Pole Vault, Shot, High Jump

I was able to go an have a go at the Exeter Open Meeting tonight. I'd originally planned to do the Hurdles but there weren't enough entrants so I did Shot instead as a confidence booster.

First up, the Pole Vault. I've only done one session before today and so was a bit nervous and had no real idea of what I'd be able to do. I went at the first height which was 1.60m. This is not even as high as me, but it's still a bit harder than it looks! My first vault I was nowhere near as I hadn't gripped the pole high enough. Once I got the right grip position it was much easier.

Run up - controlled and gradual with a bit of acceleration towards the end, plant the pole in the box and throw the hands up and drive with the left leg. Try to catch and hold the position and get the hips up as the pole swings and use the momentum to get up as much as possible. As you get your hips over, throw the bar back and get over the bar! Here's one of the better efforts:

It went:
1.60m - XO
1.80m - O
1.90m - O
2.00m - O
2.10m - XO
2.20m - O
2.30m - O
2.40m - XXX (was so close on the last one, aaarghh!)

Next up was Shot. I had a target of 12m and had a few standing throws and hit the 12m line so I knew I was in shape to do it. My first couple of throws were about 11:55m so not happy with that but I then managed to go 12.05, 11.75, 11.98, 12.15m to get a new PB. Interestingly, I had a few goes with the ladies 4kg Shot for fun to see what I could do, turned out to be around 16m. Amazes me how a woman as slight as Jess Ennis can get it to 14.76m! Wow.

Last event for me was High Jump. I didn't have chance to mark out a run-up, I just started at the lowest height and did each one until I couldn't manage any more to get practice.

1.30m - O
1.35m - O
1.40m - XO (calf clipped bar)
1.45m - O
1.50m - XXX (on last one someone ran across my path but it didn't really hamper me, I just had no spring!)

So, not a bad night overall considering PB's in PV and SP. Disappointed with High Jump but I guess it is 20 years since I've had a go. Just hope that by next weekend I can improve by 15cm to beat Steve Smith's target of 1.60m!!!

Was great to catch up with my friend Simon Bennett who threw well tonight - 61.95m in Jav and 13.22m in Shot. I also met a guy who I'll be competing against in the Decathlon. He looked very good - his opening PV height was 2.80m and he's run 11.6m over 100m a couple of years ago. This could be embarrassing!!!