Pole vaulting wasn’t on my bucket list. Somehow, the idea of flinging myself skyward on a fiberglass pole seemed as risky as bungee jumping or aerial skiing or platform diving. Generally, I like sports that keep me on the ground. But how often do you get invited to work out with Jenn Suhr, the world’s top-ranked female pole vaulter?

That was how I found myself at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center earlier this week, awkwardly, apprehensively standing on the pole vault runway while holding a pole Suhr used to set one of her eight American records.