Sweatshirts, Spike Bags and a quick update

Well needless to say its been a while since my last post, and the reasoning is that I was jumping like crap!  I didnt really know why it was happening, all i knew is that i forgot how to pole vault.  I no-heighted my last 2 meets in Europe and I can tell you it sure was nice to get back to the states after that.  Even tho the results were not what i wanted, i feel like i got some great practice in crappy conditions over there.  Every meet I was jumping in a head or cross wind and a little rain.  Now if i had just stayed home there is no way i would of practiced in conditions like that.  One thing Ive learned over my career is that anyone can get mad when things dont go there way, its the better person who looks past the negative to find any positive that they can, and thats what Im doing here.

I came home and went straight to practice, trying to figure out what was going on and how to fix it.  I had a good practice and a bad one, but thought I was on the right track.  I drove down to Tremont, Illinois for the Tremont street vault, had great weather but i only jumped 5.35m/17'6".  Needless to say I was disapointed but still had a great time with the kids.  Came back to Notre Dame yesterday and had the exact practice i needed.  We figured out that i was really pushing the hands forward right off the ground and just killing the pole rotation.  Once we figured that out the rest of practice was pretty awesome.  So Im excited about the rest of the week, getting ready to head out to Eugene for USA Championships next week!

In the meantime Tony Bonacci from the Grand Rapids area, has made me a few sweatshirts and spike bags that are embroidered with my logo and are sweet.  I have a very limited number of sweatshirts right now and i think about 15 bags left.  Im selling the sweatshirts for $30 and the bags for $15.  Im going to sell them first come, first serve, and im not sure if Ill be able to get more or not  so for now what i have is all there is.  I have 3 small, 6 medium, 4 large, and 1 Xlarge, comment on this thread or email me and ill let you know what i have still available.

Always Pursuing -Mark-

Hengelo

Well I ended up only jumping 540m/17'9" and finishing 4th but it's hard to describe how hard it can be to jump high here in Europe.  With a lot of Mets here there in stadiums, and if there's any wind at all it can really swirl and blow in any direction, which was the case today.  During warm- ups I might have a decent tailwind in the back and then half way through my run it would turn to a headwind.  This was happening to everyone and no-one looked very good in warm-ups.  So I decided to come in at 520 to make sure i made a bar.  I came down my second attempt and halfway down the runway I hit that headwind, i tried to keep my run the same and just make sure i was ready at take- off and made it easy even with a bad jump.  Then the bar went to 540, the wind was getting a little better, still not good but not as strong.  I came down with the same thought as before, just keep the run the same, but with those big poles a lot of times that's easier said than done.  I was able to make the bar with a little scrape and was feeling pretty good.  Only 5 guys had made the height and I was sitting in first when we went up to 550m/18'.  I came down on my first jump with a decent wind, had a bunch of height over the bar and just clipped it coming down.  I moved the standards up 5cm came down 2nd attempt with a good wind and had a good jump but this time I hit the bar on the way up.  So i moved the standards back 10cm thinking I could get the same wind and have the same jump.  Still no-one had made the bar.  I started my third jump and got hit with that stupid headwind and got stood up, meet over.  Then I had to watch as tim lobinger, Derek miles, and Rafael holdzeppe made it on their 3rd attempt.  That's just the way it goes sometimes.  Now I just have to make sure Im ready to go for the next one, try to learn from what happened today, how I overcame some obstacles and didn't some others.

Always Pursuing,
Mark

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

Hengelo, Netherlands

I made it to Hengelo after quite the trip over. My flight out of Chicago was delayed so i got into Atlanta right about the time my flight to Germany was taking off. So Delta put me on the next flight to Barcelona and from there onto Dusseldorf. By the time I made it to Dusseldorf it was already 8 hours after i was first supposed to be there. My poles made it but my other bag with my clothes and uniform in it did not, so then i had to talk to the airline people for another hour about getting my bag back to me. So by the time i finally got to the hotel it was 7pm here which is 1 eastern time. I had been on the road since 9am the day before, it was good to not be on the road or in the air for a while. My first meet is tomorrow around 430 here, 1030am eastern time here in Hengelo, Netherlands. I came to this meet last year and it rained pretty hard, so i am hoping its better conditions for us to jump in tomorrow. Then its off to Munich for a couple of days before i head to Innsbruck, Austria for the Golden Roof Challenge.  So a pretty quick trip before heading home to get prepared for nationals at the end of June.  Ill try to take some pictures tomorrow and have them up with an update tomorrow night.

Always Pursuing -Mark-

a couple of videos from practice today at fuzion athletics in minneapolis

Always Pursuing -Mark-

Down to St Louis

I've come down to St Louis to spend the week with my buddy Jeff Hartwig.  I've come down here to get a fresh perspective on my jump by having a fresh set of eyes to watch and give me feedback.  We jumped yesterday and watched video lady night and really figured some pretty cool things out that I think are going to make a big difference in my jump.  Im planning on jumping again tomorrow and then heading up to Minneapolis on Friday for a meet on Sunday at Fusion athletics.  Then im heading back home for the week and then heading to Europe for 2 meets, one in Holland, and the other in Innsbruck Austria for one of my favorites the Golden Roof Challenge.  I hope to have some videos later on this week that I can upload for all you guys.

Always Pursuing,
Mark