Kickin' it old school

I had a "recovery meet" today (whatever that means) after last week's decathlon. I got a few days off this week and then a few more-painful-than-necessary days to follow. It's amazing how a reintroduction of the weight room followed by a handful of 200's on the track can make you feel after having rested from a decathlon. Thursday, friday, and this morning all required moans and groans in order to get out of a chair or walk down stairs.

In celebration of this...reunion... I showed up for a day of shot put and discus at a local track meet. The shot put was a nightmare as far as explosion and distance were concerned, but was technically okay (minus the lack of extension off the right leg at release and a bit of openness out of the back).

I went in to discus a little bummed that this may be my first track meet since training with Coach Lobue in San Diego in which I wouldn't see a p.r. But given the circumstances, I understand that you can't outperform yourself every time you step in to the ring... or can you?

Much to my surprise, warmups turned out to be phenomenal with nothing short of 140' and plenty of company near 150', one landing well past it's line (which placed top 5 at the 2004 Olympics). But given my reputation thus far in the actual competition time of discus, warmups mean nothing. Once it's time for it to count, I somehow quickly turn the graceful dance of discus into something more like a locked jaw tug of war.

Other than not sweeping or driving aggressively out of the back (sorry coach) I actually put some heat on the thing and at an appropriate angle. I ended up setting a new personal best of 137' in the competition. That's about 8 ft further than last week's decathlon and good for an extra 50 points. Not one throw landed short of 130, which also means consistency is on the rise.



The outfit helped stir up some motivation to get my tired self moving this morning. It turns out I kinda liked it and may revisit this style more often. It was reminiscent of my old cross country days with the Shortinos when any inseam longer than 3 inches felt cumbersome.