ENJOYING MY DOWN TIME

Hi guys,
I had the opportunity to do some fishing while at home. Its one of my favorite things to do in my spare time. Timmy, an old college buddy of mine, just got another boat and we took her out. We left pretty early in the morning and trolled along the reefs in North Side. Today's catch, 2 barracudas and about 13 buggige, the nuisance of the sea. You should test the barracuda as it my be poisonous. To test it just throw a piece in a near by ants nest and see if they eat. We called a day around 12pm which was good as I used the rest of the day to rest. I love my island life!!!!
Barra is a dish best served fried, once tested. lol

WELL DONE RONALD

Congrats Ricky!!! You did an outstanding job for your first Olympics. Setting a new national record and personal best is superb feat under such pressure. Ronald made it through to the quarter finals of the 110m hurdles where he ran 13.72. Let's get um in 2012.

KEEP ON MOVING RONALD

I'm proud to say that my friend and fellow Cayman athlete, Ronald Forbes has set a new national record of 13.59 seconds in the 110m hurdles in his heats. He has made it through to the quarter finals. Keep it up Ronald, keep making Cayman proud!

http://iaaf.org/oly08/results/eventCode=3659/racedate=08-18-2008/sex=M/discCode=110H/combCode=hash/roundCode=h/results.html#det

BEIJING 2008!!!

I'm sure most if not all of you have been following the Olympic Games. It's really exciting to watch athletes from around the world competing against each other to see who's talents can shine through on that given day. I wish I was there to get a taste for what it will be like when I compete in 2012, but I'll settle for watching and following the games over the internet.

The men's hammer final was contested on the 17th and was won by Primoz Kozmus of Solvenia with a throw of 82.02m. Which is about 20m further than my P.B. The top 5 guys all went over 80m which is extremely good. The level of hammer throwing is constantly rising. In watching the games it makes me anxious to get back to training.

If your interested in the results here's the link for it. Keep you eye out for my fellow Cayman track athletes, Cydonie Mothersill and Ronald Forbes.

http://iaaf.org/oly08/results/eventCode=3659/racedate=08-17-2008/sex=M/discCode=HT/combCode=hash/roundCode=f/results.html#det

HOME TO MOTIVATE

As you all know I'm back home now, connecting with my Island and its wonderful people. Since I've been back I have been trying to reach out to youngsters in whatever way I can. Its extremely important that we look after their best interest and lead them in the right direction. I gave a motivational speech to some at risk youth. Though I don't agree with the term "at risk" because the only risk youth are at are the ones we put the into.
Here is the link to the newspaper article.
http://www.caymannetnews.com/news-9217--11-11---.html

BACK ON MY ROCK

It's been longer than a while since my last post. After my last meet in Colombia I took my mind off of training for a bit to relax. As you may have notice I didn't exactly end my season the way that I wanted.

I got conjunctivitis aka pink eye in both eyes and had a fever three days out from my competition day. I had to see the airport medical staff as soon as I landed into Cali. At first the doctor wanted to send me back to Miami because she said I got sick before I landed in Colombia. But my translator explained that I was there to compete that weekend. Anyway I got treated and arrived to the hotel at 4am.

I won't get into the rest of the trip because its way to negative. The only good thing about the trip was that team had a good bonding experience.

I'm at home for a few weeks. I need to re-connect with people here and let more people know what I'm doing.

Until next time. I promise it won't be to many days before I post.

Deuces!!

LANZEMENTO DE MARTILLO EN CALI

I didn't have a great performance here in Cali, Colombia. I threw 57.59m for 6th place. I have mixed feelings about the mark. I wanted to throw farther but I had some problems leading up to the competition. I'll write about it in my next blog entry. You can find the results at the link below.
http://www.athlecac.org/estadisticas/resultsMeet.asp?Meet=5338

MAMA MIA!!

Three days ago Mr B. told me I would have a peak condition with the 9 and 10kg. So said, so done, I threw a PB of 52.91m this afternoon with the 9kg. Granted I chalk part of my performance up to Mr. B's positive words but I know that I'm on point with my program and its working. It felt great to be able to throw far after coach said I would. And if that weren't good enough, this morning I had another practice PB with the 7.26kg of 61.10m which is only 2cm shorter than my competition best. Tonight, most assuredly, I'll be eating a nice steak to reward myself for a good two days of throwing.

