Practicing on a Sunday afternoon

The weather was perfect this afternoon so I headed over to Fresno State to practice the discus and the shot put. There were only a few people on the track and the discus cage and shot put pit were open. Sometimes when I go to Fresno State, the track team is practicing and the facilities are not available, and I have to drive to a high school looking for a place to throw.

I was in luck this time. I started with the discus, my weakest of the two throwing events that I'm doing. I think that's because I just started throwing the discus and I'm still developing my technique. I'm not much of a dancer, and there's sort of a dance move to the discus spin just before launching it. But the discus is a fun event.

I'm also trying to get used to my equipment. My practice discus is made of rubber and my competitive discus is a hard plastic with a metal rim. (I just got the competitive discus by UPS on Friday). Both are 1 kilogram (which is what's used in my age group), so you'd think they'd be the same. But I get a much better grip with the rubber discus, and better distance. The competitive discus slips out of my hand and the flight is very wobbly.

One thing I've learned in my short discus career is that you must throw the discus so that it has a smooth flight for maximum distance. My tosses too often aren't very aerodynamic. I call them "Joe Kapp passes," if you are familiar with the old Cal and NFL quarterback who didn't throw many spirals.

In my first meet at Stanford last month, I only threw the discus 72 feet. That's bad. Very bad. It was raining off and on, but the conditions didn't hurt my performance. I just needed more practice time. I'm consistently in the 90-foot range now, but I need to be in the 100s. So I'm in the vicinity of mediocre right now.

But I hope to reach the 100-foot mark by the Manteca Senior Games on March 15. That won't get me among the top competitors, but at least it won't embarrass me, either.

After practicing the discus Sunday afternoon, I headed over to the shot put pit. I felt good, and hit the 27-foot mark on a few tosses. But I need to throw the shot at least 30 feet to be competitive. I'm several months from achieving that mark. I need more weight training, especially lower body to become more explosive at the launch.

Friends and family are a bit surprised I'm doing this. But I enjoy the competition, and it helps me relax. It's often difficult for me to unwind from the intense world of newspaper opinion writing, with its deadline pressures and dealing with the people who don't like my opinions. It's getting very nasty out there. Agreeing to disagree and respecting differing opinions are concepts that not many folks embrace these days.

The throwing events also are helping me get into better physical shape -- always important when you're 60 years old. I might even decide to throw the hammer, although I think I could get hurt in that event.