TRAINING LOG: jp

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   6/20
Chicago Scots HG Friday Fling, Itasca IL

Gorgeous warm day was far better than storms predicted. Jeff Armstrong and Jason Clevenger handled the motley crew quite well and the 5 events Games was tons of fun. Matt got in some more practice and some help from others and did great. OH! And Games Minion Yo-Yo. Thanks Jason!

Open Stone: 8.14#-30.113/4" I'll take it. Just keep practicing

LWFD: 61' 3/4" My other two throws were 60 and change and 59 so I'm very pleased that I can be consistent at this. Got a very helpful cue from Armstrong that I'll be able to apply and practice in the future.

HH: 58'11.5" PR Two good cues from Jason & Ruth helped this one. It's coming along. 

Caber: This was beastly, 75# & 18'. I picked, kinda. My 3rd pick was best, solid but really had no chance of turning this thing. Even before I stepped in a slight hole and the caber pushed my head to almost exorcist proportions, made a full turn and decided to bail before things got too exciting.

Sheaf: Missed 19'. I did get some very good help from Katie Steingraeber that I can use to practice and was already helpful the next day. I still don't really get this event. 

Packed up the car and hot stepped it over to Fremont, Indiana and by hot stepped I mean we rolled in 1:30am local time. By the time we finally unwinded (is that a word?) it was around 2:30. Goodie.

6/21
Stout Barbell Highland Games

*Note to self: when I come up with ideas of throwing in a Games/Partial Games and hot stepping it 4 hours to another venue to throw in moar games...don't. 

Sheaf: 18' Thanks to Katie's help the day before, all of my throws to 18 were completely solid. Then I got to 20', forgot everything and panicked. Didn't even come close. Thankfully we started with the event when I still had a few wits about me so learned and moved on. Sheaf

WOB: Dawn Higgins brought her pretty new Landrich 21# so the four of us old gals agreed to toss it for WOB and HWD. I hit 17' on my 3rd try and am very happy with that. Again, Katie gave me an excellent cue to keep the weight close and in front. All three 17.6" attempts were close enough that if I'm fresh, will have a decent chance if I continue to apply the right form. PR. I was very happy. 

Caber: The qualifier was fine. OH, some folks wanted to "pass" on the qualifier. That was strange to me. After a quick rules check it was confirmed that no, you can't 'pass' on a qualifier. Heh. It was light and not very tall so I just picked up off the ground vs. a 'pop' pick and muscled it. I turned it but style points were not applied.

Our next caber was also beastly. Thick, heavy, and tall. Not too far off Armstrong's caber. My first two picks were ok but the log quickly got away from me. I had time to chat it up with Mike Huth and he talked story of his caber days. Two things clicked for me. It's silly and those who are good with caber will go, 'Uhhhh, ya, duh' but it was helpful and has completely energized my caber. My third pick was solid. Up and settle. Like buttah. I started to move forward, dipped lSO ow and tossed her. I didn't turn but it was probably my best caber pick and toss to date and I'm so excited to work on this in the future. I got a 70 degrees and took first in the event. Pretty cool.

We broke for lunch here and took a break from boiling in the sunshine. I tried not to eat too much because I was already feeling the effects of the last day and half and tons of food wouldn't be helpful. John O'Connor and crew provided BBQ sandwiches and snacks and waters, I'm very appreciative of that. We were pretty spoiled.

Onto Stones

B:14# - 23'7 PR at that weight 
O:9# - 28'
Overall didn't have too much pop. Got some great help from Big12 Champ Victoria Zimmerman that made sense and I can apply at practice. I'll take it. 

HWD(21#): 43'3.5" Not my best but I was turning the car looking for hidden gas by now since I was running out. 

LWD: 57'. Noooooooo gas.

Hammers: I didn't even spin a warm up. Knew that I only had a few left in me.

HH: 60' PR on first toss. Two HH PR's in one weekend is Giddyup. Very happy these are coming together. However; that was it for me. The rest of the hammer throws were pale shadows of what could have been. True Story.

LH: I think around 66'. Heh. Passed on further attempts to avoid driving myself (further) into the ground. 

Overall an excellent day. It was fun to meet Doug Steiger's twin brother and throw for him. John O'Connor, Mike Huth and his family took amazing care of us. Mike's wife kept running back to the tent during our afternoon session to dunk cold hand towels in ice water and bring them back for us. That was incredible. They fed us and made sure we didn't thirst to death and even had the overall event organizers provide us with our own bartender and BBQ. That was pretty cool (the Budwiser I pretty much slammed before my Heavy Hammer PR obviously was a key factor). My first place prize is an absolutely beautiful sword that I think Oz has already claimed but I may have to 'mom rule' him on this one and keep it in the gym. OH! Our women's classes combined for 12 women throwing! That was awesome. Many newcomers who worked their hardest all day and kept great attitudes were fun to be with. There were tons of PR's for those who'd been at it for a few games or more and that was fun to see and be a part of. 

I was thankful to reach home safe and sound with no car drama, or any drama for that matter. We arrived almost exactly 36 hours after we left on Friday. OH! Matt also had a great day on Saturday. We had to leave before his group was done with Sheaf (he went out at 20. Not bad for throwing this thing about 5 or 6 reps in his life.) All of his events are looking better and he turned their caber to 12:30 on his final attempt which he was pretty stoked about. Cute eh?

jp