What was
your
motivation
to start
throwing and
when did you
realize a
fire was
lit?
Initially my
motivation
to start
throwing was
to be with
my friends
and be away
from home.
At some
point I
actually
started to
enjoy it for
what it was
and is to
me. I view
throwing as
just a
constant
self-test.
An exercise
in how much
control I
can have
over what my
body does
and how much
of myself I
can put into
one thing.
There's
always a
voice in my
head asking
how far I
can throw.
And I am
always
curious and
wanting to
test what my
limit is.
Do I have
one? I
won't know
until I
quit, but I
know it's
too early to
quit and I
also know
I've got a
lot more in
me.
It's all
about
putting in
the time and
commitment
to bring out
my best. My
curiosity
gets the
best of me;
I've just
got to know
what my
limits are.
There's
definitely a
fire inside
me. I can't
say for sure
when it was
lit. I
think it
changes
throughout
the course
of the year
and year to
year.
Sometimes it
burns
brighter,
others it's
not so hot.
But it's
always there
and perhaps
always has
been. I
really
believe that
everybody
has one
inside but
that it's
just a
matter of
finding your
niche and
then it
brining out
the best in
you. I'm
finally
starting to
believe that
maybe I'm
supposed to
be doing
what I'm
doing, and
giving myself
over to that
makes
everything
so much
easier and
makes me
more
hungry.
n your early
throwing days
who did you
admire most as a
thrower and why?
Even
now, I consider myself to be pretty ignorant about the
sport. It took me so long to even think on the world
level. When I got to Florida, I pretty much thought that
the girls on my team were the best, and we were. I had/have
so much admiration for them. Candice, Jukina, LaQuanda, Kim, Scarlett,
Merilyn, Rachel; they were the ones who kind of showed me a
little bit of the possibilities. But my personality wasn't
content for it to rest there. I wanted to take what I'd
learned from them and try to build on to it even more. I
never really limited myself and was always open to the
possibilities, never expecting any one thing but hoping for
the best. When I got out of college I looked more to people
like Dawn Ellerbe. She's such an asset to female hammer
throwers in the US. She's the original and has lots of good
advice for those who will listen. Experience at this level
is invaluable! Once I conquered the US, my admirations went
more globally but without knowing them as people, I can only
admire their throwing techniques and want to emulate their
successes. Sedych, Kuzenkova, Moreno. Perhaps one of my
greatest assets is my ignorance because I have no idea what
I'm capable of and know so little about what's been done in
the past. I'm just trying to make my own history.
How did Larry Judge help your
progress to world rankings and what does he continue to
contribute?
Part of me still considers
myself Larry's brainchild. hahaha I'm utterly cluess about
what I'm capable of. I've already done so much more than I
ever expected because I never really expected anything. The
greatest contribution Larry has had in my development is
that he believes in me and this started way back when I
walked on at UF, only the stakes are a little higher now.
Amazingly, he has more confidence in my abilities the harder
things get. He's taught me how to believe in myself too. I
have a tendency to ask myself why I should be able to do
something great and he always answers with why shouldn't I
be able to do it. Aside from that, his contributions are
endless. He puts his entire being into coaching. We win
and lose together. He never stops thinking of ways to be a
better coach so that I can be a better athlete.
What are the key elements of your training and throw that
bring you the greatest predictable results?
HAHA Whoa...this sounds like
a Larry
question.
I always tell
Larry I leave
the thinking to
him and he
leaves the
throwing part to
me. That's
not to say
there's not
thought involved
in throwing but
I try to make
everything as
simple as
possible.
At this point, I
believe that
being confident
is one of the
most important
elements to
throwing,
throwing well
and beating your
competitors.
Most of the
times when I
have lost it's
because I lacked
confidence in
the face of
competition.
You can't really
train confidence
I suppose, but
for me the more
I train the more
confident I
become. I
also think that
more experience
at the world
level will
result in more
confidence.
You have to
believe in
yourself even
when you're
thrown outside
your comfort
zone. I
don't know if
this even
answers the
question but I
think of
predictability
in terms of
winning and/or
losing. If
my training is
going well I'm
confident; if
I'm confident
I'll win.
How do you guard
against over
training?
Describe a
weekly in season
training routine.
Avoiding being
over trained has
a lot to do with
how I spend my
downtime. After
practice,
I usually go
straight home if
I don't have any
kind of errands
I need to do in
town. Once I'm
home, I'm pretty
much sedentary,
watching TV,
playing video
games or
sleeping. If
I've got some
energy I'll go
spend time with
my 6 year-old
cousin.
Any kind of
social activity
I do is entirely
family oriented
or is done
with Candice, my
training
partner. It's
really about
streamlining
your life.
