Weekly highlights: 4/30, 5/1, 5/3

4/30  Tim, Emily and Mollie trained at MU. Did 2x8H reps (R -1 -2 -2 -2 -3 -3 -3 one at regular height, one -3"). Also did a few reps over 2H. Everyone worked on some different elements but common themes for each: Tim worked to stay up tall and the ball of the foot into H1 and made an adjustment in block spacing that seemed to help. Also worked on keeping hips square, which is easier when getting to the takeoff point without reaching for it. He hit splits in 1.2s and 1.3s. Emily worked on a quicker lead leg and keeping her ankle flexed rather than pointing the toe. Lead leg was quick but there was still some toe pointing. She hit splits in 1.1s and 1.2s. Mollie continued her progress on staying off her heels and driving her knees more aggressively into the hurdles. When she did that, she hit splits in the 1.3s and 1.4s. When she didn't, she added the fourth step and ran in the 1.5s.

5/1  Nate and Mollie came out to MU for HJ. Nate's 5-step distance was 35-9. Looked for consistency there along with takeoff point and angle. Made jumps in 5-8 to 6-2 range. Kept the volume of jumps fairly low -- around 7 to 9. Mollie worked on taking off a little further away so she could reach her peak over and not past the bar. Moved back to 50, and it worked out well. Stayed away and made some nice jumps in 4-3 to 4-7 range but had some clearances among her jumps that had a lot of room around the bar. Tom did his 400H work. Worked a progression of back and forth 1H reps on turf and then did reps over 5-3-2, targeting race pace. On the 5H set, he ran splits around 5.3 but then picked it up for the 3 and 2 sets, running those segments in the 4.7 to 4.9 range, just the pace needed for a 60-second effort on Saturday.

5/3  Jerome practiced HJ, making some PR jumps at 6-0. Mike jumped after PV, taking a few run throughs, some warm up jumps around 5-8 and then working up to and clearing 5-11. Stopped there. Rain kept hurdlers in Kern. Jim, Jon and Tim did a couple starts and then about 5 reps at relative spacing for 16-step pattern.

Weekly highlights: 4/23, 4/24, 4/25, 4/26

4/23  Aaron returned to action, and Tim -- still a bit sore from Saturday's meet -- worked out with him at MU. Did a brief warm up involving circles, swings, strides, bench step ups and slow lows -- working on entry mechanics. Moved right into 2x12H. Focus was on entry mechanics and late-race endurance. Hurdles were set at -2 at 36-39-39-39-36-39-39-39-36-39-39-39-36-39-39-39. Ended with a lap on turf, skipping end lines and striding sidelines. Stretched.

4/24  Joe, Nate and Mollie went out to MU for HJ practice. Took about 9 jumps, starting at opening height and then going up from there and working at the "sticking" point until jump 7 and then working down until a bar clearance. Was nice to jump outside for a practice for a change. Joe cleared bars from 5-6 to 5-8 and took multiple attempts at 5-9. Nate was pretty sharp and cleared bars at 5-8 5-10 6-0 6-2 and took a few at 6-3 before finishing out at 6-1. Mollie started out at 4-4 and got at least one bar at 4-6.

4/25  Emily and Mollie practiced some step-down, toe-up, knee-up on a stationary hurdle and then over some low hurdles. Kept that going into full-speed reps. 4x2 (-1.5 33) and 2x4 (-2ed/-3mz 30). Emily also worked on a quicker first step off the block and driving the heel to the hurdle rather than pointing the toe. Emily hit splits around 1.17. Mollie had some in the 1.2s but also had some in 1.3s. She was working on knee drive and staying off the heels as well as making a good attack into hurdles. She did that well on several reps -- major improvement but at -3, there's a way to go before that can be done in a race. So, we worked at regular spacing adding a fourth step. Mixed results there because she was getting too close. Sort of between the 3-step and 4-step worlds. Later reps got better with 4 steps, but we did very few of those.

4/26  The Tim and Jim show was on at MU. Cold and breezy but sunny. Did some work on hurdle entry mechanics and then 1x6H, 1x4H, 1x2H targeting race pace. First rep was about 64 pace. Second and third reps were about 60 pace. Finished with some oppo reps on turf. Good practice despite the chill temps.

