After spending our afternoon in Stockholm, we arrived in Karlstadt… very much like Alberta, smells the same, looks the same.. with a hint more humidity. Anyway, Stephan Holm, Thornbold, Kluft (female hep) to name a few of the world class athletes here! This is my first Grand Prix meet, which I found out when I checked into the hotel… ahem… wow… So, yeah, I better pull my business together. I jump on Thursday, so today, I am just going to relax, and get my body back together… and then… yippee… off to jumping again!

Well, I must say I felt much better than I did at nationals in a technically way…but the bouncy bounce that I could not control… took a small hiatus after the ten hours of flying, and a five hour drive in a tiny car with five people on the way to the meet… talk about pancake legs… sheesh…. Anyway, I jumped 2.16m… passed to 2.22m, and missed there. I ended up 4th…grrrrr. However, I think I realize a little bit of my problem. Maybe… I will toss it out there… just to share it with those who care. I think that earlier in the season when I was jumping real high, with relative ease… then when I revisited the same heights, I expected the same amount of work output, only to discover the real need for more work. It is a tough mental battle to grasp… I am pretty sure that I am right… so there…

Shannon and I are on route to Karlstadt via Stockholm (5 hours there)… We never took too many pics, but we did a bunch of video… so once it is edited that will be on the site for sure!

Checkin’ in from the land of 23.56 hours of sunlight. Seriously… we are that far north.
Lapinlahti, Finland… a 5 hour drive north of Helsinki in a region called Savo.
… in the middle of nowhere we find the northern most Outdoor Mondo Track in the world.. and all the best gear to go with it.

Yet.. if feels like we are in a Northern Alberta cottage community.
Lapinlahti, a population of 7000. A community full of artisans and cheesemakers… and track fans. Tommorow’s spectator turn out is expected to be 4000 people.

Competition’s tomorrow (22nd)… then we are off to Sweden… Karlstad and Gothenburg!

More details to follow…

I want to thank everyone for their energy this season, their well wishes, their love, and their belief in me. It truly penetrated deeper than I could ever explain to you. I want to let you all know where we stand at this point. The Olympics are still in the running, this season had no bearing on the team. It was a test run for next year… So no worries there. Also, I intend to jump a couple more times this year for two reasons… One, I know I have a great jump or two left in me, and it will help with my world ranking for next season.

At the end of the season, I will be planning a small jump gala in Edmonton, with music and snacks… when I have the details, I will send them to you all. I hope you can join us as we bid farewell to this season, and get ready for the next! You all rock, and I thank you once again from the bottom of my heart!

The competition just wrapped up! I have never in my life felt as good as I did today. It was an amazing feeling and it really gave me confidence in the program Linda Blade and the team had put together. However, it was also a giant learning experience…at the wrong time. During my warm up, I was three step scissoring 2.00m with ease… jogging up to 2.15m and clearing it like it was 1.90m. I mentioned to Linda that I am a little worried about how good I feel, about how bouncy my legs are. With the giant tail wind behind me, I felt that I needed to harness, and hold back a little to ensure some control…. Bad choice… I could not convert this amazing feeling, this wonderful warm-up into anything material.

Fast forward to my third attempt 2.15m, opening height… worried… I make it… However, nothing really makes sense. I got the feeling both my coach and I were a little dumbfounded as to what to do in order to get me in the right position. I miss 2.18m… pass to 2.21m as Mike Mason, Derrick Watkins and Mark Boswell had already cleared the height. 2.21m and nothing happening… I miss and am out… unreal… I was in complete shock… a year of work, of sweat, of drama…and finishing in an embarrassing 4th, with a high school height… I wish I could commit to the notion that I choked, but it was… rather an inability to make the adjustments… I feel like a better high jumper than ever before…but the results do not represent that.

Hats off to Mike Mason who cleared 2.27m and came through when it counted (Mark Boswell 2nd with a 2.21 and Watkins 3rd with 2.18m).

I’ll keep my hat on for the officiating - which was a disgrace. I have never seen a bigger bunch of power hungry people in one area! I cannot clump them all into this complaint, but wow! A good chunk of them forgot that they were there “for” the athletes… Let me quote one of the head high jump officials as he explained to me why I had to stay in the competition area… “Actually, I don’t care about you, I just don’t want to lose my job, so you’re staying here” - There were many more instances… But for now.. we will take our bouncy thoughts…they worked by the way.. and pass them on the Sheri and Whitney who jump tomorrow!

After all the drama of Europe, I think its time for some good luck! I just got a pair of shoes in the mail today, so the hunt is over. It is crazy, my wife and I talked to every sports store on earth…not an exaggeration… every track and field distributer on the internet was called, and only one had a shoe close to my size…and that shoe came in today!!! Yahoo. So with that off my chest, I am gearing up for the big dance. It should be good, a lot of talent there. I have no excuses, and it feels good to say that, but there is no reason why I wouldn’t jump well… so you heard it here first - I feel great going into the competition, and is is my intention to win the Canadian Championships! Woot Woot! Here we go!

For the Official Canadian Track and Field Championships website click here

So I get to Cork Ireland, thinking nothing more could go wrong…lol… good one right. Guess what? No baghs again… However this time I packed the spikes and a jumping uniform..not much else, but I did pack the right stuff. So lets fast forward to jump day… still no luggage… its rainy, and windy, but that was expectedm so it was not a surprise. What was a surprise was the fact that I busted my shoe in warm up… I mean blew right through the leather, and was forced to tape it up before the event began!

Oh yeah, I was wearing teal dress socks with my red canada bodysuit… real classy… real sexy…

My first attempt was good at 2.10m, then I missed at 2.15m, but made my second… then came 2.20m… missed the first two… and then on my third.. with 10seconds left… an 800 runner runs in front of me… I stiff arm him, and begin my approach… a black shoe bag rolls across my approach…followed by a guy trying to grab it… Im flustered… and then clear the bar.. crazy stress..but a make none the less… the bar moved to 2.25m.. had a good attempt or two, but slipped in the wet windy conditions, and bowed out placing thrid. All and all, I feel much better about everything going into Nationals… peace.

I jumped late thursday evening. It was a great night, and my body felt pretty good. The competition was stacked, with the world champion Yuri from the Ukraine jumping with us. I was hoping for a great day, but alas, the worst jump of the season. A dismal 2.15m… and I mean dismal… I struggled at the height clearing on my thrid and final attempt. The winner jumped 2.21m, second place was the same height, and third was 2.15m… not me..due to misses… Anyway, it was good to jump, and no I need to get my act together for Cork Ireland.. I leave in the morning and jump on sat. Lets hope for better luck.

Oh yeah, Lucerne was great.. shopping was intense.. and the swiss alps so beautiful… the area we were in was called Old Lucerne… it has so much history. Truely a blessing to hang out in such a city. I would put it on my list if you are every in the area… peace.

So in the theme of things running a muck, I was missed at the airport again… very much like Bilboa, except this time the plan touched down in an entirely different city. Thus forcing me to find a train to Lucerne. All be it, ridicolus, it was kinda cool… as I had never ridin a train outside of Galaxyland…lol.

Oh… I just heard the famous Zs, Xs, Ws, etc.

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