Its Monday morning and im busy packing and preparing for a very exciting week in Des Moines Iowa. As many of you know the mall vault at the Jordan Creek mall in Des Moines is one of if not my favorite place to jump in the world. 3 years ago at the mall I went in with a PB of 5.50m/18' and came out with a new PB of 5.71m/18'8", I ended up finishing 2nd to Derek Miles on misses. Then 2 years ago I jumped 5.61m/18'4" but ended up winning the competition. The atmosphere of the mall is really what makes it so awesome, the crowd is within 6 feet of the runway on both sides as well as crowded around the balcony on the 2nd floor looking down on the runway and pit. Couple that with the loud music and the energy is unlike anywhere else in the world that Ive been. This year they're doing a team format where every guy will be coupled with a girl with the best combined height crowned the champion. The main sponsor of the event is Scheels, a huge sporting goods store in the mall, the prize money for the event is a shopping spree at the store which is a lot of fun. This year is going to be an awesome competition, the guys competing are Derek Miles, Brad Walker, Jeremy Scott, Giovanni Lanaro, and myself. The ladies are Mary Saxer, Kylie Hutson, April Steiner-Bennett, Lacy Jansen, and Becky Holliday. The comp is Wednesday at 6:15pm and if your anywhere in driving distance this event is a cant miss.
Then on Saturday we all vault again at the Drake Relays, which as long as the weather permits is also a great place to jump. Training and practice has been going really well, Im jumping higher on the same poles and the same run so we must be doing something right. Im really excited about this week and the possibility of jumping really high, another 7 inch PB wouldnt be so bad.
Always Pursuing -Mark-
Monday, April 25, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
quick video from practice
Heres one of the best jumps from practice the other day. Working on keeping the right arm straight as I extend up the pole. Im really excited about the progress were making, long run day today, will post more videos later.
Always Pursuing -Mark-
Always Pursuing -Mark-
Monday, April 4, 2011
Oh Boy...
Well its been a month since my last post and I have to apologize. But, at least I have many valid excuses as to why.
1. Moved into new house
2. Got a black lab puppy
3. I was knocked on my butt with back spasms for a week
4. Just recently got our internet hooked up
Most of these things have brought excitement to my life but have brought along with them stress. I planned on taking about 2 weeks off to gear up for the outdoor season but after my back seized up my break turned into 3 weeks. Ive been back training hard now for about 2 weeks, heavy lifting, gymnastics, and technique training in the vault. So I know its been a while so ill just recap on USA's and tell you a little bit about whats been going on with training and whats next to come.
My last post was written the morning of the USA National Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And as most of you know, I ended up winning the meet. The morning of the meet, I was very confident in my abilities and the work I have put in. So I had a plan of coming in at 5.40, passing to 5.60, 5.72, and 5.82. Even though things got a little crazy, I was proud that I stuck to the plan, even tho I didnt get the height i wanted I am very happy about winning a second national title.
After nationals my plan was to jump once at Notre Dame the next week and then travel to Minneapolis for a meet put on by Fuzion Athletics, and then call it a great indoor season and take a little break. Well I jumped at Notre Dame from 8 lefts because they dont have enough runway for me to run from my long run. I wasnt expecting a whole lot from the meet because we had moved into our house that week and so i had been doing a lot of lifting and not much actual working out or practicing. Well I ended up surprising myself and jumped 5.63m/18'5" a new indoor best!
After that meet I decided it would be a great idea to do some painting as a little job. Well I ended up having to move the furniture in the rooms and after finishing 2 rooms and having only 1 to go my back started spasming like crazy. I have had spasms before but never like this, so my hopes of jumping at the meet in Minneapolis were gone.
But for the last 2 weeks ive been feeling good, we're back lifting hard and ive been back to gymnastics getting my core strength stronger. Vaulting has been going well, figuring some things out and really looking forward to this outdoor season. My first meet is April 16th at the Mt. Sac Relays in L.A. California. After that I will be competing at the Drake Mall Vault on April 27th and then the Drake Relays that following weekend.
Well I apologize for taking so long to update this, and hopefully now that Ive caught up a bit I can write on a consistent basis as i was before. Until next time here is another video from practice last week.
