SVM and Folksam Challenge Recap

LC Zürich won became Swiss Club Champions again on Saturday.

I had two meets over the past week and both results were very disappointing to say the least. While the conditions at the Schweizer Vereinsmesiterschaft on Saturday were less than ideal (I also had to throw the shot put), I had no excuses yesterday in Sweden and still threw poorly. The best I can do is to try to focus on the one positive note from each meet. On Saturday my club won the Swiss Club Championship and swept both the men’s and women’s titles for a historic 20th time. Yesterday, I got to visit Sweden for the first time, catch up with my friend Mattias Jons, and also meet several new throwers from Finland, Sweden, and Great Britain.

As I return to training tomorrow, I want to change something and throw better again. I think that’s everyone’s natural inclination when they hit a slump. I want to do something to prevent this season from sliding into oblivion like last year. I know I can throw farther. My coach knows I can throw farther. My training says I can throw farther, but it isn’t coming together yet. But rather than change, it is patience that will lead me there. This is no time to make a change. I trust my coach and know that things will come around when they need to if I just follow our plan.

Part of the reason for the inconsistency may be that I started a new program last week (although that alone shouldn’t explain throwing under 62 meters at both meets). After Mt. SAC, I spent a month throwing light and normal hammers and mostly taking a break from the weight room. Now I’m back into normal training: throwing 35-40 throws a day, doing close grip snatch, cleans, jump squats and a variety of other lifts. I’m throwing a collection of light and heavy hammers and even get to finish up each day by doing hammer releases with the full-length 16-kilogram hammer. The rest I got May will likely do me well in the long run, but I think it hurt me more than it normally does in the short term.

I also competed at the Folksam Challenge in Eskilstuna, Sweden on Tuesday.

I feel a bit silly writing about training when I’m throwing so poorly, but you all know my results and keep coming back to the site in ever increasing numbers. I know you are bright enough to know that even if my results aren’t good, you may be able to take away something from what I write about training. Posts like this are always hard, but I’ll continue to provide updates whether the results are good or bad. Lets just hope that there is more positive news to report in the future.