Upcoming season excitement!

Only a few more months still the season begins! I am really excited to see how we do. Every time we have hurdle practice, I'm amazed at the amount of progress we have made in just a year. Hurdles is one event where the change is dramatic. A year ago, we were barely hurdling over plastic hurdles that had to be propped up with water bottles to get to the correct height. Now, we are working on finer details. For instance, I've been working on driving through the first hurdle and not jumping over it and Josh is perfecting his trail leg. By the time the season starts, I know I'm not going to be wondering if I will be able to make it through all 10 hurdles, which was definitely my concern at the start of my first race last season. First two videos below are from last year Sept (notice the plastic hurdles!). Josh is only going over 39' and the thought of going over 42' was unimaginable. Now he tackles those like they're baby hurdles! The other video is from a few weeks ago.

As I may have mentioned before, training for multis is a game of time vs. points: you try to maximize the points you can get in the most efficient way possible. As a result, we let a few events slide last season. We focused a lot of attention on the hurdles and running since those are big points events. Also, every event requires running of some sort (except shot and disc) so really, that training helped with all the other events. However, high jump and javelin were definitely put on the back burner and it showed in the number of points we got. High for us was 530/480 (Josh and Laura respectively) and javelin was 411/502 on our last meet.

It certainly showed that we neglected high jump when we went to Claremont. All the other tracks we had practiced at had the pit facing the curve of the track. At Claremont, the pit faced the infield, which threw off all of my visual cues that I had been using. All of my warm-up jumps felt off and it took me 3 attempts to clear my opening height. That was as far as I got as I missed all the rest of my attempts. Lately, I've been able to get in some practice 3 times in the past 3 weeks and it really put into perspective how big of a difference a little practice would have made. We went back to the basics. I spent one practice working on a 4-step approach and the next week working on a 4-stride approach without a take-off. During the 4-step approach, I was easily clearing my Claremont opening height. My goal this season is to jump 5'1", but Josh thinks I can jump over my height. We'll see. 

Javelin has been a similar story. Last season, I had no idea what I was doing! I literally just chucked the javelin as hard as I could with practically no technique. When she came to visit at the end of August, Courtney gave us a real quick tutoring session on javelin, which was the fist time we had been 'coached' on it. It was amazing! We learned so much in that hour. However, it would have been even more amazing if we picked up our javelins since then to work on the things she taught us! Whoops... Josh said the goal is to start doing 1 day a week of high jump and 1 of javelin. I'm crossing my fingers that that happens otherwise we may be in trouble for when February comes. :)

The 800 should also be interesting this season. Last summer/fall, we obsessed over learning how to hurdle, which meant we weren't able to get as good of a base in as we would have liked. Also, I had no concept of running farther than 400 meters, so workouts were really challenging. My default was to panic and not focus on the right aspects of the workout. (Really, not much has changed, but I'm a little better at it! :)) Since we didn't have to spend as much time hurdling this summer/fall, we were able to focus more on getting in good base training and incorporate more longer tempos to the point that I'm almost starting to feel like a distance runner. (Almost!) I'm hopeful that this better base training will allow me to know what to expect more in the 800 and be able to run the race more efficiently.

Shot put is, for some reason, one of those events that my brain has a difficult time wrapping around. My stand throw is definitely improving. I'm getting much better at getting my hips in front of my shoulders and pushing through the shot during the whole throw. The start of the throw isn't going as well though. For the start of the glide, Josh keeps telling me that the concepts are very similar to coming out of blocks, just in reverse. Somehow, that doesn't help me to understand. I don't think my brain likes to work backwards! Any suggestions?

I can't speak to Josh's goals for himself (or even me) for this season. However, here's a list of my goals for the season and their corresponding points:

Event	Personal Best	Goal	Points
100 Hurdles	14.9	14.0	978
High jump	4’9”	5’1”	678
Shot Put	33’ 8.5”	40’	674
200	25.7	25.5	841
Long jump	19’ 8”	20’	880
Javelin	102’ 9”	131’	667
800	2:33	2:30	693
Total points	4711		5411

Wish us luck!

After my sprint workout in the snow

Motivation?

