Technical advice for a young hurdler?

Track & Field Hurdles
52

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.

53

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.

54

Nice to get an update. I saw your results from last weekend and wondered why you were in the Junior 110mH. :slight_smile: 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?

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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. :slight_smile:

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.

56

I’m impressed with your hurdle technique, I think you’re a natural.

57

//youtu.be/M9VbYm73oa4

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!:frowning:

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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. :slight_smile:

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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.

60

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.

61

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.

62

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!

63

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.

64

jc is entered in the Canadian Youth Nationals with the 5th fastest seed time. 3 of the 4 guys with faster seed time are also from BC.

65

Glad to here bc has some talent coming along, we seem of of been a lull for a few years!

66

Wish jc and all the best at Nationals

67

Finished fourth at nationals! Time was 14.71 in the final, 0.02 shy from the podium. It was much closer than I thought it would be. Headwind of -2.0m/s.

It was great meeting athletes from other provinces. A very important experience I needed as I want to qualify for Canada team for IAAF Junior Champs. Standard is 14.2X!

Great season!

68

Nice work out of lane 8 too.

69

Well
to be honest you don’t have to run sub 11 to run 14.1 especially at junior hight, 11.1 to 11.4 is fast enough to run 14.1

70

I can see the improvement, well done
In my opinion the rotation of your body during touch down is directly related to your lead leg action,
What I mean is that your leg action is diagonal when you pause in 50 sec when you are over the hurdle and 1.41 when attacking the hurdle you’ll see that your lead leg movement is towards the camera, consequentially your touch down point/ place is shifted to your right therefore your upper body has to compensate to keep you balanced,
Also, when your leg is diagonal the whole stretch reflex is NOT as effective and therefore you cannot finish the trial leg movement to have your knee in front of you.

Anyway, well done
keep on working!!!

71

I understand. So it all comes back to keeping everything ‘north and south’. No wasted motion to the side.

Can you also explore on the stretch reflex? How would I create a stronger stretch that can minimize my clearance time/propelling me forward off the hurdle?