My shot put training slowed down a bit after I tweaked a calf muscle while tossing the shot in my backyard this afternoon. I evidently didn't warm up properly and it became so sore that I couldn't continue. One more hazard of almost being 60.
But while this is a minor setback, I'm still pushing to reach my goal of tossing the shot 36 feet in a seniors track meet. I'm just over 27 feet now, and my progress toward my goal has been much slower than I had anticipated. I'm throwing a 12-pound ball and the meet calls for an 11-pound ball in the 60-65 category. So I may have a bit more distance from the 11-pound ball.
I've noticed that it takes me a long time to warm up with the shot put and I think I get impatient. My arm is ready, but my legs are much slower to warm up. That may have contributed to my injury by throwing the shot too hard too soon.
I'm going to stretch it out a bit after work on Monday and see if I can toss a few without too much pain. As they say, "No pain, no gain." But as a former athlete, I know the risk of coming back too soon and aggravating a minor injury into a full-fledged one.
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Take it easy, big guy. If you over-train, you'll never meet your goal. . . Stretch, jog and then strch again before you start. Then work on your timing in the shot put pit before you actually throw a shot in anger. By the time you're ready to fire off a personal best, you'll be fully warmed up.
ReplyDeleteI'm old school, and believe that you can't give in to minors aches and pains. If you do, you'll be sitting on your butt every day after you turn 60. Aches and pains come with being old (or is it older in PC terms?). Train through the minors aches, and take care of the major ones. But don't be a wimp. We have too many of those already.
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