Olympic Trials Reflection

Just so you all know I don't want to do this, I don't want to talk about my week at the Olympic trials, because it hurts.  It hurts really bad.  But I know that I need to, I owe it to all of you to continue the journey.  Just like the victories are a vital part of any story so is the heartbreak.  And it wouldn't be fair for me to pretend like everything will always go the way you want it to, even when you work so hard at something sometimes it just doesn't go in your favor.  I've said it before and I'll say it again the sport of pole vaulting is cruel, it's cruel to everyone, so if you haven't experienced its cold hand slapping you across the face just wait, you'll get yours.  And I think thats why we love it so much, because the heartache makes the victory that much sweeter.  So maybe we should relish in the defeat, just because we know it's going to push us that much harder and make our victory so much sweeter.  I think as soon as I get home I will put something up on the wall to remind me of the 2012 Olympic trials because I don't want to forget the bitter taste I have in my mouth right now.  The part im trying to not think about is how long I have to wait to get my revenge.  


Going into the Trials I believed that if i could make 5.72m/18'9" I would be top 3 and make the team.  My plan all along was to be in the competition when the bar went up to 5.72m and give myself a chance to make the team.  Warmups went better than they have been going for me in the past month or so, I was confident in my run, and knew that once the bar went up I could get in the groove.  I wanted to start at 5.50m/18' but i wasnt on the pole I wanted to be on to feel confident in doing that so I opted to start at 5.40m/17'9".  The wind was swirling around the majority of the comp and when I stepped on the runway it was blowing in my face.  I muscled through the wind and made the bar first attempt, I was feeling good after that and knew that since i was going up a pole I could pass the next bar.  When the bar went up to 5.60m/18'4" I think there were still 8 or 9 people still in the competion.  My first attempt was a good jump but I barely hit the bar on the way up, I went up a pole and did the same thing on my second.  I didnt want to go up to my next pole yet because it was a pole I had never jumped up and I knew if I upped my grip the pole would slow down a bit and give me more time to make the bar.  I really felt no fear in not making the bar, I believed in my decisions and knew that the numbers added up to making the bar.  I put a great jump together and made the bar on my last attempt!  Now I was pumped, I knew that by going up to my next pole, the biggest one in my bag, if i could put a jump together like the last one I would make the next couple of bars.  


I passed 5.67m/18'7" only Brad Walker made the bar which meant i was sitting in 5th place but if i made 5.72m/18'9" I would take the lead and be on my way to London.  I taped up my 5.20m/17'1" 12.3flex Pacer Carbon pole and was ready to go.  By now the wind had picked up and it had started to rain.  There were 2 of us jumping at the bar so we had 2 minutes to start our attempt.  I waited about the whole 2 min waiting for the wind to switch direction or at least die down.  I started my first attempt and the wind was straight in my face, now on the size pole i was on if your not running your fastest the chance for injury is pretty high, I knew the wind was holding me back so I dropped the pole and ran onto the mat.  Second attempt the wind wasnt as strong i took the jump up but got a little stood up meaning i didnt quite get the horizontal movement into the pit I needed and had to bail the jump.  This left me one attempt, I was praying that I could get a good wind.  The problem I had was that since I was on a new pole with one jump remaining its hard to set the standards where you need them to be.  I left mine at 70cm meaning the bar was 70cm behind were we plant the pole.  The wind was a little better as I started my run but at the middle of my run it switched, I left the ground and gave it a shot, had plenty of height but came down on the bar.  


THat was it, the end of my pursuit for 2012, I think the worst part of it was that I knew I was deserved to be there, I was the best prepared but in pole vault sometimes it just doesnt matter.  


Im starting to look forward, its pretty easy to get down and think about just how close I was.  Im ready to get back on the runway and jump a personal best which I know is right around the corner.  I jumping down in St. Louis on Wednesday the 4th and then in Champaign, Illinois on Saturday at the Gill Athletics Field Fest.  


Thanks to everyone who supported me this year, thanks for buying a t-shirt, that helps so much.  Im going to keep on pursuing and some day soon Ill start looking forward to 2016 in Rio.  

