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!