I finally started my season at the Oregon Twilight. Seems like yesterday was the Olympic Games but watching everyone finish their seasons when I am just starting mine really makes it feel like a long time. I am really not happy with my performance, but I am going to use the poor outcome to motivate me to work harder, and throw farther at the next meet.

I finished up second place with 74.93m (245’10”) well off of the goal I had in my head. As the day goes by and I think about the competition I learn more about how far away I am from where I want to be, but also how small changes can get me far.

Honestly I would not be throwing in meets right now if I didn’t think I am capable of throwing 80m (262′) in a meet. I can roughly guess where I am at by how far I am throwing in practice, how my lifts are going, and how some of our other various training drills in practice feel.

I went into the Oregon Twilight really excited to open up. I had not gotten on the runway from my full approach that much, but I knew I was hungry to throw far. I figured I had a lot of pop in my javelin to offset the technical cues I knew I would miss from all the excitement from it being my first meet. I had the volume to not throw super bad, but I had a little bit of ignorance that I could throw really far.

Often in my first competition of the year I am just a ball of nerves. I run down the runway, get into my crossovers, and my mind goes blank; I call it blacking out, and I just throw. I am not exactly “out of control” but in a way I have no way of making conscious last minute changes to my technique.

My first throw landed out past the 70m line, and by the sounds of the crowd and how it flew I assumed 76-78m I gave a wave to the crowd and put my warm-ups back on. I heard the mark 73m and I cringed; it was nowhere near what I was hoping. Sam Crouser got a fair throw in the second round with a season best of 76m and I was excited to follow. But again 73m was read as my mark.

Round 1 Video

My flights were not clean, I was pulling down on the javelin, and no matter what I thought about before throwing it would always disappear in my crossovers. I was blacking out each throw and unable to fix the technical problems I had. 74m in round 3, I slipped in round 4 (foul), 74.93m in round 5 (my best), and 74m again in round 6. The competition was over and I didn’t adjust a single thing in the competition.

Round 2 Video

I headed home and watched film of me throwing, and every single throw looks the same. A combination of a gusty 25mph headwind and me pulling down on the javelin were two factors that were never going to result in a big throw. I laugh now because I know how easily I could have thrown farther.

I am still not happy with how I threw yesterday, but I am not worried about how this season is going. I have trained hard, my body is feeling good, and it is not uncommon for the first meet jitters to beat you. With more time this season I will develop comfort on the runway, experience to make adjustments on the fly, and in my next meet I will be able to throw much farther.

Glory to God, Stay Healthy, Throw Far. #TrainBIG #Moscow2013