All American

Like i said it was time for a change. I dont know if it was the 110 degree heat or the fact that wherever i went i got double takes like i was some kind of homeless person; but the hair had to go. Mary calls it my "All American Haircut". She figured that if i was going to be on tv i was going to have to look somewhat presentable. Salon de Jack changed my life, and to the trials we go! Thank you all for your letters and emails, and please continue to pray for me! The time is finally here, and believe me, im ready!!!!!!

Of course we had to start by cutting it into a mullet of sorts:

Jack in his element:

Vanessa didnt like it:

Very artistically done Mary:

Mission Accomplished:

The Remains (straw included):

7747 to 8066

There's a Change in the Wind

What a crazy few weeks it has been! The Dominican Republic was a blast, but George Fox University in Newberg Oregon is even better!!! In Santo Domingo, team USA placed 1st 3rd and 6th at the Pan America Cup. Chris Helwick won at 7800 and i placed third with a 7747. The trip overall was a total blast and such a good experience for me. I really felt like i competed well but had a few events where i struggled because of lack of competition. Talking with Jack we came to the conclusion that for the first meet of the year 7747 was not a bad score at all. After getting back in the states Jack and I thought that there might be another opportunity to do a decathlon at George Fox University as a last chance meet because i was pretty low on the USA list. After the first day of competition we realized that i should just keep it going and see if i could break 8000 which would put me higher on the list and give me the 'A' Standard. With one event to go it came down to running a sub 5:00 min to break the barrier, wow, i never thought i would be in that position. When all was said and done a 4:46 gave me 8066 for a decathlon PR! Its crazy how much has changed within the past few days.

So i am back in San Luis now resting and training in preparation for the trials at the end of this month. Its crazy to think of how much my life has changed in the past 4 months, and as i look forward to the trials i think of all the people who have helped me get here. From my father to my friends, coaches, and fellow athletes, i would never be in the position i am now without their support and prayers. I thank you all for everything you have done, i would not be here with out you! I will put a post up after the trials to let you all know how i did and i look forward to seeing some of you there!

Of course, me and Jack celebrated in style: by drinking his fathers day gift - Beers of the World!!!

It looks like it got out of hand.... but don't worry we were able to control ourselves.....

Olympic Trials Here We Come!

Going Places Cont.....

Hey all thought i would post some pictures of the last few weeks, enjoy!

This is a good video that Mary got of me catching a wave!

Sarah Kraybill came to town to visit Jack and Mary and we all went on a beach walk together. Kraybill was one of the first to talk to me at SPU when i was a freshman which makes her the coolest person ever:

The fam bam after a walk:

Here is a video that Mary just took at the track today. Apparently Vanessa thinks its funny when i run:

Santo Domingo here we come!!

Going Places

Hey all, this is going to be quick as the surf is calling Jack and I by name. Its been awhile since the last post and things are going great. I am into 100% training and feeling as fit as ever! It might just be my month as I got invited to go down to the Dominican Republic to compete in my first decathlon on May 31st and June 1st. I am extremely excited and also extremely anxious to get down there and (in the words of Mary Hoyt) git'r'done. I feel better than ever and at this point the sky is the limit and i cant wait to see what is going to happen. There will be 3 Chris' on the trip and its supposed to be great conditions to compete in, and when you put on the USA uniform it always gives you that little extra adrenaline. So off i go to the sand a surf and i will update when i get back from the DR, please keep me in prayer for safe travels and to compete well and i hope to have good news when i get back!!

How The Days Fly

Well its been a while since my last post and lucky for us all there will actually be pictures on this one! Mary Hoyt has granted me access to the family files (and also the laundry machine) so we are ready to go!

Lots has happened in the past few weeks. The biggest thing is the trip that Me, Jack and Nell took down to LA to compete in the Mt. Sac Relays. Becuase of my hamstring i was just a fan but Nell did great finishing with close to 5400 points in her first hept in close to two years. Being down there really made me excited to be competing soon.

I am almost at 100% with the hamstring and hoping to do a meet in the begining of May down at Claremont in Southern California. It is supposed to be a smaller meet with a good facitlity which will be perfect.

Workouts have been getting progressively better and my speed is starting to come around. It hard to see others complete decathlons and sit on the sideline but i know my time will come and when it does i will be ready for it.

The surfing has definalty taken a step in the good direction, i am having no problem getting on some bigger waves with Jack and both of us try to get out on a saturday at dusk to catch some waves and watch the sunset.

Everything else is going well and as time flies by and June gets closer and closer my nerves begin to tingle a little about what might and can happen. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support and i will post again soon.

April is here

Its been a little longer than i week since i have posted but i will try to get you up to date on all the happenings here in SLO town.

