So... its after midnight on a Friday night and I missing my hubby. Derek is in Arkansas with his team gearing up for the SEC championships. I'm excited to hear how his athletes perform and hope for the best. I know their training has been going well and I KNOW Derek has them ready for some big marks. He always does.
I just had a relaxing night with a friend and my sister Katie (and the dogs... of course!). It is nice to unwind and "catch up" after a full week of work, training and running from place to place. It is so great to have Katie around, weather she realizes it or not, having her to talk to and knowing that she is there hang out with is so nice after two years of weekends alone. Its nice to know that I have other genuine people in my corner too, new friends to hang out with, beat me in scrabble and keep me grounded concerning work.
Training this week has been good. I had a strong week in the weight room. My front squats, cleans and snatches were all at or above my 1 rep max for sets! I really feel that I am headed in the right direction as far as weight room training is concerned. My jumping is improving as well, earlier this week I moved up to the "big girl" hurdles for jumps and I am confident that my power will continue to increase.
Throws have been going well. Earlier this week I was feeling sluggish in the circle and not connected with the hammer, even so my reps were dropping around the 61m mark. I am anticipating where things will be when I start to hit my competitive stride. In practice I can still feel that I am not reaching my top speed by turn four and I know that there is still more there. I am looking to begin competitive assessments in late March at LSU home meets to see what I need to focus on for the competitive portion of the season.
Good news! I am still considered to be one of the "funded" athletes via USATF! What a relief that I will be able to travel to several of the bigger meets and compete with the top throwers for USA's this spring. Other than those meets I will be competing at LSU several times and possibly Miami when Derek heads there with his team.
Tomorrow will be a high rep day and even in my sleepless stupor I am looking forward to it! It is a weird feeling to not be at the indoor USATF National meet this year, and I find myself looking at the rankings thinking "what if....". But... then I remember that I HATE THE WEIGHT and was only really throwing it to get a trip to Boston to see my folks.... now that thats out of the picture I can focus on the "real" event! I'm ready to spend some quality time in the ring in the morning! LOL! Thanks for reading.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Reflections.....
The last couple of weeks have flown by! Hitting the snooze on the alarm 3 times before work and falling asleep while trying to read something before 10pm often indicates that I am just a teeny bit overwhelmed and burnt out. It is weeks like these that I have to make myself understand that I am not superwoman. "What?" you say.... it's true, I confess, I can only handle so much.
I've been offered a different (and better) position at work for next year, but in order to be "qualified" for the position, I need to begin working towards my masters degree. So, to make a long story short, in addition to working full time (I often think that teaching should be a time and a half job...), trying to train as hard as I can, being a full time wife (and mother to Youri and Eleiko!)and coaching I've added studying to the mix. I was so physically and mentally exhausted earlier this week, that I had to take a few days off to re-collect, recover and recharge. It is times like these that I tell myself to truly appreciate all that I can do, and am capable of doing. Not everybody can say that they are successful in a profession, a world class athlete and a true role model to young women she coaches/teaches. I need to remind myself when things are not going well (ahem, like last season with the hammer), that I have a lot of other success in my life. I need to remind myself to enjoy the journey, enjoy where my talents can take me, and let things happen.
I spent a lot of time reflecting this week on my results from last year. I find it interesting that in practice when I am working at about 80% I throw just as far consistently as I struggled to throw in meets last spring. "How can this be?" I asked myself, examining many possibilities.
My first conclusion was the fact that I want things to happen SO badly that I turn myself off. I tried so hard that I hindered the results from just happening. This very well could be the case as I often remember (specifically Tuscon) how I would feel so pent up and "tight" that my body would just not find the throw. I need to find the place where I can be mentally relaxed for the throw to be physically relaxed as well. The search for that place is on! I will find it again, it is just a matter of time.
