After last track season and a disappointing National meet I began to search for a new training location. The University of Washington has been an amazing place to train. I love working with Reedus Thurmond, the coaching staff at UW and using the Dempsey indoor facility no matter what the weather had to offer. I have been training in Seattle for the last 8.5 years. The search began with phone calls and handshakes. I spoke with Mac Wilkins about training in Portland, I spoke with John Godina about training at the world throws center in Arizona, and I tossed around the idea of training with Brooks Johnson in Florida. These were all good options but none of them compared to the location we (Kate and I) chose. Auburn, Alabama with coach Jerry Clayton.

In over 25 years of Division I coaching, Clayton’s tutelage has produced 14 NCAA individual champions, 34 international team competitors and 19 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifiers. He has also mentored 69 NCAA All-American honorees, 110 individual conference champions (30 SEC individual champions) and 134 NCAA championship qualifiers during his coaching tenure. Clayton-coached athletes have won NCAA titles in seven of nine field events, while boasting All-America honors in every field events.

Kate and I spent 10 days in Alabama. I trained with Coach Jerry Clayton and Aretha Thurmond while Kate built connections with personal trainers and gym owners in the area. We are nervous about the move but I am extremely confident in our choice. I will be training hard with a group of elite athletes who have Olympic and world championship experience while Kate rebuilds her personal training clientele.

We will be leaving for Auburn, Alabama on January 11th 2010. Our plan is to rent a trailer and tow it behind our car. We have arranged a place to live when we arrive and we will immediately begin searching for a source of income. If you or your family believe in our dream to represent the USA at the 2012 olympic games in London please view the Donate page. Please contact me about the opportunity to become a $25 monthly donor.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 24th, 2009 at 8:47 pm and is filed under News, Training Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.