Nampa Idaho
Thanks to Ted Rudder for many of the images below!
Last weekend I took the long 6 hour drive up to Nampa Idaho to watch Sarah compete. After about 45 minutes into Idaho I just *had* to stop. Taking the next freeway exit I stopped to use the restroom...
Hello Idaho!
The ride wasn't too bad since I had a book to listen too, but the ride home with Sarah was definitely much more enjoyable. Thanks to the Rudder family I had a place to stay Friday night. Not to mention they have the best pretzel jello around! But enough about me, let's get to the meet.
Saturday morning I hopped over to where Sarah was staying and said hello. Once again she was getting the pre-meet jitters. It was slightly worse for this meet because of two factors:
The ring
Sarah's not a big fan of their ring. She likes fast rings. That is, rings that are very slick and allow the thrower to gain some speed. Nampa's ring is a really slow ring. So slow in fact they even practiced on carpet all week to try to prepare for the meet.
The time
This meet was her first meet back after a week without a meet. That may sound like a good thing. But anyone who knows sports knows that the week of is a week of grueling practice, and achy bodies. Sarah said she didn't feel recovered yet from that week.
Walking into the place was a little different than I was used to. It felt like a Rodeo. And in fact they had the first throwing ring I'd seen that used dirt instead of grass.
Now for the heavy stuff...
Weight Throw
First up, the weight. Coming into the competition Sarah was in the top ranked position. This means in thrower terms that she was in the 3rd flight (group of throwers), and she was the last thrower, which is the coveted throwing position.
She struggled getting a good throw off at first, but was able to get a 55' 3" throw off. Good enough to put her into 4th place. Yet even after placing herself in a fairly good position she couldn't seem to pull things together to pull out one of her big throws.
She wasn't too happy about being 5 feet under her PR. But I think it has given her the fire to really throw a huge one this weekend at Pocatello.
Shotput
Next up was the Shotput. The funny thing about Sarah is that the less she cares about the shotput, the better she starts to do. Figuring she didn't do so well in the Weight, she went out and gave it her all.
She was able to throw a PR of 41' 3". A solid 2" over her last PR. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to put her into the finals. She ended up in 11th place, but all-in-all was pleased with her Shotput results.
Waiting in the shotput warmups line.
Smiling? She may not be happy about her meet results. But she was more than thrilled to have me come and watch her throw. She also got to ride with me home, and while we spend a couple hours in a blizzard we got home safetly, and fairly quickly too.
Post Meet Pictures!
For more pictures and details check out my Twitter account: http://twitter.com/snard6
This has a throw by throw account as well as some pictures. For future updates of Sarah's competitions follow me on twitter, and of course check here.
Utah Daily Chronicle Recap:
http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/sports/track-and-field-rakes-in-top-10-performances-in-idaho-meet-1.2157382
Results:
http://www.runnerspace.com/news.php?do=view&news_id=8938
Images courtesy of Ted Rudder
As stated in the previous post, Sarah did fantastic in both the BYU and Boise meets. Here are a few pictures from the BYU meet.
Closeup on the thing Sarah does best!
Sarah performs in the Weight (Seen above), Shotput, Discus, and Hammer. During the indoor season she primarily focuses on Weight and Hammer, doing the Discus and Shot more for fun than anything. At 20lbs per Weight Throw, we keep asking ourselves, what else could Sarah throw 60 feet?
Sarah, Nikkie, Kastin
Kep (Head coach), Sarah, Tapio (Throws coach)
So you may ask, what does it take to throw ~60'?
Turn 1
Form: The difference between a good thrower and a mediocre thrower is how well they can maintain good form under pressure. Try spinning around using a 20 lb counter balance, it's not as easy as it looks. Trust me, I've tried.
Turn 2
Endurance: One throw sounds painful. Try throwing anywhere between 20-100 throws per day. After a full week of painful practice, going out and giving it your all not 1, but 6 times.
Turn 3
Strength: What's it take to fly? Lots and lots of force. There's a good reason we link jet engines with force. A good throw requires many hours in the weight room pushing up more and more poundage.
Nice work Utah Track & Field!
Category:
BYU,
Sarah,
Throwing,
Track and Field
2 Comments
Go Utes!
Sarah competes once again, this Saturday at 9:15am in Boise, Idaho. And according to this and MWC Conference Performance List Sarah has been pushed by a mere 3/4" by Sara Neubauer. Hoping she can push one a few inches further (putting her back into first) I'm posting a little bit about her season so far. For more updates on Sarah's progress through the season follow me on Twitter or Facebook!
