How long has it been?

[souleman]

Ok, now don't get the wrong idea. I know a question like this to bunch of guys in this age bracket could have a multitude of directions it could go. What I'm wondering is, are there any of you out there who are like me, and are planning to try this sport again after many years off? If so, what are you doing to get ready? One of the things that I am doing to fight off old age, is to pole vault again in the masters class. The last time I vaulted I was 28 (I'm 53 now) and I tore my peteller tendon by hyperextending my knee at take off. Well, I think it oughta be pretty well healed by now and if I can get over the tendonitus, bursitus, artheritus and all the other maladies that effect these old bonesof mine, I'm going to do it again. So, is anybody else in the same boat as I or have you been vaulting all along? Later.....................Mike

[master]

Well Souleman, I may be a soul mate, or at least someone who you can associate with. I just turned 59. I took up vaulting a second time when I was 56. My first time was HS and college. I graduated college in 1968, so it had been about 35 years since I had jumped. I had gotten my upper body in reasonable shape before I even attempted to talk to anyone about my ambition. I figured that was the main concern. However, my legs were my weak point. I suffered 4 moderately significant hamstring pulls in the first two years. For about a year I have been OK with my hamstrings. Along the way I have also pulled my obliques and my left tricep. For clarification, when I say pulled, I mean the tissue tore enough to cause significant internal bleeding that turned that part of my body black and blue and yellow, but not enough to require any surgery.

I think maybe I have finally conditioned my body to accept the forces put on it by jumping. However I will also say I learned a few things along the way. I do a series of warmups that are moderate but effective and they do NOT include static hamstring stretches held for 30 seconds. The other thing is I have learned better technique which puts my body in less stress. I still get tired jumping, but I don't get injured jumping. I also listen to what my body tells me. I don't take that "just one more jump" if my body signals me with any slight soreness. I used to have to deal with a right shoulder that would get injured or at least very sore because of being under at my take off. Since I have been attempting to develop the "free take off" and I am now more consistant with my run, I don't experience that problem either.

I do have sore joints most of the time and it takes a little time for me to get them moving smoothly each morning, but that is a cost of participating in the sport. And that is one I am willing to pay at this time. On occassion I use ibuprofen to help me through some situations. When I first started, ibuprofen use was a lot more common for me. With regard to joint pain, I have found that if I move my joints through their range of motion under light load for a few minutes or a few cycles before I try to do it under heavy load, that usually does the trick. As an example, my right should would not let me drop down and do even 10 good pushups without proper "loosening". So I first move my shoulder through a full range of motion, then do about 5 push ups slowly from my knees before I begin doing them correctly from my toes.

I'll be curious to see if others reply to you on this topic. I figure I can learn some tricks myself.

[Robert schmitt]

The other thing is I have learned better technique which puts my body in less stress. I still get tired jumping, but I don't get injured jumping. I also listen to what my body tells me. I don't take that "just one more jump" if my body signals me with any slight soreness. I used to have to deal with a right shoulder that would get injured or at least very sore because of being under at my take off. Since I have been attempting to develop the "free take off" and I am now more consistant with my run, I don't experience that problem either.

That's great advice. You're doing this for ejoyment not to feel miserable all the time. I've tried to learn how to vault with much better tech which has saved me from injuries like I used to get in college.

[oldfartvaulter]

Well I have to say thanks to you guys, I don't feel nearly as old as I did when I first signed on to this site. I'm a former vaulter who has been "volunteered" to help work with some local high school kids because the track coach has no clue, his words, about vaulting. The itch can no longer be ignored and I have decided it's time to get over a bar again.

I'm a young 40 and think ( that could get me in trouble) that I'm in pretty good shape. I do some light mountaineering and Ice climbing and lift somewhat regularly. I am still trying to locate a pole to use that I won't be scared of. I'm not a small guy, 6'3" and currently 215 on my way down to 200. My biggest concern is going to be flexibility. I have started working with a buddy who is an exercise physiologist and my stretching technique has changed because of it. I always stuck with the type of stretch that pushes a muscle until it's tight (maybe a little bit of pain) for about 30 seconds and then repeat a couple of times. I have been told that the proper way is to now stretch to the point that there is no pain and it is barely tight and hold it for at least 60 secs. I also find that a quick walk to get the blood flowing properly is required for me before I do anything else.

I have recently talked with a gentleman who is 61 and still vaults a couple of times a week. I figure if he can do it then so can I. Now I just need to find a pole that can handle my size.

