Outta Here! + Late Post

I'm wrapping up at warp speed around here this morning. There is too much to do and too little time. I woke up and 4 AM and started the mental list again. Counting the chores must have been like counting sheep because I managed to get back to sleep until 6. The good news is that I'm finished packing so now it's just wrapping up the business stuff.

I'll miss Nancy. She is my heart and soul and my daily light so being without her on this trip will certainly feel like a great loss. We're trying to set times to talk now since the time difference is so much. For the past year she has heard every detail and has offered her opinion every time I ask her about specific turns in the plot to getting ready for this trip. Of course I offered to take her but she says she's never really had the interest to go to Oz and especially isn't fond of the long flight. She's been with me to Hawaii on business twice this year and that's an eight hour flight, plus we just got back from California. I think she will enjoy staying home on this one. Besides, we go to Maine for our annual vacation less than two weeks after I return.

So, I'm off on my "business trip" and will check in where and when I can until I get settled. Thanks again for being here. Please consider yourselves on call as I'm certain I know I'll need you. Have a great day! Bubba

PS - I forgot to mention that my flight IS the flight for the World Masters Games. The tour company with the exclusive rights says that everyone flying with them from the USA for these Games will be on this flight. All from Canada are leaving out of Vancouver - also today I think. That means I should recognize quite a few people, at least from our sport. Less boring that way.

Almost Time to Go

My last chance to get hurt was today and I carefully avoided it. I was scheduled to run 6 X 50m hills with my sled but Kris and I decided that I may need to do a little small pole vault session also. My thinking was that since the meet is a week from today that I may come in TOO rested and maybe feel a little flat. After my sleds I was pretty sure that wouldn't be the case. What I forgot was that I had a very hard leg lifting session just two days ago so I felt like crap. I didn't feel injured or in danger. I just felt like I was running in cement shoes. I warmed up on the runway and took one jump on my smallest 13' pole and stopped. It felt tiny and I felt useless on the runway so it wasn't worth pushing.

Now I'm seriously packing and finishing up on business. The good news is that I don't leave until 6 tomorrow so I don't feel so rushed. The bad news is that I have over four hours in LA before the long flight starts. That's after the 3.5 hours to get to LA. I'll just take it easy and enjoy the trip and try to arrive rested. The total time from take off from Houston to landing in Sydney is 22 hours. When I went to South Africa is was 26 and I survived that.

So thanks for all of your support and best wishes!! That said, as this chapter closes the next one opens. The heat will rise once I get to Sydney and I promise that you will feel it in my posts. For better or worse, I'll let you in. Let's make it a good trip!! Bubba

Here is the link for current local time and weather. So far they are calling for 61 to 75 and rain for next Tuesday. We?ll see.
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=240

Poles Arrive in Oz + End of the Grind

Both of these are joyous topics since I leave on Wednesday. I have a run/bars/stretch tomorrow and a stretch on Wednesday before I go. Today I did a "Strength Test" to see how I have progressed in the past nearly eight weeks since we started this little journey. My weight this morning was 171.5 which is where I want it on the competition day. My bench press improved 20+ lbs. to 250. I say 20+ lbs. because I made 250 quite easily but didn't see the point in trying 260 and risking injury. I also moved up 10 lbs. on my hang clean to 185. Of course these numbers are relative as some guys smaller than me lift much more (Dan West) and some bigger guys lift less. So relative to me these are very good marks. SO, the grind is officially over. It's time to think rest, refresh the mind and prepare to focus on the upcoming tasks. Total weight lifted for this blog is 717,995 and exactly 500 weighted high bar exercises.

The Poles Arrived!!
If you have been tracking the shipping as I have you see that they arrived at 11 AM on 10/3, even though that didn't show up until this morning. Bruce Caldwell says that they will be taken to the venue on the 7th, the day I leave. Since I lose a day by crossing the International Dateline, I leave Wednesday and arrive Friday. Even funnier, when I come back I arrive at LA only two hours after I left Sydney. Since I arrive at 8:25 AM and can't get into my hotel until 2 PM, I'll get credentialed and go find the poles and make sure they aren't broken or need to be re-taped because of any fumigation stuff they sprayed in the tube.

