Blue Water Swimming!!

Pole vaulting is about becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable, and then searching out the next uncomfortable. There is a long series of them waiting for you on the road to success.

I learned and was taught early in my business career that innovative minds look for "blue water" opportunities; those concepts that exist outside of the bloody red water of the carnage of competition.  Nine years ago I came up with such an idea in healthcare that is quickly becoming an industry standard and we still have no imitators.  Why?  We protect our intellectual property with privacy agreements and all money has to flow through us first.

In training I have been bobbing up and down in the red water and spitting out blood as I learn how to train in this new environment.  Today as I was running the light bulb went on and the entire new plan laid itself out for me.  I was at Dana Hills High School at the top of my first bleacher run and I looked over to the left and saw about a 40-50m ramp/hill about three times as steep as the little hill I ran with a sled at The Woodlands.  PERFECT - Run up the 30 steps (15 lefts), walk the rest of the length of the bleachers on top, and down the ramp, then run back up the ramp - 22 lefts or 44 steps. This combination could not be more perfect for my needs.  BY FAR the best ever running combination for my day after vaulting running.  Of course on vault days I do 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s, but now my "speed endurance" day is set.

My lifting pieces came together too.  I now know exactly what I will do on what days between my garage and the gym lift days.  I'm very excited to have these pieces set as I go into Reno.  I can tell you right now that I will spend hours on my computer setting up next years spreadsheet to begin tracking.  If you remember, "Next Year" starts the day after Reno as I begin a long preparation for the 2013 World Championships in Brazil.  I will trun 60 about three weeks before them.  I'm so excited to have this training clear in my mind.  I'm a schedule person and I need structure.  I can take any conditions or curve balls thrown at me on meet day but my training needs to be very regimented and now I have it.

Thank you all for your support.  Today I heard a great Motley Crue song that reminds me so much of what it takes to be a good pole vaulter.  It has a line that says, "If you wanna live large you've gotta be ready to crash and burn".  And with that, I will put one more bigger pole in my bag for Reno - "Wild Side"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nm1BJPe-pg&feature=related