I keep saying that I need to blog on a more frequent and more consistent basis, and I really do mean it when I say it; let’s see if I can actually get the ball rolling in 2012 though.

In any case, for this first blog post of 2012 I just wanted to share an interview that I recently did with BBC Sports. Check it out, feel free to comment here and also check out (and ‘like’) my Facebook Fan Page while you’re at it since I share tidbits there a little more frequently than I do here.

Training is going really well and I most likely won’t open up my season until February, in anticipation of the World Indoor Champs. We’re getting into things a little bit more gradually this time around since I’ve already hit all of the important competition standards. I’ll be back with some training and other updates in the near future.

Happy New Year folks!

2011 was a long season for me, to say the least. I began competing in January and went through October. I got off to a great start (May through July) but I didn’t maintain that momentum and fell short in my two primary goals for the season, those of course being the World Championships and the Pan American Games. Better this year than next year though, right? That’s what folks have told me and it’s 100% accurate. I’ll be heading to Istanbul, Turkey for the World Indoor Championships in March and we’ve got 98 days to go until then. Although the indoor champs don’t mean as much as the Olympic Games…I’m looking forward to them just as much as I’m looking forward to London. I’ll be ready for Istanbul but will be even more prepared for London and looking to do something truly special. It all starts here; 8 or so months out.

I’ve had the last 4+ weeks off from training and it’s been great to just relax and spend the time in New York without my family. About a week and a half ago though, I started with some really light workouts to get the blood flowing and muscles going again. Even though I did some light weight/high repetition workouts in the weight room, I actually jogged for the first time in a month this week; I had been biking to that point. I’m definitely easing into things before the workouts get truly intense but something tells me that I won’t be any less sore come next week or the week after. Either way, it’ll be really  good to get back to work; with my eyes on the prize…

I set an indoor personal best yesterday and felt relatively comfortable doing it. Still, by now you know that indoors doesn’t excite me too much except that I appreciate being able to “train” in a competition atmosphere and at full speed. I also appreciate indoors as a preview of what to expect for outdoors considering things like the fact that because our training is focused on June through August we are still in a bit of a strength training phase.

I got back to work today though because I’m ready to go farther, much farther. Check out the meet footage below. I wish the first jump wasn’t a foul even though the last phase wasn’t near as good as my second jump. But, there’s no such thing as big fouls…only big jumps right?

Click here to view the embedded video.

P.S. If you haven’t yet, head on over to my Facebook fan page and hit the “like” button for me. I try to put up new blog posts as frequently as possible but I am able to post smaller updates over there as they happen.

I’m not big on New Years resolutions and I’m not trying to “change” so much as I’m looking to improve. I make it a point to look forward and plan my future/set new goals far more than I bask in retrospect. Of course, the past can be beneficial in shaping the future. That said, considering the fact that I see my future, in all endeavors, to be nothing less than an ascent, dwelling in the past is of little benefit. Here are some of the things I will be pursuing on the track and am thus expecting of myself in 2011. Should be a great year; both for me and my “squad”!

• Consistency in my approach and as a result consistency in my speed through the board; both of which providing me with consistency in my performances: average best jump per meet — 16.90m
• Multiple track (runway) records during the indoor season. Yea, I’m putting it out there. I’m only competing a few times indoors but intend on walking away with a couple track records namely Virginia Tech’s Rector Field House and the Armory up in NY.  I believe the records at these two spots are 16.80m and 17.00m respectively.
• Improvement of my performances at Diamond League meets. Whatever that means. I finished 6th in all of the Diamond League meets I jumped in save for that dismal ‘no mark’ performance in Brussels. I intend to just plain “do better” on that stage this coming year.
• Making the finals of the IAAF World Championships out in Daegu, Korea in August/September. The men’s qualifying round is at 10:30am on the morning of September the 2nd and I suspect that the automatic qualifying standard will be somewhere in the range of 17.10m – 17.20m. I’m not looking to leave anything to chance as far as moving onto the finals is concerned. Additionally, once you’ve made it to the final dance all bets are off and you just compete like your life depends on it (and like you may never get the opportunity to be in a global final again).
  
