In any case, we spent a good amount of time in the weight room last week including a couple of days where I got to go push my max up a bit in the hang clean and hang snatch. My coach and I are fully aware that I need approach/rhythm work perhaps more than anything at this point, but we always like getting some quality time in the weight room during the summer since such lifting opportunities are few and far between when I’m overseas or away at any meet for that matter. Besides, I got some good runway work and a speed session in between the days where I was pumping iron so it’s all good. After a couple of much needed rest days thanks to last week’s volume, it was back to work on the runway yesterday; still working on strength though as  I got to bring out an old friend: my weight vest.

I’ve been trying to sharpen my Windows Movie Maker skills just for the heck of it (and because it’s fun…when it’s not frustrating) and also so I could avoid posting a whole bunch of separate videos. Check out the masterpiece I came up with. The two weight room maxes are on separate days; two days apart to be exact and for those who were wondering.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I probably shouldn’t invest in a copy of Final Cut Pro yet though huh?

But, my strength continues to improve and at this point I’ve hit the lifting goals I set out for the season. At the same time, I actually think my speed has continued to improve through this point in the season as well. That said, the only thing left to do then is end the 2010 campaign with a bang and of course there’s no mystery as to what’s held me back on the runway thus far. Fortunately for me I’ve got at least one more opportunity and Brussels is as good a place as any to get it right; especially considering the fact that the 47,000 seat stadium is sold out!

In the mean and in between I’ll keep training hard although there will be a bit of a taper in the volume and intensity as the 27th approaches. I’ve also been really appreciative of the free time I’ve had in between training sessions since it means I get to let my brain rot a bit with computer games (StarCraft II), movies, television and now Madden since it came out yesterday. I’ve been knocking some things off of my leisure reading list too though so it’s not all bad. Still, I’m ready for football season to get here like everybody else.

It’s been a few weeks since my last blog post but considering that I’ve got a bit more free time thanks to my graduating last month I’ll try and blog a bit more regularly. In any case, this weekend’s Adidas Grand Prix will only be my 3rd meet of the season but it’ll also be my Diamond League debut and I’m looking forward to it for that reason (among others of course). I also consider the meet to be a homecoming of sorts since it’s being hosted in NY which means that my family and friends there can actually come watch me compete which is a rarer occurrence than I’d like thanks to most of my meets being overseas or on the other side of the country. Needless to say, I’m anxious to get back on the runway and back in competition…a meet schedule this spread out is new to me; although I must admit that I’ve gotten some quality training sessions in as a result

Considering that I’ve gotten some really good jumping work in the last couple of weeks, including a short approach personal best of 16.41m from 12 strides (which I plan on pushing out to 16.65m+ in the coming weeks), this week and part of last week have been about speed and sprinting mechanics. We’ve also gone from 3 to 2 lifting sessions for the past couple weeks. Here’s the end of the power clean portion of my workout from Monday:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’ve never “cleaned” that much before (301 lbs/136 kg) although my goal from the fall was to hang clean that weight so I’ll be checking that off of my list next. Before the rep above I did 5 reps @ 85%, 4 @ 90%, 3 @ 95% and 2 @ 100%. And yea I definitely need to learn how to get my elbows all the way through and catch the weight in a front squat position, but considering that I’m a triple jumper and not an olympic lifter I suppose the catch isn’t quite as important as the rest of the lift (for now). Anyways, as you can imagine, I’m feeling pretty explosive and at the meet I’ll just be focusing on my approach and speed through the board like I’ve been trying to do in just about every meet since indoors because the rest of the jump tends to take care of itself after that. Like I’ve said before, the whole running down the runway and through the board thing is much easier said than done. But I suppose I can’t expect it to come too easily since it IS the key to jumping far after all.

As far as the meet is concerned, I fly up to NY on Friday and compete Saturday evening at 5PM. I keep telling people that I would have been fine with taking the bus or train from DC straight into Midtown Manhattan as opposed to flying to Queens and then dealing with the hassle of getting from there to the hotel but hey, at least transportation is taken care of so it won’ t be as much of a hassle as usual. Besides, “beggars can’t be choosers.” If you’re in the States, the meet will be live on NBC from 4PM to 6PM and believe it or not I actually think they’ll show a good amount of triple jumping, if the coverage of other Diamond League meets to this point is any indication. There are also plenty of ways to watch the meet live on the internet if you’re outside of the U.S. In any case, regardless of how much triple jumping they do or don’t show, the meet will be worth catching if you’re a fan of track and field at all considering the start lists for all of the events have some pretty amazing fields.

Since they’re having the high jump this weekend I’m also looking to catch up with a friend of mine, fellow Longhorn jumper Andra Manson, whom I haven’t seen since World Outdoors in Berlin. Of course I can’t forget the other Longhorns I know that’ll be there on Saturday (Jacob Hernandez, Leo Manzano, Michelle Carter) or my Haitian teammate Mo Joseph who will be running the 800. Sad to say, Mo is a Gator and not a Longhorn AND I’ll be the only Crimson at the meet.

Also, If you know me, you’ll know that I take my lifting seriously. My big weight room goals for this year are to hang clean 300 lbs and hang snatch 200 lbs. I think that these lifts are a good indicator of how explosive I’ll be on the track/runway and good lifting sessions prior to a meet tend to = good meet results for me. Considering how the last four weeks went in the weight room, I don’t think I’ll have a problem hitting those numbers.

I’ve also been doing some light bounding here and there and in spite of the fact that I felt flat for the first week or two things, have picked up very quickly and my body is starting to get back to where it was last season. The triple jump is definitely like riding a bike and I’m fortunate for that since it means I can pretty much pick up where I left off in terms of training and even speed work although I haven’t even looked at my sprint or jumping spikes since starting up. I’m ready to take on more in this next phase of practice though, so onward and upward!