Carthage: Mike sets MSOE indoor mark; Joe #2 all time

1/12  At Carthage. Mike set an indoor school record, upping Nate's previous record by a half inch at 6-4, finishing 4th. Joe jumped into the all-time 55H list at #2, running 8.20/8.25 for 4th place. Andrew entered the all-time list, too, at #6 with his 6th place finish (8.69/8.52). Jon also made the final, running 8.74/9.95 for 8th (10-stepped H1 in final). Logan ran 25.11 (21st/41) in 200. 4x4 had Logan leading off and running his opening 200 nearly as fast as his open 200 (25.4/31.9) for 57.4. Jon ran #2 and had a well-balanced 26.5/29.9 for 56.4. Andrew also managed his leg well at 26/28.7 for 54.7. Joe not only ran a well-balanced race but also a fast one, running 25/27 for 52. Great effort by everyone in that race. In 400, Nate ran 65.97. On the women's side, Kasey and Briel added their names to our top 10 list for 55H, running 10.77 (15/16) and 11.26 (16/16), respectively. Both 4-stepped. In HJ, Kasey and Alex no heighted. In 200, Kasey ran 31.60 (27/35). Athlete of the week: Mike for setting that HJ record.

Complete results


Joe ran some good times, but he can run faster ones. Four things: run a bit more upright between hurdles, get the lead leg moving down as soon as it passes the hurdle, bend the left arm and keep it closer to the body as clearing the hurdle and keep the trail leg moving (you'll see it hanging after it pulls through).


Andrew ran well, too. Getting a bit flat footed at times and the lead arm is swing across and could be more front to back, but while the lead leg could cut down more quickly, he's running off the hurdles well.


Briel is good here. For not having done any 4-stepping in her past, her oppo is doing well. Hung a trail leg on H3 and getting so close to the hurdles is causing extra air. Going forward, it's all about getting quicker to leave enough takeoff room.


Here's Mike making 6-4. Good plant and lean away from bar. Could get more out of the arms prior to take off. Good vertical and good position over the bar other than dropping head back rather than tucking chin to improve rotation around bar and lower COM.


Kasey's right arm is coming out and then swinging across her body. Plant is good but as plant is made, she's turning her right shoulder (maybe because of that arm swinging across) maybe trying to get her back to the bar before leaving the ground. Also appears to be looking right at the bar -- and if you are looking at it, you're likely to jump into it. Just as the takeoff toe leaves the ground, her legs are in good position but the upper body is bending extremely toward bar rather than going vertical. Head never drops back on clearance so the hips cannot rise. Despite all that, still might have made this jump if not having folded too soon. Better jumps ahead.


Good plant angle here, but Alex needs to have the arms back coming into the takeoff step to get more lift and better block. Instead of driving straight up, Alex is dropping her back even before leaving the ground.  Lead knee is driving up well but it's not rotating toward the opposite shoulder to get rotation needed to get perpendicular to the bar. Too hard to clear the bar sideways, so she needs to work on driving up and getting that rotation, making jumping much easier.

Joe goes to #2 all-time 60H in first race of season

1/5  At UW-Milwaukee. Joe hurdled to an 8.96 60H, competing against the Division I Horizon League's 2012 high hurdle champion and athlete of the year. The race also featured the league's 4th place finisher. While Joe was well back of those two, his time is only the second in MSOE history under the 9.0 mark. Great start to the season for Joe. Kevin Diederich holds the school record at 8.45.

Workouts: 1/7, 1/8, 1/9, 1/10, 1/11

1/7  At Kern Center. Kasey and Briel rehearsed pre-event general warm up and then inserted some deadlifts (190 2x5 for Kasey, 5+4 for Briel, then 5x depth jumps and 8x elevated push ups). Back to pre-meet warm up with 3x3H 5-step; 2x40 sprint (did a third in spikes as 30m accel -- Kasey 4.85, Briel 5.14); 1x1-2-3. Timed some H1 times from blocks (Kasey 2.40, Briel 2.51). Also got a split time for Briel (1.71). After those, we worked a bit more to get Briel a few more 4-step reps and to help Kasey manage the 3-step. Good practice considering little training has been done for a few weeks because of break.

1/8  At Kern Center. Mike and Carson rehearsed pre-event warm up and then started with opening height and worked upward 2 inches on makes. At max height, some extra jumps. Started at 5-6. Both made 5-10. Mike tried 6-0. Kasey and Alex followed and did the same. Alex worked at 4-0. Kasey at 4-4 to 4-6. Approach work became more consistent, leading to better attempts.

1/9  At Kern Center. Andrew, Joe and Jon trained by doing pre-event routine for hurdles and capping it off with 2x2H side-by-side and 2x3H up/back (39/-2). Warm up activities: circles, swings, skips, strides, hip mobility, 3x40m progressions, 3x3H (42) 5-step, 3x block start 1H 2H 3H. Cool down: walk, knee hugs, jog, strides, light stretches.

1/10  At Kern Center. Logan, Andrew, Joe, Jon, Nate and Kasey trained for 400H. 4x5H skipover, 4x5H 1/2-space 3-step. Couple reps of each were oppo. 5x3H relative spacing (33/30) -- Andrew, Jon and Joe worked 15-spacing, Logan 17, Nate and Kasey 19. 5x3H random spacing, working on attack regardless of lead leg. Relay exchanges followed for Logan, Joe, Jon and Andrew.

1/11  At Kern Center. Kasey did a quick warm up and then did some 4-step power hurdles, 2x3H 5-step, couple block starts over 1H and 2H. Also did a little trail leg work. Andrew also got a couple block starts.

Pre-event warm up

Warm up objectives are to get warm, loose, focused, fast and rhythmic.

