Check it out!!! My picture on the back cover of the Gill Athletics 2011 Catalog!
Always Pursuing -Mark-
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Fall is here!
Well Fall is in the air, or its already here, I think it really snuck up on us here in Indiana. The weather has been so nice for October, temps in the high 60's even this week. The one thing I love about this time of year is the amazing colors from the leaves changing on the trees. But the thing I look forward to most in the fall is preseason training! Thats right training for the 2011 season has begun! Im pretty excited because even tho fall training means pain, suffering, and hard work, it also means competition is soon to come, and i know all the hard work i put in now pays huge dividends in those comps. It also means we are one year closer to 2012 and the London Olympics! Now its easy for me to tell people that Im training for the Olympics, because most dont understand the concept of USA Championships or World Championships which happen every year. But in 2011 the World Championships in August is the main goal we are training towards. Ive never made a world champ team, i was one spot away in '09 and even tho i won USA nationals in 2010 there wasnt an outdoor championships, only indoor. Its crazy to think that Im training right now for a meet that is about 10 months away.
Now when i say fall training is just starting i mean the real work has just started this week. Ive been doing basic conditioning work to stay in shape since the meet in Japan. I had to take last week off because i was so privileged to be able to have LASIK surgery done, and i cant tell you enough how awesome it is! Boling Vision Center of Elkhart agreed to help me in my pursuit and I cant thank them enough!
We jumped right into it Monday, no messing around! This is what my workout looked like.
Warmup, stretching, running drills and dynamic stretching
8x30m sprints working on running mechanics
4x20m bounds
10min bike
Box Squat 4x7 @70%
Hang Clean 4x7 @70%
Lunge Squats 3x3@25%
Squat Spectrum 3x30secs You can see details here
Hurdle Mobility
Hamstring work on Yoga Ball 4x5
12min Core switching exercises every 30 sec
Ring holds 2x60sec
Handstands 1x60sec
Some Balance and Rehab work, and stretching
This is pretty close to what Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays look like for most of the Fall. Tuesdays and Thursdays are a little different but not any easier. Ill post Tuesdays workout a little later, but right now I gotta eat lunch and get over to school to workout at 1215.
Always Pursuing -Mark-
Now when i say fall training is just starting i mean the real work has just started this week. Ive been doing basic conditioning work to stay in shape since the meet in Japan. I had to take last week off because i was so privileged to be able to have LASIK surgery done, and i cant tell you enough how awesome it is! Boling Vision Center of Elkhart agreed to help me in my pursuit and I cant thank them enough!
We jumped right into it Monday, no messing around! This is what my workout looked like.
Warmup, stretching, running drills and dynamic stretching
8x30m sprints working on running mechanics
4x20m bounds
10min bike
Box Squat 4x7 @70%
Hang Clean 4x7 @70%
Lunge Squats 3x3@25%
Squat Spectrum 3x30secs You can see details here
Hurdle Mobility
Hamstring work on Yoga Ball 4x5
12min Core switching exercises every 30 sec
Ring holds 2x60sec
Handstands 1x60sec
Some Balance and Rehab work, and stretching
This is pretty close to what Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays look like for most of the Fall. Tuesdays and Thursdays are a little different but not any easier. Ill post Tuesdays workout a little later, but right now I gotta eat lunch and get over to school to workout at 1215.
Always Pursuing -Mark-
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Super Meet, Kawasaki Japan
Well i just finished my final meet of the 2010 season, not gonna lie feels pretty good to be finished. It has a been a long, but amazing season, my best ever. So let me tell you how the meet went.
Like i said in my last couple of posts the last couple of weeks have been really low key. Ive been really taking it easy, vaulting about once a week and just doing some light cardio to keep my legs going. Well because of this Im not in the best shape, which i wasnt really trying to be in. That along with the 12 hour flight here 2 days ago didnt add up to the best situation for the meet today.
