Trees

Trees

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Phoenix


Well, Phoenix...

Wow...We had a HUGE group of throwers and get this...it was 40-49 only...11?  It was so amazing.  A couple of newer women who are really really good throwers.  And all the not so newer throwers who are really really good.  It was a tight tough supportive day.

Long....

We started at WOB and we ALL made a mistake, we all came in to early...I think we were at the WOB standards for like 2 1/2 hours.  By the time we got to lunch we had only thrown WOB and Caber...and those cabers were SWEET!...but...yea...we threw til after 6 PM!  HA!

And at WOB, not only did people come in to early....there were monster throws all over the place...so many people got PR's on this event it was super inspiring.  Have you seen Rachael throw?  and Grace was on fire for WOB too....Monica blew out her PR I think as well....I think by 2 feet....I got a PR too...4 inches.  But it has been a height I've been working on for quite some time. All of my WOB throws up until the end were clean.  I was thrilled because I had been struggling in practice.  I haven't been able to clear more than 17' for months. Frankly, it was tough once we ran the bar up to 19' 6".  I don't perform well under pressure and at that point the announcer and officials were over and I sorta wanted to hide.   Stephanie Smally whom I had just met...seriously...JUST FREAKING MET...pulled me aside to Laura and made me drink some water...these 2 fine ladies kept me distracted from the hubbub...we of course resorted to dick jokes.

I went up for the last throw, or maybe it was the second throw, I don't remember...and I saw Bryce in the crowd....he gave me that last push as only Bryce can give and hell if it didn't sail over....a tiny bit to spare too.

I ended up having a Hell of a day...5 personal records.  The one that killed me the most was Braemar...26'.  I was thrilled.  I've been doing Daniel McKim's foot work for weeks in the gym.

and yes...as it happened to blow all over facebook....some of these were record~records...

But...I have a funny relationship to them.  Is it a thrill to break them, yea...but I am thrilled because I am pushing closer to or past the goals I have set for myself....really.

These numbers, these records will continue to fall~they never hold. Why the hell would we want them too?  But for me, learning to challenge myself, sometimes failing sometimes pushing past what I KNEW I could do is the real deal.

More?  yeah....these two photos capture what it means to me.  The first one is after the WOB in Phoenix this weekend....the second is after the light hammer throw in Scotland.



Douglas Sisk





Photo by Jasper Images
You know what they show?  Not the hammer, not the weight, or the tape, or a score on NASGA.  They show why I keep throwing.

It's the people, the joy, the thrill of being just a little more of something than I was before, or being a part of something I never dreamed of before.  It's a better me because of all of the folks in these photos...and all of you who are missing from these photos.

World record throws...pfffftttt.....

World class people..

That's what I see and feel...

That's why I throw.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Sound of my own silence...

Been missing the gym this week.

Will miss today too....I have an audition, so...yea there is that.

Went yesterday and did mobility and some drills.  I'm feeling a little better...starting to get the sugar back under control...life long boring struggle...blah blah blah.

Tuesday I got naked for one of only 3 people I feel comfortable getting naked for...one of my trusted body workers...

And we joked about how I STILL had not shaved my legs.

Not this time, but last week, Dan and I chatted about the work we have been doing.  I have been seeing Dan for a long time.  When I first saw him...and for many years after..I pretty much only went to see him for my neck pain.  He told me that he remembered how "careful" he had to be with me.

He isn't anymore.

Well....I am making that sound weird.  He is still very careful, very specific...but now he grinds loose all of the big stuff for me...Hamstrings, Glutes, my midback...and he works the ribs...ankles...forearms. Digs deep, I swear sometimes I think he gets up on the table with me and uses his full self to drive deep into a muscle...I mean, I know he really doesn't but dang. He was working on my right arm Tuesday and said..oh...this is your throwing arm isn't it?  I can feel the power!

Dan makes me giggle too, as you can imagine.

Strange to me that as I approach this first game I am headed back to the massage table instead of the gym.

On a different note....

I've had more than a few people say to me over the last few weeks, " I had no idea, why didn't you tell me." or "man you sure kept that quiet."

Odd. Did I?

I realized that's true.  I mean, I do wear my heart on my sleeve and I swear people can read what's up with me on my face. But, good or bad...I tend to clam up. So perhaps....I don't show what's happening.  Hell, not that I think every detail of someone's life should be out there...but even people I consider to be close friends...perhaps it is just life long training...

If you hide the bad stuff...how hard does it become to share the good?



I am very shabby and very loved.

There....there is the best I have to offer...





Monday, March 16, 2015

About to be startin' something.....





Well....my throwing season kicks off this weekend in hot ass Phoenix. As has become my custom for the 3 of you that read this blog...here are my numbers from last year's game.  I also decided to look at the final game I threw in 2014, just to see where I started where I ended.  Even though I know each game is different...conditions, training, rest, all that stuff is a factor in throwing.  Oh Phoenix was an open & Tucson was masters...thus the vastly different numbers in WOB and HWD.  I do wonder how I will start this season.  I know I have been bitching a fair bit about not having my mojo...and practice has been spotty at best.  Although, I have been doing drills in the gym.

