If I Had a Hammer...

My Hammer throwing has completely deserted me. At today’s meet I had some decent warm-up throws, and then opened with 2 fouls. My third and final throw was an off-balance “safety” which went nowhere. (Almost literally.) To make matters worse, I re-injured an old calf strain in the process. Having opened with such a lame attempt I knew early in the day that my Weight Pentathlon dreams were over for the day, and likely for the season. Two weeks until Nationals, and I’ve suddenly got a bum leg and no Hammer technique. This is not good.

I limped through the shot put and performed as I usually do, which was about a foot below my goal for the day. I’ve done worse, but the guys I compete against would commit suicide on the spot if they had posted the number that I threw. To make matters worse, the one and only guy that I normally can beat in Shot Put wasn’t at this meet, so I got a big last place.

Discus went a little better. I didn’t make my meet goal here either, but I threw respectably considering my calf problem. I hit 39.91m (130’ 11”) which turns out to be my second best throw ever, and second only to the new PR I threw way back in April. Another bright note on discus was that with the exception of my one foul, the remaining 5 attempts were in a very tight pattern – I would bet that they all landed within a 1 meter circle.

Next up? Rest, rehab the leg, and try to remember how to throw the hammer. I’ve got 13 days to get this done.