PP42's Senior Year Training Blog

[powerplant42]

Hey all, so I'm almost back up to speed... My knee is feeling pretty good, I just got done doing some running on it. I have to pay a lot of attention to certain things, like keeping my abs tight and my chest "up" and my knee and foot pointed straight ahead and my hip flexor engaged everything feels pretty nice. I'll have my ankle and knee wrapped during competition though, just in case.

Next meet is this Wednesday.

Just a little update.

[bel142]

So whats the deal... any recent footage of you jumping some bars or what?

[powerplant42]

Yes in fact! I don't know if it's worth posting though... I was modifying my run quite a bit because of my knee, but I was still competing (3's and 1's). Maybe I'll put it up.

I have counties next week... I'll get the whole comp on film!

[powerplant42]

So Counties was yesterday... A good story.

First you need to know that this week was mid-terms and I hadn't been getting much sleep (not because of midterms but from other stuff)... I also had to do something after school for physics yesterday. I was already pretty mentally and physically tuckered-out, but I was managing.

My knee turned out not to be my knee at all (like I said before)... It's my tibialis anterior and I guess I just strained it somehow when I fell. (Anyone have any good excercises to do? Massage seems to help a lot, and using it makes it better...) It was feeling okay.

Got to the PG Center and started to warm up and I felt that it wouldn't be smart to go from any more than 4 steps during the competition. The leg felt fine for the most part, but when I really pushed it it started to get fussy...

My goal yesterday was to have some fun and do some vaulting... So I came in at opening height... It was supposed to be 6'6", but they had the bar 6" too low when I jumped. I just sort of jogged in. I went at every height up until maybe 9'6" with a 3 step or less. I got most if not all of these on film if you'd like to see them...

I had no misses (I don't think) before 10'. My standards had been all the way back and I was using a 13' 150 gripping just sort of wherever it felt right. I didn't have the speed to get all the way back to 80 on my first attempt. I brought the standards in to 25"... I came down on the bar on my face. It felt like someone punched me right in the mouth! That hurt... Got a headache and chilled for a while. Third attempt I manned up and went back to 5 steps... Clearance. Probably the happiest I've been about a clearance in years. 10'6", X first attempt, O second. There had been 2 other people in the competition for a few heights now, and they both had fewer misses than me. 11'. Miss. Miss. Make. Win. (Ironically, this was the same thing that happened last year... third attempt clearance at 11' to win.) I pushed the bar to 12', took an almost decent attempt, then a bail, then a good attempt, but by this point I was totally drained, physically, mentally, and even emotionally. My hamstring was starting to annoy me a little bit too...

The technical side was deplorable. Just about everything else though was excellent! 2 third attempt clearances, one after a bar to the face, one for the win vs. third place, overcame an injury and fatigue, had fun! My camera died after a while, but other people got some film of my later jumps. I'll see if I can find some of them.

So now I'm resting this weekend and I'll be ready to train again for real starting this Tuesday. Very exciting times in the life of PP.

[KirkB]

Nice going, PP!

Don't know why you passed 11-6 tho ... that would have tied your PR ... and you had a much better chance of making that one than 12-0.

I don't get you guys that pass over "makeable" heights (you and 6P). Isn't the goal to jump as high as you can ... gradually ... over the year? To me, a pass and then XXX is a setback ... a mental error.

On the positive side, I think it was smart of you to start very, very low ... under the health condition that you had ... and not worry about the height of the bar. That seemed to work for you right up until 11-0 ... and it sounds like you used the low bars as a great warmup for the higher ones.

Kirk

[powerplant42]

I KNEW that I would make 11'6". But I also knew that I was getting tired and if I had a shot of PR-ing then I would need to do it right away. I was WHOOPED... I took quite a few jumps ya know!

Starting low was both a good idea and bad idea... It was good because I got to practice and warm up, got to build confidence with my leg/knee, and I also had a lot of fun. It was bad because I got tired at the end and didn't have any battery left in my camera!

Ideas as I move forward?

[KirkB]

I KNEW that I would make 11'6". ... I took quite a few jumps ya know!...

Excuses, excuses. Maybe you "knew" that you "would make 11-6", but the fact remains that your SB is 11-0. Overconfidence got the best of you ... again.

Ideas as I move forward?

Start a little higher ... don't pass any bars ... and don't pass up the chance to TIE your PR. Slow and steady wins the race!

Kirk

[powerplant42]

Ya know I shoulda put it at 11'7". Darn.

[KirkB]

Ya know I shoulda put it at 11'7". Darn.

THAT'S the right answer!

Not to beat you to a pulp, but I gave you that advice last year.

Kirk

[powerplant42]

Well, that meet's over. I'm incredibly pleased with my performance, and even more pleased that I was able to "perform" at all! And now I will be able to practice for real again! I'm back from the dead!

There's a meet this Wednesday... Not sure if there's vaulting, but if there is then my thought is that I should come in at 10'6" from 6 steps and just go from there. No clue about poles or grips... Won't have any time to figure it out either, I don't have school Monday (so there's no practice). Tuesday will be a day to get my run figured out if I end up going. The meet after that is Regionals... That's on the 9th, so there's plenty of time.

I think Monday would be a good day to do some high bar work. No? I'm taking tomorrow off in addition to today.

[KirkB]

... I think Monday would be a good day to do some high bar work. No? I'm taking tomorrow off in addition to today.

Training every second day is usually better than taking 2 consecutive days off ... it's easier on your body. Unless you're really, really hurting.

Since your highbar is at home, you can easily do that on Sunday instead of Monday ... plus some jogging.

Kirk

[powerplant42]

High bar... jogging... epsom salts and ice... got it!