Wednesday, May 5, 2010

International Experience

Happy Cinco de Mayo!! Kudos, Mexican army, for defeating the French army in the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

Today was a rest day for me, or at least a recovery day. I did a walking warm-up, hurdle mobility for my hips, and a bunch of rehabilitation stuff that helps the little, complicated parts of my body (ahem, shoulders) stay together.
I love days like this because I walk away from practice feeling whole and balanced.

I'm competing in two meets in Brazil at the end of May; Uberlandia on May 26th and Maringa on May 30th. In order to enter Brazil, Americans need a Visa. The process of getting one can be pretty complicated, and I spent the day post-practice filling out paperwork in order to get one. I don't know if you've ever gone through the process before, but it's a good idea to start early. Oops. Sometimes that's not possible in the track and field world!
Best to be flexible and open-minded at all times.

After dealing with all the business, I headed down to the field to watch Mike and Andreas Thorkildsen throw. Lately we've had a bunch of foreign throwers around the training center, and it's simply an awesome environment! Everyone is happy to be here and working alongside each other to improve; it's so fun to see four discuses (disci?) flying across the field at a time instead of just one, and getting to know everyone has been great. Alas, there will always be more ring throwers than javelin throwers!
I think there's something you can learn from everyone you meet,
and there's a lot I can learn from athletes that have already been in the professional track and field environment for a while. Tero Jarvenpaa, Mikaela Ingberg, and a younger thrower, Miko (who is very good but I don't know his last name and I feel terrible) are three Finns who trained here too. Mikaela is amazing. She has SO much experience and is super willing to share ideas, opinions, and advice. I'm not much of a brain-picker, but I asked her a fair few questions :).

Anyway! Watching Andreas and Mike throw today was really cool. I don't know if you know this, but Andreas is kind of a big deal, and to be able to even attempt to learn from a javelin thrower of his caliber is exciting!! Plus, he's a nice guy, willing to help younger, more inexperienced athletes (read: me).

Basically, this summer will be about getting as much international competition in as I can! I want to learn to be tough and always ready to release a big throw. This probably won't get accomplished in just one season, but I tend to expect a lot from myself. Being surrounded by people that encourage and challenge me to improve is never a bad thing!

Here's a picture of Mike, since he's my current favorite training partner :).

1 comment:

  1. That shot you got of Thorkildsen is just perfect.

    Kids, if you don't look like that, you won't throw like that!

    ReplyDelete