Always Pursuing -Mark-

Olympic Trials Here I Come!

Making final preparations the last couple of days it feels just like any other trip.  Im packing my bags for a week and a half trip just like I have probably over 20 times in the last few years.  But this time its different, this trip means a little bit more than any of the others I have prepared for.  Im excited, Ive been looking forward to this for the last 4 years, think of where you were 4 years ago, that was a long time wasnt it?  Ive been training my butt off for 4 years straight working toward this goal.  Im happy that the time has finally come, Im also at peace, I am really looking forward to going to Eugene and just having a blast.  I know theres nothing else I can do, I can only embrace my training, my fitness, and my vault and use it all to the best of my abilities.

The last month or so has been exactly what I need, Ive mentioned it to a few people but it is very evident to me that this path has been marked off for me.  I have been improving one step at a time, and even when I wished I could have skipped a few steps and just jumped 5.72m already I know that I have to trust the one who has set this road before me.  So Im just putting this in the hands of the Lord, and whatever the outcome, I want his will to be done.  And whatever happens let the glory go to Him.

Thats it, I may write again after prelims on Monday or just wait until after the finals on Thursday.  Ill try to update my facebook and twitter pages you can follow me there at HollisPV.

Also I want to thank every one of you for following me, supporting me, and always being there with a kind word of encouragement.  I truly couldnt do this with your support.

Always Pursuing,
 -Mark-

Belem, Brazil

I felt pretty hopeless when the bar went up at the beginning of the competition in Belem, Brazil. For the second meet in a row I hadn't left the ground in warmups, the cues I had been working on at home weren't working, and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make a bar.

I knew what to expect, I jumped here 2 years ago, jumped well, cleared 5.55m/18'2" and nearly 5.70m 18'8". I knew the pit was small, apparently I forgot how small tho, the front buns came out to the end of the box and it was only as wide as the standards. I know the pits in the past were much smaller, the problem is that when you practice and compete only on bigger pits your perception can really get messed up with a much smaller one.

This meet and the last my run had been consistent, hitting my mid and takeoff marks, absolutely no reason I shouldn't have been jumping in warmups and getting on the poles I needed to. If you haven't figured it out yet, this sport is 90% mental, you can work out all day long but if your standing on the back of the runway not sure of what is going to happen all that muscle and speed isn't going to get you anywhere, believe me I know. So there's this epic battle going on, sometimes I feel as tho I have an angel on one shoulder and a little devil on the other. The little devil has been winning lately, saying things like; "your grips not quite right" or "the wind isn't a straight tail, its bugging you isn't it." Now when the confidence is high your not thinking about every little thing and the angel wins, she's saying things like "your running so fast, the pole feels good in your hands" or "this pole is nothing, let's grip a little higher and really go for a ride."

The battle is on, devil: "your gonna no-height this meet, you came all this way to no-height," angel: "you got this, your run is on, once the bar goes up your good to go." Devil: "that's what you said last meet and guess what you happened...NH!" Angel: "its a new day, and there's no way in hell your gonna let that happen today, now get yourself together."

