Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Heptathlon Day 1

**Saturday I went to the local meet to just run the hurdles. It was going well until I got to the 7th hurdle where I proceeded to studder step, jump the hurdle awkwardly and then fall to the ground on my side. Not my best performance.**

Sunday morning dawned beautiful and hot. And when I say hot I mean 87 degrees was the high temp for the day. Events didn't start until 1pm to allow any teams to drive in Sunday. I learned that there were only 8 girls in the event which meant that I would score no matter what (since they score the top 8).

The first event was 100m hurdles and I was a little worried because of the previous days performance. I made it over the 10 hurdles but not in the time I wanted. I was the slowest hurdler with a time of 19.15 seconds.

I was working on focusing on one event at a time and at this point in time I was a high jumper. I got my mark and we started off. I jumped the lower heights and was doing ok. I knew that I needed to gain some serious points to make up for hurdles and I was confident that I could do it in high jump. I made it over 1.43m (dont know the conversion) while four of the other girls missed that height. I continued to jump - and everything just came together. I am not even sure how I was able to continue on but it was amazing. I ended up jumping 1.49m (4 feet 10 inches - I think) which I totally had cleared but managed to hit the bar with my calf. I came in third for high jump with a jump of 1.46m.

The next event was shot put which I really enjoy. My coach called me a "powerful woman" and I was hoping to really throw far. Sadly I only threw 9.79 meters (just over 32 feet) but shot put really isn't many points so I just focused on the next event. I also came in second for this event.

The last event of day 1 was the 200m dash. It was getting close to 4pm by this time and I was feeling a bit drained but hoped that I had enough energy to run a sub 29 seconds. I ended up completely forgetting my form for the last part of the run as I was racing the girl in the lane next to me and was so focused on staying ahead of her that I forgot everything else. My time was 29.04 seconds (exactly .01 seconds faster!)

I ended day with 2020 points and just 4 small points out of 4th place. I got a nice ice bath for my legs and also some ice for my hip. It was a good day. I had PR'ed in two of the four events and was feeling confident about the next day and my chances of reaching the 3400 points mark.

That night my coach and I went out for dinner and I had a nice steak dinner. I have heard that carbo loading is over-rated and that eating protein is better for you. Eating protein allows you to maintain a stable glucose and insulin balance and therefor preform better. This outdoor season I have really worked at cutting out the carbs and I think it has helped.

Tomorrow I will post about Heptathlon Day 2! Thanks for reading!

10 comments:

Chic Runner said...

I can't wait! :) ha ha great job and bummer about the hurdles. I've done that before too. It scared me straight for a while. :)

Marlene said...

Awesome job on Day 1 and big congrats on 2 PR's! Can't wait to hear about the rest.

Bummer about your calf on the high jump - stuff like that must be so frustrating! Still, you had a great jump!

X-Country2 said...

Sounds like a perfect day 1 and a steak dinner very well earned!

Nicole said...

I'm excited to read tomorrow! Your friggen awesome-- i could never do hurdles. I tried once and failed. Never again will i try SO i give you props! YOU ROCKED IT! WAHOOO

tfh said...

Awesome job on those events! You are a powerful woman. I also remember in an interview with-- oh, geez, I can't remember who, but it was a distance runner from an African country-- anyway, he said he was surprised how much emphasis Americans put on carbs and that he eats much more meat and protein than most American runners he's met. So your strategy sounds good!

No Longer Using said...

my bro always eats steak and he seems to do fine.. :) WOW high jump- way to go! third place is great and you had just barely been working on your form!!!

Ms. V. said...

the hurdles freak me OUT! great report!!

Jamie said...

way to come back from the hurdles! ready for day 2 report :)

I Run for Fun said...

Sounds like an awesome day. Can't wait for the rest.

The Laminator said...

Nice job, J. Very impressed that you are so good in all your events. It proved that you are very well rounded as an athlete.