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| Julia Costin, now of Adams State College fame |
From sunny Alamosa, CO came the news recently (first person source) that Julia Costin at first threw a 10lb shot ~44ft. That is 1.2lbs more than a women's competition shot, and around 3ft further than her best throw in high school. Now that is improvement! The good news didn't stop there. Just last week I got a text from Julia saying she threw 46ft (I presume with a standard 8.8lb shot). Not everyone sees such improvement in 4 years of college, much less the first four weeks. The key is now to maintain the hard work, realize there will be setbacks, and be patient working through them. Good job Adams State for training throwers in the Fall (though many might not think it, I believe throwers benefit as much if not more than most T&F disciplines from year-round training), and of course
great job Julia!
Julia said something that made all the hard work last year so worth while. She said "I work out six days a week. N they are similar to ur workouts." (text spelling Julia's). She is saying, or at least I hope she is implying that the all the workouts we did last Summer, Fall, and Winter prepared her for what she is now experiencing at college.
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Paige Follett, now of Black Hills State University fame
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I received a letter the other day from Black Hills State University (current residence of one Paige Follett) asking for my donation dollars. And because I like to give back to athletes that gave their efforts to me (also because I am still counting on the possibility that former athletes will have to support me in my old age) I will be sending my hard earned cash as gift to the Uni. This prompted me to text Paige, and in the volleying communications.She said "you would be so proud im the the only freshman girl that can lift alot of weights on our lifts" (text spelling pretty good on Paige's part. Punctuation is always a work in progress when texting thought). This message sounds similar to Julia's: last years work was great prep for what was in their unknown future.
Last year, with these girls (and a few other great Chap athletes) we worked on the slow strength lifts--squat, press, deadlift, etc--and olympic lifts--the Snatch and the Clean & Jerk. Apparently now that learning is paying off. For the sake of honesty, the girls struggled with attendance at times, which was frustrating to them (a little) and to me (a lot). However, what I failed to realize at the time, and maybe they did realize was that we were building a base. They were learning the essentials. We were priming them for greater learning later. Together we grooved the correct movement patterns, which has probably helped precipitate the improvements and performances they are currently seeing. So, basically, I take joy from the compliments Julia and Paige have offered, but really the credit is all to them, their athletic abilities, and the coaches which I bet (and, dear God, hope) are more qualified to strengthen and condition athletes.
Thanks for the updates ladies. Thanks for reading readers. And CV athletes, thank you for being patient with my transition period in this new position before I get to training you directly.
Nack
