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.

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.

The indoor track season is heating up, and it’s is making me anxious to start my season too. Yet again this year I’ve had the pleasure of providing news and commentary for the Evergreen Athletic Fund’s CollegeHammer.com and HSHammer.com.  This season has already produced some great results that have been fun to write about.  I’ve spent more time recently working on both sites and our traffic has doubled thanks in part to some great features we’ve posted on my training parter Kibwé Johson, world junior champion Walter Henning of LSU, my friend Brian Richotte, D3 record holder Kevin Becker, Norwegian champion Steffen Nerdal of Memphis, as well as emerging coaches Dave Hahn and Scott Block.

As anxious as I am to compete, however, I’m still willing to wait another until another month or two.  While the results are fun to watch, the indoor weight throw is not very helpful to the hammer throw.  That leaves me counting down the days until the outdoor season starts.  The past few years I’ve opened up just before the Mt. SAC Relays in mid-April.  This year, I can’t wait that long.  My results from last year left a bad taste in my mouth and I am eager to get back in the ring and show others that I am still on track to reach the 2012 Olympics.  My first meet will likely be at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma on March 13th.  Assuming all goes well, I will then be traveling the Arles, France (near Marseille) to represent Switzerland in the European Cup Winter Throwing on March 21st.  A tentative schedule for my season can be found here.

With the help of Mike Mai and Zack Midles, the Evergreen Athletic Fund‘s first clinic was a success on Sunday. We had ten athletes ranging in age from 8th grade to college, as well as local high school and college coaches. We are thankful to everyone who helped put on the event, and for the [...]

As I’ve mentioned before, this past year I founded the Evergreen Athletic Fund to assist local throwers of all ages. I thought I would give you all an update on how things are progressing.