22# bs - 36'1.5" / 35+ / foul (38ish I think)
16# os - 49'2" / less / less
56# hwd - foul / 41+ / 42+ / 43'2" in extras
28# lwd - 86' / foul / 86'8" / ? blew thumb to pieces
22# hammer - 79' lol / 110'8" / 107+ / extras were 101-104ish
16# hammer - 116' lol / 135'2" / 132ish / extras were less
20# sheaf - 30ft
20'/100# caber (hardly any taper) - 9:00 / 11:00 / 1:00 (I think)
56# wob - 16' standing
Stones were a freaking joke. I was actually feeling semi-confident going in about them but that was very quickly shattered. Was really looking for 40/53ish on the stones. I've taken that same braemar stone 40+ several times in training. Very frustrating. SMH. Ostone was even worse, no linear drive, no separation, no finish out over the trig. Awful. Ughh. Side note: Jon O'Neil went 47ft with this stone for a new American (WR?) Record. Not sure when they'll oficially weigh the stone but it weighed in on the field and was pulled with a steel tape. I feel like a douche with my camera and everything setup, but didn't get it on film. It was truly amazing. That was a huge huge toss.
Gathered my thoughts and prepped for some big hwd numbers. Needless to say a foul out of the gate had me all garbled up in my head. Got it together, figured out the problem and fixed it with an easy 41+ . Pushed a tiny bit harder on the next one and took the win in that event. The first extra felt great, but the 2nd two I was jumping forward out of the back on my first turn and eating up too much trig to get a big sprint. Kept coming down with my left on top of the trig. Weights were moving, just no finish as I was too crowded. Easy fix, next time. Took 2 warmups with the lwd and felt good, though nowhere near as good as what was to come. First throw was 86' even which would be nearly a 4' games PR. Fouled the second as I rushed out of the back and drove to the left side. Third was just as big with 86'8". There was a good sized hump they had to measure the tape over so it might have even been 87+ if it weren't for that... no worries though. First extra with the 28 and I tore my thumb to pieces so I called it there. Happy with hwd, extremely happy with lwd.
Hammers up. Warmups felt ok, ground was extremely hard, and I'm used to the ground here. Very weird. The 22 didn't feel too bad, much better than in practice. I've only practiced with it once or twice since November and was having trouble holding onto it so I was kind of worried about that. First throw I killed the ground on the release and it fell short at 79ft. That was a lol throw. Oh well. Second throw, got nice and loose, whippy and dropped it at 110+. That would be a 6+ ft games PR. Was pretty surprised, figured she marked the wrong spot. Everyone said it was crazy flat. I was overcompensating from hitting the ground by getting flat. I'll come back to this in a minute. Went high 107 afterwards so I guess it was right. Then kept missing the finish really late and was only 101-103ish in extras. Same thing happened with the first toss on the light hammer. Hit the ground while hitting the finish and went about 116'. Ugh. Then overcompensated on height and dropped an extremely flat 135+. In fact, I was pissed about the throw and even yelled my disappointment (didn't cuss, lol). The throw flew WAAAY out to the right side of the field. I didn't even get to finish it, it just slipped out of my hands. I knew it looked far but was expecting 123ish. Then 135? Bittersweet. Sweet because it's a 6' games PR, bitter because if I would have it the finish right and held on it could have gone 140+. You don't think so? Ask Duncan. I actually broke my right blade bolt and it was jabbing the crap out of my foot on the 3rd toss which was low 130s. I took it out and took 2 more low 130s before scraping the ground again on my last extra which only yielded mid 120s. Delighted with the two PRs. Watching the video now I can see my issue with hitting the ground was a result of dropping my eyes for the finish. Need to keep eyes up, drop hips and finish strong into the field.
Sheaf after lunch. Haven't practiced this once since november so was pretty timid here. I know that when I get after it I tense up and end up losing a lot, especially at 30ft. 30ft ended up SOARING over with ease. Got after it with 32 and just couldn't hit it. Was talking with spencer and he was talking about how he would drive it down to the ground and then just keep pushing all the way through with that same hand. Tried this out on my last attempt at 32ft and cleared it, however, it changed the angle of the toss and came down in front of the bar. Oh well, something to work on. 32+ is definitely in the tank though.
Caber. This is actually my training stick we used, though I was surprised the judge chose it as it's not the traditional pro stick. Not to say it isn't equally as hard, it is an incredibly deceiving stick. At only 100bs and 20ft long it would seem easy. Though there is very little taper. A fifer (which was called as a 9:00) for first round, then a 11:00 then a 1:00. Dickens snuck in there with a sweet 12:00 which ended up putting me at 2nd and Jon at 3rd.
Finished off with WOB. Everyone opened at 14 with a bunch of easy pulls. I cleared 16' easy on my first shot standing. It was me and Jon squaring off at 17'. I knew there was no way I was going to pull 17 standing so I decided to spin. Considering my thumb was destroyed from that last lwd toss, this probably wasn't the best decision. Ended up missing all 3 attempts and hurting it even worse. Oh well. Jon crushed 17 on his first toss then missed 18, hitting the bar on the way up like 4 times. Pretty sweet to watch.
Hit up the challenge caber afterwards. 19ft and about 30,000lbs. Jesus this things enormous. I picked it twice and dumped it as by the time I had control of it I was too exhausted to do anything with it. I swear this thing is unturnable. Everyone else had the same problem, lol.
I'll have video up in a few days, waiting to get some of the footage from my mother-in-law as my phone died during the 110+ heavy hammer (suckkkksss).
Had a blast competing against Spencer, Jon, Dickens and Beau. It's not everyday I'm put next to people that make me look small. While I wasn't expecting it, I was hoping for a win and I was extremely happy to pull it off against these guys. I've put a lot of work in this off-season and I'm hoping it comes out in the next few games. I've still got a lot of big throws in there and I feel these PRs will be falling within just a few games. Really looking forward to continue pushing and competing against these guys throughout the season. Big thanks to Duncan for his encouragement on and off the field. A great guy to have in your corner, I'm grateful for his friendship. Also, I'm amazed at how Spencer side-arms his hwd... how the F does he nail 45+ that way. It's just incredible, and no, I'm not being sarcastic.
Thanks to my ever loving beautiful wife Kristina Sullivan and two sons, Ezekiel and Xander for being there to support me, as well as my in-laws and all of her family. I'm so blessed to have a family that pushes me and makes me want to be a better person, athlete, husband and father.
Thanks to Sport Kilt for the awesome Kilt. I also picked up matching kilts for my 2 boys and Mrs. We go out in style.. how we do.
Thanks to Tod Stewart of Stewart and Torgerson Injury Law for giving me the opportunity over the last 3 years to continuously increase my game and push me to get to the next level. Check them out at 1800ourlawyer.com, you never know when you're going to need someone to have your back. Tod and is crew are stand-up attorneys and I would vouch for them any day.
Next stop: Las Vegas on 4/20 against a great lineup. Time to do work.
No comments:
Post a Comment