From the Kitchen Counter…

VIEW FROM THE FRONT PORCH: (10 MIN. AGO)

MOOD READING: ZZZ’s (I don’t know what’s been wrong with me lately, waking before the sun comes up…most unlike me.  Maybe I need a check-up!!)

Note: * To view videos in blog, click on youtube links, then arrow back to return to blog.

Any sojourn to the cabin get-away begins at Whole Foods.  I made a trip the day before departure to stock up on only the necessary “rations”.  We always declare ahead of time that it will be a weekend of healthy eating and exercise — an idea that usually gets thrown out the window the moment someone mentions guacamole , (all of about 5 minutes into the car ride.)  In any case, to be prepared, I picked up a few (relative term) things I thought we would need…kale, salad greens, fruit, mineral water etc.  But oh, that raisin bread looks really good, that would be nice in the morning, and ahhh a few fresh baked croissants wouldn’t hurt. And cheese, yes, a bit of protein and maybe some rice crackers…really? No rice crackers suck, Triscuits are better, just this one time.  And oh hell, let’s just throw in some corn chips just in case we need a nibble and surely a bit of chocolate won’t hurt….and well, you get the picture. Read the rest of this entry »

View From the Top of Running Trail:

Mood Reading:  ZZZZ’s (four out of five, slept sound – still making up for lost Z’s from  last weeks Pole Vault Summit)

A week on from the Pole Vault Summit and I feel like I’m just now getting back to *normal – (*relative term.)   I don’t know why it takes so much out of me since I’m not an athlete and don’t compete and don’t actually have an ‘official’ job, except perhaps professional coffee fetcher and “social coordinator” (that’s a nice way of saying ‘pit lizard’, a term borrowed from the air race community describing the groupies that hang around top gun pilots and their cockpits.  Though I wouldn’t call myself a groupie, I admit I’ve hung around a few pole vault pits in my time.) But I think it’s that last one that gets to me. It’s not so much the daytime activities at the Summit that are so exhausting as it is several nights in a row turning in past 1 or 2 a.m. I was going to say I’m not as young as I used to be, but I wasn’t much good at it then either. Read the rest of this entry »

If you look close — this is one heck of an all-star team! (Taken at the Spirit plant)

The UCS Spirit Reno National Pole Vault Summit concluded yesterday with 57 competitions held on 11 pits, featuring vaulters at every level.  Competition started at 7:00 am and went on continuously on every pit until about  9:00 pm last night.  After several days of little sleep and what has become the standard Summit diet (caffeine, Cheetos, and breath mints), the day was long but never the less thrilling and exciting. Read the rest of this entry »

Live photo of arena, Saturday 10am morning January 19th

Yesterday was one helluva long day… so you’ll have to bear with me.  I’m operating on a few hours of sleep and lots of caffeine. (Lousy coffee at that – blogging ‘from the bedside’ this morning nursing a slight headache with only the room carafe coffee to get me through!) Read the rest of this entry »

Summit Officially Starts

Yesterday the Summit officially got off the ground with the Commencement of the USA Track and Field Elite Athlete program and  Summit Coaches meetings.  (involving conferences and group discussions)

One of the other ‘unofficial’ activities that usually happens on this day is athletes trying to squeeze in a work out.  After hers, Jenn Suhr (Olympic Gold Medalist-London) could be found in the lobby with her coach (and husband) and spent about an hour signing autographs and posing for pictures. Read the rest of this entry »

I apologize for not posting yesterday, was running around like a mad woman and the day got away from me. By the time I finally sat down at the laptop late last night, I found my brain disengaged and the Sauvignon Blanc calling from the kitchen. Since the Summit (and ensuing mayhem) officially begins this evening with The Hall Of Fame Dinner, I chose to turn in and get a few hours of sleep ‘cause god knows that will be pretty scarce over the next 3 days!

So here’s a re-cap of yesterday, as far as I can tell. (Everyone was running in a million different directions so I’m not entirely sure…) Read the rest of this entry »

2 Days to go before Summit starts!

As per tradition, some members of the Summit staff (that would be the Chappell clan) retreated to “the mountain cabin” this past weekend prior to the Summit for some team building, strategic planning, and event overview.  This annual family sojourn is far from the calm, philosophical, zen-like intent of most similarly aimed “corporate retreats”, and usually winds up being a complete, intense total immersion in Summit logistics – (read that absolute bedlam.) Read the rest of this entry »

3 days to go before start of Summit:

Rock back  — swing — stiff pole — soft pole – run — yanked off the ground — grip tape — firm grip — pole wrap —  flex — flexing pole in the box – you’re under – you’re out —  pole drop — early plant — late plant – rhythm – position – timing — and after the penultimate…man she smoked it!

No, this isn’t the opening paragraph or inventory list to Fifty Shades of Grey.  Still your beating heart, breathe in, take a sip of water and Welcome to Pole Vault Vocabulary Part II.  Read the rest of this entry »