Linz, Austria to Landau, Germany

The start of the meeting in Linz was not looking good.  I didnt finish a jump all of warmups, couldnt really figure out what was going on but it wasnt good.  I knew that once the bar went up things should be better.  I started at 5.25/17' just to make a bar easily, well it took me all 3 tries to make it easily!  Talk about some unneeded stress!  But on my third jump i was feelign much more confident on the runway, my last 2 steps were much more crisp and i decided to pass to 5.45/17'9".  Came down first time and made the bar, thats a little better!  5.55/18'2 was next, came down, same run same takeoff, first attempt make!  Now i was on the smallest pole in my bag which i usually only warm-up on, but whatever tool is needed to get the job done is the right one.  We went up to 5.65/18'6" and now there were only 2 of us left, myself and Fabio Gomez deSilva from Brazil, my first two tries were very close but i couldnt keep the bar up.  Fabio came down on his last attempt and had a great jump and made it to win the comp.  I was actually pretty happy with the way things turned out since they had started so badly.
Here is my 5.55m make.


After the meet I was motioned over to someone who asked if I wanted to travel with them and jump in a little German town called Landau. Now I had no plans for 9 days until going to Donetsk so i was more than happy to go with him and get in another meet. The next day we left at 7am and drove for 7 hours to Landau, Germany for a meet today. For those of you who have seen the new NeoVault movie, this meet in Landau is put on by the same director as the meet in Jockgrim, Germany. In NeoVault that is where Derek Miles jumps 5.81m/19'1". The meet director's name is Jochen and he is a super guy! I have been staying with a German family who has been so gracious and hospitable, this morning for breakfast the table was filled with so many different choices, I cant thank them enough!
The meet today is at 4pm or 10am eastern time.  It is held in a small gym and they told me the ceilings are 7m high, which is about 23ft.  I told them it wont be a problem until i am attempting 6m haha.  It should be a lot of fun, i hope to get some great video to post here later tonight or tomorrow.

Always Pursuing -Mark-