People often ask "what is your motivation?" or "How do you do it?" Trust me, I don't wake up every morning just itching to go kick my own butt on the track. Here's the short list of how I convince myself to go out there (in no particular order):

1. Go straight to workout after work: So many times, at the end of my day, all I want to do it go home and take a nap. I've tried convincing myself that I can go home for a bit or go home and change clothes and still get out to the track, wanting to run. Somehow, the comforts of home are too inviting and tempting to leave behind once I am home.
2. If you do go home, definitely don't sit on the couch! Once my butt hits the couch, it's a miracle that I get up again to go run. This has proven to be the case when either Josh or I get home before the other one and have to wait around before going to our workout location. It kind of just sucks all the inertia out of you!
3. Follow the Girl Scout #1 rule: Buddy system! This could also be titled "be accountable to someone else." Even when I'm 'tired', 'sore', 'grumpy', or the infinite list of excuses I try to come up with to avoid a workout, telling Josh that I'll meet him for a workout or even that I'll do a particular workout on my own makes it so I can't skip, alter, or avoid the workout. Maybe I'm just a really good follower...
4. Find something to work for: I hate running when I don't have a goal I'm working towards. For those few years after college, I allowed myself to get horribly out of shape. Backpacking was a difficult task and the idea of running the 2.5 loop around our house sounded miserable. Then, I did a totally crazy thing and signed up half marathon. That certainly got my butt in gear! 

   

   Attempting to high jump

5. Find something you enjoy doing: You know that half marathon I just mentioned? Yeah, I was miserable training for it! Running miles was probably the most boring thing I can think to do. And somehow since then, I forgot that I felt that way until Courtney reminded me how much I complained and resented my long runs. Running distance just isn't something I enjoy. Sorry Josh, I tried! But sprinting, oh man, I'm never happier! The track has become my home and I feel a strange calmness when I step foot there. I love jumping too. Coming back to track made me realize how much I loved it. And hopefully, I can keep doing it for a little while at least! During some of our all-comer meets, we saw many people well into their 70s still training and still competing. While I'm not sure if that is how long my body will allow me to do it, I certainly hope I can keep this up for at least a few more years.
6. Think of the plan in small chunks/a day at a time: During the off-season, it's really easy to get frustrated or overwhelmed with the amount of weeks and work to do until the next track meet. I have to constantly remind myself of my big picture goals to not feel so smothered by the amount of work. I shared my anxiety with Josh and he said 'well of course a whole season of workouts can be overwhelming. You can't think of it like that.' So I try really hard not to. With our training broken up into 3 weeks 'on' and 1 week 'off', it's easier to look at the training in 4 week blocks. It's a lot more manageable to think of the 10 month season in 4 week blocks. (Note: No, I am not counting down the 8 weeks until our first all-comer meet...)
7. Make your goal a priority: There are so many temptations in life. This time of year, that fact is especially true. "It's the holidays." "____ is in town." "Try one more cookie or one more glass of wine." "Don't you have fun anymore?" "Boring!" All statements I have heard when I mention I can't or won't. And those temptations are not always external. My sweet tooth is a pretty convincing negotiator. Last season, I remember very clearly a workout soon after Christmas. I totally sucked. I couldn't hit my times, my form was all out of whack, and I couldn't complete all the reps. Mind you, this was not a hard workout. The weeks of indulging in cookies, wine, pie, 3rd helpings of stuffing (did I mention I love to eat?), not sleeping had finally added up to a big crash on that day. This holiday season, my goal is to not allow myself to get to that point. A little pie, sure, but a whole pie? I'll try to avoid that this year. Crossing fingers that I succeed!
8. Get in the habit: Getting into shape is the worst! It hurts and is super hard. Being is shape is waaay easier. Also, now that I've started, it's really hard to take a few days off. Restarting after 1 day off is doable, but once it starts being 3 days or 6 days or 2 weeks... forget it! It's a lot easier to sit on the couch then. I have to remind myself that it's an easy trap to fall into when I'm feeling tired. Gotta love those running endorphins!
9. Maintain your own personal Rocky montage: When I start thinking negative, especially in the middle of a workout, I try to flip my thinking. This is by far my biggest weakness!! Staying strong mentally is the part that I struggle with the most. Every workout, every hurdle (literally and figuratively) I try to work on it. Some days, I'm better at it than others. A lot of times, I just replay Coach Dee saying "You gotta put in the work" to get me through that last rep. Other times, I imagine the other women training with that extra effort or I visually see them in front of me to drive me faster. And everyone needs that song for the extra boost of motivation! (Mine: "Headstrong" Trapt... has been since high school for some reason... "Chariots of Fire" anyone?)

