First off, thank you for tolerating my super depressing post. And thank you for all your kind words. It really means so much and helped to put everything into perspective.
And now, for a way more fun post: how are Josh and Laura going to entertain themselves after their track withdrawal is over? I was kind of wondering that myself. When you think about the fact that we are gaining about 2 hours every evening by not running ourselves and then another 5-10 hours every week from the high schoolers being finished, that adds up to a lot of time on our hands. And if there’s one thing we don’t handle well, it’s idle time on our hands. (Can anyone say "binge watching of TV shows marketed at teenagers???")
Not every day you know someone who's had their neck slashed, huh!
First thing was first. With the end of the track season, it was time to take care of me. For the last decade or so, my doctors have been monitoring a benign tumor on each thyroid (aka cute little goiters). A few months back, I started noticing my voice was getting super hoarse and my throat was hurting more. They did some tests and found the one of my vocal chords wasn't working properly and it may have been from my tumor. So they took it out! Just like that! It was by far the easiest surgery I have ever had. I was super nervous ahead of time (I mean, come on! They were cutting into my throat!) so I bought a ton of Ensure shakes, ice cream, and chocolate milk thinking I was going to have to sustain myself on soft foods and protein mix. Oh boy, what I wrong! That night I was eating solid foods and talking Josh's ear off... Doesn't mean we didn't spend the next 2 days watching all of the Harry Potter movies though!
Josh is amazing at handstands!!
Next up, we tried out for the US Bobsled Team! While at our last meet, we were talking to another competitors' boyfriend, who is a member of the Bobsled Team. He informed us that the team was having a combine (kinda like a try-out) at the end of June in San Mateo. We had to do a 45 meter dash, standing long jump, and between-leg shot put toss for points. Points were assigned similarly to how they're assigned in a multi: you get X number of points for Y results.
long jump!!!
We had so much fun! The weather was beautiful! The track was amazing. Heather came to watch the fun. It was great!!! The 45 went pretty well. The start was kinda awkward because you have to start from a standing start. But I still ran pretty well and almost got the maximum number of points. Next up was the standing long jump, which didn't go great. My feet landed about 3 meters out but my butt fell back to about 2.6 meters. Still got a decent amount of points. And it was just great landing in sand again! Last up was between-leg shot put toss. We had been practicing some but I had no idea what to expect.
Heather came to watch!
The first one went really well and landed about 11 meters. The next one slipped out my hands and went an amazing, like, 5 meters! Wahoo! (Here's the video to show you my awesomeness.) The other video is of Josh running the 45. I apologize ahead of time for the poor video quality. I'm definitely not a photographer!!! So overall, it went pretty well. I scored high enough to get a call to be invited to the next round of tryouts, but unfortunately, we aren't going to be around for the next round of testing (which would include testing of Olympic lifts, squats, and learning to push a sled) so we'll have to wait until next year!
So glad to see Hannah there!
Me and Halsey at the Driscoll family reunion
Our part of the Rombach family reunion
A summer wouldn't be complete without a few trips to Oregon, so we went twice for family reunions!
We also went to a wedding, where I didn't get any pictures, except of the stickers we secretly placed on Debbie's back. I also co-hosted a baby shower for the wonderful Parks'!! It was so much fun!!!
Don't let kids sit behind you at a wedding...
The Baby Mama!!
Also, in case I didn't mention, we started doing demolition on our kitchen back in January. Well, without track to take our time, we finally finished a week ago!! Replaced the flooring, got new countertops, and put in backsplash. We did the majority of it ourselves, with a lot of help from my Dad in showing us how to put the hardwood floors in. (Well, let's not lie, it was really mostly Josh.) I am super impressed that we were able to do it!! And feel really accomplished that we were able to do it ourselves. :D
But the biggest news we have is that we:
- have quit our jobs,
- rented our house out,
- bought a 36' boat in the Carribbean,
and we're not coming back until February!!!!
Yippee!!!!
So crazy!!!!!! I'm kinda in shock about the whole thing. We're sitting in the airport as I type this. And it's kinda surreal. It's something we've been talking about for a really long time. We kept talking about it like something we'd do "after the kids are out of the house". At some point, we realized we didn't have any kids and the time to do it was now!!!
I've been
staring at this practically blank screen for about the past week, wondering why
I'm having such a hard time putting things into words. A few weeks ago, I felt
super ready to put it out there and move on. And then, the Olympic Trials
started. I stared at my computer screen, agonizing with every fallen bar or
crash, crying at the completion of every finals in celebration with the top 3
and hurting for #4 on. I cheered loudly for my UCD teammates, Kaitlin and
Kimmy in the 10k and 5k. (Way to go ladies!!! You made us all so proud!!
Congratulations Kim on your second Olympics! How awesome!!) I obsessed over
every mark as it updated on the results boards, annoyed the crap out of Josh
with all of my gasps, oohs, and aahs. And yet, in my track and field binge
obsession, I couldn't bring myself to close out my experience and my feelings.
