Update from Arles

There is nothing more satisfying than sleep for the sleep deprived. Food for a hungry man comes in a close second, but the food often pales in comparison to the succulent dishes we create in our minds and overindulgence can quickly turn satisfaction into regret. Sleep, on the other hand, never fails to satisfy. I started Thursday morning with a training session before heading to the airport, where I flew to Marseille (via Amsterdam) and drove another hour to nearby Arles. Once in Arles, I squeezed in another quick workout before grabbing dinner and finally heading to bed. Other than a short nap on the plane ride, I was been awake for nearly 30 straight hours. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out cold and couldn’t have been happier.

As I mentioned last week, I’m in Arles for the European Cup-Winter Throwing meeting. Arles is a small town sitting on the Rhone River. It was beautiful here yesterday with sunny weather and clear skies. The flight into Marseille was picturesque and the white cliffs on the Mediterranean reminded me of scenes from To Catch A Thief, which I watched earlier in the week. The weather declined slightly today as clouds moved in to turn the weather to overcast.

The Swiss Team in Arles

After a long day yesterday, I spent today resting up for tomorrow’s competition and catching up with many throwers and coaches. Half of the events also took place today and I spent some time at the track watching the women’s hammer throw and the men’s javelin competitions. Former world champion Betty Heidler took control of a slow hammer competition to beat a stellar field featuring six of the finalists from last year’s world championships.  I posted some video of the competition online.  My teammate Nicola Müller also threw a season’s best of 69.33m in the javelin, but had to pass his final two attempts after straining a muscle. This meet is actually a team competition, with the top throwers from each European country scoring points towards the team score. However, Switzerland did not send anyone other than Nicola and I this year.

After watching the competition today, I’m excited to compete tomorrow even if I have no real idea what to expect. All of my normal indicators are giving me inconsistent feedback this week. I threw another training best with the 5-kilogram hammer on Monday, but still have not been able to fully transfer that into results with the competition 7.26-kilogram hammer. I seem to have acclimated to the time change well and had a decent training session after a day of travel yesterday, but I always find the first day pretty easy. I have some technical points I want to work on, but other than that I just want to see where I am at in my training. My real season won’t start until mid-May, so I have plenty of time to make some adjustments, if necessary, after this meet.