Videos from 5/29, Meet #3

6 Lefts from 86' 14'3" grip on 14'6" 15.9 Very little bend


6 Lefts from 86' 14'3" grip on 14'6" 15.9 Very little bend again


7 Lefts from 101' 14'6" grip on 14'6" 14.8


7 Lefts from 101' 14'6" grip on 14'6" 14.1


7 Lefts from 101' 14'6" grip on 14'6" 14.1

My second meet...

The first Friday Night Open at Gill was last Friday.
We had great conditions, but most people didn't make the most of them. I did okay. I came in wanting to set a personal best from 6 lefts (higher than 5m), more specifically 5.20m. I jumped 4.85 with one good look at 5m.

I came into the meet looking to stay relaxed and focused on my technique. The first jump of the day was at 4.55m...i jumped it on a 14'6" 15.3...smoked it, I'm looking for the video still.

This is 4.70m...

85.5' from 6lefts
14'3" grip on 15' 17.9

4.85m

86' from 6 lefts
14'6" grip on 15' 17.6


86' from 6 lefts
14'6" grip on a 15' 17.0
Lesson: You have to keep the hands moving thru the take off...I paused for a second to catch up and my inversion suffered...still had decent ht. needed to finish this jump better.

Moving back to 7 lefts this week. We have some serious competitors coming to our little open meet series. Peep the entries for this Friday: http://www.pvelite.net/gillvaultseries/2009-05-29/registered.html

I'm done numbering posts....

It's been so long since my last post that I have forgot what 2.xx number I was on. O well that's not important at all. Basically all you need/want to know is that I am still alive and jumping.

First, I've told most of the people around me. So I am going to let the cat out of the bag to my faithful readers. I am applying for Jamaican citizenship, so that I can represent Jamaica on the international scene. My father Joel Christopher and my grandfather Charles, were born in Mandeville, Manchester. This allows me to claim citizenship by descent. This process can take 6-12 months, therefore there is a good chance I will miss the JAAA National Meet (June 26-28) and subsequently the World Championships in August (Berlin, Germany). I was hoping to get those stamps in my new passport. O well. That does not mean my career is on hold. It just means my aspirations to compete at World won't happen until 2011. I plan on jumping and working on technique through July. If that call comes however I will be ready. I know a few people wont agree with this "switch", but I consider myself as much Jamaican by heritage as I am American. And this is a great chance for me to continue my career, as well represent my family and country on the world scene. The track community in Jamaica is very proficient and supportive of its track athletes. The US has no shortage of pole vaulters and with the quality of young vaulters in my area alone...I'm sure they wont miss me.

Second, training is going surprisingly well after the Achilles difficulties. I have lost all of my training partners this year. But I have progressed very well by myself, which is something I have struggled with in the past. I have not vaulted well in practice, mostly because I have to limit my spike wearing to meets only. This have gave me time to slow down my vault and work on hitting better positions. I am jumping 1-2 days a week, sprinting 2-3 days a week, long distant running 1 day a week and lifting 4 days a week. I had to spend a few weeks re-establishing a base. That entailed more longer runs and less sprinting. For the past 2 weeks I have had the chance to do more shorts sprints and resistance runs. I have felt me feet getting under me a lot faster. This a good thing.

Expect more posts.
Check out the Friday Night Meets-
http://jumpchrisjump.com/friday.html

O and the Gill Factory Meet is gonna be STACKED....
http://www.gillathletics.com/pvnews/FactoryVault09.html

FRIDAY NIGHT VAULT SERIES

Thanks to Jeff Watry and Bryan Carrel...I live to jump another day. With a very limited meet selection in May and June, getting some qualifying marks was going to require a lot of travel. We came up with a way to get some quality meets together and its open to all ages and abilities.

Registration and details are on line at www.pvelite.net/fridaynightvaultseries the first meet is this coming friday there will be link added to the top of the blog as well as a page added to jumpchrisjump.com. Be on the lookout for results and some big marks.