I came into the meet with a very relaxed attitude. I wasnt expecting a whole lot and so i just wanted to try and have some fun, make a few bars, and not get hurt. Well warmups started and it quickly became evident that making a few bars wasnt going to be the easiest thing ever, and i might actually have to dig down deep just to make those couple of bars. The wind was swirling and my legs werent feeling all that responsive, so i decided to come in to the comp at 17ft. My first 2 attempts were pretty bad, i didnt even attempt to make the bar. Third time i came down, had a decent takeoff and was able to make the bar pretty easily.
I decided to pass to 17'9" because I felt like i didnt have a ton of energy, whenever the wind is bad I have to work twice as hard to make a jump. I came down on my first attempt and had a much better run and made the bar! I was pretty happy since i wasnt feeling great and i had struggled at 17ft.
I knew i was going to go to the next pole, and i was kind of hoping the wind would get a bit better so i decided to pass to 18'4". There were still 3 or 4 people in the competition and i was sitting in 2nd place. On my 2nd attempt i got a pretty good wind and had a pretty good jump, but i just barely knicked it coming down and it fell. Then on my 3rd attempt, I was the last in the order and noone else had made it, so if i made it I would win. I got another decent wind, barreled down the runway, and on my 2nd to last step i got a cramp in my calf. I finished the jump and thought for sure i was going to make it, but again i grazed it on the way over and it came down.
So that was it, I was pretty frustrated that i couldnt make that last bar since i had 2 really good jumps at it, but still happy to make a few bars. Im pretty sure i finished 2nd to a little Japanese guy who made 18'. I come home tomorrow and am really looking forward to a few weeks off. But then the real fun begins again, with fall training and all that entails.
I want to thank all of you for taking an interest in me and my journey through this year, its been a ton of fun to be able to share it with all of you, and i hope that you enjoyed it as well. Dont worry im not going anywhere, ill still be pursuing my ultimate goal and hope to share it with all of you.
Always Pursuing -Mark-
Like i said in my last couple of posts the last couple of weeks have been really low key. Ive been really taking it easy, vaulting about once a week and just doing some light cardio to keep my legs going. Well because of this Im not in the best shape, which i wasnt really trying to be in. That along with the 12 hour flight here 2 days ago didnt add up to the best situation for the meet today.
I came into the meet with a very relaxed attitude. I wasnt expecting a whole lot and so i just wanted to try and have some fun, make a few bars, and not get hurt. Well warmups started and it quickly became evident that making a few bars wasnt going to be the easiest thing ever, and i might actually have to dig down deep just to make those couple of bars. The wind was swirling and my legs werent feeling all that responsive, so i decided to come in to the comp at 17ft. My first 2 attempts were pretty bad, i didnt even attempt to make the bar. Third time i came down, had a decent takeoff and was able to make the bar pretty easily.
I decided to pass to 17'9" because I felt like i didnt have a ton of energy, whenever the wind is bad I have to work twice as hard to make a jump. I came down on my first attempt and had a much better run and made the bar! I was pretty happy since i wasnt feeling great and i had struggled at 17ft.
I knew i was going to go to the next pole, and i was kind of hoping the wind would get a bit better so i decided to pass to 18'4". There were still 3 or 4 people in the competition and i was sitting in 2nd place. On my 2nd attempt i got a pretty good wind and had a pretty good jump, but i just barely knicked it coming down and it fell. Then on my 3rd attempt, I was the last in the order and noone else had made it, so if i made it I would win. I got another decent wind, barreled down the runway, and on my 2nd to last step i got a cramp in my calf. I finished the jump and thought for sure i was going to make it, but again i grazed it on the way over and it came down.
So that was it, I was pretty frustrated that i couldnt make that last bar since i had 2 really good jumps at it, but still happy to make a few bars. Im pretty sure i finished 2nd to a little Japanese guy who made 18'. I come home tomorrow and am really looking forward to a few weeks off. But then the real fun begins again, with fall training and all that entails.
