General Chat

yes or his phone it may have ended up on youtube lol x

Mel, I just had a look at my pics from my athletic/gymnastics days, gawd I was thin!!!!!!!!

I didn't start training until I was about 9 because I didn't have the body strength until then, too late really. What age did you start training?

Sue

I was about 6 with the gymnastics and by 9 I was the district champ I used to put a lot in to but when I was about 12 two things happened one was against the law of nature regarding gymnastics ~ I got boobs and being petite they didn't help me on the balance bar much you can imagine the second thing what happened was I was showing off tosome friends I didn't secure the mat well enough and I was acting the fool I came off the spring board and over the horse and feet didn't meet mat well then crash did my back an injury around a year later I was introduced to athletics so bout 13 I ran for 10 years but no soon as I married I fell pregnant so that was it really I never picked it up again I was a decent enough runner esp long distance and cross country but I was never higher than 7th in major meets and I got a 2nd once in the locals but mainly 3rd and 4th ~ boy how things change I was less than a size 8 on my wedding day at my peak now oh well just say much wider x

I loved floor work and vault, loathed the beam. I fell and straddled the blasted thing, had tears streaming down my face and had to get up again and just walk it. That I did by feel alone as I couldn't see anything for the crying.

The springboard was something all of us found hard to master, being different heights it was difficult to find out own marks on the floor sometimes. I was always scared I had put it too far back and I'd miss my spot point. I did have quite a few incidents catching a foot on the finish, I stopped that after having "keep your feet together" screamed at me for the umpteenth time. We did use a trampette sometimes but the shock of the extra bounce height made us laugh and so we were roundly told off and it was removed until we 'grew up'..lol

If you made that sort of grade in three years you must have been better than me, I was still fighting the beam even when I had mastered the other disciplines.

I used to be able to party all night .I can now dream about those parties lol

lol Jane nah I can still party, but I have to take lil' rest breaks between dances x

Ha Jane, I can still do it:)) I was at a party in July and started drinking at 4.30 and had my last at about quarter to six in the morning. I was so chuffed. And I might have done it the other weekend but I got into a row at 2.30 and stropped off home;)

Hi Mel

Which major meets did you attend when competing in Long distance track running and cross country - I presume we are roughly the same age late 30's or just 40 ?? we may have attended the same meets......... at the age of 14 through to 16 I also competed in long and middle distance and a bit of cross country ( but cross country mainly to aid my winter training in relation to stamina building ) and I competed at county level.
My distance up to 14 was the 800m and then I dropped to 300m.

Did you run in county meets / english schools championships etc - didn't make the grade for the English schools but my daughter did at 800m - wish she had kept it up now !!

x

The last time I partied well into the night ,I fell over the dog on the Patio and fell flat on my face.I never felt a thing lol But in the morning I had a black and blue eye and face down one side.I had to go to a meeting on Domestic violence a few days later.I'm not sure if anyone believed me when I said it was the dogs fault.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

not sure if I was better Sue I was constantly being told I wasn't "graceful" enough for floor work I loved the balance beam and I loved the paralell bars but my favourite was the rings but I never used tem in comps as my instructor was a great believer in "those of for the boys dear" and she used to go giddy when I scaled the ropes lol as for that "trampet" thing I can't think I ever used one ~ not sure we had one tbh, but battered toes where a constant feature mainly the outside of my big toes ouch still remember it

Rings????

Good grief woman, we were an all girls JOG club and never saw rings! Parallel bars were enough for girls!

Sue

Hi Jessie I was competing in cross country and middle-long (800-1500) distance from 14 and carried on to about 19 I did some coaching of younger girls the local meets were in the Dudley borough for school but and the Majors (to us majors) Tipton , Brum , Wolves, Stafford we did one in Sheffield once I loved 800 and 4 x 400 relays I even got entered in a steeple chase once would have loved the hurdles ~ my daughter loves cross Country and is learning to hurdle (properly) she's also an 800 m so was mainly County stuff not good enough for owt else x

lol Sue our instructor was very prim and proper and used to despair ~ why are the rings just for the boys? not fair lol

Which track in Sheffield and can you remember if this was at county level
( schools ) - or through a club and in the leagues that clubs complete in ( can't remember what the leauges were called at club level- I ran for a Sheffield club.

I can vaguely remember being instructed to build strength by hand walking the parallel bars (that's all they were used for). I think I managed about 2 lengths before my shoulders screamed STOPPPPPPPPP so I did...lol

I would never have been able to lift my body weight with locked elbows using rings.

Just to make it clear .The domestic violence meeting I went to was to do with Victim Support (that I was working for)lol

I can't remember the track sorry was about 88 I ran 400 m race came bout 10th and I'm pretty sure I was with Tipton (Harriers) at the time so possibly County when up in a coach took a couple of hours with pick-ups was shattered lol x

tbh Sue I can't remember using the paralell bars in comps but she usually needed a sit down after I'd been near then I remember having to do that on the floor to stregnthen my wrists

Mel what a great thread :o)

I used to be able to do a handstand against the wall, and then walk my feet down the wall into the crab, and then walk off still in the crab, and still have the bus fare home !

I don't think I can do that any more. Hang on, let's see ... ... ...



Maria x

Never ran the 400m as girls weren't allowed when I ran something to do with it requiring too much of a push on stamina and sprint at the same time ( if I remember rightly ) it was said it wasn't good for them and stopped growth........... I know now that my daughter wasn't allowed to compete in 400m as even the Senior girls which is under 17 ( again if I remember correct ) weren't allowed to compete in events at this distance which is a shame as 800m runners are prime to drop down to this level

If you were running for a club it would have been in a league such as McDonalds, shcools run at county level - not sure if it was called that then, but I know my daughter competed in the McDonalds league but then it changed it's name and they would go all over - eg Blackpool, Nottingham, York, Sunderland etc to compete against the other clubs in there league - mostly Sundays and always wet days sat at the side of the track for hours in our pop - up tent and eating minging sandwiches - yuk