WOW...Illinois Twilight 4/30

Okay first things first...Mark Hollis is ready. Came out today with decent weather and nice tailwind and he lit the U of I track up. 17'6" first attempt, 18'2" first attempt, 18'5" first attempt, 18'10" first attempt, and to boot some great attempts at 19'...ALL FROM 8 LEFTS. I am very excited for him, he deserves a lot of credit check his videos below.

As for me, I can't lie it looked like another bad day was in the cards. I struggled to get a smooth run together in warm-ups...and I almost put myself out of it, BEFORE the meet started. But the one thing I can say I did well- I competed. When the bar went up to 16' I put the pole in the box and started rocking. All in all, it was a pretty ugly day, and to end up with a 5.15m clearance was impressive for me. Let's walk through it:
-4.90: Still a little choppy on the run, mid was under and takeoff was cramped in at 10'9", but I held on to one put a so/so swing on it and hit 4.90 on the first try. The grip was low- 14'5" on 15' 17.1
-5.05: Made a small tweak moved back 6" and moved up 2 fingers (just like a practice), mid was under again, but the take off was closer to 11', a good adjustment, because I DESTROYED the 17.1. On the 2nd attempt moved up to the 15' 16.0, also moved up 2 fingers again, putting the grip close to 14'7"...mid was under again (probably a little over 24'), takeoff at 11' again, better takeoff position however, and a more active inversion gave me just enough hip height to squeak by the bar.
-5.15: Barely moved the grip up on this one, moved back 6 inches on the approach (to about 113'), better run, more relaxed, mid was probably close to on, take off was a toe over 12' (still under, but worked today). I didn't have the best swing, didn't really commit to the upside down position, but left the bar up after a slight chest brush.
-5.35: moved up to the 15'6" series, because I wanted to keep inching the grip up to 15'1". Well this is where I ran into problems. The first jump was on the 15'6" 17.6, gripping close to 14'8", pole was way to small for the speed and the 12' takeoff. The next two jumps were on the 17.0 gripping at 14'9". Still with these jumps the grip/bend of the pole made the timing of the jump feel rushed. This put me in terrible positions of the top of the pole. I would like to get to a 13' take off with a 15'1" grip on this series, that should move nicely for me.

If you have read the play by play you are probably thinking: How does this stack up? Where does this leave Chris with about 46 days and counting? Well its my 2nd best jump this year, my 2nd best jump outdoors (EVER) with lots of room for improvement. When you watch Hollis, it's simply amazing, but I'm just not there yet. I have to continue to be patient and run my own race. With a few weeks to work on grip height and the run rhythm the PR bar is inevitable. Be on the look out (Billy Hayes meet in a few weeks? maybe a few more home meets on the board runway??? Maybe even a trip down to Bell's?????) Who knows where, but I am ready to go...

Mark Hollis Series:


Chris Smith Series:


Jason Scott:

Startlist: Illinois Twilight 4/30

Event 38 Men Pole Vault 5:30pm

Illinois: 5.69m 1989 Dean Starkey
Track: 5.80m 1992 Scott Huffman
Pos Name School Seed Mark
Flight 1 of 1 Finals
1 390 Disilvestro, Eric Unattached NH
2 322 Schaeffer, Will Illinois 4.90m
3 393 Hunter, Gary Unattached 4.64m
4 359 Dalby, Taylor Lindenwood 4.45m
5 333 Conn, Jake Indiana State NH
6 320 Ragusa, Matt Illinois 4.70m
7 329 Zollner, Andrew Illinois 5.20m
8 195 Scott, Jason Unattached 5.40m
9 356 Brinker, Ryan Lindenwood 4.69m
10 Hollis, Mark Unattached 5.71m
11 Smith, Chris Gill Athletics 5.41m

#23- Run your own race...