I've had battles like this before, I think every vaulter deals with it, I think Steve Hooker called it the yips. I try to settle myself down and stay cool, the UV index is 11 and heat index over 100! I figure I can make 5.20m/17' on my smallest pole a 5.10m 13.8 but not much higher, what I know for sure is I'm not going to clear any bars if I don't leave the ground. My legs are feeling good as I take my first attempt, and that devil is just whispering in my ear and I run through again. I'm really not liking myself now, I'm afraid that I'm gonna take this next jump and blow thru and then be down to one attempt. Second attempt I start my run a little easier so I can try and feel myself accelerating into my last few steps. This time I'm drowning out all voices in my head with fear, fear of what my wife Amanda will say if I no-height this meet. She doesn't really like me being gone anyway especially when I don't do well. I take off! I take off and make the bar, big sigh of relief, BIG sigh of relief.
I still wasn't confident in my run or takeoff, something was off, my hands were so late in moving to takeoff. With the pit being so short I was feeling far away and so everything was happening late. I passed to 5.40m decided to stay on the small pole because I really needed to hit one good so I would feel confident going to the next pole. First 2 jumps were not good, getting a little closer but not close enough. Now each jump I'm figuring it out a little more, my acceleration is good, I'm moving my hands better but I'm still leaning back a bit at takeoff. I'm down to my final attempt and I know if I hit one good this pole is going to be too small, so I grab the next one, hit a takeoff and make the bar! Gosh, not sure if I've ever had to work this hard to make 17'9", but I'm still alive. The bar goes to 5.50m/18' and I'm feeling way more confident than I was after warmups. Angel: "now your getting it, keep those hands high and you gotta step through that takeoff, you make this and your in the lead." My 3 jumps at this height were my best of the day, on my second I did all the things I wanted and smashed the pole. I go up to the 12.8 my last 5.10 before the 5.20's, I had the standards at 55, came down and put another pretty good jump together just hitting the bar on the way up. I was bummed but proud, bummed because I felt if I had made that bar I could of made the next couple, proud because I had won the battle! I didn't give in to that voice of negativity, and I had finished in 2nd which was way more money than finishing last.

A few people were pretty surprised when I told them I was doing all these meets in such a short period of time. Sometimes you have to go through the fire to find what your made of. I can tell you that after that comp I know what I'm made of, I am ready for just about anything, I know what I need to do in the future and I am so much stronger because of it. I'm looking forward to these next few meets, Fortaleza on wednesday, Ponce, Puerto Rico on Saturday and then Shanghai, China next week. I want to increase this confidence with each meet and just get better and better, and I think I know how to deal with that little devil if he decides to show his face again.

Always Pursuing,
Mark
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Its about that time...

Oh man this is usually the way it works, I think about writing on here and dont, I have a meet and really think its time to write but dont.  Finally I decide its about that time to get on here and update all of you who I know are just chomping at the bit for my next post.  That being said since my last post I have done 3 meets, Siena Heights, Drake Mall Vault and the Drake Relays.

Siena Heights was a small meet about 2 hours away from me up in Michigan.  The coach texted me and invited me to jump on their brand new track with a raised runway on the infield.  I was to be in a wedding the following weekend and would miss the Kansas Relays so of course I was excited about the possibility of getting a meet in.  The weather held out for all the competition, it was cool around 60 degrees but a nice tailwind was blowing.  I came in at 5.40m, 17'9" made it on my second attempt but was having some trouble with my approach.  I was getting up to top speed too quickly and just felt out of control at take off.  I went to 5.60m 18'4" and it started to drizzle rain.  I was still trying to get my run under control and  was coming down on the bar.  I was disappointed but knew that I needed to start my run a little easier and accelerate into the take off.

I had a couple more long run practices really locking in my approach and can say that other than a few jumps in the three comps my approach has been consistent,hitting 56'6" mid and taking off at 14' which is right where I need to be.

The Drake Mall vault has got to be one of my favorite comps in the world.  The atmosphere is awesome, music is lound and the energy is electric.  4 years ago I jumped 8 inches higher than I ever had before at this meet jumping 5.71m 18'8" so it has always had a special place in my heart.  This year I was excited again, eager to put all my hard work on display and get a big mark out there.  Before most meets I take out my notebook and write down my goals for the meet.  Things I want to hash out beforehand and cues I want to remember during the meet.  My main cue for the drake mall was to live in the moment, embrace each jump as its the only one I get that day, not thinking about the next jump, what height im at or whats happening in the future.  The meet started and as always at the mall vault it was hard for me to contain my excitement, I came in at 5.35m 17'6" made it on my first attempt with a blow through, which is a good thing.  I went up to the next pole at 5.50m bailed on my first attempt, and put together one of my best jumps on my second attempt.  I ran through the takeoff hit the arms and all of a sudden i ran into the bar, the pole was too small!  Now usually this wouldnt be that big of a deal, i would just go to the next pole have the same jump and make the bar.  What made this different is that the next pole was my first 5.20m 17' pole, I had had the 17' poles for a few months but never jumped on them, now i would have to take my final attempt on a longer pole that I had never jumped on, I was nervous.  I gathered my courage, ran down as hard as I could hit the takeoff, I could feel I was under, the pole felt like a big noodle bending so much in my hands.  I was caught off guard but before I knew it the bar was coming towards me so i turned up, smacked the bar on the way down and it stayed!  I was pumped, not only had I taken my first jump on that pole but I made it and that meant the competition was still a go for me.  I knew now that as long as I put a bit better jump together the next bar and ones after where attainable, or so I thought.  The next bar was 5.62m 18'5" and that stupid run demon got a hold of me and I hit 3 different spots on my takeoff and was so out of position that I couldnt even attempt the bar, AGGHHH.

