Call Me Rusty

I've have had a pretty bad spasm in my right piriformis since Friday night that has caused me a little sciatic pain. Not an injury, just a response to heavier squats I think. Anyway, it didn't stop me from my full workout today.

Funny day as my legs felt decent warming up but I didn't have much acceleration from my 33' (10m) run where I started on my 4m/14.7/13-1/180.4. Because of this I struggled to get pole speed for my first five jumps making 11' (3.35m) on my 3rd jump and then 12' (3.66m) on also on my 3rd jump. So my 6th jump I moved back a stride and up to me 14.3 and made it easy. I felt rusty on my technique so I didn't move the bar up. When things clicked I blew the pole away which I should do from that run. I made 12' three more times with the last two being on my biggest 4m pole, the 13.5/182.6. The last jump of the day I hit it right and it was also tiny all of the sudden. Out of 11 jumps today I would say that four were good, two were decent and five were crap. Just call me Rusty.

Still, it's my second day to jump this week with all of my full training components in place. Yahoooo!! The good news was that I was going to start on a real small 4m pole but I could tell I felt too good for it so I actually started four poles bigger than the plan. The pole I ended on is about the same stiffness as my first 4.30m (14' 1") pole but because the sailpiece is shorter it rolls faster. I was really tempted to go grab the first 14' 1" pole but resisted the urge.

I'm seeing Ashley Tuesday and then will start back Mondays with her the following week. As mentioned before she works with many of our pro athletes and golfers in town so she can dial in real quick to my issues and get me loose. The last session I felt like the grab in my right hamstring was coming back but today it was pretty much not there.

I'm trying to decide if Thursday will be my last jump day or will I also go on next Sunday since the Brazos Valley Senior Games are two weeks from today. I'm training hard so I feel the need to back off a little before the meet, but since I jump on Sunday and not Saturday, I have the luxury of an extra day of rest.

I don't have an outdoor mark yet this year so I would love to put up something 13' (3.97m) or higher but you never know. I feel pretty good about being ready to jump high but we've never jumped at this place and when I drove by it last the winds looked pretty crappy. It is what it is so we'll see what happens.

It's too early to decide for sure but unless Don goes to Sacramento I'm leaning toward not going to outdoor nationals. You can jump high there but conditions are hot, dusty and very swirly winds. Sure it will be that way for everyone and it will be that way for Worlds, but again, I've been there a bunch of times. We'll see.

We found out yesterday that the way the dates fall for Worlds that Don will still be in the M50 when all of the studs have moved up to the M55. His birthday is July 26, and the meet is over July 19 so it really works in his favor. He avoids me, Gary Hunter, Kirk Bentz, Bill Halverson, Mike Hogan, Charlie Brown, Jeff Kingstad, Murray Mead, Bill Murray, just to name a few who are all over 13' or better. And those are just the Americans. Europe will probably send over another 5-7 at the same level. The M55 at Sacramento will be the deepest masters vault competition in history. Which is exactly why I might sit out nationals this year to get a jump on next year's training.

Have a great Sunday! Bubba