First, I want to apologize for taking so long to post a Training Log Update. I have been traveling (to meets and back home), and it has thrown off my posting schedule.
In horse racing, the horses wear blinders on the sides of their heads to block the peripheral vision. With the blinders on the horse is free to run the perfect race without distractions. If the horse were to run without the blinders it would be frightened or distracted by the adjacent horses. I feel like up to this point I had run a strong race. I was a little of the pace indoors, when March came I picked up a few strides (getting back in the weight room), April came and once again I faltered thanks to the unpredictable weather. But May is upon us, and with over 250 days of preparation behind me I am poised to make a strong charge from the back of the field. Without my blinders on I would be distracted by the great performances around me (Mark Hollis = 5.71 and Erin Asay = 4.60, check the videos on YouTube). As happy as I am to see two young vaulters make breakthroughs, am just as confident that my breakthrough is soon to come. A few things that have hampered my progress this spring: small nagging leg injuries, the WEATHER and most of all--MY BRAIN.


I went to the Stan Lyons meet at IUPUI on Saturday, April 26, and had a wake-up call. There was a pretty strong crosswind and I kept trying to adjust to the conditions. The meet began and I had not taken up a jump. First jump- run through again, Second jump- blow through, and Third jump- another big blow through with some big height. I finally learned that the wind/weather doesn’t affect you as much as you think it does. With all that said, I have a few more chances to qualify. Trying to stay healthy and staying limber has become a daily job, but these are the most important factors to my overall performances at this point.

Workouts-
4/1- 10 Min Run; Lift- Snatch 3x6 95, 115, 115; 2x100m, 2x75m, 8x50 resistance, 4x75
4/2- Moved outside- Vault 4L 55', 14' 18.4, 13' Grip
4/3- Lift Bench 135 12, 10, 8, Front Squates @ 105 3x10, Upp Body Circuit; 2x100m, 6xOverspeed, 6xResistance, 4x75m
4/4- Pre-Meet anbd Travel (late travel 11pm-3am, bad planning)
4/5- Oliver Nikoloff Meet (Cincinnati)6 Lefts 85', 14'6" 15.3/14.8, 4.75m
4/7- Vault Day- Very windy 4 Lefts 55', 14' 18.4, 13' Grip
4/8- 10x50m Pole Runs, 4x50m Resistance, 4x75m
4/9- 2x50m, 8x50 Pole Runs w/ Resistnace, 2x50m
4/10- OFF Soreness
4/11- Vault Day- 3L 41' 13' 15.6 Short pole for height
4/14- Vault Day- 6L (did nothing but run from 86') 3L 41' 14' 18.1/17.6
4/15- 2x150m, 4x100m, 6x50; Lift 4UP/LO Body Circuit x3
4/16- Vault 8 Left at GILL (Boards Plus 25+mph Tailwind= bad results), Overshot the pit on 15' 17.5 (only took one jump)
4/17- Vault at Gill 5 Lefts 70.5', 14'6" 16.3/15.3
4/18-4/19- Travel and Officiated All-Ohio Champs
4/21- Vault Day- 8 LEfts 111' 15' 17.9/17.6 Bungee at 5.40m
4/22- Slide Box x8; 4x (30, 30, 60, 90) and Abs
4/23- Vault Day- 6 Lefts another bad day 84', 15' 19.2
4/24- Pre Meet
4/25- Did not compete, another pre meet
4/26- Stan Lyons NH- Ran thru all my jumps except #2 and #3 at 15-7 jumped on 15' 17.9/17.1
4/28- Vault Day- 8 Lefts 113', 15' 17.9/17.6
4/29- Pre Meet
4/30- U of I Meet- 3rd Place 5.15m on 15' 16.1 14'6" grip Ran from 8 Lefts 113.5' take offs under
5/1- 15 min run and stretch
5/2- OFF, Travel

Quick Update from Cincinnati

Wasn't 100% satisfied, but had some decent height at 4.75m, would've liked to have pr'd at 5.05m. Next meet 4/25.

