Tucson Elite, Relay of Champions and Back to Europe:

This blog comes to you live from about 28,000 feet somewhere over western Arizona. I'm on the way back to heaven, oops I mean San Diego, after competing in the Tucson Elite Throwers Meeting yesterday. I finished 2nd with just under 76m and in my opinion had a way below average meet. Coming off the 78m show in Doha, which was my best opening meet of my career, I was expecting something just under 80m. But after watching the throws on video, I am not worried, upset, or flustered in any way, in fact, I’m rather pleased. Why you ask…well, since you asked… I have absolutely no vertical lift on my throw at the moment and the throws are going a decent distance just on good old-fashioned horsepower. If I can maintain my current fitness level and fix the technical problems (which is always the battle) then I should see some throws well over 80m in the near future.
Community news…last week was the busiest week of community activity that I have had since last fall. Last Saturday was the Rady Children’s Hospital, Relay for Life. This annual event celebrates the local kids that have overcome cancer or any other life threatening illnesses and also remembers the ones who have passed on. This was the 2nd time I have been to this event and it is a great reminder of how lucky we are (I’m assuming your feeling groovy at the moment ;) to have our health. The next time I’m having a bad day all I have to do is reflect on my time with these kids who are just happy to wake up in the morning because they never know when their time is up. I would upload some pictures from the event but an autistic kid named Mike decided he would give my camera a little bit of a beating and I couldn’t get it to work for a few hours, no worries though its all good now ;) Mike was a good sport and it was all in good fun. The only bummer of the day was when I got paired up with some of the local San Diego Padres (that’s baseball for some of the Euro-blog readers)…As usual these guys are too cool for school and where only there because they had to be. I got rubbed the wrong way a few times though…let me paint the picture for you. I got approached by several kids and parents holding programs, flyers and pictures and sharpie markers, here is how the conversation goes.

Kid - “Hello, can I have your autograph!”
Me – “Of course, what’s your name, blah blah blah”
Kid – (states his name…with Mom & Dad hovering behind him) “What position do you play?”
Me – “Oh I don’t play for the Padres, I’m a javelin thrower and 2008 Olympian”
Kid – “Oh, sigh ummmmm, where did the Padre’s go?” (As Mom & Dad scurry the kid away like I had the swine flu or something)

Now take this conversation and repeat it about 20 times…so it was a little bit of a buzz kill, only until my man Mike comes running up and tries to throw my sunglasses in the San Diego Bay…then I could care less ;)
The rest of the week was filled with 3 classes of 2nd grade students from Eastlake Elementary. These were great kids as usual and are still at the stage where they think that being an Olympian is kinda cool, or maybe it was the Beijing highlight video we watched together that helped out? Either way, it was a great week that culminated with a 2 ay trip to Tucson. Next Thursday I am headed back over to Europe for a 2-week circuit. My 1st stop is Hengelo, Netherlands, or Holland, or whatever you want to call it. It is a IAAF Grand Prix 1 and I am hoping to solve this mysterious vertical lift component on my throw. From there the tentative plan is Kuortane, Finland on June 6, Thessaloniki, Greece on June 10 and I am currently on the wait-list for the Berlin Golden League on June 14th. I hope the next blog comes from somewhere in Europe with a beer and new personal best!
M++

Doha in the Rear View...

Marhabad...I struggled for a long time on what to name this blog entry and flip flopped back and forth between "the no name blog entry" because there was so much that I had on my mind, to "how much does piece of mind cost" to finally "Doha in the rear view".

Looking back at my trip to Doha, it was a huge success in many ways. As I mentioned in the last blog entry, I was there training with my fiends from Norway and we had a great time. My body was holding up well until exactly 1 week before the Super Grand Prix. I was warming up for my last "slam-session" or throws session before the meet, when my knee decided that it wasnt going to cooperate, as a result I made a few technical adjustments to get away from the pain and it back-fired...I had at the time what I thought was a total relapse of the shoulder injury that I had in Norway (see below)

http://in-the-arena-mike.blogspot.com/2009/03/making-lemonade.html

and the injury to my knee that I had in the beginning of April...again below if your bored

http://in-the-arena-mike.blogspot.com/2009/04/close-call.html

Now for the dramatic entrance...so there I was...1 week out from my 1st meet of the year, the meet that set up the rest of my season last year and maybe my career to date...the eyes of the athletics world are all there watching, waiting to see what shape everyone is in. On top of that, I have been training with the Olympic Champion for 3 weeks and am expected to be in lifetime best shape...so I thought.

In actuality, it couldn't have been farther from the truth. Part of the problem that many athletes have is that they get addicted to training and in alot of cases, addicted to success (which is sometimes what pushes athletes to greatness) but in my case, that addiction has been the source of alot of unnecessary stress and worry. After that last training session, I thought for sure that my career was almost over. I was in pain and I had absolutely no confidence what so ever. I imagined not being able to compete at the meet or even worse, competing and doing terribly.

I began to look at my situation and really look hard at what I was made of. I realized that I was on the other side of the world experiencing places and cultures that most people would never get to do, and I was doing all of this because I throw a stick. Who I am as a person wasn't going to change because that skill was no longer what it used to be and the result of the upcoming competition had no impact on my life and all the things that really matter. On top of all of the things that where racing through my mind, I realized that I have been competing all over the world for about 5 years now and I haven't really had a chance to "stop and smell the roses" and enjoy my "job". It made me realize how lucky I am and I immediately changed my outlook on things.

As a result of this "revelation" I had an amazing week of preparation in Doha before the meet. On Monday I went with a few athletes from New Zealand into the desert and rode camels and 4 wheelers through some of the most amazing sand dunes I have ever seen and did it all in a raging sandstorm...(and almost got lost in the desert, that story is for another time :) and had a blast by the way. The rest of the week was filled with laying on the beach working on my tan and sipping wine. Dont get me wrong, I still trained everyday, but with a different attitude...and it worked!

I threw 78.11m to take 6th place, which is my best result for an opening meet of my career. Guys 1-5 all had World Championship or Olympic Medals so I was ok with 6th place. There was a considerable amount of back and shoulder pain during the comp, but it was also alot of fun!

So now what? I have some time to get adjusted back at the training center and get some work done on my shoulder, back, knee and head ;) I have a meet in Tucson Arizona on May 23 and may have chance to hit a new PB thanks to the windy conditions in Arizona. After that I am off to Europe to Hengelo, Gothenburg, Berlin and Ostrava.

Now back at the training center, I have a bit more free time on my hands since Im not putting in the volume that I used to, so its a perfect time for me to brainstorm on some new community service projects and get back to the kids. Some time away from the center is just what I need to that my "training addiction" doesnt creep back in.

Till next time, have some fun and stop and smell the roses!
M++

Ill upload pictures later!