Jumping Journal: December 28, 2005

What a contrast in comparison.  I should have expected it and I did to a certain extent.  See when you know how your mind reacts to different circumstances you know pretty much what to expect when you think certain thoughts.

 

The last few days/last week I've been debating doing something that I knew my mind would not like me doing.  Last nights crashes didn't come as much of a surprise as a result.  Today I found myself aggrevated enough that I was seriously considering using my technique for eliminating the psychological barriers that have been kicking my butt ever since I started jumping.  Whenever you threaten to 'destroy' the mind it will do anything it can to keep you from doing it any harm, even if what you are planning on doing is for your own good.  The mind doesn't like to be changed.

 

Tonight I spent the evening jumping on the 50.  Definitely the mind games were at it again.  This time in just the exact opposite way as last night.  I had decided earlier in the day that if the mind wanted to try to 'destroy' me that I was going to destroy it.  I go up for the first jump.  I head down the inrun, smooth as butter.  It is the best conditions I've seen on the inrun ever.  This truly seemed like mid winter conditions...rare mid winter conditions.  It was about as good as it can get.  I hit the takeoff and get into the air.  I notice right off the bat that this is one heck of a sweet jump.  I hold the position solidly, no extra arm movement or anything.  Smooth in-flight position.  I land and go through the transition and on out into the outrun.  Great first jump.

 

As I take off my skis, I'm laughing cause I know that mind games are massively full in force.  Tonight they are just doing the exact opposite as last night.  Instead of the mind trying to fight me, like last night, it is instead trying to survive itself by allowing to me jump, and jump at my best.

 

I head up for the second jump.  Again, nice inrun position, quite relaxed, more so than normal.  I hit the takeoff and once again I know I'm in for a real nice flight.  It was one of the longest jumps I've had in a couple of years.  I land and then I hit the transition.  It goes okay but I end up losing it shortly thereafter.  I go down shortly after crossing the fall line.  I get up and laugh again.  I know the mind is trying to fight me from both sides of the equation, it is both trying to survive while trying to destroy me.

 

The third and fourth jumps get even better.  Definitely the best jumps off the 50.  On the fifth jump one of the kids was complaining because I'm keeping my head too high on the inrun.  So I drop it and end up jumping late and the jump definitely wasn't as nice as the previous four by any means.

 

The sixth jump I raise the head back up slightly but I still jump late.  Both the fifth and sixth jumps were not as good as either of the previous four.  I head up for the seventh jump and decide to keep the head up a little bit more.  This time I had much better timing and a much better jump.  From what I was told it was the best of the night, of the season, and ever.  I didn't notice the jump as much as I did the first four.

 

One big problem I have had ever since I started jumping has been keeping the head up in the air.  I always seem to bury my head so I'm looking at my feet instead of looking to where I want to land.  The first four jumps tonight seemed like I had the head up on both the inrun and in the air.  I was noticing much more of the in-flight part of the jump than normal.  On the seventh jump I didn't notice it quite as much.  I couldn't even tell you where I landed on jump seven.  The first four jumps I pretty much knew right where I landed.

 

For now the weather isn't sounding very good for the next couple of days.  They are calling for anything from rain, sleet, snow, and freezing rain as well as warm temps.  I hope they are wrong.  I would love it if the conditions that were around tonight would stick around for the rest of the season, FAT CHANCE!  This may very well have been the last day I'll jump this year.  Oh well, 2006 is just around the corner.

 

Crash

 

 

Jumping Journal: December 27, 2005

Definitely not the night I had planned by any means.  I guess this week appears that it is going to be pretty much that way.  Instead of the ususal Monday evening jumping yesterday, I spent the afternoon shoveling off the 25 meter landing hill before the cold weather set back in overnight.  You could kinda say someone left the gun on too long in one place, quite a few times while making snow on the landing hill.  Everything was very soft thanks to the warm temps and the light rain that we had gotten.  Fortunately, the warm conditions did help to make the job much quicker and easier than what it would have been otherwise.

 

Temps cooled down very nicely overnight and never did get above freezing all day long today.  Cannonball spent a good deal of time on the 50 yesterday while I was on the 25.  He raked out the track to set a better track that would hopefully send everyone more down the center of the landing hill/outrun versus having everyone more off to the right like it had been last week.

 

I got to the hill and helped with the final preps before they cut the new track.  It was by far in mid-season shape.  Seeing the hill that nice, this early in the season, is a little scary.

 

Everyone took an outrun, mine didn't turn out so well.  My mind was playing tricks on me from the very beginning and it never let up once.  I crashed on the outrun.

 

I went up for the first jump and to say my inrun position was tricked out by the mind would be an understatement.  Their was no reason for my inrun to be so screwed up but it was.  I know it was the mind fighting me.  I jumped and everything went fine until the transition as usual.  It bit me again, and down I went.

 

I headed back up for another jump and this time the inrun was better, but the results were the same.  I ended up crashing the second jump as well.  I looked at what I knew was going on and decided to pull the plug on the evening right there and call it quits.

 

There was nothing wrong with the jump whatsoever.  Like I said, mid-season conditions.  It was just my mind fighting my body.  I am getting very sick of this same ole same ole scenario.  It's SO predictable.

 

Crash