Long Jump

Long Jump: This event is just high jump on the X-axis. This event is like the "800 meter run" of the field events meaning that everyone ends up doing this field event. This event requires a lot of speed and a good broad jump. The goal is pretty obvious, to see who can jump the longest. The event is usually in the infield or in a separate area away from the track. The long jump area consists of a runway and at the end a worn, withered board that the long jumper has to jump off of, and after that board you have a long patch of uneven sand that you land in. Now if you step a tad bit over this board it's called a fault and your jump is not counted. You get 3 jumps so make sure your steps are down. Now maybe you're thinking why don't they rake the sand so its even? Well I don't know, maybe everyone working long jump is already preoccupied with other things like measuring the jump or spotting the person measuring or maybe even supervising the whole thing. I don't I guess someone will have to investigate one of these days. For the withered board, however, it just gets withered due to exposure to the elements and over time it obtains its gnarly look. I just wish we'd replace it like every two years so it isn't so slippery and dangerous. Also you never know how wide the board is going to be. Some meets the board is like 5 inches wide and at another it's like 2 ft. A good thing remember is the board width changes from place to place so be wary.
Now that I'm done talking about the board let's talk about the technique and approach of long jump. Like high jump, long jump also requires a set of steps that you guess and check on. Once you've found your steps you mark them out with chalk and do a few run-throughs. These are running your steps as fast as you can but instead of jumping you just run into the sand. It's very important once you hit the board to really exaggerate your running movements by maybe making a grunting sound and by stepping aggressively and flailing your arms. All the best athletes do this. I seriously don't know why but it apparently works really well for getting warmed up.
Once you've gotten your steps down and you've ran-through a few times you're ready. When you get to the actual jump at the end it's not all about powering forward. I've heard Laura Dahlquist yell many a time at how you got to get up and out at the same time. I mean saying you need to do both is way easier than actually doing it. When the competition is going on and the pressure is mounting down on you it gets hard to do both. If you're William Spence, Cadillac's best long jumper/sprinter for the 2013-2014 season, this is easy as 1 2 3. When it comes down to it just make sure you relax, say a little prayer and envision Todd Baker yelling these relaxing and soothing words, "Just Jump!"

High Jump

High Jump: I couldn't have picked a better field event to start our shift into the field side of track, AKA the more enjoyable part. High Jump is pretty self-explanatory, you jump. The main point is to run at the bar which is placed in front of some mats and jump off of one foot and make it over the bar and and to the mats without knocking the bar off the standers. It seems fairly easy, but the concept and the actual jumping technique are two very different things.

When first doing high jump you must measure yourself some steps. These steps help form a curve that you run on your approach to the bar. To find your steps you use trial and error and try a different starting place each time until you find a place that's comfortable. Once you have this spot you immediately use a tape measure to measure your distance, from the standers, how far out your steps are and how long they stretch down the apron( Apron: the no circle part of the track where kids are found to be most happy.) of the track. When you get these measurements recorded its best to calculate the angle that you create by doing the mathematical formula known as the Pythagorean Theorem. Basically you just take your two measurements and square them, add them together, and square root the sum to get your final measurement or the hypotenuse of our triangle(see figure 2.4). 

Alright so now that we've done the math portion, and obviously marked you down for your work, we're ready to jump! On your run at the bar you wan to keep a tall posture and don't hunch while also increasing your speed. When you in front of the bar and parallel to it that's when you make your giant leap and go flying over into the soft mats. Sometimes, however, you may find yourself brushing your rear end on the bar and thinking to yourself, "Ohh crap Ohh crap!" In this small window of time one will usually find themselves getting out the way of the bar because if you land on it you get a nice big bruise and somehow a tear in our skin. To this day I still am clueless on how landing on a bar can tear your skin off but hey it's about the victories not the failures. 

Now hopefully from what I've described you aren't thinking you jump and you magically appear on the other side because if you are you might as well go do long jump like everyone else. After the jump comes the hardest part of high jump which is arching your back and holding it for the right amount of time. If you hold for the whole jump your legs will it it on the way down but if you snap out of your arch too soon your butt will come down on the bar. 

All this stuff going on at once is very overwhelming but the best advice I've ever gotten is, "Just Jump!!" - Todd Baker. Another good thing to remember is before you take of at the bar just flow forward and backward a few time and scan the area. Maybe even say a little prayer to yourself? That never hurts. Every kid I've seen do all of these usually does pretty good, like 6 Ft. good.

figure 2.4

Relays

Relays: They can either be your favorite part of track or the thing you dread most. When it comes to relays, there's only 2 sprinting relays and 2 distance relays. For sprints there's the 4x100 meter relay and the 4x200 meter relay. The other 2 distance relays are the 4x400 meter relay and the 4x800 meter relay. What's true for all relays is the fact that any individual running a leg of the relay usually runs a faster split rather than an open event time. For example Someone could run a 4x800 split of 2:08 minutes and only be able to run an open 800 meter run time of 2:11. The only exception to that though is Max Stebbins, who oddly ran a faster 800 split during the mile than his split for the 4x800.

 When people wonder why they run faster in relays there's usually two major theories. The first theory is you run faster because 3 other guys on your relay are counting on you to do your best. So that pressure subconsciously affects your endurance and your drive during your leg of the race. The other theory is that instead of starting and ending at the finish line you receive and give hand-offs in a designate lane portion which can range anywhere from in front of the the finish line to 10 meter ahead of the finish line. The hand-off lane varies on what relay you're in. In my opinion I believe that the first theory is more accurate. In my case always feel excited or even anxious before every relay because I'm afraid I'll lose it for us or do the worst out of the other 3 people in your relay. Also when the stakes get higher and higher the thought of Winning a relay or placing really well motivates you and subconsciously gets you moving faster. 

When it comes to hating or loving something in track (which is a reoccurring theme) Most people tend to like relays more than individual events because for an individual event you need to rely on your skills alone and talent to win. On a relay, however, you don't need 4 superstar athletes. A relay of 4 decent kids could beat a relay with 1 great runner and 3 bad runners because it's more about having 4 guys who run consistent times and times that are all about the same. If your team is inconsistent you could run a really good race one day and do completely awful the next time you run. For those who hate these relays it's probably because they tire you out so quickly that you can't recover for your individual events. I can't remember how many times I've gotten a persistent cough from running the 4x800 just one time. 

For the most part relays are a good way for kids to bond and share success as a team, or sometimes get really mad at one kid for blowing the race and having the complete opposite effect. It's really all up to chance and dedication to determine how good a relay will be.