Dare I think beyond the incremental?

**Alan H** · 6th February 11, 10:12 PM

Mike P pointed out that Al Oerter, when asked how he got to be an Olympic level athlete in the discus replied that all he did was put the marking towel out a few inches farther in the field than he had thrown the day before. Not ten feet further. Not three feet further. Just a couple of inches.

The point? slow and steady, inch by inch is how you build an Olympic champion.

I am trying to take this lesson to heart.

Then again, while my daily goals are measured in inches and 1, 2 or 5 pound increments, I am daring to have big goals for the Woodland Games, which are in the middle of May.

Open Stone. 33+ my PR right now is 31' 10"
LWFD .. 53. My PR right now is 51' and change
Light Hammer... 88. My PR is 87+. Dare I dream about 90?

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The Santa Cruz practice group had a session with Ken Lowther today. It was great! I picked up several things from Ken, which will help me.

also, one of the guys bought a "real" Bobby Dodd 56 pound wfd and a 56 pound WOB. I haven't thrown a 56 widowmaker for about three years. It was so nice and clean and shiny that I HAD to give it a go!

Incredibly, I more or less stayed balanced and pushed three throws out into the mid 20's. Not bad!

**AKScott** · 6th February 11, 11:22 PM

I gave up bodybuilding before my joints gave out.

What I found was when all the stars were aligned, say once or twice annually I could feel the potential and add 25# instead of 2.

Most days the way to avoid injury is to keep pushing slowly. An inch at a time.

No serious athlete is ever the same after a serious injury. Listen to your body. Keep pushing slowly. On the days your body says, "Hey, I am ready to step up to a new plateau!" go find the new plateau that day, and then carry on pushing slowly from the new place.

M2c, as an old guy who got into my 40s without having to take Motrin round the clock.

**Whidbey78** · 7th February 11, 12:00 AM

My Grandad used to say that a man can move a mountain, but only one shovelful at a time. I wish I had listened. I start my day with about 1200mg of ibuprofen, am awaiting another knee surgery, have had two surgeries on my shoulder, one hernia surgery, and have spent enough time in an MRI that I can't believe ferrous metals don't stick to me.

Patience is a virtue I lacked...now I'm left with little choice but to be patient with myself(physically at least) and try to take care of myself. Keep working at it. Focus on today and maybe tomorrow. Everything further down the road will sort itself out.

**Geoff Withnell** · 7th February 11, 07:15 AM

Advice from a 62 year old lifter. I can still work out 3-4 times a week, and only a snow related injury to show for it. Pain is NOT weakness leaving the body. Pain is the body saying "STOP THAT". Discomfort may be weakness leaving the body. Learn the difference.

Geoff Withnell

**Alan H** · 7th February 11, 03:33 PM

Originally Posted by Whidbey78

My Grandad used to say that a man can move a mountain, but only one shovelful at a time. I wish I had listened. I start my day with about 1200mg of ibuprofen, am awaiting another knee surgery, have had two surgeries on my shoulder, one hernia surgery, and have spent enough time in an MRI that I can't believe ferrous metals don't stick to me.

Patience is a virtue I lacked...now I'm left with little choice but to be patient with myself(physically at least) and try to take care of myself. Keep working at it. Focus on today and maybe tomorrow. Everything further down the road will sort itself out.

I could show you a website where a number of the lads just ASSUME that they will have multiple joint surgeries before their early 50's. Their logic seems to be that their body is a machine and that surgery is just doing a repair, like fixing a stripped gear. There are guys on this website/board who wear the scars of multiple surgeries like a badge of honor. They brag on 'em.

"I've had six knees surgeries and I'm STILL deadlifting 600 pounds!"

I have a somewhat different perspective, rather more like yours. To each his own.

**Whidbey78** · 7th February 11, 04:08 PM

AKScot made a really good point about athletes not being the same after a serious injury. If I could do it all over again I wouldn't have pushed so hard. Or more correctly I wouldn't have pushed myself too far so often and would have been willing to admit my limits and actually work on getting past them instead of trying to "prove" something. All I proved was that I can hurt myself badly by doing things I'm not physically prepared for. Add inherently dangerous, rough and strenuous sports and, frankly, I did some really really stupid things that I'm still paying for. I never could understand the guys who brag about all the pain they go through because of old injuries. I hate it! I don't feel sorry for myself though. It's my own fault. I just wish I knew then what I know now.

I've never gotten into the heavy sports you do Alan, but my favorite thing for years was kayaking. I can't do it anymore--at least not at the level I did ten years ago. I can paddle, but high bracing can and sometimes does result in crippling pain. I could do lazy rivers and such, but after years of wild rapids that's just boring to me. Might as well plop down in a an innertube and float along with a six-pack. Being on the sidelines because you can't play anymore, in a word, sucks. At least I still have fishing and hunting and offroading. When I can't fish I'm done.

**Spartan Tartan** · 7th February 11, 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by Whidbey78

Might as well plop down in a an innertube and float along with a six-pack.

What's wrong with that!?

But seriously, it sounds like you know your limits. Consistency applies to recovery as much as to training. Take care of yourself and you may find that you surpass your PR goals!

**Whidbey78** · 7th February 11, 06:50 PM

Originally Posted by Spartan Tartan

What's wrong with that!?

Nothing at all. It's a good time. I just figure if I'm not really doing anything exciting I might as well kick back and have a cold one!

**o1d_dude** · 7th February 11, 09:32 PM

Reasonable goals, Alan.

The hammer goal seems most likely while gaining 2 feet on the LWFD might be a stretch.

Just think in terms of making the throw feel effortless. Those are the ones that really fly.

**Alan H** · 8th February 11, 12:26 PM

I got in the parking lot early this morning so I pulled the 16 hammer out of the truck bed and went out in the field and wound it for a while. Then I threw it five times. I lost one...foot slipped and I was badly off balance. That one went 77-78 Two of the others were 80-82 feet, as I pace it off. Another was 83-85 and another was 87-88. This is with my hip flexors aching, tired and screaming still from Sundays practice.

I haven't been practicing hammer very much at all, I'm still working out what I learned from Mike P. and I picked up something from Ken Lowther on Sunday that I will incorporate as well. I *think* that 90 is a strong possibility.