Pole Shipping & A Few Thanks

Today is a light stretch day as I'll jump tomorrow. Since I switched my leg lift day to my running/jumping day I've had a day off every three days. Normally I lift legs the day after I vault and then lift upper the next day and then repeat. I switched it to be a little more fresh on vault days but so far I can't see much difference. I'll switch back tomorrow as I will vault Saturday, lift legs Sunday, upper Monday, easy stride Wednesday and jump with Kris on Friday. The poles will be shipped to Australia from his place on that day. As a pole dealer he has a commercial account so he can ship much easier and cheaper than we ever could.

We always ship our poles to meets through Kris. They arrive right at the stadium and you don't have to hassle with them at the airport or when you arrive. We usually have 3-5 people's poles in two bags so we split it equally which is far less expensive than if you took them on the plane yourself. Typically we send them a week in advance so they arrive at the venue a few days before we get on the plane.

Shipping to Oz is different because of tariffs on the way back in. No wonder we can't compete globally when it's cheap to export but complicated and expensive to import. We were quoted $2,100 by the shipper to get my poles to Australia. Bruce Caldwell of Essx, my pole maker, ships poles around the world so he has some clout. I've got $321 on the way out and I think just under $600 to come back. Having your own poles is a big deal but of they don't make it I have back up through Alan Launder. Obviously if they don't make it we don't pay so it's a fair trade off.

It takes a team for every athlete to be successful whether it is little league or pro athletes. We are no different and it all starts at home. My wife Nancy, didn't grow up around athletes but is a huge sports fan and very supportive. I'm not one of those guys who has a bad day and brings it home. There will be bad days, injuries and disappointments and that's just part of the deal. I certainly have no right to burden someone else with these issues or ruin their day over something so trivial.

As stated I have been on the business side of healthcare for 22 years. During my eight years of working on Wall Street, my mentor, a man who represented companies for 45 years, who's brother in law was the head of CBS at the time, etc., gave me some great advice. Like the scene in Dustin Hoffman's breakout movie, "The Graduate", the magic word for the future was "plastics". For me it was "healthcare". My mentor told me in 1987 that between 2007-10 that there would be the largest demand for healthcare services in history as the baby boomers matured to Medicare age in what was to be called the "Graying of America". They would need skilled business people to help in those volatile times. I took his advice and got involved in the physical therapy business. That has evolved into owning, running, starting, managing many clinics for myself, partners, physicians and therapists around the country.

My partner, Sam Fontenot, has been a PT for 38 years and is the first person I go to when I have an injury or a ding. I also depend on Bruce Forsyth in College Station, Tom Dalonzo Baker in North Carolina and Randall Fukuji in Honolulu. My point man as a physician is Earl "Butch" Martin Jr., who is in constant contact with me about any and every little ding or sign of weakness that comes up. If he can't do it he directs me on to a specialist. THE man that figured out the calcifications and how to work around them without surgery is orthopedic specialist, Scott Rand, MD. I had a tricep strain and a horrible tendonitis cause by what looked like bone spurs. What it really was is bone growing within my tendon. He shot it with cortisone and then told me how to work around it but still get the same training results. I would be lost without these guys and I'm thrilled to also call them my friends.

The Woodlands High School has the #1 athletic program in the US according to ESPN. We have a great community and a super deep talent level of coaches in all sports at that school. Mark Schmid is the AD and the Principal is Greg Colschen. Mark is a great football coach but he also coached the school record vaulter at 16" 1 1/4". Those two allowed me to form a USA Track & Field club there. USATF provides liability insurance covering the high school so we can practice there. The school has an outstanding vault coach in Robbie Dueitt, one of my very best friends and favorite people. When he's in football I take over the kids and when he comes back I do whatever he needs me to do. It's a wonderful cooperative effort. Of course this could not have happened without the legend track and cross country coach, Dan Green, who just retired. Coach Green is an amazing individual and his success is untouched over the 30 years he was the coach. He allowed me to join his program as a volunteer when he knew he had a great coach already. He didn't have to do that and it turned out well since I'm so close to Robbie. Coach Green's son, Juris has just taken over the program and my initial reaction to watching him work with the kids is that we are in for another 30 years of success under the Green leadership.

The "unsung hero" of our group is Charlie Bier, the editor of our local paper, The Villager. He took an interest in the vault and began covering it himself rather than sending out his sports guy. He promotes our events and keeps the community up to speed on the progress of the vaulters and vault programs. It's hard to get that type of support from anyone, much less the top dog, the editor. We are greatly appreciative of his efforts as it draws in new kids and creates interest. He's also been known to get a photo or two in the paper of a kid with his medal from a big meet. Thanks Charlie!!

Finally, thanks again to you guys and gals who are along for the ride. I thought about yesterday how it would go if crash and burn in Australia after all of this build up. One thing you should know by now is that I will tell you exactly how I feel whether it's good or bad. In my mind I've been preparing for this for a year since I determined this would be my big target for 2009. All year long I have adjusted planning to keep in mind that I have to be at my best in October. That's pretty strange since our outdoor national meet is normally the first week of August. So far so good so thanks again. I'm sure I will tell you this may more times. I say it when I think it so I must think it often. It's good to be grateful and I am.

That's it for today. A little more behind the scenes than usual because it's basically an off day from training. Vault tomorrow - Yahooooooooo!! Bubba