Going Down Under

I'm going to Australia!

Russ mentioned a while ago that he was thinking about going to a few meets there, and asked if I'd be interested in going, too. I thought that sounded cool, and told him I'd think about it. The next day, I got an email from my manager asking if I'd like to go, too! With all that Australia talk, it seemed meant to be that I head there for some competitions.

This will be a new continent for me, and I'm super excited to be going A) during their summer, B) at the same time as Russ, and C) right in the middle of the big, long stretch of months that are usually just training every year. In 2010 and again in 2011, I injured my back between January and April, so I'm really looking forward to switching up my routine and going on a little adventure. I've really liked every Australian I've ever met (Kim, Benn, Coach Zuyderwyk, etc.), so I have high hopes for visiting the country! I leave February 4th for a meet in Perth on the 11th and another one in Sydney (in the 2000 Olympic Stadium) on the 18th.

My technique right now is coming along well. I've really focused this year so far on finally properly learning how to fly the javelin. I've pretended in the past that I worked on that; like, in my head, I said the flights of my implements in practice weren't that bad, but when I got to high-pressure situations things fell apart. Um, duh, Kara. :)

Read an article about the Perth meet here. It simply mentions that I'll throw head-to-head with Kim Mickle, who I mentioned above. She has always been someone that's easy to talk to at competitions and is super sportsmanlike; I'll never forget how much fun it was to have her there at a meet in Kawasaki in September of 2009!