To start off with its going to be short post as Vanessa and me are watching Baby Einstein together. Today was the first real day of rain that we have had since I have been here. Overcast and misty all day, the weather reminds me of Seattle on a warm day. Most of the athletes i saw today on the track complained about the weather but what they don't understand is us Seattleites think of this as a good day. My hamstring has been getting progressively better as the week goes on which is really encouraging. I get it worked on at least 3 times a week before practice and i am starting to hit some pretty tough workouts which gives me some confidence back. I think by the next couple of weeks i will be in full swing again which will be great.

We had a meet this past weekend at Cal Poly and the weather was overcast and windy all day so there weren't too many good performances. I threw 181 feet in Javelin into a nasty head wind and then also threw 145 in the discus while at the same time trying to high jump so in reality the marks are pretty good. No meet this weekend as we prepare to head down to UCLA next week and tune up and try to hit the Mt. Sac Relays decathlon the week after that. I know i wont be in the best condition ever to do it but i am still going to give it a shot.

The new place is treating me well except for one neighbor who likes to play his hard metal music into the night, but other than that its great. My days basically consist of getting up, going to physical therapy, going to practice, grabbing some food, going back to practice, maybe getting in a few games of ping pong with Paul and then heading home to get dinner and rest up for the next day. Being down here really has put into perspective how much time i was losing training in Seattle and then also working close to 40 hours a week, i don't know how i ever did it. I really feel that in the end even if i don't make a team it was worth the chance to come down here and give it my all.

The weather is supposed to get nicer as the week finishes and me and Jack plan on hitting the workouts hard to get ready for the decathlon in 3 weeks. I am sorry that i have no pictures to post this week as i am on Mary' computer while babysitting the kid :) I hope all is well and look forward to keeping you updated in the coming weeks with more pics!

2 Post, 2 Days

Thought i would put some more pictures up for all who want to see. Its another great day here in SLO Town, i helped Nell move into her new place this morning and now just hanging out at the Hoyt residence. We plan on going to the beach soon for a little jog and then hitting the surf, enjoy the pics!

Here is the first video of Vanessa dancing to some guitar playing:

Here is me and the kid having some breaky:

Twins:

Second Week..... and then some

So its been a while since i have last posted and reading the last post i thought i should make a quick note to replace all "defiantly" found in previous post with "definitely," and also send a quick thank you to my proof reader Mary Hoyt ;).

Many things have happened since i wrote last so i will do my best to remember all the goings on. The most important change is that i have finally moved out of the Hoyt hotel and into my own place!! and i absolutely love it. I have been so blessed to stay with Jack and Mary and Vanessa for the past two weeks, i ate their food, i abused their laundry machine, i put a Gatorade stain on their guest bed, and did i mention i ate their food? And through it all they have been nothing but 100% supportive of everything i am doing.

Surfing has been put on the back burner as i was searching for a place and working on keeping my hamstring healthy so i can get back to full sprint training. I moved into the new place last Sunday, everything in the truck and then multiple additions from the Hoyt garage have really made it something amazing. What a family to house me and feed me and then also give me furniture. The great thing about the new place is that it is so close to grocery stores and shops and only about a half a mile away from Grover Beach. Like my old place in Seattle i can walk or bike to get food but unlike the one in Seattle i can also see the ocean down the end of my street. The rent is the same and the place is almost twice as big. The only down side is it makes about a 20 min drive into SLO to practice, which means more of the big truck sucking gas, but in reality i really don't mind, cause we all know that i love my truck.

Finally moved in and getting settled i am starting to feel like California is becoming my new home, even though i still feel like i am on vacation every day. Talking to Mary, she still feels like they are on vacation down here and they have been here for 3 years! I guess i wont lose that feeling, which is just fine with me.

The weather has been perfect, we had one rainy Seattle day on Saturday but it was quickly followed with some sun and 70 degree weather. I only wish i was at 100% training so i could take full advantage of it. But i am still having hamstring problems so on the bike i stay. My throwing practices have been going great but its the sprinting that suffers but with Jack's reassurance that there is plenty of time, i ride myself to death on the bike and try to make the best of things. Paul Terek, the gracious man that he is has put me in touch with his chiropractor who is starting to do work on me. He first looked at me on Wednesday and with wide eyes he told me how out of place my hips were and as a result my hamstring has locked itself into position, he cracked me every which way and Thursdays workout felt better but then it began to recede back to the old tight feeling. I see him again this evening and i am hoping to see him 3 times a week in order to get this thing straightened out. But with no insurance and tight budget we might be working something out so i don't take on a huge bill. Without Paul Terek where in the world would i be.

Well i think that is all that i have to update on, i would like to post every week but i need to find a place that has Internet which i am pirating now of the Hoyt residence so i hope it wont be long till i post next. Every one i talk to about the blog says post more pictures! So here you go!

Here are some of the new place:

The next one actually leads into the garage which is split in half by a bamboo curtain and the one half that is carpet has been dubed the "Lounge"

More pics to come i gotta go to practice!

