BOTHELL, Wash. — The last time I jumped over a hurdle on the track was 35 years ago.
I was an 8th grader on the track team at Ballou Junior High in Puyallup.
Even with that experience, Jake and I were advised not to try hurdles as one of the Olympic sports. There was a pretty good chance one of us would trip and fall on the track.
But if you know us, you know we are always up for a challenge.
We met up with Dayzell Wilson, the hurdles coach at Bothell High School to get a lesson. He's a Bothell High alum who placed fifth in State in the 300-meter hurdles in 2015.
We started with exercises to open up our hips and warm up our bodies to avoid injury. Then we started with what we like to call the "trainer hurdles." They are low to the ground so we could perfect our form before we jumped over the real hurdles.
Watching the Olympic athletes compete, it's hard not to be impressed with how effortless they look.
"I watch the hurdlers, they're so rhythmic. it's so clean. Even when they hit the hurdles it doesn't even look like they actually hit it," said Dayzell.
When we raced, we had trouble with rhythm, but I'm happy to report neither one of us fell, so I'll call that event a success.
We also wanted to try a field event and javelin looked like a fun one to attempt. It seems simple enough: Take a metal-tipped spear and throw it as far as you can.
Owen Bainter, the Bothell High javelin coach, describes how throwing a javelin takes skill, speed and strength.
"It looks like a very unnatural athletic move that you don't see in many other sports," said Bainter. "And a lot of times the good guys, they'll grunt when they throw."
Our goal was to not stab each other in the eye or knock each other over with the spear.
Bainter told us that one of the tips to throwing javelin is to flick your wrist, similar to how you would throw a baseball.
That tip worked. Jake came away as the winner of our challenge, with a throw of 80 feet (it must have been the extra grunting.)
Oh, and he also won our hurdles race by crossing the finish line a hundredth of a second faster than me.
Hopefully, I'll have a better shot at beating him when we try Breaking as our next sport.