Sittard/Monaco/Jockgrim/SWITZERLAND/Now

OK. Lot's has happened so I'll list them in order by place.

Sittard:

1. Rippin headwind
2. Dustin landed on the track and hurt his wrist
3. I made 5.15m
4. We feasted on brats, pasta and Dutch beer
5. Talked to Rens Blom over dinner
6. And his hot blonde girlfriend
7. Dustin got no-shame 2011 off to a good start with Olive
8. Changed into suits in the parking lot
9. Blew Jason Wurster's mind with our exit
10. Headed to Bern

Biel:

1. Rolled in on Mitch and Nicole at 2am
2. Ate some Chocolate Hot Dogs
3. Breathed the Swiss air and were immediately addicted to Switzerland
4. Slept a few hours
5. Drank some Level 10 Coffee and ate some more Chocolate Hot Dogs
6. Left 1 hr late for Monaco for no reason

Monaco:

1. Rolled in an hour late for the vault
2. Found out the vault started an hour later than we thought
3. Settled down in the thick of it. Deep in the cut.
4. Watched Renaud blow over 5.90m and almost 6.05m - High salt.
5. Took a picture with Bolt in the hotel lobby. He loved the thrash
6. Went out to a club between the 2 biggest dudes in Monaco, Cantwell and Dylan Armstrong
7. NEVER TOOK OFF THE SUITS
8. Scrapped things together in the morning
9. Swam in the Mediterranean Sea. Negative ions.
10. Ate some gelato, peaced out back to Biel.

Biel:

1. Rolled in on Mitch and Nicole at 1am
2. Ate some chocolate hot dogs
3. Flew around on Camp Greeley internet.
4. Rock-paper-scissors'ed it for the bed each night. I never won.
5. Slept until 12:45pm. Greg was pissed.
6. Had a sprint session at a track so deep in the woods I thought it was a joke, and then it turned out to be the sickest Olympic Training Center of all time.
7. Watched mitch go cowabunga on some shit in a jump session - repping 5.50m's with 4.10m+ takeoffs. Biggest PV transformation I've ever seen. Hands down.
8. Floated down an amazing river for 2km in 16 degree C water that felt incredible. Best thing I've ever been a part of?
9. Greg and Mitch chewed on some African Mud.
10. Dustin got blown up by a fountain.

Jockgrim:

1. Met up with our host family.
2. Woke up Greg because we were sleeping so late.
3. Got out-slept by their 12 year old daughter.
4. Met a genuine Nazi.
5. Jumped 5.30m in the pre-meeting, Team GS went 2-3-4.
6. Had some EIN STINE BIERS.
7. Ate some mustard with a 2am spread of food from our host dad.
8. Watched the main event. 5 over 5.72m and Grande robbed at 5.80m... easily 6m in the air.
9. Sung the National Anthem in front of 3,000 Germans thanks to Becky Holliday.
10. Dustin ended up behind the bar.
11. Greg wouldn't drink whisky, so for some reason ran around naked.
12. Everyone slept in their normal clothes.

So then we went back to Leverkusen, where we have a meet today.

There's a live feed here:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/leverkusen-pole-vault-classics

I'm not sure how well it will work, but it's worth a shot. The field is stacked, and it should be tons of fun. Tune in at 12:30pm EST, or 9:30am PST for introductions!

Hope all is well back in the states, and stay tuned!

Long Needed Update From Euroland

What up peeps?! Alright so the first two weeks of my euro trip have gone by in a flash, and it has been nonstop fun. Our first meet was in Uden, Netherlands, where it was cold rainy and windy, and I managed a 5m bar before blowing through not once, not twice, but thrice trying 5.20m... Still one of the most fun meets I had ever been to. We then journeyed south to vienna (pronounced 'ween'), where we jumped in a square meet.

By the way, when I say we, I mean the eurothrash crew. You have Dustin 'Howdy Duty' DeLeo, Bobby 'Power Steering' Talley, Greg 'Woepse Stanker' Woepse, Chris 'Grandpapa' Bencomo, Allison 'Bierdumpel' Stokke, Tori 'Bunners' Pena, and Theresa 'NoNickname' Raub. The crew has been awesome and they have made my stay incredible thus far.

Ok so back to vienna. We warmed up into a nice tailwind on a 1m tall runway, and I got to my 5m 12.9 in warmups. I started on that, blew through, went to the 12.7, made 5.15 and 5.28, and had some good shots at 5.40m... Better day.

Power Steering, the Stanker and I then ventured from Frankfurt to Dublin, where we jumped in an awesome meet with the Clonliffe Harriers, where I got my first ever european win with a euro PR of 5.30m. Greg was second in the meet, and we all enjoyed some pints of Guinness afterward in a pub right on top of the track while singing some Irish tunes with a group of DAF's (dublin folk) that called themselves The Elderly Brothers. Fun times.

The next morning, on the other hand, wasnt as fun. We had a hell of a time getting our poles to the airport, and when we did they wouldnt let them on the plane, and Bob and I had to hop a plane to Belgium instead, where we waited a few hours for Chris and Greg to get us and take us to Leverkusen, where we are based.

The next day we packed up and headed to a meet in Eindoven, Netherlands. We got lost on the way there, and showed up about 70 mins before the bar went up. I still ended warmups on a 13.3, quickly blew through a few poles while making 5.10m, 5.20m and 5.30m, and then had a nice second attempt clearance at 5.40m on my 12.7. The bar went to 5.50m, and Robert Jan went clear on a second attempt, while I had a standup and a blowthrough on my first two. I went to the 5m 12.3, and somehow made the bar on the third attempt, but it was ugly. I wasnt able to negotiate 5.60m because of some unlucky weather, but I went home happy with a Euro PB.

A few days later we found out that I got into a meet in Padova, Italy, right by Venice. We booked my ticket and I traveled this morning with my new German buddies Bjorn Otto and Danny Ecker to Italia. So far it has been fun, and Im rooming with my good friend Brad Walker, who looks more ready to go than I have ever seen him based on his last meet in Karlsruhe, Germany. The meet is tomorrow at 7pm, and im hoping for good weather and an opportunity to leave up some high bars. Everyone says this is a good place to jump, and amongst the likes of Brad, Bjorn, Danny, Alhaji Jeng, Steve Lewis, and Gio Lanaro, theres no doubt the energy level will be high for me. I am just looking forward to having a ton of fun, enjoying Italy, and getting back to the thrash in Germany on Monday.

Sorry for the long delay in posts, and I hope everyone is doing well out there in cyber land. Until next time, may the force be with you.