Each year, USATF sets up high performance competitions for elite throwers. Typically this means that everyone goes to Tucson, Arizona for two meets at the end of May, but this year there were some extra opportunities! One of them fell on May 5th at Kibwe Johnson's new stomping grounds, IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
I threw in Austin in the middle of April, and didn't have another competition scheduled until Prefontaine at the end of May, so competing in Florida sounded perfect.
Personal coaching is a new thing for me (I have one Paralympic athlete and one heptathlete, plus a few people I consult with electronically), and I had the fun opportunity to meet with Kibwe and some of his athletes to offer them javelin pointers! (They've got it totally handled with him as a coach, btw.) I'm so impressed by the talent this private high school attracts from literally all over the world. What an interesting place to work!
I was pretty sore and tired after really hitting things hard in training post-big opener, so I didn't know what to expect. What happened was that I was all over the place on the runway! I should have thrown further at this meet than I did (61.32m), but Ariana Ince PRed and threw 60 meters for the first time! Bonus points for the beginning of a beautiful Friendship: It turns out that Ari and I are basically the same person. Down to simultaneous hair flips and reaching for the same soda.
My series on the day was fairly consistent (more so than Austin), and I was encouraged by that, even with my footwork being nowhere close to smooth. This meet was interesting and felt like a work in progress: It was the second IMG Academy Throws Challenge ever, and also second this year. There is definite room for improvement, but I think USATF should keep coming back here. The campus is incredible, we stayed close to the track, housing allows athletes to cook for themselves (something I personally love when on the road), Uber is available for transportation, and the weather in May was perfection. Absolutely would throw again!
Friday, July 21, 2017
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Texas Invitational
I can't truly say that I opened my season yesterday, because I've competed twice this year already! But Nitro Athletics seems like so long ago, and was so early in my actual javelin training that I feel like a different thrower now.
I've really enjoyed visiting Austin since Ty was hired at University of Texas in the 2013/2014 school year. I threw at Texas Relays in 2014 and 2015, and the Longhorn Invite in 2015. Last year, I visited twice to train with him in the early season and then again right before Rio. This time around, I brought a little companion down to Texas with me from Colorado!
Maddie the Dog is super fun to have around on a training camp, even if our second story rental makes it so I do a lot of stairs with her every day. She LOVES to swim and fetch, so the park here is ideal to get her wiggles out (although she seems to have an endless supply).
She even inspired my uniform for the meet yesterday! Russ took this photo when they were on an Idaho adventure in February. I loved representing my little family on the runway!!
So, I drove to Austin last Sunday, and my week (week 4 of this training block) went like this:
Monday: Recovery (jog, stretch, rehab and core essentially)
Tuesday: Light throw and light lift
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Pre-meet (a few sprints, approaches, light lift)
Friday: Compete!
I slept really soundly the night before, which isn't totally typical of me, and I felt great and calm when I got to the track. I apparently had to balance that out by warming up just a bit too late, and having to pick in the grass before I was really done with everything I usually do! An 85-degree day fixes a lot though, and I wasn't worried at all that I'd missed some skips, plus there's always time in warm-ups to step to the side and address little issues you feel.
Warm-ups were not so great. I was pretty slow to my block, and not really feeling connected to my right arm. I was nervous by warm-ups, as I'm always nervous for my first meet, and sometimes that translates into being too careful. I turned my legs on a little and things got better, but I really didn't know what to expect from the day! My goal was 61.40m, which is the London World Championships A Standard.
In Rio, I added a little carry step before my approach truly begins to get my legs moving a little bit and not just come flying out of the gates. I think it has helped tremendously in letting me keep my posture and to gradually build speed in my legs rather than be forced to create it from the outset. I've just never been able to handle speed before, and this has been a really fun way to trick my body into feeling rhythmical while also moving at the velocity I need to throw far.
Since I felt a little all over the place in warm-ups, I just wanted to keep my legs moving, arm back, and stay tall on attempt one. It went really well!! 64.80m. I was absolutely shocked when the officials read the distance, because not only did it not look that far, but I didn't feel connected to that javelin!
In Australia, I had a really great conversation about connection with my friend Mark Hollis. There is just this extra factor of connection that you sometimes are blessed to feel in this crazy sport, and when you get a hint of that on a meet day, you know it's going to be a fun one. We struggled to fully describe that feeling in this conversation, but when I mentioned to Ty this week that I felt that way on night one of Nitro Athletics, he said, "Yeah, like you're moving in slow motion." YES. But you're actually moving at full speed, it's just that you can feel each sequential movement happening in the order that it's supposed to happen in, and it's SO FUN and powerful. I felt that way at the Longhorn Invite here two years ago, when I threw 66.47m and a bunch of 63s.
I did NOT feel that way yesterday, which is why I'm so incredibly excited for this season. Russ said that sometimes you're connected even when you don't feel it, and I definitely agree with that. I know that was the case yesterday, and I've always known that using other body parts correctly can make your arm connected even when it's not feeling that way, but it was nice for that to be true for me for once. :)
The rest of my series was all over the place (my approach wasn't as smooth, I let my upper body get forward, perhaps the heat got to me, etc.), but I managed a 63.07m in round 5. I'm okay with inconsistency on April 14, especially when I never expected to start with such a bang in the first place!
Here are yesterday's full results:
It's so fun for me to throw with new college girls each year in the early season. I truly love meeting new throwers, and try to be encouraging at every turn. I think that they're all getting younger though!
I'm actually still a little shocked. 64.80m is the fifth-best throw of my life, and my best "season opener" by more than 3 meters!! I'm going to do my best to keep calm and carry on, as they say. This year of training has been incredibly fun, as I actually feel good physically, and I'm competing with a pretty different mindset than I've had in the rest of my professional career. I'm excited.
