What a whirlwind journey. All
in all from August 29th to today I’ve traveled roughly 6,000 miles.
2,000 was by plane, but still 4,000 by car, not too shabby. I am finally back home,
but feel as if I should be busy with something. I know deep down that the best
thing for me is a few days rest, but instead, I’m going to be training all
week, and then do a two day pole vault clinic over the weekend (that isn't full, by the way.....)
After leaving Pocatello, Ben Allen and I raced up to Oregon to pay our respects to Keegan Burnett, and spend some
time with his family. It was a sad but beautiful visit. We stayed at the Burnett house and learned more
wonderful things about Keegan and his family and friends than I could have ever imagined. I
look forward to seeing them again in the near future.
Western Oregon is such a beautiful place. I always feel a strange
connection with it while I am there. I would say the underlying mystique, is due
to the fact that I was born there, but I think it has more to do with all the
trees and green surrounding you everywhere you go. We had to be back in Northern California to work on Monday (that’s correct, I am employed now, believe it or not). Ben tested the limits of his engine as we flew to the
coast. Short on time we got to hang out around the shore for about 18 hours before
making the journey south.
Deciding to take the “scenic
route” we didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into. Driving through the
center of the Redwood National Park, we found ourselves on some of the
windiest, broken roads I’ve encountered, stopping for herds of Elk blocking the
road, watching Eagles fly, and eventually following 30-40miles of dirt road
into what seemed like nowhere before finding pavement again. It was a beautiful
drive, and I’m glad we did it that way, but unless you have about 14 hours to
spare, I don’t recommend it.
After making it to the Hotel
at about 3am, we woke up the following day and worked hard long hours over the
next 4 days, bouncing back and forth from Sacramento, Ione, and San Francisco, at the end of which, we decided to go camping in the Sierras.
Passing by home on the way, we threw a few things in the Subaru and headed up the mountain. With
visions of catching high altitude lake trout, we failed miserably, but we did
do some of the craziest mountain biking I’ve ever done, continuing to challenge
and surprise us both around every corner, turning backpacking trails into a biking playground. We did get lost at one point and had
to carry our mountain bikes on our shoulders for about 2 hours, while we
climbed large granite slabs, and blazed our own trail through the brush. That was pretty brutal, but it was
a great weekend. I ache all over.
I did make it home, for how
long? Probably not very. What is next? More of the same I think; work hard,
play hard, train hard, travel a lot. I’m still not sure what level of
commitment I have towards my own athletic career. I’m ready to start working off the debt it has left me, like
the extra body fat one puts on after years of turning a blind eye to its
continued growth. I will train, I will pole vault, but my priorities have been
modified. It can work, in 2005 I had one of my best seasons while working part-time at a Newspaper, part-time coaching at Idaho State, and part-time running a private pole vault club. I was a little younger, yes, but you can be the judge in 2013.
With all that's gone on lately I forgot to tell you. I am Coaching a few indoor camps down in Woodland, CA in conjunction with the Yolo Striders. So if you want to have some fun, and learn how to be awesome, you should come. Here are all the details.
Paul Litchfield Pole Vault Camps at The Factory
Vaulters and Coaches,
We
are very excited to be able to host two Pole Vault Training Camps with
Paul Litchfield. The camps will be held at The Factory in September and
in October with the first one scheduled for September 29th and 30th and the second on for October 27th and 28th.
The Factory is located at 460 Harter Ave., Woodland, CA. Both camps
require a current USATF membership number. See below for details on
registration, schedule and pricing. Space is limited to the first 20
paid participants each camp. If you have questions, please don’t
hesitate to call me at 530.867.4286.
Equipment/Poles/Instruction
a. Equipment:
Vaulters are encouraged to bring all necessary gear and poles. Poles
can be stored overnight at The Factory. In addition they will utilize
pits, standards as well as training devices that may include the use of
gymnastics equipment (such as high bars, rings, trampolines, swing-up
bars or ropes), and other devices created to assist in the training of
athletes in the pole vault.
b. Poles:
We want to be able to provide a positive training experience.
Therefore, some vaulters will be allowed to use poles brought to The
Factory as part of the camp but only at the specific and express
direction/permission of a camp official or coach.
c. Instruction:
Athletes participating in camp will receive instruction on pole vault
technique and various vault-specific training strategies from only
approved coaches under the direction of Paul Litchfield.
I have been wanted to write,
but my thoughts are scattered, and I have been unsure of the appropriateness of
doing so.
Where do I begin? I left my
home in California at 4am
Wednesday August 29th to catch a flight out of Sacramento to Phoenix, then Phoenix to Minneapolis. Arriving in the afternoon it was strangely
comforting being back in Minnesota.
Although I left there to pursue a different path, my time there left me with
great friendships and memories. With a good night of sleep I woke up early to
jump in a truck with my friend and former athlete, who earlier in the week
found out that his travel buddy was unable to help him with the 1,000+ mile
drive to Pueblo, CO, so I was happy to help him out and assure that he would
have a chance to attend one of his favorite competitions. The favor went both
ways, as I could not afford to get myself to the meet on my own and the Kreiger
family once more, funded my travel to a competition.
