‘Doing’ is very distinct from ‘trying.’ It’s so distinct, that the mindset you decide to approach an undertaking with, that you’re going to do or you’re going to try (to do), can make all the difference in the outcome of that undertaking.

My approach when it comes to competitions AND training is to be a ‘doer’ as opposed to a ‘trier’. If coach has a killer workout penciled in for the day, I never get to the track thinking that I’m going to try and get through or survive the workout, but rather that I’m going to manhandle it; period. That goes for every workout, regardless of what’s on tap or what day it is. If I’m at a meet and I’ve outlined a goal for myself beforehand then my mindset is that it’s already a done deal. In many respects getting on the runway just becomes protocol mostly because I’ve already accomplished the goal and rehearsed my jumps so many times in my mind that the execution takes care of itself.

It would be incredible if my attempt to be a ‘doer’ always resulted in the achievement of my goals an aspirations (whether in triple jumping or otherwise) but as you might imagine, this unfortunately isn’t the case. I’m certain that it isn’t the case for anybody, regardless of how solid they are at mental preparation or how accomplished they may be overall. Still, the only way to get a running start down the road towards your dreams, whether Olympic gold or absolutely anything else, is to do, not to try.

Ralph Marston had a superb post on his own blog/website last Thursday, The Daily Motivator, so call me lazy for piggybacking on it but I couldn’t have written a better post on the topic if I tried so I’ll share it here. Of course, these aren’t my words –

____________________________________________________

The way to achieve is not to try. The way to achieve is to do.

The difference between trying and doing is all in your perspective. That difference makes all the difference in the world.

When you see yourself as trying, you are burdening yourself with the expectation of failure. Instead, put all your energy and focus into doing your very best, and into expecting the best results.

Merely trying is itself an excuse, and it gives you permission to make all sorts of other excuses. Doing, on the other hand, gets results.

If you’re going to make the effort, then make it count. Let go of any thoughts that you’re just trying, and embrace the most positive expectations.

You are absolutely capable of making a real and valuable difference. So forget about trying, and with well-deserved confidence, go ahead and get it done.

____________________________________________________

On that note, I like how my New York Giants got it done last night especially considering that, to a man, the entire team went into the game to claim victory and nothing less. Super Bowl here we come!

2011 was a long season for me, to say the least. I began competing in January and went through October. I got off to a great start (May through July) but I didn’t maintain that momentum and fell short in my two primary goals for the season, those of course being the World Championships and the Pan American Games. Better this year than next year though, right? That’s what folks have told me and it’s 100% accurate. I’ll be heading to Istanbul, Turkey for the World Indoor Championships in March and we’ve got 98 days to go until then. Although the indoor champs don’t mean as much as the Olympic Games…I’m looking forward to them just as much as I’m looking forward to London. I’ll be ready for Istanbul but will be even more prepared for London and looking to do something truly special. It all starts here; 8 or so months out.

I’ve had the last 4+ weeks off from training and it’s been great to just relax and spend the time in New York without my family. About a week and a half ago though, I started with some really light workouts to get the blood flowing and muscles going again. Even though I did some light weight/high repetition workouts in the weight room, I actually jogged for the first time in a month this week; I had been biking to that point. I’m definitely easing into things before the workouts get truly intense but something tells me that I won’t be any less sore come next week or the week after. Either way, it’ll be really  good to get back to work; with my eyes on the prize…

