Agony and Ecstasy

I finished my last pre-meet practice yesterday, so now I have 2 days of down time to heal up a little. The grind of training gradually drains some of the “pop” from my arms and legs, and 2 days of rest will let me recover some of it. For a bigger meet I would have probably taken off 3 days or more, but then this is just a tune-up meet.

Even though I’m calling this a tune-up meet I would still like to throw well. 140’ would be awesome. But a sub-140’ PR (135’ or longer) would be very welcome, and based on my recent practices 135’-140’ should be just about all I can realistically hope for. At this point in the season though, anything over 40.50 meters (132’ 10”) would be acceptable too. However…if I don’t throw over 40 meters I’m going to be really pissed. God only knows why, because I’ve only thrown 40 meters or better twice before in competition. I guess that’s the way it goes with rising expectations. Of course if there is a tailwind at the meet then all bets are off. Interestingly, the difference between agony and ecstasy for me is less than 9 feet.

On Monday I threw the 2k just beyond the jogging shoe that I had placed on the 120’ line, but I couldn’t find a mark to measure. (It was a rubber discus and a hard, dry field.) I guess I’ll go ahead and count that as a 120’ throw even though it went a little further. So how does one throw a 2k 120’, while only managing 135’ with the 1.5k? It would appear that a lack of foot speed is limiting me more than a lack of strength. I’ll need to work on that.

The forecast calls for a 50% chance of rain in Austin this weekend. If it rains I’ll probably skip the Hammer and Weight throws. I can throw Discus from a wet ring without any worries, but Hammer and Weight are a different story. On about half of my throws I find myself off-balance at some point during my three turns, which requires some heavy-footed recovery action. This just doesn’t mix well with a slippery surface, and I would rather DNT than wind up getting injured at the first meet of the year. Someday my technique will improve to the point that I am rarely off-balance and I can throw Hammer from a wet ring, but I’m not there yet.

P.S. The only time I’ve touched my throwing weight since last season was when I had to take it out of my trunk to change a tire. THAT will be an interesting event this weekend!

Time for a Change

It’s just over a week until the season officially begins and my discus distances are down about a meter from last year. This is not good news in a year in which I wanted to see a 4.6m improvement. Maybe the decline is the result of the spotty training I’ve been able to get in due to weather, job, family, etc. Maybe it’s just a matter of too many birthdays, and I’ve begun that inevitable downward slide. Or maybe it’s because the changes I’ve made in my weight training during the off-season were bad ones. For now, I’m voting for the last excuse, so I’m immediately going to go back to the weight regimen I used last season. There’s not enough time to see any improvement for the up-coming meet, but meets continue all the way through the summer. If I start now I should see some effects (hopefully benefits) in time for some of the USATF sanctioned meets later on in the year.

Yesterday’s training session went pretty well. My discus throws were very consistent…just consistently short of where I want to be. Hammer showed some improvement. It really felt as if I was pushing the ball, and my throws were landing in the center of the sector instead of on the right sector line. I’m able to rotate a lot faster than my footwork is able to keep up with, so additional more work in that area should produce some improvements.

This 'n That

I had a good practice yesterday. The winds were calm, so they didn’t affect things one way or the other and that was an improvement over what I’ve been experiencing lately. I had several throws beyond my competition PR (~135’), but unfortunately none went beyond 140’. My consistency was really good so I feel pretty confident that 140’ will come soon, given a little more training and a decent wind. The problem is that I want to throw 150’. Who knows, maybe my new super-duper discus will be good for an extra meter or two.

Not that it matters much, but I’m getting a little more proficient with the 2k implement. I’m regularly throwing 115’ or beyond, but I’m not yet putting much of a scare into the 120’ line. I think the 2k work is helping my 1.5k performance though. I also think I’ll be able to go over 120’ with the 2k sometime this season.

Hammer is a big question mark. I sprained my foot a few weeks ago throwing hammer, and every time it appears to be improving I re-injure it. I did it again yesterday. I hope this isn’t one of those things that dogs me all season long.

The first meet is just 23 days away, which means I have only two weekend practices left before “show time”, and I haven’t thrown the 25# weight since last Fall. That’s a little concerning, given that I’m competing in it in just 3 weeks. The Weight Throw should really give my sore foot a run for its money. To practice and risk more injury, or not to practice and risk total embarrassment, that is the question.

Due to a last minute schedule change the second meet of the season is the day after the first meet, but I’ll only be throwing discus at that meet. Still, I expect to be a little sore and tired from the previous day so we’ll just have to see how that plays out. And to think that just last year I swore off ever again competing in meets on consecutive weekends…and here I am set to compete on consecutive days.

An Ill Wind

I’m trying not to get too discouraged here, but I’ve been practicing fairly regularly lately and I have absolutely no idea how far I’m throwing. You see, in the winter months the prevailing wind in South Texas is out of the North, which means that my practice area has been getting pretty strong and consistent tailwinds for the last several weeks. So while I know how far I’m throwing in these conditions, I have no idea if I’m better or worse than last year under “normal” conditions. Kind of frustrating.

I still haven’t thrown my new discus. It’s just too damn pretty. I’ll probably take one or two throws with it right before the first meet, and from then on I’ll probably only bring it out for competitions.

Hammer practice went a little better today. My footwork is finally coming back to the point that today I was throwing just about where I was last season. From here on hopefully I will see only improvements. I think all the work I’ve been doing to strengthen my legs for Discus may actually result in bigger gains in Hammer. It’s weird how this stuff works sometimes.

There was an interesting development in the Shot Put world this weekend. The Slovakian, Mikulas Konopka threw 21.57m to win the European indoor championships. He had 5 throws over 21m, and one long foul. But the really interesting part is that the guy “only” weights 240lbs. In an event in which the world leaders often top 300lbs. There’s hope for us skinny guys yet! (He can probably bench press a bus though.)