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.