First Week

Well the first week has come and gone and what a change it has been. I would like to think that it would all be easy but sometimes a transition like this can take its toll.

To start out with it has been such a beautiful week here in San Luis. Temperatures were in the 70's all week and sunny. The training weather is absolutely ridiculous, i cant believe that i have been missing out on it. I actually had a really good week of training, all except for Monday. The reason for that was surfing on Sunday. I fell of my board and then got tossed by a wave when i came to the surface another wave was coming and the board slammed right into my right hip bone which left a pretty nasty bruise........ tennis ball size if you can imagine that. So in short Mondays hard sprinting and hurdle work was out of the question. Monday was a very frustrating day as it was the start of the first week and i wanted to do this thing right and i was already sidelined because i like to go surfing when not training. Sitting out in the sun made me think that i have to keep these priorities straight, training first then surfing if you get the time...... its sad that neither of them are paying the bills, i wish.

The rest of the week went really well, good hard running and sunny weather, it doesn't get much better than that. I was really feeling confident as the week went on and that was encouraging. i was down at UCLA this weekend and ran the 400m threw javelin and discus. Needles to say it wasn't good at all. It was disappointing but i know that it could just be the transition of everything i am doing and i need to take that all into account. I cant expect to be my best the first week i get down here, and in fact i wouldn't like to be my best the first week anyways because where would that put me for June and the trials.

Good practices and bad meets aside i do love it down here. I am getting a little stressed about not having a place yet (this needs to happen real soon) i really feel like that would help me feel like i could settle down. But the fact of the matter is i am here and i am doing what i want to do, even if it feels like sometimes i am not that good at it. If you are reading please keep the prayers coming because i defiantly need them. I am excited for this next week to hit another hard week of training and then two weeks from now Cal Poly is holding their own track meet so i will defiantly be competing in that. Take a look at some of the pics, couple of the surfing ones are great. The one with Jack on the Surfboard is the best!

The next one is of me and then one of Nell riding some (well modestly small) waves

I think the black and white looks super cool, i will post next week to tell you how i am doing, until then thanks for the prayers and be sure to keep em in coming, randoc out!

The Long Haul

Well I made it, Seattle Washington to San Luis Obispo 1,019 miles and 16 hours. Nell and i left at around 3:00PM on Wednesday afternoon after getting everything packed. We arrived in Portland Oregon to see Amy and Chris and their three sons Evan, Caden, and the newborn Brennan who was only a month old. It was great to see family again and play a little guitar hero, which i am terrible at, and eat some real good homemade waffles (with peanut butter of course).

We decided that we would leave around 8:00 in the morning and make the rest of the trip that day. 13 hours later, dehydrated from too much coffee and stiff as all getup we made it to San Luis around 9:15 PM. I am surprised neither Nell or i got a ticket cause we were driving 80 the whole way. I am staying with Jack and Mary and there one year old Vanessa the miracle baby until i can find a place for myself (which believe me is harder than it looks). I went and visited a few places but they are all pretty trashy, but i guess that's the life of a jobless decathlete who doesn't have much to spend on rent.

Surprising enough as you can see from the pictures, everything that i owned except for a few things that i sold to the track shed fit in the truck. On a side note i absolutely love my truck! Piled down with everything from a giant tv to pole vault poles, it sucked gasoline like there was no tomorrow, but i loved every minute of driving it. The truck has been something that i have always wanted, a big Chevy Silverado!

So its been a couple days down here and it still really hasn't hit me yet that everything i own is here and now i live here. I am sure after i get settled into my own place i will realize just what a big deal this is. Yesterday i just did a little warm up on the track and some hurdles and that's it, while today Jack had me do a 500, 300, 200 at pretty fast pace. It didn't feel too good but i think the mental and physical part of the travel are taking its toll. Its been great to have Paul Terek as a training partner, he is teaching me a lot and is very gracious from getting me a few days free at the Kennedy club to a new wetsuit to surf in (which i tried today). I watched the sun set out on the ocean tonight as i sat on surfboard in pismo beach, what a life.

This next week will be a real transition week for me as i start really getting on a training schedule and hitting things pretty hard.

This transition has been tough for me but i couldn't have done it without all the people who have helped me and supported me through this big change. Between the prayers, gift cards, gas cards, emails, and letters, its easy to think that i am the luckiest guy on the planet. So thank you, thank all of you for supporting me through this time. This decison was the hardest one i have ever made but i know that i am doing the right thing i am excited to take the leap and see where i land, i have a feeling its going to be good. I am hoping to write on this once a week or so with some pictures of what i am doing. For now you can all gravel over my truck and also laugh about how ridiculous it looked while driving down. Don't forget randoincali.blogspot.com, however you want to say it ran doin cali or rando in cali, they both work for me, surfs up!