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.
Showing posts with label Stanford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stanford. Show all posts
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Venturing into a competitive event
It was not exactly the best weather for my first shot put competition, and there was the possibility that the event would be canceled because of heavy rain in the Bay Area. But the shot put officials squeezed in the competition this morning at Stanford University's track stadium. It was one of many events in the two-day Bay Area Senior Games at Stanford.
The shot put circle is made of concrete and was very slippery as the rain came down. Most of the competitors were a bit tentative as they participated, not sure whether they would fall if the put all their effort into a toss.
After a short warm-up period, we got four throws in competition. My first two attempts were from a standing position. I wasn't ready to glide across the ring in the rain. I just wanted to get a mark without fouling or falling on my rear end.
My first two marks were in the 25-foot range. I had set a personal goal of 27 feet, and was not sure how the elements would affect me. I kept a towel over the shot put to keep it dry between tosses. With about 14 competitors, it took awhile for your turn to come around again, and I was not completely warmed up early in the event.
On my third and fourth attempts, I decided to get some momentum behind the tosses. My third attempt was the best. It was recorded at 29 feet, 2 inches. I think it was much shorter because I have never thrown that far in practice. The rain pounded down on my fourth attempt, and I threw with my warmups still on and with a hooded sweatshirt over it all. It was not a good toss. I was fourth in the 60-64 age group, which sounds good until you find out there were only five competitors in that category.
On Saturday, I competed in the discus. I had not thrown it before and decided to give it a try a couple of weeks ago. Since I was going to drive to Palo Alto, I might as well try a second event.
My goal was 75 feet and I threw it 72 feet. I'll take it because I know I can improve with a little help on my technique. The discus competition was delayed about an hour because the soccer matches at the Senior Games were going on at the same time. Whoever laid out the field did not realize that the discus throwers would land their tosses well beyond the goalie. We were supposed to get six attempts, but they cut it back to four so we could get the competition completed more quickly. I could have used those two extra attempts.
The weekend was a good first competition for me. Too bad the weather didn't cooperate. But I had fun, and I can't wait until I can compete again. There's a competition in Manteca next month and I will see if I can get into it.
The shot put circle is made of concrete and was very slippery as the rain came down. Most of the competitors were a bit tentative as they participated, not sure whether they would fall if the put all their effort into a toss.
After a short warm-up period, we got four throws in competition. My first two attempts were from a standing position. I wasn't ready to glide across the ring in the rain. I just wanted to get a mark without fouling or falling on my rear end.
My first two marks were in the 25-foot range. I had set a personal goal of 27 feet, and was not sure how the elements would affect me. I kept a towel over the shot put to keep it dry between tosses. With about 14 competitors, it took awhile for your turn to come around again, and I was not completely warmed up early in the event.
On my third and fourth attempts, I decided to get some momentum behind the tosses. My third attempt was the best. It was recorded at 29 feet, 2 inches. I think it was much shorter because I have never thrown that far in practice. The rain pounded down on my fourth attempt, and I threw with my warmups still on and with a hooded sweatshirt over it all. It was not a good toss. I was fourth in the 60-64 age group, which sounds good until you find out there were only five competitors in that category.
On Saturday, I competed in the discus. I had not thrown it before and decided to give it a try a couple of weeks ago. Since I was going to drive to Palo Alto, I might as well try a second event.
My goal was 75 feet and I threw it 72 feet. I'll take it because I know I can improve with a little help on my technique. The discus competition was delayed about an hour because the soccer matches at the Senior Games were going on at the same time. Whoever laid out the field did not realize that the discus throwers would land their tosses well beyond the goalie. We were supposed to get six attempts, but they cut it back to four so we could get the competition completed more quickly. I could have used those two extra attempts.
The weekend was a good first competition for me. Too bad the weather didn't cooperate. But I had fun, and I can't wait until I can compete again. There's a competition in Manteca next month and I will see if I can get into it.
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