Week 13 workouts

1/26 Pettit. Joe, Chris, Matt, Jessica, Kasey, Desarae did 400 training. Spencer was present but ill. Jogged a lap for warm up, did leg swings, 50m stride, 50m pickup. 4x100 at opening 100 race pace. Everyone was right around target on all the reps. Rested 3 min between reps and 9 min before 3x200 on 6 min recovery at second 200 pace for 400. Everyone handled that close to target, too. After final 200 a 30 sec recovery before a 40m all-out sprint. Jogged a cool down lap and stretched hamstrings, glutes, calf and quad. Finished at 5:50. Target paces: Joe 50, Matt and Chris 54, Jess 64, Kasey 66, Des 67.

1/27 KC. Jerome, Spencer, Kasey and Alex jumped. After a 2-min warm up, a few run-throughs and U-turns. Took a jump or two at an opening height and then worked upward, ending with a couple jumps at very challenging heights. Kasey cleared a bar that equaled her PR of 4-9. Alex cleared 4-5 and had some good jumps at 4-7. Spencer was over 5-5 and had a close attempt at 5-7. Jerome cleared 6-3 and barely rattled off a bar at 6-7. Kept the volume somewhat low, focusing on some higher bars.

1/28 KC. Desarae and Jessica worked high hurdles. Warmed up with circles, swings, cycles, Russian boxes, trap bar squat jumps. 4x3H 5-step, 4x3H 1/2-space 3-step, 3x2H tandem starts, 3x4H solo. Hand splits were around mid-1.4 for Jess and mid-1.5 for Des. Circuit: 2x 100 jump rope, 5+5 split squat jumps, 10 push ups,2x4 hurdle hops. Foam rolling and stretching.

1/29 KC. Joe, Matt, Chris and Spencer trained high hurdles. Warm up / Strength Circuit (1 set)
Hip mobility: alternating leg walkovers forward and backward, sideovers left and right, over/under; 10x Glute-ham raise; 5x Trap-bar jump squat; 10x Box drive. 5-step 3x3 hurdles. First set at 39. Rest at 42. Falling start over H1 (42), 3-pt start over H2 (42) (regular spacing), Block start over H3 (42) (regular spacing), Block start over H4 (42) (-1 for H2, -2 for H3, -3 for H4), Block start over H3 (39) (keep at -1), Block start over H2 (39) (keep at -1), Block start over H1 (39), 3x3 bench press (85%)
Follow each set of bench with 3x L+R reverse leg press (4 to 6 plates). Foam rolling / stretching

Week 12 workouts

1/19 KC. 400Hers trained tonight: Joe, Chris, Matt, Ian, Jessica, Kasey and Desarae. Warm up was circles, swings, cycles, skips and 40-40 jump rope. 4H walkovers, hangovers, skipovers, jogovers -- left and right lead legs. 4-step power hurdles, left and right. 2-step hurdles. 10x2H race speed equivalents for 15-17-19 spacing. 15s at 36, 17s at 33, 19s at 27. Kettlebell: 2 sets of 10x lunge walk, single leg deadlift, swing, raised squat, hip thrust. Foam roll / stretch.

1/20 KC. High jumpers Kasey, Alex, Madeline, Jerome and Spencer warmed up for 20 minutes then did some jump-turn drills and short-approach jumps, working on plant angle and jumping straight up and then turning by driving the lead knee toward the opposite shoulder. Women took about 8 to 10 jumps with the bar set in 4-4 to 4-6 range. Spencer worked in 5-6 to 5-8 range, and Jerome in 6-2 to 6-6 range.

1/21 KC. Jessica and Desarae warmed up and then did hurdle mobility, 2x5x200 deadlift, 10x box drive and posts. 3x5H elevators. Block starts. 2x4H tandem starts. Mini-circuit with 10-10 single leg jump rope, split squat jumps, skaters. Foam rolling. Des made progress on smoothing out her 4-step and carried more speed. Jess made progress on her start and ran some good, crisp reps on hurdles.