And I finally get it; I finally see that I am just heartbroken over how things
went this season. My grief and mourning wouldn't let the words come.
Watching my UCD teammates be bad asses!!!
But I get
ahead of myself...
A few
weeks back, we had our last track meet. Prior to that, I was a mess. I was
bursting into tears over nothing (once, it was because it was dinner time and I
wasn't hungry, even though I knew I needed to eat something; real, big strong
woman over here haha) and freaking out at the flip of a switch. I couldn't
understand what was wrong with me, until a friend suggested I might just be
stressing out a little bit over the end of everything and maybe that's what the
labile emotions were all about.
The meet
was at Cal, under perfect conditions. Our friends and family made the trip out
to Berkeley to give us their love and support. It was so heartening to have
them there; we were finally able to show them what we have been spending
countless hours working on.
Sooo glad Heather is taking our photo!! <3
First up
was long jump. Once again, I was feeling pretty good in warmups. In practice
the previous week, we focused on just getting back to the basics and jumping
UP. Really getting into good take-off position and making some space between
myself and the ground. And I felt like things were improving. A few times even,
I was able to run all the way through while only focusing on jumping up and I'd
pop a big one out there. But that was practice, where things don't really count.
I fouled my first jump, which was somewhat encouraging; at least I was running
through the board. Next jump was 18'10". I felt pretty good about opening
with that and was feeling confident that things would get even better....
Unfortunately, they didn't.... That was as far as I ended up jumping.
Which meant it was over.... My goal of trying for trials had ended. I was
barely even able to break 19' this whole season. All I wanted to do was run
behind the stands and cry. I just felt embarrassed in a way. I kept telling
people that this was what I was working towards. And to fall so completely
short made me feel like a fraud in a way. Like I believed I was trying to
convince people I was part of this league that I didn't meet the qualifications
to be in in the first place.
Luckily,
my family and friends were there to distract me and make me focus on my next
event, high jump. Josh started warming up for pole vault so my old high school
track teammate and now a coach, Jon, helped me get my steps. I had such a hard
time focusing; every few jumps, I'd take off correctly, but I was sooo
inconsistent. (Guess that's what happens when you don't work on a skill event
and then just throw yourself in there.) I felt pretty lost while I was out
there and I was out after just clearing my opening height of 4'9".
How do you know we're friends? I think those smiles say it all...
Time to
move onto the 100. I knew that this was it. There were no more races after this
so I poured everything I had into it. I didn't run a very good technical race,
but still ran a 12.32, which is my second fastest time ever behind the 12.28 I
ran during the previous meet. Which was bittersweet in some ways. I ran pretty
good despite not racing the open 100 or really working on blocks. I just went
out there, shut my brain off, and did it. Not that I needed anymore evidence
that Josh is right, but that race truly showed me that when I let my body to
the work, it gets the job done.
Josh's
time to shine was up. He had been having a really hard time getting off the
ground during practice. He'd be fine from 4 strides, but then he'd move back to
his 5 or 6 and he wouldn't be able to get off the ground again. We weren't sure
how he was going to respond. He decided to come in about a foot lower than he
normally does. He looked really good over the first 2 bars, clearing
12'5". Then, he struggled to get off the ground the next bar up. There are
other all-comer pole vault meets during the season, but he's not sure if he'll
go to them.
Yay Josh!!! And no, that bar is not falling with him. ;D
...
At the
beginning of the season, we talked a lot about the extra amount of commitment
we were going to give to this season. I was going to get massages on a regular
basis, find a sports psychologist to help me work through some of my mind
blocks, foam roller at least weekly, eat well and sleep lots. Pretty much all
of those things went out the window though. There were many reasons they didn't
happen, but ultimately, it was my decision making that caused my focus to wane.
I love this sport so much. While the doping and the politics may dirty the
water, at the end of the day, it's still a race from when the gun goes off
until you cross that finish line. There's not a lot of room for intellectual
discussions about who is better than whom. There's only so much speculation
around who is the best, because it's right there in black and white. It's what
makes the successes amazingly sweet and makes the defeats bitterly hard. I know
I'll get over it eventually. But for now, my failures from this season hurt
pretty bad.
Last photo as track and field athletes :(
Initially,
I intended to say all the fun things we plan on doing now that things are over.
But for the moment, I think I'll save that for another post.
The season is wrapping down and I'm left thinking about how things have been going so far. Somehow, this season ran away from me. I had all these plans for what we wanted to do. I certainly planning on writing more updates, especially as we faced new challenges this season. Prior to the season starting, we talked about not letting anything distract us. Knowing this was going to be our last shot at really focusing and taking training seriously, we were going to say 'no' more, don't add anything onto our plates, and only have track to think about. However, we did not do that as successfully as we wanted to; some our choices and some not. I picked up coaching, we started a redesign project on the kitchen right as practice was starting; there were weddings, birthdays, holidays, etc. that took our attention and focus.