My approach this year has been, respectable. Not great and not “exactly” where I think it should and eventually will be, but it is far better than last year. As a result, I am hitting the board with far more speed and my timing on each phase is a bit out of wack because of it. I feel as if I end up rushing things on the jumps rather than taking advantage of the extra speed and enjoying the ride on each phase. It boils down to timing though, because that is what influences foot placement and arm position; the two things that help to minimize ground contact time and also determine the amount of speed conserved throughout the jump. As I learn to be patient I have also got to slow things down in the air until exactly the right moment when I end up exploding into the next phase. So with that said, here is the product of my competition at the Armory this past weekend.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The above jump is actually the main reason that the competition wasn’t a complete waste. It certainly wasn’t my farthest jump of the day and the approach wasn’t even as good as it has been in recent competitions, but this jump teaches me enough to make up for the lackluster distance of my best jump of the meet. After all, indoors isn’t about distances anyways remember? Even though I am actually “mostly” happy with the approach on the jump, the hop phase is what really caught my eye. I was more patient than I had been at other competitions and got some good distance on the hop. The final two phases are horrible but that is where the timing becomes an issue.

Once I get my timing down I won’t crash on the transition of the hop-step and will be able to explode into the second and then into the third phases. I will also be able to make efficient use of my left arm rather tucking it like I did here. Even though I slowed things down a little, it wasn’t slow enough considering the ground I was covering and I ended up basically falling back onto my right foot rather than being active and exploding into the next phase. The end result is a horrible second phase and horrible posture in that phase. It seems I also cut the cycle of my right left short on the hop phase. It’s always the little things.

Even with all that, I can say that this jump is a quality one in my book because of the lessons learned from it. Even though my hop phase is the only worthwhile piece of this jump I feel as if this jump will be the template for the huge ones to follow. It’s just a matter of time before I get my timing down.

…And when I do…

I like to root for several individual football players because I like different aspects of how they handle their business…on the field (Randy Moss, Adrian Peterson, Tom Brady, TO and a couple others) but when it comes to teams, you guys know that I root for NY till the end. Giants or Jets? Giants all day; until the Jets are the only NY team left standing which I mentioned before. Buffalo is a last resort. Last night I got to check out the Giants as they took on the Chicago Bears in a Sunday night matchup. I went with one of my roommates from Harvard who happens to be from Chi Town and thus a bears fan; too bad for him.

Considering how tight the Giants’ division is at the moment, this was a must win game in my opinion. After our D terrorized Jay Cutler (the Bears’ QB) with NINE sacks in the first half, I guess he had too much and didn’t bother coming out for the second half. Ok, admittedly, they said he had a concussion so I hope he bounces back alright since I wouldn’t wish that on anybody. Still, our defense played an amazing game all-around and even though our offense was nonexistent in the first half and only put up 3 points we got a pair of touchdowns in the second half. Final score: 17 – 3

All in all, I had a great time (despite the rain and cold temperature) but I know it wouldn’t have been as much fun if we had ended up catching an L, or if I was in nosebleed seats; I can’t get jiggy with that. The new stadium itself is really nice and although I heard that it cost the Cowboys less $$ for their mega stadium I still think we ended up alright. It’s also interesting to imagine what the place looks like during a Jets game because you would have never known that two teams shared the stadium with the way it was decked out in Giants colors and promotional stuff. Apparently the real highlight of New Meadowlands can be seen up in the box seats though…maybe next time.

Stadium Shot

]]> http://www.samyrlaine.com/blog/new-meadowlands/feed 1 http://www.samyrlaine.com/blog/pigskin-days?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pigskin-days http://www.samyrlaine.com/blog/pigskin-days#comments Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:57:06 +0000 Samyr Laine http://www.samyrlaine.com/?p=784 Now that the track season is over, I know that I should put up a post-season recap/analysis and I will soon enough. First thing’s first though, with the college football season starting last weekend and the NFL season starting tonight, football is back in full effect!

