Yesterday I did an easy leg workout, then tried some stair jumps. I hadn’t done those in a while, and was a little concerned that I couldn’t reach my usual landing spot on the sixth step. I attributed it a little bit of rust and legs that were still pretty tired from a taxing week of practice. Then I hopped on the treadmill to do a little running. That confirmed that my legs were indeed quite dead.
They were still sore today, but I did a little interval running anyways. I didn’t push too hard, but I felt like I should do something. I’m really not sure if it’s better to wait for full recovery or to keep training. I just figured I’d have enough time to rest before the meet, so I decided to keep on pushing forward.
I worked my back a little bit, then worked on my glide for the shot put. It was raining, so I worked indoors. Due to the size of the room, I either have to throw a heavy ball (18#) to keep it from reaching the wall, or a very light ball that won’t hurt the walls when it hits them. To save my elbow, I’ve opted for the light ball lately. These balls are about 9″ in diameter and only weighs a few ounces. Because they are so light, they don’t carry much momentum and only travel about 40 feet. But they give you good feedback on your speed and launch angle.
I’ve been working on staying back and getting my drive leg facing the target before I start to unwind my upper body. It was working much better today than the last time I threw. If I can be as patient when I throw for real I think that good things are going to happen.
It looks like it’s going to continue to rain through Friday, and then we may get some clearing over the weekend. I’d like to get out and throw shot one more time, and I need to run some hurdles at least two more times. Beyond that I’m just going to have to cross my fingers and hope. I only got in two pole vault practices, and I probably won’t get a chance to try the long jump and high jump before the competition. It’s a lot to ask, but as long as my legs re-awaken before then I think I’ll be OK.