I went up to Eugene, feeling really good. I texted Josh the night before about how great I felt during my pre-race drills. My aunt's husband decided to come to the meet, which meant so much to me, especially considering he'd never been to a track meet before. I got to the track about 2 hours before my event and started warming up, waaaaaay too early. I started getting restless and had to keep hopping around to stay in it. Then I stepped on the runway for my attempts, and just blew it. Almost every attempt, I was behind the board. (a nagging problem I've had for a long time.) I didn't get it. How could I have felt so good the day before and just choke so badly when the time came to shine. I was frustrated and angry. Not knowing what else to do, I rambled off a rant (and it's not G-rated, sorry!) titled What the FUCK is wrong with me: "What the FUCK is wrong with me? I don't fucking understand. I'm eating right. I'm getting sleep. I've stopped indulging in booze and sweets. I've put in the work. I'm faster than ever, stronger than ever, my technique is improving every practice. I'm running better down the runway. And yet, I can't fucking put it together! So that the fuck is wrong with me? I'm feeling lost and confused and frustrated and embarrassed and starting to get angry with myself. Which is the opposite of all the feelings I felt before this started today. I have missed so many things for the dream. I wanted to do so badly and it's just killing me."
Eventually, I got over my pity party and went back to my aunt's house. I enjoyed the rest of my trip and raced back for my high school kids' meet.
Coaching high school was more stressful than I anticipated (despite Josh telling me it would be). Every time we went out there, I worried about how they were going to do and how everyone was going to judge my coaching abilities based on their marks. I fretted and ruminated. I had nightmares about the kids hating me and the parents yelling at me. And, I think, mostly, it was unnecessary stress I was putting on myself. It certainly took away from my ability to let things go and just focus on long jumping. It also meant that we had to not compete many weekends because our kids had a meet. I certainly learned a lot though, and a little about high jumping. :)
I went to SF State for a meet the following week, with pretty much the exact same results as Oregon, In fact, I jumped the exact same mark, down to the centimeter. Josh and I talked about it afterwards. He wasn't too surprised, based on how well (or not well) I was focusing at practice. You know what they say, "You play like you practice." [Video is from a practice last week.]
With end-of-season meets for our kids and Josh's brother's wedding, our next meet for ourselves wasn't until 3 weeks later. It was a PA Masters meet, which was a lot of fun. It's so inspiring to see these athletes in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, still training and competing. Long jump was at 9AM IN THE MORNING!!!! Why is women's long jump ALWAYS the first event, and why is it ALWAYS so damn early?! My parents and Josh's mom came to watch, and it was so great that they came to support us. Despite how early it was, my body woke up and got moving. However, the same problems that have plagued me the season came out again. One jump I was too tense and behind the board, the next I ran too fast and couldn't jump up off the board, and the last 2 I slowed down so much at my plant that I got super awesome height, but no distance. I have all the pieces, they're just not coming together at the same time.
Me from high school.
Later that day, I ran the 100 in a 12.28, which is a huge PR for me!!! I couldn't believe it when I saw the time. It really went to show that at 31, I am truly the fastest I have ever been. Then, I high jumped 5'1", which isn't a PR, but it's pretty close. It also showed that I haven't lost any of my hops. Now, I just have to put those 2 elements together.
Josh, having not had a meet in over 2 months, did the pole vault. He had been having a really difficult time in practice getting off the ground from more than 4 strides (4 rights and 4 lefts behind his take-off spot). He did super amazingly well!!! They ended up running the pole vault as co-ed. Because it was a masters meet, there were people entering at 6 feet, and others not coming in until over 12 feet. It was almost 2 hours from when warm-ups stopped and he had his first jump. It also was super hot and we conveniently ran out of sunscreen. (My sock and shorts tan is pretty epic now because of it.) His first few jumps were a little shaky, but then he got into a groove. He even was able to get back to his 6 stride with no problems! Being the bad ass that he is, he won!! And he didn't jump TOO far off his PR. Once everyone else was out of the competition, he had a hard time staying focused and amped so he bowed out early.
Josh from high school. We were so little!
Usually, the high school we train at had graduation at the football stadium so they put the high jump and pole vault mats away. This year, they still had graduation, but decided to take pity on us and left the mats out. Hallelujah!!!! We didn't have to drag them back out again for practice!!! Josh has been able to get a few more vault practices in than expected.
Tomorrow is my last meet. (Josh will have other pole vault meet opportunities through the summer if he decides to go to them). We're going to Cal for the PA regional meet. I'm doing long jump, high jump, and 100, while Josh is doing pole vault. My emotions are all super crazy. But the thing I have been able to remind myself is how much I love competing and jumping. My practices have looked better than they have all season and I was able to put 1 jump together where I held my speed and got good height. I'm feeling more and more confident going out there and putting it on the table.
