Feeling Good

[Bianca Kappler]

Despite the long waits between throws, untrained officials, and the general disorganization which are common at local Senior Olympics competitions, I managed personal records in 2 of the three events I was in, and missed a third by 1 inch.

Most satisfying was the PR I set in discus. All of the events were 3-attempt competitions so I knew I had to make all throws good ones if at all possible. As it turns out I launched my first attempt 134' 11" (41.12 m) for a PR improvement of 6' 4". I didn't write down the other two results, but the second one was 128-something, and the third try was 121-something. All are fairly respectable, but the first one is more in line with what I've been doing in practice lately and it felt good to finally make it happen in a competition. It's especially satisfying when you consider how early in the season it is, and also that this mark stands a pretty good chance of placing me in the top 25 for the country at the end of the year. (Of course, my plans are that this will NOT be my best mark of the season.)

Although it was a PR, my 107' 8" javelin throw was still disappointing, and well short of where I feel that I ought to be. I won't feel good about javelin until I'm throwing up around 125'. Lot's of work to do here.

"Ditto" for shot put. I threw 33' 11", which is 1" short of my PR, but it's so anemic when compared to other throwers that it's hard to get too excited about it. My consistency is much better than in previous years and that usually means that a breakthrough is right around the corner (like what just happened to me in discus).

Just three weeks until the next meet. I'm going to have to train really hard if I want to keep those PR's coming.