Day 1 USA

June 25th (Day 1 Decathlon USA)

 

Day one went well but not great.  I am feeling really good but I just can’t get the marks.  With Clay dropping out that made me move up to 3^rd in the rankings. This was good but maybe bad because I felt some pressure go away.  I compete well under pressure and with me being in a drivers seat I may have been lax.  I wasn’t though I competed and had a PR in the 100meters 11.01 a .02 PR my first of the year.  I then went 6.95meters in the long jump which was good and then 14.69meters in the shot put.  High jump was a disappointment with a 1.96metrs.  The 400 was good compared to the field but I was disappointed with a 49.49 sec.  Thanks for all the support. 

 

RESULTS: http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/USAOutdoorTFChampionships/results/F39.asp

Days before USA Championships

June 24^th

I woke up around 8:30am and was ready to go but hung out doing things on my computer until Nick woke up.  We then grabbed my brother and went to get credentials.  After we headed to breakfast at 5^th Street Market with Nick, John, Andy, Tom and myself.  After breakfast we chilled at Nick house until my parents came and picked me up so we could check into the hotel.  I then grab lunch with my parents and headed to the track.  Warming up at the track I remember what level I was at when I am running past gold medalist and world record holders.  Amazing I love this feeling of competition.  After the track shake out I headed back for dinner at Olive Garden. Nothing to exciting but I am feeling good and ready to kick some ass tomorrow.  Berlin here I come.

June 23^rd

Training up to this point has been really good and I feel healthy.  I really haven’t felt this good since NCAA in 2007. I had a long travel day from Tucson to Portland then a drive to Eugene.  I left my house at 10:10am and arrived at Nick’s in Eugene at 9:00pm.  It was a long trip but I am here and ready to compete.  Night Everyone.

 

Toronto Meet

June 11^th

Because we had all day to kill before the meet we asked Jenna a heptathlete at University of Toronto to take us around town and the campus.  She took us to something street where there were lots of crazy second hand shops. Then we went China town.  Around 1pm we headed back to the hotel where we grab lunch and got ready to head to the track. I left around 3pm with Paul to go warm-up because we had the Pole Vault at 5pm. 

This meet was very different then I had seen because we were doing 3 events starting with the Pole Vault which we only got 6 attempts (Miss or make), then it was the 110HH, and 25mins later the 400meters.  We had 5 competitors Clay, Hardee, Terek, Canadian, and me. Pole Vault went well I made 4.90 (16’ ¾) and 5.00 (16’ 4 ¾) first attempt and then took 4 attempts at 5.20 which I did not make.  Then it was a 2 hour break before the hurdles and at this point Hardee had dropped out and we had 4 guys. It was raining and there was a slight head wind at this time.  I ran a 14.13 which is my second best ever by .01sec and only .13 behind Clay.  It was a very good race for me. By the time I got my stuff and sat down I had to put my shoes on and run the 400meters.  That sucked because I wasn’t ready.  I ran a 49.65 and won the 400meters but feel short of beating Clay overall by 40pts. Overall it was a fun meet and it went really well. Toroonto is a very cool city and I hope to visit there again.

 

June 10^th

I woke up late after falling asleep around 1am.  I grab lunch and then meet Jim Dilling to explore the city of Toronto and go in the Toronto Tower (similar to the Space Needle in Seattle).  We traveled on the bullet which is the subway to city center and went by the Toronto Blue Jay Stadium and to the Toronto Tower where we paid to go to the highest observatory spot in the world. It was really cool to go up to the top and see the whole city from one vantage point. Around 5pm we returned to the hotel so that we could get ready and head to the track.  At the track we both did our pre-meet warm-ups.  At the time Usain Bolt was doing his as well and there was a big group of people and media people there to watch him.  Usain was getting paid $250,000 to run the 100meters.  Jim and I finished our warm-ups and returned to the hotel and headed to dinner.  After dinner we were headed back when we saw Jesse Williams and Paul Terek so instead of heading back with Jim I went with them to a second dinner so I could catch up with them.  By the time I got to bed it was 1am but I didn’t compete until 5pm so I was ok.