While getting on the runway, I have been trying a mantra to get myself amped, focused, and ready. I keep telling myself, "I am fast. I am fierce. I am fearless. I am a jumper." Here's to hoping I am able to continue that focus and mindset and pull it together. :)
Well, I made it to that point in the season again when I'm relying on Advil to get me through the day. My shins and arches have started screaming at me and I know it'll go away if I just buy new shoes!!!! Man, I feel like one of my high school kids... I was really hoping this current pair would get me through the rest of the season. But I'm going to bite the bullet and just buy a new pair. (Side note, I did this yesterday. And man, was it a task to find a store that sold women's running shoes for something other than running on a treadmill!!)
Being in this happy little power area is what I've been trying to do.
I took this graph from this website. I didn't read the article but the graph is sweeet.
Last Sunday I got to jump at Stanford. And it was awesome! The weather was beautiful and the competition was fierce! While my marks weren't exactly what I wanted, I was able to break some of the bad habits I have been working on in practice. Running down the long jump runway isn't the same as running the 100. You have to be fast for sure, but you also have to be powerful. Previously, I was trying to run as fast as possible, but then I wasn't in the correct positions to be able to take off the board with the greatest amount of force. (I don't exactly know how way it works. I missed out on taking EXB 103: Biomechanics. Josh can certainly write a more extensive and detailed blog about it if you're curious. :D) I've been working on getting my knees up and bringing that position all the way through to the board. And don't you know! Our hard work is starting to pay off. My first jump was a solid opener at 5.72 (about 18'8") and I got pretty solidly on the board. Annoyingly though, the stinker about breaking habits is that sometimes, those bad habits creep back in. On my next jump, I reverted back to my old habits and jumped a foot behind the board. Josh was able to get my head back on straight and focused and I actually scratched 3 out of my next 4 jumps! I never thought I'd be so excited to scratch before! Even while moving back a foot, I was still bringing my speed and power through better, which is how I was traveling farther down the runway with the same number of steps. Now, I just have to do the same thing, but get my plant down behind the red line. Hopefully, now that I've done it a few more times than once, I can start incorporating those movements without having to think about every single step. Just put the pieces together and put one out there. (And really, it only takes one!)
In addition to working through my mechanical demons, I've also been working on my mental game. For me, the mindset for long jumping is waaay different than sprinting. Getting into a sprinting mindset is super easy. You just get yourself amped, ramp up the adrenaline and heart rate, and kick ass; push through the pain and drive those knees. Even sitting here, at a table in a kitchen, I can do it pretty easily. However, I can't come into the long jump with the same mindset. (I've tried and that's what got me into the hole of jumping behind the board in the first place. I'd get all super tense and tight and wouldn't be able to bring the power out.) It's a happy medium between being a bad ass and going 110% at a wall while still staying somewhat light and airy, like floating on clouds. (I tried that analogy with my high schoolers and they looked at me like I was crazy....) On Sunday though, I felt like I was able to do that. For a few of the jumps, I was able to get that super focus going, was able to tune everything out except for the runway and my visual mark I was aiming for. One thing that I tried saying to myself was, "today, I'm here for myself. I'm here for me and Josh." I wasn't out there to prove anything to anyone else. I wasn't putting pressure on myself to perform and prove that all this blood, sweat, and tears were worth it, all the hours mattered. Instead, I reminded myself that we chose to be here. And dammit I was going to enjoy myself! I think that's the most fun I've had at a meet in awhile. Which I think helped to translate into my runs. Man, I wish I'd gotten on the board at least one of those 3 times. Oh well!
Venus gets it! Trying to get in my zone.
Starting out this season, I knew it was going to be my last so I wanted to check things off my Track Bucket List. These things included going to nationals, have an indoor season, compete at the 'big' meets, and race a Hayward Field in Track City, USA (aka Eugene, OR). I cannot wait for this weekend to finally check Hayward Field off my bucket list!!! Whenever UCD was going to UofO for a meet, I would always beg Coach Dee to let me go along so I could try and compete near my extended family. She would always say that Eugene is too cold for sprinters so I never got to go. Then, when we started running again, the dates for meets never seemed to match up with weekends that we were available. Going into this season though, I told myself I wasn't going to make any more excuses and just go! Finally, that weekend has come.
I'm super excited to get to compete 'on a big stage' and hopefully, in front of a big crowd. (I know it may be surprising, but track doesn't exactly generate a large, live event following.) I'm also a little nervous though. Josh isn't here to watch me and talk me down when I'm freaking out. Other coaches will certainly be there to watch my steps and tell me if I'm over or behind the board. But Josh knows my tendencies and knows what we have been working on. He is able to tell all the nuances behind my jumps and know what details I need to bring on my next jump; tell me if I'm dropping my knees or backing off from the board or not pushing out the gates hard enough, etc. I'll just have to have a pep talk with him in my head in-between each jump. It won't be the same, but it'll have to do. :) One thing that will be a big positive is that long jump is at 4pm tomorrow, which is about the same time I usually have practice. It's gonna be way easier to convince my body that it's time to move fast than when jumping is at 10am when my body is in work mode.