I've really enjoyed visiting Austin since Ty was hired at University of Texas in the 2013/2014 school year. I threw at Texas Relays in 2014 and 2015, and the Longhorn Invite in 2015. Last year, I visited twice to train with him in the early season and then again right before Rio. This time around, I brought a little companion down to Texas with me from Colorado!
  |
| THOSE EYES. Such a good road tripper! |
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| Red Bud Isle Dog Park! Gorgeous. |
So, I drove to Austin last Sunday, and my week (week 4 of this training block) went like this:
Monday: Recovery (jog, stretch, rehab and core essentially)
Tuesday: Light throw and light lift
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Pre-meet (a few sprints, approaches, light lift)
Friday: Compete!
I slept really soundly the night before, which isn't totally typical of me, and I felt great and calm when I got to the track. I apparently had to balance that out by warming up just a bit too late, and having to pick in the grass before I was really done with everything I usually do! An 85-degree day fixes a lot though, and I wasn't worried at all that I'd missed some skips, plus there's always time in warm-ups to step to the side and address little issues you feel.
Warm-ups were not so great. I was pretty slow to my block, and not really feeling connected to my right arm. I was nervous by warm-ups, as I'm always nervous for my first meet, and sometimes that translates into being too careful. I turned my legs on a little and things got better, but I really didn't know what to expect from the day! My goal was 61.40m, which is the London World Championships A Standard.
In Rio, I added a little carry step before my approach truly begins to get my legs moving a little bit and not just come flying out of the gates. I think it has helped tremendously in letting me keep my posture and to gradually build speed in my legs rather than be forced to create it from the outset. I've just never been able to handle speed before, and this has been a really fun way to trick my body into feeling rhythmical while also moving at the velocity I need to throw far.
Since I felt a little all over the place in warm-ups, I just wanted to keep my legs moving, arm back, and stay tall on attempt one. It went really well!! 64.80m. I was absolutely shocked when the officials read the distance, because not only did it not look that far, but I didn't feel connected to that javelin!
In Australia, I had a really great conversation about connection with my friend Mark Hollis. There is just this extra factor of connection that you sometimes are blessed to feel in this crazy sport, and when you get a hint of that on a meet day, you know it's going to be a fun one. We struggled to fully describe that feeling in this conversation, but when I mentioned to Ty this week that I felt that way on night one of Nitro Athletics, he said, "Yeah, like you're moving in slow motion." YES. But you're actually moving at full speed, it's just that you can feel each sequential movement happening in the order that it's supposed to happen in, and it's SO FUN and powerful. I felt that way at the Longhorn Invite here two years ago, when I threw 66.47m and a bunch of 63s.
I did NOT feel that way yesterday, which is why I'm so incredibly excited for this season. Russ said that sometimes you're connected even when you don't feel it, and I definitely agree with that. I know that was the case yesterday, and I've always known that using other body parts correctly can make your arm connected even when it's not feeling that way, but it was nice for that to be true for me for once. :)
The rest of my series was all over the place (my approach wasn't as smooth, I let my upper body get forward, perhaps the heat got to me, etc.), but I managed a 63.07m in round 5. I'm okay with inconsistency on April 14, especially when I never expected to start with such a bang in the first place!
Here are yesterday's full results:
I'm actually still a little shocked. 64.80m is the fifth-best throw of my life, and my best "season opener" by more than 3 meters!! I'm going to do my best to keep calm and carry on, as they say. This year of training has been incredibly fun, as I actually feel good physically, and I'm competing with a pretty different mindset than I've had in the rest of my professional career. I'm excited.
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Nitro Athletics!
I just got home from Melbourne, Australia, where the 2017 season started off for me in many unexpected ways!
Nitro Athletics conducted their first experiment in regular-season team competition down under. This three-meet series was a bit of a mystery, even to athletes who committed to attending. I got an email around Christmas time asking if I was interested, thought about it for a day, and decided to make the trip. Russ and I competed in Australia in 2012, and it was a fantastic experience, so why not return to the southern hemisphere's summer from Colorado? I was told to expect a laid-back atmosphere and to not worry about performance as much as fun. I really just looked forward to warm weather training and perhaps some beach or pool time! I signed up to be a "Bolt All-Star," but who really knew what that meant.
I spent some time in Chula Vista to throw outside before heading to Australia, and threw about 55m in practice before I left. I figured, "Cool, if I can scrape together a few more meters, I'll be happy." I had my first real javelin session on January 10th, inside. I had two practices off of a runway at any kind of speed in Chula, and one of them was with overweight implements. My trip to Australia was filled with unexpected twists, and the last bit of my California stay was spent scrambling to be ready for a February 4th competition when I'd been expecting to throw on February 9th. All of these things meant that I was 100% ready for whatever was going to happen on the first night of the inaugural Nitro Athletics series. No expectations whatsoever.
Our team meeting on February 3rd finally shed some light on the event: Three meets in which six teams compete for overall dominance, points awarded for performance, bonus rounds and power plays (random draws of events for each team with double points, per night), complete freedom to roam the field of play and cheer each other on, encouragement to not take ourselves too seriously. A pep talk from Captain Usain, whose proposal to pass the 4x100m baton from Asafa to himself to Jenna to Jeneba seemed so outrageous, the room buzzed. But not as much as the stadium buzzed the next night:
In the javelin, a target in the sector, if hit in the fourth round only, awarded the accurate competitor valuable bonus points. The other two field events (long jump and pole vault) were similarly run, and certain Bolt field All-Stars' points were essential to boosting the team score on each respective night.
Night 1, I hit the target in Round 4!
Why did I throw well in Melbourne? Because I knew my team was depending on me, and their cheers from right next to the runway were constant, fun reminders of that. I have always known that I do better when I'm having fun, and encouragement to just be myself was all I needed to have an awesome experience on the runway. It also turns out that being a Bolt All-Star means that the man himself truly plays the role of team captain in cheering on and celebrating with his people!!
The thing that made Nitro Athletics awesome for me was the people. I had never spent significant amounts of time with most of my teammates, and there are many times that I wouldn't choose to spend significant amounts of time with people. Really any people. I'm that confusing mix of intro- and extrovert. I think that everyone's attitudes about this trip matched, and that made it really easy to bond with the group. We were all willing to try something new and exciting, put our comfort zones aside (group introduction dances?!), and do fun work together toward a team victory.
