Moving On

I feel much better today but have no scheduled training. Normally I would run speed endurance but I'll skip that since I would like to start back fresh with my vaulting on Wednesday. Though it seems like a lot of starts and stops in my training the numbers don't lie. Since my return from Sydney I have manged to lift 354,193 pounds and done 168 bar exercises with 5 lb. ankle weights. I need to make this check every now and then to determine if I am truly moving forward as sometimes at this stage of the year it's hard to tell because of all of the changes. As of this past Friday I've only been home for six weeks.

The purpose of this overview is to demonstrate to myself that I am ready to jump well today. Yes, I will ramp back up through my small 13' poles starting Wednesday but that is for technical refinement issues and not because I'm coming off of an injury. If I chose I'm sure I could start on my smallest 14' pole and have a decent day, but that's not part of the big game plan. My rule is don't move up poles in practice just to make a bar, but rather stay on the smaller pole and figure out how to get more out of it, and then move up. We call it "facing your demons" because you have very little room for error on a smaller pole so you have to be able to make minute changes during the jump. This pays off in the long run.

My first meet is four weeks from this past Saturday. To put it in perspective, I had longer to train for Sydney after getting home from the National Masters Games, than I do since my return from Sydney to my first indoor meet. During that time period most would focus on "base training" but I've already done this.

I don't expect a 4m jump at the first meet but it could happen. I'll need a first jump 4m to get a medal in Kamloops so that is the consistency that I am working toward. The higher your consistent baseline the more upside potential there is.

BTW - World Indoors is over three months away and I expect to get much better between now and then. The rules are the same - DON'T GET HURT!! The poles I jumped on in Sydney are MUCH bigger than I use at practice so that is my guide. Get more out of small poles so that I can get more vaults in and refine the technique with less chance of injury, especially in the cold. The big poles magnify the technical progress with higher heights.

That's it for today. Still coughing but I don't feel like roadkill so that's a start. Have a fun day! Bubba