I’ll be keeping up with all three of my teams the entire way even though Harvard games aren’t televised and I’ll have to resort to checking scores on Saturday evening or Sunday morning. I’ll admit, Harvard football isn’t Texas football but I’m still a proud alum nonetheless, and always look for the Crimson to win the Ivy League and smack Yale around in the process. Speaking of Texas though, of course I have different expectations as far as they’re concerned. After week 1 the Longhorns are sitting at #5 in the AP Top 25 and #4 in the USA Today Poll. Considering some of the teams that are above us in both polls I don’t doubt that we’ll inch our way to the top soon enough. I expect Alabama, without Mark Ingram, to lose to Penn State on Saturday and something tells me that Ohio State won’t make it through the season undefeated so they’ll drop as well. I was hoping that Virginia Tech would have taken care of Boise State on Monday evening but clearly that didn’t go down as I would have liked. We’ve got a new quarterback now that Colt McCoy is taking his talent to the Cleveland Browns but I trust Garrett Gilbert and like how he played the 2nd half of the National Championship game last year when he was unexpectedly forced to join the fray. I believe he’ll develop into a star in due time. On top of that; our defense is going to terrorize other teams as usual. So Texas will have another great season.

As far as professional football is concerned…well I represent New York all day-everyday like I do with every other sport. That said, as much as I’ve enjoyed the Jets on HBO’s Hard Knocks this year I’m a Giants fan (until the Jets are the only NY team left in the playoffs like last year; which Ayanna will not let me forget). We’re still lacking a big play receiver, there are some big injuries at crucial positions for us, and our middle linebacker and running back spots are somewhat uncertain but I don’t doubt my G-Men. Among other things, I think our defensive line will shock some people and the secondary will be far improved over last year with the addition of Antrel Rolle and return of Kenny Phillips.

The other thing that football season brings is fantasy football. I’m in 3 leagues this year as opposed to 2 in previous years but I expect the same results in this new league. I’ve been in the playoffs for both of my fantasy leagues the past two years, with a championship in one of them to go with 2nd and 3rd place finishes. This new league I’ve jumped into happens to be PPR (“point per reception” for non-fantasy football folks) and there are 18 teams in it with two separate divisions so “yes; the draft did take forever.” Here’s what my teams look like in each league though.

Team 1

(Round – Overall Pick – Name)

Team 2

Team 3 – 18 team PPR

Glad to have football back and as far as fantasy football is concerned; I have to say, I like my chances!

The Men's TJ Field During Introductions

So my Diamond League baptism came and went and it certainly wasn’t what I was looking for. Needless to say, I still genuinely enjoyed the experience, the competition and the fact that my parents, coach and friends were finally able to make it to a meet. The competition on the other hand was pretty disappointing. The track fan in me was also excited to watch the numerous world leading or near-world leading performances in other events. That said, once again I got to watch other jumpers, who I know aren’t necessarily faster or stronger than me, jump distances that I know I should be jumping. Still, as with every meet in the past (whether it goes well or not) I have to simply go back to the lab and work on what I need to work on.

In the end I finished 6th with a jump of 16.60m. The 6th place finish isn’t necessarily the worst thing that could have happened considering the fact that the 7th and 8th place jumpers only got 3 jumps as opposed to 6. Also 6th in a Diamond League competition is somewhat respectable…I just wish I had jumped farther. Oddly enough, you don’t even have to ask what it was that held me back because the easy answer is: my approach! What else is new?

Honestly, I do feel as if this weekend’s meet was  a turning point for me, although it seems that I say I’m going to nail things down after every meet. This time I realize that I am holding myself back mentally.  My mental shortcomings aren’t in the confidence department like many athletes however; and although the field on Saturday included 3 current and former World Champions and just as many Olympic medalists, it also has nothing to do with nerves. Believe it or not my stuttering problem also isn’t driven by a desire to avoid fouling! It seems that for me, my issue is that when it comes time to jump for real and I’m making my way down the runway, I get anxious at the sight of the board and concern myself with “jumping far,” “being comfortable at the board” and “making sure I can handle the first two phases.” Of course, if you’ve read any of my previous posts you would know that the only thing I want to be concerned with halfway through my approach is continuing to run.