Nitro Athletics conducted their first experiment in regular-season team competition down under. This three-meet series was a bit of a mystery, even to athletes who committed to attending. I got an email around Christmas time asking if I was interested, thought about it for a day, and decided to make the trip. Russ and I competed in Australia in 2012, and it was a fantastic experience, so why not return to the southern hemisphere's summer from Colorado? I was told to expect a laid-back atmosphere and to not worry about performance as much as fun. I really just looked forward to warm weather training and perhaps some beach or pool time! I signed up to be a "Bolt All-Star," but who really knew what that meant.
I spent some time in Chula Vista to throw outside before heading to Australia, and threw about 55m in practice before I left. I figured, "Cool, if I can scrape together a few more meters, I'll be happy." I had my first real javelin session on January 10th, inside. I had two practices off of a runway at any kind of speed in Chula, and one of them was with overweight implements. My trip to Australia was filled with unexpected twists, and the last bit of my California stay was spent scrambling to be ready for a February 4th competition when I'd been expecting to throw on February 9th. All of these things meant that I was 100% ready for whatever was going to happen on the first night of the inaugural Nitro Athletics series. No expectations whatsoever.
Our team meeting on February 3rd finally shed some light on the event: Three meets in which six teams compete for overall dominance, points awarded for performance, bonus rounds and power plays (random draws of events for each team with double points, per night), complete freedom to roam the field of play and cheer each other on, encouragement to not take ourselves too seriously. A pep talk from Captain Usain, whose proposal to pass the 4x100m baton from Asafa to himself to Jenna to Jeneba seemed so outrageous, the room buzzed. But not as much as the stadium buzzed the next night:
Bolt to Prandini, right to right!
In the javelin, a target in the sector, if hit in the fourth round only, awarded the accurate competitor valuable bonus points. The other two field events (long jump and pole vault) were similarly run, and certain Bolt field All-Stars' points were essential to boosting the team score on each respective night.
Night 1, I hit the target in Round 4!
58.24m, 59.05m, 61.16m (plus slow-motion), 60.43m and target acquired!
Find this video on my Instagram as well.
I've had some great *team* experiences in my international career. Being a Bolt All-Star cracks the top 5, and if my husband didn't play prominent roles in my top 3, Nitro would be my number 1. I'm not kidding.
1. NACAC Under-23 Championships, 2006. Met Russ and many other important people.
2. Beijing World Championships, 2015. Teammates with Russ. (Related: NACAC Senior Championships where we both won, 9 years after meeting at U-23s.)
3. Toronto PanAm Games, 2015. Shared a WINGER competition bib with Russ because they printed Patterson for me. We both medaled!
4. Nitro Athletics, 2017.
5. Beijing Olympic Games, 2008. First Olympics, enough said. Also being roommates with Jill (just Camarena then!).
Why did I throw well in Melbourne? Because I knew my team was depending on me, and their cheers from right next to the runway were constant, fun reminders of that. I have always known that I do better when I'm having fun, and encouragement to just be myself was all I needed to have an awesome experience on the runway. It also turns out that being a Bolt All-Star means that the man himself truly plays the role of team captain in cheering on and celebrating with his people!!
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| Coach/Captain Usain, me, Japanese javelin thrower Hiroko Takigawa after Night #1, Round 4 (bonus points)! |
Low stress, high fun, would absolutely throw again. I'd love to see team scores (not just medal counts) at major championships. Maybe we'd all be more involved in each other's journeys. I miss that, and didn't realize how much until experiencing Nitro Athletics.
P.S. Please watch I Am Bolt. I did on the plane on the way to Melbourne. I want Glen Mills to call me a Champion.
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Year in Review: 2016
Stats! I only competed 7 times this year (if you count Trials qualifying, which I am), compared to fifteen times last year. My last meet was my best one on the year, which has never happened before. Also, my first meet was my furthest season opener ever, although it was later than ever. I did a lot of forcing speed rather than focusing on positions this year, which I don't intend to repeat in 2017.
Meets:
Portland: 61.72m
Eugene qualifying: 61.42m
Eugene final: 57.90m
Rio qualifying: 61.02m
Berlin: 58.76m
Rovereto: 58.44m
Brussels: 61.86m
Worst: 57.90m
Best: 61.86m
Overall Average: 60.16m
Top 5 Average: 60.96m
This year went by SO fast, but at times it felt like it
would never start. Training and competing with a torn left labrum and rotator cuff for the second half of the 2015 season, and all of the complications that caused with my mid- and low back showed me that I needed to solve the problem before the Olympic year if I didn't want to be miserable. After left shoulder
surgery in October 2015, I couldn’t run until the middle of December, and
didn’t pick up a javelin until January.
Shoulder rehab took attention away from keeping my left knee healthy,
and I pinched a fat pad (so painful, persistent and annoying) in that knee
after two awesome weeks of training in Austin in March/April. I wasn’t nearly as strong in my right
shoulder as I normally am, despite impressive creativity from Jamie and Ty in
my training to get around my healing left shoulder. I did absolutely everything I could with what
I had this year, and as much as 13th in Rio hurt, I’m proud of my
performance at my third Olympic Games. Given the choice again, I would get surgery again. It was the right thing for me and my overall quality of life. If one other thing had gone a tiny bit better, my results could have been much more impressive on the year. Again, though, I'm proud of my efforts through everything that happened physically this season.
In June, I finished my last class toward my graduate degree: An MBA with an Accounting concentration through DeVry's Keller Graduate School of Management, and the scholarship program via partnership between DeVry and the USOC. This most recent course of education began right after we moved to Colorado (just after my ACL surgery), and was really therapeutic for me in a time when my athleticism was halted for a while. I'm thrilled to have seen it through and imagine what I can do with it in the future!
