I went on a Google search for shot put and discus drills and found these examples, which I can’t wait to try.

The shot put drill is actually an inside/outside drill, using a rubber band and dumbell, from www.coachthethrows.com.

From the same website, comes this discus drill, utilizing bowling pins. I bought some banged up pins from the local bowling alley last year, and used them quite a bit, but not with the technical “intentionality” shown on this video.

And, finally, there’s this discus drill, using a tennis ball inside a tube sock.

True confession: Last season I developed a hitch in the beginning of my discus throw, somewhere after the first turn, that really hurt my distance. In fact, I threw farther from the front, reversing, than I did from the back of the ring! I wound up throwing from the front of the ring in competition. I am looking forward to correcting that this season and throwing from a full spin.

The meet, sponsored by Heartland Athletic Services, Inc., attracted 125 masters athletes from Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado, California, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Claire won the 60m dash, 60m hurdles, 200m dash, shot put, and pole vault. Competing in the pole vault for the first time, she exceeded the Master’s All-America standard set by the USATF.

Grant and Claire Overstake

Grant won the shot put and long jump and was third in the pole vault. Grant met the All-America Standard for the shot put. The Overstakes are 52 years-old and compete in the 50-54 age group.

We are members of the Brooks ID Program. The I.D. stands for Inspire Daily. These two simple words guide the principles of the program. Brooks I.D. is made up of over 800 members who are active in their running communities and share a passion for the Brooks brand. They are runners who are winners in their own right: Winning their age divisions, accomplishing their personal goals, pushing their own limits, and, by extension, encouraging others to do the same. They are coaches, mentors, and leaders.

We  specialize in the combined events.  Claire has been the USATF Master’s national champion in the heptathlon in her age group for the past two years. Grant placed third in the USATF Masters national decathlon championship last year.

God willing, we will return to the US combined events championships in June, and are looking forward to representing the USA in a combined meet against masters athletes from Great Britain in London in 2012, during the week before the Olympic Games begin.

Heartland Indoor Meet Results

Claire’s Indoor Rankings

Grant’s Indoor Rankings

I was worried that the pain was a stress fracture, or something joint-related. But my doctor and chiropractor both said my knee joint is fine. It feels like I have a painful bone bruise, on the Medial condyle. I haven’t been able to run or even walk without a limp, for a few days now. The culprit  seems to be a combination of falling arches, worn-out shoes, and simply over-doing it, running-wise. As part of my cure, I have taken a week off, ordered a new pair of Brooks shoes and got fitted for a pair of orthotics. My medical support team says I will be fine, if I don’t overdo it, and I can look forward to pain-free running on a more stable foot-strike platform.

Nevertheless, a lot can happen to one’s psyche when one gets injured, if one is consumed with master’s track and field, as I am. This setback has been a heart check, a faith test, and an opportunity for me to plug back into the positive podcasts of Joel Osteen, which I had stored on my mp3 player. Osteen has a very positive mind-set on spiritual matters, and life. He is a good coach, in this regard. If you haven’t listened to Osteen, don’t believe the critics who say he isn’t Christian enough, or that he is just another a name-it-claim-it TV preacher. He has distilled the Gospel to its most positive elements, which isn’t a crime, nor a sin, not in this day and age. Although his Texas accent takes some getting used to, and his jokes are painfully corny, exposure to his mind-set never fails to uplift my own.

Speaking of helpful voices, I came across the following article, posted on Runner’s World Online, “The Ten Laws of Injury Prevention.” My only regret is that I didn’t come across it 10 days earlier! Maybe then I would have stopped short of taking the extra strides that led me from being just kinda sore, to having a full-blown injury.

Claire and I have been training for the Heartland Open/Masters Indoor Track and Field Meet on Saturday, March 13. We still hope to compete there, but I will have to be smart in my comeback workouts, working primarily on our trusty TRX Trainer, these next few days to get back in shape, and will need to scale back the number of events I planned to participate in.

It will be a real celebration for us, just to be out there, doing it.

From Runner’s World Online

THE 10 LAWS OF INJURY PREVENTION

Follow these time-tested principles and you’ll spend more time on the roads—and less in rehab

By Amby Burfoot

I. Know Your Limits
It’s easy to get injured; anyone can do it. Just run too much. “I firmly believe that every runner has an injury threshold,” says physical therapist and biomechanist Irene Davis, Ph.D., from the University of Delaware’s Running Injury Clinic. “Your threshold could be at 10 miles a week, or 100, but once you exceed it, you get injured.” Various studies have identified injury-thresholds at 11, 25, and 40 miles per week. Your threshold is waiting for you to discover it.

