Season wrap-up!

So my short, somewhat-miracle of a season has come to a close!  My bronze medal at USAs this year allowed me to chase the World Championships A standard of 62.00m to potentially make my third Worlds team and travel to Moscow, Russia.  I was fully capable of doing that physically, but my technique didn't allow for it.

I only gave myself one chance at the A.  My knee was sore for two weeks after USAs, and I knew it was silly to even consider competing every week in a desperate attempt at a trip to World Championships.  Tom Pukstys was awesome enough to set up a meet at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) for myself and a few other javelin throwers to throw at on July 20, the last day of the chase period.  All or nothing! 

The difference between my left knee on June 20 (USAs) and July 20 was ridiculous.  I felt so powerful, so fast, and so much more comfortable on the runway than I had a month prior.  I had had two great practices at Iron Wood the week before, and I felt more confident than I have since before my injury more than a year ago.  More than anything, it was fun.  National championships were fun this year simply because I was releasing a javelin in competition again, but Chicago was fun because I finally felt strong and sure on the runway.  I've been patiently waiting for that feeling all year, and even though I only managed a 57.12m toss (a season's best and a win!) and will miss Worlds, I couldn't be happier looking at the future of my career.  I also had a huge group of Purdue friends in attendance in Chicago, and couldn't be sad about spending time with them immediately following the competition!

This year, I started throwing javelins in practice in April.  In the previous three training seasons of my career, I've thrown javelins from November (at least) through the end of the season (usually the end of August).  That's five months of technique work that I missed out on this year; I can't duplicate javelin throwing with med balls, as many as I may have thrown!  My shoulders, core, back, SI joints, glutes, and even knees felt awesome in Chicago, but a few great sessions out of only a few months of throwing practices are difficult to duplicate when the pressure is on.  It's hard to not be disappointed about missing a third straight World Championships team, but I knew that if this was the outcome of this year I would be left hungrier than ever for future seasons, and that's exactly how I feel.  I also know what I need to work on and what I loved about my training this year, and am empowered to put those things into practice in the Fall.

I've blogged about how long this journey back to health has felt and I've shared about the hard days, but I hope that the overwhelming feeling I have of gratitude has shined through.  I took a few yoga classes in the week after my season ended, and one day we were asked to consider something that we take for granted in our lives.  Honestly, moving to a new place, making new friends and cherishing the old ones, earning my health back day by day with the help of the best athletic trainers, relying on Russ and my family for support when I needed it, being lucky enough to re-sign with ASICS after a major injury, understanding how awesome my management team is, and knowing that I still have a place at the CSOTC by the grace of USATF even after a post-injury sub-par season left me hard-pressed to think of something.  This year has been amazing despite the challenges I faced each day, and many days because I overcame those challenges.  I'm going to stock up on seeing the beauty in the world through my camera lens during all of August and September before taking this grateful attitude and renewed hunger into my Fall training.  So excited!

USAs and Iron Wood

I COMPETED! 

photo by Becky Miller

2013 USATF National Championships happened in Des Moines, Iowa at Drake University on June 20th.  When I say, "I competed," I don't just mean that I threw in a competition.  I was absolutely thrilled when my first toss flew 50 meters, but wanted more.  By round 5, I finally got it together and measured a throw at 55.88 meters to eventually place third!  With a short approach, only weeks of throwing practice, and still 6 days shy of nine months post-op, I knew I needed to focus on the basics, and it felt really, really successful.  The competitiveness that shined through was an awesome surprise after so much time away from meets.  The distance was fine, but a top 3 finish means that I can chase the World Championships A standard of 62 meters until July 20th.  I wanted to give myself that chance even in this "bonus" of a season after having my knee surgery.  Why not try?  Overall, USAs was FUN.






photo by Becky Miller

Super proud of this Bronze.

Russ also competed well!  After years and years of solid showings in both shot and disc, he finally earned Silver in the discus.  He's also chasing a World Championships standard, and I'm so pumped about how he looks this summer.  It'd be fun to go to Moscow together!!

 

What a cutie!  Victory Lap.

After USAs, Russ and I had the opportunity to help out at Iron Wood Throws Camp, run in its 24th consecutive year for the first time by Jarred Rome.  Jarred wanted currently-competing professional athletes to be involved with the kids this year, and I had a blast.

 

All my campers who wear ASICS. :)

 

Duncan Atwood and I had twice-daily sessions with our javelin thrower kids from Tuesday to Friday, with an optional session on Saturday.  These kids were so fun to work with, listened, stayed positive even through the soreness that comes along with walking a college campus and training 5 hours a day, and had a huge impact on me. 

