.
I am not sure what to advise you next except to say your intelligence and thoughtfulness about what you have done so far has been a huge asset and will continue to be a skill you can hone.
Technically your hurdles will improve with more emphasis on speed training first and foremost
Without an emphasis on speed training, touchdown times and hurdle drills really won’t matter so much.
Likely you need focus on 2 high intensity days per week as many are not able to handle 3 high intensity days a week.
I ‘tweaked’ my ankle last week or so
When you are doing SE, use lanes 4 or 5 so you don’t have to hurt yourself doing the runs.
Ankle injuries can take a long time to go away or they can just be painful reminders of something you did. Generally speaking , unless you did damage , it takes time to get your ankles stronger and more used to running turns. I have felt ankle injuries for 1 year or more but almost always been able to train on and move forward with what needed to be done. THe big thing to remember is while it bothers you , try to keep your training in straight lines, only train on the track when you need to ( otherwise stay on the grass) and ice or do contrast baths or anything else you can think of ( put heat on at night and wrap with plastic wrap before speed sessions) to ensure your training does not get interrupted.
July 21st update:
I just came home from provincial championships. I did the 110mh and 4x100 relay.
I mentioned last post that I ran a 15.68, an absolutely pedestrian time. I knew the next time I would run would be good; I was at the bottom and all I could do is bounce back. Most of the meets I did poorly did not have a solid schedule which led to a disharmonious warm up. I believe the last 2 meets were delayed by 2 hours (after my warm up). I knew the championship would maintain their schedule, and they did.
We were running at 9:30am. I woke up before 7am and headed down the residence center for a quick, light breakfast. I had 2 cups of orange juice and a cheese bagel. I got out to the track before 8 and just watched a teammate compete. It was morning and it was already 25+ degree Celsius! It was extremely, extremely hot! I waited until 8:15 to start my warm up. 2 slow jobs around the turf, the normal. I then did at least 10 minutes of static stretching. I was still a bit tight after the stretching but I knew as I got warmer, I would feel better. Then it was some dynamic mobility stuff; I took my time and did some sit ups, lunges in between. My core was very warm and I felt very fast. At this time, I was already much, much warmer than the last few times I raced. Then the coolest feeling of the preparation came.
I remember reading that Aries Merritt liked to listen to fast-paced music before he started hurdling. I do the same thing. I like listening to music that gets me ready to race. However during the warm up, I wasn’t motivated to run. I didn’t want motivation so I didn’t really care. But what was really cool, was how the “fast” music felt. After my basic warm up, the music sounded slower to me. The sound moved very very slow. The fast music is usually very fast to me, and I am ready to hurdle/sprint after listening to it. But right before a very important race of mine, the music came out slow. It was cool. I felt like my nervous system was very fine tuned, and it was more mature and prepared than I am normally.
I then did some mobility over hurdle work. After a few sets I went over to do jogging trail leg over the hurdle. It felt good; I could really feel the power of coming off the hurdle fast. At this point I knew I was ready for a fast time - a PB. It was 9:10-ish, I had to head over to the Athlete Control Center. I wonder if you have do this in other countries. Ange mentioned in this thread that it would be good doing sprints over the hurdle then spend 10 minutes calming the nervous before the race. I couldn’t do that, I had to wait inside the tent.
I was wearing my warm ups and a t-shirt. I pulled them down to my knee and started slapping my hamstrings. It was very stimulating. Coach said that my performances collapse during meets maybe because I have performance anxiety. He timed my touchdowns in practice, they were splits like these : 2.3 - 1.1 - 1.1 - 1.1 - 1.1 … I was consistent. Although they were moved in, this still indicated I was better than a 15.68. He told me to just treat the meet just like practice. I took the advice to heart. I usually think going into meets is like going into war - it’s all serious business. I did accept sometime during this weekend that it’s just a really fun time, and you get to race against others to bring out your best. There’s no competition except yourself. While we were in the tent, we were just joking around. We were talking about how hot it was, how our shoes could possibly melt. We laughed many times. Inside the tent there were at least 3 guys who had beaten me before, and they did not look as tense as I was before. “It’s all fun and games.” - Usain Bolt
We got called onto the track at 9:25. Their timing was excellent. I loved how they did not rush to get the meet over. I set my blocks like I did during practice. Then I did a start over the hurdle. The second hurdle was not knocked down and I did not want to stop suddenly so I went over the second one. The official gave me a yellow card because I jeopardized our safety and if I did it again, I would get disqualified. That would be really crappy if I got dq’ed for that lol. I did one more over 2 hurdles. My lead arm felt really smooth. I really liked that feeling. I felt better than I did during practice. I was more calm. I was happier.