-Shout out to Shane Shockey from Cincinnati for beating me and breaking the UC Freshman record (also qualified for regionals).
Check the video after the break...



6 Lefts, 84.5'
14'6" 14.8, 14'5" Grip
4.75o / 4.90x

p.s. sorry about the video quality i need to find a new way to host my vids...any suggestions out there?

GVSU Part Two

Chris Smith
8 Lefts 115.5'
16' 20.8/20.0 14'10" grip
4.98xxo
5.13ppp
5.28xxx

At least I was consistent indoors, just not very good.

Live Update- GVSU

8 Lefts 115.5' 16' 20.0/20.8 15' Grip 4.91 xxo 5.06 xxo 5.21 xpp 5.36 pxx

Crazy height over every bar, 1-2 feet under on every take off (I forgot how fast the track was), still jumped and moved the 16' 20.0 gripping 15', a few crazy landings, 2 akward bar clearances, did I mention I finished a jump with a 11-6 takeoff (crazy) = 5.05m again

At least I know why I didn't go higher- My Takeoff.Lou invited me back next week, so since I didn't jump nearly as high as I could have, I'm gonna go back. As always Bryant (D2 Champ, multiple times) brought some great competition and was a great host.

Update: IU #2

5.05m
3rd Place
8 Lefts 115'/26'Mid
16' 20.0 Carbon FX
Gripping 15'

Sorry the video is very low quality, I have tried to improve it.



I will update my training log later this week. The meet warmups went well, I took a few jumps to get ready and once I was onto the 20.0 I stopped jumping. The strategy seemed to work, however my last two jumps in the competition were worse in terms of technique than my first two jumps in the meet. I am going to take this weekend off and continue to work on improving my technique after the plant (swing/inverson).

Meaning I will have to jump a bar 25cm+ higher than my my best jump this year, in my last meet to qualify for Indoor USA's. Impossible is nothing.

Sorry about the delays in posting, my PC is being very uncoopereative. pssss

Update: U of I

A very disappointing day.
Opened at 5.00m went out at 5.10m
1st Place
16' 20.8/20.0
15' Grip

Video:



After analyzing this week's performance, I have decided to change my meet strategy. More to come...Thank you.

Update: EIU

Today was the perfect day, until my last 3 jumps. Evidently I am getting faster and faster every week. My "performances" are slowly declining, but my jumps are getting bigger and bigggggger. (watch the video) I put more hip height on 5.05m than I did on 4.90m. I took my grip up to 15' on 16' poles (long story), but with all things considered it was a good move technically.

Meet Stats- men's pv began at 12pm...I took my first jump at 2:09pm and my last jump at 2:39pm...starting height 12'7" came in at 16'. It was ran well...can't complain about that)

My Stats- 8 Lefts, 114.5'
16' 20.8/20.0, Grip 15'
Mid- 26' Takeoff- 13'6"
1st Place
made 90% of "the move"
After the clearance @ 5.05, I missed 3x @ 5.30 (my step was under 6-9 inches)



Somehow it was the "Best" Bad Day or "Worst" Good Day I have ever had. I am jumping higher than I ever have before and I am getting faster. I have convinced myself that 18' is closer than ever.

Live Update on the Road- IU

5.10m
Three misses at 5.30m
114', 8 Lefts, 15' 15.5/16.0
A+ on the "bar-eluding movements", C- on "off the ground" power, D on the energy
level.

My thoughts: There is a technical aspect I am chasing and missing. We
call it "The Move". And I'm still not making "the move". This
disappoints me, mostly because if I don't make "the move" then I forfeit
a lot of height. I'm my opinion, I lose 20-35cm off the top of the jump
when I don't follow through and make "the move". Right now the move =
confidence. After a week of very little practice, I performed about on
par. This week, I need to hit the workouts more consistently and with
next Satruday in mind. I have made the move before...with a higher
grip...over higer bars. But I can't be totally negative I jump 16'8 3/4"
gripping at 14'6", with weak technique, after a unproductive week of
workouts. Well that's was all happened about an hour ago, therefore its
already been forgotten. Thanks for reading.

