In Southern California Sunshine workin' out

I came to So Cal last thursday the 20th to get in some good running in the sun. It's been a great series of workouts, and I still feel great after nine days in a row. I think I'll take tomorrow off, then do one more hard double workout on Saturday before the trip home. The strangest part of all this training lately is how I don't have any real aches or pains or injuries other than my chronic shoulder, but's even it's not that bad. My arthritic foot has been fine, and I've even started doing some single leg bounding off my take-off leg because I felt like my spring was really slipping.
I’m starting the final push to get ready for the indoor champs in Albuquerque where I’m hoping to improve my pentathlon score, so being able to train in the sun even for just a week and half will help much. On the way I stopped in Dublin and had a great little training session with Aaron Thigpen at his training facility Gamespeed, who helped me a lot with my start and general sprint training.
I had the idea that it would be fun to drive out to Azusa Pacific where Bryan Clay lives and trains to meet him and maybe even workout with him, because I know he’s pretty open about having people stop by the track and such. So, through my friend and coach David Lemen, who is a contemporary and former competitor of Bryan’s, and the wonders of Facebook I was able to get in touch with Bryan. Turns out he was resting the weekend that I would be able to drive out to meet him, and before he was flying to NY for the Millrose games “Multi-Challenge”, be he still generously offered to meet me for a chat over coffee at Starbucks. I got a chance to hear a little about his experiences over the past ten years trying to get to the top, and stay there, as a decathlete. Bryan comes off as a perfectly sincere and thoughtful athlete and human and it shows that he is serious in his efforts to use his accomplishments to further some causes that are important to him, and not just to bask in the glow of Olympic stardom. He talked about his Bryan Clay Foundation and its goals of helping less advantaged youth to get some exposure to the same life-building skills and balanced lifestyle that helped Bryan move past his own family problems as a youngster and realize his potential. I would encourage anyone that’s interested to find out more about the Foundation through his website.
We talked about the difficulties for decathletes that want to stick with it after college and try to train full time, and he related how long it took him, even after some great scores and national place finishes to really get anywhere with support and endorsements. I liked his story about calculating after he finished college just exactly what the minimum would be for him to live on and train, and going to some large concerns in Hawaii to pitch for support. He figures now with hindsight they just chuckled to themselves what a small number it was, and he did in fact have no problem getting that support, and the rest is history as they say. I also liked hearing about how he is hurting all the time, because it makes me feel a little better knowing there are other people in the same boat. I didn’t even have to ask if he ever thought he would compete as a master, soon as I started to say that not too many former elite athletes stick with it past 35, he was very quick to point out that his body just wouldn’t make it that long. He has the same problems I do, like getting out of a chair after a workout, standing up from a crouch, always training and competing injured, etc. And that’s at 31! Maybe I'll get to workout with him some other time next winter while he's getting ready for his third Olympiad. After meeting him I got the crazy idea that it would be fun to try to meet all of the living Olympic decathlon champions, and write an article about the experience, since I've met three now. The American ones would be fairly easy to meet probably, but a couple of the European ones could prove tricky.
While here in socal I've run twice a day 4 times, including some good sessions of 8x45 sec sprints with a short equal rest, and yesterday I ran 5 200s in 25.8, 26.2, 26.9, 26.1, 27.5, with a longer rest in between 3 and 4 when I did some bounding. I had a good long jump session, and a good hurdle session where I did 6 crouch starts over 3 hurdles three stepping. This is so much more than last year when I had the bad groin that kept me from doing much real speed work and few hurdle starts.
I'll upload of picture of me and Clay after I get home and hook up the camera

Oh my aching feet...

I'm hanging in there, but the stress of my workouts is taking a toll on my feet. My muscles and joints are fine, which is very good, but hurdling is getting to be very hard on my feet, particularly my left foot, which has developed arthritis. It might have originally come from a stress fracture I had as a teenager in about the same spot, the middle of the foot on top. So much force goes through your foot at odd angles when while hurdling. Whatever the reason, running in spikes may become impossible in the future. I think I'll be ok through the pentathlon at least, and probably through the rest of this outdoor season as well if I take it easier.
Just about 5 weeks of hard training before I start to taper for the indoor pentathlon March 4, so the goal is in sight. I still feel like I can improve my record by a good margin, although my running has actually slipped a little from November. It's amazing how easily it can drop off if I tip the balance away from just running to doing more lifting and technique work. I've stopped training for now in the non-pentathlon events, but even still my energy is limited. I don't have any fantastic workout times to report, but all around I'm still solid. The lifting and strength work I did starting back in September has paid off I think because I feel stronger, but it also hurts my running for anything over 100m. Training for the multi events is just diabolically difficult with the opposing requirements of strength and lightness. I think I'll stop lifting altogether now until the competition, and maybe that will give me the energy to run more and get back down under 175. The shot put is only one event, and it doesn't pay many more points for an extra foot or two, so I don't think my size and strength will help anymore. I'll be spending 10 days down in Southern California to be able to run in the sun, and I'll just run as much as my feet can handle. After I get back from that trip, I'll have two weeks until an indoor meet in Seattle where I'll hurdle (60m 42") and long jump.