Yes, it has been an absurd amount of time since my last blog. I apologize. My body’s reaction began going awry the beginning of April. With everything that was at stake, I just didn’t find the desire to write. As my title states, I encountered this ’emotional adversity’ shortly after I competed in the Final in London. I asked myself if this is what other athletes feel when they are contemplating retirement or life/career changes. I then realized that if I never took another throw again, I’d be content. Not because I’m completely happy with what I’ve accomplished thus far (I’m not), but because I am now complete. There was a fog when I thought about hammer. I felt eager to begin life: post hammer career.

I learned a lesson these last few days. I began the year with the best training of my life to that point. My heavy hammers were going far and the competition weight was flying at a level of consistency that I had never seen before. Then for some reason, my normally spot on nervous system reactions changed. When I was supposed to be in good shape, I wasn’t. When I was supposed to be down, I was in great shape. Everything was haywire. A changing reaction actually is normal, but it’s a pain in the butt to have to deal with it now. But it is good to deal with it at the beginning of the season rather than the middle of it. All that is required is patience. No training program is ever written without the grander scheme in mind, so there is immense confidence in that fact. But sometimes I forget. I just have to remember that I am still the thrower that threw my 9k 70m in January. That doesn’t just disappear in a few weeks.