Eating
Ben Browder gave me tons of invaluable info for this trip and especially eating choices. It's not like there will be an Outback on every corner. Although I did eat at one last night for my dad's 78th birthday. Sounds like it will be pretty easy as far as nutritional needs and desires go. I'll be staying at the Novatel - Olympic Park which is literally right across the street from the stadium. http://www.novotelsydneyolympicpark.com.au/ If you watch their website photos under dining they show a view of the stadium from one of the restaurants. That's awesome to be so close. Not only that, but credentialed athletes also get free use of the train systems. Not that I will be doing much wandering around but it's nice to have options. I'm very much a "hang out in the room" and watch TV, read, work on the computer, etc. type guy. I'm there to take care of business but I'll enjoy looking around on Saturday when I go to the harbor area with Phillip.

That's it for today. Got mostly packed yesterday and will do some more today. We're getting to that point where there's nothing left to do but to do it - my favorite part. As always, thanks for being here! Bubba

Destiney, Random Thoughts & Video at Bottom

Today when I entered my local 24 Hour Fitness where I lift legs and do some of my bars, I was invited to place a goal on a big board for everyone to see. Of course there were many goals on this board but for the first time I wrote - "World Champion, World Masters Games M55 Pole Vault, Sydney, Australia - 10/13/09". I thought, "There, I said it". This felt odd and is even harder to explain. Why would I spend the better part of a year targeting this one day and yet feel strange about actually saying what my goal is? Yes I am very capable of winning but we know that means absolutely nothing. You have to do it that day in that place and weird things always happen. So YES I hope to win but I can't say I expect to win. That type of attitude lands you right on your butt and in the stands. Ask the world's greatest women vaulter who did not clear her opening height at the recent World Championships for the elites. All I can say is that if things go great I expect to medal and hope to win. But still, writing an absolute goal felt strange even though I think it all of the time. In fact I'm driven by it. WHY? I've worked my but off so why should I feel so unsure? Because I've been there and seen it firsthand. It's a 100% crapshoot. My first collegiate championship I was ranked 10th and I repeated the following year after having only the 6th highest jump. I saw Sergey Bubka fail to clear his opening height in Barcelona at the 1992 Olympics and I saw him withdraw during warm up for the 1996 Olympics where a few days earlier I saw him trying 20' 8" with a bungee and looking great. You never know so just be prepared, pay attention and focus.

I was reading Track & Field News magazine yesterday and saw where Australia's Steve Hooker came into the World Championships in Berlin only eight days after straining his groin in practice. The defending World Champion, Brad Walker withdrew because he partially missed the pit 12 days out from the big meet. I'm nine days out today. Then I was looking at YouTube video and saw a team of guys all nearly fail to clear their opening heights even though they had tons of height. They all managed on their third attempts but what a nightmare start. It was these thoughts that had me reconsider my workout this morning when I saw that we have nothing but rain between now and when I leave on Wednesday.

First, vaulting was not an option so I'm done there. Last year when I strained my left triceps I went 2-4 weeks without vaulting on a regular basis and would show up at a meet and still vault well, so I don't see that as a big factor. Remember, less than two months ago I was in California watching the National Senior Games with a strained groin. When I came back and started this blog I hoped to be able to get back over 12' before I left for Oz. Since then I've vaulted 12 days and made 13' on two of those days, 12' 6" on three others and 12' on five more. All of this with no run further than 43' (usually 33') on small poles. In meets I start from 54' on much bigger poles. So I'm cool not jumping anymore.

The rain made me unsure about running with the sled because a hard slip could twinge a hamstring or overstretch an Achilles. So out of the blue I decided to flop things and go lift legs first and then come back and run some hill/sled reps in the rain. The purpose was that my legs would be too tired to try and be too powerful. It worked perfectly as I had some very nice and rhythmical sled pulls after a great lifting session. That was my last gym session before I go. I'll do a strength test in the garage tomorrow and then run again on Tuesday morning - in the rain because suddenly we're the new Seattle.

I started getting my stuff together last night and Nancy got out the suitcase this morning. The weather there has been showing low 50s to low 60s with a lot of rain. Two weeks ago it was nice and warm. Needless to say I have to take more clothes options and consider more stuff to make sure my grip on the pole works in the rain.