 

Sterling controls the javelin by throwing through a hoop.

Russ shares his story with the campers. :)

I went into camp thinking that I'd probably benefit from talking about the basics with the kids all week.  I thought I might be reminded that keeping things simple can help anyone out, not just a high-schooler.  That happened, but I benefitted even more from their enthusiasm, open-mindedness, and pure love of the sport and event.  On Thursday, my group of beginners released their first few javelins ever, looked back at me with giant, round eyes, and said,

"I LOVE this."

I almost cried, I was so happy.  I relate to these kids now more than ever: I've felt that way all year, too.  I got frustrated right after USAs this year, because all of a sudden, my expectations were sky high.  I threw almost 56 meters, so why am I now not consistently throwing 60?  Silly Kara.  I realized that I needed to calm down, and that going to Iron Wood might be what I needed to do that.  After laughing with the kids and seeing lots of improvement in one morning session, I had the best practice I've had since right before the Trials last year.  Keeping it simple and having fun throwing again was the perfect recipe for connection to my implement and easy, far throws.  On Friday, after three more days of laughing and love for the sport, with extremely tired legs from a week of feverish coaching and demonstration, I had an even better practice on the same runway with these awesome kids.  Working with Duncan in those practices was really fun too, and both of us giving tips to the kids in between my throws was a fabulous experience.  Feeling like a real part of the national javelin throwing community is so important to me, and I won't forget Friday's practice for a long time.  Thank YOU to my Iron Wood campers.  You are amazing.

 

Duncan taught me how to handstand!  Finally!!
photo by Eryn Vanney :)





Expectations (and Gratitude)

I throw at USAs tomorrow!!!!!!

I really can't believe I'm returning to competition in less than a day.  As long as this row has seemed to hoe at times, I've really had an awesome, awesome year.

1. I seriously love rehab.  Like, I actually enjoy it, not just because I know it's good for me in the long run but because it's fun.  Doing new exercises all the time makes me happy.

2. Photography is my favorite.  Finding the beauty around me every day has been so fun.

3. My mind is getting a workout.  I get so much joy out of my MBA classes through DeVry University's Keller Graduate School of Management.  I feel so much more fulfilled than I have in a long time, and I know it's because I'm expanding my horizons in the academic area again. 

4. My new home is awesome.  Colorado Springs took me a while to warm up to, but now I'm totally invested.  Any new place is tough to adjust to, but the people, scenery, opportunities, and way of life just make sense to me.  So happy.

5. Traveling is a blast.  I'll be traveling a lot more in the next few years during the training season than I had been from San Diego: Ty is in New Orleans, I want to go back to Chula Vista periodically, and I am not shy about going home when I want to.  I've taken the opportunity to go where I want, when I want this year, but I always fit the training in.  I'm in my element when I'm figuring out how to get a workout in before going to lunch with a long-lost friend in a new city, etc.  It energizes me.  And I've gotten to see more important people in my life than I can count right now.  Life balance, blam.

5. I am SO grateful.  Grateful for my health, thanks mainly to Dr. Chao, Chris Garcia, Dr. Rintala, Jamie Myers, Ty Sevin, Wendy Borlabi, Amber Donaldson, and Heather Linden.  Grateful for the amazing people in my life: Family (mine and Russ's), friends (near and far), and fans who've lifted me up when I really needed it.  Grateful for ASICS and the USATF Foundation and the USOC for supporting me exactly when I needed to be held up.  Grateful for each and every javelin throw I take, and that I've remembered the absolute joy of things coming together correctly. 

I've been laser-focused on the date of USAs for months now.  I didn't know if it would be possible to even compete tomorrow, just because it hasn't even been nine whole months since my surgery yet.  Every check-up with Dr. Chao went fantastically, I get nothing but positive feedback from my athletic trainers (in Chula Vista and Colorado Springs), and my one week working with Ty in New Orleans could not have gone better.  I've put absolutely everything I could have at this point in my recovery into being prepared to compete tomorrow.  I'm super excited. 

This is what success will look like for me at the end of Thursday (in order of importance):

1. I will stay healthy.
2. I will have FUN.
3. I will hit the positions I've been working on in practice.

Anything is possible.  See this link for tons of coverage information.