The second thing I've been reflecting about was my attitude of how I approached throwing last spring. I FINALLY had someone who WANTED to sponsor me. Anyone who has worked hard, thrown far and NEVER GOTTEN SUPPORT, can imagine what a feeling of accomplishment that can be. However, instead of getting an extra confidence boost from the situation, I felt the "need" to throw far to "prove" I was worthy, resulting in less fun and poor results. Throwing became work, work became fun. My focus and energy went into my job rather than my throws. This focus of energy and dedication payed off professionally (Teacher of the year for school and parish! Whooo!) I saw how quickly the lack of focus on throwing results in less than acceptable marks. Now my future with the sponsor is unclear, unless I prove my worth with big throws again. I did it to myself. I have to remind myself that I have nothing to prove to anybody. My love for throwing cannot be jaded by my desire to be "wanted by a sponsor" or what jersey I can wear to meets. I throw for me, I throw for MY dreams, I throw because it is a part of who I am.
My final thought for today is this, "it is ok to take a step back and take a mental/physical break when I am overwhelmed, frustrated or tired." My sports mentality has always been.... "if I take a day off and my competitors do not, then I am one step behind". This is clearly not true any more for me. None of my competitors live my life or do what I do each day (I mean no disrespect in this statement. I understand that everybody has their own difficulties to overcome). My training will be more valuable and fruitful if I step back when I am feeling burnt out. Training tired, training when frustrated about other things, accomplishes nothing other than to add to frustration and mental discouragement. I need to train smart, I need to train based on ME and be confident in the fact that my body, my coach and I know best.
I've been offered a different (and better) position at work for next year, but in order to be "qualified" for the position, I need to begin working towards my masters degree. So, to make a long story short, in addition to working full time (I often think that teaching should be a time and a half job...), trying to train as hard as I can, being a full time wife (and mother to Youri and Eleiko!)and coaching I've added studying to the mix. I was so physically and mentally exhausted earlier this week, that I had to take a few days off to re-collect, recover and recharge. It is times like these that I tell myself to truly appreciate all that I can do, and am capable of doing. Not everybody can say that they are successful in a profession, a world class athlete and a true role model to young women she coaches/teaches. I need to remind myself when things are not going well (ahem, like last season with the hammer), that I have a lot of other success in my life. I need to remind myself to enjoy the journey, enjoy where my talents can take me, and let things happen.
I spent a lot of time reflecting this week on my results from last year. I find it interesting that in practice when I am working at about 80% I throw just as far consistently as I struggled to throw in meets last spring. "How can this be?" I asked myself, examining many possibilities.
My first conclusion was the fact that I want things to happen SO badly that I turn myself off. I tried so hard that I hindered the results from just happening. This very well could be the case as I often remember (specifically Tuscon) how I would feel so pent up and "tight" that my body would just not find the throw. I need to find the place where I can be mentally relaxed for the throw to be physically relaxed as well. The search for that place is on! I will find it again, it is just a matter of time.
The second thing I've been reflecting about was my attitude of how I approached throwing last spring. I FINALLY had someone who WANTED to sponsor me. Anyone who has worked hard, thrown far and NEVER GOTTEN SUPPORT, can imagine what a feeling of accomplishment that can be. However, instead of getting an extra confidence boost from the situation, I felt the "need" to throw far to "prove" I was worthy, resulting in less fun and poor results. Throwing became work, work became fun. My focus and energy went into my job rather than my throws. This focus of energy and dedication payed off professionally (Teacher of the year for school and parish! Whooo!) I saw how quickly the lack of focus on throwing results in less than acceptable marks. Now my future with the sponsor is unclear, unless I prove my worth with big throws again. I did it to myself. I have to remind myself that I have nothing to prove to anybody. My love for throwing cannot be jaded by my desire to be "wanted by a sponsor" or what jersey I can wear to meets. I throw for me, I throw for MY dreams, I throw because it is a part of who I am.
My final thought for today is this, "it is ok to take a step back and take a mental/physical break when I am overwhelmed, frustrated or tired." My sports mentality has always been.... "if I take a day off and my competitors do not, then I am one step behind". This is clearly not true any more for me. None of my competitors live my life or do what I do each day (I mean no disrespect in this statement. I understand that everybody has their own difficulties to overcome). My training will be more valuable and fruitful if I step back when I am feeling burnt out. Training tired, training when frustrated about other things, accomplishes nothing other than to add to frustration and mental discouragement. I need to train smart, I need to train based on ME and be confident in the fact that my body, my coach and I know best.
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