Three Weeks From Today

I compete three weeks from today and leave two weeks from tomorrow so time is growing short - FINALLY!!

Well it's pouring rain here and is supposed to continue to do so for a few days. Of course in Texas that means nothing as it could be sunny by this afternoon. If it is I will go out and run. I was scheduled to run 4 X 100 and 4 X 50 with the sled up the slight hill I use for warm-up. In the grand scheme of things the "off day" doesn't really hurt anything. Maybe it helps keep me a little fresher. I did get in a nice long strecth in the garage. Tomorrow is a scheduled off day as it is my "travel" day to drive all over seeing local and regional clients and partners. I'm hoping to wait out a window to jump on Thursday but if it is still raining I'll skip it and just do my lifting. That's a tough one since I want to jump but it's more important not to get off of my schedule since it is a nice balance of work and rest.

Last night I had a dream that I was in the big meet in Sydney and I couldn't get my approach run right and nhd (no heighted) at 11' (3.35m) on my 13'/176/15.0. That's funny too because I would never take a pole that small to a meet, even though I cleared 12' on it on Sunday. Just another reason why I don't visualize - I always fail. As long as I can "feel" it I can jump, but to put the view outside of myself like a spectator, I have no grasp. If I see it from my point of view out of my eyes, I can match that up to a feeling that works.

I'm still feeling good and I'm optimistic I'll be fine physically. I have four more scheduled vault days - the next two Thursdays/Sundays. I'll ramp up the poles I use at these sessions and not force too many jumps. Last year's Olympic and this year's World Champion from Australia, Steve Hooker, has had several injury setbacks but credits his training focus to his success. He said in an interview that he knew he couldn't vault often and would only have a few vaults per session so they had to be right. I did this last year a few times where I literally had a number of vault sessions where I only took one to three jumps and quit. The jumps were exactly what I was trying to do and I didn't want to risk getting hurt or getting run down, so I stopped. Though I'm healthy now and not so afraid, there is still no reason to take unnecessary chances after I have accomplished my goals for the sessions. I'm guessing 6 - 8 jumps per sessions is sufficient.

That's all for today folks. Thanks for being here and thanks for the emails of support, especially my buddy Dan West. Dan I always appreciate your input, suggestions and friendship. I think you're probably the vaulter who I can most relate to as far as approach to training and competition. Thanks!! Bubba

Update - 4 PM - Got my running in on a rain break.