TED Talk: DONE!!!

So, one of the most stressful presentations I've given in this gifted class is now over, and I can finally relax. I think what made this so scary was that for all of my previous presentations, I've only presented in front of small groups of my peers, but this was everyone from both classes. The script was easier for me to memorize though, since it was more casual than other presentations I've given, so I'm thankful for that.

I genuinely have no clue how I did because my friends said I did well, but they're my friends and I don't know if they were lying to make me feel good about myself. And I honestly do not remember much about what happened because I was so focused on just delivering my talk and not messing up (which I kind of did at the end with my wording, which is quite embarrassing).

I'm just glad that I'm done and can spend the next few days watching everyone else present.

I'm pretty sure I disappointed some people by deciding not to actually hurdle in front of everyone, but I showed a video to make up for it... and I brought a hurdle to my presentation (that hurdle has caused me so much stress, you have no idea. I almost hit, like, five students trying to get it inside, and ran into the doorway trying to get it into my mom's classroom at the end of class IN FRONT OF HER STUDENTS AND PEOPLE LAUGHED, I WANTED TO DIE).

Now that this project is wrapping up, I've decided to continue to work on hurdling (not that I have much of a choice because, you know, my mom wouldn't let me quit unless I was injured). I have my first meet this Tuesday against Cheltenham. We're going to lose, but I'm going to focus on finishing my race. And I know we're going to lose, I'm not being a pessimist or anything, Cheltenham has so many state champions in so many events and... well, we don't.

I've altered my goal to finishing the race and hope to be able to build up from there!

Talking to a Camera

This video is unfathomably embarrassing for me to watch and makes me cringe, so.

I literally can't watch this without having to turn it off thirty seconds in, but you're not me, so please help yourself and watch the entire video.

(song: YOU, Petit Biscuit)
(It's a nice song, I recommend it for studying if you're into that kind of music)

Making Progress

I cleared my first hurdle the other day and had my sister film it. It was an exciting experience, but also a scary one. It's a bit terrifying running up to something you have no idea if you can jump over, and have to jump over it. My mom and I borrowed a hurdle from the high school and brought it back to our house, setting it up in the driveway. My sister pulled out her phone and began filming me and my mom just said, "go." Surprisingly enough, I listened and trotted up to the hurdle before clearing it without struggle.

(This video is actually really embarrassing, so)

Of course, there are still some things that I have to work on. My arms make me look like a helicopter trying to fly away from the struggle that is hurdling. I've tried tucking my arms in, but it just makes me feel like I'm going to fall over when I land, which my mom said was reasonable for my first time.

This experience has made me proud in more than one way. Of course, I'm really proud I was able to actually jump over a hurdle on my first try. And I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but my mother told me that I was 'promising.' She's my mother, so she's supposed to say these things, but on top of that, she's the track coach and has seen other girls compete in this event, and knows where I stand when compared to them.

On the other hand, I can't help but marvel at my confidence. Of course, I was just with my mom and sister (I actually requested to bring the hurdle home so I didn't have to try in public), which definitely boosted my confidence. I'm sure I'll be much shyer when I practice with other boys and girls and a coach that's not my own mom. However, the fact that I was able to put my dignity on the line and just go for it actually amazes me.

I hope to try lining up more than one hurdle and try going through all of them at once. The idea kind of stresses me out, but I'm also really excited to see how I'll do.

Researching Hurdling

This week has been pretty hectic. I've been working on the school musical from 5 to 10 every night, which leaves little to no time to actually work on hurdling, which is pretty disappointing. However, this week I've dedicated time to researching a bit.








I've learned that hurdling is an exciting and challenging event, due to its technical and energy demands. The technical component is much greater than in sprinting. The stride pattern for sprint hurdling is a 7 to 8 strides to the first hurdle, followed by 3 strides between the rest.








In sprint hurdling, the first hurdle is 7 or 8 strides away, and unlike sprinters, hurdlers must begin to straighten out by the third or fourth stride. When using 8 strides to approach the hurdle, you must begin with the foot that you want to jump with. Most people jump off of the same foot as the hand that they write with.


Action of the legs
The leading leg's knee should be picked up fast while the lower part of the leg is left low before extending once the knee reaches the height of the hurdle. The knee should not be pulled across the body and the lower leg should not go out and around the hurdle. As the heel of the lead leg passes over the hurdle it must be pulled down and back to land under the body so that the hurdler may continue running.


Many runners have a tendency to drop the trail leg off to the side after it has crossed the hurdle. This makes the first stride short and pulls the runner off balance. The trail leg must be pulled through high and fast so that the first stride is fast.


Action of the arms
Similar to sprinting, the arms balance the body and prevent the rotations produced by the legs' movements. The arm opposite to the lead leg actually leads the action into the hurdle and pushes forwards as the lead leg rises.


The other arm should be taken back in a normal sprinting action. As the trail leg comes around the leading arm swings back and wide to prevent the rotation caused by the trail leg.


Running between the hurdles
Three strides are used to cover the distance between each hurdle. To be able to achieve this, some runners have to adjust their stride to fit the gap. A shorter stride length is needed. A runner may have to use a lower knee lift than in normal sprinting and focus on leg speed. Training with hurdles that are slightly closer together than normal can help improve the range of movement.


Safety
Hurdling is dangerous on wet grass or any other slippery surface. It is also dangerous to try to jump over a hurdle from the opposite side (with the feet of the hurdle on the far side).


Drills
I've found some drills with the purpose of developing a hurdler's technique. Some may also be included as a warm up.


