Powerful Women Athletes Telesummit- Spread the word

 


 Powerful Women Athletes Tele-Summit

Hey Guys! I am doing a live tele summit on Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 5-6pm Pacific time. This is a chance to ask questions about the hammer, training for the hammer and anything else that you have always wanted to ask me. Register here

It is free but you can always upgrade to get a copy of the tele summit and some other goodies:)

Be sure to check out the other ladies throwers that will be speaking about their events and their training. Speakers List

Hope everyone is having a great New Year! Talk with you all soon :)

Brit

Everyday is exactly the same ...

Where I get to train everyday :)

Being an athlete, routine plays a major role in my life. If I don’t have one, I find myself wondering “Am I suppose to be somewhere?” Or, I nap a lot.    :)

Since training began in September, my life is more routine than ever. Here is my schedule Monday through Friday... unless I am in Oregon, with my coach:

6:00 am- Wake up, eat breakfast and get ready for training.7:30 am- Leave the house, drive to the OTC... 25 minute drive. 8:00 am- Warm-up, throw my hammers and work on explosive exercises. 10:30 am-12 pm- Eat lunch and relax.12:00 pm- 2:00 pm- Weight Room Session.2:00 pm- 2:20 pm- Get ready for work (at the Olympic Training Center), mix a protein shake and box up some dinner.3:00 pm- 9:00 pm- Work at the Embassy Suite in La Jolla.10:00 pm- Time to catch some ZZZ’s.

On the weekends, I am usually training in the morning and running errands in the afternoon. The past few months I have been working the Chargers home games, but there are only two games left, since the Chargers are having a less than stellar year.

The Q or what I still call "The Murph"

Yup, that is my routine. Love it or hate it, I have to do it.  :)

In the morning I focus on training and in the evening I focus on work. Work gives me a chance to take my mind off the hammer and focus on what "real" life will be when my hammer career is over.

"Speaking of hammer, have I ever told you guys how much I love throwing? :) The strangest thing happened to my body and heart this year. I can't really explain it, but all I know is that my body and heart are ready for a big year. My body is catching on to cues quicker and my heart has one path. It also puts my mind at ease to know that my body and heart are ready."

Training has been going great. I have been heading up to Oregon once a month to see coach for a week. Unlike last year, where I would only see him for a few days each month, I am now spending a full week with him. Thanks to Hilton/Embassy Suites La Jolla for working around my training schedule and understanding my dreams and goals. Also, thanks to Coach and Nancy for all their support. :)

I am throwing heavy hammers 4 days a week and competition weight for 2 days. My body is learning to hold the positions. Now, I just have to add some "spring" to my legs. The weights are moving along quite nicely. When I am done with my weight lifting session and I begin wondering if my legs will hold me up at work, then I know that I had a great day in the weight room!

Right now, I am heading to the USATF Annual Meeting. At the meeting, I am sure that we will cover in detail how important the Olympics are...duh! New rules, medical issues and the always important funding issues. I will type up a overview of the meeting. I am looking forward to hearing the issues and figuring out the best way to deal with them. It is also nice to hang out with all my track buddies.

Hope everyone is having a great Fall/Winter. Train hard and train smart!

Brit

London Bound: Summer ending, training beginning!

Labor Day in Eugene, OR

My summer of rest and relaxation has come to an end.
I enjoyed my time off from the ring but my body said it is time to get back at it. This summer was amazing and had a great time with my family, playing at the beach, laying on the beach, making some money and most of all sleeping in.  :)

One of my summer goals was to do a giant on the parallel bar and guess what?!? I DID IT!!! It was not pretty, and yes, I went backwards, but I DID IT!   :)  Thanks to  Becky Holliday and Sean Furey for their coaching and shared excitement :)

My training is in full swing. I just finished up my first cycle and it has been quite a learning experience. My first week of training was spent in Eugene with my coach Lance Deal. I soaked up some much needed coaching and improved by leaps and bounds in the ring. These next few months will be filled with heavy hammers, heavy lifting in the weight room and the word "HEEL" on repeat in my head. 

My training plan for this year is going to be a little different than years past. First, I will be switching to a 2 week training cycle with a week of rest (4 training days instead of 6). Since my coach Dan Pfaff says that I am getting older, it means that I need more rest. I would usual take offense to the "old" word, but I do love my rest. I also had to add 3 cycles to my training plan. Jamie Myer, our resident strength coach at the center who has watched me lift since the day he arrived, has been kind enough to write me up 3 lifting cycles that should add some beef to my body! Going good so far, but my Bambi legs are still looking the same....

Hope everyone is have an awesome September! Happy Training:)

Brit

Next piece of the puzzle: Get my mind right:)

It has taken me a while to figure out what I was going to blog about, because I surely don't have any more tears to shed over this season.

I am sure you all can take a guess about my feeling towards my performance at National's and my trip up to Canada. I now know that I need to work on how I approach competition. My body knows how to throw far, now I just have to get my mind on board.   :)

I am enjoying my rest period and getting my body back to feeling 100% (it may never get there, but I can get close). Also, I'm working as much as I can to pay off my debt from track season, and get some money in the bank before winter training begins.

To that end, I just got 2 jobs! I was just hired with the San Diego Chargers AND the Embassy Suite in La Jolla.

Thanks to my co-worker at the San Diego Padres, I will be working game days at Jack Murphy. Yes, I know it is Qualcomm now, but it will forever be the “Murph” to me. I'll work as a Guest Service Representative. Basically, I will be making sure that everyone is minding their P’s and Q’s during the game.

