Workouts: 12/20, 12/19

12/20 KC. Rachel was ill. Spencer was ill, too, but warmed up and tried a few jumps before sending him away. Maia trained. Did some circle runs, backovers, short approach jumps off 4 and 6 step, with and without ramp. Had bungee set at 4-6. Worked on staying on curve, leaning into curve, keeping shoulders perpendicular to curve, plant foot to back corner, quick last step. Started getting a little more consistent toward end of workout and got better hip height when quicker at takeoff. Speed and rotation was good. Issues involved getting too long and flattening out last stride, which led to stepping out of curve on some jumps and that led to a push toward bar. Like the arm block, speed, plant angle and attack on plant, especially on later reps.

12/19 KC. Des was in for treatment (hip flexor) while Jess, Ben and Maia did a hurdle workout. Chris and Kim were excused. Spencer a no show. Pre-practice work included jacks, hurdle mobility and deadlift (5-3-1) sets followed by 5 high double leg hops. Did some deep breathing and reset to help open up rib cage a little to improve breathing and oxygenation. Scorpions followed then 5x2-step stick switches. Dribbles and then reactive hurdles (4-step power into 1-step, 3-step, 5-step, 3-step, 1-step). Block starts over wickets, then into increasingly higher H1, then H2. Maia did H2s with wickets. Struggled a little without wickets but managed to get an 8-4 on last reps. Jess worked a bit on cycling lead leg to get a little quicker getaway off hurdles and trying to keep ankles stiffer throughout. She split in 1.15 to 1.25 range. Ben had good attack into H1 and added H2 at -1.5. He was at 39-36. Trail leg was loose but rest of it was good.

Workouts: 12/11

12/11 KC. Spencer, Chris, Ben, Des, Maia and Jess started with warmup/strength: jacks, hurdle mobility, deadlifts, left and right hops, pushups. Dribbles, switches, skipovers, 5-step, power hurdles, 1-step. 3-pt starts over H1 up to race height. 3 sets of kb swings, eccentric squats, box drops, box drive, push ups. Comments: Everyone was getting in and off hurdles well. Some inconsistencies, but everyone had at least a few good reps. Worked mostly on a consistent acceleration and rhythm through H1, cycling lead leg, keeping trail tight and staying forward in and off hurdles. Maia had some trouble with 8-step, often taking 9, until we put wickets back in. No problem then. Des had some outstanding acceleration into H1, staying up tall at the ankle joint. Jess was good through the hurdles. Need to get a little more upright prior to the hurdle and to keep feet under hips throughout the sprint to H1. Chris appears to have figured out the mechanics over the 42s. Spencer looked good, and Ben has shown good improvement in lead leg cycling. Still has some inconsistencies with rhythm, but looking better overall. Block work and H2 next week. Everyone needs to work on a quicker step 8  (except Spencer who takes 7) to avoid taking off too close to hurdles.

UWM: Jess opens season with 10.46

12/9 UW-Milwaukee. Jess opened here season with a 10.46 60H -- about 3 tenths better than her opener last year.

Workouts: 12/8, 12/6, 12/5

12/8 KC. Rachel had a sore left shin, which she claimed is usual for her. She was there with Jess, Ben and Chris, who had leave early for class. Des came in later. Practice was hampered somewhat because all the hurdles and other equipment were put away because of an event setup. Jess did a pre-race prep and worked at regular height and spacing out to three hurdles from blocks. Looked good throughout. Rachel, Ben and Chris did skipovers, 5-steppers and power hurdles. After some H1 power hurdles, we added a second and then third hurdle -- all at -3. Women ran 27-30" and men 30-36". Ben and Rachel did strength work tonight with 3 sets of 2 circuits. Set 1: Eccentric single-leg squats, double-leg and single-leg box drops. Set 2: Elevated hip thrusts, elevated push ups, alternate leg box drive.  Comments: Chris looked good through the drill work, and Ben was more consistent tonight and looked better technically. The challenge for those two is going to be maintaining the mechanics they are showing over lower hurdles once we start working over 39s and 42. Rachel did well and as the practice progressed, she was able to run more aggressively, which was even better. Sometimes she didn't finish the trail leg very well, but she did when that was her focus. She also learned how to count steps to help take her focus off the hurdle on onto her sprinting between hurdles. Similar with Des, when she was counting and aggressive, she had some excellent reps.

12/6 KC. Rachel and Maia had a HJ workout. Started with circles, swings. takeoff skips, strides, sprints. Pit bridges, backovers, backflips. Circle, half circle, 4-step and 6-step jumps. Maia had to leave early, but Rachel finished out with some full run-throughs. Comments: For an introductory session, they did well. Worked on foot plant angle, accelerating into jump, quick last step, leaning into curve and a few other things. Both were able to clear a 4-4 bungee. Hurdlers did the KC Super Circuit.

12/5 KC. Rachel trained independently. Des, Jess, Maia, Ben and Chris did a hurdle workout. They started with circles, jacks, 3x3 deadlifts, 6x dbl leg hops, 10x push ups. Swings, cycles and dribbles followed. Wall drill lead leg and rail pullovers. Stick switches, skipover tops, 1/2 space 3s, 5-step, 4-step power hurdle into 2 1-steps. A few block starts out to 4 steps. Multiple wicket accels from blocks without and with a hurdle. Took wickets out and added a second hurdle. Jess, Chris and Ben handled that OK while Maia and Des struggled some with the rhythm to H1 without wickets. Kept all hurdles low and when we added H2, it was in 2 feet. Comments: Jess showed the best technique and consistency but both Maia and Des showed some good flashes of speed in the reps without a hurdle. Des was in good position to 8-step without the wickets but wouldn't take off at times. Maia shifted to 9-step without the wickets and then 4-stepped. Ben and Chris negotiated the rhythm pretty well, but like the others, often took off too close. Both worked on starting the lead leg action with a high knee pick up and tighter fold. More work needed there. Both were pushing into hurdles reasonably well and kept the lead leg moving. Ben was less consistent than Chris and sometimes has trouble with rhythm, but hes has some good reps and will need to find more of that, especially as we work over higher hurdles further apart. All in all, a good workout as we continue progress toward building out the race.