St. Norbert: Emily gets 100H PR

4/21  Battling her IT band and swirling winds, Emily a PR 15.56 in finishing second at St. Norbert. Nate's knee caused problem again, but he still managed 6-2 for second. Mollie also had a good day at HJ, clearing 4-6 and getting a good jump on her final attempt at 5-8. Tim and Tom had solid performances in 400H. Headwinds hampered Tim in the highs, but he battled all the way to a third-place finish.

Emily 15.98/15.56 (2nd PR)
Tim 17.44/17.83 (3rd) 61.74 (5th)
Tom  63.60 (7th)
Mollie 19.54 4-6
Nate 6-2 (2nd)

Complete results

Tim's qualifying race.

Emily does a great job pushing the hip into the hurdle. Now, we need to get that lead leg foot pointing upward (similar to St. Norbert hurdler at left).







Nate at 6-2...


Mollie at 4-4...


Tim in finals...

Workouts: 4/16, 4/17, 4/19

4/16  Tim trained at Kern Center. We worked on entry mechanics and then did 5x1H (33>42). Next, 2x4H (36/39 -1). Went back to 3x1H. Had trouble hitting the takeoff point on H1, but a race situation and a slight tailwind will take care of that. On the times Tim hit the mark, he was in good position to drive the lead knee into the hurdle and get off the hurdle quickly. He posted hand-time splits around 1.25 on those reps. When he was well behind the takeoff, the lead leg was left hanging too long and slowed down entry and exit to the hurdle -- as well as hitting a couple, which impacted hurdles that followed. However, hitting the takeoff point shouldn't be difficult in race conditions, provided the conditions are right on race. We'll get a few block starts on Friday to work this some more.

4/17  Jerome, Nate, Joe and Mollie were jumping. Did about 4 run throughs, 4 short approach jumps, 4-5 full run jumps and 4 box jumps. Focused on plant angle, quick last steps, knee drive, staying away and dropping the hips slightly on penultimate to get better vertical speed. Mollie jumped with bars in 4-4 to 4-8 range, Joe and Jerome 5-6 to 5-10, and Nate 5-8 to 6-0.

4/19  Tim, Jim, Tom and Jon worked 400H in Kern, primarily by taking 2x1H (33) at race space and then 8x3H at relative space for each hurdlers stride rhythm. Tim worked 15s, Jim 16s, Tom and Jon 17s. Jon stayed around and did some oppo work -- which got very good in last 5 reps. Great practice despite being stuck inside.

Tom takes 2nd in 400H at Wisconsin Lutheran

4/14  Tom was our lone group member racing in this meet, getting a season-best time and second-place finish. Everyone else was out of town for break.

Tom 63.04 (2nd)

Workout: 4/11

4/11  Mollie worked out in the Kern Center for highs. Our focus was to step down on takeoff and step up and get "on top" of the hurdle to improve entry and exit. And it was working well. Timed a few splits -- all in the 1.2s -- much faster than typical 1.3s and 1.4s. We had them pulled in a couple feet, but it was much better hurdling. No sitting back, no straightening up. Nice lean. Need to keep that going. Got over about 30 hurdles total. Finished with a set of kettlebell exercises and foam rolling.

Workouts: 4/3, 4/4

4/3  Nate, Joe and Dan practiced HJ. Started with 3x run-throughs, short approach jumps emphasizing knee drive, full approach jumps at opening height, full approach jumps going up 2 inches on makes and down an inch on misses starting at -4 season best, full approach jumps at jumper's choice height. Shot some video to take a look at foot plant, knee drive, arm drive and clearance rotation.

4/4  Mollie, Leah, Carol and Jim came out to MU. Mollie and Leah did some low/slow reps and then 4x5H (-3 -3") in trainers. They did a few more reps over a couple hurdles to work on a couple technical issues. Jim and Carol did 400H work: 1x8, 1x4 and 1x2. Jim hit splits within a couple of tenths of target (hitting 4.7s) and Carol within .3 on early segments (around 6.0). Later segments lagged considerably (mid-7s).