Friday, August 28, 2009
Berlin in the Rear View
Berlin in the Rear View
It was about this time last year that I blogged about “Beijing in the Rear View” …Well, here we are 1 week after the 2009 World Championships in Berlin and I have had some time to reflect on the week and my performance. I threw 78.17m to finish 10th in my flight in some terrible conditions. I missed qualifying for the final by 48cm. At the time, 78.17m was my 2nd best throw of the season (far from the results of my Olympic year campaign). There were intermittent showers and a cold front blowing in which brought with it swirling winds up to 25mph. The 1st flight of 24 throwers saw only 2 guys hit the automatic qualifying mark of 82m and even saw some 90m guys throwing in the mid to low 70’s. Such is the game at major international championships. Usually, stats and previous season and personal best carry no weight in the qualifying rounds. Looking back (hind-sight is always 20-20) I am starting to think that I need to practice in terrible weather as much as possible. 2007 Rio De Janeiro’s Pan Am Games, Beijing last year and Berlin this year all have been cursed by downpours and ridiculous winds. Not the best conditions for a southern California based guy (I’m laughing of course as I type this ;) In summary, I was very satisfied with my performance and would not have changed a thing. I got what I deserved and those who made it into the final all earned it.
Probably the strangest thing about Berlin was watching very close friends and training partners of mine win medals. Often times we only dream of performances that lead to the medal stand and to see so many of those dreams come true for many friends of mine, it made me realize that great things are not as far off as they seem. This really hit home as I watched the javelin final on Sunday and saw 82m take a bronze medal from an unheard kid from Japan.
The city of Berlin was absolutely amazing! Although the stadium was rarely filled to capacity (rumors of ridiculously high priced tickets) the crowd that showed up was passionate for every athlete in every event. Berlin has hosted major international competitions before as in 1936 the Olympic Games and more recently the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Of course there are the now non-existent Golden League meetings that I have participated in Berlin, but none were as amazing as this years World Championships. I was stunned to watch a 22 year old Jamaican kid run 9.58 seconds over 100m and then follow that performance with a 19.19 200m. Although he running on some “special fuel” (if you get my drift) he is still good for athletics as it is slowly dying. According to what other athletes and managers are saying, even though he is good for the sports popularity (he is the 1st track and field athlete to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 9 years) he is also killing the sport with how much money he is making. He now is demanding the entire budget of some competitions just to show up, which means he can hand pick where he wants to race, at what time and against whom to ensure that he is not beaten. There are confirmed reports that he is getting $425,000 JUST TO SHOW UP at the Brussels Golden League next Friday (which I will be at but not sure about competing in).
I am now at the Riga, Latvia airport on my way to Venice, Italy and have just left Tallinn, Estonia. I competed in Tallinn on Tuesday the 25th and was back over 80m with a throw of 80.11m and took the win over the 2005 World Champion. The Estonian guy who threw exactly 1cm better than me in Berlin was 2nd with 78m…ah revenge ;) Once I get to Venice, I will hopefully have some information on if I am throwing in Rovereto, Italy on Monday the 1st before I head off to my final stop in Brussels Belgium for the last Golden League in the history of the Golden League’s…Brussels is the only Golden League that I have not competed in, and it would be a great treat to be upgraded from the waitlist to the start list….time will tell. But for now, with Berlin in the rear view, it’s on to the rest, and end of the season.
M++
It was about this time last year that I blogged about “Beijing in the Rear View” …Well, here we are 1 week after the 2009 World Championships in Berlin and I have had some time to reflect on the week and my performance. I threw 78.17m to finish 10th in my flight in some terrible conditions. I missed qualifying for the final by 48cm. At the time, 78.17m was my 2nd best throw of the season (far from the results of my Olympic year campaign). There were intermittent showers and a cold front blowing in which brought with it swirling winds up to 25mph. The 1st flight of 24 throwers saw only 2 guys hit the automatic qualifying mark of 82m and even saw some 90m guys throwing in the mid to low 70’s. Such is the game at major international championships. Usually, stats and previous season and personal best carry no weight in the qualifying rounds. Looking back (hind-sight is always 20-20) I am starting to think that I need to practice in terrible weather as much as possible. 2007 Rio De Janeiro’s Pan Am Games, Beijing last year and Berlin this year all have been cursed by downpours and ridiculous winds. Not the best conditions for a southern California based guy (I’m laughing of course as I type this ;) In summary, I was very satisfied with my performance and would not have changed a thing. I got what I deserved and those who made it into the final all earned it.
