I am making one of the biggest decisions of my life this week and making one of the biggest changes to my training. A couple weeks ago I was notified I was accepted into the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California (near San Diego) and I am choosing to make the move!

At the end of the 2014 season my coach (Christina Scherwin) let me know that she and her husband (Mark Fletcher) were moving to Connecticut to be closer to their families. I was unbelievably happy for her and her family, but I was instantly faced with a huge cross road in my athletic career.

I was incredibly fortunate to have the best coach in the nation while at the University of Oregon. She coached myself to 83.16m, Rachel Yurkovich to 60.11m and Sam Crouser to 80.80m while she was at Oregon. After college was over I chose to stay in Eugene because of her, but now that she is leaving I had to find the next best thing that could help me get better.

Eugene has been great to me. University of Oregon really helped me develop as an athlete after I graduated I was still able to use the facilities. Soon after graduating I was able to throw for the Oregon Track Club Elite and get a job at the University of Oregon and later at TrackTown USA. If it wasn’t for Eugene I would never have been able to continue to keep competing.

But how do I go forward and compete at a higher level without being able to see my coach every day?

The best thing for me is to go somewhere that I have freedom to train as much as I want, a place that has great conditions year around (especially important for field events), a place where I have training partners, a place that helps me financially, and a place that has medical trainers on standby, anytime I need them.

I looked around the nation in hopes to find a club team that could support me, but the one that struck me as the best situation was the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.

I had visited there a few times in the past and their facilities are great. Great track, a huge throwing area, they have tons of world class throwers there (Olympic javelin teammates Sean Furey and Craig Kinsley are training there), they have a medical staff there full time, free food, and free place to stay.

I know I only have 2-3 more years left in the sport. So I figure why not go all in? I love the sport and I never want to look back at my life and say I wish I would have done something more. As I see it, this is the biggest and best thing I can do for myself. There is nothing more I can do.

So the last couple weeks I have been packing like crazy. I have been living in Eugene since 2006 and I am a builder/tinkerer so I have accumulated a lot of stuff. You would be surprised home many tools, clothes, shoes, electronics I have. I think I even surprised myself.

I head out Tuesday morning at 5am for about an 18-19 hour drive in a 14 foot U-Haul with a toe dolly pulling my 1996 Honda Civic. I am trying to make it a straight shot in one day, so your prayers would all be appreciated.

While the scenery is changing there are some variables that will always stay constant. Javelin will always weight 800g and I still need to train my butt off!

I am super excited for the move but also super bummed to be leaving such good people in Oregon. But I know I will see them again, I will always be back, and I think your true friends stay your friends no matter where you live.

#TrainBIG