Follow Lake Region HS sprint/jump star Kate Hall as she blogs about her senior indoor season & the quest to be the best. Hall is one of the top ranked returner long jumper in the US this winter. Her accolades are impressive, she has never lost a state championship race or jump a perfect 20-20 so far. She currently holds Maine State Indoor All-time bests in the 55m, 60m, 200m, & long jump. Outdoors she holds all-time best marks in the 100m, 200m & long jump. Last winter she was the National runner-up in the long jump at the New Balance Indoor Nationals.
Hello Everyone!
The first thing I would like to say is that I can’t believe I am a senior. I would never have guessed that the thing that has flown by most in my life is life itself. These past few months have been very bittersweet, as expected. If I had to explain how things are going and will go in the future I would say that since October, things have been more on the sweet side. I’ve chosen where I’m going to be spending the next four or five years of my life and I could NOT be happier. I am without a doubt certain that I made the right decision by choosing ISU, which makes me that much more excited about what’s to come. As my senior year continues, I am expecting that things will turn slightly more bitter as I compete in my last meets in Maine and say a temporary goodbye to some very, very special people who have gotten me so far and made an enormous impact on my life. I’ve always told myself that change is my biggest fear. I love those holiday family gatherings that are almost always at my grandparents house with card games, crazy family memories, and amazing food. I love that I’ve had the same four best friends my entire life and am absolutely confident that will never change. I love competing in Maine and seeing the same wonderful people each season and getting to know everyone better. I love being with my boyfriend who makes me laugh more than anyone ever has. Pretty much the fact is, I love tradition and leaving those people temporarily does scare me even though I know I’ll be where I’m supposed to be.
Anyways, I know there will be many ups and downs this year for me, but enough with the sappy stuff. Some of you may be wondering how training is going so far. I’m going to try to take a different angle and talk about what I’ve been doing differently this year instead of talking about all the same stuff I have talked about in the past and going into every little detail. This year has been a lot more technical than other years. I have a lot of strength, speed, and everything I need to fit the pieces perfectly together. Although, finding the right ways to do that has been an issue since last outdoor season. I need to be much more consistent with my long jump mark, work on my landing, and fix a couple different things with my block start. Let me tell you, working on those technical aspects is beyond frustrating. For about three weeks, my mark was still inconsistent even though I thought I was doing the right things, and my landings were horrible when I was doing full jumps. Hopefully I’m not speaking too soon, but earlier today I had one of the best practices I’ve had in a long time. My mark was for the most part consistent and I know how it feels to make that happen now. I did one full jump and jumped 19 feet in practice (which never happens). And lastly, my tempo runs at 65% felt as if I was effortless just gliding and got me ecstatic about running the 200 this season. Things may be starting to fall in place and I can honestly say I’ve never been so excited to compete again.
I could go on for hours about everything that has been happening, but it’s late and I’m getting too excited thinking about the upcoming season. The very best of luck to everyone this season and make sure you have lots of fun because that’s the best part! :)
-Kate
