My Comeback Chronicles #5 – Long Jump – Playing in the sand

For the most part the sprints are business but the jumps are pleasure. It scratches two itches, one its just plain fun and two I regret not pursuing it fully as a younger athlete.

Now this may be blasphemy for the Long Jump(LJ) purists but I like the idea of “sector” take off points versus hitting the board. Just quickly, for those who don’t know the LJ requires a great combo of speed, skill and jumping ability to run, hit the takeoff board (20 in wide) at the optimal point and jump. There’s been talk about “Sector” jumping which increases that take off area thus reducing the likelihood of fouling you just measure from your point of takeoff. I definitely can appreciate the later and the skill it takes to hit it right and jump far, but as for a fun loving, repeat foul offender like me I’d rather take my chances with the sector. Going 1 for 3 maybe great in baseball, not so much for long jumping. My reason for mentioning this is that I already had a history of struggling to hit the board, well now I have to do it with a bum shoulder, what’s gonna happen to my approach steps?

The night of the 60m final my shoulder was killing me. Yea I iced, no pain killers, not good for kidneys. So no relief, I spent the night tossing and turning. I gave up around 530am and just got up for the day. The LJ wasn’t until Friday morning so I had Wednesday and Thursday to recover. Wednesday I had planned to go to the stadium and watch the men’s 200m rounds. Tuesday night I remembered that athletes could use compression sleeves or Gameready (ice/compression combo) recovery devices at the track so I set out to try either if they were available. The plan get treatment, watch some races. After breakfast I headed out. There were two treatment areas one inside and one out next to the practice track. I tried outside first. The trainers didn’t have a shoulder sleeve so they did a makeshift application, it was partially successful but I was grateful for the attempt anyway.

I watched the rounds and after cruised over to the inside treatment room, on my way ran into Robert Thomas one of the team Directors for USATF, as we talked I told him about my shoulder he said “I know we have sleeves follow me”. We went in and he got me going on a compression device, he also introduced me to chiropractor Dr. Wood. I set an appointment and got treatment, the doc was really good with “scrapping and adjustments” he relieved probably 50-60% of the tension in one session. It hurt like hell though. I was starting to see a ray of hope. He also suggested some exercises, one in particular required a pulley to assist raising and lowering the arm, sounds great but where in the hell am I going to find that?

As the day went on, watched the races, ate, blah, blah, blah…back to my hotel room. So the plan work on my shoulder in some fashion every 4 hours..hmm. My hotel had a small fitness room just cardio stuff med ball, and two dumbbells…did I say dumbbells well alright! Turns out they were 20lbs each. I still couldn’t raise a can of soda to my lips so those weren’t gonna work. The pulley idea was stuck in my mind, how was I gonna do that? then the “Mc Guyver” in me kicked in, it came to me, take the strap from my duffle bag, lengthen it and stretch it over the shower pole in the bathroom. Wala!!  I sat on the toilet, lid closed of course, flipped one end of the strap over the rod, luckily it was bolted in, thanks Hampton Inn, and proceeded to painfully lift and lower my arm, it was killing me repping up and down but it was working I was loosening up! The next I also went back for another treatment and added accupunture, thanks Maria.

In regards to how I’m felling. I get to the warmup track to stride, do pop ups etc. My legs seem ok but I can’t get my arm to reach and rotate. To jump you have to kinda cycle your arms to be effective it assists with take off, balance and landing, think of reaching to grab something off your highest shelf and pulling it down. Couldn’t do it. At this point I’m thinking, its a wrap, maybe Ill scratch when I get inside. But I want to take at least one practice jump first. So I check in, spikes on, head to the pit, and get my markers. So lets try one take off into the pit, I take my practice run through “chicken winging” it down the runway and to my surprise I hit the board correctly and can get off the ground. The landing hurt like hell because I land to my left but this may be serviceable. I guess I’m in…until I’m not.

So competition begins I’m 14th jump position, there’s 15 or 16 of us jumping so I get to see every ones jump, it helps to know where you stand as the rounds go on and on. With all the jumps and jumpers it was harder to keep track than I thought. At the end of prelims (first three jumps) the guys mention I’m in third at 5.08m, what?? by my calculations I thought I was 5th or 6th. Ill take it.  Going into final round of three jumps I’m in bronze position now there’s only six of us.

As the finals get underway I get a little sense of deja vu and my spidey senses are telling me that competitor Mr Cannon is fast becoming my immediate rival, ala shades of Mr Grober (60m), were leap frogging each other in the standings as the competition goes on. I think it was the 5th jump Cannon pops a 5.13, “dog gone it!”. My fifth doesn’t beat that mark and my sixth is a scratch….rats! So competition ends and couple guys congratulate me on third place??? I’m like what?? Then the announcer calls out the placings and calls me out third, me a bronze how did that happen? maybe my math was wrong. Nope, I was right the track gods were still fucking with me one last time, they just had the announcer in on the joke. The final standing revealed I was fourth, Cannon beat me by two inches.

And so it ends, World Championships are over. I’m out on the first thing smoking Saturday morning.  I’m a sole proprietor which means “if I ain’t working I ain’t earning”….my boss can be a prick like that at times.

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