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!

Click here to view the embedded video.

As you’d expect, even though was mostly pleased with how things went I am able to pick out plenty of things that I’m going to have to address to get where I want to go both indoors and moving into the outdoor season. Of course my body position and posture from the second phase into the final phase need some serious fixing. To be honest, I think that if I wasn’t fighting to avoid falling on my face on my step phase the above jump actually would have been an indoor personal best; especially considering where I ended up after two phases from a 41 foot board. My jump phase wasn’t half of what it typically is or should have been thanks to my being off balance and out of position but I’ll take it for the first jump/meet of the new year.

Combine the above adjustment/correction with the patience that comes from just jumping from a full approach and competing and I’ll be right where I want to be. Some other, more minor adjustments will always be necessary like tweaking my arms in my first phase but considering how my approach looked, after this meet it seems that all systems are definitely a go.

The next outing should be in 2 weeks…

Now, this new chapter (in a new “book” of course, in case you didn’t get that) that I’m referring to is not what you might think. I won’t be starting work in the fall, at least not at a law firm. To make a long story short, I’ll be spending the next year training full time, and I’m looking forward to it. Sure the bar exam in February might break up my focus on training for a bit, but I can’t wait to devote nearly all of my efforts to jumping 18 meters…and beyond!  Time to get back to reading for leisure too. Sure people say that I’ll be bored but I’ve got some other stuff up my sleeve to pass the time; and at least with the extra time I’ll be able to recover and take care of myself between workouts (chiropractor, massage, ice baths, stretching regularly, yoga etc.) or maybe even fit more workouts into the week.

Training has gone well since my last post and since Mt. Sac. I’ve been maintaining what I had going into that meet and working on little technical things as well as my understanding on how to actually jump far. I think I’m getting there as far as the understanding part is concerned considering I put some of it to use in practice this week and jumped 53’2″ from 8 strides. Next on the agenda is the World Challenge meet in Daegu, Korea next Wednesday. I was looking forward to jumping at the very first Diamond League meet in Doha this Friday but not only does everything happen for a reason, but I’m also glad to have a little time to recover after finals (and law school as a whole). After Korea, things are mostly in the air so I’ll just be sure I’m ready to do the dang thing wherever I happen to be!

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!

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.