Help Support Geoff!!

So those of you that know me well have heard, but for everyone else let me fill you in... My boyfriend Geoff Fryer has qualified for the BMX world championships!! Unfortunately they are in Copenhagen, Denmark which isn't exactly a cheap trip. But races like this are what we train for, so we're doing all we can to raise money so that he can make it to the race. Here are the T-shirts that we are selling:

If you would like to get one and help support Geoff on his journey, simply visit his blog (http://flyerfryer.blogspot.com/) and donate $20 or more. Be sure to include the size you want and where to send it if you aren't local for either of us. If that is too confusing you could also give your donation here on my page too, I'll make sure he gets the money. Promise. :)

Just a note on why supporting a rider like Geoff is worth it: while he's had an incredibly successful downhill career, he is very new to the BMX scene. He has been racing barely a year and he's already qualified for the world championships. I think that says a lot. We both know that we couldn't make it through our careers without support from amazing people like you. And even if you can't afford $20 right now, every little bit helps. We will be eternally grateful. :)

Friday Night Heights-Thursday Installment

So last week's meet went well. My goal for that meet was really just to have fun, relax, and takeoff. I had no run thrus, which is the first time I had a day like that in a long long time. My grip was very very low and I was on a very small pole, so the height wasn't anything spectacular. But my run felt great and I had fun.

This week Friday Night Heights was moved to Thursday night instead. (HUGE thanks to Chris Kane who covered my coaching for the night so I could compete) We had some vaulters come down from Virginia Tech, plus a couple other local collegiate girls. So we actually had a good sized group and everyone had company to jump with. I inched my grip up a little, and jumped on the biggest poles I've ever jumped on. The only problem is that I was blowing through my poles.... And my grip is still almost a foot below where it should be! Haha. Looks like I may be running out of poles soon. Overall I was happy with it. It was progress. And the men had a GREAT competition. Ended with a 3 vaulter jump off and 2 guys going 17'4. Good night! Looking forward to more Friday Night Heights, and possibly some street vaults in the future?? :)

Wish Me Luck!!

In a couple of hours I'm heading down to Tom Black Track here at UT for my first meet in what feels like forever!!! Tim Mack has gotten some officials together so that we can have some USATF certified pole vault meets here in town. There are 4 post collegiate vaulters here (training with 4 different coaches... craziness) so getting the chance to jump locally is huge for all of us. The US Championships are less than 3 weeks away. I think only one of us has a realistic shot at qualifying, but it's on all of our minds.

I feel like my practices have gone well lately. I am running from a full run finally, but still gripping low on a really small pole. My biggest challenge has been to push myself past my comfort zone. We have moved my run back significantly, and I'm really trying to push that free take off. Trying and jump up onto the pole rather than simply running off the runway and just letting it take me up. They are really small changes that will have a big impact on my vault. And it's taking me a while to come around. I am still having a lot of run thrus. I know I could go ahead and move my run in, move my grip up again back to where I was last season. And I would have a realistic shot at qualifying in the next 2 meets. But I would rather not give in, keep everything where it is and just push through it a few more weeks until I make that breakthrough. It may mean waiting another year to get my shot at competing at Nationals, but I know it will pay off immensely in the long run.

It will just take one good day on the runway to get over this hurdle, so I am not totally discounting my chances yet. Today my goal is to build on my last few practices. I want to push myself to relax and open up my run. And take off right from the start. I am not worried about heights right now, I just need to embrace that my run feels different and just go with it. If I can minimize the run thrus today I will be happy regardless of the height!!

Great Friends, Good Company!

It's been a few days. Quick update... Saturday I had a great running session. I was feeling pretty tired since it was the end of the week, but I had a great day. We did 40m pole runs with the pole and I dropped about 0.40 sec off of my time. I was pretty happy with that. As soon as I was done got a quick haircut (had 8 inches chopped off! Much much improved!) and headed to Nashville to watch our good friends Greg and Mandy get married. Mandy is now officially Mandy Bandy, which I think is the coolest name ever! :) It was a gorgeous ceremony, with hundreds of cicadas providing the background music.

Sunday was a nice relaxed day off spent on Geoff's family farm. It's always nice to catch up with family. Monday I got to vault from a full run for the first time since indoors. If you account for the change in my grip, my run has moved back 3-4 ft in just 2 short months. So it is taking me a little bit to get used to how different it feels. I am much faster on the runway, and I am also trying to move my step back. So I am having a lot of run throughs right now while I make the switch, but I am still taking off on a lot of them. And I am starting to get used to it. I think I should have it down and dialed in very soon!

My body is rebelling a little bit over the last few days, so Tuesday was an easy day of sand pit drills and light pole runs. But everything is improving and getting smoother. Today I vaulted again, but I actually had some company out on the runway! You have no idea how awesome it is to be around others working towards the same goal. The past 2.5 years have seen lots of lonely workouts. And if I have had company it has been high schoolers that usually just make me feel incredibly old. So it was a welcome change, and I think it worked well. 3 vaulters and 2 coaches, gettin' it done! Hopefully we can have another practice like that soon! I loved it.