Letter to all

Josh: Last year we finished the season with a mixed post on this blog. On the one hand, we had some PRs (myself in the LJ, PV, 100m and Laura in the 100m hurdle and a wind aided LJ PR) and some late success, on the other hand, we didn't know if we could continue to workout as hard and long as we did knowing we would never be elite track runners. What was the point, what was the payoff? "Personal satisfaction" and "improving yourself" are somewhat hollow goals if the sacrifice to achieve them becomes too high. Time spend on track is always at odds with time spent on family, career, or just relaxation. As a result, we weren't sure if we would continue for another season. However, after taking it easy for the summer, we decided we would compete in one final season. After this year, I'm sure you'll still see us at an occasional meet jumping into a PV or LJ flight, but most of our meets after this year will almost certainly be as high school coaches instead of unattached athletes. So, I'll hand it over to Laura...

Laura: With the start of fall comes the next transition in our training regimen. Workouts start to shift a little from just building a base, to adding in specific workouts and lifting. Starting lifting soon means we need room in the garage, which lead us to clean out the garage this weekend. [Yay for cleaning and organizing!!!! (I don't think Josh shared my joy.)] The increasing focus and specialization leads to more time on the track and less free time to spend with friends (unless, of course, you want to hang out with us at the track, which we always welcome and encourage :D)

Every summer, we try to make it our 'summer of yes!' We say "yes" to as many invitations as possible and try to see our family and friends as often as time permits. Both of our last two summers we had 8 week stretches where we weren't home for any weekend. This is a bit stressful sometimes, but we also had a lot of fun.




Josh: here's a quick picture from our summer of "yes," a shot of us at our friend Liz's wedding (one of 7 weddings this summer...)





Josh: here is another picture, from when I sailed from SF to Santa Barbara and back with two (previous to the trip) complete strangers.

Laura: Then fall hits and the reversal happens as the 'summer of yes!' turns into the 'winter/spring of no'. :( Practices start running anywhere from an hour to three hours an evening with all comers meets on the weekend in the fall and winter and "real meets" every weekend in the spring. PB&J, bean and cheese burritos, and cereal for dinner start to become staples because, frankly, when it's after 8pm and I'm just sitting down to dinner, I really do not feel like cooking! (Not that I typically do anyways, but that's a separate issue...)

Josh: It's not an issue, I like cooking...

Laura: My goals shifted drastically after last season. Previous seasons I just wanted to just train hard, push myself to my limit, and compete with the young kids. Now though, it's my last chance to push for the big meets. Some athletes dream of making the olympics and we have some teammates pushing for Rio. For me though, a more realistic dream is making USATF Nationals. After this past year, this seems like less of a pipe dream and more of a potential possibility, since I jumped a wind-aided long jump mark (6.50m) that would have qualified for outdoors this year, were it wind legal. I also now have multiple outdoor meets with legal marks that would have qualified for indoor nationals if they were done during the qualifying time window.

In order to actually make it to Nationals though, it's going to take more focus and dedication than in previous years. I want to try and go to some bigger meets, which are not always close by and may require us to spend more and more time away from home. However, as my patients seem to like to remind me (on a separate topic...), my proverbial clock is ticking and I cannot keep up this level of commitment for long. So it's my last and best chance to make a push for the Nationals.

There is going to be more times that we are unable to do things and have to turn invitations down. It's going to get harder for us to do activities during the weekends and pretty much impossible during the week. While we might not be as available to do things, it certainly doesn't mean that you are all in our hearts and minds any less than normal.

So, therefore, I'm writing to preemptively say:
"I'm sorry!"
I'm sorry if we have to say 'no' more often or if we are difficult to get a hold of.
I'm sorry if it seems like we have disappeared for 6 months.
I'm sorry.

But we're not that sorry, because we're excited to pursue this adventure for one final season. We will try to keep you guys updated as things happen.

So, if you ever feel like we are lost to the rest of society, we can almost always be found at the track, either running, throwing, jumping, or coaching. On Saturdays, we are always at the track, whether it's for ourselves or the high schoolers that Josh coaches. If anyone is interested in seeing a meet, (we think they're exciting, but we realize that not everyone else does!) let us know and we'll be happy to let you know when they are happening.

And OMG everyone!!! USATF Indoor National Championships are scheduled to be in Portland, OR! I have been telling my family up there for years that I intend to come up there for a meet. That just gave me another motivating factor! :D I can't imagine anything better than getting the chance to compete in close proximity to my extended family, who have been so supportive during these last few seasons.

Josh: I realized I let this post become all about Laura and the not-quite-out-of-reach goal of her reaching USATF Nationals (either indoor or outdoor, or both). Since I became fully aware years ago I don't have the talent to ever reach this level of meet, I'll post a couple of quick goals for myself that I think are challenging but achievable for this next season:
LJ over 22 feet
Pole vault well over 15'
Not completely suck at hurdles

However, part of the reason I let this post become mostly about Laura is because it kind of is. For 6 months of the year, we're spending 20 or 30 hours a week together working out. Her success really is as meaningful to me as my own. But it's more than that. If she makes it to Nationals, I totally get to claim that as her coach. If I have to sacrifice some focus on myself as a mediocre athlete in order to achieve what I see as a higher goal as a coach (taking an athlete to nationals), I'm happy to sign up for that.