Practice PR!

We all know that practice distances don't count. They aren't officially measured. Only you, your training partners and your coach can vouch for them (and those people might be a little biased). A lot of times, practice throws are fouls.

But when you have good practice throws, you're just happy.

When macthrowvideo.com featured me on their website last year, someone asked me if I had thrown farther than the American Record (thanks again, Cyrus!) in practice. I absolutely have not! I'm not a "practice thrower." Mostly, we focus on technique during the two sessions per week that we're on the runway, so I try not to be concerned about how far my javelins fly. But there are times that we bring the intensity up and measure throws to kind of check in with how preparation for competition is coming.

I set a training goal last year to throw 60 meters in practice. I never achieved that, but I raised it this year because of the success that I saw in competition during 2010. So, although I'm really happy about meeting last year's goal today and setting a new practice personal record :), I'm more excited about striving toward this year's aspirations.

Outdoor season has begun,

but not yet for me! My first meet of the season will be Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. I throw on Friday, April 29th at 2:00pm!

Off the Runway

I haven't been on the runway that much lately. The throwing sessions that I have had have been super beneficial, though, yay! I've mostly been on the computer (see the new CVOTC Track and Field blog) and getting treatment/waiting for my left SI joint to calm down.

I've also been volunteering my time!

Although I get paid a little bit for it, I don't think of being a tour guide at the training center as a job. It's actually really fun for me; people, surprisingly, always ask different questions. It's neat to be able to share something with them that they've never encountered before, or might not have ever had explained fully to them. A little while ago, a group of athletes from The Larry English L.E.A.D. Foundation came for a tour. We walked them around the training center and showed a video. It never ceases to amaze me how everyone gets mesmerized by footage of inspiring Olympic moments. Watch the video in that link and tell me you weren't just a little misty-eyed.


I started working with Athletes for Hope after the USATF Annual Meeting in the fall of 2009. They help athletes get connected with volunteer opportunities in their communities. It took me a while to figure out which organization I wanted to become a part of and to really get the ball rolling, but last summer I finally attended my orientation as a San Diego Humane Society Volunteer! I got trained in my specific program, Dog Activities, in February, and last Wednesday I had my first hands-on training day, walking these pets under the supervision of an already-trained Volunteer. I'm loving it.

Ian, Stacy, Sandy, Russ and I drove up to LA last Thursday for the USATF Olympians Night at Staples Center before the LA Kings vs. St. Louis Blues hockey game. We met a few athletes and answered some questions about Track and Field and life in general. A small group of people came, and it was really nice to have the time to actually have a conversation with them! Then we got to stay for the game. If you've never been to a professional hockey game, go. It's super fun.


I have my second training day at the Humane Society tomorrow. :) Can't wait to see the puppies!!

Me? Explosive?

Last week was rest week. You read that right; last week was rest week. It wasn't rest Thursday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday,

it was do-what-you-want-when-you-want week.

Mike and I went to hot yoga at the Chula Vista Yoga Center twice, did three recovery workouts (general strength and abs), and I went on a long, leisurely bike ride with Russ! I absolutely loved the time off, and took advantage by getting tons of therapy! Three chiropractic appointments, 2.5 hours of massage, one shoulder mobility torture session, and one acupuncture appointment later, I felt pretty awesome heading into the first week of this new block.

I didn't squat at all last year. Literally, not one time. Our leg lifts were single leg, and mostly step-ups. That means that I hadn't squatted since approximately June of 2009 until I did yesterday. Front squats are on my program this block, and my legs hurt. I look forward to getting those neglected muscles in shape again so I can get some actual work done!

I've written recently that my gymnastics skills are coming along nicely. Our new gymnastics regimen is a lot more about strength than spatial awareness and coordination, like the last block. We did a bunch of posterior-chain strengthening with the Keiser machines today, followed by high bar srength with muscle-ups. The most I had done in a row before today was 3. On my first set, I did 4. Then, Ty said the most he'd ever seen a girl do was 5 in a row. I started out on my second set by doing 6. Then Ty said, "If you do 8 you don't have to do any more." So, I did two more. Then, we figured that there was no reason not to do 10, so I did two more.

Not only did I figure out a skill, but now I'm strong enough to perform it repeatedly...and fairly well!

The most exciting part of the gymnastics workout this afternoon was that, right after I exploded out of the bottom of the movement to pull myself on top of the bar on one of my repetitions, Ty remarked on the power that I had exhibited. I've never, ever thought of myself as an explosive athlete, and to hear him say that and feel powerful and explosive in the skill is really gratifying. I really look forward to applying the stretch-followed-by-explosive-arm-strike feeling that I've gotten in muscle-ups to the javelin.

Good Day

Last week, I had some of my best throwing sessions ever. On Monday, Mike, Andreas, Ty, and Asmund let out a collective, "ooooohhhh" after one of my throws, which was pretty awesome. I was throwing on the runway and hitting consistently good, closed positions. On Thursday, Ty had Mike and I throw off of the grass for the entire session, which feels awesome on your body compared to the track surface! I hit even better positions on the grass, mostly because I wasn't going as fast as on the runway. I'm super encouraged! Here are two of my throws, and one of the light ball throws that we do at the end of practice.