We're getting down to the final meets. Including tomorrow, I only have 3 more guaranteed meets for this season. Hopefully, I'll be able to extend my season to the beginning of July for nationals. But it starts with putting a big one out there and my chances are getting fewer and fewer. As Josh likes to say, "our opportunities are short and if we don't take them, they'll just pass us by." Time to take my opportunities and show up. Just bring it! Bring all the hours, the reps, the lifts, the aches and pains. Put all the pieces together and pop one out there. Because again, you only need one!!!! Ok, off to get my pre-race in.
Here is just some inspirational musings for you. Was thinking about this while I was at the track today. Plus, the gymnastics are freaking awesome.
P.S. cross your fingers that we don't get rain. Cause what stupid woman would travel to Eugene without a rain jacket? This girl, that's who!!! :D
OH man, it's been a month and a half since my last post! (I feel like I'm making a confession. "Hi. My name is Laura and it's been a month and a half since I've updated people on this uninteresting journey I'm on.") We have been a little busy, which is 99% our own doing. We are both currently coaching at Castro Valley High school, trying to finish up our kitchen remodel (which has, not surprisingly, been going on since January), working full time, starting a business, brewing beer for a super important 3-day wedding, and trying to train. (If you ever are wondering, "what are Josh and Laura doing at this moment?", it is going to be one of those things.) So unfortunately, that made blogging a very distant 10th on the priority list.
But I'm here now!!! :D
Following nationals, somehow Josh agreed with my pestering to do a multi. He wasn't particularly looking forward to it since we hadn't really been working on anything. Quick recap:
We both managed to fall pretty hard onto the track, me while warming up for hurdles, Josh while planting for one of his long jumps. I walked away the least scathed with just a bruise on my backside. Josh ended up doing a back flip and landing in the sand (in some ways, it was lucky he was going full speed at that point). He now has a pretty good looking scar across the outside of his thigh. (Reminds me of Ayla's cat scar from Clan of the Cave Bear.)
Event results ranged from mediocre to awful. In my head, I imagined myself finally breaking 5000 pts, which was my goal. However, it's really hard to set a PR in the multis when you completely neglect javelin, barely throw shot at all, pretend to work on hurdles, and run a really crappy 800. :) I was in 1st place by 1 point going into the last 2 events (jav and 800) and proceeded to throw the shortest ever and not pull it through on my last 200 of my 800. I got 2nd and didn't improve my overall score. Josh did well in pole vault considering he hasn't practiced much and was able to high jump much better than we thought. He had been trying to high jump off his 'wrong' foot because of the pain from his broken ankle. However, that was a disaster and we scrapped that plan the day before the meet. Luckily, high jump didn't hurt his ankle too badly, he only had to take 3 days off from running for his ankle to go back to normal size again.
We were sore for a good week after that. The first day, we were barely able to move. (Josh moreso than me; the hep is no where near as taxing as the dec!!!)
We got super sweet t-shirts for finishing! Well, I really like mine at least. It's so soft!
After a lot of reflecting and giving in to my pride, I relented and told Josh that he had been right all along. Why should we spend so much time and energy into an event when I could possibly go so much farther by focusing on one event. Plus, I was so tired from trying to cram so much in. Over-scheduling ourselves was really starting to weigh us down and something had do go. We made the decision to drop the multis and focus on the events we really wanted to do. Josh: pole vault; Laura: long jump, high jump, and a little dabbling of hurdles.
Since then, I have jumped at 2 meets and Josh has vaulted at 1. Josh's vault is coming around really nicely. He's been putting in a ton of work and it's starting to finally pay off. (Whenever you're learning a new skill and trying to change things, marks seems to either plateau or drop off. He's getting to the point where all that work is moving him past the plateau and vaulting him higher.) ;) Once of those meets was back in Davis. It was so nice to be back at Woody Wilson during Picnic Day, but was very sad to be there without Dee and Vee. The video is of one of Josh's pole vault clearances. I don't know the height because I was high jumping at the time and ran over to catch it.
My jumping certainly hasn't been what I have wanted. I've jumped low 19s and high 18s. If you had told me that a few years ago, I would have been stoked. However, my goals have increased and those marks just aren't where I want them to be.
I'm jumping at Stanford Invite in a few hours. (Finally, long jump that's not first thing in the morning!!!!!!!!) Then I'll be going to Eugene to jump at the Oregon Twilight. That will be it for May. Then in June, we'll be going to the PA Master's Championships (still can't believe that at 31 we are considered Masters, but we'll take it!) and the PA Championships. That will potentially wrap up our seasons unless I can pull something together for Nationals. Practice is looking better in spurts. Just need to pull the pieces together.
That's what I'm hoping to do today. And then just kill it! :D
First of all, I want to say a huge THANK YOU!!! to everyone who wrote, texted, called, liked posts, commented on posts, etc. It was so amazing to get everyone's support and encouragement while I was there. Definitely brought a huge smile to my face every time I got a new notification. You guys are the best!!!!
