Meet Day Reflections

Morning in Boston. Our hotel overlooks the Charles River.

When you go into the final stages of prep for a big meet you think back about all of the things it took to get this far. I remember training with this meet in mind in November. You tend to put yourself on the field MONTHS in advance so when it gets here you check your notes and see if it is what you expected. If not, then you readjust your future view as you prepare for the next big meet.

Of course I wish my arm would have been good as I have not had a high level vault since January 2. That said, today is the last day for the year that indoor marks will be accepted so this is it. Presently I have the highest vault by an M55 American and rank 2nd in the world at 3.99m (13' 1"). Worse case for me Kirk jumps 4m+ and it bumps me to #2 in the US and #3 in the world. Big deal. All three of my indoor meets this year were PRs (Personal Records) and my worst meet is still high enough to have me ranked #1 in the US and #2 in the world. My worse meet was 1 cm higher than the winning jump at Kamloops. So no matter what happens today it's been a great indoor season. I need to just get well and get back into regular vault training and hopefully that happens after today.

Boston has been a funny place for me. I won in 1997 and then proceeded to get a series of 2nds and 3rds before coming back in 2006 after my Achilles surgeries and racking up three consecutive 4ths. I HATE not getting a medal and sometimes it feels there is a curse for me at Boston. Get this, last year the meet was in DC and I won. Next year the meet is in Albuquerque and this year for Boston I'm questionable with an injury. I'd love to break the curse and get a medal here for the first time since 2001. Of course that requires that I am able to actually vault.

My morning for a big meet is to get up early and get some breakfast. Come back to the room and catch up on email and then take a bath while reading something mindless. After that I do a light little stretch and some skip drills so it doesn't take me long to warm up at the track. As I get closer to leaving I go to my music. Of course they are the same songs I hear when I'm grinding away on training so the music reminds me of the sacrifice and commitment I made that let me know I expect to do well. While listening to the music I only think of technical positions that I will need to be successful. Today I'm going to shorten my hand spread a bit in order to hit the pole hard with both hands instead of depending so much on my top hand. I will also make sure I am locked out with my entire body stiff as steel just before the pole hits the back of the box. I will not turn prematurely as this strains my bicep. I progress through my "mechanical checklist" and that keeps me relaxed and focused. Simple but it works.

Time to get to the bath so have a great day and I'll get back with you later. Thanks again for your support and just being here. Bubba