Vaulting in the Big Leagues

School has been ridiciulously crazy lately which is why i haven’t posted. My classes end in a week from today so we are learning lots of new stuff really fast, and been tested it on it right away, how i love college! But the bit of excitment is our first meet which is this saturday (dec 1) at reggie. It is the Huskie Invitational. I know i competed in it last year so i urge others to compete unattached. hopefully i will see a few patriot vaulters there and it should be a really good time. Other then that i will try to post again soon with what is actually going on around here.

-Brian

ps: i should be getting on a 15′ pole for the first time ever!!!

Ok, so due to my school schedule I haven’t really been able to go to many pole vault practices. Today was my 6th practice (I looked it up in my journal). Still, I feel like I’ve gotten a good amount better. I vaulted from a three left for pretty much my first time this season (I tried a three left one time at the end of a practice about two months ago). My PR stats for my 3 left today:

Step: 38’6, Grip: 12’1 on a 13′ 155, PR: 12’6

My last two jumps I moved to a 13’160 gripping 12’5, and just started getting in well. I think once I’m comfortable on that pole I will be able to make 13’0 and maybe 13’6.

I’ve found that I vault best on a pole where my grip is a little higher than I used to use and the pole feels a little bit softer. That way I can keep my hands moving against the pressure of the pole through my whole vault. I think this is why I can push off higher than before. That, and now that my shoulders are more open I can get a bigger pre-stretch and swing faster. Don’t know when we have meets, but I’ll post it up when I find out.

Finally coming off injuries and back into the swing of things, the season is HERE.

First meet is at Reggie Lewis Center for the Northeastern Invitational on December 1.  I believe the women start at 10am.

I was a little nervous to see the email sent out by our coach with all the entries for the meet: Silvar-200, PV.  Pole vault?! Does he remember I haven’t jumped?!  Of course I didn’t forget how to pole vault, but it would have been nice to get the kinks out before an actual meet.  I’m extremely nervous just because it’s all so new.   I know I’ll be fine, but at this point I don’t even have any nails to bite for comfort!

But as luck would have it I got into a car accident Sunday morning @ 2am.  I got side-swiped on the passenger side in downtown Lowell.  I’m fine, my car is fine–but with it being my first accident, I didn’t realize how much I would be hurting the days after and now working on being pain-free by Saturday.  My lower back is KILLING me.  Already rushed to see my doctor and chiropractor, but I’m religiously nursing my back so I can still compete.  *Crossing my fingers*

 BEST OF LUCK TO EVERYONE

Hello, Hello. I’m Chrissy

I graduated from Fitchburg High School, I’m now in my freshman year at Umass Lowell as a track and field athlete….I guess I’m an exercise physiology major too. Just kidding! I love it. I find it so interesting–especially my anatomy and physiology class. Although it is extremely different sitting in a huge lecture hall, it’s my favorite class. Trackies sit up front, front row center, don’t be shy! I have my third exam tomorrow on bone tissue & the bones of the body. Wish me luck! I must say that a three hour anatomy lab every Tuesday morning (8am!) is a drag. We did just get to the good stuff though. We’re dissecting a cat. I was a little skeptical at first, but I actually dove right in. It’s not as bad as you think. Kind of smells though…

From high school to college track has been an interesting transition. I was on the injured list within the first two weeks of practices. Stress fractures (which turned out not to be!) and tendonitis that they think I have been battling since last year. The infamous BOOT was back in action and I had to walk around campus for three weeks in that darn thing. I couldn’t do much but upper body in the weight room & aqua jogging in the pool. Luckily that’s all over and done with–but let’s just say the trainers know me very well now. It is difficult to feel connected to the team when you’re banished to the weight room and pool with an injury. You can easily feel discouraged. Luckily I had the dorms to fall back on. I live in the 3rd floor with most of (pretty close to ALL!) of the freshman girls on the team. Planned? I’m sure. Being injured, I certainly had my doubts whether I could suceed or not with college track–those times when you just need to call Mom! Now that I’m back working out with the team again, I feel much closer to the team. My events will be a surprise. I just know I’m a sprinter and a vaulter. We will see, I guess.