So many things to improve on in 2017, and even if it wasn't what I'd imagined, so many things to be thankful for this year. Happy New Year!
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Ironwood TC Throws Classic
I competed at my first meet of the 2016 season in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, June 25. Multiple people asked me in the lead-up to that opener if I was planning on competing this year. Haha!
Many long stories short, surgery is never what you expect. I said when I decided to get left shoulder surgery in the Fall that if I couldn't compete until Olympic Trials due to the recovery, that would be okay. When the reality hit that that was what was happening though (and for reasons I didn't see coming), it was a little tougher emotionally to stand by what I said! I also knew that even with all of the experience that I've earned throughout this career, it would still be silly to go cold into TrackTown, USA, especially with the improving state of women's javelin throwing in this country. I wanted to open two weeks before Trials to give myself as much time as possible to be ready but still have some rest time in between, and it turned out that David Pless had planned a meet at Concordia University on the perfect weekend! Bonus that I love coming to the Northwest and that I haven't competed as close to home as Portland since high school (12 years ago)!
Friends and family came, I got to travel with Russ, the weather was gorgeous, and the meet was small but women I've built relationships with over the years came to throw. You simply can't reproduce competition emotions by yourself, and I was definitely nervous, but focused hard on two things:
1. Hide the javelin behind my head.
2. Good rhythm on the runway.
All film is by Duncan Atwood, a wonderful Northwesterner who has been a part of my career for 14 years!
This warm-up throw went about 60 meters, and I really liked my rhythm:
Round 3 went 61.72m, and I can imagine that it looked pretty similar to my other 61m throws on the day, but had a bit faster left foot touchdown time! I tried too hard on Round 4. Round 5 went 61.58m! I tried to stay taller through my core on this throw than I had on Round 4, and I think I accomplished that. Still missing great rhythm in my legs, though, and I wish I could hold my upper body back just a hair longer.
I would be thrilled with this opener even if this year hadn't been filled with some frustrating challenges! Three throws over 61 meters isn't something I normally do in my first meet, especially with the lack of speed that I feel like I displayed in Portland and my slight hesitation at the block that is lingering. The training I've been able to put in this year (been limited to?) make it feel like I'm in comparable shape to what I normally am at a typical time to open a season (late April or so) rather than July. I was really nervous about feeling that way, but throwing near home after trusting my own process this year paid dividends in this opener and series. I'm ready for Olympic Trials this weekend!
Here's a 63.21m attempt from Austin last May, just for a fun comparison to the above throws. The rhythm is much better but the upper body leaves something to be desired!
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| Photo by Kim Spir |
I had hoped to start my season at the end of May, and had trips to Halle (the German throws meet that Russ and I have talked about going to for years), Rome and Birmingham lined up. I cancelled that trip before even getting plane tickets due to various aches and pains. I simply lacked the physical ability at that point to prepare adequately for competition! In this Olympic year, I wasn't willing to compromise the end goal after everything I've been through since 2012. I've also never had the guts to say I wasn't ready for something and cancel a trip, and it was really liberating to be able to do so! At 30 and after 7 years of professional javelin throwing (15 years total!), many times less is more.
Many long stories short, surgery is never what you expect. I said when I decided to get left shoulder surgery in the Fall that if I couldn't compete until Olympic Trials due to the recovery, that would be okay. When the reality hit that that was what was happening though (and for reasons I didn't see coming), it was a little tougher emotionally to stand by what I said! I also knew that even with all of the experience that I've earned throughout this career, it would still be silly to go cold into TrackTown, USA, especially with the improving state of women's javelin throwing in this country. I wanted to open two weeks before Trials to give myself as much time as possible to be ready but still have some rest time in between, and it turned out that David Pless had planned a meet at Concordia University on the perfect weekend! Bonus that I love coming to the Northwest and that I haven't competed as close to home as Portland since high school (12 years ago)!
Friends and family came, I got to travel with Russ, the weather was gorgeous, and the meet was small but women I've built relationships with over the years came to throw. You simply can't reproduce competition emotions by yourself, and I was definitely nervous, but focused hard on two things:
1. Hide the javelin behind my head.
2. Good rhythm on the runway.
All film is by Duncan Atwood, a wonderful Northwesterner who has been a part of my career for 14 years!
This warm-up throw went about 60 meters, and I really liked my rhythm:
Round 1 flew 61.28m, and I felt like all I did well was keep my arm back and high. The rhythm could've been much better, and just because my arm was back doesn't mean it was in the position I'd like it to be in! I was really encouraged by Attempt #1. Practice has gone pretty well, but I just never know how competition nerves are going to hit me.
Round 2's 58.85m was a much cleaner throw, but not as rhythmic and definitely not as explosive at the end (because the rhythm was off and my upper body was in a bit of a forward position). When I saw it fly I hoped it was further (it was pretty!), but looking at my speed and right-left time I know why it wasn't.
Round 3 went 61.72m, and I can imagine that it looked pretty similar to my other 61m throws on the day, but had a bit faster left foot touchdown time! I tried too hard on Round 4. Round 5 went 61.58m! I tried to stay taller through my core on this throw than I had on Round 4, and I think I accomplished that. Still missing great rhythm in my legs, though, and I wish I could hold my upper body back just a hair longer.
I would be thrilled with this opener even if this year hadn't been filled with some frustrating challenges! Three throws over 61 meters isn't something I normally do in my first meet, especially with the lack of speed that I feel like I displayed in Portland and my slight hesitation at the block that is lingering. The training I've been able to put in this year (been limited to?) make it feel like I'm in comparable shape to what I normally am at a typical time to open a season (late April or so) rather than July. I was really nervous about feeling that way, but throwing near home after trusting my own process this year paid dividends in this opener and series. I'm ready for Olympic Trials this weekend!
Here's a 63.21m attempt from Austin last May, just for a fun comparison to the above throws. The rhythm is much better but the upper body leaves something to be desired!
