Another seasons best!  I woke up the morning of the 8th and was feeling horrible.  Pollen counts in Portland were at an all time high and I was having flu symptoms.  My Dad prayed over me, My sister in law made me breakfast and gave me some medicine.  Then when I arrived at Mac Wilkins throwing center I began to feel better.  It was a low key competition with many great athletes.  Both Discus and Hammer were contested.  Aretha and Reedus Thurmond were both competing and giving me advice along the way.  The two of them combined are like having one super coach that can fix anything I’m doing wrong.  They both kept encouraging me and on my last throw I threw a seasons best 59.52 meters (about 195 feet).  Check out the video.  My next meet is on June 12th in Vancouver BC (Kajacks track meet).

The wind was amazing, the competition was good, we had music playing, the sun was shinning….however, I was unable to put together a decent throw.  I had so much energy and have been having great practices and workouts in the weight room.  I thought the OTC meet was my chance to throw a big throw and re-establish myself among the top throwers in the USA.  But, God has other plans and I trust that he is teaching me and leading me through this experience.  Regardless of the distance I threw, Adam Keuhl, Karl Erickson, Drew Ulrick and I had a great time together.  Adam threw a huge 64+ meter throw, Drew had a 2 meter PR which is also the world “B” standard 62.60 and Karl Erickson threw over 200 feet with a 61+ meter throw.  This is not my best throw of the day but they all looked about the same.  Rushing my left arm and tall out of the back of the ring.

I am finally feeling like I can move across the ring and set up a nice throw. The Club Northwest meet was a small meet. I threw the shot to warm up (only 48 feet) and then had a more specific warm up for the discus. It was a field of 10 people and I believe second place was around 150′. I am very happy with my throw considering it was a small meet at 8pm after a long day of practice and work. I’m going to keep training hard for my next meet down at Concordia University in Portland on June 6th. Unfortunately I do not have any video of this throw.

Although the throws were not as far as I want I am starting to feel the timing and rhythm of my throw. The video below is not of my 57 meter throw. It is of my last throw which I foot fouled on the front of the ring. This was my favorite throw with my best positions. Adam Kuehl won the meet with a throw of 200’2″ and Karl Erickson placed 2nd on his last throw of 191′. After the meet, Karl Erickson, Adam Kuehl and I went to Sy’s pizza and had a great night talking about discus throwing with Lance Deal (the Oregon throws coach) and Brittney Henry. Thank you again CLUB NORTHWEST for all your help and for sponsoring the development of track and field athletes through the northwest.

On Thursday April 24th, Carly Dockendorf Kate and I began our treck to the Oregon Relays at 8:30pm in Seattle.  We piled into Carly’s car and drove to Kate’s Dad’s house in Portland for the night.  The next morning we continued our trip to Eugene (with several stops along the way) and arrive at Hayward Field with just enough time to see Angus Taylor throw the discus for the University of Washington.  He ended with a final mark of 44.22 Meters (145′) and showed good technical improvement.

At 3pm I warmed up for the 4pm competition and was excited to throw with Reedus Thurmond ( my coach), Mat Schwinn (a former teammate and good friend), Zach Midles, Peter Follmer, and the rest of the field.  There was a favorable head wind and I was feeling confident.  We warmed up and I finally could feel my body as I moved through my technical positions that I have trained so hard to obtain.  My first throw I only had 1 goal. To fully open and get off of my left foot in the back of the ring.  Mission accomplished.  On my Second throw I focused on holding my left arm straight out toward the sector as I worked my right leg across my body.  This resulted in a good mark of 59.01 meters.  Throws 3 and 4 were a little messy as I was trying to catch a big throw but I lost my left arm position.  Throw 5 was my best.  59.11 meters as shown in the video.  Many thanks to Reedus and Aretha Thurmond for all their help and for their constant encouragement and coaching.

ZACH MIDLES = PR OF 50.95 m (167’2″)
PETER FOLLMER = PR OF 50.48 M (165’7″)

A LINK TO RESULTS CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING ON THE COMPETITIONS LINK ON THE RIGHT AND THEN MY RESULT FOR THE DAY.

After another week of focused training I flew down to LA for the Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut California (about 1 hour east of LA).  The Carlsons (friends from UW) picked me up and let me crash at their place thursday night.  On Friday I went with Kate Carlson (the USC Pole Vault coach) to the Track and I watched as the University of Washington throwers had a great day.  Zach Middles threw lifetime PR’s in the hammer and the discus, while Dave Nyland returned from elbow surgeryin the javelin and Kyle Nielson came one meet closer to his National title! As far as the Discus goes….Reedus Thurmond and I were a bit out of sorts. I had a terrible competition day and lost to my coach for the first time in 2 years with a throw of 56 meters. However, after much encouragement from friends and family I have a strong belief that I am going through a trial and with perseverance and faith I will emerge a stronger, more confident thrower.

After 2 weeks of training at the Olympic Training Center In San Diego I was excited for my first meet of 2009. I flew into San Jose and took a bus up to the Stanford Campus. I was hoping for a farther throw but after watching the video I am excited about making a couple small adjustments and having a great 2009 track season!