With help from Rachelle at the USOC/Adecco office, I got hired to work the Front Desk at the Embassy Suites in La Jolla. The Hilton/Embassy Suites is an official sponsor of the United States Olympics, they have agreed to hire athletes, work around our training schedules, pay a fair wage and supplement our medical benefits! And so far, so good!

Besides working, I have been hanging out with my family and friends. The sun is my new best friend and it is best coupled with a good book. Right now, I am reading Life by Keith Richards. If he can survive life, anyone can.  :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far! To everyone is the Mid-West and the South... I’m sorry, come to San Diego!

Until the first day for training, September 5th, enjoy life and everyone in it!

~ Britney

One year away:)

365 days until the Opening ceremonies start in London, England for the 2012 Summer Olympics. I can not express how excited I am to have a chance to represent myself, my country and the sport I love on the grand stage.

June 25th, 2012 will be the Olympic Trials to see who will represent the USA in England. Top 3 with the Olympic "A" standard, 71.50 meters (234.5 feet), will be on the team and wearing the red, white and blue!

This will be my third Olympic Trials, and you know what they say, "Third time's the charm"  :)

Catch up and a training breakthrough!

Elephant Fountain outside the main pool at Mandalay Bay, trunks up mean good luck~

 First off I want to apologize for being absent the past few weeks. I left my computer battery charger in Arizona and I finally bought a new one. (I do have to tell ya, it felt pretty good not being totally connected to the outside world for a minute)

Since there is never a dull moment!  I will give you guys the cliff notes version:

• Tucson Elite, two day meet in Tucson, AZ. Threw a seasons best of 69.64 (228.4 ft). Thanks again to Craig Carter for hosting an amazing meet.
• Las Vegas promotional events with SHOOTmedia. It was my first time actually part taking in the “Vegas Experience”. I had an amazing time and met some amazing people.
• Decompress. To finish off my tour of the Southwest, I drove over to Parker, AZ for my families annual trip to The River. The River is my favorite place in the whole wide world! This is the only place where I can go and “decompress” - something that needs to do before USA Nationals.
• Olympic Training Center hammer meet: I finally figured out what is going on with my throw this season. Let me explain... 

Britney Henry Competing at The Olympic Training Center: June 9th, 2011

For the past month or so, practice has been going great. Warm-ups in meets is going great too. But once my name gets called, and I step into the ring, my mind has been going into overdrive. My mind thinks that I need to add something to my throw, that the warm-ups were not good enough.  Now, I know that you have all heard that sports is more mental than physical, and I couldn't agree more! My mind is my biggest competitor. Once my mind gets in the way for my throw, all hell breaks loose.

After a text message conversation with coach and a quick talk today, I learned that I just have to throw as I've practiced. Nothing changes in the meet. I don’t have a “meet throw” or have “meet speed”. What I do in practice, and in warm-ups, is what I plan to keep doing in the meet.

Now, this may sound like all kinds of common sense, but let me tell ya, your mind is very powerful. It takes a ton of confidence and mind control to take your mind out of the game and feel what your body has been doing all year in training.

I have been having an amazing year with practice. My throw has never felt better. Now, I just have to let it happen on the field. Hayward Field to be exact.  :) 

Nationals is right around the corner and I cannot wait. I just started a new cycle of 3 days of training. It is an amazing cycle, the one that I look most forward to during the year. I train for 2 days, have a day of compete rest, train one day and then one more day of compete rest; repeat until the season is over.

I am not sure what my meet schedule will be after Nationals. I think that I am going to take a trip up North to Canada and then maybe a quick trip to Europe.

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far! Congratulations to all the new graduates!

★

Brit

Some Random shots from my trip to Vegas~

View from the Mix Lounge---the Strip

Pool Party with SHOOTmedia at the Moorea beach club~

View from my room at the Luxor~

SHARK!!!! Found this little guy while wandering the casino :)

Loop around America!

Here are a few pictures from my journey!

Where do I begin? Life has been pretty busy, but I kinda like it that way.

Let me start with my past two meets. I few weekends ago, I flew up to Ashland, Ohio for the Ashland Elite. I want to thank Jud Logan for all his help putting on an amazing meet. The atmosphere was great. We had a great crowd and the weather was not to bad at all. I am not one for excuses, but I really cannot tell you what happened. My body just did not want to throw that day. On to the next...

After the Ashland meet, I made a quick pit-stop in Spokane, Washington to surprise my mom and watch her run Bloomsday. She had a smile on her face the whole time I was home.  :)  It was great to be home and see my parents, even if it was just for 2 days.

Eugene, Oregon was my final destination on my loop around America. I arrived on Monday and had a whole week of training with Lance before the Oregon Twilight. After the first few days of training, positions started to click and they started to become a feeling and not just a word in my head. The weather was awesome the whole week, sunny with a nice light wind.

That cannot be said for Friday. The day of the Oregon Twilight, the weather turned windy, cold and wet. I did everything in my power to get over the fear of slipping in the ring, but I could not get my body to understand. I threw 65.64 meters (215 feet) and won the meet.

Now, the "Old Britney" would be freaking out right now. “Where did my throw go? I need a bigger throw! What do I need to do better ?" Well, "New Britney" understands that training has be shifted a little this year, and that I do have a big throw in me, I just need to be patience and to let it happen.   :)

This week I am in Tucson for the Tucson Elite. For some reason I love this meet and my hammer loves it too! Training had been going amazingly. I'm hitting numbers that I have never hit in my life. Right now, I can pretty much say that I am happy and confident!

I look forward to what Thursday and Saturday have in store. The weather is shaping up to be amazing and there are some great throwers here to compete against!

Hope all everyone is enjoying their Summer and taking in some great track and field!

Brit