Thursday, October 15, 2015
2015 Statistics
I averaged my results on the year once, and it was really fun! Here we are again:
Average of Top 5 Competitions: 63.89m
66.47m (Longhorn Invite)
64.94m (USAs)
62.97m (London)
62.85m (Prefontaine)
62.21m (World Championships Qualifying)
Average of All Results: 61.72m
60.82m (Texas Relays)
59.07m (Drake Relays)
66.47m (Longhorn Invite)
61.76m (Shanghai)
62.85m (Prefontaine)
61.64m (Oslo)
64.94m (USAs)
61.71m (Paris)
61.44m (PanAms)
62.97m (London)
61.10m (Stockholm)
60.34m (NACAC)
62.21m (Worlds Qualifying)
60.88m (Worlds Final)
57.58m (Zurich)
If you take Zurich out of the equation (which I'd like to, but won't, haha), the overall average would be right around 62m. I threw 61m 10 out of 15 times, but only threw over 62m (the Olympic A Standard and clearly at least what it takes to make major championship finals now) one third of the time. I definitely need to work on that next year, and part of that is NOT competing in fifteen meets in one season! It was awesome, but way too many for an Olympic year, and I look forward to tailoring my schedule with Rio clearly in my sights!
Average of Top 5 Competitions: 63.89m
66.47m (Longhorn Invite)
64.94m (USAs)
62.97m (London)
62.85m (Prefontaine)
62.21m (World Championships Qualifying)
Average of All Results: 61.72m
60.82m (Texas Relays)
59.07m (Drake Relays)
66.47m (Longhorn Invite)
61.76m (Shanghai)
62.85m (Prefontaine)
61.64m (Oslo)
64.94m (USAs)
61.71m (Paris)
61.44m (PanAms)
62.97m (London)
61.10m (Stockholm)
60.34m (NACAC)
62.21m (Worlds Qualifying)
60.88m (Worlds Final)
57.58m (Zurich)
If you take Zurich out of the equation (which I'd like to, but won't, haha), the overall average would be right around 62m. I threw 61m 10 out of 15 times, but only threw over 62m (the Olympic A Standard and clearly at least what it takes to make major championship finals now) one third of the time. I definitely need to work on that next year, and part of that is NOT competing in fifteen meets in one season! It was awesome, but way too many for an Olympic year, and I look forward to tailoring my schedule with Rio clearly in my sights!
Catch-Up
While 2014 was one of the busiest years of my life (planning a wedding, going to school, self-renovating a home with Russell, and keeping up with competitions was sleep-deprivingly awesome), 2015 was also crazy for different reasons! The house is done and we're married now, but I still took classes every session, and I traveled much more than I did last year. A busy schedule means that whenever I was home, I slept and spent time with loved ones instead of blogging regularly. I won't apologize for maintaining my mental health, as it's just important as the physical side of things! :) Here's a recap of my season since the Longhorn Invite, very much abbreviated and focused on take-aways and summaries instead of details. I will write another blog with averages, too!
Shanghai
The Shanghai Diamond League on May 17 had me really nervous for some reason! My travel there was pretty great, and Tia and I were roommates and adjusted well to the time zone (the first time that has really happened for me). I didn't get enough body work done while there, and my upper back was not happy while I was warming up! My thoracic spine gets pretty upset on long flights like it took to get to China, and when I don't get it adjusted upon arrival, I struggle. I also felt pretty lethargic despite adjusting to the time zone well, and had a hard time getting my intensity up in time for the competition. Starting the competition out with a 56-meter attempt did not make me happy, and I was glad to improve to 61.28m in round two. I further improved to 61.76m during finals, and ended up 7th overall. I simply kept my chest up better on my better attempts instead of being afraid of the finish, but wasn't super thrilled with the results. That's a long way to go for 7th, which is a position I've finished in in a lot of Diamond League competitions! I was ready for more. Finished Season 3 of Arrow on the way home. :)
Prefontaine
I really, really wanted to go to Pre on May 30th this year, since I hadn't competed at Hayward Field since Olympic Trials in 2012. I needed to get my head around the venue and feel strong there again before USAs and 2016 Olympic Trials, and it worked. My first attempt (follow the link) was 62.52m, and round three traveled 62.85m to put me in second place by the end of the competition. Christina said to me at practice the day before the meet, "All I know is that I have been here twice, and I have won twice," so when she passed me in round two I really wanted to answer back, but my round three improvement wasn't quite enough. That's okay for now! Watching the video from that meet tells me that I'm still not staying back in the throw enough: I push forward with my right leg right before I hit the block, which sends my upper body forward and down rather than letting it stay back and then accelerate up and outward for more power. That last-second forward push also causes me to lose the tip of the javelin, which is never okay, but especially hurts you in Eugene. It could have gone better, but I felt really good about this meet! Here's a flotrack interview. I'm terrible at remembering numbers in the moment, haha.
Oslo
I had never been to Norway before! I've heard really cool things about the coasts of Norway and was excited that Oslo would have some water even though it's sort of inland. Plus, it's always fun to see my friend Andreas! Starting at Pre, I added some intensity to my warm-up with the help of Wendy. I learned from Shanghai that I needed to get myself going a little earlier so that I could start the competition with a bang instead of wasting my first round on nerves and tentativeness. That involves more video-watching and music-listening to get excited. I tried to recreate my successful warm-up from Eugene in Oslo, but it didn't quite work as well. Perhaps jet lag had something to do with that, but I felt physically pretty good and started the competition with 61.64m, which was my best attempt through all six rounds (with two others also over 61m) to end up 6th. Sixth place is better than seventh, but I couldn't help feeling a tiny bit frustrated anyway. But I was still thrilled to be starting competitions strong and keeping my bottom numbers up!
USAs
USATF Outdoor Championships were back in Eugene, Oregon this year. I love it when that happens because I get to go home and see my family and the puppies!! I was also pumped to be heading there with Russ, who competed on Thursday while I was scheduled for Friday evening. I absolutely love watching him throw, and was so proud of him for battling through this season's cumulative small injuries to throw 64.34m and finish second!