MARKS

Its become apparent to me that Coach Bondarchuk knows my body a little better than I. Two days ago he told me that I'd be having a peak condition with the 9kg and 10kg. I felt that he'd be wrong, not playing doubting Thomas or anything but I just haven't been feeling great lately. Sure enough, this morning I threw the 9kg 51.50m which isn't far off my PR of 51.70m and this afternoon I threw the 10kg 47.30m. After I woke from my afternoon nap I felt like I wouldn't be able to throw the 10kg past the toe-board, that's just how weak I felt. I have to remember to trust my coach no matter how I feel. Anyway here are my numbers over the past few weeks.

June
1st
10kg 43.55m
9kg 51.00m

3rd
10kg 46.40m
9kg 51.10m

4th
7.26kg 59.70m PPR
6kg 64.02M
10kg 45.50M

6th
9kg 49.50M
7.26kg 59.30m

7th
10kg 44.50m
9kg 49.52

9th
7.26kg 58.10m
6kg 64.85m

10th
9kg 50.50m

12th
9kg 49.50m

14th
Langley Meet 57.28m

16th
7.26kg 59.95m PPR
6kg 64.42m
9kg 50.50m

17th
10kg 45.50m
7.26kg 60.70m PPR

19th
9kg 51.50m
10kg 47.30m/46.80m PPR

LANGLEY, OH LANGLEY

I didn't have a great outing this weekend. I went 57.28m at the Langley Mustang's meet in Langley, BC. I had some foul trouble. My warm ups were ok, straight down the middle of the sector. Then when the competition started I threw wide left. Things were beginning to look a lot like my last visit. Last year I fouled out and all my throws were wide left. But I was able to re-group and take a cautious throw of 57.28m. Then on my final attempt, I hit a good one, right around 60m but the officials called a foot foul. So that was my weekend. The other meets I was scheduled to do in Richmond were canceled because there weren't enough male competitors.
Now I'll have two weeks of good training and then I'm off to Colombia.

FLAME ON!!

Martin, my training buddy took this picture in Seattle. They put a sock around the hammer and lit it on fire. He said its fairly safe. It burns itself out very quickly. It pretty cool how you can see the orbits.
Maybe one day(night)I'll try it.
If you haven't seen his site, you should. A Smart guy and he throws far. http://www.mbingisser.com/

Meet week

Hi everyone,
Training has been right around the same everyday. I range between 1-3 meters + or - with all implements.
This weekend I have a meet in Langley on the 14th, and two in Richmond, BC. on the 15th and 18th. Be sure to check back next week for my results.

Results link for Seatle meet

Below is the results link for the Club Northwest All Comers meet held in Seattle on May 28th. I set a new national record and personal best there of 61.12m.

http://www.clubnorthwest.org/all-comers/2008/ac2008_0528.pdf

EL KABONGED!!!!

Well folks today I made a colossal mistake that could have proved disastrous. Glare from the sun, a little day dreaming and a nice aim by Meagan, left me stunned by the stinging of a 2kg rubber discus across my leg and arm. I've been throwing since I was 14 and have never been hit by any implement. Now that I've been kabonged I have to remember to be safe while I'm out in the field. If that were a metal discus released from the hands of Alekna or another freakishly good discus thrower, I'd probably be worst off than just a few welts. Even after this physical clash of body and rubber, I shook it off and threw a P.r. with the 10kg. of 46.40m
Later that afternoon I went back and threw the 9kg 51.10m which is not far off my P.r . of 51.70m. It's nice having Coach B back. He's pleased with my distances; "Mike you grow." He is also such an amazing coach. He arrived to Kamloops at 8am from a 24hr travel from Germany and showed up to coach me at 10am. That's shows real dedication to sport and his athletes.
Hopefully tomorrow I can throw far without getting hit. Time to go nurse my bruises.

NEW TRAINING SITE

Today was my first day at my new training venue. We had to move from our old place because a new road is going through it. The current location is not as convenient as the last, requiring two bus rides and no room for tardiness or I'll be 45 minutes late. We share the field with a local model airplane club. They have a small landing strip and everything. It always seems that throwing has to take second place to something else. Since I've started to throw I've battled against walkers, football players, the city, and now an airplane club. The nice thing about the new place is the landing area is grass and should be easier on the implements. There are two port-a-potties. It's right across the street from Coach Bondarchuk's home. Maybe some days we could get Galina, his wife, to make lunch for us.
I felt a little groggy in both sessions. This could be from the drive back yesterday. I went 43.55m with the 10kg and 49.00m with the 9kg. Tomorrow I'll be indoors because the airplane club has a function all day and the field will be off limits.
Don't forget to vote for a slogan. Only 4 days left!!!