I came away from the mall vault disappointed again, knowing that I had a great chance of jumping high and couldnt put it together.  But I also knew that I had that pole now, I had made 18' on a crappy jump which told me that with a good jump I could jump a whole lot higher.

Amanda and I spent the next couple of days in Des Moines enjoying the nice weather and hanging out with the other vaulters.  I was anticipating the relays Saturday hoping we would have good weather and i would have another chance at jumping high.  The day came and the wind held, we actually had a nice tailwind the entire comp but for some crazy reason 4 or 5 of us were really having trouble.  I was hitting all the right marks on the runway but just couldnt leave the ground.  I have had warmups like this before and knew that once the bar went up I would put it together.  Well the bar went up and i couldnt put it together and ended up with a big fat NH or no-height.  I was pissed, straight up, I never want to end up with a NH but especially when were lucky enough to have decent conditions you want to jump well.

Now Im home packing up for the start of a pretty crazy 3 weeks ahead of me.  Thursday I fly to Brazil and jump in Belem and Fortaleza, I fly back to Atlanta on the 9th and catch a plane to Puerto Rico where I jump in Ponce.  Then I fly home for a few days and head to Shanghai, China for a Diamond League meet.  The Diamond League is the biggest series of international meets in the world other than world champs and the Olympics so it will be a great chance to jump with some great competition.

Im excited, I know that all the work Ive done is really coming around and now its time to just jump and let it all come out.  Im also excited because I know theres not much else I can do, Ive put it in the Lord's hands because I know anything is possible through Him.  Where really getting close people less than 2 months to the Olympic Trials and Im pumped to see what God has in store for me.  Thanks for reading, Ill try to update while on the road.

Always Pursuing -Mark-

Update and a few videos

Ive been meaning to jump on here and update everyone on all that has gone on but I kept putting it off.  The main goal between the indoor and outdoor season is to get a good base of training in that will hold me all the way to the end of the season.
I had the chance to go to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California for a USATF workshop.  USATF brought a bunch of high jump, pole vault, long jump, and steeplechase athletes to the center to do a variety of tests including high speed running analysis, nutritional analysis, functional movement screening, and bio-mechanical vault analysis.  All really good stuff, I have done all these things before but wanted to see where I was in comparison to last year and was pleased to find that I am ahead of where I was a year ago!

Since I was getting a free trip to California I decided to stay around for about a week and get some good training in.  I gotta give a big shout out to my buddy Jeff Coover for putting me up and putting up with me for the week that I was in San Diego.  It was great we would drive to the center get a great workout in or jump session and then jump in the ocean which was awesome for recovery.  I had 2 jump session at the center and Tye Sevin the vault coach at the center was nice enough to help me out and I think I really started putting some things together.  Heres one video from 6 lefts on a 5m 13.8 taking off around 13ft.



After coming home from the center for about a week Amanda and I drove down to St. Louis and stayed with Jeff Hartwig for about a week during Amanda's spring break.  I had 2 jump sessions down there with Jeff and Lane Lohr.  Its funny how my understanding of the vault has changed this year and I think that my week down in St. Louis really opened my eyes to what Im really wanting to do in the vault, and I really think its going to have a big impact on my jump.  Heres a video from the 2nd jump session even tho its a miss this is another step closer to where I want to be.  Now Im going to just strengthen that jump and just try to replicate it over and over again.  My schedule coming up is the Drake Mall Vault, and Drake Relays.


Always Pursuing -Mark-