Vaulting in the Big Leagues

Finally, after a year of slaving over the pain in my foot/ankle they know what it is!

The EMG was certainly an experience.  Being electrocuted certainly feels interesting.  At one point spasms were so crazy I couldn’t straighten my leg.  I cried….like a girl, I’ll admit.  The doctor felt bad.  They put the ….well, I’m just gonna call it a thing–on the spot where I have problems and I didn’t feel much of anything.  AH HA! The part I didn’t know about was the part where they stick needles in my muscles, make me contract them so they can hear them—what?! You can hear a muscle?! I should learn this, but still–they stuck that needle right in the bottom of my foot!  *sigh*  I had more pain leaving than I did coming into the appointment.

But anyway, the conclusion is: tarsal tunnel syndrome.  Yeah, I’ve never heard of it either.  Like carpal tunnel but in your ankle.  Excellent.  I find out Friday what we’re going to do about it.  It’s a huge lift off my shoulders to finally know that it can be something to be fixed and I’ll be able to run still.  For some reason that was always in the back of my mind, I’m glad that’s solved.

Just a little excitment in my life, today at the Valentines invite, i got to see eric depalo jump. It was the first time in at least over a year. While this was exciting, the better part was that i cleared a new PR of 14’9″. I should of had 15’1″ but ask eric once said “im not a shoulda coulda woulda kind of guy” there is only do or do not… so today was a do not and hopefully next meet is a do.

Hey everybody

sorry for not posting lately, life has been crazy. The season is fully underway wihch is exciting, but even though we have meets, training has not let up. It is always 110%. As of late the vault has gotten intense. For the first part of the season i was struggling getting any hieghts, but two weeks ago something just clicked. I started taking my speed with me off the ground and moving poles that are putting me places. In practice i have been hitting jumps that are tossing me over a 16 foot bungee. When i say toss i dont mean pulling it down with a leg, i mean launched over. Coach always said it is an easy event if you do things right. While i am still far from doing things right, just simply hitting the take off and riding the pole is easy and essentially feels wieghtless. At my last meet i cleared fourteen, and as an overall result our boys team won the first ever BEANPOT!!!!

The injury report is doing fairly well. I have essentially gotten over my shin splints, but have come down with hamstring tendonitis. This means that the insertion of the hamstring below the medial condyle of the tibia is inflamed (where the hamstring attaches below the knee, the tendon is swollen). This is painful but there is nothing like a good dosage of ice and ibuprofen

Classes are getting intense. I have declared as an Athletic training major, and they waste no time in teaching you. This semester i am in three LABS on top of my classes. Its a lot of work but the labs are fun. One is a taping lab where all we do is learn to tape certain injuries. The second is essentially first aid/fracture and injury managment, however at the end of the semeester i will be first aid certified, CPR certified, and AED certified which is huge. The last lab is Anatomy and physiology where we get to dissect rats!!

My final thought i got from one of my team mates, and is as follows. In practice is when you change things up and work on different things. Come meet time, you should have one jump that you can do consistently. If you can maintain that one jump, the coach will alter little things to get you as high as you can that day. In other words dont try and be a super hero and change everything in your vault, simply execute what you know.

ok well this season has gone by fast. i feel like it just started but it looks like tomorrow will be my last meet of indoor. i will miss it because it is nice and warm indoors and there is no wind. I will be at BU for the valentines day invitational, if any of you go then i look forward to seeing you.

well there has not been alot going on as far as vaulting goes. pretty much the same old stuff. the one thing that i have changed (no killing me when i say this) is that i have widened my grip a fist from my tiny grip. now it is a forearm and a fist. i will never go back to the whole arm thing that i used to do dont worry. the thing was that my coach, mark, noticed that i was having trouble staying square and i was kinda turning funny so he thought if i widened my grip a smidge that it would help. it was the first time he had ever told anyone to widen their grip. it was really awkward at first but it really has helped my control. i have very small forearms so my grip was reallllly small before. i guess i just never noticed. i will just have to remember to jump up and not lock my bottom arm like i used to. i hope that it helps me at this meet. i realllllly want to pr!

well i have to go now because me and a few of my friends have to go to the basketball game to be recognized at half time for getting good grades. i think its to prove that athletes are dumb. i just think its embarassing but there is free food so you know i cant say no.

have a good weekend all!

<3erinn

I read my entries to one of my friends on the team, and she pointed out how all my entries are downers.  It made me laugh, so I’m trying to point out the positive this time.

I went to the specialist for my injury.  It’s either bad tendonitis or I have compressed nerves–that results in surgery. They have to run more tests and I won’t know for sure until February 15.  In the meantime I have another MRI & EMG out in Peabody–I’m gonna get shocked with electricity.  My father, a 300lb man, said that it hurt when he had it for his carpal tunnel.  As a 126lb girl, I’m terrified!  My mother pointed out that men are babies, but still.   It bums me out that things don’t happen as quickly as I would like, something I’ve always struggled with, but I’m positive that this problem with finally be solved.

But I guess I never realized how running and pole vaulting was such an outlet for all my frustrations until it’s been gone for a while.  This is the longest time I’ve ever been out of track, maybe because the season is longer than high school it feels forever.  Being completely honest, it’s messed with other aspects of my life.  As dumb as this sounds, it makes me think of ‘Legally Blonde’ when she says something like “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands, they just don’t.”—-not that I shot anybody, haha.