[souleman]

I will say this, it IS a b*tch bein' old. Man, these ol' bones and muscles just ain't too cooperative are they? When I decided to do this again the only person who got back to me after about a 2 week search on the web for info on masters vaulting was Doug "Bubba" Sparks. Let's hear it for USATF (or whatever their intitials are). Anyway, via e-mail, Doug has been coaching me through this whole deal and the key thing that he has impressed on me is 1) just stay this side of pain when training 2) when the planned reps for the day are done...........they're done, 3)when working on an area of the body on one day, give it at least a days rest before working on that area again and 4) do my roll backs. http://www.bubbapv.com/Pages/GetVertical.htm . Training started with a pretty agressive routine on my Jake rubber band machine. Recently I've added a 1.1 mile run/walk and with the snow gone, the wife and I are putting a few miles a week on the bicycles. Last night after my roll backs (I was able to do 2 out of my 4 attempts) I just couldn't take it any longer so I grabbed my pole and did 10, 9 to 10 left sprints in the back yard. They felt pretty good too. I e-mailed Doug and told him about it and he told me to only go about 50% on those and to not do them on consecutive days. I e-mailed him back and told him that right about now, 50% of my top speed is..........well..........walking! So I might need to push the sprints a little past 50% if you know what I mean. So much of what I am doing is on his web site www.bubbapv.com . He does have a lot of stuff for older vaulters coming back. Let's keep each other posted on our individual progress. Later.............Mike

[master]

It is very true that our older bodies can't tolerate the abuse they used to. Not only that, when you injure yourself, it takes at least twice as long to heal as it used to.

I have also been in email contact with Bubba and he has been very helpful. For sure you will need to have some runway speed so that training should be included in your workouts at least twice a week. My experience with hamstring problems taught me that being able to run/jog 3 miles (which is what I had been doing at the time) is not an indication your legs can take the stresses of the pole vault run. The first person I contacted when I was getting started was Dennis Phillips (the current US outdoor record holder for our age group). He lives nearby and I had read about his accomplishments in the local newspaper. Anyway, one of the things he said was that a person needs to be in good enough condition to be able to run 10 40-yard sprints (full speed) without the body breaking down. Sure, you'll be tired, but no muscle pulls.

Regarding USATF, I did some searching on the web and found my State USATF site and they had a listing of Masters competitions in my area. I don't know whether this link will be of any help, but you can select a state and get some info about their organization. http://usatf.org/associations/ On that page, select the state (or actually it is the Association) and on the page that brings up, select the web page for that Association. Once I started attending those meets, I met other vaulters and was able to work my way into the whole Masters experience. I have found that Masters vaulters are on the whole a great group of people that will help and coach you even while you are competing against them. We all have the attitude "if we got to jump, and we didn't get hurt, then it was a good day." I also must admit I am fortunate to be in an area of the country where there are good competitors in my age group. That helps a lot.

I was hoping more Masters vaulters would be more active on this site. Maybe they are just shy, or maybe they don't have the time.

[master]

If you are interested in seeing some video of my most recent competition, these links will provide that. Both Windows Media Player and Quick Time formats are listed. I submitted these to Becca a few weeks back but she is probably too busy to post them.
(for viewing with Windows Media Player)
3.80 success
3.95 attempt
(for viewing with Quick Time)
3.80 success
3.95 attempt

[rainbowgirl28]

I submitted these to Becca a few weeks back but she is probably too busy to post them.

Sorry about that. I keep meaning to get them online (I have videos from about 4-5 people now), but I have been really busy, and I need to talk to my web host first about some stuff, so it keeps not geting done

[master]

Becca, that is not a problem. I know you are busy.
- Master

[vaultmd]

Nice jump, Master.

[master]

Thanks vaultmd. I feel I am making progress since last season. Still a lot of details to improve and I definately need to be more consistant. However consistancy will only come with practice and experience, I can't learn that by reading about it.

[souleman]

Yep, that looks like what I hope I'll be able to do someday. What keeps me going right now is 2 things. First is I really want to do 13 feet (haven't quite got that metric thing down yet.......and probably never will). I was 4 and a half inches short when I vaulted in high school. The second is going to Reno next January and vaulting with all of you guys. I guess a third reason would be to fight off this old age thing that's going on and maybe live a little longer and feel better while I'm at it. I heard it said somewhere the only activity that uses more muscles and muscle groups than pole vaulting is swimming. Frankly, if my memory is right, the vaulting is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAy more fun. And as Jim Julian says......shoot, any ol' duffer can run and swim, not everybody can pole vault! And he's 71. So now, let's see...3.8 X 3.4 is 12'9" right? That's an inch and a half higher than I did in high school. Great Job! Later...........Mike