The track got closed and we all stood behind our blocks. When they said on your marks, I looked over the barriers, visualizing the tunnel vision. I made sure the blocks weren’t too comfortable nor too uncomfortable. I waited for the set mark and got up. My hips were high to generate that going down the hill speed. Although I tried holding my breath until the first hurdle in practice, it didn’t go too well. I doubt I did it during the race. I heard the gun and went off. I couldn’t see anyone beside me. I remember during hurdle 5 I remember to keep my trail arm behind the hip. But that thought probably lasted for less than half a second. I did not think during this meet. It was a championship meet. I thought very hard during practices, during practice meets. I let go of my mind and gave my body complete control. It was moving much faster than I did before. I crossed the finish line without thinking another thing. It was a very smooth race. I was glad I finally got a time that reflected my potential.
The final was set at 1:30pm. I went back to my suite and showered. I took my time and even read a book. If I were me at any other time before the race, I would be listening to hardcore, battlefield music. But I decided to read a book (It was Ian Banks’ Wasp Factory). I left at 11:00, because I was hungry. I bought a slice of pizza, nothing heavy, at the concession. It was $4.50… 3 times as expensive than any other store. I was hungry at the time and I wasn’t going to sacrifice my performance for the weight of my wallet. I timed the warm up again and started with a lap of light jog again. It got stupid hot now (probably hot enough to melt my shoes now). It was definitely above 34 degree Celsius. These temperatures were insane. I took longer to do my warmup. I got tired very easily. I skipped the knee lift/static stretch drills I did before. I know I don’t have to do a full warm up again. I did the hurdle mobility stuff again. I was gased out very easily. Drank a lot of water. Then did some trail leg over hurdle run throughs again. I went into the tent, still had 20 minutes left. I dill some leg mobility inside… until I ripped the ‘caution’ tape. I sat down and made sure nobody was suspicious.
I slapped my legs again and I didn’t talk as much as I did before. I was in more of a preparation mode. They called us out again. I was in lane 5. I learned of my heat time of 14.45, second Q. First was 14.44. I honestly did not feel any pressure other than to run my potential. I did 2 sprints over the hurdle. I was breathing very hard after, we had 2 minutes before starting. I was like 'oh crap, screwed up the warm up" I took a few deep breaths and waited for the “Track is closed, please stand behind your blocks.” The next command was on your marks. I looked down the straight again. I was gonna be at the finish line is 14 seconds. I made sure my hips were high again and my shoulders were over my hand. They said get set really quick. “I was in my head thinking, why did they call it so fast.” Then I heard the sound and floored it. I wasn’t worried about the other people. I was first over the hurdle, and was first until somewhere around the 6th hurdle. I think my takeoff or touchdown went a little awkward and for a second I almost stopped running. But then in as little time as it took me to think that, I went 100% again. I could see the other runners near my eyes. I got the off the hurdle and dashed straight to the line. It was a clear win for #1, and 2, 3, 4 was hard to judge with the naked eye. I was happy though, it was an aggressive race. I’d be mad if they ran bad, but they didn’t. We congratulated each others. The youngest of the youth group won it in 14.2x. A very fast time. My time was 14.57. 2nd was 14.53, then 14.54. I missed the provincial team by 0.03. Looking at the photo finish, I realized I didn’t lean enough. Oh well, it was a great race!
I will be heading to youth nationals in my own provincial in 3 weeks. Hopefully I’ll record a even faster time! I want to race a 39" from now until then. It would make breaking the BCHS meet record much easier if I ran a 14.7 or lower this summer. I will continue to update and again, thanks for all the help from the people that contributed in this thread!
A couple follow-up comments:
I had the pleasure of meeting jc on Saturday morning (the day of his 110mH heats & finals).
You looked fantastic in your heat, and also very good in the final, but Kenny’s race just clicked for him and he ran a huge personal best to win in 14.29.
Many of Canada’s best Youth hurdlers are from BC right now, so even though you ran to 4th in the provincial final, you will be very competitive at Youth Nationals in a few weeks.