Rather than create a bunch of posts about training for the past week leading up to the games, I'll just sum it all up here as sort of a pre-contest lead up.
Sunday 9/15: threw stone/wfd
Monday 9/16 AM: wfd
Monday 9/16 PM: stone
Monday 9/16 PM2: wob
Tuesday 9/17 AM: stone
Tuesday 9/17 PM: hammer
Tuesday 9/17 PM2: caber
Wenesday 9/18: skipped AM recovery workout, no throwing, 2 gallons of water and PM massage
Thursday 9/19: 2 gallons water, BCAAs, 15 minutes spin bike, stretch/foam roll in PM
Friday 9/20: Travel, stratch/foam rol in PM
Onto the juicy stuff, from memory so might not be exact..
Loon Mountain Day 1
22# hammer x 113+ (3rd)
56# wfd x 46'7 FR/PR (1st)
16# stone x 53'8.5 (tie 4th)
Caber 8th I think
56# wob x16 first attempt (3rd)
Loon Mountain Day 2
16# hammer x 143'3 PR (2nd)
26# braemar x 36+ (5th)
28# wfd x 83+ (3rd)
Overall 3rd.
The heavy hammer is my second best throw of the season so I can't be too disappointed, however, I was really looking for 118-120 here. Dan dropped an impressive 123 for a new field record and Craig Sinclair went 115. Good throws.
Hwd was solid. Warmups didn't feel great but my focus was timing of the sprint and trying to think about sprinting right so I don't drift too far left. First throw went 46'2 for just shy of a 2ft pr. Second one I got after a bit more and ended up being a little late on the sprint and fouled out the left side. Third I sped it up again but was more mindful of timing and went 46'7 for a new PR and field record. Great series here. Still need to work on getting my left down faster after the first turn so I can land blocked off a bit more. That should take care of the left drift so I can focus more on a linear drive and finish. Mat$o slipped twice and still went 46. They were going to be BIG. He's got a big throw waiting to get out.
Stone wasn't bad. First throw went 44 because I slipped out of the back. Put some more weight on my left and had a good drive. Focus here was get the left down and push like hell. 53+ on second toss and 53'8.5 on third. Tie for 4th with Sebastian. Matt went 58 and fouled a couple bigger ones. Dan went 54 and Andy just edged me out at 53'10. Good competition.
Caber actually felt a lot better than it went. I know what I need to do here in the offseason. Going to work on speed, getting the caber moving fast and dropping fast for a big pull. Next year I'll be much better at caber
Wob went pretty good until 17. Cleared 14, 15 and 16 on first attempt. First two at 17 didn't quite have it. Got the crowd in it on the 3rd attempt and smashed the bar on the way up. Only Andy and Zolk moved on and had a battle royale at 18'6 with Andy coming out on top. That was sweet to watch.
Started off with light hammer on Sunday. Was sprinkling but got it done. Went with the pvc handle since it was easier to dry off. Series went 129, 136, 143'3 for a new pr. Not happy at all with the 129 and was missing the catch on the second wind and not getting it moving fast enough. Took a couple practice winds between my 2nd and 3rd throw and got into the groove. Hit it hard on my last attempt and it flew. Felt awesome to finally hit that big hammer I've been chasing all season. That throw actually put me in the lead but Dan hit a 144 to finish off his series and take the W back. Craig pulled 3rd at 140+ and Matso went 137.
26# braemar next. Ended up getting 1 warmup and had to get in the trig. Stone shape wasn't bad. First toss went a miserable 34ft as I reversed early, nothing new there. Decided to no reverse my 2nd and had a nice long push going 36'8-ish. On the third I tried to get after it and once again finished too early with the reverse and only went 35. Andy and Sebastian went at it here with Sebastian edging him out then taking the field record at 41'11.
28# wfd to finish up the comp. Only got one warmup which was super lousy. This kind of threw off my confidence moving into the trig. First throw went 81. Trig slanted down and to the left so I was way off on my finish, falling to the left and blah blah blah. Tried to hit it a bit harder on the 2nd only went 79, falling off again. Relaxed on my third and slowed things down. Just focused on a big sprint and finish and went high 83 to take 3rd behind Matt and Dan, respectively. BIG respect to Matt for hitting some huge tosses (91+) with that trig. The ability to drive straight and still hit a big one when half the other guys were falling off to the left was impressive. Awesome to watch.
Highlight moment outside of throwing:
Having dinner with Magnus ver Magnusson and not even realizing "who" he was until I asked and then felt like a dummy. That was pretty funny. I knew he looked familiar but just couldn't place it, then when I asked he had this like on his face like I was the dumbest guy on earth. Shoot me now. Super cool guy. Talked about training, the games and WSM. Very awesome. Steve and I chuckled about the situation later.
After throwing on Saturday Matt, Andy, Craig, Doherty and Rob went to the river for a natural ice bath. This was SUPER AWESOME. Steve came too but didn't get in, lol. Rob is the natural slide king looking like a huge 3 year old going down these rock slides. Hilarious. Then he cuts his ankle and is bleeding, lmao. Great time hanging out and getting the legs recharged for the second day.
Party at the Diamantes. This was pretty cool. Dinner was fantastic and pool down in the lower basement was sweet, however, don't ever pick Jeff Kaste as your partner, WTFFFFFFFFFF. Lots of stories and a great time.
Breakfast at flapjacks was solid but the best was heading to a local bar to play shuffle board with Matt, Andy and Sebastian. This is a very close second to the hot tub party we had in Pleasanton with regards to awesomeness. To see a giant of a man like Sebastian jumping for joy when he hit a 5point move was hilarious. Fantastic time.
Props go out to all my competitors for pushing me to hit some big last throws and keep me in the game. It was a pretty close race all the way to the end. Really looking forward to more battles next season.
A few thanks are in order. First to Bill and Holly Crawford for putting this all together. I had a great time and am excited and hopeful for an invitation next year. Next to Steve Conway for putting up with my jabbering in the car ride to the hotel and for just being an all around awesome dude. Thanks to Petur Gudmondsson as our head judge. The expression on his face when I told him I had no prior background in throwing was priceless. Aweosme guy and class act for rooting on Sebastian in breaking his record. Super cool to get to meet Magnus and AliGunn and hear them tell stories of past experiences/throws/etc. Thanks to Wayne, Leroy et al for all the work they put in to make this run smoothly. Thanks to the Diamantes for the spectacular party and support of the games. Thanks as always to SportKilt for keeping me sexy on the field and to Tod Stewart for his support in helping me get to the level of competition I am. Without his help I would probably still be a mid level A amateur.
The biggest thanks of all goes out to my beautiful Mrs Sullivan. Without you I wouldn't be anything that I am today. Your support, love and encouragement means the world to me. To send me on my way with two small children at home is so very selfless and I can't thank you enough. I appreciate all of your hard work.
One more games of the season, however, I'll be starting my offseason training next week. Going back to basics with some linear periodization. 8 weeks of hypertrophy training and 8 weeks of strength training then I will evaluate where I'm at, what games I have lined up and how to move forward. I'll be adding in cardio to work on overall cardiovascular health as well as the prowler to work some 10m drive sprints and get faster. Will be working with the 14 hammer, 25 wfd and 49 wfd to work on speed. Next year I want to hit some big big numbers. Really excited to see what the next season brings.
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