Right now as much as I hate admitting it, the injuries, sickness and work has just flat out burned me out.  Work is crazy busy and there is quite a bit going in with respect to everything we are doing.  Things need to get out the door perfect, presentations, extra activities, all the while managing people, always being 20 steps ahead, etc.  It is just the nature of what we do at work.  But the reality remains, it is really hard to get any energy to throw far.

I went to a meet at Toledo last week and my stand throw was a mere 140’ which was quite embarrassing along with my result of 172’.  Along with this there was no adrenaline going through the body at all on a meet day.  That my friends, is a problem.  Usually I typically stand 160’-170’ on a meet day warm up, so standing 140′ is a red flag that there is an energy issue and maybe the ankle is just not quite up to speed.

Practice has been ok.  I started a couple weeks ago back to full throwing, but there is still some pain going on in the ankle and its pretty tough to get up through it at the finish.  And to be totally honest, I know senior citizens that can move faster than I am right now…really.

Looking at it from a big picture, this is the third severe sprain on this ankle and if you know anything about ankles, the more you sprain them, the looser they get and the longer they take to heal.  I’m hoping in another couple weeks it will be full strength and  hoping energy is going to come back.  The reality is, the qualifier for the trials that I didn’t anticipate being a question, now is.  I have until 6/16/2012 to get the number I need ~60m  just to get to the trials, THEN we can try to make it from there.

What bothers me is in January in Utah I only had 7 throws into an open field but they were already in the 57-58m range, that was just warming up. Vesteinn said he could finally see the capacity and energy in my body.  What most of you dont realize is i wasnt working the second half of December due to my father’s death, which gave me some time to actually recover somewhat.   It so unbelievably frustrating when you get these glimmers of what you can do fully knowing there is so much more in the body, only to have circumstances take it away.

Not trying to sound defeated or negative, just explaining what the situation really is.  Usually I thrive on the pressure and usually perform better when it is there, but the fact remains I really have zero energy and I am praying the energy will be in the body when the time comes, because without the energy, there is no focus and there is no speed, without that you have no distance to speak of.

Would it be easier just to say I got injured and call it a season/career?

“I want a 150,000!, but we can settle outta court right now for 20 bucks!”

Yes, but then the question I originally set after to answer would still be hanging in the balance and that to me is just as haunting as if I never tried at all.  On top of that I will know I didn’t finish the game.  Even if i never get back to 60m shape in the next couple weeks, i don’t want any What if’s?”, lurking in my closet.  The truth is I know buried deep inside there still is a passion to throw, it’s just too tired to wake up and come out to play.  So I’ll just have to wait for it to wake up, until then I’ll be preparing for its return so when it comes back we can pick up the disc and get after it.  This is one of the most frustrating times in my life, but sometimes you just have to lower your shoulder and charge through it.  The key is to keep your head up so you don’t lose focus of what is ahead of you, otherwise you start charging in the wrong direction.  We go on…

http://globalthrowing.com/5559

What can I say? Spain was a lot of fun, but it was tough as the energy levels were low and then i sprained my ankle pretty bad.  Luckily it did not break although we were concerned it did.  Should be about 10 more days and then we can get back to it.  For now we will continue on with upper body and cardio work and of course some RICE, that would be rest, ice, compression, and elevation.

Vesteinn and I had a couple conversations around training and what it takes to throw 64m and beyond.  He was honest and frank in saying that I have the tools, the technique and the strength, but the energy is just not there.  Reason?  Working full time while training like this is just not conducive to throwing a discus really far, period.  It was something we talked about early on and something that has come up again.  Usually when your technique gets better and your strength levels are good you throw further, but not in this case.  So we decided to hammer home speed work and back off the training to allow for some extra recovery time to allow for energy to come back.

This game is tough in that you need to do so much to prepare and you also have to channel everything you have into making it fly.  Its not like you can just get up and throw far if you feel tired.  I can work all day then go run 5 miles if I feel tired, or grunt my way through a workout, that’s easy.  Throwing over 200 feet while tired and stressed out is another story.  As V says, this is not an excuse, it’s just facts.  This is why professional discus throwers only throw discus.

For now we are looking to work on just explosive work and not do anymore crazy volume in the ring.  I am hopeful we can get it going as there has been a lot of good work done to make the discus fly.  I can not be angry with the situation as this situation has led me to have the opportunity to meet people like Vesteinn and the guys from GT.  It has given me the opportunity to travel to various places, meet some new friends, have some great conversations and  of course drink some really good coffee:) Zoega’s!

As V and I discussed, when it is all said and done of course we want results, but the friendships and experience you gain while doing this is worth so much more.  I couldn’t agree more, but we still want a big PR this year. 

The past few weeks have been a bit frustrating.  I was really excited for these past couple weeks before they began, but then i decided to be an idiot and tweak my back goofing around rowing for time, then I got sick, and then work was super stressful.  All in all it was not a good circumstance for trying to max out.  Sometimes life happens and all you can do is take the good with the bad and move on.  This was the past couple weeks.

Results from this phase were:

Clean: Hit 150Kg x2

Squat: 200Kg x 6 230kg x1 multiple times, but never got the 240-250Kg

Single arm DB bench 60Kg x 6 70Kg x 3

MVI_8624

MVI_8625

I didn’t have the camera day of heavy cleans, but some decent triples.

All in all I am eager to get back at some more maxes in a month hopefully.   Next on the list is a trip to Spain for a camp with Vesteinn, Gerd, and Mart.  Should be fun!

After any GT camp I feel like I can throw better than ever, then when I return home after intense sessions and a lot of travel I feel pretty much like I can barely throw 40meters(not far for none thrower types).  Usually after a couple days everything smooths out and we are good to go.  While at camp we slept in tents, made a fire, roasted marshmallows, and sang kumbayah… no really we worked on a lot of technique with the left shoulder staying back, the left leg driving hard while the right wraps wide and bent.  It’s starting to come together and as each rep passes I can feel it more and more sink in.  Pretty cool stuff and A LOT more power and speed is on the discus.  Looking forward to getting somewhere where I can throw into a field.  Anyways here are some clips.  Enjoy!

Eric1   Eric 2   Eric 3   Eric 4    Eric 5   Eric 6

Alright technically i was not supposed to lift for high reps today but i had a bug up my butt to do more than what i was doing on my back squat during hypertrophy.  A little backround is, i am 6’9″ or 206cm.  and the way i am built i am all legs.  Finding my squat groove is a bit challenging.  i have tried them all. wide stance low bar, narrow stand low bar, medium stance low bar, all while wearing flat shoes.  then i also was trying all of the above mentioned with olympic shoes. For discus a high bar placement, medium stance, with olympic shoes is usually best and below parallel.  Well i was doing this but realized numerous times i was not engaging my glutes or hamstrings as much as i should have been, it was pretty much all quad. AND it was hurting my knees cause i couldnt help but have my knees go forward of the toes by an uncomfortable amount.

Solution: For some reason i forgot that i was successful with my body using the low bar position with a regular stance and just at parallel.  The thing that dawned on me while talking with Kate at the gym was the sheer physics of it.  For the bar to stay centered over my body the hips have to go way back or the knees have to go very forward, or i could have both.  Either way i am just not built for squatting since my legs are out of proportion and uber long.  So i finally gave up my dream of squatting over 600lbs while expecting to keep my knees and back in tact to throw the discus.  Am i saying squatting is dangerous? NO, i am saying squatting for me is a challenge, much like dunking for a little person is challenging.  there are things in life i get to do for being huge, but squatting super heavy weights past parallel, driving sports cars, and fitting in anything that requires normal legs are not on my to-do list