NOLA

I finally went to visit Ty at UNO!  He was hired as the head coach there last fall, and has done a super job setting up a brand new track and field program.  Two of his athletes head to the NCAA East Regional this weekend, and he's set to welcome lots more talent in the coming academic year. 

I was so excited to have a reason to go to New Orleans, and the trip did not disappoint!  I've been focused on rehab and supplemental training all year, but was fully cleared to throw at higher speeds (as I can tolerate) three weeks ago when I was in San Diego, so I booked a ticket to go see my coach and get some quality throwing work in.  I could not be more encouraged!

I had been throwing on my own (with Chris, Jamie or Russ watching) for two weeks before visiting Ty.  It was going okay, but there's a lot that has to become familiar again, and the basics didn't feel like the basics anymore.  I tried so hard to focus on simple things, but I expected to struggle in the first few weeks of regular throwing, so my trip south seemed perfectly timed.

It was amazing the difference a few cue words made in my first session with Ty last Monday!  It was even more amazing how well my second throwing session of the week went, especially because other parts of my body are trying hard to keep up with throwing again, too.  This is my favorite throw from my second session (filmed by Lucais MacKay). 

I'm a little open and slightly slow to my toe-first plant foot, but I am thrilled with this and the connection that I feel to the javelin.  I'm going to slowly work more speed onto the runway and focus on stabilizing my block leg with my glute: Trusting my left leg is obviously the priority.  I'm excited.

New Orleans is a fabulous place to look forward to having training camps next year!  I had a blast exploring the area and eating as much seafood as possible.  Some photos from the week:

Crawfish boil at Ty and Marie's.

Lake Pontchartrain sailboat at sunset.

Pony!  Equest Farms in City Park had a fundraiser yesterday.

This horse wouldn't keep his tongue in his mouth.  So funny.

There was a donkey race!  Hilarious.

Sunset over the lake last night.  Saw as many of these as possible.

The Tough Times

Huckleberry, one of Drake's most beautiful bulldogs!

I traveled to Drake Relays last week to hang out with the awesome ASICS people, cheer Russ and all the other competitors on, and see my Mom and Grandpa.  It turned out to be such a fun week, but it didn't start out great, and I wanted to talk about that a bit!

Throughout this recovery process, I'm proud to report that I've been really strong!  Yes, there have been times when I've had to choose my positive attitude, but it has been way easier than I expected to stay that way.  I generally am just excited to do new things and get stronger physically every day, and that has been really fun to experience.  Once I can do something again (box jumps, blocking drills, etc.), I just consider that new exercise to be part of my repertoire and move forward.  It's awesome. 

Thankfully, I've only gotten really upset about four times in the past seven months, but when I get discouraged, it hits me kind of hard.  I'd like to say it comes out of nowhere, but emotions are completely normal!  There have also been warning signs, but it's not like I could have avoided releasing those emotions.  I think everyone who has gone through major injury can understand that emotions sneak up on you in your quest to stay positive through a recovery that is bound to have its ups and downs.  Traveling to Drake kind of did that for me.

Upon arrival last week in Des Moines, I told Russ,

"I hope I don't freak out since I'm not competing and everyone else is." 

I wouldn't call what I did "freaking out," but I broke down at a bit of an inopportune moment.  I obviously knew I was feeling kind of weird about entering the early months of Track and Field season not knowing what it will bring, or I wouldn't have mentioned anything to Russ.  Good thing I have a fabulous support system to help me through, and I spent the rest of the week with some of the most positive people that I know.  I also got to spend all day Sunday with my Grandpa! 

Stacey and me :)

Whenever these emotional moments have happened, some good thing follows that shows me just how well things are going to turn out.  Whether that good thing has been increased knee flexion in the early days, making new friends in Colorado, or actually having a blast being a spectator at a meet, it always gets me re-energized for the future. 

What do you do to get yourself back on track?  Don't let a few moments of being emotional (for good reason) derail you; talk it through, choose a happy thought, and move forward!  I'm excited.

Questions, Answered

Photo by Russ: My first week of ball throws in Chula Vista!

 

The two questions I had on my page recently were from Sebastian Alexander Miller and Sean Elkinton. 

Sebastian asked what my plans were for this year and whether or not I would be competing in Rio (the 2016 Olympic Games are in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).  I've said many times this year that choosing to have surgery when I did was in line with a four-year plan, not a one-year plan.  A resounding YES on shooting for Rio! 

