Strategic Slacking

I eased off of my training regimen recently, partly just to recharge the old “batteries” at the mid-point of the competitive season (and in advance of some of the bigger meets), but also partly because of a bout of really bad hay fever allergies. Now that I’m starting back with my normal routine I don’t think I lost much in the way of strength or technique, but I now feel really mentally rested and ready to attack the remainder of the season. As much as I hated to do it, in that it felt a whole lot like slacking off, I think it was probably a smart move on my part.

The next meet should be a good one for a number of reasons. One reason is that it will be my first Weight Pentathlon competition for the year, and unless I go to Montana for the National Championship meet later this summer, it may be my only Weight Pentathlon of the year. Too bad they aren’t held more frequently. You would think that any meet in which the 5 events are already being contested would go ahead and score for the Weight Pentathlon, but that’s just not the case.

Another reason this meet should be a good one is that the folks who conduct it do a really good job. They get a quality venue, they know how to run a meet, and in return their meets are usually well attended. While I’m on the subject of attendance, I’ve been missing a couple of the guys I’ve been throwing with and against for the last 3 years. One of them I’ve only seen at the first meet of the season, and the other I haven’t seen at all. The upcoming meet is close to where they live, so if they aren’t at this one then something is definitely “up”. If that’s the case, hopefully it’s nothing bad.

I’ve been seeing some hints of improvement in both Discus and Hammer recently. That’s good, because although I’ve slipped to an 8th place ranking in Discus I’m still holding on to 4th in Hammer, but there’s just no way I’ll maintain those rankings with my current throws.

I’ve just about given up on the glide technique in Shot Put. I now work almost exclusively on the spin in practice. Even though I can still throw farther with the glide I think the spin will ultimately produce for me. It’s just a matter of how long it will take to figure out the technique. I’ll just keep after it, and if it’s not ready by meet-time I’ll revert to the glide for the competition and then go back to practicing the spin until I nail it down.

Javelin is…well, Javelin continues to be an enigma. I’ve changed my grip, and I’m really concentrating on improving my technique, but I’ve yet to see much in the way of longer throws. One would think that with as many random throws as I’ve taken at least one would have accidentally been a good one. But noooo…Very frustrating!