BYU Invitational
Sarah's first meet of the season was up BYU. Being the first meet of the season she had a few more jitters than usual. At the beginning of the season it's hard to tell where your competition lies, and Sarah is fueled by competition. After a few throws it was obvious the competition was feet behind, which is a long distance in the throwing world. She blazed ahead and took first with a fantastic Personal Record (PR) of 59' 9.25".
Utah's Recap (Sarah Mentioned)
Deseret News Report (Sarah Mentioned)
Bengal Shoot Out
After a little bit of a bus ride up to Pocatello, Idaho, Sarah was once again ready to impress. Her next goal was no longer to put herself in first place in the conference, but for the school record of 61'. Her stepping stone to get there was to pass the 60' mark. Her first throws were solid, but shy of her goal. Towards the end of finals she finally got up and passed up the 60' line by a mere 1/4". Once again sealing her place as the victor.
What made the victory even more sweet was that Nikki Rudder, a freshman from Idaho, took place in the shotput as well. And in turn Utah swept the throws category. Be on the lookout for these girls this season:
Utah's Recap (Sarah Mentioned)
Deseret News (Sarah Mentioned)
Daily Utah Chronicle (Sarah Mentioned)
With impressive results from Nikki Rudder the Utah Chronicle wrote this:
Keep up the good work! And good luck at bringing first place back home with you.
Category:
Sarah,
Track and Field,
Utah
1 Comment
(Click to see a larger version)
It you ever have a desire to come and see Sarah throw here is your chance!! ( I'm not in any of the cross country meets.... in case you are wondering.)
It you ever have a desire to come and see Sarah throw here is your chance!! ( I'm not in any of the cross country meets.... in case you are wondering.)
Annual Grimm Family Canyon Picnic!!
Once a year, we, The Grimm Family, go up the canyon for breakfast and board games on Labor Day. This year we all decided to join the McOmber family boating on Labor Day, so we decided to have a Canyon Dinner instead.
What is included?
Well first and foremost, Brad must win Settlers! A canyon breakfast (or dinner in this case) can not exist without victory by ME! So the question this year...? Did I... err... Brad win? Of course! Hee hee he...
Oh yeah... there's also, smores and hot dogs!
Once a year, we, The Grimm Family, go up the canyon for breakfast and board games on Labor Day. This year we all decided to join the McOmber family boating on Labor Day, so we decided to have a Canyon Dinner instead.
What is included?
Well first and foremost, Brad must win Settlers! A canyon breakfast (or dinner in this case) can not exist without victory by ME! So the question this year...? Did I... err... Brad win? Of course! Hee hee he...
Oh yeah... there's also, smores and hot dogs!
If you look closely at this picture... you'll notice that just about everyone's personality shows through... Woah... freaky...
(By the way, i got in a load of trouble writing this blog, because of the Settlers comments... Let the angry letters start flowing in!)
(By the way, i got in a load of trouble writing this blog, because of the Settlers comments... Let the angry letters start flowing in!)
The World Passes By
I'm sure you've all damaged your ear drums by now with the buddy song... Well... damiumbo has once again published another bad recording of an unfinished song!
This one is called The World Passes By. There are two versions of it. One with just a piano that Brad wrote and recorded on his own. A second is a version that Nate wrote, it has piano and guitar the version can be found here:
(The lyrics were by me every time though...)
Which are:
The World Passes By
Searching
For Warmth
Beneath the ice
Gasping
For Breath
Just out of sight
There's sixty seconds left
It seems like a lifetime
Almost out of breath
I never started breathing
The world passes by
The world passes by
The world passes out of sight
The world passes by
The world... passes by.
Staring
At heat
Just out of reach
Knowing
Its air
I need to breathe
There's thirty seconds left
Yet it seems like a lifetime
Almost out of breath
I never started breathing
The world passes by
The world passes by
The world passes out of sight
The world passes by
The world... passes by.
Panic in my eyes
I can see
The world outside
Fear in my heart
I can’t breathe
The world passes by
Waiting
For hands
To save my life
Dreaming
Of fire
Feeling only ice
Twenty seconds left
It seems like a lifetime
Almost out of breath
I never started breathing
The world passes by
The world passes by
The world passes out of sight
The world passes by
The world... passes by.
Ten seconds left
Almost out of breath
The world passes by
Five seconds left
Almost out of breath
The world passes by
Yet I never started…
Three
Two
One
breathing
Searching
For Warmth
Beneath the ice
Gasping
For Breath
Just out of sight
There's sixty seconds left
It seems like a lifetime
Almost out of breath
I never started breathing
The world passes by
The world passes by
The world passes out of sight
The world passes by
The world... passes by.
