The stadium overlooking downtown Austin.
"Austin is by far my favorite city in Texas. I donʼt know exactly what I like about it, but there is something that makes it stand out. It could be the food, the music or that it has one kick-ass track meet!"
The
Texas Relays are a huge track meet. High school, college and elite athletes all compete for 4 days of amazing track and field events. When you first get to the track, the first thing you notice is the fantastic view of downtown Austin. It is beautiful. Every building looks unique. Plus there is a gianormous football stadium, right across the street! The campus of University of Texas looks amazing, surrounded by shade trees and beautiful buildings, a perfect setting for a track meet.
The football stadium :)
Traveling to Texas, I had a pleasant surprise when I checked in to my flight. I was upgraded to first class for the first leg of my trip. :) This was my first time ever flying in first class, and I was quite excited about it. The main reason I was excited was the seats, they are bigger and recline enough to take a nap. Flying first class was great, until the plane was about to land. Turbulence is not my best friend. I am okay with the bumps, but not dropping. The am pretty sure the plane dropped about 10 times. I tried to tell myself that it was just like riding the bobsled - it kind of feels like the same, but my mind was not going for it. I had a little freak out, but not too bad. The rest of the trip was great. I arrived pretty late into Austin, and after a few detours I made it to my hotel.
WooHoo, First Class!
I competed on Thursday. It was a little windy, and by a little, I mean a lot! The gusts were about 20 mph. The temperature was great, right around 80 degrees.
This meet was a little different for me. My body was not feeling up to par. I was a little sore and tired from my previous workout cycle, and my previous week of throwing was not exactly what I wanted it to be. But, I was not going to let that stop me. I knew in the back of my mind my body would perform. It also helped that my coach,
Lance Deal, was there to cheer me on, and to coach me as much as possible.
Lance is the only person that I can hear out of the crowd when I enter the ring. He gives me that last little bit on confidence I need before I step into the ring.
My warm-up throws were not the prettiest. I usually take 2 warm-up throws before the start of the meet. During my second warm up throw, I was off on my turns, so I let it go on my 3rd turn instead of my 4th. I do not like to begin a meet with a bad warm-up throw, but there was no time to throw another. I knew I could pull together a good throw during the competition.
My first throw went over 66 meters, phew. My best throw was my 5th, 67.96 meters. But this was by far one of the ugliest throws I have taken in a long time! I still have no idea how it went that far. But it did, and that is what counts. Overall, I had great energy in my throws, meaning lots of speed going into the hammer, but technique wise, it was not that good. However, I am very happy with how the meet went, and so is my coach.
A must-have when you come to Texas! Yummy!
My next meet will be Mt. SAC Relays. This is another meet that I love. I have gone to Mt. SAC relays since my sophomore year in college. One reason I love Mt. SAC, is that the hammer cage is all by itself, and I donʼt have to worry about the cage doors being to closed too much. We get a pretty good crowd down by the ring, which is encouraging.
Hope everyone had a great week and have a great weekend. My goal this weekend is to do as little as possible, I haven't done nothing in a long time.
Happy Training,
Brit
Britney Henry
Through the net
Britney Henry getting psyched before the meet.
Britney likes to do 2 warm up throws before each meet.
Loree Smith's warm up throw.
Megann VanderVliet Rodhe
Amber Campbell has a great warm up routine.
Erin Gilreath, American record holder.
Loree Smith
Erin Gilreath on deck.
Loree Smith prepares to throw.
Canadian record holder, Sultana Frizell.
Sultana Frizell
Britney Henry's 69.51 meter throw.
Elite athletes on deck.
Shenandoah and the official measures each distance carefully.
Amber Campbell threw 3 over 70 meters to win the day.
Sultana Frizell earned second place.
Britney Henry locked down third place.
Megann VanderVliet Rodhe, from Canada PR'd by more than 2 meters!
Loree Smith
Kibwé Johnson
