Three Keys

I thought I might try to squeeze in one more meet this season and try to nail one last big throw, but it’s looking like neither of those two things is going to happen. One of the meets is out in West Texas and would involve about $300 in airfare and car rental. The other one was to have been within driving distance, but I haven’t heard anything more about that one. At this point it’s hard to say whether it will even take place. Both involved competing with collegians, so they would have been humbling to say the least.

Maybe it’s just as well that my season is over. My training has slowed quite a bit during the holidays and my performances show it. It’s probably better just to wait for next March and the start of a new season, rather than end this year on a sour note.

In order to make next year a good one I’m really going to have to improve. I’m learning that at my age I need to get better from one year to the next just to stay the same, if that makes any sense. I think that with the right work though, I can start next season with about the same strength levels as last year, and hopefully some improved quickness and technique. So that the not-so-secret secret to success next season – work on strength, quickness, and technique.

Getting Ready for 2007

Goal-setting is an interesting exercise. If you set your goals really low, I suppose you could say you are successful when you achieve them. But are you really? And if you set them too high you might as well call them “dreams”, because you’re never going to reach them. It would seem that somewhere in-between, there is a happy median that pushes you to be much better than you are, while still providing a realistic shot at achieving them.

I fell short of my 2006 goal of 140’ in discus by 5’ 1”, but I don’t think it was an unrealistic goal. This is because I regularly threw 140’ during practice. So my “failure” wasn’t so much one of ability, as it was one of consistency. Back when I set my 2006 goal I also set a 2007 goal of 150’. Because I had such a good chance of making this year’s goal, and because I actually had one practice throw this year over 150’, I’m going to stick with 150’ as my 2007 discus goal. I’ve just got a feeling that I have some 150’ throws in me waiting to get out. I’m going to need to get a bit stronger in the off-season in order to do it, but I think there is a good chance I can get there.

Prior to this season I set goals for the Hammer Throw for 2006 and 2007 at 150’ and 160’, respectively. Unlike discus however, I missed my 2006 Hammer goal by a wide margin (over 21’), and never even came close to reaching it in practice. Should I go back and revise my 2007 goal downward? I probably would if I were a seasoned hammer thrower, but I am so new at Hammer that I believe I can still make the big gains you often see when people first begin learning an event. The other reason I’m not willing to revise my goal downward is that I just did not give the event very much practice time at all this year. Now that I’ve given up Shot Put and Javelin I’ll have more time (and energy) for Hammer practice, I think 160’ can definitely happen.

So now I need to identify specific things that are standing between me and these goals, and develop plans for overcoming each of them. So next time I’ll be developing a training plan.

Ya Gotta Love It

What can you say about a season in which you PR’d in 4 of your 5 events? Well…there’s always room for improvement, and there were some disappointments along the way, but I think the answer to that question has to be, “I’ll take it!”

My Discus Throw season was probably the most satisfying, because after 4 years of throwing I can’t really expect the big gains that are typical for beginners. Still, I managed a season average distance that was within inches (6.5 inches, to be exact) of last year’s PR. And I exceeded that PR in 6 of my 11 competitions. One of my goals for the season was improved consistency, and it definitely looks like I made it. Add to that a new PR by 6’ 5”, and you’ve got one happy “plate chucker”.

Hammer Throw was also encouraging. Here I am a beginner, and was able to improve my PR by over 22 feet. That sounds like a lot, but it’s probably not that uncommon for “newbies”. My inexperience really showed in this event too, because in addition to that nice PR I also had some extremely bad performances.

Weight Throw? I should have done a lot better, but what do you expect from an event that you never practice? That will definitely change in the off-season, as I intend to practice the Weight quite a bit in order to improve my Hammer throwing.

There isn't much to say about Shot Put and Javelin except that it was nice to improve my PRs in both of them, but my careers with the “heavy ball” and the “spear” are over. Adios – it was nice knowin ya – but the old rotator cuff can’t deal with you any longer.

So, pending any late season heroics by others, I might finish the year ranked in the bottom half of the top 25 in Discus, Hammer, and Weight. I’m currently ranked 22nd in Discus, so I could easily be bumped from that list, but I think it’s pretty safe that I’ll be on the other 2 when they are finalized. Next year, I hope the season summary will have me ranked in the top half of the top 25 in all three.

Next up – Goal setting for 2007.