All Comers Meet
As the name indicates, an "All Comers" meet is just that - anyone can participate regardless of age and ability. I have had a long tradition of having one on the last Saturday of the month during the off season as it gives athletes a chance to see where they are. If things go well it's a vote of confidence and if not, then you know what to work on for the next month.

We had our first All Comers meet this morning and had a nice turn out of about 10 vaulters. For the most part everyone looked pretty good considering we have not run further than six total steps in the first month. Our 8th grader Kara got a new PR at 8' 6" and looked good at 9'. The event was won by Seth Arnold who cleared 13' 6" from a very short run. Seth was last year's state champion as a junior and has a 16' vault to his credit. His dad, Don, vaulted with me in college so we have been friends for years. A "new old guy", Charlie, came out and cleanly made 12' at 48 years old. Next month is the "Halloween Vault" where all vaulters must wear costumes. Should be fun.

Poles - Leaving On a Jet Plane
Mr. Dependable, Bruce Caldwell dropped my poles off at DFW airport yesterday and they will leave Monday night and arrive Thursday in Sydney. Event management will get them out to the field for my competition and then back to the airport. Monday I'll have a tracking number for all of us to watch their progress. Why not? I'll be watching it anyway so you might as well have the same access.

Talking to Gary Scheffe today, in his first year back in the M50 group, he says he can tell that my blog is therapeutic for me. Gary's a super guy and we're thrilled to have him out with us, and he could not be more correct with his assessment. Today is another "off day" so that is the toughest. My buddy in Minnesota, Mike Soule would say, "well at least you got to do something "vaulty" by going to the All Comers meet. He's right as that helps a lot.

Lifting
I cheated yesterday and did one set and one rep of a new exercise from next year's program. I may do the same on a couple of other exercise when I stretch today. I've decided that as long as the weight is negligible then it can't hurt.

I'm reading a book by the strength legend, Dan John ("Never Let Go") where he states some baseline benchmarks based on your bodyweight - mine is 172. He says you need to at least be able to your bodyweight in bench (235), hang cleans (185) and twice your body in deadlift, which I have never done. What's funny is that every time I get this little hamstring ding I feel it when I bend down to pick something up. That's what a deadlift is - bend down and pick the bar up and then stand up straight. There are several variations that I'm looking forward to. Dan's basic theory is that you must pick things up and you must lift things over your head. He also says if it is that important you should do it every day. That's the rule I'll start with for deadlifts and front squats.

That's it today. I leave in 10 days and my last vault session will be a week from tomorrow. I'll be careful, have fun and report back to you here. Have a fun Saturday and thank you again for your support!! Bubba