Director's Dare
Early "Poles" Show the Candidate Slightly Behind in Red States
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
It's probably like most things. You know, the things you see people do, like on television, during the Olympics. You know that these people are world-class athletes. You know that they've spent countless hours in the gym or on the field, practicing. You know that they have coaches and videos and trainers helping them to get the most out of their bodies, helping them excel on a world stage. You know all that. And yet they make it look so easy, that even knowing all that, you still think to yourself that, while you certainly won't look as good as they do, and you definitely won't be able to do it as far or as fast or as high as them, you could do what they are doing. Sure, on a much smaller scale, but you could still do it. After all, you're in basically pretty good shape. You can't fit into the pants you wore in high school, but then neither can they... probably. You're 33 year old knees aren't exactly the same as they were at 17, but then what is?
Back at the end of January, you voted on the sport in which I would participate this year at the Utah Summer Games. There were a number of options, and out of all of them, Pole Vaulting was chosen. Now, I've seen pole-vaulters work their magic before. Like on television, during the Olympics. I even saw it up close and personal when I volunteered at an SUU Track & Field invitational last year. That's as close as I'd ever gotten to a pole, much less actually tried to engage in the activity. But your wish is my command. You wanted to see Pole Vaulting, so I am determined that you will see Pole Vaulting in some form at least.
It looks so effortless when they do it. And yeah, I know it's like most things; harder that it looks. But could it really be that much harder than it looks? I mean, I've used a shovel before to launch myself over a creek or a crick, depending on which side of the stream you come from. How much harder could it be that that? I'm not totally naive, sure it's harder, but it couldn't be that much harder could it?
Well, I'm here to tell you that yes, it actually is much harder than it looks. In fact, it's much, much harder than it looks. Pole Vaulting is a much more technical sport than I had imagined. You have to have your arms positioned just right aligning them with the rest of your body, so you'll ride the pole in a straight line rather than careen off to the side, which can only end in disaster. You have to have enough speed to propel yourself up 16 feet of pole and then fling your body over a bar while you turn around and push the said pole back the direction you just came so it doesn't knock the bar off. It's really quite a feat.
I've been practicing with the Southern Utah University Track and Field Team, and they have all been very encouraging, which is exactly what I need: encouragement.
Let me know if you have any experiences of being overwhelmed you'd like to share...
Labels: pole vaulting
