Letter from the Editor, October 2015

Okay readers, so here we are with another issue of The Hurdle Magazine. This month’s issue has a heavy focus on fall training, as seasonal appropriate material is always the most beneficial to coaches and athletes alike.

In “Hurdling in the Off-season,” I discuss the benefits of hurdling in the off-season, and why coaches shouldn’t wait until the winter to begin incorporating hurdling workouts into their hurdlers’ training regimen. I also provide details of two hurdling workouts that I use in the off-season for my hurdlers.

In “Quick or Fast?” I discuss the benefits of my favorite fall workout for hurdlers – the quick-step workout. However, I also explain how that workout can be detrimental for hurdlers who do not have the foot speed that will lead to crowding issues in races. For such hurdlers, it’s best to avoid any workouts that emphasize quickness, since quickness will compromise their ability to take off close enough to each hurdle.

This month’s workout is a variation of the quick-step workout, designed specifically for hurdlers who are in the beginning stages of learning hurdling mechanics. It can also benefit hurdlers who are recovering from injury and want to ease back into things.

This month’s issue also features two articles that delve into the abstract psychological side of things, the first of which is entitled “The Poetry of Hurdling.” In this article, I provide an analysis of how hurdling is, in a very literal sense, poetry in motion. I compare the rhythmic aspects of poetry to the rhythmic aspects of hurdling, making the argument that hurdling and poetry are so alike that hurdlers could definitely benefit from reading poetry and writing their own. The emphasis here is on the 100/110 hurdler, and in next month’s issue I’ll take a look at the same topic from the point of view of the 300/400m hurdler.

The second conceptual article, “The Hurdler’s Mindset,” is written by high school hurdler Thomas Le, who wrote an article a couple issues ago on his three-step skip theory. Here, Le discusses the mental side of competition by relating the emotional challenges he has had to face when it comes to believing in himself and not getting so caught up in beating his opponents that he forgets to focus on his own race.

Finally, the last article in this issue, “2015: A Year in Review (Part One), consists of a look back at the 2015 season in the 100m and 110m hurdles, with an emphasis on the World Championships that took place in August in Beijing. In next month’s issue, I’ll do the same in regards to the 400m hurdles.

Special thanks to Thomas Le for contributing an article to the magazine. And extra special thanks to all of you subscribers for sticking with me. If you have any hurdle-related or magazine-related questions, feel free to contact me at smcgill@hurdlesfirst.com, and I’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as I can.

Thanks again and happy hurdling,

Steve McGill