Win-Win and Wind

I always say that the secret to winning track meets is to go to meets where there’s nobody better than you are. That’s what happened today. There were only 3 competitors in my age group in Discus, so everyone was guaranteed a medal. And I was the only Hammer thrower, so I was guaranteed the gold.

I honestly think that I threw discus better today than I did last week, and that I would have PR’d again had the conditions been like they were last week (which weren’t all that great in the base case). Today the landing area sloped noticeably uphill, which probably cost me a foot or two, and then there was the wind. Last week we had a slight tailwind/breeze. This week we had a full-blown left-quartering tailwind that was making the flags stick straight out on the flagpoles. I figure at least a 3 foot distance loss from the wind. Still I managed 40.89m (134’ 2”). I hated that I didn’t throw farther but I think I handled the conditions ok.

In Hammer I was able to improve slightly over last week’s effort for a still pitiful, 32.81m (107’ 8”).

There was a new discus thrower in my age group at this meet, and it looks as if he is going to be a “regular”. He looks really strong (he sells fitness equipment), but his technique needs work. He use to throw discus back in college so he has the potential to be some good competition.

Random Thoughts

I think I over-did it with the squats in the weight room yesterday.

When I went out to throw today I found that some Dad and his son were using the throwing ring for batting practice so I had to go to throwing area #2. I guess I did ok considering I was throwing to an uphill landing area, with a strong tail wind, rubbery legs and a stiff back. I’m not sure I got much benefit from today’s practice, but as always, it “shore” was fun!

I think I project an illusion of being really dedicated to discus, but really it's just that I love it so much. There's a difference. "Dedicated" means you are faithfull at working at it..."Love" means you can't help yourself from working at it.

It's a Start!

Well, I finally started the season today. There was a slight tailwind, which made me a little apprehensive about the possibilities for any big throws, but I was able to pull some out of the hat, never-the-less. I told someone before the competition that I would be happy with anything over 40m, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Each of my 4 throws went right down the middle and landed within about a meter of each other, and all appeared to go at least 41 meters. The best throw wound up at 42.08m, or 138’ 0.5”, which was a big 3’ 1.5” PR for me. I can only wonder what might have happened if the wind had been different. I’m thinking over 140’ in dead air, and the low 140’s with a little headwind. It was definitely a good day for my discus throwing.

My Hammer and Weight Throws were pretty poor. There’s lots of room for improvement there, and I certainly expect to see some before the season is over.

0 for 2

On a weekend on which I had planned to compete in 2 meets, I competed in exactly zero. The Austin meet that was set for Saturday was postponed 3 weeks due to a torrential downpour that made the field unusable. The Houston Senior Olympics which was held today was such a joke that I just left without competing.

At the Houston meet no fouls were being called even though we explained the rules to the official, and asked her to call fouls. “I don’t know nothing about fouls, I’m just writing down the distances,” she said. The lone spotter in the field was never in the right place to get a good look at where the discuses landed, and then he would slowly stroll over to where he thought it landed to mark it. Sometimes he was a much as 2 feet off. When the discus did happen to leave a mark in the grass, he measured from the far end of the mark rather than the closer end. But to top it all, he spent most of his time on his cell phone even when people were throwing. Competitors asked him and then told him he needed to get off his cell phone, and he got really belligerent and condescending, and that was when I packed my bags and left. I made no throws, didn’t even check in with the scorer.