Stride Pattern
Set up 6-10 cones, so that the runner can take 7-8 strides to the first cone and then three strides between each. Focus on an uninterrupted sprint with 7 strides to the first cone followed by a 3 stride pattern between the cones. Make a note of the distances between the cones for future sessions.


Hurdle Walking
The runner performs the full hurdling skill at a walking pace over six or eight low hurdles set at approx. one meter spacing.

• Stand about a half a meter from the first hurdle
• Pick the lead knee up very high
• Place the lead leg vertically down on the other side of the hurdle. The lower part of the leg should not reach out in front of the body.
• Bring the knee of the trail leg out to the side to above hip height with the foot cocked to clear the hurdle
• Bring the trail knee across the hurdle
• As the trail knee clears the hurdle bring the knee up and to the front center of the body
• Place the trail leg vertically down on the other side of the hurdle. The lower part of the leg should not reach out in front of the body.
• Repeat the action with the new trail leg
• Keep the hips high throughout the action.
• Good range of arm movement.

Trail Leg Isolation Drill

This particular exercise is designed to work only the trailing leg. Use six to eight hurdles set initially at a lower than normal race height. The drill can be done using three strides or one stride between close spaced hurdles.

The runner first performs the exercise by walking down the side of the flight of hurdles taking only the trailing leg over the hurdle. The lead leg must go past the line of the hurdle before the trail leg is used.

Once the drill has been completed at a walking pace, it can then be conducted at a faster pace.

The hips are kept high throughout and the eyes should look ahead at the next hurdle. There should be a good range of arm movement, with the opposite arm leading the action.

Quality of execution is more important than the speed.

Lead Led Isolation Drill

This exercise is designed to work only the leading leg. Use six to eight hurdles set initially at a lower than normal race height. The drill can be done using three strides between close spaced hurdles. This drill is performed along side the hurdle and should be conducted at a jogging pace.

The athlete attacks the hurdle in the normal way but only takes the lead leg across it. The trailing leg trails alongside the hurdle.

There should be a good range of arm movement, with the opposite arm leading the action. The hips are kept high throughout and the eyes should look ahead at the next hurdle.

Again, the quality of execution is more important than the speed.

With another hectic week ahead of me, I plan on working over the weekend as much as possible. This will hopefully provide time to improve a bit. With the weather gradually warming up, practicing is beginning to sound more appealing.

Inexperienced and Out of Shape

I'm starting out this project out of shape and inexperience, and the idea of jumping into hurdling (that was a pun) is pretty intimidating. I'm going on runs using the Horse Trail that is right behind the high school. It is just under 2 miles long, and I usually run through it twice before going through the first mile of the cross country course, which is a grand total of around 4 miles. What I hope to be able to do is get into shape for the season as quickly as possible. 

(The trail that I run)

Since I've never cleared a hurdle before, I though it was best to look up workouts to do in preparation for when track season starts. I've found a few links that I am currently using. In addition to this, my mom has forced me to practice going over a hurdle using a gate that's kept at the bottom of our staircase to keep out dog from going upstairs. Every time I go upstairs I have to stick my left leg straight out over the gate and use it to push myself up. Then, I bend my right leg and swing it over as well. Coming down the stairs I just have to jump over it, which is pretty simple.

During the cross country season, I hurt my back while I was at the beach. I had to sit out of some runs during practices and go on a bike in the weight room instead. My back has been fine since the season ended, but I've recently hurt it again. I'm pretty sure it happened while I was at stage crew, preparing for the upcoming spring musical. I'm carrying heavy props daily, which can't be great for a previously injured back to begin with, but I hurt it even more by jumping off the edge of the stage to get down quicker. My mom/coach suspects that one of my legs is longer that the other, and when I land the long leg puts pressure on my lower back. To prevent this from affecting my track season, I use an inversion table almost daily to stretch out. An inversion table is pretty much something you strap yourself to and then hang upside down for a few minutes.

Over the next week in going to try to improve my ab strength and hopefully will be able to try clearing a hurdle a few times. I hope that my confidence won't be an obstacle that I'll have to overcome and that with hard work and dedication I'll be able to achieve my goal.

Links Used:

http://digitaltrackandfield.com/hurdle-speed-workouts/

This website includes drills that improve a hurdler's technique, speed, endurance, and rhythm 

http://www.coacheseducation.com/hurdles/tonie_campbell_mar_01_2.htm

This is a site used by coaches to help hurdlers, and includes several beneficial workouts that can get me physically prepared for the season.

The Goal:

The Genius Project is one that I think won’t be a hassle to work on. I get to pick something I enjoy and spend time on it every day. With track season coming up, I’ve decided to focus on hurdling (well, my mom has decided, I’m going along with it). This would be easy to incorporate into my schedule because daily attendance is mandatory, and with my mom as the coach, there’s no way I would miss any practices or meets. I have never cleared hurdle in my life, let alone several lined up along the distance of 300m. What I hope to be able to do by the end of this project is confidently clear all of the hurdles and do so in a shorter amount of time than when I begin. I’m starting out of shape (I haven’t run since late October) with no  experience with a hurdle. I can only improve from there… unless I fall and break my leg or something, but I don’t really plan on doing that. I want to first focus on being able to actually clear a hurdle, but as weeks go by I will try to decrease my time. Despite never having had cleared a hurdle in my life, I think that my main challenge will be a confidence issue. I'll be too scared to try to jump over a hurdle in fear of falling and embarrassing myself, or I'll tell myself that I won't be able to do it and psych myself out. This project will not only help me learn to clear the 300m hurdles, but hopefully will be an experience that will boost my confidence.