Thinking Metric

As I was running this morning I remembered that I don't have a tape measure in my gym bag that I usually take out when I vault. All places that we compete have a tape measure taped to the side of the runway so we know where our start marks are for our run down the runway. My marks starting in warm up are 22', 33', 44', 55' 66' and 77'. Most vaulters run from 80' to 100' but I don't feel I've progressed enough with my technique to control that length of run yet. Next year for sure.

The problem is in Australia these marks will be in metric and not English. SO, I'll make notes on my "Mechanical Checklist" for the conversion. To get to the next stride, (2 steps = 1 stride) I walk back 11 heel to toe steps and that seems to work. On days you feel flat or the conditions aren't good then it may be closer, and on days when conditions are good, you feel good or you're really pumped up, the mark will be back. For example, at this year's Drake Relays my 55' was at 57' meaning I was running better than usual. It is what it is on any given day so you just adjust. You train and hope to feel good but you never know. Sometimes you're just flat for no apparent reason but they still give out medals that day. Step up mentally and adjust.

The metric fun does not end there. In the US we go up 6" per height so I would start at 12', then go to 12' 6" and then 13' etc. Metrically this does not match up, nor do they go up 6" at a time, but rather 4". Here's an example; I had a girl tell me she had jumped 13' the weekend before at a pretty big meet. I told her that she actually did not and that the results would show that she vaulted 3.95m or 12' 11 1/2". What a bummer. Since there is no exact equivalent to 13' they round down to the lower height. HATE that. The solution is to request your heights in metric which is what I do. I've had three meets this year where I attempted a new American Record for my age group and each time I requested 4.14m (13' 7") rather than an English height. If there are only one or two jumpers left you can request where the bar goes next.

Just when you thought you were clear, the "standards", the uprights that hold up the crossbar, may be slid on a rail from 18" to 32" (actually 31.5") behind the stop board of the back on the plant box where you plant the pole. The best jumpers have the standards far back because that allows for the most energy to be built up.

The Math is Simple
15 cm is about 6" and 10 cm is about 4". I want my standards on 32" so 4" (10 cm) X 80 cm = 32". Again, they will raise the bar in 10 cm (4") increments instead of 15 cm (6") like we do. Because I will be sitting around for a while and may not get a run through, I will probably start at 3.60m or 11' 9 3/4". Here's the rest of my progression;
3.70m - 12' 1 1/2"
3.80m - 12' 5 1/2"
3.90m - 12' 9 1/4"
4.00m - 13' 1 1/2"
4.10m - 13' 5 1/4"
4.15m - 13' 7 1/4" (American Record is 4.13m or 13' 6 1/2")

I have all of this memorized except for my runway markers. Since I start in my warm-up very close to the box and walk back 11 heel to toe steps to my next run, then this is not so critical. I've gone to meets with no tape measure and been fine but you typically want to know where your run is so you can tell if you're in or back from normal. If I'm in I won't be so aggressive trying to get to bigger poles but if I'm back I need to be prepared that poles will be moving fast and feeling small.

That's it for today. Nothing special in my running. After my jump with Kris on Friday I'll move to using the 30 lb sled for all running. It's light enough on the dead grass that I can run a natural stride pattern but it helps me to be able to cover more ground with less effort. This equates to power on the runway where fast is not good enough. All the best and have a great day! Bubba