I want to thank all of you for taking an interest in me and my journey through this year, its been a ton of fun to be able to share it with all of you, and i hope that you enjoyed it as well. Dont worry im not going anywhere, ill still be pursuing my ultimate goal and hope to share it with all of you.
Always Pursuing -Mark-
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Off to Japan!
Well I'm currently in chicago, I had to go to midway airport an pick up my poles because they said there wasn't any way they could get them to me. I of course disagreed and told them I've put poles on anything and everything, I used to own a Honda CRX and would strap poles to the side, now that's something. I stayed with adam pierson last night and were currently on the way to Ohare airport for my final meet of the season in Kawasaki Japan! I've never been to Asia at all so I'm pretty excited for the chance to go. I will have my blackberry on me and will be able to chat via bbm or if you have Yahoo messenger I can chat on that as well, also through email. I will be in Japan from thursday until monday. I will try to upload lots of pictures to facebook while I'm there.
Always Pursuing,
Mark
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Pueblo fair vault
I had a great time at the Colorado state fair vault last night! Another just great event put on by Mark Pierson out in Pueblo, Colorado. The event was in the middle of the fair, the runway was fast and a bit downhill, I felt effortless running down the runway. The vault got started around 530, my warmups went fairly well, I was running well and my takeoff was out. The only problem was that I wasn't at all used to the altitude, it wasn't an issue with my jumps but it took me a lot longer to recover after every jump, this would come to bite me in the end.
I came into the competition at 17ft along with Rory Quiller, still in the meet were Sam Pierson, Levi Keller, and Mike Arnold, who all went to Idaho State University. I made 17 easily on my first attempt as did almost everyone else. The bar went up to 17'6", this time I came down the runway and hit the pole really good and just hit the bar off on the way up. I came down my 2nd attempt on a bigger pole and made the bar easily. Now Rory and I were the only ones to make 17'6" so we went up to 18'. Both Rory and I made the bar on our first attempts! We had quite the little competition going. Next was 18'6" and by this time I was really feeling tired and just couldn't catch my breath after every jump. I had gone up poles to my 5.10m 13.2 and I put a really solid jump together on my 2nd and just barely grazed the bar on the way over and it came down. We went to third attempts and I was really struggling now, my mouth was dry, I was breathing hard and just didn't feel like I had a lot of energy left. I ended up being under on my takeoff and couldn't finish the jump. So we went to a tie breaker, we both got another shot at 18'6". Rory missed his 4th attempt so I was excited, I had mustered up all the energy I had left, came down hit a sweet takeoff, swung up and had a ton of height on the bar but I came down it just barely and hit it off.
Rory and I continued to battle it out for first, we attempted 18'3" 18' and 17'9 with neither of us able to make the bar. I have never been more exhausted at a meet in my life. I felt like I had been running 400's and then was attempting to vault. After my last jump at 17'9" in which I rebent the pole after nearly coming down in the box, I called it a day, it was really just starting to get dangerous for both of us especially me. Rory and I decided to split the 1st and 2nd place prize money and we ended up tieing for 1st.
Overall I had a great time at my first meet in Colorado. I will definitely try to do more to counteract the altitude difference if possible next time. I'm in the car heading to the airport now, were cutting it a little close on time but hopefully. I will make it back to Elkhart tonight, if I don't Amanda will probably beat me up, so keep your fingers crossed.
Also I did sell about 10 tee-shirts, and that was about all to spectators. I was pretty happy with that since a lot of the vaulters from earlier didn't stick around. Which just blows my mind, if I had a chance to watch someone vault over 18 feet when I was in high school I would have jumped all over it. So I do have more tee-shirts left if you would like to order one. If you have alreadyu put your order in those will be in the mail Tuesday, since the post office is closed tomorrow. Again thank you all for your support, I truly would not be able to this without you.
Always Pursuing,
Mark
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