OK, I'm done for today. In closing I want to make an observation about expectations. No matter what goes through my head when I am approaching a meet, when it's "GO TIME", I shift into a highly focused and accountable athlete. I will not vault to stay alive but will compete to win. It's hard to explain but there is a certain expectation, not only of myself, but of others who know me (including you) that I do my best, and that's what saves me at big meets. That switch hits and the doubts are gone. Until then I'll continue to be afraid so I don't make careless mistakes or oversights. I've done everything within my power to be ready, I am, and I will give everything I have. The great motivational speaker, Tony Robbins, says that people will do more to avoid pain than to gain pleasure. I guess this is why we obsess over clearing that first height as that represents the greatest pain we can experience. Once you're past that then it's off to the races. With that said, I have nh'd (no heighted - did not clear my opening height) only one time in my career - my sophomore year in college at conference. I don't plan on this being number two but if I'm not afraid of it, it could happen.

Thanks a ton for being here!! MUCH appreciated! Bubba

PS - I will blog from the plane and airports but I won't be able to post it until I get to my hotel unless I can pick up a WiFi at LAX.

For fun I thought I would try and post a video here since I will from Sydney. This is 12' 6" (3.81m) at the Quintana Beach Vault.

A Quiet Day Off

I'm cool with this off day as it's pretty gloomy out. If it rains tomorrow I'll wait and try to go Monday since I have the luxury of a little extra time. Also my legs are still a little sore from the high level session I had on Thursday. Overall I feel great but rest is very important right now as your body makes 100% of its progress during rest. The objective is to ramp up your program to its highest intensity and then somewhere between 7-9 days out you pull the rug out from under the training load. Your body responds by coming back fast and hard because it thinks you will keep demanding training sessions. When you don't, it keeps building in anticipation that you will again shock it with more hard training. The result is that I should feel really good and refreshed on my jump day. Sometimes I do this a little too good. I've had a couple of big meets where I came out feeling so good that I almost got a strain in warm up. That's a good problem. I just have to remember to take it easy and start slow in the warm-up.

Warm-up for me is usually very early. I like to be the first on the runway about an hour out from the start time. This way I'm not rushed and few vaulters are on the runway yet. I feel better the second time around anyway - more quick, so sitting afterward warm-up is actually pretty good for me. I also stop my warm-up one two jumps before I feel I am actually really warmed up. This saves the bigger jumps for later. Because I will have to wait around awhile to vault, I will actually do my real warm-up during the meet. I tend to start on a medium sized pole that I don't have to push my run to get in on. Each vault I move up a pole, back a stride or both as I warm up and progress through poles during the meet.

I'm comfortable and confident to the degree that I can be right now. I'm trying to load up on work stuff to keep my mind away from the trip as it helps quell the anxiety. I heard from Tom Rauscher (M60) that he too is healthy so that was our main goal. He is scheduled to jump on our pit with our group. When this happens the results are split out and reported separately after the fact. This will give us 18 guys in our group which is quite a lot. They will probably start around 8' and I will start at 12' so I will be sitting around for awhile and I have planned accordingly. Phillip says we could start with one wind condition and end with a totally different direction as the day goes by. I HATE to warm-up with a tailwind and then come in two hours later into a headwind. If it happens I'll be fine but MAN would that suck. As they say, everyone else has to deal with it too.

That's it for now. Thanks for being here and have a great Saturday! Bubba

Thanks Again!!

I got an email from my buddy Dan West yesterday telling me that he thinks he hit his training too hard last week and now he's starting to feel rundown and like he may be coming down with something. Today I suddenly felt exactly the same way. I didn't sleep well last night and even though I felt fairly strong (not Dan strong) I too was feeling rundown and still have somewhat of an upset stomach. Then I remembered my joke about the Swine Flu yesterday. I can't afford to ignore the little things at this point. This is a perfect example of why I'm writing this blog. I promise you that had I not gotten that email from Dan that I would have attempted to power through the scheduled workout and risked injury or sickness. I dropped my last two sets and skipped the ab work though I did all of my stretching and bars. Thanks Dan! A great reminder to listen to our bodies.

With all of this said I still am somewhat lethargic about these last few sessions but I can't allow myself to be. I'm supposed to vault the last time Sunday but we're showing an 80% chance of rain. If that happens I'll just skip the rotation and hit the gym. I have three more workouts before I catch the plane - Sunday - vault, run hills w/sled, bars, lift lower, Monday - lift upper + long stretch, and Tuesday - 6 X 50m hill with sled and stretch. I'll run hills in the rain but that would screw up some of the bars. Like DJ says, at this point I can't do anything to get stronger or faster so just let it go and don't sweat it. Of course I'll report back here whatever happens.

