I participated in the Ardenwood Highland Games yesterday, at the Tartan Day in Ardenwood Historic Farm.
I filmed a few of the events, and had another competitor (Charlie Reid) take video of my throws, which you can see below.
In all, it was a great day. I set a new personal record in the weight-over-bar event, hitting 14 feet – 2 feet over my previous personal best! I also learned, as you’ll notice, that I need to work on my speed, explosiveness and rotation quite a bit!
Saturday was the first Highland Games practice of 2010!
As usual, Games-expert and all-around-good-guy Alan Hebert was the host of practice, down at the fields at Stanford.
Here’s a brief highlight reel of my activities:
In all, I felt pretty good. A LOT better than starting out last year, when everything was brand new. I think this season is going to be a great one! I’ve got a good strength foundation built up over the winter, and some great practice locations. Also, a ton of useful throw tips from Alan. The only event I’m “worried” about is the Heavy Weight For Distance.
Now the only thing is to practice practice practice!
If you’re interested in trying it out, and live in the Bay Area, Alan is going to start holding regular practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’ll send an update as soon as I know more! If you just want to try it out on your own, search Scottish Heavy Athletics, or Highland Games, for your area, and find a club! Alternately, you can go to Alan’s YouTube page and try some of the moves yourself.
Enjoy!
At the last Highland Games in Dunsmuir, I twisted my ankle pretty badly coming out of a throw. I remember doing it, but nothing felt wrong or out of place, it kind of just bounced right back, no swelling, nothing wrong.
Then, about a week ago, my left ankle started to hurt REALLY BADLY when I was practicing some Bagua at a local park. It was actually the pain of the joint being out of place. I could do ankle circles and get the bones to actually “thunk” back into proper alignment.
It’s been like that for about a week now, off and on. So yesterday, I decided to wear “real” shoes, to give myself some added stability, and help my ankle to heal. I’m wearing my old Adidas Samba Milleniums, that I haven’t worn in forever! Actually, I got them right before my FiveFingers, so they’re pretty much new!
The funny thing is, it works!
As soon as I put those shoes on yesterday morning, my ankle felt more stable, and relaxed a little bit. I went and led the play camp, with no ill effect. I was able to play tag with the group (though I was being very conscious of that ankle)!
This experience reminds me of homeopathic medicine – where you take a small amount of something that is “poisonous” or harmful to help your body fight that thing. Similar, too, to the idea behind vaccinations.
Sometimes, the poison is the cure.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a return to the use of “normal” shoes for good. I’m pretty sure it was the high-soled North Face All-Terrain Running Shoes that were the culprit for my sprain to begin with. Next ‘Games, I’m going to try out the Vivo’s!
It does point out the usefulness of shoes, though. Orthotics, similarly, are useful for people who have serious foot maladies – for a time! Any assistive devices are good for people who need them – as long as they’re only used while the person is working on fixing the underlying problem!
The problem with a lot of these corrective or assistive devices is that they become accepted as “normal” after a while. The person doesn’t work on correcting underlying issues causing the problem. Then, the device becomes a crutch. Progress, development and healing stop. Regression, devolution, and the continuing degradation into disease begins.
No, for me, this is a temporary fix, till my ankle heals up, and I can return to wearing things that let my feet live!
I placed third at the Dunsmuir Games in the C class last weekend! Good stuff.
If you haven’t tried the ‘Games, you should. Google “Highland Games” and your state’s name. There are bound to be some nearby. At the very least, go watch. They’re a blast!
Here are a couple of pics of yours truly on his worst event, the Heavy Weight For Distance (56lbs):
And one of the crew, C’s and Master’s:
I posted a very short entry last night about trying new things. Let me explain where that came from, so it makes more sense, and is, hopefully, a little more motivating.
Earlier this year, my buddy Charlie said he was going to try the Highland Games. I said, sweet, I’ll try it too. We practiced a little bit, went to the Woodland games, and competed. I pulled my right biceps on the very first throw of the day.
Today, the group we practice with down in Stanford had a little cookout. We all threw, all day. It was awesome. I learned some very good lessons from all of this. First, make sure you’re plenty warm before you try to start throwing heavy things. Second, make sure you don’t workout two days before a competition. Third, practice, and practice with good form. It’ll help you to perform better, and not to get injured. Fourth, technique is king. A guy with average strength, but excellent technique, will beat a brutally strong guy in the Highland games. The technique itself taught me something as well – follow. If you try to lead the weight, or force it, it will force you right back. The first thing everyone says when trying the men’s heavy weight for distance for the first time is “You don’t throw it, it throws you.” In a very real sense, this is true. You get the weight going, and guide it, and at the last second you give it a little extra help…but all along, the weight is the thing moving. It’s moving you. If you come at these events with this perspective, things suddenly make more sense – less force, more follow.
The second place I’ve recently experienced epiphanies due to trying something new was at a Tai Chi class at Doc Fai Wong’s school in the Sunset district of San Francisco. This was Charlie’s idea too. I’ve done Tai Chi before, and continue to practice martial arts by myself on a semi-regular basis. But it had been some time since I’d had a teacher watch me or teach me, or correct my technique. I learned a few things in that short 1-hour class. First, don’t “walk on a tightrope.” You don’t want your feet directly in line with each other, because then you don’t have any balance. This is something my teacher George Wood used to tell us all the time, but it suddenly “made sense” this time. Second, keep your body in neutral – that means your spine, scapulae, pelvis, knees, feet, etc. If you reach a limit in your movement, you won’t be able to extend or retreat beyond that limit, and you’re vulnerable. Know your limits, and play within those. That’s a new definition of “safety” for you!
If I had never done these things, I would never have had these wonderful experiences. They informed other things I was thinking about at the time, and made my life richer and deeper in the process. Trying something new isn’t just about novelty (though your brain will thank you, by creating new synaptic pathways), it’s also about rounding out the things you already think you know.
So, like I said, go try something new, or try something old in a new way. Be open to the experience, and really pay attention to what’s happening – how is it different from what you’re used to, or from what you expected? What lessons can you take from the experience? Go ahead and try!