As to the meet....
It is really easy to shout from the mountaintops when you do amazingly. It's another thing to share those moments of unmet expectations. My experience at USATF Nationals was so much fun! And so frustrating at the same time.
First thing we had to do was pick up our badges. We knew we had to go to the Hilton to pick up our credentials. The thing we didn't know was that there were 2 Hiltons, right across the street from one another. We first tried to get our credentials at the Hotel and were promptly informed that we were at the table for the World Championships and not Nationals. Whoops. (I guess the congregations of Team Brazil, Team Germany, and Team Netherlands should have tipped us off.) By the time we got to the right hotel, we missed Sirena's hurdle race, which I was super bummed about! We picked up our super official looking badges and headed out the door for the Oregon Convention Center.
We don't need no stinkin badges!... Except we do.
I'm so glad we got to the facility early! We were able to get acquainted with the surroundings and familiar with all the inner workings of the meet. Also, we ran into Sirena on our way to the warm-up facility! It was so good to see her. And it was super helpful also! Sirena is a pro at these big meets and was able to show us around and explain where we needed to go. Then, it was time to get my pre-race on. Pre-race usually consists of an extended warm-up and dry runs of my long jump approach. There were other events going on that day so there were a lot of people warming-up in the arena. As I told Josh later, one of the advantages of me not paying attention to my sport is not knowing the names and faces of the big guns that I was running with so I didn't feel intimidated at all. :D It really did feel like any other meet. I was able to get into my rhythm and just feel like it was any other day. (I have been to countless meets, done countless pre-races. This really was no different.) I was pretty surprised by my reaction actually. I was expecting to feel like a deer in headlights while I was there and be in awe of my whole situation. But I'm really glad I was as cool, calm, and collected as I was.
So excited!!!
However, my chill nature did not seem to positively impact my jumping. I felt amazing in warm-ups. I was super focused and the spring in my legs felt just right. I was on perfectly on some of my run throughs (where you run down the runway to check and make sure you're taking off near the board). Then, Josh had me do a little pop at the end of my run to see where I would be on my plant and I was behind the board so we moved up. No biggie. This pretty much happens ever meet for me.
Then the coolest part of the day happened! We stood in a line and they introduced us. It was so exciting. They mentioned I ran at Davis and more than one person came up to me, super excited that I was a fellow Aggie. Us Aggies really do seem to be everywhere...
Horsecow!!
And finally, the competition started. Following my warm-up, I felt things were going to go pretty well. Then some thing happened during my runs and I was a foot to foot and a half behind the board on all 3 of my jumps. Unfortunately, they don't measure from where I took off, meaning my distances were super crummy. Almost embarrassingly short. I wish they would put an asterisk next to my marks saying, "Jumped terribly, but behind the board." At least then, it would show I was somewhat in the thick of things and not 4 feet behind the winner.
So, here's everything in a nutshell: Cons:
- Jumped embarrassingly short
- Ran poorly down the runway, which caused me to be behind the board and jump super short
- Not understanding exactly what is causing me to run so poorly down the runway when it counts
Pros
- Having them announce my name at a big meet
That's my name!!!! :D
- Executed some of the things we have been working on: ran with higher knees on the runway, better knee drive off the board, didn't drop my feet too badly on the landing.
- Getting to sit next to and compete with the best in my sport
- Hearing and seeing everyone's well wishes
- Getting to see my family members that live in Portland area, despite the short notice
As you can see, the pros greatly outweighed the cons. Despite feeling like I embarrassed myself and performed below my capabilities, I still had fun and am super happy that I went.
And, as always, I'm super grateful for Josh, being by my side! I would have been so nervous and scared if I had gone by myself. It was so comforting to have my biggest support person there, knowing he had my back. It was also really nice having someone to debrief with afterwards; someone who knows me and knows what we have been working on. It helped to make me feel much better about my efforts, even if my marks didn't reflect the goals we walked in there with.
Looking forward to starting outdoor season now. That'll mean a lot less traveling, which will be nice. The high schoolers that we're coaching are also starting meets so our lives will be pretty entrenched with track and field. We will certainly try not to become hermits to our sport, but in all likelyhood, that's going to be the case. :D
My indoor season wasn't going exactly as expected. I had a lot of fun traveling, seeing friends, and experiencing the incredible energy of an indoor track. However, my marks weren't anywhere near where I was hoping. My goal was to qualify for nationals with an auto-qualifying mark (6.20m). My jumps had been pretty far off of that and I thought my chances of getting into the meet had melted just like the snow in Boise. *Josh's interjection: I don't think the snow has melted in Boise yet.*
A shot from our last "indoor" meet... We were a little confused when we showed up...
On a long shot, Josh convinced me to still submit my mark for the meet. "Why not," he said. "What do you have to lose?"
So I did. I applied to enter the meet with no expectation of having my entry accepted.