 

June 9^th

After staying in Santa Rosa from the 1^st to the 3^rd I returned to Tucson to train but am off again for a meet in Toronto.  I left from Phoenix because it was a direct flight on US Airways and they were able to carry my poles.  I arrived at 10:30pm in Toronto and got to my hotel around 11:45pm.  This was fine because my body was so confused on when to sleep and be awake after spending so much time in Europe that getting there late was fine.  This Toronto meet will be interesting because I am only doing 3 events the pole vault, 110 HH, and 400 meters.  We are doing that because they wanted to include decathletes but it was only a 3 hour meet with Usain Bolt running the 100meters as a finale.  I compete June 11^th.

European Experience

MAY European Experience

My experience in Europe for the month of May was amazing and I was happy I could share it with my brother Tom.  As you know the trip started in Italy at The Multistars Decathlon where I scored 7994 and took First Place. We then found ourselves in Lienz, Austria where I trained for three weeks for Gotzis Hypomeeting where the best Decathletes in the world show up at each year.  The world record was set at this meet and I was really excited to compete against all the guys that this competition brought.  I got 10^th at Gotzis and was happy with my 8069 but knew that wouldn’t cut it at USA Championships.  Overall it was amazing trip from Italy to London to Austria.  Riding in a Maserati and going Paragliding.  Great thanks goes to Josef Schmidl for all his help with training and setting me up to stay in Europe for a month.  I will try to do this same trip every year because it was such a success. 

Gotzis

May 31^st (Day 2 of Gotzis)

 

I always like the start of day 2 because I like the events that I get to do. So knowing that I didn’t do as well as I wanted so I knew that I needed to start off well and move up so I could make some money and hopefully pass 8200.  Well it started off ok with a 14.27 sec 110 HH. I nailed the second hurdle and that slowed me from the beginning            but ran a great race after that.  Next was the discus and warm-ups were really good and I was ready to go.  My first throw was 45.76 (150’) which was 30cm from my PR.  It was a big first throw.  I didn’t improve but ended up 4^th in the event which was big. Then came the pole vault and if I wanted to get a big score today I would have to jump well. Well the weather didn’t want it to be easy and the winds started to swirl and at one point it began to rain.  I should have jumped better but I jumped 4.90m (16’ ¾) which moved me to 11^th and right where I needed to be to move up. 

 

Well the weather hated us in the first group of the javelin.  It turn to a straight head wind at about 4 meters/hour. One guy even held the javelin straight out in front of him and threw it up and it flew right back to him. Head wind is the worst in Javelin because as the javelin starts to come off the arc the head wind just pushes the tip to the ground.  That exactly what happened and I managed 56.84m which was 690 points.  Not good.  I was back a ways and needed to run a fast 1500meters.  I ran 4:31.13 (.09 of my PR) I made up 100points on the guy who was 8^th and 30 on the guy who got 9^th.  I missed 8^th by 19 points so I tried and only missed it by a little.  Overall it was an amazing experience and I was very happy with what I did but will be back to do better next year.

 

 

May 30^th (Day 1 of Gotzis)

 

I woke up excited and ready to go for Day 1 of  the decathlon in Gotzis.  This is considered the place to be if you are a decathlete because this place has had the best scores ever.  The world record was set here and many other big scores. The atmosphere is amazing with so many people surrounding the track with cow bells and clapping a each corner.  Day one started out good I ran 11.06 which is my second best start ever.  Long jump was good at 6.92 (22’ 10 ½”) but way behind the rest of the guys.  Then I had a bogey as they call in golf only throwing 14.20 (47’ ) in the shot put.  I was in 19^th place after shot but high jump and 400 meters were left.  High Jump has been very good lately and it was really good I cleared first attempts until 2.00m (6’6 ¾) I made it second attempt by a bunch.  The crowd was really into it now and it got me a little to excited and I ended up not making another bar because I was running to hard.  I felt I was going to PR in the high jump today but was happy.  This moved me to 16^th place.  I ran the 400m in 49.17 which moved me closer but I was still in 16^th place.  I scored 4039 first day which is average for me but I am in a good spot to move up with a good second day.  This meet is awesome and if you ever get a chance I would come and see this meet.  Wish me luck on day 2.