Always Pursuing -Mark-
1. Moved into new house
2. Got a black lab puppy
3. I was knocked on my butt with back spasms for a week
4. Just recently got our internet hooked up
Most of these things have brought excitement to my life but have brought along with them stress. I planned on taking about 2 weeks off to gear up for the outdoor season but after my back seized up my break turned into 3 weeks. Ive been back training hard now for about 2 weeks, heavy lifting, gymnastics, and technique training in the vault. So I know its been a while so ill just recap on USA's and tell you a little bit about whats been going on with training and whats next to come.
My last post was written the morning of the USA National Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And as most of you know, I ended up winning the meet. The morning of the meet, I was very confident in my abilities and the work I have put in. So I had a plan of coming in at 5.40, passing to 5.60, 5.72, and 5.82. Even though things got a little crazy, I was proud that I stuck to the plan, even tho I didnt get the height i wanted I am very happy about winning a second national title.
After nationals my plan was to jump once at Notre Dame the next week and then travel to Minneapolis for a meet put on by Fuzion Athletics, and then call it a great indoor season and take a little break. Well I jumped at Notre Dame from 8 lefts because they dont have enough runway for me to run from my long run. I wasnt expecting a whole lot from the meet because we had moved into our house that week and so i had been doing a lot of lifting and not much actual working out or practicing. Well I ended up surprising myself and jumped 5.63m/18'5" a new indoor best!
After that meet I decided it would be a great idea to do some painting as a little job. Well I ended up having to move the furniture in the rooms and after finishing 2 rooms and having only 1 to go my back started spasming like crazy. I have had spasms before but never like this, so my hopes of jumping at the meet in Minneapolis were gone.
But for the last 2 weeks ive been feeling good, we're back lifting hard and ive been back to gymnastics getting my core strength stronger. Vaulting has been going well, figuring some things out and really looking forward to this outdoor season. My first meet is April 16th at the Mt. Sac Relays in L.A. California. After that I will be competing at the Drake Mall Vault on April 27th and then the Drake Relays that following weekend.
Well I apologize for taking so long to update this, and hopefully now that Ive caught up a bit I can write on a consistent basis as i was before. Until next time here is another video from practice last week.
Always Pursuing -Mark-
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Birmingham Grand Prix and home again!
Its the morning of the USA Indoor National Championships in Albuquerque and I thought i better write about my last couple of meets before i have another and have to write about all 3.
I had a meet in Prague and struggled a bit. My run felt really good but i just couldnt dial in my last 2 steps to hit a good takeoff. For me to put together a great jump I have to be completely over top of my takeoff foot so that i can jump up into the pole. Well at Prague I kept being under on my takeoff so i just kept moving back, well i got to the point where i was too far away and so I was reaching a bit for my takeoff, because of this i never really put a good jump together. I made my opening height of 5.30m/17'5" but no heights after that.
So I headed to my next meet in Birmingham, England with a few ideas of what to change and how to improve on my last meet in Europe. It was my first time to the UK, and it was nice to be able to read everything and understand everyone. The meet in Birmingham was a IAAF Grand Prix meet, which just means it was a high level meeting, with a good amount of prize money, and since i didnt finish as well as i wanted to in Donetsk I knew i needed to finish well here and come home with some money in my pocket.
The venue for the meet was really nice, it was a lot like Madison Square Garden with large stadium seating on the sides. My plan for the meet was to jump on the poles i was comfortable with and move up when i needed to. I started the meet at 5.35/17'6" on the 5m 13.3 and continued to make 5.50/18' and 5.60/18'4" all on the same pole and all on my first attempts! I was sitting in first place as we went up to 5.70/18'8" and i thought that if i put a really good jump together i could make it, well at the same time my run was really coming together and my last 2 steps were really sharp. I blew through on my 1st attempt, moved up to the 5.10m #3 and blew through that. 3rd attempt i moved up to the 5.10 #4 or 12.7. I remembered all to well coming down on the bar in donetsk with the standards at 60 so i moved them in to 55, came down, had a pretty good jump and just barely clipped the bar again. I wasnt happy about missing 5.70 again but i ended up finishing in first place!
I came home the next day to my beautiful wife, and relaxed most of the week. Thursday we came down to Albuquerque for indoor nationals today. I jump at 5:45pm mountain time or 7:45 eastern. For the first time they are having a live webcast of the meet at http://www.usatf.org/events/2011/USAIndoorTFChampionships/video.asp Wish me luck!