My training plan has worked out this year such that we discovered that I throw well in the first week of a new block, so that I am sore from new exercises. I did NOT see that coming, but am really happy to have learned such valuable information! So, going into competition on Friday, I was sore, I felt like travel had caught up with me a little, and there had just been a lot going on in the weeks before USAs. I had a course project due the Sunday before that and took my final on Wednesday morning for four hours. Little logistical things that go on surrounding national championships mixed with real life stuff can just be hard on you. Warming up for the meet had me worried: I was really achy, it was really hot, and I just didn't feel like myself. I didn't feel powerful, but I knew that I was, and that focusing on specific technical things could get me where I needed to go. Cue intense focus on acceleration all the way through my throw and keeping the javelin hidden behind my head, plus good posture through my run.
Round one went 64.94m, a little bit to my surprise! Despite not throwing far in warm-ups, I did feel connected to the implement, and that feeling continued in round one. I just felt strong and confident, and that was really, really fun at Hayward Field. My sixth round throw flew 64.45m to reinforce first place and my sixth total National Championship, but first as Kara Winger!
Paris
My body HURT in Paris after two first Weeks in a row, and I had a lot of trouble getting going. Managed 61.71m in the third round to move from tenth or so to fourth to make it into finals, and ended up 6th. Was frustrated to feel so terrible after I had worked through the same sort of feelings at USAs and done well! But I was lined up to spend almost two whole weeks at home after this trip, so super excited to get some rest/normalcy.
Pan-American Games: Toronto, Canada
My brother got married in Seattle on July 19th, and I competed on July 21st in Toronto, three time zones, two long flights, and one whole country away, haha. I knew going in that I wanted to do both and needed to just suck it up about the travel and such, and I'm really happy that I chose to compete at my first PanAms, even if it wasn't under ideal circumstances. We (Russ competed, too!) arrived at the village around 6:00pm the night before competition, managed to get checked in, eat something and get some treatment (which I desperately needed on my back) before a team meeting at 8pm that lasted until 9:15pm and illuminated a problem: My competition bib said, "Patterson." While I like my maiden name, I chose to make a quick switch this season and didn't want any confusion happening! So making sure I spoke to the correct people about it and had a solution lined up for the next morning took a while. By 10pm I was in my room laying things out for the next day's meet, and just thinking about maybe doing some jump squats and abs as a sad excuse for a pre-meet, when a knock on my door brought news that our competition time had been changed. Instead of an 11:30am start time, we were now going to begin throwing at 10:05am. As in, less than 12 hours after getting this news. Crazy things happen before major championships, I have always been told! Despite all that, a stiff headwind, and kind of intense back pain warming up early the next morning, I managed to throw 61.44m in the last round to move into the lead from second (after my fifth round throw), only to move back to second overall. Liz had to beat me on her last throw, in front of her home crowd (Canadians), at a meet that she had expressed to me was really important to her. The roar from the stands was really awesome, and it was special to be a part of. :) Plus, my silver medal is really cool!
London
I was super excited to head back to the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, as I had never competed healthy there before! I felt MUCH better than I had in Toronto, thanks to a few nights of a LOT of sleep. I ended up fifth at 62.97m, and was happy for the day. I thought that Stockholm would go better.
Stockholm
I loooooved the city of Stockholm! I went on an Ocean Bus tour. :) I had a lot of school work to do that week and not a lot of time to do it, so between all of the travel I had been undergoing and that stress, I got sick. I felt terrible during competition and did my very best, but only managed 61.10m for sixth. I still walked away being happy that my bottom numbers were staying up, though! Traveling home sick was a bit miserable.
North American, Central American, Caribbean (NACAC) Senior Championships: San Jose, Costa Rica
This meet was fun to travel to with Russ, and we got to be roommates! I also wanted to go with him on this national team trip because we met on a NACAC Under-23 team in the Dominican Republic NINE years ago, and going to the "same" meet again together sounded fun. It really was: The main focus of this meet was to get Russ a World Championships A Standard via a victory, and he accomplished that! A first place showing at an area championship counts as an A Standard, so he qualified for his first World Championship and got to come to Beijing with me based on this meet! That was WELL worth the trip. We competed on the same day and both struggled to throw far, but got the job done in winning our events. I threw 60.34m on a day when I found it a little difficult to focus (Russ had competed right before me, and I was so excited that he had gotten the job done!). It was so, so awesome to be there together and imagine what Worlds would be like!
IAAF World Championships: Beijing, China
Russ and I first traveled together to Tokyo, Japan for training camp, which was amaaazing. We loved Japan! Ate legitimate sushi and awesome ramen noodles with good friends, explored a temple and surrounding area, and brought home really, really cool kitchen knives from the tiniest little store vendor. Plus, the people at Juntendo University, where the throwers practiced, could not have been more excited to have us there! Just an awesome time. I continued to get my back worked on and was so excited to see Ty and have throwing sessions with him for the first time since May. I was encouraged by how I was starting to feel physically by the time we left for Beijing.
Qualifying rounds have gotten to me in the past, but everything I've been through made this experience seem different somehow. I'm so glad I competed as much as I did this year, even if I was exhausted by the end of the season, because I was comfortable out there with so many great athletes all around me. You can't help but feel nervous during qualifying, but I was the most equipped I've ever been to handle it. I can still do better in the future, but I hung on with 62.21m to grab the last (12th) qualifying spot through to the finals!!! My friend Goldie Sayers had told me the day before that she did some research: She said that the furthest it had ever taken to qualify for a World Championship final was 60.39m, so I believe I set some kind of record, haha. I had a feeling something like that would happen this year, as the automatic qualifying mark was 63.80m, which is WAY further than I've ever seen it. That's a reflection of the depth in the whole world, something I also experienced all year!
