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Hammer Season is here. Sometimes it feels as if it will never come and then suddenly it’s Mt. Sac weekend and then you’re traveling and competing almost every weekend as time blurs past and all you’re wishing for is just a week of solid training, and then there is the deep inhale as meets fall off in late May through June and then finally, it’s USA Championships.

I always feel like Mt. Sac is too early in the season for me, I’ve always been a slow builder needing meets and time to move into my comfortable peak. When my body feels good, my mind is focus, and I’m ready, I throw far. However waiting to push through the tough training, waiting for the timing to be just right, waiting to not be working as much so I have more time to training/rest while watching the US and world throwers grows is something hard for me.

I’m not a patient person by nature. I’m someone that lives by the idea that if you want something, you need to go out and make it happen. Fate and Serendipity have screwed me over too much to “wait and see” or believe in “if it’s meant to be.”

But I know the importance of training through, of staying focused on long term goals, and trying to get better at realistically looking at things. I’m training through the season right now. There is ground I’m trying to make up from last year on and off the track, and there are things I’m still trying to get settled in for the present and for the future.

I came back to Colorado to get centered again, to find my throw, and find a life that worked better for me, a healthy balance of things. Stress is still there, as it will be always. It took nearly 5 months to find work and that’s a lot of credit card bills (plus unexpected bills) that I’m trying to make up ground. My body and mind wasn’t in the best of shape getting here and I’m trying to be patient with both as I settle into my stride of training and competing.

My time and energy is very valuable to me right now. With all the traveling and working to make more money, there hasn’t been a day in almost three months that I wasn’t training, competing, traveling, and/or working. Needless to say, this pace is hard to maintain and my declining distances are a testament to my heavy schedule.

My schedule right now… Typically I wake up at 5am so I can lift by 6am, I get home about 730 where I shove some breakfast and coffee in before packing up work clothes and head to track. My gym, track facility, and home are in three different cities and sometimes that 20-30 mins driving between is something I don’t look forward to. I try to extend my practice long enough to see my coach, but typically I work so early, I’m finished before he arrives to coach the college kids. There are more weeks when I miss him completely…

After throwing, I try to change in the building next to the track so I can go straight to work. However, more than a few times have I been forced because of time to change in the Port-a-potty at the track. I work some days starting at 1030, some at 11 and am scheduled to get off by 615 but it typically goes to 630 and only occasionally longer.

If I don’t have any errands or pick up groceries, I make it home by 7ish and will be done eating by 8. I may check some emails or tinker with my stories, but typically get into bed by 845 and crash so I can do this all over again the following day.

Preparing for meets has been less than exciting. I typically fit in my work day then race from work to the airport to make my flight getting in to the meet as late as 145am to throw the next day or on more than one occasion, flying in the day of the meet because I worked the day before.

My success with my indoor season is a testament of what I’m capable of with enough rest and consistent coaching and training and I remind myself of that when I’m not pleased with my performance now. I just need rest, and some consistency. I haven’t lost anything. I’m in the best shape of my life, I’m tired not from over-training, but just over working, my heavy hammers are going great, my strength/speed is there, I just need time and energy to get it into the 4k. 4 solid turns and a finish with my 4k and I will see all my hard work and sacrifice come through.

Pretty exciting, lol. But my story isn’t unique. We are all like this, trying to figure out how much we can give, how much we can take. We have high expectations with the most limited resources. Even the bare necessities like access to training facilities and coaching become a luxury that few of us can afford.

But like I said, I’m training through. I’m pushing through this hard time, ignoring my competitors’ marks, my marks, my fatigue and frustration. I look at possibilities and goals and keep my eye on not only this June but next Olypmic trials. This year is all about training through, finding my stride, and my throw. In a few weeks as I am not working as much, have more time to collect myself and train with my coach, my throwing tempo will improve, my consistency will improve, and then my distance will improve. As I go through the rest of the season, my confidence and understanding of myself/training will grow.

I’m tired though, and it’s hard to stay positive when there doesn’t seem like the most positive situation. But I have health insurance now for the first time since graduating college, I have roof over my head, a place to throw and lift, I am fit and when I’m not exhausted, I throw well, and best of all, I have a dog who loves me and is always happy to see me. And that’s not too bad either…

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This post is related to an ongoing story:

• Road to Daegu 2011

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