Phoenix    2014








Athlete
Braemar
Open
Heavy
Light
Heavy
Light
Sheaf
WFH
Stone
Stone
WFD
WFD
Hammer
Hammer
10lb
13lb
9lb





Dist
Dist
Dist
Dist
Dist
Dist
Dist
Dist
Mona Malec
21'-9.5"
31'-6"
32'-0"
60'-5"
60'-7.5"
80'-0"
19'-0"
14'-0"


















Tucson








 2014
24' 9"
29' 5"
44' 6.5"
65' 3"
71' 6"
85' 11"
24'
17'


 There has also been some weird crap happening in the throwing community as well.   I remember when I first started...I was hanging out with Michelle and Sarah extolling the wonders of such an awesome community...(which it is) that seems to  avoid a bunch of the political crap I had experienced in the Theater.  I remember they looked at me and....laughed.  I believe one of them said, "oh just you wait, it is there."  Oh boy they are right...I was just star struck I suppose.  There have been some things happening on public forums that really has put a dent in my enthusiasm for throwing.   I have seen throwers who I thought were friendly, or were at least respectful of other athletes, throw accusations around that are unfounded....I have seen people who I thought perhaps even respected me a teensy bit use language in regard to women that was surprising to say the least.  I know that tempers can flare and people perhaps say things behind a keyboard they would not normally say, but I am disheartened. I won't read the forums anymore...I stopped pretty early.  It made me really upset, more than it really should have probably. 

I fucking RESPECT the Athletic Directors.  They are really the bomb. The amount of work they put in to take care of athletes freakin rocks and I get it...each game is unique.  But, if you don't want me there...I can't be there.  I have never been one of those people that feels like..."They don't want me there. I'll show them! Try and get rid of me!"  not me.  I spent far too long in my life in place where I was not wanted, trying to make it work. 

Why would I do that for a hobby? For something that is supposed to be fun?

And please let me make this clear...this is just me...just how I feel....I am not asking anybody to do anything or to feel the same way.

That being said...I have no idea what I may do this year.  I love throwing, I love throwers, I love the community.  I may just stay put this year...play close to home and just play. Or maybe I'll just Pollyanna the whole thing and throw~whatever...Or maybe I'll take up figure skating. There is no politics in figure skating...



I don't know.

The thrill of competition may keep calling....the joy of certain games, throwing with certain people may continue to call me.

Started my acting class yesterday....wow....It was so much like home.  I had to talk a little about who I was at the start of class, what I wanted out of the class.  I said I had begun to believe that I could not be both an actor and an athlete....the actors in the room all groaned..."yes you can." ...and I don't even know most of the people in the class.  Funny, I have had the same response from throwers I talked to about it...

oh well...
























































































Monday, March 9, 2015

knee pain.

Threw a crap load yesterday~ WOB and Sheaf....my legs are sore...and my knee has been crabby.  I had the same issue last Monday...

What to do for a crabby knee? 

Squats.

Seriously, it always helps...ALWAYS.

I lifted a little lighter than I should have....

5x3 at 235...I was supposed to lift at 265...so I was only 30 pounds off.....and I forgot my lifting shoes...and my knee wraps....but guess what?

Yup, my knee feels great now.

BUT....

During the third set...it started up...yup...a freaking hot flash started melting my eyes.  I really wanted to walk away.  But I kept lifting.

Then the workout. 

7 Minute AMRAP
 5 power cleans & push jerk
10 Box jumps.

I was on the cold concrete floor before we started...It doesn't help because my eyes are melting from the inside...but I am willing to try...The workout started and as usual I am slow, but at the end of it all...I was sweating, but in a different way...I cleaned myself through the freaking hot flash.  It's funny.

I laugh during the workout, 'cause what else are you gonna do.




Wednesday, March 4, 2015

more cute kitties

Monday:

5 rep max back squat
5x3 dips
150 thrusters.....yeah.  15 minute cap.

Ok so my butt hurts tonight.  I had a thought that perhaps I could get 300 for 5....

I warmed up...but I was tired...I ate like crap over the weekend.  Birthday cake and depression Nutella figured prominently in my weekend. Oh and crappy pizza too...

But, I got to a very deep set of 5 at 275 and that's really pretty good. I did a few dips, but I need so much time to warm up I always feel like I slow everybody down. Into the thrusters~Will reminded us to have a strategy....pick a number of reps you can get every time you touch the bar. He also was super duper clear about form...really clear.  So I stuck to my strategy of picking form...I know I could have banged some of this out faster...I didn't finish, but I think they were sexy beautiful thrusters.


Tuesday...


my butt still hurts....


Did 5x2 clean and jerks.  again, not super heavy, but I think they were worth it.


I skipped the rest of the workout... and did stone drills and hammer winds.  I have asked BJ to watch if he can...Open...I am not getting my rt foot forward...still...gonna work on that.


As for today..because of a slew of appointments for vivi this week....it is a rest day.


and my thighs and booty are still feeling that workout.


I have my first game in about 2 weeks....and BJ seems to be getting excited about how he is gonna torture, I mean train me for the season.


I am digging the drills....so maybe I'll start digging throwing again too.  I have been struggling with depression a bit...it just sucks the energy right out of me.  Then I feel guilty for feeling like crap because god knows I have so much to be grateful for....which makes me try to fake my way through it....which makes me feel shitty and drained....


and there it is.


So congratulations mona, you are afraid and depressed and filled with shitty food.  Yeah yeah yeah I know...eating well helps...I get it. I KNOW it...

Way to go.