It’s crazy when you have an injury, but you don’t know how you did it, what caused it, and how to fix it. Now I know some of you reading this would say how is this possible? Well welcome to my world. I have had radiation and pain shooting down my leg for over 2 weeks now and I do not have a pinched nerve or bulging disk to justify the pain. I’m just a human puzzle trying to be put back together. I have been going to my Chiropractor Dr. Jonathan Haigh http://www.back2healthinc.com/ he has gotten me back to a functional position with minimized pain and we are now working on getting back to being able to train hopefully this wont take too much longer.

written by lamontdagen

As an athlete we deal with sacrifice as I stated in my last post the other thing that we deal with is injuries. Now I have been “on the shelf” since last indoor season trying to get things back in order. Things have been going great until today. I have been running and jumping well and 2 days ago I ran some of the fastest times I’ve every run in a 30m. I cooled down and everything was fine until I got out of my car. When I got out of my car my whole right leg went numb and I didn’t know what to think. I thought I was just sitting in my car funny, but that wasn’t the case. I jumped in the whirlpool and tried to heat and ice my back and the pain got worse. I tried to go to work the next day only to be forced to take a half day. The pain was too much, I was thinking the worse like I pinched nerve or a bulging disk, but neither were the case. I have lived most of my life as an athlete and I have never been able to figure out the ”complex” injuries hopefully we will figure this out soon.

written by lamontdagen

The one thing that people fail to realized about athletes, especially track athletes, is the amount of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice that we as athletes put into achieving a goal. A goal in track and field, unless you are a sprinter or distance runner, will not be that beneficial or financially lucrative. For some that goal can vary from being a National, World, or even an Olympic Champion, some would just want to make a team, any team. The time that is put in to achieve these goals are endless, separating some from family friends, sometimes with little or no time for a social life. Some athletes, including myself chase our dreams with no real financial backing or support. Waiting for that one opportunity or big break/PR to find a sponsor or make a team. Not only that, but lets not forget the numerous bills that non-sponsored athletes accrue for maintenance on their bodies or health care could amount to making just enough money to get by once bills are paid. Some would ask, WHY? And FOR WHAT? But they would never understand the passion for something that one loves. Goals as a person moves on in their career and get older sometime can seem more and more like an eternity away, but when you’ve been so close that keeps you going until you can’t go anymore. I’ve made sacrifices in/for this sport and I’m sure I will do it again. Will I accomplish my goals or help someone else accomplish theirs in the process? Only time will tell, but I guess either way it would all depend on the sacrifice.

written by lamontdagen

Well time flies when you having fun or in my case trying to get ready for a season. In the process you turn another year older (today) and things that once was easy take time to do……….. Ok will maybe it’s not that bad and I just wanted to have my own little pity party on my birthday, but it was a task getting back into the groove of things. I will say this though I have been getting back quicker than I have before and maybe that was due to the time off. My body is feeling good right now and I am ready to see what things will look like when I start jumping again. I know that will probably start off as a train wreck, but soon that will get on track too. Well with it being my birthday I will enjoy this day off and I will get back to work tomorrow and who knows the way I’m feeling I might just workout today too. I got to make up for lost time.

written by lamontdagen

On the second day of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, my HPC teammate Brandon Roulhac just missed making it to the finals Brandon was the 13^th qualifier in the competition and the top 12 made it to the finals. I know this had to be disappointing after winning the London Golden League meet and beating the Olympic Silver medalist Philips Idowu in his home country. I wish you the best on the remainder of the season Brandon and better outcomes for the upcoming meets.

I know seeing that and the performances you have put up this season have motivated me to get ready and be ready for next season. Lord willing I’ll be there and ready.

written by lamontdagen

Today I had an opportunity to work with a young man who is an up and comer in the triple jump and in his first full year competing he became a state champion. Jonathan Gardner. The reason why I’m writing about this young man is not because he’s a state champion; it’s because of the hunger he shows to want to become a better triple jumper and the route he took to get in touch with me. Jonathan had some people close to me who he could have asked to contact me to work with him, but he didn’t use or ask them he did it on his own. He contacted me through this website and through communication between he and his father, they came to Kenosha to for a session with me.

Now why is all of this special to me you ask? Well as a coach it would be great to have him as an athlete he’s an extremely talented young man with a major upside. He’s jumped 47’11” with no real coaching from a jumps perspective, a jumps coaches dream, but my mission that day wasn’t to recruit this day, but to teach. This young man was a sponge and working with him allowed me to see that I was doing things right as coach, but not only that to become a mentor to this young man and assist in his growth as an athlete allows the knowledge I’ve been taught over the years to continue on. Eager to learn and wanting to know more, I wish there were more athletes that I could coach like this young man.  Jonathan I wish you all of the best this upcoming season and you know how to contact me if you need me. God Bless.

written by lamontdagen

It was a bitter sweet moment for my HPC teammates today in the triple jump at the USA Outdoor Championships. Bitter because from what I heard due to some technicalities or what I will call a pencil whipping, Alonzo Moore did not make the finals when he should have because his best mark was misconstrued by the person writing the marks down and did not match what was shown on the board for the crowd to see. Sweet because Brandon Roulhac my other teammate and USA Indoor Champion won the Outdoor Championship in the triple jump with a slightly wind-aided PR of 17.44m/57’2” qualifying him for the World Championships in Berlin. Congrats to you both although I know that’s a tough pill to swallow Zo.

Along with that my former teammate James Jenkins also placed 3^rd in the event with a new PR of a slightly wind-aided 16.79/55’1” Congrats to you as well James.

written by lamontdagen

Hey all, I was a little stressed and disappointed that I wasn’t able to compete at the USA Outdoor Championships this weekend. My strained QL and not wanting to rush back too soon because of injury didn’t allow me to compete, but I have 2 HPC teammates that have qualified for the Championships and should be able to have a major impact in the event they are competing in. Brandon Roulhac and Alonzo Moore will both be competing in the triple jump and if things go well we should have some good news to report as a team, but the end of the weekend. I’ll keep you all posted good luck fellas.

written by lamontdagen

Well I got into the chiropractor today (at this time it’s late March) and after a series of adjustments and muscle test heard the news I didn’t want to here. I would be out 3-4 weeks with a strained QL and an out of line L3 L4. WOW!!! this is nuts I just thought it was something minor. Just when I was getting back into the groove of things. I don’t know if salvaging the season is even possible at this point. By the time I get clearance it will be 6-7 weeks before USA’s and I’m not sure it is worth it. Who knows what’s gonna happen yet, I guess only time will tell. Stay tuned.

written by lamontdagen

In the process of trying to get ready for the outdoor season. I went back to base training to make sure I had things in order strength and speed wise. I have been doing things better  than expected and in a short amount of time, I guess my veteran experience has taken over and my body is back in tune with what I want to do, or so I thought. 

Just when things were going good I decided to take a “active rest” day and play a simple game of horse. No dunking or reckless layups  just shooting long range jumpers, some even at half court. I went up for a rebound after one of the guys missed and felt a twinge in my back. I thought nothing of it cause I was still moving normal. I left the track and decided to go home and ice my back because I felt it start to tighten up. After icing it I tried to get off of the floor and couldn’t get up. I felt like that commercial, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up, the only thing is I didn’t fall. I had to have my wife help me off the floor. I couldn’t touch my toes and at that point I didn’t know what was wrong, but I called the chiropractor immediately to see if I could get in the following day. Why me why now. Lets see what the chiro says.

written by lamontdagen