With ACL tears, if you don't have a lot of swelling, you can get surgery immediately, but if you are outside about a 48-hour window from the time of injury, you should wait longer than 6-8 weeks.  Since I decided to go to London despite my injury, I was definitely outside of that two-day time period.  Then, I needed to move my stuff to Colorado, and wanted to get some "mental health" time in before surgery, so Russ and I hiked and camped for a few weeks before I returned to San Diego to get reconstructed.

Man, am I glad I did that. 

See my photo album from the trip here.  As challenging as this recovery has been (I'm generally really patient, but injury is weird), I would have gone stir-crazy if I hadn't gotten to explore a bit before going under the knife!

All those things being said, I'd love to be able to compete this year.  I've told a lot of people that USAs (at Drake Stadium on June 20th) is going to be a game-time decision for me, and while that's still the case, I feel better about my chances at competing with each kneehab session I complete.  I did my first real movement into a block yesterday (a medball javelin drill), and while I'm a little sore today, my positions felt great and my knee felt solid.  June 20th is just shy of 9 months post-op, so it's going to be amazing if it works out, but hey, people are capable of amazing things.  I'm capable of amazing things.  I've always been optimistic, and I'm gonna stay that way!

Sean's question was about Olympic Training Centers; he wants to know the difference between Chula Vista and Colorado Springs.  You'd be surprised (or maybe you wouldn't) by how common a question that is!  The biggest difference between the two is simply that the vast majority of the facilities in Chula Vista are outside, while everything is inside in Colorado Springs.  I worry a bit for my Vitamin D intake because of that, but my skin is much, much happier!  Colorado Springs is also the main Olympic Training Center and the USOC headquarters are downtown, so a lot more goes on here as far as events and opportunities, and a lot more camps and tournaments take place than they did in Chula Vista.  It can get a little crowded, but mostly it's fun to just observe all the different cultures of sport that come through.  Lastly, although I'm living in the "bad dorms" (aka "barracks"), I like the living situation better than in Chula Vista; I've always wanted to try living in a tiny studio apartment by myself, and so far it's great and really efficient (minus the bathroom down the hallway).  I still miss all my people in San Diego (some days like crazy), but it gets better here all the time.  Everyone you meet has something great to offer if you just pay attention and are open-minded.  Go try that today. :)

Six months.

On Tuesday it will have been exactly six months since my surgery. 

I'm so excited to be where I am right now!  Kneehab is going so, so well, I've finally started doing real throwing exercises again, and I feel really strong.  The only problem is that I still have discomfort and pain, but the funny thing is,

that's normal!!!

My visit to San Diego two weeks ago was fabulous; another visit with Dr. Chao went great, Chris pushed me hard like always, and I got to see all my friends and meet Kassidie.  But after running outside for the first time, doing step-ups, normal-speed squats and box jumps, and challenging my knee in a lot of other new ways, it was sore, and my right one was worse!  Coming back to Colorado Springs and feeling discouraged because of that discomfort was no fun.  In talking with Wendy and taking a good, hard look at how I can choose my own attitude though, I've realized a few things since I've been back, and neat things have happened as a result.

1. It's completely okay to get discouraged.  It's how I respond to that feeling that matters.  Recognizing negativity and actively dismissing it to choose positivity instead is really powerful, even if the positive feelings are completely unrelated to track and field.
2. I was still feeling down about not knowing a lot of people in Colorado, but as soon as I decided to be friendly and outgoing this week (like the normal me, OMG!), I got invited to a birthday party! High five, universe.
3. Rest is amazing.  I've been pushing myself really hard non-stop because I'd love to be able to throw this season, but running myself into the ground is not going to accomplish that.  Listening to and agreeing with your body when it tells you it needs a rest (even if it doesn't fit in with your plans) can be extremely beneficial. 

The six to nine month post-op window with ACL reconstructions is apparently when the most re-tears happen, so I would appreciate all the positive and strong thoughts everyone can send my way!  You better believe that I'm really careful all the time, but any prayers and uplifting energy that you have to spare couldn't hurt.  I'm forging ahead with the kneehab plan with extra focus on stability. 

Not only did I try some new things in San Diego, but Chris did a bunch of performance measurements to compare my surgery leg with my non-surgery leg.  The good news is that literally every measurement he took and test I performed showed that my left leg is at least 90% as good as my right, and in some of them, my left is better now.  The bad news is that my self-reported percentage (which I gave strictly thinking about how ready I am to throw a javelin full-speed) is down at 72%, and that one is the most important.  The good news about the bad news is that confidence in my abilities is completely up to me. :) Here we go. :)