While I think that my “problem” is one that can be worked on in practice by getting down an approach rhythm that I am comfortable with and that becomes 2nd nature; what I really need to do is simply compete. By getting on the runway more often in competition settings I’ll be able to get used to the feeling of turning off my instinct to worry about the board or my first phase during the approach and in turn I’ll get used to running allllll the way down the runway. For as long as I can remember I’ve always been concerned with actually jumping in the triple jump. Who would have thought that thinking about jumping and actually trying to jump was, for the most part, the wrong way to go about things?! Wherever I end up competing next, I am excited to try just running the whole way down the runway and not even thinking about my jump until I’m halfway through my hop phase (or even until I hit the sand, that would be ideal since most of the jump is instinct anyways). I’ve felt it before and it did feel pretty odd, not to mention I fouled all of those jumps…but fouling is the least of my concerns. At this point I think I’d rather see a bunch of Fs or Xs (for fouls) next to my name on a results sheet as opposed to sub-16.90m jumps.

As always though; on to the next one…

It’s been a few weeks since my last blog post but considering that I’ve got a bit more free time thanks to my graduating last month I’ll try and blog a bit more regularly. In any case, this weekend’s Adidas Grand Prix will only be my 3rd meet of the season but it’ll also be my Diamond League debut and I’m looking forward to it for that reason (among others of course). I also consider the meet to be a homecoming of sorts since it’s being hosted in NY which means that my family and friends there can actually come watch me compete which is a rarer occurrence than I’d like thanks to most of my meets being overseas or on the other side of the country. Needless to say, I’m anxious to get back on the runway and back in competition…a meet schedule this spread out is new to me; although I must admit that I’ve gotten some quality training sessions in as a result

Considering that I’ve gotten some really good jumping work in the last couple of weeks, including a short approach personal best of 16.41m from 12 strides (which I plan on pushing out to 16.65m+ in the coming weeks), this week and part of last week have been about speed and sprinting mechanics. We’ve also gone from 3 to 2 lifting sessions for the past couple weeks. Here’s the end of the power clean portion of my workout from Monday:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’ve never “cleaned” that much before (301 lbs/136 kg) although my goal from the fall was to hang clean that weight so I’ll be checking that off of my list next. Before the rep above I did 5 reps @ 85%, 4 @ 90%, 3 @ 95% and 2 @ 100%. And yea I definitely need to learn how to get my elbows all the way through and catch the weight in a front squat position, but considering that I’m a triple jumper and not an olympic lifter I suppose the catch isn’t quite as important as the rest of the lift (for now). Anyways, as you can imagine, I’m feeling pretty explosive and at the meet I’ll just be focusing on my approach and speed through the board like I’ve been trying to do in just about every meet since indoors because the rest of the jump tends to take care of itself after that. Like I’ve said before, the whole running down the runway and through the board thing is much easier said than done. But I suppose I can’t expect it to come too easily since it IS the key to jumping far after all.

As far as the meet is concerned, I fly up to NY on Friday and compete Saturday evening at 5PM. I keep telling people that I would have been fine with taking the bus or train from DC straight into Midtown Manhattan as opposed to flying to Queens and then dealing with the hassle of getting from there to the hotel but hey, at least transportation is taken care of so it won’ t be as much of a hassle as usual. Besides, “beggars can’t be choosers.” If you’re in the States, the meet will be live on NBC from 4PM to 6PM and believe it or not I actually think they’ll show a good amount of triple jumping, if the coverage of other Diamond League meets to this point is any indication. There are also plenty of ways to watch the meet live on the internet if you’re outside of the U.S. In any case, regardless of how much triple jumping they do or don’t show, the meet will be worth catching if you’re a fan of track and field at all considering the start lists for all of the events have some pretty amazing fields.

Since they’re having the high jump this weekend I’m also looking to catch up with a friend of mine, fellow Longhorn jumper Andra Manson, whom I haven’t seen since World Outdoors in Berlin. Of course I can’t forget the other Longhorns I know that’ll be there on Saturday (Jacob Hernandez, Leo Manzano, Michelle Carter) or my Haitian teammate Mo Joseph who will be running the 800. Sad to say, Mo is a Gator and not a Longhorn AND I’ll be the only Crimson at the meet.

