and so it begins......

Jumped in my first meet today! Didn't get 5.50m, but took 3 good attempts at it. I'm thinking I shouldn't have passed directly to it after making my opener, but I still feel pretty good about my performance. I'm glad the college close to here has good vaulting facilities. There were a lot of people surprised to see me today and were really great about encouraging me. I'm so glad I got back into vaulting, just to be around the people involved.

I just want to thank all of you for all the support and encouragement you've been giving me. I'm also getting a kick around all the speculation around who I am. Makes me feel like a celebrity or something. :)

and I'm back.......

I know I haven't posted in a long time, but don't take that as a sign that I've given up! Obstacles put in your path only serve as tests of determination and will. My laptop broke and my job blocks access to Blogger, so I haven't had a way to get onto the internet from home until now.

My training has been excellent, but many distractions have presented themselves these past weeks. I got promoted at work, but with that promotion comes traveling to some of our satellite offices to train other people.

I'm also having a lot of distractions on the home front, namely a less than supportive significant other. I'm not going to bore anyone with any details (as it quite personal), but I see a resolution to that issue in the near future (that's been in the works for a while).

Enough with the gloomy news, lets get to the good stuff. My vaulting has been coming along great! Smoked 5.50m clean last week on a couple of jumps (yes, with a bar). I opted to not do any indoor meets and just focus on technique. Now that outdoor season is starting up, I'll look into meets that fit into my schedule.

Now that i'm back online, I'll start posting more often and hopefully have some video in the near future.

I've still got it!

I was afraid that I'd lost my timing coming off of my most recent two year rest cycle, but it was just like riding a bike! My knees were killing me when I got there, but 4 advil, a red bull, and a long warm up later left me feeling pretty good.

I started out with some walking pole plants, followed by a few pole runs at 50%. I did some 3 step hangs, then 3 step short vaults. I backed up to 5 lefts and took 10 jumps in flats on my biggest short run pole. Got rejected pretty good on my first two, but got over my gun shyness on my 3rd jump. I put a bungee up at 5m just for grins on my last jump and (mostly) didn't touch it. Only 50cm to go!

I was so pumped after that last jump, I ran some 150s, but over did it a bit and deposited the red bull I had earlier in back the trash can. I'm feeling OK now, but I need to remember I can't jump back in at full throttle just yet. I'm so psyched! I think I might celebrate a little tonight if I can talk my wife into letting me out of the late shift with the kids tonight.

169 days!

I have a dream!

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. I have decided to come out of retirement and train for the 2008 Olympic Trials in the pole vault with the hopes of making the 2008 Olympic team! I know its going to be a challenge considering I work full time and have a wife and two kids, but nothing is going to stop me from "Livin' the Dream"!

I wouldn't be undertaking this if I didn't think I had a realistic change at making at least the "B" qualifying standard of 5.50m (18' 1/2"). On my last day of practice 9 years ago, I took a jump with a bungee at 5.50m and barely brushed it. I know my technique has improved since then, even though I only jump in the spring with the high school kids I coach. The real barrier for me will be my fitness level and speed, which I'm sure I can get back to an acceptable level.

171 days and counting!