Staring
At heat
Just out of reach
Knowing
Its air
I need to breathe
There's thirty seconds left
Yet it seems like a lifetime
Almost out of breath
I never started breathing
The world passes by
The world passes by
The world passes out of sight
The world passes by
The world... passes by.
Panic in my eyes
I can see
The world outside
Fear in my heart
I can’t breathe
The world passes by
Waiting
For hands
To save my life
Dreaming
Of fire
Feeling only ice
Twenty seconds left
It seems like a lifetime
Almost out of breath
I never started breathing
The world passes by
The world passes by
The world passes out of sight
The world passes by
The world... passes by.
Ten seconds left
Almost out of breath
The world passes by
Five seconds left
Almost out of breath
The world passes by
Yet I never started…
Three
Two
One
breathing
Lake Powell
After waiting for so long (kind of like the wait that you get when your favorite movie is about to come out... except for the fact that nobody knew i was going to post this)... and many requests for such. I now have Lake Powell... powell... powell
After waiting for so long (kind of like the wait that you get when your favorite movie is about to come out... except for the fact that nobody knew i was going to post this)... and many requests for such. I now have Lake Powell... powell... powell
Over my birthday (which... its Brad typing... :P) Sarah and I headed down to Lake Powell and afterwards jumped on over to Mount Carmel for a few days. The trip was definitely my style of trip. Lots of food, lots of water, lots of fun, and of course lots of relaxing.
Proceed with the picture roll.
Up... up...
And Away!
As you can see from the pictures (and also the video). Sarah's quite the skiier. Brad on the other hand only got up on Two Skiis and the Wakeboard (for a little bit). He also looks like he's going to fall every second that he's up. It's like watching a tipping building in the wind....
As you can see from the pictures (and also the video). Sarah's quite the skiier. Brad on the other hand only got up on Two Skiis and the Wakeboard (for a little bit). He also looks like he's going to fall every second that he's up. It's like watching a tipping building in the wind....
Sarah's Favorite thing to do at 5am.... Waterskiing
Brad's Favorite thing to do at 5am.... .... .... ....
Wait... i'm not so sure 5am exists...
Jumping off the top of the houseboat
(You should have seen the look on Sarah's face when i pretended to belly flop and went into a swan dive instead... Priceless...)
(You should have seen the look on Sarah's face when i pretended to belly flop and went into a swan dive instead... Priceless...)
Hanging out behind the boat
It gets so hot in Lake Powell that you spend a lot of time just hanging out in the water...
It gets so hot in Lake Powell that you spend a lot of time just hanging out in the water...
There were a number of toys to play with... My favorite was a blowup jetski. That's right it was a kids toy that looked like a jetski and had a little fan on the bottom that propelled it. It also shot water from a cannon. After Matt successfully mounted it... we found that it was a much better toy for the adults... if you see what i mean!
The kids at lake powell!
Natalie was quite a little fish. Of all the kids she wanted to be in the water the most. And Enjoyed getting thrown from the back of the boat too. Talk about courage!
Now you may be wondering... where's the pictures of Brad. Well... i'm at the bottom of course!
Hee hee...
(Quite the flattering picture if i may say so myself...)
Diving off the top of the houseboat may have been my favorite thing to do. Although it may also be the reason i couldn't get up on the Slalom ski. Ugh... i still ach from some of those jumps.
Now for the moment you've been waiting for. After much work and long hours of deliberation. After fighting beasts and deserving medals. I have it... yes, that's right... video. I've placed the videos on my website since they were too big to be put on here.
(In order for this to work you'll have to right click->Save As... and save it somewhere on your computer. They're big, prepare to wait!)
Now for a few notes on what isn't shown here:
- Storms - It was quite stormy while we were down there. We have a waterfall created from a rock edge, which was pretty cool. But on our very first night our neighbors houseboat decided to break loose. We ended up digging holes in the rain, running down tents, and reancoring the entire thing... Woah...
- Injuries - On the first day, Brad pierced his had with a deep wound from digging holes... What a crazy boy. By the second day his foot got caught in the slalom handel and ripped all his skin of his foot. (Sarah only experienced minor injuries... mostly from taking care of Brad).
- Jet Skiis. Yay for jet skiis.
- Sarah and i took a few back roads to get to mount Carmel. Brad's car took a beating, and looked as if it went through the war. But its something Brad is definitely willing to do again.
- Brad is now speaking in 3rd person. He thinks it is cool and is going to proceed doing so for the rest of the day.
Enjoy!
Brad & Sarah