Hey Ben - what can you tell me about eating in Oz? It's never crossed my mind before today but I guess I had better consider what the locals eat. I know that Vegimite is out of the question. When I had Aussie's Simon Arkell and Adam Steinhardt staying with me before the 1992 Olympics Games, Adam would eat cereal with orange juice on it instead of milk. I don't know what other food mysteries or options will be available. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I haven't got the suitcase out but I have started thinking about packing. It shouldn't be too hard since the weather is pretty comfortable. I think I'll take one pair of pants to hide my special socks for the flight. No need looking older or more like a tourist than I already do. I remember living at the beach in Southern California that the tourists really stand out. I'm sure I will too.

That's it from here. Thanks again for being there and supporting me! Bubba

Good & Safe Day - Poles/Tracking

Well today was my last best chance to get hurt as I was to vault on my only 14' pole left in my bag as the rest have been sent to Australia. I've jumped on the 14/169/17.5 several times over the past few weeks but not from 33' since about this time last year. I need to be in a position where if I don't hit my positions I won't penetrate enough to complete the vault. Since you can't run very fast from 33' it comes down to technique and timing of forces. If I push the run too hard I get a hamstring strain and it's over - don't even bother going on the trip because you can't jump 12 days after a hamstring strain. So there was HUGE fear and caution going into today.

That said I made 12' on my second attempt, 12' 6" on my first and had one really nice vault at 13' before stopping. So four jumps total to meet the goals I had set out for the day. I've made 12' 6" from 33' several times but have never tried 13' from there. Today I only took one jump at 13' but had about 4" of height and hit it on the way down. At that point I decided to leave well enough alone and stop while healthy. WHEW!!!!!

Sunday will be my last vault day as I'll start on my smaller 13' poles and work my way through a bunch of "fun" low intensity jumps trying to refine my technique. I will still need to lift upper on Monday and run on Tuesday before I fly out on Wednesday, but at this point the hard and risky stuff is over. I'm very pleased with the ramp up and also relieved to remain very healthy with no dings or annoyances.

Pole Tracking
The poles are in transit and are supposed to be received on 10/3. The website to track their progress is here - http://www.dbschenkerusa.com/ and the tracking number is 52056587. Why not? We'll find out together if they actually make it. I understand there are a few levels of "made it". One is to the airport in Sydney, then through customs and then to the stadium. I'm sure we will all learn about this process as we go. They have to be through customs by 10/8 so we should be fine. Since I leave on 10/7 it would be great if they are through all of this by then. I am assured they will be. We'll see.

To Blog or Not to Blog From Oz
My friend of nearly 30 years, Dean "The Machine" Gregory asked me yesterday if I will go to "radio silence" until after I vault or if I will continue this blog. Great question. I assured him that as soon as I get my Internet connection at my hotel that I will resume my daily reports. If anything I will need the outlet more then so you're along for the whole bumpy ride.

I'm starting to feel reasonably confident that our plan should culiminate in me arriving healthy and fresh. That being the case I can only fail if I get the Swine Flu on the plane or get hurt during the warm-up or meet, OR have a big lapse in mental focus. Of course I'm hoping and planning that these are not factors. Success is relative but the main goal is to get a medal in these World Championships. I got the bronze in South Africa in 1997 so it's been a long time in between and I don't want to waste this opportunity. I told Nancy this morning that as of today, this is the best I have ever been prepared physically, technically and mentally for a competition. Again, this means absolutely nothing. The ONLY thing that matters is what happens on that day. I told my partner at lunch today that the moment you step on that runway in a huge meet like this, that the feeling is nearly heart stopping. The nerves are wild and it's no longer six months, six weeks or six days away - IT IS NOW and that urgency just slams all of your senses. It's at this time that my focus on only doing one thing per jump and doing it perfectly will help me off that hook with the nerves. Then it's like football - you get that first big hit and now you're in the game. So I'm scared yet excited but at this point the plan has been excellent as have the tests along the way.

Thanks again for your invaluable support! Bubba