It’s been two and a half years since I started writing about my training on this thing called the interweb. Since then, many other track and field athletes have also started their own websites. Now, there are so many blogs that it can be hard to decide which ones are worth the read. Some are updated often and some rarely. Some provide a superficial look at the athlete, while others are more personal or contain detailed accounts of training. Below is a collection of my favorite sites across all the events. If I leave out any great blogs, feel free to add them in the comments below.
Hammer Throw – Unfortunately, few of the top men in America have websites (and Walter Henning just shut his blog down). The women, however, are on top of things. Five of the finalists at last year’s U.S. Championships are now blogging. Erin Gilreath and Loree Smith both provide a good in-depth look at the life of a thrower, with Loree even providing some good information on her training program. Britney Henry and Kristal Yush, among others, also provides frequent updates.
Shot Put – Dan Taylor – Two-time U.S. world championship team member Dan Taylor provides excellent updates on his training, his competitions, and the shot put world. He has even put together a comprehensive shot put ranking system with updated weekly rankings.
Discus – Will Conwell – My former teammate Will Conwell placed 6th at the 2008 Olympic Trials and recently moved to Auburn, Alabama to train with coach Jerry Clayton. It has been interesting to follow his progress as he keeps working towards 2012.
Triple Jump – Samyr Laine – Just because I’m a thrower doesn’t mean that I don’t like other events. I have a hidden passion for the triple jump and even scored a point at a high school dual meet in the event. I’ve never met Samyr, but have a unique connection with him since he is in his last semester of law school at Georgetown and will soon join me as one of the few attorneys competing in athletics. Like me, he is also a dual citizen (he competes for Haiti). However, he has accomplished more on the track and will be in Qatar this week to compete in the World Indoor Championships. His site provides great updates on his training, complete with video.
Long Jump – Brianna Glenn – I like following Brianna’s blog since it provides a great balance of discussing life as a track athlete, both inside and outside of training. Her career saw a little resurgence last year and she is also competing in Qatar this week.
Distance Running – I even have a place in my heart for distance runners. Dathan Ritzenhein had perhaps the best year of any American distance runner in 2009 by setting an American record in the 5,000 meters, placing well at the World Championships in the 10,000 meters, and winning a medal at the World Half Marathon Championships. His site shows the life of an elite distance runner. I enjoy that he takes the time to answer many reader questions. My favorite site to read, however, belongs to husband and wife runners Ian Dobson and Julia Lucas. Their writing is witty, their photos are great, and their updates are frequent and wide-ranging. Reading their site makes me realize that runners and throwers often confront similar challenges. I also enjoy reading Emily Brown’s updates, which I found through her interview with Runner’s World.
Hurdles – David Oliver – David won the bronze medal in Beijing and it has been fun to follow his travels this indoor season.
I’ve always thought that the best tool for sports psychology is a good training program. A good training program won’t solve all of an athlete’s problems, but when training is going well, it is hard to convince an athlete that they will not succeed. Throwers even have a unique advantage in this department. We get to practice every day like it’s a competition and are truly able know what shape we are in; all we have to do is pull out the tape measure and measure our results. Distance runners, on the other hand, do not have this advantage. An article in last month’s Runner’s World talked about how Kara Goucher has worked with a sports psychologist to overcome her mental hurdles. Unlike throwers, it is harder for runners to know exactly what shape they are in. They obviously run in practice, but they don’t replicate an entire race at competitive speeds. Even if they do, they cannot replicate race tactics in training. When the distance runner toes the line, they often aren’t quite sure what to expect and that is where doubt can enter the mind.
On the flip side, when training is not going well, throwers have no advantage in this area. My training last year was inconsistent because I was adjusting to technical changes and my training was often interrupted by work. Inconsistent practices led to inconsistent meets and I was not able to end the season with the results I wanted. This year, however, things are different.
Often when I don’t write about my training for months it is because I am not throwing very well. That is not the case now. The reason I haven’t had any training updates recently is because my training has been pretty uninteresting. I’ve been doing the same workout for nearly two months and, until this week, I don’t have any results to share since we’ve been throwing into a wall indoors. But with the World Master’s Indoor Championships in town, we began training outside again this week. After a few days of adjusting, I’m already throwing right at my training bests. This has giving me my confidence back heading into my first meet later this month. I don’t have astronomical expectations for the first meet … it is just the first meet after all. However, I know I will do better than last year and set myself up for a great season. In fact, I am so eager to compete that I may throw in a meet with some local high schoolers in Centralia, Washington next weekend before heading over to France. (On a side note, I will also be conducting a hammer throw clinic for throwers of all levels after the meet.)