1/22 KC. Joe, Spencer, Chris and Matt warmed up with jumping jacks, squat jacks, swings and cycles followed by hurdle mobility, deadlifts, box drive and push ups. 3x4H elevators. 3x1H progression. 3x4H (-1) (42-42-39). Mini-circuit: 12L + 12R jump rope, 6x split squat jump, 12x skater, shin walks, 12x KB swing. Matt did some additional hurdle reps, working on lead leg mechanics and speed, lead arm drive, flatter trail leg pull through. Foam rolled.

1/23 KC. Super circuit for Joe, Matt, Chris, Spencer, Jessica and Desarae with special guest Cody. 20x jumping jacks, 10x high-low plank, 10x push up, 5x box jump - freeze,10x box drive, x pull up, 10x glute ham raise, 10x Russian box, 3x hurdle mobility, 5x10-step hills, 10x back extension, 5x dumbbell jump squat, 5x bench press, 10x reverse leg press, 500m rowing, 40x med ball chest pass, 10x KB step up, 10x KB swing, 10x KB single-leg deadlift, 5x 4H hops, 100x jump rope, foam rolling, stretch (quad, glute, ham, calf).

Carthage: Joe goes PR in 55H

1/17 Kenosha. Joe shaved .03 off his previous best, lowering his #2 all-time 55H time with a 2nd place finish in 7.84, following an 8.03 run in the trials. Jessica jumped onto the all time list for 55H with her 9.86/9.77 8th place finish, which is #4 all time. Desarae 4-stepped for the first time in the 55H with her 11.46. Back on the men's side, Matt 8.92 and Chris 9.03. In HJ, Jerome was 2nd on misses at 6-6.75. For the women, Kasey nearly equaled her PR but a slight brush left her with 4-7 jump, just outside the top 8. Alex jumped 4-3. Most ran 200s at this meet. Joe 23.13, Chris 24.77, Matt 24.82, Ian 26.64, Jessica 29.50, Kasey 30.85, Desarae 31.44. In 400, Ian 60.33 (28.9/31.43). In 4x4, Kasey 69.8 (32.1/37.7), Chris 55.2 (26.6/28.6).

Complete results

Week 11 workouts

1/13 KC. Spencer, Jerome, Madeline, Kasey and Alex warmed up with 40-40-10-10 jump rope, 1/2 3-pt line takeoff skips, 1/2 3-pt line accel with pop off, rim/net jumps, rim/net jumps with turn and tuck, full run throughs, short approach jumps working on various high jump components: arm setup/drive, plant angle, lean away, looking at far standard, knee drive up and away, ankle to bar (heel tuck). 3-4 full jumps working on all of the above. Spencer left for throws before doing the short approach jumps (sore hamstring). Kasey left after short approach jumps for class. Madeline left after fulls for PV. Jerome and Alex did a stair workout -- lunges, side steps, skaters, double leg 1-step, double 2-step, double 3-step, double 4-step (Jerome), (Jerome did a 6-step), single 1-step. Stair stretches: glute, hip, ham, quad.

1/14 KC. Jessica and Desarae warmed up with circles, swings, skips and then 2 sets of hurdle mobility, Russian boxes, deadlifts, box drives and post ups. Drill work consisted of 4-step power hurdles (27), working both left and right lead legs, making technical improvements. 3-step hurdles (27 -6), working primarily on the oppo. Tandem starts over H1 (27-30-33...). Tandem starts over 2 (33-27). Need to get Jess more comfortable and powerful from blocks. Des needs more confidence and consistency but is beginning to show flashes of what can be. Both made some good progress on the oppo and in getting down more quickly off the hurdles, which often is hampered by taking off too close. Finished with a circuit of 10-10 jump rope, lead and trail leg bands, split squat jumps, skaters, lunges, shin walks and hurdle hops. Foam rolling.