I did my final declarations on Monday (the 7th) and the website still said 'unaccepted'. We resigned ourselves to going to Davis for the Aggie Open (ok, so we were actually looking forward to running at Davis again) and potentially trudging through the rain (not excited about the rain, though).
On a whim, I looked at the USATF website on Tuesday morning (the 8th) and wouldn't you know, this is what I saw..
Luckily, not too many people were in the office yet because I think I shrieked, just a little bit, out of surprise!!!!! I immediately started messaging Josh, freaking out.
"Laura Rombach
omg
omg
omg
i got into usatf
!!!!!!!
holy crap!!!!!
hello?
you there?"
Eventually, he got my messages and we started making plans for our last minute trip up to Portland, my goal for the whole indoor season. Oh, and by the way, the meet is this Saturday, the 12th.
And needless to say, I am super excited! As Coach Dee would say, "I punched my ticket", even if it wasn't in a way I expected.
However, I'm also freaking out. I have been to countless meets over the past 15 years that I have been competing, been to multiple cities and states, all kinds of weather conditions and altitudes. I've never been to a meet that is on this scale. Never been to a meet with cameras before, and a background check, and potential for being drug tested. It is certainly going to be an experience!!! I'm going to try not to cry before I'm done jumping. :D
For those of you interested, they're going to be streaming the meet at USATF.tv (http://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?do=view_event&event_id=25&mgroup_id=45365&year=2016)
I'm pretty sure it is free, long jump is at 2:45 on Saturday afternoon.
*Josh's interjection part deuce: And if you can't watch the meet, or they don't show her at all on tv, here is some last minute "cramming for the final" from yesterday, just pretend the track is green and it is totally the same thing:
*
Another former aggie teammate, Sirena, is competing in the 60 hurdles. Be sure to look out for her! First round is at 2 on Friday. Next round is at 2:30 on Saturday.
Wish us luck!!
And to my family in the Portland area, I'm so excited to get to see you guys!! :D
And to my fellow Aggies, Josh and I will be back in Davis on Sunday in time to attend Coach V's memorial service. What a bittersweet ending to an emotional weekend!! For those of you who don't know, my UC Davis long jump coach (and co-head coach), Coach V passed away a few weeks ago. His voice will certainly be in my head as I head out there on Saturday. "We're gonna go out there... And we're gonna do this... And we're gonna go up!" (Wish I could show you the arm gestures that went along with this...)
*Josh's interjection part tres: Some other former Aggies set up a memorial fund, which establishes a scholarship in his name. You can donate at this link.*
Indoor season is starting to wind-down. I'm going to Seattle this weekend (by myself) for one last shot at meeting the minimum mark for Indoor Nationals. So far, my jumping has been fairly mediocre, with my best marks being high 18 ft. I need to jump at least a foot farther to put myself in possible contention for getting into the meet. I know I have it in me; that piece just needs to show up! As Josh like to remind me, my head is my greatest weakness. In the past, I've been too tense when really going for my jumps. So I thought I would try different strategies to approaching my jumps. One week, I tried being super relaxed. The next week, I tried just having fun. However, none of my alterations worked. (Again, obviously, my brain was getting in my way.) So this weekend, I've decided to just go for it! What else do I have to lose? I know I am in great shape for it. My body feels great, my speed is there, I'm feeling super powerful. All I have to do is go and execute!
Which gets me back to the original point of the post. Many of you have asked, "What is it like training with your spouse?" One person in particular was amazed that we could even tolerate spending that much time with one another. There are definitely challenges, but overall, it's been going well.
Decade-old picture. How crazy!
We met on the track while at UC Davis. It's where we have spent the majority of our time together. However, being someone's teammate and being their athlete/coach are two totally different things as I have come to find out! Add into that layer that my teammate/coach is my spouse and things can certainly get interesting. :)
Josh has written all of our post-collegiate workouts for the last few years. He plans the season out, learns how to perform the skills, and then has the wonderful job of getting me to execute everything correctly. It's a daunting task for anyone, especially when your athlete likes to whine and complain. (Although, I have been trying really hard not to complain to him about the workouts! That's the challenging part for me.)
So, with all this mixing of roles, this is what I have learned: 1. Don't confuse your roles!
Think to yourself, "Am I saying this because he is my coach and this is how I speak to my coach? Or am I saying this because I'm annoyed that the house is a mess, and I'm upset that the laundry wasn't put away so I'm going to take it out now?" Make sure the athlete comes out and not the annoyed wife.
2. Don't complain about workouts.
While it's hard enough running out there and going through the pain, it's got to be even worse to knowingly write down a workout you know is going to hurt. It must be tempting to try to convince yourself something less painful would be "good enough."
3. Don't take things so personally.
This is probably the hardest one for me. It's really difficult to turn the 'wife' brain off and put the 'athlete' brain on. I'm working on it. Maybe not fast enough for Josh though...