• Earning a medal at the Pan American Games in October. To be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about competing at a major competition all the way at the end of October but not only will I be in shape and attempt to do my best at the Pan Am Games but I’m looking to be on the podium.
• Finally, it’d be nice to have a sponsor by the end of the season (or “corporate partner,” which I think is the more appropriate title for several reasons). Of course I don’t have as much control over this as I do over the other things on this list so comparatively it’s not “as important” and won’t occupy nearly as much of my thoughts or planning for that matter.

I’ve got plenty of other, more minute and particular goals but these are the main objectives for the coming year. There are plenty of other milestones and things I will have to check off en route to accomplishing the above things but it’s all part of a process.

Second, (and this isn’t something new that I’ve learned but just a reaffirmation of something I already knew) the value of speed in the triple jump can never be overstated. That’s runway speed and speed on the ground in between phases. I got a chance to watch the finals of the Men’s TJ this time around and saw a competitor set a World Indoor Record in the process; can’t get much more motivating than that, especially when you know the person, right? Instead of being in awe of the jump though, it was certainly a nice jump (to say the least), my first thought was “I can do that.” And that fact bothered me then and I’m sure will continue to bother me for some time. Watching that 17.90m jump confirmed to me that the missing links in my jumps this past indoor season and in general are a comfortable approach and speed through the board. I know I’ve mentioned my desire to be faster at the point of take off in previous posts and still I haven’t gotten it down yet. I will soon enough; that is for certain.

Finally, I learned that fully devoting oneself to training at a world class level can be nothing but advantageous. Sure it can get monotonous, but there is just so much in terms of preparation on and off the track that goes into being a world or Olympic champion or into simply jumping over 17.10m on a consistent basis, that 9.5 times out of 10 a true focus on athletics is necessary. I was fortunate enough to have conversations with coaches and athletes these past couple of weeks that confirmed this theory. To be fair, I’ve focused a tad more on track and field this year than I have the past two years, and I feel my level of training and performances have reflected that fact. As a 3rd year law student I’m able to have that liberty, but still academic responsibilities (a 25 page paper here and there, agreements to draft, about 9-13 hours of class a week–sadly there are a few classes a week that I couldn’t be bothered with, preparations for exams) can never be entirely overlooked. I still have to graduate after all! Make no mistake though, I’m definitely looking forward to focusing on my jumping even more next year…in spite of the bar exam prep to be thrown in there somewhere.

In the end, I give myself a solid “A-” for this indoor season. Making the finals at Worlds would have taken that to an “A” and jumping 17 meters would have made it an “A+” but I’m very happy with the way things went and tend to not expect much from indoors anyhow. I improved my indoor personal best by over 30 centimeters (not including the fouls that I had that were much further). I competed in my first IAAF level grand prix meet…and didn’t finish in last (don’t worry, not finishing last wasn’t my goal). I also figured out what it takes to jump far, and more importantly how I’M going to jump far.

All in all, my complaints with this season are drowned out by thoughts of what went well this season and how great things will be outdoors; especially since I used the season to work on things in terms of my approach. The first go-round outdoors is shaping up to be at the Mt. Sac Relays but we’ll see what Coach thinks about that. For now it’s back to the routine and back to the lab for me and in the mean time you guys can check out the new Doha/World Champs photo gallery I’ve added!

Outside the Aspire Dome

So the meet I had in France this past Friday went alright…I suppose. I set an indoor personal best of 16.64m and came in 4th behind three jumpers who went 17 meters (one of whom was Christian Olsson, the indoor world record holder in the event). As you can imagine, I had higher aspirations for my first meet on the “pro circuit,” especially considering how things were looking before I left the States! But hey, I won’t complain with a personal best after having just hopped off the plane a couple days earlier. Not to mention the fact that the point of the meet was to get a solid jumping session in ahead of the World Indoor Champs, and to cut down the amount of traveling that I had to do to get to Doha. Oddly enough, leaving from Brussels to Doha on Saturday after the meet wasn’t the piece of cake I had anticipated and I only made it to my room in Doha after about 22 hours of traveling from start to finish! But that’s an entirely different story.