His stint in Detroit was marred by injuries and a good bit of team strife. According to interviews I’ve read recently, after lying to A.I. about their desire to have him to come off of the bench, the Piston’s management eventually let Iverson know that if he didn’t agree to play a 6th man role, his teammates would refuse to play with him. Huh?! It still sounds ridiculous now that I think about it, especially considering that the Pistons reportedly brought him in to help the team; in addition to, of course, making some salary room for the 2010 free agent class.  I mean, Rodney Stuckey and Richard Hamilton are good players but neither of them is Allen Iverson and if anything, Stuckey should have been coming off of the bench behind A.I. even if he is 33 or 34 years of age. Unfortunately, a similar situation evolved in Memphis as he again found himself coming off of the bench after coming back from a hamstring injury. I don’t want to hear any nonsense about A.I. being, old, washed up, or a locker room problem or team hassle. Some people are great at playing the 6th man role and simply shouldn’t be starters in the league. Others, like A.I., should never be asked to come off of the bench behind anybody let alone Michael Conley Jr. (not to be confused with his ex-triple jumper father) or Rodney Stuckey. No matter how difficult it may be to decide whether or not he should play the 1 or the 2 guard, you find a spot for him. I can’t blame him for being offended when asked to come off the bench!

So, it seems the Knicks are on the fence, after passing on A.I. during the summer. We’ve got too many small guards in my opinion to begin with, and Iverson’s addition would certainly shake things up with Cuttino Mobley, Nate Robinson, Chris Duhon, Larry Hughes and Toney Douglas already on the roster but whether or not A.I. is capable of replacing one of those guys isn’t much of a question. And on the matter of team chemistry, well that hasn’t been much of a concern for the team’s management in recent years and I feel it’s safe to say that he wouldn’t necessarily hurt chemistry since the Knicks don’t truly have any to begin with. In all honesty, what it boils down to for me is the fact that the team has 1 win. That’s ONE out of ten games. Bringing on an additional scorer could only help open things up for other players and with Iverson in particular it might even address the team’s biggest problem since he’s probably a better defender than the majority of the current team, regardless of the position in question! Additionally, if he were to stay beyond this year, which is possible since his contract wouldn’t hurt too much as far as the salary cap is concerned, Iverson might even help attract one or two of the big names in the free agent class. I don’t doubt that he’d play his heart out and love being in New York assuming he is treated appropriately. I’m just hoping that the Knicks make the right move and try to bring the Answer on board but that they remember to give him the respect he deserves! He definitely wouldn’t answer all of the team’s problems but he’d at least help them to some extent. I’m just sayin’…

First things first: Indoors and Doha! The World Indoor Championships are this season, in mid March to be exact and I’m looking forward to my second World Championships experience. This time though, I plan on making the finals. I suspect that it’ll take about 16.90m+ to get into that top 8 final so the entirety of my indoor season will be geared towards getting out to at least that distance at Worlds.

I don’t have an indoor schedule set yet but I’m hoping to run a 60 meter dash just because I have a time in mind that I’d like to hit. Besides, it’s always fun to compete in a supplementary event every now and then. Aside from that I only plan on jumping 2 or 3 times before Worlds which means that I’ll have to make the most of practice and make sure I’m sharp so that when I hit the track I don’t squander any opportunities. I have no idea where I’ll be competing at those couple of meets either, except for the fact that I want to compete in NY at the Collegiate Invitational come February. I’ve jumped there for the past 2 years and the Armory always feels like home considering I competed there in high school. All the familiar faces and competitors, including my parents when they can make it into the city, provides for a great experience. We’ll see if I can convince them to let me into the meet again

I’m just trying to take 2010 one season, one meet, one practice, one rep/interval at a time and because of that outdoors feels like it’s years away so I’ll think about that later; way later.