4. Enjoy the time together
As the great band Aftershocker once said, "time with you at home isn't time together'. Sometimes, that's how I feel about our time at the track. We're there to work on a task. Put the feet to the pavement, as they say. However, it's also the largest chunk of time we get to spend together awake, about 20 to 25 hours a week (plus occasional workouts that we do apart when life gets in the way).
5. Remember why we're doing this.
Despite the tough times and the difficult times, I always remind myself that we are out there to have fun. No one is making us and it is entirely a choice that we have made. We love this sport so much! Which is why we have decided to dedicate so many hours to it. While we may get irritated with one another here and there and have our disagreements, we still suit up for practice and try not to let our tiffs get between us or in the way of our main goal: Run fast, jump high, throw far!!
And with that, it's time to punch my ticket as Dee would say...
We celebrated the New Year with a quick trip to Tahoe. Jon and Heather told us that we needed to do a double sled ride, so we went for it. But then afterwards, they told us we were "doing it wrong." I'm not sure what they meant by that. How else would you double sled down a hill? (Laura: And how else would a barrel of angry birds come down a hill?) I will admit, I don't really like sledding double, because it makes it hard to breathe...
Tahoe in the winter brings some challenges to working out. If we were distance runners, we would be pretty much out of luck, since finding an ice-free run would be almost impossible. Luckily, we can get away with lots of short sprints. We found a nice, ice-free 100 meter stretch of road and did some hill sprints, so we were able to check off a workout for one day we were up there. The day we drove home we made our weekly day off.
Coming back from Tahoe marked the last week in our last "pre-season" cycle. Unfortunately, I pulled my calf a bit in the last workout before we started an easy week, so I'm out for a few days before I try to transition back to running. Currently I'm sweating it out on a stationary bike.
The transition from pre-season to early season training also means more of an emphasis on "tuning up" some of the event skills. We ended our preseason with a trip to an all-comer's meet in Los Gatos. With my calf, I couldn't compete. Laura did the long jump, 60m hurdles, and 400m (as a workout).
In the LJ, I have had her working on being more "powerful" in the run. We have spent a lot of time working on her knee drive and turnover in general. As a side effect of this, I was afraid she would lose some of her power on the LJ runway in favor of speed and turnover. To combat this, we have done a number of drills working specifically on training her to run properly down the runway. At the all-comers, I told her to focus on her run up and carrying her speed through the board.
We have been working a lot on a sprint form in general. In these parachute runs, we're focusing heavily on knee drive and turnover.
For her first jump, she was too choppy down the runway, letting all the running form drills we have been working on get in the way of proper technique down the runway. As a result she was a foot behind the board and jumped 16-5. For the second jump, she corrected this and was well onto the board, jumping 18-6. For the third jump she also executed well and jumped 18-8 with only her toes on the board. Had she gotten "all of the board" on that third jump, she would have been about 19-2 or so.
So overall, I was happy with how she did. She is exactly where I would want her to be for this season, being capable of a 19+ jump with current fitness and technique.
Her landing is currently pretty dismal. This isn't surprising and was even expected, since we haven't been working on that aspect at all. I would estimate she is losing about 8 to 12 inches compared to a good landing.
I am also not 100% happy with her takeoff. She is driving her free leg (left leg) too "forward." I'd like to see her foot come slightly above the plant knee while rising, but she is coming flat with that leg. This doesn't generate as much vertical impulse, losing distance on the jump. I think it stems from a bit too high of a back kick on the plant.
1) Good positioning of the plant (right) leg, decent arm position. Drive (left) leg is a little high, but the biggest issue is her lack of dorsaflexion, which will slow down that swing phase 2) Her drive leg looks to be in a good position, except for the lack of dorsaflexion 3) She is starting to dorsaflex her leg, but it is a little too late to really drive that leg 4) Looking across from frame 1 to frame 4, you can see how her drive/swing leg is moving forward when it should be moving upward into the jump 5) As a side effect of driving forward with the free leg, her knee angle opens up 6) The knee continues to open in front of her, rather than allowing her leg to cycle under her, in an imitation of "running into the air." She now has to "catch up" and rush into the hang.
Overall a good jump for January, though.
So the landing and takeoff angle are what we will start to emphasize more over the coming month or two. I'm confident that the first time she integrates these two fixes while maintaining what she is currently doing well, she will be well over 20 feet.
Then she had the hurdles. She looks great in her warmup practice starts. Her hurdle race itself was ok. She didn't get after it as well as she could have, and it shows in her hurdle form a bit. (Laura: I've been trying to remind myself to be a sprinter first and just run over the hurdles!!! It's getting better, but certainly not where I want it to be.)
Then she ran the 400m. She ran about 63 (we are still waiting on the "official" time). She did this as a workout. (Laura: Considering I haven't ran a 400 without a baton in my hand, expect in workouts, it went pretty well. Definitely didn't start fast enough for the first part of the race, which just slowed everything else down. But, if that's the only 400 I run [right, Josh???], then I'll be happy.)
Next week is our "easy" week, then we head to Boise to run an indoor meet on Saturday. Stay tuned...