Probably the strangest thing about Berlin was watching very close friends and training partners of mine win medals. Often times we only dream of performances that lead to the medal stand and to see so many of those dreams come true for many friends of mine, it made me realize that great things are not as far off as they seem. This really hit home as I watched the javelin final on Sunday and saw 82m take a bronze medal from an unheard kid from Japan.
The city of Berlin was absolutely amazing! Although the stadium was rarely filled to capacity (rumors of ridiculously high priced tickets) the crowd that showed up was passionate for every athlete in every event. Berlin has hosted major international competitions before as in 1936 the Olympic Games and more recently the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Of course there are the now non-existent Golden League meetings that I have participated in Berlin, but none were as amazing as this years World Championships. I was stunned to watch a 22 year old Jamaican kid run 9.58 seconds over 100m and then follow that performance with a 19.19 200m. Although he running on some “special fuel” (if you get my drift) he is still good for athletics as it is slowly dying. According to what other athletes and managers are saying, even though he is good for the sports popularity (he is the 1st track and field athlete to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 9 years) he is also killing the sport with how much money he is making. He now is demanding the entire budget of some competitions just to show up, which means he can hand pick where he wants to race, at what time and against whom to ensure that he is not beaten. There are confirmed reports that he is getting $425,000 JUST TO SHOW UP at the Brussels Golden League next Friday (which I will be at but not sure about competing in).
I am now at the Riga, Latvia airport on my way to Venice, Italy and have just left Tallinn, Estonia. I competed in Tallinn on Tuesday the 25th and was back over 80m with a throw of 80.11m and took the win over the 2005 World Champion. The Estonian guy who threw exactly 1cm better than me in Berlin was 2nd with 78m…ah revenge ;) Once I get to Venice, I will hopefully have some information on if I am throwing in Rovereto, Italy on Monday the 1st before I head off to my final stop in Brussels Belgium for the last Golden League in the history of the Golden League’s…Brussels is the only Golden League that I have not competed in, and it would be a great treat to be upgraded from the waitlist to the start list….time will tell. But for now, with Berlin in the rear view, it’s on to the rest, and end of the season.
M++
Monday, August 17, 2009
Locked & Loaded
You know the feeling of seeing a present under the Christmas tree a few days before Christmas day? Well that’s about how I feel about my upcoming qualifying round this Friday in Berlin at the IAAF World Champs. But you always know there is a catch right? Well in my case, if I shake that present to try to guess whats inside, it will break before Christmas comes…so instead I have to see it everyday and just look at it and wonder…
I have been in Berlin since August 9th and am in lifetime best shape, which is very good but also very dangerous. I am learning from my experiences in Beijing and from what I have seen several athletes go through thus far in the championships…Being in the best shape of your life for a World Championships is great, but I also have to make sure that I don’t let my emotions take over and place expectations on myself. I have goals and dreams sure, but expectations no…well maybe 1 great expectation and that is I expect to go out and do my best. I have watched my roommate, the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist and 2005 World Champion place 5th last night. He has been around a long time and seen it all, and he summed it up the best that I have heard thus far. As he was walking out the door to go to the final…I said “good luck bro!” as he was just about to shut the door he smiled and said, “just another day at the office”
Berlin has been great, the hotel is nice (been here a few times before for the Golden Leagues) and the weather has held up nicely. The stadium has been almost at capacity for every session and it has all the makings of a great championship. Tomorrow I have a short sprint session followed by a few full approach runs with the javelin. After that, it’s a rest day on Tuesday as I will watch my teammate Rachel Yurkovich compete in the women’s javelin final. Its exciting times for the USA javelin team, for the 1st time ever we have a woman in the final and we have a full squad of 3 guys. Wednesday is a light lifting session and Thursday is a pre meet shakeout before the show on Friday. I will also be watching my fellow ITA teammate Zoila Gomez compete in the marathon! GO ZOILA!!!!!
I will try to give a few more updates as the qualifying round gets closer, but for now…Locked and loaded in Berlin, and its just another day at the office ;)
By the way, some guy just ran a 9.58 in the 100m dash…that’s kind of fast, 24 mph to be exact…wow
M++
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Berlin Bound
Multi-tasking:
"The apparent simultaneous performance of two or more tasks by a central processing unit"... try more like juggling 5 or 6 tasks! arrggggg!