We were making great time to Pueblo. 800+ miles later we arrived in Sterling, CO in 11.5 hours. We grabbed dinner and a hotel room and
passed out. Just under 300 miles of driving left I woke up early and did a
light workout before hitting the road. When I turned my phone on the first
communication that came through was about the passing of my friend of 13 years,
former teammate for my entire college career, post-collegiate teammate, and
former Coworker during my time on the coaching staff of IdahoState. I’m not sure how to describe how I felt from there,
helpless I guess. I knew my Idaho family was in a great deal of pain, and I couldn’t
get to them. I was in the middle of the country on my way to a competition in
someone else’s vehicle, carrying out a commitment I had no intention of backing
out on. It was 7am, I had two beers left in a 6 pack and still in my workout
clothes, covered in sweat, I set my phone down, carried them out to the deck of
the hotel poured out the first drink and held them to the sky as tears began
pouring down my face. That was the last time I got to have a drink with one of
my favorite drinking buddies. As I sat there in silence I told myself that
those would be the last tears I shed until I arrived in Pocatello. A large group of ISU athletes was already waiting in
Pueblo, and we still had an event to attend.
Somehow I managed to win the
competition in Pueblo with a jump of 5.45m, over taking Mark Hollis by
having less attempts at the previous height. Mark, Rory Quiller, and I all had
great attempts at 5.60m, but couldn’t quite leave the bar up. It was shockingly
some of the best jumping I’ve done all year.
Now I needed to figure out
how to get my friend back to Minneapolis and change my flight to Sacramento, to somewhere closer to Idaho. Knowing he is a tough and responsible kid, Grant and
his family felt comfortable with him making the drive alone, and there happened
to be a free seat in one of the ISU athletes vehicles headed back to Pocatello. The 700 mile drive went quick, but upon arriving
everything changed. It’s been a hard week, but I’m so impressed with the
strength I’ve witnessed as the days went on. Even more impressive, is the
amount of love and support surrounding this one person.
I wrote this when I arrived
in Pueblo, it was for my own purposes, but now I’m ready to
share it.
-It’s been a long time
since I drank two beers at 7am. The only reason it was only two was because there were only two
available. I recently read something about Jackie that said “This is not a time
to drink alcohol. That will not honor Jackie’s memory.” Obviously that asshole
didn’t know Jackie. I understand that he is trying to protect athletes, but in
this situation, it is not his place. Death has seemed to surround the Idaho
State Track and Field program over the past few years, and at the last instance
of such I was standing with Jackie, and with tears in her eyes she said “At my
funeral I don’t want people to be standing around and crying, you better have a
party and you fuckers better be slamming beers.” That is the Jackie I know. She
brought joy and laughter to all those around her, even in times of great
sadness, times just like this. So crack a joke and don’t be afraid to laugh and
smile. With this loss, tears flow easily, grins come with effort, both came to
Jackie with ease, a huge heart and massive sense of humor made her the
wonderfully unique person that we will remember for all time.
Death is nothing if not
cruel. We all have an expiration date and to most of us, we see dying young as
a tragedy. It’s hard to see the poetry in such a terrible thing. Cherish in the
fact she doesn’t have to experience what you’re experiencing now. With so many
loved ones in her life, growing old would have been filled with adventures and
joy, but also with sadness and the crushing heartbreak of loss as all those
around her eventually passed on. That is something Jackie no longer has to go
through. She will never get depressed again, doesn’t have to grow old and
senile, or experience chronic pain, and sickness. She gets to remain happy and
young from now on.-
More unplanned travels lie ahead. It’s odd that I wrote the
text above on different days and I was unable to post it, because last night I
received a phone call I could have never expected. FormerIdahoState Pole Vaulter Keegan Burnett took his own life on
Monday night. After legitimately cheating death on two different occasions,
Keegan ultimately decided that he wanted to have a higher quality of life
rather than a larger quantity (is how his father said he put it). Keegan
survived a massive head injury in May of
2007 which would have killed most people, after awaking from a month in a coma,
where he endured multiple brain surgeries, he learned how to walk and talk
properly again. He went on to live a life filled with adventure and ambition,
only to be dealt another stroke of bad luck. While night skiing in January of
this year Keegan crashed and shattered his T-12 vertebrae and ruptured C-4 and
C-5, leaving him paralyzed from the waste down.
I can’t be angry with Keegan
for the decision he made. A selfish act is the term most use, for the pain he
has caused those he left behind, but with these types of circumstances we
should not judge him. A man whose entire existence and happiness revolved
around athletics and outdoor sports, any one of us would consider the same
fate. Keegan just had the courage to go through with it. I will miss Keegan, he
was the most hard-headed person I have ever met, he loved to argue, and always
had to be right. Everything he did, had to be done his way, he even got the
final say in the order of his own demise. I used to say to him when we spoke
“Your just impossible to kill.”, he even proved me wrong there.
All this pain is a worthy
price we must all pay for loving with our hearts and feeling those powerful
emotions and connections returned to us by such wonderful people.