   

   Eye of the tiger

As I previously stated, I'm not perfect in any of these. I give into temptations and other motivations just as easily. However, these are the things I try to put into place to make it so I can succeed and achieve my goals. Anyone have other suggestions that work for you?

Last Season Wrap-Up

Well, when I said I was going to post weekly, I did throw the 'try' in there. :) Hopefully we'll be more on top of it from here on out. Anyway, Laura writing here:

Some of you may be wondering where and how we compete. Most collegiate meets allow open or unattached individuals to compete alongside college kids. Josh and I scour the schedules of the local colleges to try and find enough meets to go to. Between the community colleges and NCAA universities, we can usually find enough meets to go to without too many weekends off. The only downside is that unattached/open competitors are not allowed at championship meets. Thus, our season has to come to a close beginning of May when all the colleges start going to their league meets. Unless of course we get good enough to compete with the big kids overseas/nationals, etc. ;)

Prior to the first multi, we competed at a few all-comer meets to start off the season. All-comer means exactly what it says; anyone can come. There were people as young as 5 and as old as 80 doing a little bit of everything. (At one meet, this woman in her 70s did the 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600 all in one day!!) During one of those meets, I tore my hamstring during the 200 (which was a huge bummer cause I had gotten out of the blocks totally awesomely). I ended up taking off 4 weeks of competing and my first meet back was my first heptathlon. (Yikes!) About halfway through the season, Josh threw out his back, causing him to take off about 3 weeks, including one of the multis. Other than that, we were relatively healthy the whole season, which was a huge accomplishment!

Highlights from the multis:

Chico Multi Classic: Cal State, Chico February 28-March 1

First multi ever! Super excited and super scared since this was the first time we competed in many of the events. We both had no idea how things were going to go, how we would feel at the end each day, and how we would fare against the other competitors. The dec was slated to start at 11 with the hep starting at 12. Luckily, we got there with plenty of time because the hep time was moved up 2 hours earlier, with no notification! I only had 15 min to warm-up, but I got through the hurdles and only slammed into 1 of them! J Coach V (my coach at Davis) happened to be an official there and UC Davis brought their multi team so it was fun competing with them there. Ended up with 4263 points and should have taken 3rd in the meet if it wasn’t for my terrible 800 showing (took 4^th btw). Considering it was my first one though and I had absolutely no idea how to time it or how I would feel, I finished with only a +10sec split between laps! (Which is pretty awful. Haha.) Felt surprisingly ok afterwards. Here’s my results: http://www.chicowildcats.com/documents/2013/3/1/Hep_final_results.pdf?id=1663

Josh ended up with 5612 points and took 7^th place. He also had just come off of taking 2 weeks off due to a strained calf. The events went pretty much as expected. Hurdles were difficult since he’d never done a hurdle race before and hadn’t come out of blocks before, but what are you going to do? He kicked down one of the Davis guys to take 2^nd in the 1500 and showed his true distance runner side. Here’s his results: http://www.chicowildcats.com/documents/2013/3/1/Dec_A_final_results.pdf?id=1665

Best part of it all was the burger and milkshake at the end of it! Totally worth it!

Naymoo!!! First multis ever in a Horsecow uniform!

Our sweet shirts!

