The peak of the month was on June 25th, competing in the Grand Slam with Luvo Manyonga! It's a shame I ended up having a cramp / pull in my hamstring after the 3rd jump, but I guess - sometimes you win and other times you learn.
Training
| Sprints | Gym | Competition result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| wk 1 | 1100m - wicket sprints + 50-20-30 in & outs + 5 shakeout 120s | 2 | June 3rd - 7.00m |
| wk 2 | 900m - wicket sprints and 200s (30,27.3,26.0) [same session] | 2 - cleaned 100kg | June 10th - 6.72m |
| wk 3 | 1250m - 3x20,3x30,3x40m. 150s. Lots of technical drills also. | 1 | June 18th - 6.68m |
| wk 4 | 1150m - 5x20,3x30,2x40m - then in&outs | 2 | June 25th - 6.63m + hamstring cramp |
| wk 5 | Recovery | - | - |
Competitions
Well, I competed twice more than I thought. Which in hindsight was probably a mistake. I thought I'd compete only on the 11th and maybe 25th (in addition to June 3rd, when I jumped 7m). So - 3 competitions were the best case for June, but in my mind it was really 2 - because I didn't think I'd make it to the Grand Slam. I ended up making it AND doing another competition on June 18th.
So, basically since May 11th I competed every week up until June 25th. 7 weeks in a row.
I'm glad the streak is over. I'm less glad it was forced (felt a hamstring cramp after the 3rd jump).
June 3rd
I wrote about it in the last blog. I PB'd and jumped 7.00m (wind +2.0m/s).
June 11th
Something felt off. Winds, 15 people jumping at the same pit. 4 jumps (and not 6). I felt like it could have been better, but it is what it is. 6.72m.
June 18th
From the effort POV - I think my body jumped very well. From the results POV - I didn't put my leg on the board once except on the last jump, which wasn't good. 6.68m. I was stable on 6.60s without touching the board in a stadium that is known to produce lesser results than the Jerusalem one, where I jumped 7m.
GRAND SLAM - June 25th
Look, this year is pretty much what I hoped 2024 would be. It took me one year off the track and one insane year on it to achieve it. But I actually did - I competed at the Grand Slam Jerusalem. It is a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver competition, so there are usually a few very good athletes in each event. In the men's LJ it was Luvo Manyonga. He is an Olympic silver medalist and world champion. It's actually insane to see athletes of this level in real life. On one hand, they are exactly like us. Humans. On the other, they are insanely strong. They don't always look like it though. But Luvo is strong and powerful. No doubt about it. He jumped 8.35m (+2.6 m/s wind).
OK so.
My first international competition.
There were 1,000+ people in the crowd, which for Israeli athletics is absolutely insane. Amazing atmosphere. It was very, very fun. I came into that competition after 6 weeks of competing non-stop. I knew I was tired. I knew my muscles were tired, but I couldn't say no to the best competition out of the whole streak. Also, I only found out on Monday evening that I was competing (comp was on Thursday). If I'd found out earlier, I'd have planned differently.
I felt immortal in the warmup. I felt extremely fast. But when competition kicked in - I felt a bit less. I still felt good, just not as good as in the warmup. (It is something that happens to me way too much. Going from feeling very good in the warmup to decent in comp. Could I be over-warming up?). We were 8 competitors, so we didn't wait long between jumps (which is awesome).
I jumped a pretty bad 6.50 something jump. Then fouled two good ones. Then felt a hamstring cramp.
And that was about it.
The hamstring cramp
Amazing how fast it switches from trying to jump the furthest I've ever jumped to hoping I'd be able to continue competing and training after the competition. One twitch in the muscle.
And with larger context - I really went from being all-in to wanting to give up for months to running 12s in the 100m, then PBing twice and jumping lengths I didn't think I'd ever jump, then competing in my first ever adult international competition and finally - back to hoping I just stay healthy. All of that in 4 months. And to be honest - that's pretty much how track and field is, probably for most athletes. The rollercoaster is part of the sport.
Very humbling experience.
And I'm super grateful that nothing serious (at least that's how it seems) happened.
I tried to backtrack and understand why it happened to me. Tbh it can be so many things. My stomach was acting weird in the last few days, it was my 7th consecutive week competition, the warmup, because of the call room and all, was like 1hr and 20min. Maybe the technique is not efficient enough. I didn't sleep very well the night before.
Anyways - I can't know for sure.
I felt a cramp in my left upper hamstring somewhere along the last steps before jumping the 3rd jump. I fouled (unfortunately. It might have been a good jump). And the second I stood up - I knew I had a serious decision to make. No one could make it for me. My coach said that only I knew whether to continue. I even talked with some of my competitors, they recommended listening to my body (which is super hard when you're at a competition you only dreamed you'd compete in).
I decided to skip the 4th, used a warming cream, did a lot of stretches and tested whether I can jump or not. On the 5th jump I decided to try to give a semi-serious jump. Just to test the waters. It's a shame I did it in front of 1,000 people but I needed to gain some self-confidence. Then, on the final jump I said "Aight, let's give it all". And gladly, nothing serious happened. I tried too hard and ended up slowing on the board. 6.63m. And that was it for the day.
I ended that competition knowing for sure that I'm capable of jumping further than 7m. It's just a matter of time.
Also - I think I have a thing that's called runner's knee. I think I just competed way too much lately. We'll see what'll happen with it.
Current status update:
Thu - June 25th - Competed -> felt the cramp -> jumped with it. Fri - didn't sleep very well, cycled a bit on a machine (wasn't good at all) Sat - didn't do anything, still didn't sleep very well Sun - Slept decently, did a lot of strengthening exercises, and ran a bit. Mon - Had an acupuncture and massage. The needle electrified my whole body. Probably most painful massage of the year. Tue - Warmup + trying to run a bit (calves are dead) Wed - Warmup, then 60s (I would say I hit 70% speed) + a lot of strengthening exercises Thu - Rest Fri - I slept like 5hrs not even joking. Warmup, box squats up to 150kg (I weigh 65kg), 90kg power cleans, physio, light running Sun - Planned return (which makes that 10 days post June 25th)
Long Jump Technique
I still didn't make the "high pelvis, not stopping on the board" thing a habit. I started doing it more this month, but it's still not close to where I would want it to be.
Last month, I wrote:
I knew the jump was pretty good because I felt how I kept running at the board. The feeling was like being in the middle of a 100m and someone just put a wooden board right there, but I really ran up through the board and probably had a super horizontal jump.
I felt that a few more times this month - but it was either when I didn't step on the board or when I fouled.
I think this month will be about not forcing it. A good jump doesn't feel demanding. It should be effortless.