Of course, your goal is to avoid injury. Runner and sports podiatrist Stephen Pribut, D.P.M., warns runners to beware the “terrible toos”—doing too much, too soon, too fast. Every research paper and every expert agrees that this—”training errors”—is the number one cause of self-inflicted running injuries. The body needs time to adapt from training changes and jumps in mileage or intensity. Muscles and joints need recovery time so they can recover and handle more training demands. If you rush that process, you could break down rather than build up.

Running experts have recognized this problem, and long ago devised an easy-to-use 10-percent rule: Build your weekly training mileage by no more than 10 percent per week. If you run 10 miles the first week, do just 11 miles the second week, 12 miles the third week, and so on.

Yet, there may be times when even a modest 10 percent increase proves too much. Biomechanist Reed Ferber, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the faculty of kinesiology and head of the Running Injury Clinic at the University of Calgary says that he sees a lot of newly injured runners during that third month of marathon training, when a popular 16-week Canadian program pushes the mileage hard. Meanwhile, his clinic’s nine-month marathon program for first-timers increases mileage by just three percent per week. “We have a 97 percent success rate getting people through the entire program and to the marathon finish line,” Ferber says.

ACTION PLAN
Be the Tortoise, not the Hare. Increase your weekly and monthly running totals gradually. Use the 10-percent rule as a general guideline, but realize that it might be too aggressive for you—especially if you are injury-prone. A five-percent or three-percent increase might be more appropriate. In addition to following a hard-day/easy-day approach, or more likely a hard/easy/easy pattern, many top runners use a system where they scale back their weekly mileage by 20 to 40 percent on a regular basis, maybe once a month. And remember that mileage isn’t the only issue. Experts point out that an overly aggressive approach to hill running, intervals, trail running—indeed, any change in your training habits—can produce problems. Keeping a detailed training log can help you gauge your personal training threshold. Record your weekly mileage and how you feel after your runs. Look for patterns. For instance, you may notice that your knees ache only when you’re logging more than 40 miles a week.

Another major bugaboo: You used to run 30 miles a week, you got injured, now you want to get back to your old routine as quickly as possible. Don’t. Take your time. The same applies to that upcoming race—if you missed some training time, don’t accelerate the pace and distance of your remaining workouts in an effort to “catch up.” Instead, adjust your goals as needed.

WASHINGTON — Four months ago, it appeared all but certain that the White House and Democrats in Congress would succeed in overhauling the student loan business and ending government subsidies to private lenders.

President Obama called the idea a “no-brainer” last fall, predicting it would take billions of dollars from the profits of private lenders and give it directly to students, and many colleges were already moving to get loans directly from the federal government in anticipation of the next move by Congress.

But an aggressive lobbying campaign by the nation’s biggest student lenders has now put one of the White House’s signature plans in peril, with lenders using sit-downs with lawmakers, town-hall-style meetings and petition drives to plead their case and stay in business.

House and Senate aides say that the administration’s plan faces a far tougher fight than it did last fall, when the House passed its version. The fierce attacks from the lending industry, the Massachusetts election that cost the Democrats their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and the fight over a health care bill have all damaged the chances for the student loan measure, said the aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

But they said the administration had recognized the threat and was beginning to push back in an effort to get the plan approved.

Sallie Mae, a publicly traded company that is the nation’s biggest student lender with $22 billion in loans originated last year, led the field in spending $8 million on lobbying in 2009, more than double the year before, and other lenders spent millions of dollars more, according to an analysis prepared for The New York Times by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Political action committees for the lenders and company employees made $2.1 million in political contributions last year, with the money split evenly among Democrat and Republican candidates, the data showed. Sallie Mae’s PAC alone made $194,000 in donations.

Full Story

Be sure to read the comments also.

In this age of bobble-headed politicians, he shines as a true statesman.

Speaking extemporaneously, he makes a compassionate plea for the future of Kansas.

Unfortunately, he has decided not to run for re-election, serving only a partial term after being appointed to the post.

I’m not sure if there’s anything we can do to convince him to run, because if he did, he would be facing Sen. Sam Brownback (R) and his draconian political machine. I understand why he wouldn’t want to subject himself, and his family, to run for election against Brownshirt, er, Brownback, but, still, it’s a shame to lose Parkinson.

Kansans on both sides agree he has done a remarkable job in difficult times.