Since arriving after 1 am Sunday morning, my time in Doha has been amazing and my body is finally getting acclimated to the time zone and the travel. The hotel is top notch, as are the food (fortunately enough) and the service from both hotel and IAAF staff. Additionally, I was one of the first few athletes to arrive so for the first few days I had my own driver taking me wherever I needed to go. It’s quite easy to see that Qatar/Doha is pulling out all the stops for the event and that their top priority is the comfort and satisfaction of athletes; after all they do have their sights set on hosting the 2022 World Cup and I’m sure that this event is a small stepping stone towards that. The city itself is beautiful and the 85 degree weather doesn’t hurt either. Whatever stories you’ve heard of Doha and its rapid growth, if you’ve heard or read such stories, are all true. There is construction EVERYWHERE and many people have told me that they’re attempting to play catch up with Dubai which is for the moment the top tourist/business spot in the Middle East. As nice as it is here in Doha now, I’d love to see what things are like when their plans are even further along, although it means that the traffic that is already horrendous for a city of less than 400,000 will no doubt be several times worse.

As far as athletics facilities are concerned, everything is top notch to say the least. The grounds of the “Aspire Zone” are pristine and the stadiums, fields and even shopping areas included in it are all amazing. We’ve been using an outdoor track as our practice area for the past couple of days, but I managed to sneak my way into the Aspire Dome itself and it too is spectacular! I’m glad I got my “jaw dropping” moment out of the way nice and early though so that when I’m in there later in the week, it’s truly all about handling business.

While there is of course “track and field after World Indoor Championships,” I’ve had my eyes set on making this final since my first global level competition (which was admittedly just 7 months ago). I am certainly more excited than anxious to get this show on the road, mostly because I know what needs to be done and how to do it. These last couple days leading up to Friday are just about fine tuning things with some speed work and explosive lifts, while enjoying the fact that I’m here! Rest assured, I’ll definitely enjoy the competition experience as well.

P.S. Congrats to the George Mason track and field teams on their performances at ECACs and IC4As this past weekend; particularly the men’s 4 by 4 with their 3:07.43 and qualification for NCAAs.

Back to the subject of the fake World Tour that I’m on at the moment though. Ayanna and I spent some time in Paris in August and as you can imagine, northern France (our hotel is in Lesquin) is nothing like Paris and certainly not during March when its only 40 degrees. Everybody has been quite helpful and very hospitable though and they seem to love the fact that I speak French (to some extent). On top of that, the hotel isn’t bad and although I wish there was more water available to us, the meals are free and even edible so you’ll hear no complaints out of me. I got to do a little bike/treadmill workout once I got here so my body feels pretty good for having just flown for 7+ hours, but I’m looking forward to getting a track workout in today.

Check out the startlists for Friday at: http://www.meeting-pasdecalais.com/6LIEV10StartListau3mars21h00.pdf. It seems as if all of the events are packed with top level talent and my guess is that everybody is trying to get a meet in before Worlds, like myself. As far as the TJ field is concerned; I think all but maybe 2 of us will be heading to Doha over the weekend so as far as test runs go, Friday’s meet will likely produce something relatively close to the competition atmosphere I’ll get next week. At the end of the day though, it will still be just another meet where I’ll be trying to bring as much speed in my approach as possible and work on my hop phase…much like I have all season.

I entitled this blog post “Patience” because although my best jump was measured at 16.51m, I took off at least 8 inches from the back end of the board. It’s an indoor personal best by a few centimeters but not exactly the distance I was after. So I’m being patient. I know that things are coming together little by little and that they will come together exactly when they’re supposed to. A 17 meter jump at Virginia Tech wouldn’t have done much for me and I have no problem with waiting to drop that big one when it matters/I need it most. I’m also aware that the goal for me beyond the World Indoor Champs is consistency beyond 17 meters, so I tinker now so that things come naturally and effortlessly in June and beyond.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ok ok, so if it looks like I’m jogging, it’s because I am. But in all honesty, I didn’t realize that I was coming down the runway slower than molasses! And yes…I am still stuttering before the board, but at least I got a comfortable jump in (unlike in NY). My goal for my next few meets is to run hard and fast through the board and allow my speed to push me down the runway. After this 16.80m jump (from take off to landing), I know what I can and will do in Doha once I actually run down the runway; and that’s exciting.

