PP42's Senior Year Training Blog

[rainbowgirl28]

If you're fighting an injury, coming in at 6' is ridiculous, even if it is from short run. Too much jumping.

I think 10'6 might be a little high for you to start if you know your numbers will be off. 10' is probably more reasonable, or even 9'6 if warmups are bad. I don't get how you'll jump every bar between 6' and 11' and then pass 11'6. There is a nice healthy balance between coming in way too low and way too high...

[vault3rb0y]

The best part about that meet is the way you reacted to it. You are so positive and excited, and jumping for a PR from 5 steps is something to be very excited about! Keeping that positive attitude into your next meet and keeping your zen approach of "i am going to jump and have fun, and not set any goals too high" is going to suit you very, very well.

I would never go into a meet saying "i'm going to open here", but like Becca said, judge it by warm ups. See the kind of height you are getting during warm ups and open a foot or so below that. Then play it by ear.

Keep getting comfortable in competition mode. The best kind of practice you can get is during meets, in real meet situations. There's no real replacement. The more meets you have, the better you will get. Just keep it up and keep having fun! If you get more comfortable during the meet, get more consistent, and have fun, its a successful meet. The rest is just gravy on the chicken.

[powerplant42]

6 steps on the PR attempts, but everything else is spot on! There was almost nothing but positives from the get-go...

It was just liberating to do some real jumping again, even though if Petrov had seen me vault he might have had an aneurism! But now I can practice again and can start heading the right way.

My left hamstring started to get tight on my last few jumps and it's been really sore these past two days, but I just did some CFM (which I swear by now) and it's feeling better. I am gonna take the day off today KB, I really did get pretty beat up... My face is actually still swollen from that cross bar and my hamstring is of course plenty tight. I've scheduled a practice for tomorrow though!

The meet Wednesday has vaulting. Tuesday can just be some pole runs I suppose...

Here's what's up: call me crazy (and maybe I am... probably am...) but I think that with some luck I could pull off a 16' jump by the end of indoor. I would need to qualify for a late indoor meet, and NIN is early March. The Q height for NIN is 14'3", and late registration closes March 3rd (I think...). Regular registration closes on the 28th of February... There's an open high school meet on the 28th, the Midatlantic Indoor Classic... I figure that that's my best shot to jump the 14'3" that I need to get to NIN (where I'd have my best shot of jumping 16'). All I need to jump to qualify for the Classic is 12'... So that has to happen by States, which are the day that registration closes (might be before that actually... it says midnight of that day, so I'm guessing that means it'd be too late).

That's my situation.

[KirkB]

... I am gonna take the day off today KB, I really did get pretty beat up... My face is actually still swollen from that cross bar and my hamstring is of course plenty tight. ...

Hamstring is one thing ... but to complain about a swollen face due to a rendez-vous with a bar is just being a wuss ... as long as BOTH eyes aren't swollen shut, you should be able to train as normal ... suck it up!

Here's what's up: call me crazy (and maybe I am... probably am...) ... but I think that with some luck I could pull off a 16' jump by the end of indoor.

OK ... you said it yourself ... you're crazy! If you can go from a starting bar of 6-0 on Friday Jan 22 to a PR of 16-0 in early March, you will have broken some kind of AMAZING IMPROVEMENT record! Actually, even the 14-3 will be AMAZING!

Seriously, PP, slow and steady wins the race! You need to set your SB of 11-7 SOON ... then you need to clear 12-0 SOON ... then you need to get 13-0, then 14-0, then 15-0 then 16-0 all in the next 6 weeks or less. You basically have to improve by a foot or more a week.

Impossible? No. Improbable? YES! Even a HEALTHY Jack Whitt with Tim McMichael coaching him never made these kinds of improvements in his Sr. HS indoor season. Get real!

I would need to qualify for a late indoor meet, and NIN is early March. The Q height for NIN is 14'3", and late registration closes March 3rd (I think...). Regular registration closes on the 28th of February... There's an open high school meet on the 28th, the Midatlantic Indoor Classic... I figure that that's my best shot to jump the 14'3" that I need to get to NIN (where I'd have my best shot of jumping 16'). ...

I don't think it's nearly as unrealistic to jump 14-3. That may be 3-3 over your SB, but it's doable IF you're healthy and IF you have steady weekly progression. THAT'S the one to shoot for ... forget about 16-0 ... that's ridiculous ... and laughable!

I will root for you every step of the way ... but I think someone needs to pull you back to reality.

OK ... now the first thing you need to do to clear 14-3 SOMETIME this year ... indoor or out ... is to stop skipping practice days becuz of a swollen face. EVERY DAY COUNTS ... DON'T BE A WUSS!

The second thing you have to do is stay healthy. Skipping practice due to a sore hammy is OK ... once in awhile, but you're going to have to make sure you STAY healthy.