Cal Multi Meet: UC Berkeley, March 27-28

Josh took this meet off because his back was hurting. It was a weird meet since it was a Wednesday and a Thursday. I think they do this so that schools can send people out for this meet, then have them run stanford invite that weekend. Day 1 was really nice and sunny and then day 2 was kinda cloudy and cold. I ended up with 4474 points and took 5^th place. Should have taken like 9^th, but almost all of the Iowa State women dropped out at some point along the way. Was a weird experience seeing competitors show up to a meet with the knowledge that they weren’t going to finish the whole thing; didn’t really understand it, but I guess we have different goals. All the events went pretty similar to the first meet. Won the long jump with a 18’ jump and shaved 6 seconds off my 800 time. (Shows you how slow the first one went.) Here’s the full results: http://www.rtspt.com/events/cal/multis13/?DB_OEM_ID=30100

Claremont Classic: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, May 9-10

Final meet of the season! Whoop whoop! Decided to travel to beautiful SoCal and compete against an Olympian and multiple Olympic Trials competitors. Not at all intimidating! We both realized that high jump is definitely an event that we have neglected. Josh jumped a little under what he previously did and I barely cleared opening height. Josh ended up with 6017 points and taking 6^th. He got a PR (personal record) in every event except high jump, including a 3 second PR in the hurdles! He also won the 1500 while running entirely by himself. Met his goal of the season by breaking 6000 points.

Laura ended up with 4711 points and took 5^th. (Beat the Olympian! But she also only actually competed in like 4 events.) I also got a PR in everything except high jump, including a wind-legal 10-inch PR in the long jump!! (LJ was my main event in college, so to PR in a multi was awesome) It was a really great way to end the season. While down there, we also got to see a bunch of friends (the Rainwaters, the Johnsons, and Valerie). You can find the full results here: http://www.cmsathletics.org/meetresults/track/classic/classic13.htm

Claremont Classic Decathlon Finishers

Overall, the season went pretty well. Multi competitors are super friendly and it really feels like it’s own little club. Even got a sweet Multi T-shirt from Chico. Really looking forward to this next season and seeing how it goes seeing as we aren’t starting from complete scratch on half the events.

Introductory post

Hey everyone! Some of you may be wondering why are Josh and Laura so lame from Feb-May? Why are they constantly eating?  Why do they insist on running every day? What can possibly be important enough to distract Josh from his other hobbies? This blog will hopefully shed light on some of those questions.

Since around June 2012, Josh and Laura have been training for decathlons and heptathlons. We had both been toying with the idea for a few years and finally decided now was the time! I mean, what else are a former distance runner and former long jumper supposed to do in their late 20s? UC Davis Coach Dee, in her infamous wisdom, actually predicted that Josh had a decathlon in his future. Well, Coach Dee, you were right!

Lost and confused? Thinking to yourself Deca-what? Hepta-huh? Decathlon/heptathlons are a track and field event, also known as multis. During outdoor track season, men compete in the decathlon while women compete in the heptathlon. Individuals compete in 10 or 7 events over a 2 day period. (Yes, 10 and 7 events make up this one event.) Every meet is run the same. The order of events are as follows with events starting 30 minutes after the previous event ends:

	Decathalon	Heptathalon
Day 1	100 meters	100 meter hurdles
	Long jump	High jump
	Shot put	Shot put
	High jump	200 meters
	400 meters
Day 2	110 meter hurdles	Long jump
	Discus	Javelin
	Pole vault	800 meters
	Javelin
	1500 meters

Each event is scored on a log scale based on your time/distance/height. It doesn't matter how many people are competing. You don't get a point bonus for winning an event. How do you think you would score? Obviously, Josh has a lot more events to do than Laura which makes coming up with a training schedule pretty difficult. More on that in future posts though. 

The recurring question we get from people is "who do you train for?" People get really confused when we say "for myself." We compete under the team name "Horsecow". But we really don't have any team, coach, or other teammates; for the most part, we train with just the two of us. We are totally dependent on friends helping us when they can. (Thanks Morgan and Jon!!!) Josh has also joined a few pole vaulting clubs for safety, technical, and practical reasons. 

The goal is to post here weekly. Give you guys updates on our training, how competitions are going, what meets we plan to attend in the future, etc. We'll also be posting videos as well. We'd love to hear your feedback and suggestions. Also, if anyone is interested in training with us, we would always love the company! 

~Josh and Laura

Deuce and Deucebach