Vaulting in the Big Leagues

Hey everyone! Last week we had our first week of events practice (finally!) so I figured I write a quick blog about pre-season. It was definitely tough, but I felt much more prepared for it this year than last since I knew what to expect. I was usually one of the top finishers for all the long runs we did whereas last year I was always middle of the pack. So I was really happy about that. Our pre-season work out schedule, more or less, was long timed run and abs on Monday, circuits Tuesday, long recover run and abs on Wednesday, Thursdays and Fridays (captain’s practice) varied based on how everyone was feeling and how tough the workouts throughout the week were. We also lifted on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We had weekends off. The first week of pre-season my butt was sooo sore, but the following week we did almost the exact same workouts and it seemed a lot easier. So it was nice to see that the workouts were actually working and we were getting stronger and in better shape.

But like I said last week we finally began doing actual event practices. I vaulted for the first time in months last Tuesday, it was great. We did a lot of pole runs and vaulting drills first. And then got to do some one handers, 3-steppers, even some with swings. I felt really good doing them, so hopefully that will continue and it will be a good season!  Our regular season workouts will usually be Monday sprint work outs at reggie (ugh). Tuesday and Thursdays will be vault days. Wednesday will be drills. Fridays will be active rest. And weekends are recovery days. Our first meet is December 4th at Reggie, hopefully I’ll see some of you there as well!

As for the boring part, school…it’s going pretty well. It’s hard to believe that it’s already time to register for spring classes though! This semester I am taking Anatomy and Physiology II, Chemistry, Medical Ethics, and Influences in Health and Illness. A&P is my only super tough class. I’m doing pretty well though. Overall, this semester is much easier than last semester was. Next semester though I am taking Pharmacology, Pathophysiology, Developmental Psychology, Nursing intervention/Assessment (with lab), and Professional Development (which is a class where you learn more about co-op and the application process). So next semester looks like its going to be pretty tough. If I get into all the sections of the classes I want to though, my schedule will be great. It won’t interfere with track at all which will hopefully relieve a lot of stress.

I’ll keep ya posted as the season continues! Good luck to everyone whose indoor season practices are starting!

Hi all! So with the official start of indoor track practice in 4 days, I thought I would write up a pre-season blog about college in the great town of Hoboken! So, Washington Street in boken was named one of the top ten streets in America. For all of you Cake Boss fans, I see the line to get into the shop all the time; it takes about 3 hours of waiting in line to get into the store. I don’t know how the line is always so long EVERY day!!! But, if any of you do go there, get the cannoli because they are so good! Also, a chunk of road collapsed into the Hudson River the other day. And a field that’s right on the pier has been closed for a year because of fear that it will soon fall into the Hudson. This was a field that we often ran on too.

School is going pretty well so far. Semesters 3 and 4 are supposedly two of the harder semesters, so the fact that I have made it halfway through this semester with pretty good grades so far is a relief. I am taking 20 credits, which is one more than I had last semester. I am taking just general engineering classes right now. I have electricity and magnetism, circuits and systems, mechanics of solids, differential equations, a humanity: philosophy (knowledge, reality, and nature. sounds fun, right?! Lol), engineering design III (we build and design a truss and a gantry hoist), circuits lab (a total blast! Haha), and finally, for my one required PE class as a varsity athlete, I chose basic swimming.

Fitting in all my pre-season workouts has been ok so far, because for pre-season all our workouts are done at school. So practices aren’t close to as long as they will be once season starts. Mondays, I have class from 9-1, then practice from 2-5ish, then class from 6-8. That’s going to be interesting. Tuesdays I have class from 10-6 almost straight through, then we leave for practice at 7 and get back probably around 10. AND, I got my winter season back from last year for medical reasons, which means I still have 4 full indoor and outdoor seasons left!!!!

So this is how my practice schedule is going to work. Mondays and Fridays I have practice at 2, which will be the harder workout days, focusing on either speed or endurance. So, I will be lifting on Mondays and Fridays also. Wednesdays are going to be tempo (recovery) days, which is good to have between two pole vault practices. Tuesdays and Thursdays is POLE VAULTING!!! We are going to a new facility in Oakland NJ called Ultimate Sports America. They have a straightaway of track with a pole vault pit on one side and long jump on the other. So starting NEXT THURSDAY I will be vaulting there and be coached by Branko of Apex Vaulting! I am excited to vault with Branko, because he was around at some of our practices last year, and seems like a really good coach. He has a large selection of poles for us to use. The smallest pole Stevens has is a 12’ 150, so I am looking forward to having some smaller poles to be able to warm up with. So I am really excited to get this year underway and can’t wait to start break my winter record from last year, and set a new school record in the spring!

I will post again once the season is underway to talk about my experience with Apex vaulting, and how the season is going in general. Hope everyone else is excited for the season to start too!