Chris
Please visit 579cm.blogspot.com

#15- 15’ 15.0

(The coincidence of the post numbers and titles is getting eerie)
For the non-vaulters out there I am going to attempt to explain the title and what it meant for me this past weekend in Reno. 15’ is 15 feet the length of the pole, that’s simple enough. 15.0 is what called the “flex number” and basically measures pole stiffness and that’s where it can get confusing if you haven’t been around the pole vault for a while (or if you have never jumped on a pole). So, to make it simple the stiffer the pole you plant and move toward the bar the higher it will push you. If the pole is too small it will push under the bar and off the back of the pit (which is what happened to me in warm-ups). We took 8 poles to Reno 18.5, 17.9, 17.6, 17.1, 16.5, 16.0, 15.5, and 15.0. The biggest pole I had successful jumps on before Reno was the 17.6 and I planted the 17.1 a few times, but didn’t have much success on it. My first warm-up jump was on the 17.6, which I destroyed and nearly fell off the back pit. I skipped the 17.1 and went to 16.5, which I never jumped, and it was too small too. To make a very long story short, I was on my biggest pole by time I was just getting into the swing of things. The moral of that story is…

There are some things you just can’t prepare for.

There is also the story of grip height, which has several ramifications, as well as complications in terms of portrayal to non-vaulters. It would seem the higher you hold the higher you would go, but that is not always true either. There is also the story of speed, the story of technique, the story of everything. In all these stories the constant is jump higher, which is of course my goal. Some of the observations I noticed while in Reno made me appreciate my performance a little more, but still there is no time to stop and smell the roses. I have to get right back to work for the Indiana Open.

(I cannot prove or confirm any the following, but based on my observations…) My grip height was lower than anyone in the Elite, Emerging Elite and Men’s Open 1; I was the shortest vaulter in those three groups, and in terms of speed…Toby Stevenson (Olympian), the runner-up of the Elite division told me that I was “significantly faster” than anyone in Open Men’s 1 group. With all those observations I jumped 5.25 (13th Overall) and that’s 0.54m away from my goal for this year. One other thing that Toby told me that stuck with me was that I had things (talents) that could not be taught. Now all I have to do is implement the things can be taught, things I have already learned, with my talents and skills (and "lose the negative baggage").

Workouts (not much working out actually):
12/28- OFF
12/29- Stretch and Jog; 18 mins (2 miles) Run; Aerobic Exercises
12/30- Happy 25th Birthday! OFF
12/31- Sprints, 3x100m and 6x50m FAST
1/1/08- Holiday, OFF
1/2- Vault Day: short jumps from 4 lefts, 15’/21.8 from 56’ (bungee at 4.75m), Grip 14'2"
1/3- Travel Day (2:30am -2:00pm)
1/4-Pre Meet
1/5- Reno Vault 5pm PST; 5.25m, holding 14’6” on a15’ 15.0 from 8 Lefts or 114’
1/6- OFF
1/7- Travel Day
1/8- Recovery Day; Sprints 2x10m, 2x20m, 2x30 2x40m; PV Drills, pole runs and pulley drills

Reno: Live Update...

I'm pretty content with my performance, not so much with the final height and not at all with the technique of the second half of my jump.

I'm standing here in the Reno Livestock Events Center, typing on my sidekick...hoping somebody is up reading this...hahaha.

It was a very fun day...thanks to everyone that approached me with a handshake and comments...Bryan, Collin and Brian...also Scott Houston...Coach Mitchell and the Akron Zips for letting me borrow a pole after I ran out (twice).