Since we had a relatively easy day on Thursday, Ty told me that I had to throw 57 meters on Monday. I was pretty excited to see whether or not I could throw far when I wanted to instead of accidentally hitting positions and having things work out! Alas, when I brought the intensity up and tried to throw far, it didn't quite happen that way. By the end of the throwing session, I finally remembered that I needed to focus on positions more than just speed and aggression, but by then I was pretty tired. Instead of 57 meters, I threw 56. I'm disappointed, but afterward I remembered that I didn't throw during all of February last year because of a back injury. I'm pretty happy with how yesterday went when I think about it that way.

My parents are coming to visit this weekend!

I haven't seen them since Thanksgiving in Hawaii, and I'm really excited to show them around. We lived in San Diego when I was a baby, so I know they're familiar, but my Mom has never seen the training center before! Hopefully the rain that's in the forecast is short-lived!

I'm a gymnast! ...kinda.

One of my training goals for the year was to do a kip (and I do mean a kip). I do gymnastics with Mike, Melinda and Becky twice a week, and in every block before this one, I've simply been building my strength while the three of them flip and twist and spin like crazy around me! Becky looks like this, and I've been doing pull-ups and basic strength things on the high bar...kind of embarrassing sometimes.

When there is evidence all around me that I'm behind in training (nevermind that Becky was a level 10 gymnast and Melinda and Mike have done this before) I get extremely motivated to improve.

I quietly have worked on improving my strength on the high bar (3 pull-ups the first day to 3 sets of 10 now) and on the rings so that I could have my shot at learning some tricks!

Last week was rest week. You may remember that I thought the week before that was rest week, but I was wrong. That means I really needed to recharge my batteries this weekend! I took full advantage: got away from the training center, borrowed Ian and Stacy's dog London, a vizsla, and took her to the beach, went to the zoo with Russ and even met some of his family we didn't know lived here! I was ready to come back to practice on Monday, and I was extremely ready to try some new moves on the high bar on Tuesday afternoon.

I did a kip.

Then I did like 7 more of them! Then I tried some muscle-ups, and I did those, too! I am absolutely loving gymnastics, because progress is so measurable. You either can perform a skill, or you can't.

As Dr. Ross said when I told him I had achieved a year-long aspiration on the first day I tried, I need to modify my goals a little. :)

Progress

Technical focus is paying off! Last Monday, my legs were pretty good during throwing practice. Thursday, my arm and javelin tip control got better, but my legs were awful. Today, I put them both together okay! I was able to be explosive with my legs, have a fairly substantial impulse, and get my left leg down before I initiated a good arm strike, keeping the tip down.

Yay!

Thanks to interim coaches Mike and Andreas, who are awesome for watching me throw while Ty is in Colorado with Becky and Melinda; they opened their indoor seasons on Friday! I don't know if you know this,

but Mike and I are pretty excellent training partners.

We work really hard, and he knows exactly what to say to me to push me in practice. Sometimes he motivates me so much that I feel guilty about not having good ammo to fire back! I'm more of the positive, happy, point-out-good-things-you're-doing kind of girl than one that can think of scenarios he'll get fired up about, anyway. :) The addition of Andreas to our regular training regimen has been super cool, too; obviously. We may not do the same things in practice each day, but it's always good to get a fresh perspective on things, especially when javelin knowledge is coming from such a reputable source!

Lifting has been going awesome, too. This block, we have front split jerks for four sets of two reps, and we hook ourselves up to a Tendo unit to measure our power. At the beginning of the block, I figured I'd have trouble with a certain amount of weight, but it turns out that I'm a lot stronger than I think! My power increased with each session until today. That's okay though, because this is the beginning of week 4 of this block,

which means I'm spent,

and ready for all the rest that is coming my way at the end of it. :)

I realized today that my birthday this year will mark ten years since my first javelin competition. On April 10, 2001, I threw 107 feet in a meet in Oregon. I was pretty excited to figure out that that milestone is coming!

Technique and Normalcy

I returned to San Diego from Colorado Springs last Monday morning, and went straight to practice; my first one with 500-gram javelins. That's always a little awkward, as my problems with lunging forward as I throw are blatant with a lighter-weight implement. When I throw heavy javelins (700- or 800-gram ones), my arm and upper body are forced to stay back, and I get a big stretch before the implement is released.

Not so with a dinky javelin!

I have to make sure I'm patient and really learn how to purposefully wait on the release. I'll do my best again today.

Another problem I've dealt with in my throwing for a very long time is controlling the tip of my javelin at release. I'm pretty flexible (understatement alert?), so I pretend that I can feel more stretch across my shoulder by breaking at the wrist when I throw. This makes for loss of distance because my power isn't going into the javelin at the correct orientation; the tip gets too high. This week, I'll focus only on keeping my wrist in line and making sure my javelin flies correctly. It's a little bit daunting to think about fixing this, because it is something I've always struggled with. Better late-ish than never...

I'm so happy to be back at the Training Center and able to practice normally every day. It's fun to travel and see family and get my workouts in elsewhere, but

never is training as beneficial as when I'm in the environment I'm familiar with,

with my coach and training partners. Four or five solid months of training regularly here is an exciting idea for me!

I know what my goals are, but I haven't written them down yet. Soon, I'll write measurable goals for training and competition!