My body (back, knee a little, left shoulder) hurt a little more for finals than it had for qualifying, but I pushed through it the very best I could, and drew on all the experience I've earned traveling from meet to meet. It was really cool to be competing on the very last day of World Championships, as every athlete on the track was trying for a medal. I love being able to draw on other competitions' energy, and have experience doing that just enough to not get distracted! I always want to have fun when I'm throwing, and noticing when others are accomplishing dreams is pretty fun. I could only throw 60.88m for eighth place with bad chest positions and a slow left that day. I left the Bird's Nest absolutely thrilled, though. I had traveled to China to compete in World Championships with my husband, and done better than I ever dreamed the first time I came to the same place seven years prior for the Olympics. Plus I made waves in a year that I didn't know if I would be fully confident in my knee at full speed without a brace. So much positive, but my body was breaking down a little, too.
Zurich
The Diamond League Final was only four days after the World Championships final. The flight there was so easy, and adjusting to Europe time after being in Asia is a piece of cake compared to going from the America side! Still, though, my back was totally done. My first attempt resulted in a terrible back-wrenching spasm of pain that was only relieved after Liz let me borrow her foam roller to pop it. After that happens though, getting things to relax really quickly is next to impossible. I was really proud of being tough and improving after that disaster, and very grateful to walk away without any significant injuries. My worst result of the year: 57.58m for ninth. Someday I will figure out how to compete in Zurich! :)
What a ridiculously busy season, with so many positive and awesome things in it. I'm so, so grateful for my coaches, agents, ASICS, QALO, Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center athletic trainers, family, friends, and you for following along. I've learned so much and am already applying it to my mental game for Rio in 2016!
Shanghai
The Shanghai Diamond League on May 17 had me really nervous for some reason! My travel there was pretty great, and Tia and I were roommates and adjusted well to the time zone (the first time that has really happened for me). I didn't get enough body work done while there, and my upper back was not happy while I was warming up! My thoracic spine gets pretty upset on long flights like it took to get to China, and when I don't get it adjusted upon arrival, I struggle. I also felt pretty lethargic despite adjusting to the time zone well, and had a hard time getting my intensity up in time for the competition. Starting the competition out with a 56-meter attempt did not make me happy, and I was glad to improve to 61.28m in round two. I further improved to 61.76m during finals, and ended up 7th overall. I simply kept my chest up better on my better attempts instead of being afraid of the finish, but wasn't super thrilled with the results. That's a long way to go for 7th, which is a position I've finished in in a lot of Diamond League competitions! I was ready for more. Finished Season 3 of Arrow on the way home. :)
Prefontaine
I really, really wanted to go to Pre on May 30th this year, since I hadn't competed at Hayward Field since Olympic Trials in 2012. I needed to get my head around the venue and feel strong there again before USAs and 2016 Olympic Trials, and it worked. My first attempt (follow the link) was 62.52m, and round three traveled 62.85m to put me in second place by the end of the competition. Christina said to me at practice the day before the meet, "All I know is that I have been here twice, and I have won twice," so when she passed me in round two I really wanted to answer back, but my round three improvement wasn't quite enough. That's okay for now! Watching the video from that meet tells me that I'm still not staying back in the throw enough: I push forward with my right leg right before I hit the block, which sends my upper body forward and down rather than letting it stay back and then accelerate up and outward for more power. That last-second forward push also causes me to lose the tip of the javelin, which is never okay, but especially hurts you in Eugene. It could have gone better, but I felt really good about this meet! Here's a flotrack interview. I'm terrible at remembering numbers in the moment, haha.
Oslo
I had never been to Norway before! I've heard really cool things about the coasts of Norway and was excited that Oslo would have some water even though it's sort of inland. Plus, it's always fun to see my friend Andreas! Starting at Pre, I added some intensity to my warm-up with the help of Wendy. I learned from Shanghai that I needed to get myself going a little earlier so that I could start the competition with a bang instead of wasting my first round on nerves and tentativeness. That involves more video-watching and music-listening to get excited. I tried to recreate my successful warm-up from Eugene in Oslo, but it didn't quite work as well. Perhaps jet lag had something to do with that, but I felt physically pretty good and started the competition with 61.64m, which was my best attempt through all six rounds (with two others also over 61m) to end up 6th. Sixth place is better than seventh, but I couldn't help feeling a tiny bit frustrated anyway. But I was still thrilled to be starting competitions strong and keeping my bottom numbers up!
USAs
USATF Outdoor Championships were back in Eugene, Oregon this year. I love it when that happens because I get to go home and see my family and the puppies!! I was also pumped to be heading there with Russ, who competed on Thursday while I was scheduled for Friday evening. I absolutely love watching him throw, and was so proud of him for battling through this season's cumulative small injuries to throw 64.34m and finish second!
My training plan has worked out this year such that we discovered that I throw well in the first week of a new block, so that I am sore from new exercises. I did NOT see that coming, but am really happy to have learned such valuable information! So, going into competition on Friday, I was sore, I felt like travel had caught up with me a little, and there had just been a lot going on in the weeks before USAs. I had a course project due the Sunday before that and took my final on Wednesday morning for four hours. Little logistical things that go on surrounding national championships mixed with real life stuff can just be hard on you. Warming up for the meet had me worried: I was really achy, it was really hot, and I just didn't feel like myself. I didn't feel powerful, but I knew that I was, and that focusing on specific technical things could get me where I needed to go. Cue intense focus on acceleration all the way through my throw and keeping the javelin hidden behind my head, plus good posture through my run.
Round one went 64.94m, a little bit to my surprise! Despite not throwing far in warm-ups, I did feel connected to the implement, and that feeling continued in round one. I just felt strong and confident, and that was really, really fun at Hayward Field. My sixth round throw flew 64.45m to reinforce first place and my sixth total National Championship, but first as Kara Winger!
Paris
My body HURT in Paris after two first Weeks in a row, and I had a lot of trouble getting going. Managed 61.71m in the third round to move from tenth or so to fourth to make it into finals, and ended up 6th. Was frustrated to feel so terrible after I had worked through the same sort of feelings at USAs and done well! But I was lined up to spend almost two whole weeks at home after this trip, so super excited to get some rest/normalcy.