So in spite of the fact that the snow in Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia this week has made it pretty difficult to get to the track on some days, I’ve managed to have a great week of training thus far. My coach and I tweaked my approach once again and it feels amazing, far better and more comfortable than it did before NY. On top of that I’ve been working, little by little, fixing my left arm on my hop phase to ensure that it gets back, even if it’s just a little bit.

Here’s the product of that work from a short, very short, approach. Some more speed should push each phase out a bit more, particularly the step And please excuse the commentary from my roommate/training partner/videographer Jeff, I suppose he enjoys workin’ the camera; although he is right about the road to Doha:

Click here to view the embedded video.

And I’ve added one more meet before Worlds, so I’ll be competing somewhere next weekend, though I suppose I should figure that out ASAP; and I’ll also be taking a couple jumps in Liévin, France before heading over to Doha. I was pretty excited at hearing about the invitation to my first “pro” meet. The meet in France will act as a final systems check before the big show. Check out my meet schedule for the links and more info.

Being from NY, I competed at the Armory while in high school so it’s always great to go back, not to mention the fact that my family and a couple friends usually make an attempt to come check me out at the meet. There’s also usually some worthwhile competition and this year will be no different. It all makes this weekend the perfect occasion to put a big mark out there and let people know I mean business (although other people’s expectations for me going into Worlds make no difference in the end). So, I figured I’d briefly share a preview of sorts on what I’m aiming for, expecting and looking to work on this weekend.

Coming off of my competition down in College Station, I admitted that although I was somewhat dissatisfied, the performance marked a season opening best for me and thus something to be pleased with. Still, heading up to NY I want to jump farther, much farther…but that’s always the case right? As a result, the exact distance the official calls out after my jump becomes far less important than properly executing the things I’ve been working on in practice. Besides, that’s what will get me to jump far on a consistent basis.

The two major things for me to focus on for Saturday and beyond are my approach and my arms in my hop phase, particularly the left arm. I may or may not have mentioned in a previous post that at Worlds last year, my approach length looked like it was half the distance of some of my more experienced competitors. Now, my 16 stride approach treated me quite well for a long time, and that’s not to say that an extra long approach automatically results in better marks but my coach and I still decided to move back to 18 strides. Doing so allows me to drive for a longer period of time in my first few steps and gradually accelerate so that I can bring more speed as I come through the board. Since I’m accustomed to a shorter approach though (and 2 strides is actually significant enough to disrupt one’s rhythm), I blasted out in the beginning portion of my approach in the first couple of meets instead of gradually building through the entire 124 feet. As a result, my rhythm has been off and I haven’t really felt ready to hop once I get to the board. I’m definitely looking to work on that so that my approach isn’t something I have to think about going into Doha and beyond. Of course, NY is where I’ll be unveiling my new and improved, more patient approach; so it should be good.

I’ll save the truly technical triple jump talk about my arms for people who are really interested in the event itself. That said, I’ll just note that I had…past tense…an efficiency issue. Rather than making sure my arms were constantly moving forward and back, always keeping as much of my momentum and speed moving down the runway and to the back of the pit, my left arm in my hop phase would constantly flail out to the side. I’m sure you can imagine the problem this poses when you’re running full speed and take off on one leg to come back down on that same leg. My balance and posture tended to suffer as a result and at the same time I was losing more speed than I would have liked. I made it a point to note that I had an efficiency issue because I am certain that I’ve got things figured out. It will take more than a couple of meets to perfect what I’ve changed the adjustment will be more than enough to take care of business this weekend which will spell trouble for the rest of the field from here on out.

Time to get to work…

P.S. I did some approaches and light bounding in some new spikes on Tuesday evening and all systems are most definitely a go.