Like high school though, I am the only vaulter on the girls’–excuse me, WOMEN’S track team (I have to get used to that!). Just one of the guys, again. I have yet to touch a pole because of my injuries, but it’s comforting to know I have a brand spankin’ new 12′ 130 waiting for me….

title says it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe_3_HiBMtU&NR=1

Finally our season has officially began and we are allowed to do event specific work, which means pole vaulting!!! however our first day of the season we decided to walk to reggie and do 8×200 sprints, so much fun. and it turns out every monday we get to do 8×200 and they keep getting faster and faster. not to mention after that we have to go lift. However, tuesdays and thursdays are our jumping days. I remember complainging to doug about stiff pole drills and how boring they are… apparently they are very useful. All we do is stiff pole and work on getting or form perfect and balanced, it can be very frustrating but you keep diong them none the less. Wednesday is a crazy workout day for me because i have a long jump/sprinting work out at noon, vaulting drills at five, and lifting at 6. fridays are our “break” if you will. It is normally a poole workout early in the day and then lifting at 2 or 5, whatever fits your schedule. And with all this going on, i have school on top of it.

Classes are pretty intense in the health fields. I got through midterms very stressed and tired, but okay. Now for some reason i have alot of papers due, random quizzes and not to mention only a month until finals! Its a fun life let me tell you. The one thing i have learned is try and finish an assignment right  when you get it and do not wait for a deadline. As much as you hear this, trust me it works out better in the end.

As scary as it sounds i have a life apart from school, track, and sleep… I also eat! No but really i have made tons of new friends and we are always doing something fun. Last weekend we went to the aquarium and imax theatre in 3-D, And it was so much fun. We also decided to make our hallway into a slip and slide at about one in the morning this morning, granted this started from a water gun fight. Oh how i love college. It is huge to have friends at school because they are going through the same stresses as you are and just about everyone is trying to get rid of it, thus you can find fun things that do.

On a final note,  I have some wisdom on competetion. In sports a lot of time is spent on comparing yourself to others and their accomplishments and weighting how good you are. I dont recomend this. Everything you do, training or in a meet, should be as hard/good as you yourself can do. While its nice to use others to push ypu, i dont recomend comparing yourself to them. This goes for the same in schoolwork. Dont compare your grades to everyone else in the class. Your grades should be as high as you can get them. This isn’t easy, but nothing is, it is sure determination and effort that will bring you you to great accomplishments in your life.

 -Brian

Hello again.

i haven’t written in awhile but i have been very busy. this past week was a recovery week because all of a sudden there were alot of injuries on the team so we did alot of long runs to recover and lots of core and stuff like that. Monday was our only real workout which was stadiums (my favorite). we did time trials on wednesday. everyone had to run the 300m or the 600m. i opted for the 300m because in real life track i run about 20m. the 300m wasnt as bad as i thought it would be and i kind of regret not doing the 330 hurdles in high school. vaulting has been good here. i am on a pole that is too heavy for me but i am getting along with it now. i have done mostly drills but i made a few full approaches and it went ok. i ordered some poles and they came in on friday so i will be able to use them on tuesday (i vault tuesday and thursday after practice and do pole runs on wednesdays) i will finally be able to do full vaults!

i have learned a few good things recently. we do this drill that is just rowing that has really helped me to understand the timing of the row and how to do it. there is a good chance that we did it at patriot but i just never did it. it is very simple, you just plant and when the pole is vertical you row to your side which will send you flying to the back of the mat. you can tell if you time it right because you will speed up. this was helpful to me because i have a hard time turning over because i dont keep my hands moving but now i get it.

well thats all for now!

<3 erinn (the cooler mentor than forrest)