The third thing you might CONSIDER is as RG says ... start high enough in the meet that you're not tuckered out by the time you get to the SB bars. This might be especially true in your case ... if your hammies are only good for so many jumps. Figure out what jump they feel the best at ... for instance, maybe the 7th jump of the day ... and then time your starting bar and your passing strategy to try to get a SB on your 7th attempt (for example) in every meet. However, I'm not talking about passing 12" at a time at SB-level bars ... I'm only talking about passing any 3"-4" increments.

The fourth thing you need to do is to strive to go from 11-0 to 14-3 a HALF A FOOT at a time ... per meet. Don't plan on anything more. You might pass from 9-0 to 10-0 or from 10-0 to 11-0 in a meet, but you should NEVER pass to a foot higher than your SB all in one jump. This goes for whether your SB is 11, 12, 13, or 14. NEVER!

You see, by UNREALISTICALLY trying for a 12" improvement, you put yourself in jeopardy of missing out on an "easy" 6" SB improvement. Even take 2"-4" improvements ... they're great confidence-builders too. Once in a blue moon, you'll get a 7"-12" improvement in a single meet, but very, very rarely. Take those as they come, but don't count on them. Strive for the 3"-6" improvements each and every week.

PP, you have 5 weeks left to the end of January. If you can improve 3" per week over your PR of 11-6 (strive for 6", but expect a few setbacks) ... then you'll have jumped 12-9. THAT would be quite impressive ... really! And THAT might be closer to your real reality.

In all honesty, the MOST LIKELY SCENARIO that I see for you right now is that you're going to over-train, you're going to hurt yourself, and you're going to crash-and-burn with an indoor PR of not much more than 12-0. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but that's my best guess ... based on your track record.

'Nough said.

Kirk

[powerplant42]

We'll see what happens!

[rainbowgirl28]

Good advice KB

[KirkB]

In the "Most Rapid PR Improvement" thread (http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=19054), VP wrote:

... Yes Jack's is proven, because it has already happened. PP's has not happened yet. But I really don't feel there should be a thread to convince him he is aiming too high. ...

VP, I'm trying to give him sound advice ... to not aim too high ... or too low.

On the Most Rapid PR Improvement thread, I'm trying to capture actual case histories of what vaulters have been able to achieve in a year or less.

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars....

I too believe in this type of optimism. Every vaulter needs to "think big". However, I also believe in the following one ...

"Easier said than done."

... and this one ...

"Put your money where your mouth is."

And you've heard me say this one more than once ...

"Slow and steady wins the race!"

I think going from 11-0 to 14-3 in less than two months is still a little optimistic ... but that's what I'm encouraging PP to strive for. So I think I AM helping him "shoot for the moon". And if he gets 13-something in the next couple months, then I think he HAS "landed among the stars".

Kirk

[powerplant42]

In all fairness to me, I'm really not an 11'-12' jumper... I think you're underestimating me Kirk!

[rainbowgirl28]

In all fairness to me, I'm really not an 11'-12' jumper... I think you're underestimating me Kirk!

You've competed in several meets this year, and have yet to beat 11'6. Whether it's technical flaws/physical weaknesses/injuries/bad luck, it doesn't matter until you actually do it. You haven't even done higher over a real crossbar in practice.

I think the goals Kirk wrote are realistic. 16' this indoor season is not. Jack Whitt is a freak of nature who is like twice your size, stayed pretty healthy in HS, had access to good coaching, and had access to a lot of poles. It will took him a year to get from 11'6 to 16'.

[powerplant42]

I understand... I'll stop talking and start jumping.

[KirkB]

In all fairness to me, I'm really not an 11'-12' jumper... I think you're underestimating me Kirk!

PP, I'm not being unfair to you ... I'm trying to show you the REALITY of your situation. I'm not underestimating you ... I'm trying to get your head out of the clouds.

You say you're better than a 12' jumper, but I haven't seen that yet ... I'm from Missouri ... I'll believe it when I SEE it.

Here's what you said in November:

... my 'official' PR stands currently at 11'6"... I jumped that my first indoor meet of the season last year and then after that the pain really started coming...

Goals? Let's talk short term for now... My first indoor meet is December 7th. I would like to jump at least 14' there. ...

So almost 3 months later, your PR is still 11-6 and your SB is only 11-0.

Talking about 16' when you haven't even hit 14' yet ... and you're still not injury-free ... is ridiculous.

I understand... I'll stop talking and start jumping.

NOW you're talking sensibly!

Let me put it this way ... the ABSOLUTE BEST rate of improvement you can make is 6" per week ... on average ... so starting with your 11-0 last week, that puts you at 16-0 on Apr 3, 2010 ... at the EARLIEST. Even THAT is ridiculously over-estimating your potential ... it just ain't gonna happen!

Cut that progression schedule in half ... say 3" per week on average ... and you're at 13-6 by Apr 3. I think THAT'S doable!

When you're planning this out PP, keep in mind that your progression won't be linear. You may have a 12" improvement in your next meet ... but then you'll have meets where you can't PR ... for one reason or another. The REALITY of your situation ... even if 100% healthy ... is that it will be extremely difficult to average more than a 3" improvement per week. Don't lose sight of this reality!

Kirk

[powerplant42]

All I can say is that I hope to suprise you!