My current training program has me throwing both the light 5-kilogram hammer and the slightly heavy 8.2-kilogram hammer. I am taking it easy in the weight room and have not lifted anything heavier than 50-kilograms (110-pounds) in nearly two months. Before this program, we were focusing on high-volume special strength work and throwing heavy hammers. My current program allows me to rest up a little and concentrate on technique again so that I can transfer my new strength into the throw. As I mentioned above, all this is paying off. This week I have consistently been 3 to 6 meters ahead of where I was last March with the 5-kilogram hammer. While I did not throw the 8.2-kilogram hammer last March, I am also approaching my training best with that implement. Take a look at the video below from last week (before we moved outside) to see how my technique is looking now. I still have lots of points to improve upon, but the start of my throw is coming into form. I am excited for my first meet and ready to throw far again.
Even the school next to my house is looking forward to the World Masters Championships.
This week, Kamloops will be the host of the 2010 World Masters Indoor Athletics Championships. Kamloops is often the host of sporting events and is even known as the Tournament Capital of Canada. With thousands of athletes coming from across the globe, this will be one the largest events the city has ever hosted. The whole town is behind the event and it should be a great success.
Like many in this sport, I am forever in debt to masters athletes. Specifically, I am in debt to Ken Weinbel of the Seattle Masters Track Club. His efforts built the only hammer cage in Seattle and he also let me borrow equipment and provided feedback when I first started out in the event. I still enjoy training there when I’m in town, and always get motivated when 97-year-old Leon Joslin shows up to take some throws. Leon played high school football with Gerald Ford and ran track with Jesse Owens at Ohio State. Rather than playing bridge, he throws the discus for fun and I get to throw alongside him.
If you are coming to town for the competition, let me know. I will be volunteering for a few of the events, but I still must throw twice a day and won’t have time to catch everything. You’re always welcome to come watch us train. I am also free almost every evening and love catching up with throwers over some good food or a beer. If nothing else, I can point you to some good places to eat. For example, try Duffy’s Pub for some quality beers and great food or the Swiss-owned Peter’s Pasta (pronounced PASS-ta up here) downtown for Italian. I could go on, but now I’m getting hungry. Hopefully, I’ll see you soon.
Earlier this month I announced that I left my job at Univar Inc. I enjoyed the work, the people, and the flexibility, but the job required me to be in Seattle. As a result, I had to leave my coach any time I wanted a paycheck. This was not conducive to throwing far. With a lot on the line this year, I decided to leave the job and spend more time with my coach.
There are three things I look for in a job: (1) flexibility; (2) a valuable experience; and (3) the amount of time I’ll be able to spend with my coach. My job at Univar had two of those three elements. Today, I accepted a position that will give me all three elements. When I arrive in Europe for the summer in mid-May, I will be working at UBS in Zurich.
This job will be a great experience for me. My specialty is in tax law and I’ve gained a lot of experience in international tax law. For those of you that follow business news, UBS has been involved in legal proceedings with the IRS for the past two years. The IRS has been attempting to force the bank to turn over the names of Americans that hold accounts at the bank. As a result, UBS is pulling back in the American market. My job will be working with a team of attorneys, accountants, economists, and other professionals to help resolve the tax and legal issues that arise from this move.
The job will also be very flexible. I will be working 60% during my stay, which will give me plenty of time to train and travel to competitions. My boss is a former competitive runner and understands my training needs. In addition, UBS has a history of proudly supporting athletics in Switzerland.
Finally, while the job is in Zurich, it won’t require me to spend any additional time away from my coach. Last summer I spent ten weeks in Europe during the competitive season. My obligations to both the Swiss National Team and my club require me to be in Europe for several competitions throughout the summer. Since the American season ends in June, I stay in Switzerland to compete in other elite competitions. My job in Zurich will be during my stay this year, meaning that I will be working during time I would already have been away from my coach. I hope it all works out as well as planned. Now I just need to find a place to stay and determine which club I will compete for this year. I normally stay in Bern and compete for the club there, but since I will be in Zurich I will need to find a new place to stay and may switch to a local club if it makes training easier. As always, I’ll keep you all updated.
