I just wanted to first start off this blog to say thank you to all the positive encouragement and advice I’ve received the past few weeks.

That being said, let’s talk about the move.

Moving Back to Move Forward: (I truly am a nerd with puns and play on words)

For those who follow my blog or have the unfortunate fortune to follow my twitter, you know that I’ve traveled across the U.S. to resume my training at Colorado State with my collegiate coach Brian Bedard and former training partner and 75m hammer thrower, Drew Loftin, oh and move in with my friend of over 15 years (am I getting that old?) Melissa Harms.

If you couldn’t tell about my last post, I was nervous. The last few years, training has felt, well inconsistent at times, uncertain at others. I described it as treading water, doing all I could to keep my head above water instead of moving forward and progressing. I’ve been very fortunate and found some great training ideas, coaching, but never found the exact fit I needed to be successful. True most of those problems were financial, but it is also about having a great support team of coaching, training partners, friends, family, facilities… okay and financing.

And so I come back to CSU that held the magic recipe for some of my most successful seasons. I come back to support from everyone which has been overwhelming, it really has. The weight room staff are very supportive and encouraging, the coaching staff, and the team here (I’m almost like a celebrity). I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome. I finally feel like not only do I belong here, but people want me here and they want to help me because they care about me as a person.

Bedard told me when I first came here that his number one goal was getting me to love the hammer again. We’re simplifying everything, working on my feel, comfort, and confidence. Confidence has been a big thing, let’s just say I came here worried and feeling like… I don’t know, but confidence has been a big thing this past year. I showed up to CSU more than a little broken…

But it’s been great, training has been AMAZING. We jokingly talk about anything better than U.S.A’s is decent for now, but just yesterday I hit a big throw working on some stuff which was almost 2m better than my SB last year and around oh, 4m better than my average. Not bad for Nov. More on this later.

Kibwe and Crystal Johnson’s Wedding!:

About two weeks ago, I had the great privilege of flying out to Canada for Kibwe and Crystal’s (Smith) wedding. It was like a throwers’ reunion out there. In one photo of the wedding party and close friends we had almost all All-Americans, NCAA or National Champions, and current and former National Record Holders. Not too shabby.

Not to mention how much fun the wedding was. We showed up a few days early and got to do the natural hot and cold springs, do the hot springs in a cave, celebrate at little bars, and then dance our butts off at the wedding. There were a few tears shed… okay they may have belonged to me, but the energy of the weekend was just fun.

We as throwers don’t always get to see all our friends without the pressure of a track meet, so it was nice coming together to celebrate our good friends’ day.

Oh and I totally sprinted across the room and caught the bride’s bouquet (yeah, Crystal hammer threw it!). So, I guess I should sign back up on J-Date again… lol

Trips: Keeping Austin Weird

My latest trip, I went out to Texas to visit my good friend and former training partner Abby Ruston. Her training is going well and she is stand throwing about a meter further than last year and already her South African drills are going as far as her best fulls did last year, so I’m expecting big things from her.

I also got to do a hammer clinic while out there. There is a great throwers community in Texas and some talented and enthusiastic people. I love sharing my love (and knowledge) of the hammer. It doesn’t hurt to make money too, but I mostly enjoy seeing people’s faces when they suddenly “get” it or the look of their technique when they finally start fixing something. We have a lot of fun but still learning. I’m looking to do a bigger clinic out there maybe in the Spring and met some great people to help organize it!

I got to meet Abby’s coach James Parman at Texas State. James is a great coach, intelligent and laid back. I think he’s a great fit for Abby, not to mention she has the support of her former school in terms of facilities and such. I wish her all the best.

Throwing and Training:

So training is going well. Like I said earlier, right now it’s about building my confidence, simplifying things, and getting the feel back.

That being said, I’ve gone back to a mostly Stewart type training. Right now I am working on general fitness and technique.

Weight room: This is very basic right now with doing full-body, body weight circuit training that focuses a lot on core, but also flexibility, balance, and coordination… You know, stuff I need as a thrower. My body is still a little beat up and I find myself not able to do it as efficiently as I was in 2009, but I’m focused on being smart right now. It’s a long season and I’m not trying to burn out. I have this week and next week on circuits before moving into my lifting.

Drills: I’m back to doing drills before every practice and getting in drills with purpose, meaning they are there to actually work on something rather than just warm up. Most of my drills have to do with pushing from the right (getting rid of the huge drag from last year) and balance as in keeping my head back at the back and front of the circle. I’m also mixing a little work in there on the start. Without a consistent start, you can’t build on the throw, you can’t build anything. My drills will change through the season as my needs and focus changes.

Specific Strength: I’m back to throwing puds, right now about 2-3 days a week. I do a variety of throws with the puds to work on balance, strength, and feel of the throw. I do two arm and single arm tosses and take around 15-21 total releases. Puds are also nice because they help keep my body even. It’s important to work specific strength things because not only do they strengthen the actually muscles you use to throw and hold good positions, they also strengthen the neural imprinting (which is more important to performing movements quickly, more important than strength in most cases) of the movements. I will do more MB stuff as we move indoors.

Throwing: For throwing right now I’m doing mostly heavy to build my hammer strength up. My hammers I use primarily include the short 6k, long 5k, and 4k. I throw between 4 and 5 days a week, the 5th being a rhythm easy day and get between 100-125 throws a week. Some athletes do more, some less. My body and thought process, I like to feel the hammer often, so I like a minimum of 4 days throwing and usually do better with one day off of throwing rather than two. However, I burn out very quickly and try not to take more than 25-30 throws a day and usually hover around 20ish. I also don’t throw full speed every throw. Practice is practice. My focus with throwing is balance and feel. We are simplifying things as I have a habit of analyzing everything when not given direction and that has been very good for me. My start is feeling better and so is my balance in my throws.

Distance wise, we don’t typically measure, but I have an idea because of markers on the field. My average throw with the long 5 is around 180-190 and I popped a 61m throw the other day when I lined everything up. My average 4k right now is around 61-64m and amazingly enough popped a 69+ throw (we measure it) after working on some things and lining it up. Not too bad being so early and not working on speed. I’m trying to stay focused and keep with my plan, but it’s nice to know my throw is still inside and not lost. Bedard is very positive right now.

Conclusion and Thoughts:

I think this is the year I really start to shine. I’ve learned so much over the past years, experienced so much, and finally I am in a fully supported environment to succeed. I don’t care that U.S. development dropped me this year. Hell, they did in 2008 when I made the Olympic team. I talked with Jennifer Joyce of Canada and we talked about the freedom of not owing anyone anything and our success being our own (as she was dropped from the Canadian carding this year).

My club, NYAC, is being very supportive of me and I am thankful of that and I’ve had other support too this past year from friends and organizations.

Money wise, I’m looking for work here in Colorado, but hopeful. I am looking to starting my own online coaching program too, so look for that in the coming weeks with articles you can read for free and purchase, program writing, and technical help. I went to school for teaching and love hammer throw and experienced a lot, so it’s only natural. Don’t forget to subscribe as I will be doing more frequent blogs with training tips, ideas, and updates.

I’m happy, positive, and excited to see if I’ve finally gotten the formula right!

Hope every one’s training is going well.

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