Some facts from the meet (I am currently walking witha pole bag on my shoulder and typing this entry....talented texter):

-Highest jump from 8 lefts
-Highest jump from 14'6" grip
-Biggest 15' and 15'6" pole from 8 lefts
-Highest jump in Reno (for me of course)
...and much more.

Reno: Day 2 Updated

All is well.
The poles made it, so I have something to jump on.
The luggage arrived at 5:30pm (36 hours later). So I'm fresh-to-death as usual...AGAIN.

Got tons of video from tonight...posting it now.

More pics from day 2...


The elite vault was tonight...19'

Elite Men A (19' from 6 or 7)


Elite Men B (Age Group World Record)


Women (Erin only...I messed up the rest)


Gary Hunter

Reno: The Trip Out to…

Where to begin? We decided to jump Wednesday night from a short run. This means Bryan and I did not leave Wednesday at 5pm, we decided to crash quickly and wake up early. We were up around 2:20am (after about 4-5 hours of sleep). Hit 57 North around 2:50am and shot up to Chicago Midway for our flight, that left at 7:40am. We were the super early...stood in line forever...then hit the gates and awaited takeoff. The plane taxied in on time and we boarded around 7:30am. I was really tired so I took a nap, before we took off. I was knocked out for about an hour...only to awake to the same sight. We had sat on the runway for over an hour and went nowhere. Then to add insult to injury the following announcement was made by the stewardess "I'm sure many of you see your luggage still on the carts. We are having a bagging issue on the plane. There is not enough room in the cargo area for all of the bags. We will have to leave some luggage behind. It’s either us or the luggage." So you guessed right, we barely made our flight in Vegas to Reno and when we touched down in Reno one of the three bags we initially checked showed up. It wasn't my bag, but at least there was a size 9 set of track spikes in there.

It was not all bad, we ran into a seasoned vet in Vegas. Pat Manson happened to be on our flight to Reno, he interview Bryan about his "perspective" on the pole vault and the terminology he used. He definitely has some forward, progressive thinking/approach/questioning. Pat Mason is a legend, basically the pole vault example of Cal Ripken...or something (I don't really know baseball like that)...but the guy is Crazy Consistent, 22 years and counting over 18', while I'm just trying to string one 18 footer up there. Still he brought some good points out of Bryan...some stuff we have beeeeeen working on, but didn’t have sufficient terminology. Here were some excerpts of the conversation that stuck with me:
-Manson told us Rick Attig used the terms "bar eluding movements" to explain bar clearance (basically don’t touch the bar).
-There can not be any pauses/breaks in the natural motion of the swing/inversion or the vaulter won't utilize the maximum amount of pole energy.
-"Bubka's Model" shows that he kept pressure on his biggest poles, as opposed to bailing on the jumps where he might have felt unsafe, he committed to the invert and that downward pressure kept the pole moving.
-Vaulters have to recognize the difference between passive and active technique in the vault (weak/strong or off/on)...however you put it, know that it takes to work to jump high.

Check out patmanson.com
Check back for more updates.

If you are in Reno find me, buy some Jump High Bracelets.

4:35pm Update- No Bags nor Call

Live Update on the Road- SIU

4.70m

I placed 2nd (which doesn't really matter). I am disappointed with the
performance. I admit I had some nerves to work through in the meet. I
was more inconsistent today than I have been so far (go figure). Felt
good over 4.55 and 4.70, had a great 1st attempt at 4.85. I struggled a
little with my run as well. I will post the video/results soon.

No excuses, but I have to put this performance in perspective: 15'6"
from a 14' grip (that's about 6-12" lower than my goal, but as good as
I've ever jumped from there). I want to jump 19' from 15'4"-15'6" grip.
This isn't a 1 to 1 conversion. Grip height will change, I will get on a
longer run, I will get on bigger poles and I will jump higher (5.79cm).

Next track meet- Jan 4-5 Reno
No more stress, it's go time.