1/15 KC. Joe, Matt and Chris did 40-40 jump rope, swings and cycles, hurdle pullovers, skips. 4-step power hurdles, working on some technical issues (Chris - lead leg cutdown; Matt - lead leg knee drive and lead arm drive; Joe - trail leg finish). 3-step (39 -5), working on same technical issues. Tandem starts over H1 and H2. Circuit: 10-10 jump rope, lead and trail leg bands, split squat jumps, pushups, skaters, lunges, kb swings, kb step ups, shin walks and hurdle hops. Foam rolling.

Chicago: Strong showing in team's first indoor

1/10  At Chicago. Jerome won HJ with a 6-7.5 jump, which ranks 7th in DIII. Joe was runner up in 60H (6.65/6.66), which ranks 38th in DIII. Other place winners on the men's side were Matt 6th 60H (9.71/9.60 #10 all time) and Chris 7th 60H (9.78/9.73). Spencer ran 9.88 60H and 5-7.75 HJ with a sore hamstring. For the women, Kasey led the way with a 6th in HJ (4-8.75), Jessica finished 7th in 60H (10.65/10.59 #2 all time) and Alex tied for 7th in HJ (4-6.75). Desarae ran her first-ever 60H race in 13.14 (#8 all time). In other events, Joe 400r (NT), Logan 60 (7.60) 400r (NT), Chris 400r (24.8/29), Matt 400r (26.4/30.3), Ian 400 (27.9/31.4) 400r (27.6/29.7), Jerome 400r (26.5/27.4), Jessica 400r (30.7/35.1), Kasey 400r (32.9/38.2), Desarae 400 (33.9/40.4 1:14.29).

Full results

Week 10 workouts

1/5 KC. School was back in session and Joe, Matt, Spencer, Chris, Kasey, Desarae and Jessica were back for 400H training. After loosening up with joint circles, leg swings and cycles, the group did deadlifts (trap bar for me, straight bar for women) then box drive, push ups and post ups for 2 sets. Drill work included 5x4H 5-step (30), working on alignment and posture, and 4x4H 2-step (30w/33m). 3x8.5m flys. Bests: Kasey PR 7.73 meters per second, Desarae 7.59, Jessica 8.17, Joe 9.88, Matt 9.55, Spencer 8.59, Chris 9.24. 5x3H (30w/33m) at relative spacing for 15, 17 or 19 steps. Everyone hit the rhythm but Desarae, which is just a matter of improving the hurdling skill over time. Finished with a mini-circuit of jump rope (40 dbl, 10+10 sgl), lead and trail leg bands (10x ea), split squat jumps (5x). Foam rolling.

1/6 KC. Alex, Kasey, Jerome and Spencer rehearsed their meet warm up. After that, some crescent jumps and fulls around opening height. Didn't go higher as we worked on being a more conscious of getting up off the ground rather than getting across the bar. Everyone made some good adjustments and had some good jumps after a long break.

1/7 KC. Jessica and Desarae rehearsed meet warm up routine, which led into multiple starts over H1 to work out some issues with blocks and rhythm. Moved out to H2 and H3 after gaining some consistency with H1. 4x3H, taking split times. Bests: Jessica 1.40 and Des 1.65. Differential with the fly sprint times were .36 and .53, respectively. Lower the differential, the better the hurdling. Best ones we've tested in the Kern Center were around .20 differential. On a percentage basis, the better hurdlers convert in the 80 to 90% range. For Jess and Des, those numbers are at 75% and 68%, respectively. Because Jess and Des are 4-steppers, getting a better oppo will be the easiest way to reduce the differential and increasing the speed conversion percentage.

1/8 KC. Spencer, Chris, Joe and Matt worked high hurdles. Pre-race warm up rehearsal, then 3x3 against the clock. Bests: Spencer 1.38, Matt 1.38, Chris PR 1.42, Joe 1.2 (hand time). 3x2 tandem starts. Circuit: 2x 40-10-10-40 jump rope, 20x push up, 10x split squat jump, 4x4 hurdle hops.