Nothing could have prepared me for the feat I tried to accomplish for this column. With how great the track team has been doing recently, I thought now would be a good time to try something from their sport. Luckily, I have a friend on the team, Donna Mahmoudi (12), who has been doing long jump since last year. She agreed to teach me two things: long jump and triple jump. 

“I always get nervous standing on the runway,” Mahmoudi said. “It took me a while to gain the confidence to commit to the long jump.”

The first thing Mahmoudi and I did was warm up by doing a jog along the runway and then some stretches. She said this was key to preventing soreness. This was something I had never done before for this column, and I realized then that this was going to be something I had never experienced before.

Once we finished the warm-ups, Mahmoudi told me to stand still and pushed me over to find out that I was right-foot dominant. She then broke down the steps of how to long jump. She told me that she prefers sprinting from the 83” line to gain enough momentum until she gets to the take-off line. She then emphasized how important it is that your foot is within the white line or you’ll be disqualified. 

When I saw how far that line was from the landing pit, I got my own pit in my stomach thinking that there was no way I was going to make that distance. From there, you have to step with your non-dominant foot (for me it was my left), then launch yourself up and forward into the pit by extending your other leg straight forward and thrusting your hips to help propel yourself. Then with your hands, you’ll extend them to be parallel with your legs. 

I walked back to the 50” line to start my first attempt because I knew I didn’t have it in me to sprint from the 83” line like Mahmoudi. I also knew that I wouldn’t be able to successfully jump and land on my butt, so my goal was to do a modified jump and be able to land on my feet in the pit. When I ran up to the line, I pushed myself up, but was just shy of the pit because I felt myself step on the track. Then my next three attempts were the same. Mahamoudi told me that I could try to start my jump ahead of the line, but my pride and ego wouldn’t let me. I was determined to make it from the take-off line. So, after a few more attempts with similar outcomes, I was finally able to actually make it a few inches into the pit. I was overjoyed and completely winded. I had to take a breather before Mahamoudi taught me the triple. 

After a small break, I stepped back onto the runway where Mahamoudi broke down the steps to a triple jump, which she said was slightly more complicated but also tons more fun. I had a feeling our ideas of fun were slightly different. No matter, I put my best foot forward as she explained what to do. 

For the triple, once you are ready to start jumping, you plant your dominant foot on the ground then you hop forward again with the same foot jumping ahead. Then, with your non-dominant foot, you step forward onto the takeoff line and once again propel yourself into the pit. I thought “Okay, simple enough. I just add a little hop before the jump.” But when I tried it myself, it was far from “simple.” I kept mixing up my feet or starting the jump too early or too late from the take-off line. Then, something clicked and I was able to actually execute the jumps and land on my feet in the pit.

I walked away from the runaway feeling out of breath and out of mind in awe of Mahmoudi and all the long-jumpers doing this at every practice and every meet. I even did a modified version of the jump and I am writing this feeling slightly sore.