Mj, I’ll be in the 50+ group. I told the AD I could do that or Lightweight group and that’s where he wanted me. The “tiny” 42 lb weight is almost 1/4 my body weight. It throws me around like a twinkie. I’m glad I won’t be seeing the monster 56lb weight.
Harry, throwing is so much more fun that lifting that its pretty easy to keep priorities straight, at least in the summer when I have the time to throw whenever I want. My WOB spin improved just enough yesterday to make me entirely undecided about which to use. I will probably spin when my side slings start missing. I do at least a foot better with a side sling that with the standard between the legs up over the head type throw.
Thanks for the encouragement, tomorrow we’ll see if all the practice pays off.
I’ve been too busy with school starting to get to this until now. Last weekend was my first Highland Games. I’m sorry I waited until I was 53 years old to do this. Most fun I’ve had in a long time.
Ended up getting second place overall in the 50+ masters division, competing against 3 others. Ended up DFL, as mjnewland puts it, in caber, sheaf, and heavy hammer, but got one third and a bunch of seconds in all the other games. Didn’t do as well as I had hoped in open stone and light weight for distance, but pr’d in both hammers and weight over bar.
The games were well run and held in a beautiful location. The other throwers were friendly and helpful. There was a strong spirit of cooperation and fun, unlike what I sometimes find at Track and Field meets and often find at O-lifting meets. Pictures coming as soon as I figure how to get them off my son’s camera.
As an bonus, I got to meet John Newland. It was his first games also, and having him around took much of the stress out of the unfamiliar situation.
Next up I’ve got a Track and Field meet, end of October I think (or was it the beginning of October, I better look it up.) Will be throwing shot, discus, hammer, and weight in order to qualify for Nationals next year in Houston. Threw T&F style hammer and weight for the first time in a while yesterday. All the HG stuff must have somehow helped. My balance and timing were about as good as they ever get even though I haven’t thrown weight for a few months and hammer for almost two years. Got some good discus throwing in too. Same theme here. Balance and timing were much better than expected having thrown discus only once since last summer.
Just watched your C&J vid. Very, very cool. I used to do those (with paltry weights) and loved 'em. At the time, couldn’t find a gym where I could drop the weights to ever push myself.
Congrats on your first highland games. There’s a number of you guys on here, eh? I’ll be following.
Most of the throwers before we got started. The tall guy on the far left is Jeff Loosle, who thoroughly beat me in every game, although I did get within 2 inches from a first in Braemer Stone. The guy walking in back with the camo kilt is Lee Mitchell, the only guy to beat Jeff in anything that day. Lee won caber with two 12:00 tosses. I’m the guy that Lee looks like he’s putting his arm around. (Nothing happened then, we didn’t get that friendly until later.)
Stuffing my face before caber. Ended up with a no toss and two 40 degree tosses for my first of DFL finishes. The caber was 85lbs and just short of 16 feet long. The girl in the red dominated in the womens division. She is also about 3 months pregnant.
Weight over bar. Got it over at 12 feet, then smacked it into the side of the bar twice at 13. Didn’t try spinning since my side slings were going just about as high as I can get with a spin. Jeff got 18’6" and just missed a few times at 18’9".
Sheaf toss. Those of you that do HG will notice the bar is incredibly low. I cleared 14’, and threw the sheaf into the side of the bar at 16’. And Harry, you thought your sheaf sucked. You’ve got me beat by 4 feet. I was lucky they let us start so low.
Never seen anyone throw the wob from that angle. Do you keep you hand in that position, thumb up, for the release? Pretty cool them having the things for the kids to do. They had some kind of cross bow, toy, shooting galley set up for them at my games.
Yeah, pretty much. Its the same way I release when I use the spin. That’s one thing I like about HG. There may be a standard technique for each of the games, but its seems that experimentation is almost encouraged. My boy would have loved the shooting gallery thing.
[quote]Carl Darby wrote:
Thanks kpsnap. I’ve been following your log. Will you be doing cleans again when your shoulder is ready?[/quote]
Really cool pics.
I hope to return to cleans. And soon. For some crazy reason, I really love the motion. I’d like to get back to the whole C&J off the floor. It’s been awhile for me.