Anything that
might create
drama is
eliminated. I
think it also
has a lot to
do with not
letting little
things bother
you. You have
to prioritize
how you expend
your energy and
sweating the
small stuff is
not allowed.
I'm still
learning how to
deal with this.
I also do what I
can to take care
of my body by
getting
chiropractic and
massage done
once a week.
It's also helped
me a lot to not
take things so
seriously. There
is no doubt that
throwing is
important to me
and any money I
make. But I
have to take a
step back and
realize that
it's really cool
to be able to do
what I do,
therefore I
should enjoy
it. If I wanted
to work and not
have fun, I'd go
get a normal
job.
I'm not sure
what I'm doing
right now would
be considered
"in season"
training. Currently
I'm back to
building a base
for outdoors but
once these few
weeks are over
with I will
probably throw
twice a day plus
lifting. My day
would typically
be outlined
something like
this.
The PM Throw
will change the
next day as far
as the weights
of the hammers.
I train two days
on, one day off.
Can you
describe by similarities or contrast the events leading up
to both your weight throw world record and American hammer
throw record?
My memory is pretty
terrible. I can't really remember any of the events that
led up to any of the records I've broken. By events I mean
practices, workouts, anything like that. In fact, when I
broke the records in 2004 I can barely recall anything.
Last year is a little more fresh in my mind. I think in
2004 when I broke the records, I felt like I was doing so
outside of myself, if that makes any sense. I don't
remember what I was thinking or feeling. I remember in 2004
when broke the WR in the weight, I had thrown the Friday
before the meet or something and Larry thought if I threw
again at the meet at UF my nervous system would be up enough
to make an attempt at the WR. And it happened. I think I
remember feeling like I was technically all over the place,
which is how I tend to feel after I compete. As for the AR
that same year, I had a pretty excellent practice the
evening before but we weren't sure how far I was throwing.
When I threw the AR I remember thinking that it was a
terrible throw, maybe about 68m. It just felt too easy or
like I didn't try hard enough. Last year my record breaking
efforts felt more like part of the plan. The first WR I got
at UNC, I just felt strong and fast so I went for it. When
I did it again at Indiana University, the circumstances were
a bit different. Candice had thrown before me and broke the
collegiate record. I remember thinking that was a great
throw for Candice at 78' plus. I don't ever remember being
doubtful that I could throw well. I never had a distance in
mind. I just stayed confident and tried to feel as much
tension in the throw as possible. If you watch the video,
you can tell what my attitude was by the way I walked out of
the ring. To me there was never a question about if I was
going to win the meet, and I wouldn't have had to break the
WR to win, but it was a plus that I did. The AR outdoors at
USAs, I already had the meet won. The whole competition I
had been trying to find my rhythm but by the 6th attempt I
was also pretty tired. I just relaxed and tried to feel the
throw and feel my rhythm. I knew as soon as I let it go it
was a good one, which was a contrast from the AR in 2004.
When it came up on the board at 73.87m, that was
pretty sweet.
In
general, post collegiate careers are demanding financially
and socially. What are the primary challenges you encounter?
The demands financially are
more present in my mind that the social demands. And by
social demands, I mean that your life style demands that you
be anti-social. Or maybe that's just me? But the money
part really bothers me sometimes. At this point in my
career I am not making a lot of money, but I am not going to
go around feeling sorry for myself about it because the
facts are that I just have to work harder to get better.
Just because I am here saying that I'm a "professional" I
don't expect people to just start throwing money at me.
It's hard enough for throwers to make it, but being a
girl is another obstacle. I just keep the faith that my
time will come as long as I keep doing what I can do to
better myself. Even if I'm not rolling in cash, and
probably never will be, I feel I am using my time wisely.
Most people never get a chance to be the best at anything.
I've been given that opportunity so I am going to run with
it as long as I can. As far as social matters go, a lot of
times I feel like the people most important to me don't get
the best of me. I spend so much time training and when I
get home I just kind of recoil from it all. I rarely have
energy or time to give to the people I care about most. I
just hope they understand a little bit and bear with me.
And I hope that me being successful brings them joy. That
sounds like an incredibly selfish thing to say but the
reality of trying to be the best at anything means you have
to be little selfish. You can never take your eyes off the
goal.
What does
the future hold for you over the next 5 years, what are some
of your goals?
This is probably a boring
answer, but I'm just hoping to get better. Obviously, I'd
love to be able to make a living throwing the hammer and
that means finishing well in the big meets in Europe. I'm
not sure that I aspire to hold the WR in the hammer. That
doesn't mean I've ruled it out, but I think it's more
important for me at this point to throw far (enough) when it
counts. I guess it's most present in my mind the times when
I have underachieved at big meets, so to be able to remedy
that is what's most important to me at this point. Once I
get that part taken care of, maybe I will dare to dream
bigger.
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