The last six weeks of training has been nothing short of amazing. My confidence levels have risen tenfold and I am finally excited for upcoming competitions. This sudden shift in my season is not just by coincidence or luck, but because I made a mental shift in how I have been going about my day.

I got to the training center in October of 2014. I joined my Olympic javelin teammates Sean Furey and Craig Kinsley in hopes that together we could aid each other in an Olympic medal. When I arrived, I quickly learned how different our training styles were.

Sean and Craig train at moderate intensity for short periods of time. They incorporate lots of throwing and back off as much as necessary in order to stay healthy. If you can stay healthy you can make continuous progress. After all, our careers are marathons, not sprints.

I made adjustments to adapt my training to be more similar to theirs, but nothing vast; I have gotten far with my own style of training. I am a hard working guy. I put in lots of hours at the track and in the gym. Without knowing much about me, most people would say, if anything, that I am over trained. Proof of overtraining is often followed by injuries, and I have had my fair share of injuries.

Major Injuries in my Career

Partial tear of the UCL 2006

Flexor Tendonitis 2008

Left ACL tear (patellar tendon graft), MCL tear, lateral meniscus tear 2009

Left ACL tear (patellar tendon graft), MCL strained, medial meniscus tear, patellar tendonitis 2010

Lateral meniscus tear, patellar tendonitis 2011

Knee/Bone bruise, patellar tendonitis 2012

Patellar tendonitis, three separate back problems 2013

Minor shoulder issues, shin splints 2014

Tear in shoulder labrum, cyst in labrum triangle, rotator cuff tear, shin splints 2015

So when I thought about it, I agreed I needed a different approach than my #TrainBIG motto.

Last year I backed off training a lot; I put much more time into prehab/rehab to get my body right. My weight lifting coach stopped a few of my major lifts because my technique wasn’t there. My numbers dropped slightly in the weight room, but our big goal was to focus on throwing and getting healthy.

This year the mentality hasn’t changed. I have been focusing on throwing. On days that I feel wiped out, I rest. If my calves get a little tight in a sprint workout, I stop early.

I adopted a mentality that if I missed one rep, or sprinted a shorter distance in order to stay healthy, then it was worth it. That one rep couldn’t possibly make a difference. A fresh athlete is a better athlete.

We often think about this as a Risk to Reward Benefit. Is the risk worth the reward? Every exercise (at different volumes and intensities) has a different risk to reward benefits.

Increased training volume or intensity will give you greater rewards, but normally at a cost of greater risk of injury as well. As with my career, my hard training has also yielded lots of injuries.

The last 18 months of my training has been a very cautious training regimen. Safe lifts, safe volume, at a safe intensity.

But I was recently asked by an athlete at the training center, “Are you on schedule?”

I was months away from any competitions so I asked him, “On schedule for what?”

“For making the Olympic Team.”

I was taken aback by the question. I was over four months from the Olympic Trials and I don’t have the Olympic Standard yet. How could I possibly know!?

I gave the best answer I could. I told him, “I am doing what I can to stay healthy and I can only hope it’s enough to make the team.”

Instantly I hated my answer.

I can only hope

That might as well be the worst phrase an elite athlete has ever said in their life. I don’t want to hope. I want to know.

I have been haunted by that phrase every day since I said it. I recalled my 2012 Olympic season. I felt like every cliché boxer you have ever seen on TV or in the movies. I walked into every competition knowing I was the best and that I had already won. I was so confident in my training that to not make the Olympic team was not an option. It was unfathomable. I deserved it. I worked harder than everyone else. And no one could take it from me.

Now I am hoping I make the team? What has happened to me in four years!?

I needed to make a change and change fast! I knew I needed that confidence in my training; I needed that borderline arrogance that I could beat anyone!

I started to think about all the exercises I skipped because I was tired, all the days I skipped because I was sore. One might be no big deal, but it was turning into one exercise a day, one day a week, and it was adding up fast!  I didn’t want to hope my training was enough to make the Olympic Team I wanted to know it was enough to make it.

So for the last six weeks there has been a mental shift in my training. Everything exercise has its purpose. There is a bit of the old me, that is a little bit crazy and on edge. I am trying to maximize my training and thus maximize my performance.

But there is still a big piece of me that is in constant awareness of my body. Something I have developed over years of training; perceptive enough to know when to stop, but also know when to train through. My training partners are not doing it wrong. They are just doing it differently. What is important is that we are all confident in our training program.

Altogether this training mentality has been awesome! It has given me so much motivation for this season. I have already seen vast improvements in the weight room and on the runway. And best yet I can confidently say that I no longer am just hoping to make the Olympic Team.

 

My opening competition is April 15th, at Long Beach State.

 

 

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