Always Pursuing -Mark-
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Prague, Chzech Republic
I made it to Prague after the meeting in Donetsk. What a great time i had! It was an amazing experience to be around such talent, past and present. This truly was a World Championship final, maybe missing 1 or 2 great vaulters. The trip as a whole was not too bad, not nearly as bad as I was thinking it would be. The flights were fine, they are taking much bigger planes from Kiev to Donetsk than they were a short time ago. I flew on a 737 rather than the old Soviet prop planes I have head so many stories about.
The competition itself was a lot of fun, its hard not to be disappointed with the height because of how close i was to making 5.70. My last jump of the competition i decided to move up to my 5.10 #4 or 12.6, now this is the replacement for the pole i broke just a month ago. I was feeling good, and knew this pole would put me over 5.70 easily. Now of course i look back at it and wonder why i didnt have the standards closer than i did, 60. But at the time, in my amped up mind I thought it was perfect. I came down the runway hit the biggest pole of my life, went for a ride over the crossbar and barely scraped it on the way down. AAAGGGGHHHHH Is really all that comes to mind when I watch that video.
I remember sitting in a Q&A with Toby Stevenson one time and said the only way to be a professional vaulter is to jump high enough to give yourself great opportunities, and once you get those opportunities you better capitalize on them. I kind of feel like i could have capitalized on this opportunity a bit better. But I must move on, I have a new plan for the meet today. This year I have been starting on the 5m poles and then once the comp starts i try to move up to the 5.10's. Well in Donetsk i was second guessing every decision i was making about moving my grip, changing poles and where to put the standards. So the game plan for today is just to start on the 5.10's holding down and hopefully that will help me to know what to do better.
I will tell you this trip has been a little dissapointing so far. My results are fairly good, 5.55, 5.53, and 5.60, the best, most consistent indoor ive ever had, but I should have jumped 5.65, 5.63, and 5.70, you saw the videos, barely knocking down all three of those bars. So today Im gonna show my poles whos boss. Lately they have been in charge, not today, today Im in charge. Today is my day, Today the bar stays up. Im not promising anything because you never know what can happen in the vault, but I will promise you this, im going into this comp with a different attitude. Something needs to change, Im not ok with being mediocre, and 5.55, 5.53 and 5.60 are just that.
Always Pursuing -Mark-
The competition itself was a lot of fun, its hard not to be disappointed with the height because of how close i was to making 5.70. My last jump of the competition i decided to move up to my 5.10 #4 or 12.6, now this is the replacement for the pole i broke just a month ago. I was feeling good, and knew this pole would put me over 5.70 easily. Now of course i look back at it and wonder why i didnt have the standards closer than i did, 60. But at the time, in my amped up mind I thought it was perfect. I came down the runway hit the biggest pole of my life, went for a ride over the crossbar and barely scraped it on the way down. AAAGGGGHHHHH Is really all that comes to mind when I watch that video.
I remember sitting in a Q&A with Toby Stevenson one time and said the only way to be a professional vaulter is to jump high enough to give yourself great opportunities, and once you get those opportunities you better capitalize on them. I kind of feel like i could have capitalized on this opportunity a bit better. But I must move on, I have a new plan for the meet today. This year I have been starting on the 5m poles and then once the comp starts i try to move up to the 5.10's. Well in Donetsk i was second guessing every decision i was making about moving my grip, changing poles and where to put the standards. So the game plan for today is just to start on the 5.10's holding down and hopefully that will help me to know what to do better.
I will tell you this trip has been a little dissapointing so far. My results are fairly good, 5.55, 5.53, and 5.60, the best, most consistent indoor ive ever had, but I should have jumped 5.65, 5.63, and 5.70, you saw the videos, barely knocking down all three of those bars. So today Im gonna show my poles whos boss. Lately they have been in charge, not today, today Im in charge. Today is my day, Today the bar stays up. Im not promising anything because you never know what can happen in the vault, but I will promise you this, im going into this comp with a different attitude. Something needs to change, Im not ok with being mediocre, and 5.55, 5.53 and 5.60 are just that.
Always Pursuing -Mark-
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