On the plus side, hammer throwers should be thankful that there even is a Hammer Throw Challenge. Momentum has been pushing the hammer throw outside of the stadium over the past decade. The Hammer Throw Challenge assures hammer throwers a spot in track and field, even if it is not on the world’s biggest stage.
The new Challenge will consist of eleven meetings. Three of the meetings will host both the men’s and women’s hammer throw. The remaining eight meetings will host either the men’s or women’s hammer, giving each gender seven total competitions. The complete schedule is as follows:
Dakar, Senegal - 24 April – Women
Osaka, Japan – 08 May – Men
Daegu, South Korea – 19 May – Women
Rio de Janiero, Brazil – 23 May – Men & Women
Ostrava,Czech Republic, 27 May – Men & Women
Hengelo, Netherlands – 30 May – Men
Madrid, Spain – 02 July – Men
Athens, Greece – 12 July – Women
Berlin, Germany – 22 August – Women
Rieti, Italy – 29 August – Men & Women
Zagreb, Croatia – 01 September – Men
While none of these competitions are a member of the IAAF Diamond League, all the prestigious meetings that are part of the second-tier IAAF World Challenge. These meets will allow athletes great exposure for hammer throwers and the opportunity to compete in some wonderful venues. For example, Rio will host the 2016 Olympics, Daegu will host the 2011 World Championships, Berlin hosted the 2009 World Championships, and Athens hosted the 2004 Olympic Games. Some of the meets have also been proud supporters of the hammer throw in the past and always make every effort to bring more recognition to the sport. Ostrava, which will be hosting both men’s and women’s hammers, has seen some of this century’s furthest throws and the Zagreb meeting is organized by former world championships hammer throw finalist Ivana Brklja?i?.
The Bad
The headline of today’s IAAF press headline trumpets the $200,000 purse given throughout the Hammer Throw Challenge. While this is a large sum, it is relatively little when it is divided among the top dozen men and women in the world over the course of 11 meetings. This amount also makes the disparity in track and field all the more evident since Usain Bolt is commanding appearance fees greater than this amount for less than 10 seconds of entertainment.
The prize money will be distributed at each competition, and again at the end of the season. Top finishers at each meet will receive prize money ranging from $2,000 for first place to $400 for eight. At the end of the season, finishers will add up their three best results and can earn bonuses of $30,000 for first through $500 for 12th. This prize money is nothing to laugh at, but it is a step back for elite hammer throwers. The $30,000 jackpot is equal to the jackpot of the now defunct IAAF World Athletics Final. The IAAF simply moved the prize money from one meeting to another. The $2,000 prize for winning a meeting is also less than half what was offered at some of the top meetings last year like Doha and Eugene, both of which are now members of the Diamond League.
Despite what the IAAF says, the organization is not throwing much weight behind the new Hammer Throw Challenge.
The Ugly
The hammer throw will be part of just seven of the world’s major one-day meetings this year. American hammer throwers will definitely feel the pain of the new format since their opportunities to compete internationally are already limited by proximity to the competitions (none will be in North America) and by the fact that there is no international championship available to them this year. Europeans will have the European Championships and Canada will compete in the Commonwealth Games, but America will only have the IAAF Continental Cup, and only two athletes from all of North and South American can qualify for that meet. This means that the American women, who have been the most competitive on the international stage, will have to beat out Olympic silver medalist Yipsi Moreno and World Championship Finalist Arasay Thondike of Cuba, Canadian record holder Sultana Frizell, and South American record holder Jenny Dahlgren of Argentina just to get to the starting line.
The best throwers in the world will still be able to make a living throwing hammers, but their incomes will likely drop and sponsors may be less willing to throw money at them since their exposure will be reduced. Throwers sitting just inside the world’s top 20 will have to struggle even more to make ends meet. Five-hundred dollars for 12th place in the jackpot standings will do little to pay the rent.
If you want to read more about how the Diamond League and other changes in the Grand Prix circuit with affect throwers in all events, read my article in the most recent copy of Long and Strong Throwers Journal.
Earlier this month 