This blog comes to you, with a bit of sarcasm and frustration. Just a quick update on the current situation...
I am in Saarbrucken Germany, where my training base for the upcoming IAAF World Championships are in 3 weeks (and counting)... The current problems are that I am unable to get into my room that I am staying in, because my roomate has proceeded to head into town for a few beers and has taken the room key with him, thus I'm locked out. 2nd problem, I have been wearing the same clothes since Saturday morning (its now almost midnight and Monday morning is just a few minutes away). I flew back from the Stockholm Super Grand Prix Saturday afternoon, but Frankfurt International misplaced my bags (and where supposed to be here 9 hours ago) and they now refuse to answer the phone... (see Doha disaster 2008 AND 2009) The last issue is my computer, I have been on and off the phone with German and USA tech support and they have been great as usual but we keep getting disconnected due to bad connections...So imagine telling a story for about 30min, then hang up, and start all over again, now repeat this process 5 more times and this is where I am now.
So...I am healthy and in good shape physically, just a bit flustered and dirty and am ready to get things back in order...always looking up shall I say ;)
Quick updates on the competition schedules...last update was from Athens as I was on my way to the Rome Golden League meeting. I threw below average in Rome and took 6th place which was ok for me in a stacked field full of medals. From Rome I went back to Athens and took 4th at the Grand Prix there with another average performance. I then had a short break and just got back from the Stockholm Super Grand Prix yesterday...
The Stockholm meet (which was on Universal Sports in the US if you missed it) was the most fun I have ever had at a meet by far. The food, the hotel, the organization, the Swedish people, everything was awesome and 1st class. The competition itself was ok, I took 4th place (again) in another stacked field and was finally able to knock off the 2004 and 2008 Silver medalists from Latvia as well as the 2003 World Champion. The conditions where bad, strong headwind, 50 degrees and rain, but I have thrown in similar conditions this year several times and managed a 78m throw.
I am now heading into the final preparations for Worlds and have a few good weeks of training ahead of me before resting for the big show. Ill try to updat emore from Berlin as I did last year from Beijing, but for now, I need to get in my room, shower and get to bed!
Till next time,
Auf Wiedersehen
M++
"The apparent simultaneous performance of two or more tasks by a central processing unit"... try more like juggling 5 or 6 tasks! arrggggg!
This blog comes to you, with a bit of sarcasm and frustration. Just a quick update on the current situation...
I am in Saarbrucken Germany, where my training base for the upcoming IAAF World Championships are in 3 weeks (and counting)... The current problems are that I am unable to get into my room that I am staying in, because my roomate has proceeded to head into town for a few beers and has taken the room key with him, thus I'm locked out. 2nd problem, I have been wearing the same clothes since Saturday morning (its now almost midnight and Monday morning is just a few minutes away). I flew back from the Stockholm Super Grand Prix Saturday afternoon, but Frankfurt International misplaced my bags (and where supposed to be here 9 hours ago) and they now refuse to answer the phone... (see Doha disaster 2008 AND 2009) The last issue is my computer, I have been on and off the phone with German and USA tech support and they have been great as usual but we keep getting disconnected due to bad connections...So imagine telling a story for about 30min, then hang up, and start all over again, now repeat this process 5 more times and this is where I am now.
So...I am healthy and in good shape physically, just a bit flustered and dirty and am ready to get things back in order...always looking up shall I say ;)
Quick updates on the competition schedules...last update was from Athens as I was on my way to the Rome Golden League meeting. I threw below average in Rome and took 6th place which was ok for me in a stacked field full of medals. From Rome I went back to Athens and took 4th at the Grand Prix there with another average performance. I then had a short break and just got back from the Stockholm Super Grand Prix yesterday...
The Stockholm meet (which was on Universal Sports in the US if you missed it) was the most fun I have ever had at a meet by far. The food, the hotel, the organization, the Swedish people, everything was awesome and 1st class. The competition itself was ok, I took 4th place (again) in another stacked field and was finally able to knock off the 2004 and 2008 Silver medalists from Latvia as well as the 2003 World Champion. The conditions where bad, strong headwind, 50 degrees and rain, but I have thrown in similar conditions this year several times and managed a 78m throw.
I am now heading into the final preparations for Worlds and have a few good weeks of training ahead of me before resting for the big show. Ill try to updat emore from Berlin as I did last year from Beijing, but for now, I need to get in my room, shower and get to bed!
Till next time,
Auf Wiedersehen
M++
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