Some general guidelines:

• Know how much time you need prior to your event.
• Know when to start your warmup. Avoid rushing.
• Know where you can warmup.
• Know where you check in.
• Start from general to specific, slow to fast activities.
• Practice your warmup. Write it down if you need to.
• Keep your warmup consistent but adjust for conditions when necessary.
• Don't do static stretching until after your final event.

Some specifics for high hurdles:

• Typical practice general warmup (circles, swings, skips, strides, walkovers, skipovers).
• 3x40 sprints in trainers -- each progressively faster. Put on spikes after this.
• 3x3-5H 5-step.
• 1x1H, 1x2H, 1x3H -- all from blocks.
• 5-minute rule. Ideally, you finish your 3H rep about 5-7 minutes before you race, but many times, you need to get your hurdle reps done before the first heat goes -- after that, access to hurdles may be iffy. So, get those done and then do a high-speed rep (could be an acceleration, pickup or a couple hurdles near full speed) about every 5 minutes, resting when you think the start is about 5 minutes away.
• Between warm up reps, or while waiting in those 5-minute increments, visualize what you will do. Keep your breathing slow and stay relaxed. Though in a crowded environment, isolate yourself mentally to achieve and maintain focus. If you want to socialize, do it early in the warm up and/or after the race. 
• If you are coming from another event, allow enough time to get at least 1x40, 1x5-step and the 3x block starts. You can get that done in as little as 10-minutes if necessary (and if you can access a lane and block without much of a line). 
• Jog a little and perhaps do some rolling and/or light stretching after the race.

Some specifics for high jump:

• Get your approach measured when you arrive at meet. 
• Use your typical practice warm up.
• Be on time for instructions prior to start. 
• 3x run through (more if not consistent).
• 1x practice jump at opening height (more if needed). 
• Remain active periodically as you wait for your turn.
• Keep mentally isolated, visualize jumps, sharply focus a couple minutes before each attempt.

Some specifics for 4x400:

• 10x each side and forward leg swings.
• 2x20 A skips.
• 2x40 easy strides with good mechanics -- one on straight, one on curve if possible.
• 2x40 sprints, progressively faster but no max velocity (it's a 400) -- straight and curve if possible.
• 5-minute rule. (Short accel or pickup)
• Exchanges are practiced at practice, not at meet. 

Workout: 1/2

1/2  At Kern Center. Joe trained with Brandon, a freshman at UNI. Joe lifted 3x260, 5x box hop + depth jump, 10x push up jacks, 3x fly sprints (bests: Joe =PR 9.42 mps, Brandon PR 10.82), 3x3H 5-step (39), 3x1H starts (42), 3x3H (42 -1), box exercises, foam rolling, stretching.

Workout: 12/26

12/26  At Kern Center. Joe warmed up and lifted 2x4x220, 2x5 long low hops, 2x10 elevated push ups. Did 6x3H 5-step 36/39, working on line running to improve lead leg tracking. Next, 5x2 block starts, still working on lead leg track as well as lead leg speed. Stayed up well on ball of foot into hurdles. Arm still a little wide on lead leg side and there's too much bend off hurdle but nice adjustments were made to improve lead leg mechanics. Finished with 5x3H up/back (-3 36), working on same things... while tired (1 min recoveries). Did 5 box exercises, shin exercises, stretching and rolling.

Workouts: 12/17, 12/18, 12/19, 12/20

These were the scheduled workouts for the three days I was at convention:

Monday
Warm up: Circles, swings, skips, strides
Lifting: 2x hurdle walkovers and over/unders; 2x 3x same weight as last time, 10x tuck jumps, 10x elevated push ups.
Drills: 4x3H 5-step (30s on blue marks). One rep on opposite leg.
Hurdles: 1x1H (30) falling start; 1x2H (30 -3) 3 point; 3x1H (30) blocks; 3x2H (30 -2) blocks. Briel 4-step, Kasey 3-step these.
Box exercises: 10x bridge, 10x each leg thrust, 10x squat, 10x each leg step up, 20x switch jumps.
Recovery: rolling, stretching, ice, etc.

Tuesday
Warm up: Circles, swings, takeoff skips, jump turns, strides, 3-point line runs, archbacks, backovers.
Short approach jumps: Pay attention to plant angle. 5x with bungee bar.
Runthroughs: 5x -- work on hitting mid-mark, maintaining lean through curve.
Full jumps: 3x at -6 best height; if you made 2 or more bars at -6, go up 2, if not, go down 2 and do 3x; optional 3 jumps at height of choice.
Recovery: rolling, stretching, ice, etc.

Wednesday
Warm up: Circles, swings, skips, strides
Lifting: 2x hurdle walkovers and over/unders; 2x 4x same weight as last time, 10x tuck jumps, 10x elevated push ups.
Drills: 5x4H 1-step (30s 8' apart); 3x3H 5-step (39s blue marks+base--1 base on H2 and 2 on H3).
Hurdles: 1x1H (39) fall start; 1x2H (39 -1) 3-pt; 3xH1 (42) blks; 3x3H (42) -1 for H2, -2 for H3) blks.
Box exercises: 10x bridge, 10x ea. leg thrust, 10x squat, 10x ea. leg step up, 20x switch jumps.
Recovery: rolling, stretching, ice, etc.

12/20  At Kern Center. Joe, Jon and Logan trained for 400H. Kept it fairly light and in trainers because of high intensity the previous day. Warmed up, did some hurdle drills with both left and right lead legs and then optimal hurdles -- quick run with hurdles at 27" and 35m (-2) between, working on a fast 3 steps into hurdle and fast 3 off the hurdle in an effort to minimize speed losses. Did 5 reps. Finished with 5x4H oppo on 7.5y spacing with 3-step at 30. Stretching and rolling.