Pan-American Games: Toronto, Canada
My brother got married in Seattle on July 19th, and I competed on July 21st in Toronto, three time zones, two long flights, and one whole country away, haha. I knew going in that I wanted to do both and needed to just suck it up about the travel and such, and I'm really happy that I chose to compete at my first PanAms, even if it wasn't under ideal circumstances. We (Russ competed, too!) arrived at the village around 6:00pm the night before competition, managed to get checked in, eat something and get some treatment (which I desperately needed on my back) before a team meeting at 8pm that lasted until 9:15pm and illuminated a problem: My competition bib said, "Patterson." While I like my maiden name, I chose to make a quick switch this season and didn't want any confusion happening! So making sure I spoke to the correct people about it and had a solution lined up for the next morning took a while. By 10pm I was in my room laying things out for the next day's meet, and just thinking about maybe doing some jump squats and abs as a sad excuse for a pre-meet, when a knock on my door brought news that our competition time had been changed. Instead of an 11:30am start time, we were now going to begin throwing at 10:05am. As in, less than 12 hours after getting this news. Crazy things happen before major championships, I have always been told! Despite all that, a stiff headwind, and kind of intense back pain warming up early the next morning, I managed to throw 61.44m in the last round to move into the lead from second (after my fifth round throw), only to move back to second overall. Liz had to beat me on her last throw, in front of her home crowd (Canadians), at a meet that she had expressed to me was really important to her. The roar from the stands was really awesome, and it was special to be a part of. :) Plus, my silver medal is really cool!
London
I was super excited to head back to the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, as I had never competed healthy there before! I felt MUCH better than I had in Toronto, thanks to a few nights of a LOT of sleep. I ended up fifth at 62.97m, and was happy for the day. I thought that Stockholm would go better.
Stockholm
I loooooved the city of Stockholm! I went on an Ocean Bus tour. :) I had a lot of school work to do that week and not a lot of time to do it, so between all of the travel I had been undergoing and that stress, I got sick. I felt terrible during competition and did my very best, but only managed 61.10m for sixth. I still walked away being happy that my bottom numbers were staying up, though! Traveling home sick was a bit miserable.
North American, Central American, Caribbean (NACAC) Senior Championships: San Jose, Costa Rica
This meet was fun to travel to with Russ, and we got to be roommates! I also wanted to go with him on this national team trip because we met on a NACAC Under-23 team in the Dominican Republic NINE years ago, and going to the "same" meet again together sounded fun. It really was: The main focus of this meet was to get Russ a World Championships A Standard via a victory, and he accomplished that! A first place showing at an area championship counts as an A Standard, so he qualified for his first World Championship and got to come to Beijing with me based on this meet! That was WELL worth the trip. We competed on the same day and both struggled to throw far, but got the job done in winning our events. I threw 60.34m on a day when I found it a little difficult to focus (Russ had competed right before me, and I was so excited that he had gotten the job done!). It was so, so awesome to be there together and imagine what Worlds would be like!
IAAF World Championships: Beijing, China
Russ and I first traveled together to Tokyo, Japan for training camp, which was amaaazing. We loved Japan! Ate legitimate sushi and awesome ramen noodles with good friends, explored a temple and surrounding area, and brought home really, really cool kitchen knives from the tiniest little store vendor. Plus, the people at Juntendo University, where the throwers practiced, could not have been more excited to have us there! Just an awesome time. I continued to get my back worked on and was so excited to see Ty and have throwing sessions with him for the first time since May. I was encouraged by how I was starting to feel physically by the time we left for Beijing.
Qualifying rounds have gotten to me in the past, but everything I've been through made this experience seem different somehow. I'm so glad I competed as much as I did this year, even if I was exhausted by the end of the season, because I was comfortable out there with so many great athletes all around me. You can't help but feel nervous during qualifying, but I was the most equipped I've ever been to handle it. I can still do better in the future, but I hung on with 62.21m to grab the last (12th) qualifying spot through to the finals!!! My friend Goldie Sayers had told me the day before that she did some research: She said that the furthest it had ever taken to qualify for a World Championship final was 60.39m, so I believe I set some kind of record, haha. I had a feeling something like that would happen this year, as the automatic qualifying mark was 63.80m, which is WAY further than I've ever seen it. That's a reflection of the depth in the whole world, something I also experienced all year!
My body (back, knee a little, left shoulder) hurt a little more for finals than it had for qualifying, but I pushed through it the very best I could, and drew on all the experience I've earned traveling from meet to meet. It was really cool to be competing on the very last day of World Championships, as every athlete on the track was trying for a medal. I love being able to draw on other competitions' energy, and have experience doing that just enough to not get distracted! I always want to have fun when I'm throwing, and noticing when others are accomplishing dreams is pretty fun. I could only throw 60.88m for eighth place with bad chest positions and a slow left that day. I left the Bird's Nest absolutely thrilled, though. I had traveled to China to compete in World Championships with my husband, and done better than I ever dreamed the first time I came to the same place seven years prior for the Olympics. Plus I made waves in a year that I didn't know if I would be fully confident in my knee at full speed without a brace. So much positive, but my body was breaking down a little, too.
Zurich
The Diamond League Final was only four days after the World Championships final. The flight there was so easy, and adjusting to Europe time after being in Asia is a piece of cake compared to going from the America side! Still, though, my back was totally done. My first attempt resulted in a terrible back-wrenching spasm of pain that was only relieved after Liz let me borrow her foam roller to pop it. After that happens though, getting things to relax really quickly is next to impossible. I was really proud of being tough and improving after that disaster, and very grateful to walk away without any significant injuries. My worst result of the year: 57.58m for ninth. Someday I will figure out how to compete in Zurich! :)
What a ridiculously busy season, with so many positive and awesome things in it. I'm so, so grateful for my coaches, agents, ASICS, QALO, Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center athletic trainers, family, friends, and you for following along. I've learned so much and am already applying it to my mental game for Rio in 2016!
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