Reflection

I got back from USA's yesterday and lets just say I didn't perform how I wanted to.  I'm not sure exactly what went wrong but it is something that I don't intend to happen again.  I like to learn quickly from my mistakes so next year I will be better prepared.

My coach peaked us correctly, my body felt great and the ball felt light.  I honestly felt like I could have thrown 85ft on Saturday but I couldn't seem to hit a throw.  I didn't get warmed up until my 5th throw and it was a cage foul.  Cory Martin was coaching me at the meet and he felt like that would have been the throw to do it because for the first time that meet I had the ball in the right position and I didn't turn it all of the way through and rushed the finish.

After I threw I called my coach and told him that I felt a little too good for the meet.  I haven't thrown in a big meet in 4 years which means I haven't had a peak in 4 years.  My confidence was high, my body felt great, and I feel as though that made me a little too relaxed.  After the opening throw I should have been fired up to throw, but I wasn't.  I was so loose and relaxed that I kept getting my foot down late on my 2nd turn and in turn kept falling back on my release.  Like I said earlier, I couldn't seem to get my blood to start pumping to throw until finals and by the time I was ready I was out of throws.  Cory kept telling me that I didn't seem aggressive and that is exactly what I couldn't seem to find.  I threw high 79s on my last throw but decided to scratch it because it wouldn't have won the meet.  I will say that what it came down to was that I wasn't prepared enough mentally to throw far at this meet.

Now we move on to the event that matters most which is the hammer.  I look forward to seeing how far I've progressed since going indoors.  I think I've actually taken more hammer throws indoors than weight so the transition should be pretty easy.  Starting March 1st I will be working out with one of my coaches Connie Price-Smith and my training partner Gwen Berry to get into better physical shape for the hammer and I'm sure my coach John Smith will put me into a month of hard base training before I open in April.

After performing at USA's I find myself with a little extra spark and motivation heading into outdoors.  One thing that I am is a competitor and I take losing personal.  I try to think of where I went wrong and what I can do the next time so that I don't lose again.  I feel as though I have something to prove this year outdoors, and hopefully I am capable of proving it.

Thanks for reading