I think he could be a great public servant on the national stage someday.

Greatest Workout Music of All Time?

npr music shines a spotlight on the great guitar player today, and he shares some of his tunes with us in the studio.

Several of his tunes from Unknown Territory are in my pre-meet file in my mp3 player. It’s amazing how his music can change my mental attitude and increase my energy level. I have successfully used his tunes to amp up my warm-up before and during workouts, and in decathlon competitions, before the 100 meters, the shot put, and gearing up for the grueling 400 meters at the end of the first day. The drumming on Dick Dale’s songs is outstanding for preparing for rhythmic events, such as the hurdles.

His song, Fish Taco, is one of my all time favorites!

Talk about Sweatin’ with the Oldies: Rock on, Dick Dale!

He’s still shredding it, at 74 years-old!

Yesterday the media was in a frenzy about the big ($6,500) rebates being offered by GM, trying to clear the Pontiac brand from their dealerships by year’s-end.

The New York Times reported, “The sweetened incentive offer, which was announced to dealers earlier this month, means an effective discount of up to 49 percent on the cheapest Pontiac, the G3 hatchback.”

That got my attention.

I stopped browsing on my Blackberry and  called Bryan, our local car dealer, who works at Midway Motors, here in Hillsboro, Kansas.

After telling him what I had been reading, we went over to see him. The last thing my wife and I thought we’d be doing in the last days of the decade is buying anything, especially a new car.

But here we were. It was just about closing time, yesterday evening. The dealer had just one remaining Pontiac and it wasn’t a G3.

Using the Internet, Bryan located a handful of  G3 within a 1,000-mile radius, the closest at a GM dealership in Topeka. We told him to reserve it, thinking that we could think about it overnight. That car sold off the lot in Topeka overnight. But this morning, Midway Motors had located one more G3, in remote western Kansas, hiding in the tumbleweeds.

He said, “It’s red, like the other one….”

Without hesitation, I said, “We’ll take it!”

Sight unseen, and without so much as a test drive, we bought The Last Pontiac.

Today we finished the paperwork, trading in our gas-guzzling, way-upside down 2001 GMC Yukon. With the $6,500 rebate, we came out about even, in payments, in insurance, and way ahead on gas mileage. We never would have been able to do the deal, to get out from underneath the “bad paper” without the “going out of business” rebate.

We would have been trapped in the Yukon until 2015 or something.

It seemed like the right thing to do, on all sorts of levels, for us, and America, at this moment in history.

They’re delivering The Last Pontiac to us tomorrow, first new car we’ve ever owned.

I know this is perversely backward and unseemly, but you should know that I did do some research. While we were filling out the paperwork, I was browsing on my phone, peeking through my fingers at what the consumer reviews were saying about the car I had already bought. Happily, most of the reviewers were very impressed with the car, which is actually a Chevy Aveo, and sold as something else overseas.

Here’s what one trade publications said about the G3:

Daewoo calls it the Kalos, and Chevy named it the Aveo, but Pontiac has opted to call this five-door hatchback the G3. With the Pontiac brand being phased out, the G3 has one of the shortest lifespans of any car. Still, it goes head to head with the aforementioned Aveo as well as subcompacts like the Honda Fit, Kia Rio5 and Volkswagen Rabbit.

Unfortunately, General Motor’s financial woes have hurt the sales of Pontiac models significantly. And without the established name recognition of the older Pontiac Vibe, G5 or Solstice, the sales for the G3 have been practically nonexistant. According to the Wall Street Journal, GM only sold 141 G3′s in March, or “just one in every 19 of GM’s roughly 2,700 Pontiac dealers sold one during the month.”

The ’09 Pontiac G3 has a 1.6-liter DOHC engine that makes 106-horsepower and pulls 105 pound-feet of torque. A five-speed manual transmission is standard, but a four-speed automatic is available. The G3 also has dual-stage frontal and side impact air bags with a passenger sensing system, a six-speaker audio system with CD player and MP3 playback, and 60/40 split rear seats.

G3 reviewers seem disappointed that Pontiac has presented a rebadged Chevy Aveo as opposed to a new model. But as Pontiac dealerships around the country shut down, you might find the discontinued G3 is a great financial alternative to other affordable hatchbacks, even the similar Aveo. If you do purchase a G3 or currently own one, your Pontiac warranty will still be honored at the remaining GM dealerships. (emphasis mine).

The decade fades into the sunset. GM and the American car industry struggle for their existence. Into the unknown future we will be driving a piece of history, making 30+ miles per gallon, no matter how high gas prices may climb.

