Day 7
I arrive at the pits for my event. The first
take-off line is the long jump line and is way too short for me. The take-off
lines from the t-jump look too long. Too far away from the pit. After my
complaints the other people agree to put a tape across the track and let me
jump from that.
I run and jump three times and then look at my
results. The first two have been called a foul. I must have overstepped. The
third one has been measured. I have a result. I have legally done a t-jump.
The others resume their long jumps. One guy is
jumping much longer than me. I think they all are but one guy seems to be
flying. I stand mesmerized and fascinated by his jumping. He seems to run very fast
at the pit. His emphasis seems to be on running fast, taking off in the right
spot and not jumping technique.
I need to practice my run-up. I need to run faster. I
need to get my feet landing in the right spot. Speed is now my aim and having
my feet in right spot for a good take-off. They are my aims. Not technique.
My run-up must be fast and aggressive. Not
apologetic and submissive. No thinking as I run down the track. I need to
practice running hard and fast without jumping. I need to continually practice running
down the track. Seeing where my feet land.
Another thing to practice is my step. According to
an expert (who was helping) when doing the step I need to wave my leg forward.
Increase my step. Think about waving my left
leg forward and not about landing it is soon as possible.
And another thing I need to practice is jumping from
the lines provided. The first t-jump line is 5m from the pits. I have to jump
from this line not a tape spread across the track. The tape across the track was helpful but…
Next morning Mrs C askes me, “why did you have a
restless night?”
“I was thinking of the t-jump.”
“I thought you were happy with your jumps. Well I
don’t want you to get any worse.”
“No I also want to get better.”
“What other events could you do?”
“There are other events but the t-jump is put on.”
“It’s very good they put all these events on.”
“It is good. There are people, up there, doing a
fantastic job. I try and fit in where I can. Not much I can do. I don’t know if
being the only one to do an event helps or not. It keeps the event alive, hopefully
until someone good turns up.”
I celebrate everybody who gets out and does
something physical. I love the people
running laps. The ones jumping longer long jumps than my t-jump. At the moment
I want to diversify slightly. To do the t-jump but I will return to running
circles. I can see that in my future. At present I did one legal t-jump, one
jump that was measured. For me that’s success.
No comments:
Post a Comment