The meet actually looks like its going to be a hell of a competition as well. I knew Mustafa (Moose) was going to be there - he's actually a graduate of Dartmouth and a Boston native although he now trains in Colorado. Although I had heard much about him beforehand, I had the chance to finally meet and compete with Moose this last year down in Dallas. A really great guy. He took a year off after graduating to complete his masters in Mechanical Engineering (yeah, wicked smart), but came back last year in great shape. He's a speedy little guy that's a great hurdler who can really finish off the meet with a studly 1,000 or 1,500m.I was surprised yesterday when the entries went up to see that "Team 2 Guys Named Chris" (a name I just learned about as well) will be in the house as well. Chris Boyles (aka. "C-Bo") and Chris Helwick train together out of Wake Forest in North Carolina. Helwick just graduated from University of Tennessee this last spring and C-Bo is a few years older than me but graduated from little Messiah College. Both are good guys as well as near 8,000 point decathletes so they'll bring a lot to the competition. Boyles is a great high jumper, but I look forward to seeing both on day two as each are good hurdlers, 16+ foot vaulters, and good distance guys. Funny, now that I think about it, it was actually the team of Moose and the Chris's (as well as Ryan Olkowski who I tried to get out for this meet to no avail) who brought me through to my PR decathlon in Dallas this summer by helping pace a 1,500m that I would have had to otherwise run alone.
As well as these guys there will be a bunch of local collegiate kids to round out the field to 15. To see the full start list, check out the link to the Dartmouth relays above.
It's going to be a great meet. These guys will make it a lot of fun and bring a hugely competitive atmosphere.
THE HEPTATHLON
Day One:
The heptathlon is the indoor version of the decathlon in which rather than 10 events (100m, Long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m, 110m HH, Disc, Vault, Jav, 1,500m), we do 7. Obviously (or maybe not obviously), we don't throw the discus or the javelin indoors. There's just not enough room. Thus the heptathlon is adapted to the constraints of the common indoor tracks. On the first day (starting at 11:15am EST tomorrow) we will compete in the 60m, the Long Jump, the Shot Put, and the High Jump. The first day, much like the rest of the Hept as well, is a huge speed day. A lot of times you will get really good athletes coming out of the woodwork during indoor season by posting really good hept scores. If you're just blatantly fast, you can usually do very well in at least the first day. It's a really strange day as well because you end on the high jump. In the decathlon you end the first day with the 400 meters...and it SUCKS. You're very much glad to be done because most of the time, you can barely walk straight afterwords. If you're anything like me, you probably have trouble keeping lunch down as well. With the Hept, you jump as well as you can, then you're just done. Technically, if you're not one of the better jumpers, you can actually leave the track for the day while other people are competing. You feel almost guilty for leaving the track still feeling so fresh. As a California kid, I haven't done that many heptathlons (or a indoor meets for that matter) so it's still really strange for me.
60m
For me, I'm going to see what I can do to scare some people in the 60m to start off. Those guys aren't going to expect to see me up there with them, but I have been feeling great lately and am looking forward to a good race. Moose is going to take it out on all of us, but if I shoot somewhere near 7.30 or better, I'll be off to a PR and a huge start.
long jump
This event is going to be interestng in a great way. My PR here is 6.78m or a little over 22 feet. I've had a much bigger jump in me for a while and with some changes to my approach and a lot of work with my coach (Jeremy Gee) I think it might finally be here. He's backed me up to a really long ten stride approach that's much further than anything i've jumped on before, but it feels great. I had a great practice yesterday and am eager to see what happens. 7 meters is 23 feet. I am going to try to get as near that as possible.
shot put
Again, I had a huge practice yesterday. Coach Erickson has me doing some new technical things that I'm still trying to figure out, but in the meantime, the ball is going a long way. I've started off the season great here and I'm looking to keep improving.
My PR as of a month ago is 14.27m or just under 47 feet.
high jump
And again, great practice yesterday, one of my best ever. Body feels great, time to jump.
C-Bo is usually near 6-10, Helwick usually good for a bar or two over 2 meters, and Moose's PR is either exactly or within a couple cm of mine: 1.99m
Day Two:
As my dad always puts it: "The first day is for athletes, the second day is for decathletes." The second day of the hept is short, with only three events, but is much more technical. We start off with the 60m Hurdles, head to the pole vault, and finish with the 1,000m - 5 laps around the 200m oval track.
60m
I started the year off huge here with my PR 8.27 a month ago at the Harvard Invite so I'm looking to improve even more onto that. Moose especially, but both Chris's are good hurdlers as well. It's going to be a fun battle. With the 60 though, you only get 5 hurdles so the start is huge.
Pole Vault
I've been over a bar once this whole year, and that was Tuesday night. I'm on a short 5 step approach, but even so I'm faster than ever and jumping well, so if my one practice of actual jumping is any indicator, I am going to get on some big poles real early this year. This could mean big heights. My PR as of this summer is 4.87m or 16 feet exactly, but in the past 4 years I have jumped 4.85m many more times than I would like to count. Sometime soon some big heights are going to come.
I think C-Bo has been around 5 meters before (16'-4") but Helwick has been near 17 feet. It will be a great comp.
1,000m
5 laps, as fast as you can. Moose is going to take this out because he's a stud. I have a little grudge against Helwick right now as I think I made a tactical mistake last year at the Sea Ray Relays to let him beat me in the 1,500m. Other than the occasional "long" (20-30 min) runs during the weekends I have done zero mid-distance specific work. I'm just going to go out, try to race, and see what happens. A 2:50 or better here will be a PR.
My PR in the heptathlon is 5,297 points from the UConn Heptathlon about this time last year.
I'm not sure if I will have time in between days, but I will try to post result when I can. The results should be posted somewhere on the Relays site here.
Wish me luck.
Go Time,
Matt
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