Fact is, I would have never bought the first Pontiac, or the second, nor would I have ever purchased a new car at any other time otherwise. But we feel pretty good about buying The Last Pontiac.  Like, maybe this one purchase will help redeem a pretty sorry consumer track record for me, personally, over the past decade. Like, maybe we did something right this time.

We will drive The Last Pontiac without remorse. It has the options we wanted, including an automatic transmission, and, as it happens,  it comes fully loaded with symbolism and history.

Now hopefully GM will make it through its current restructuring.

If you are a US taxpayer, thanks for investing!

Now as never before, I want this Great American automaker to survive.

For we will be driving The Last Pontiac — with a five-year, 100,000 mile warranty.

Poll Reveals Trauma of Joblessness in U.S.

More than half of the nation’s unemployed workers have borrowed money from friends or relatives since losing their jobs. An equal number have cut back on doctor visits or medical treatments because they are out of work.

Almost half have suffered from depression or anxiety. About 4 in 10 parents have noticed behavioral changes in their children that they attribute to their difficulties in finding work.

Joblessness has wreaked financial and emotional havoc on the lives of many of those out of work, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll of unemployed adults, causing major life changes, mental health issues and trouble maintaining even basic necessities.

The results of the poll, which surveyed 708 unemployed adults from Dec. 5 to Dec. 10 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points, help to lay bare the depth of the trauma experienced by millions across the country who are out of work as the jobless rate hovers at 10 percent and, in particular, as the ranks of the long-term unemployed soar.

Roughly half of the respondents described the recession as a hardship that had caused fundamental changes in their lives. Generally, those who have been out of work longer reported experiencing more acute financial and emotional effects.

Full Story

Be sure to read the comments also.

Appropriate bumper sticker:

Floating Christmas Trees

Fountain of Lights

Model Train Arrives at the Station

Golden Christmas Tree

Photos by Grant Overstake

Botanica Gardens in Wichita, Kansas.

There are lots of reasons to stay active. Beyond the obvious physical benefits, we’ve felt for a long time that the rigorous exercise helps keep us sharp mentally and happier emotionally.

Keep it moving, people!

By Charles Q. Choi, Special to LiveScience

posted: 03 December 2009 11:02 am ET

A new study proves the old Roman saying, “A sound mind in a sound body” — the more fit one’s heart is, the more one’s brain seems to benefit, scientists now find.

Many earlier studies have linked physical exercise with brainpower in humans and animals, but most of the research in people focused on children or older adults. The few studies of young adulthood — when the brain changes rapidly, establishing many traits linked with intelligence — have yielded ambiguous data.To help resolve this conflict, in a massive study, researchers investigated nearly all Swedish men born between 1950 and 1976 who were conscripted at age 18 into military service, which is compulsory in Sweden. The sample of a whopping 1,221,727 men used data on physical fitness and intelligence performance, and included 268,496 full sibling pairs and 3,147 twin pairs, of whom 1,432 were identical.The scientists discovered that cardiovascular fitness was linked with overall intelligence, although the same did not hold true for muscle strength and brainpower. Cardiovascular fitness was also linked with scores on tests of logical, verbal, technical and visuospatial capabilities and even socioeconomic status and educational attainment later in life.”The saying, ‘mens sana in corpore sanum’ — ‘a healthy mind lives in a healthy body’ — is about 2,000 years old,” said researcher Georg Kuhn, a neuroscientist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

Kuhn explained cardiovascular exercise increases blood flow to the brain, supplying it with more oxygen and nutrients. Moreover, during exercise, growth factors are produced that could improve brain structure over time. This not only includes more and stronger connections between nerve cells, but also more neurons and supporting cells. “From animal experiments we know this is the case especially in the hippocampus, a region of the brain that is important for learning and memory,” he said.

It is also possible that smarter people exercise more, Kuhn said. However, their twin data suggests not. When the researchers looked at twins, they found that environment, not genetics, played the biggest role in these links. “The fitter twin is also the more intelligent twin,” he noted.

Past research has suggested that cardiovascular fitness can benefit the minds of older adults. For instance, it can delay or reduce the onset and progression of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

“The findings can be used to argue for a more balanced school curriculum,” Kuhn said. “It is a better argument for school kids to grasp that they can be more successful in life if they study and exercise, than telling them that, with regular exercise, their chance for Alzheimer’s disease after they are 60 years old will decrease by X percent.”

The scientists detailed their findings online Nov. 30 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.