I might have left the impression that runners are the only ones who blog — keep competition/training diaries on the Web. Not so. In Houston, M50 weight pentathlete John Stilbert has a frank and revealing blog called Take it From Jake. In May, Jake jotted: “Yes it’s true that I went 36 years without touching a discus, but what’s equally as important to note is that when I did throw discus way back when, I basically sucked.”

He continued:
I always thought I had some potential in the sport because of my long arms and decent coordination, but I was never very big or strong or fast. There was also no one available to coach me in discus technique.
In junior high school in Texas back in the 1960’s all coaches were football coaches who tried to coach the other sports as the seasons changed. Some coaches were fairly decent in making the transition to basketball, but Track & Field ran a distant third in popularity…with “Field” even less of a priority than “Track”…and of course, of all the field events, the throwing events were the least glamorous of them all. Our “coaching” amounted to someone who knew nothing about throwing tossing some old rubber discs to a group of kids who had never seen discs before, and telling them to try to figure it out. From what I hear, very little has changed at the junior high level.
So here I am, now 39 years later, and early into my 3rd season of my big comeback. (Although a comeback might presuppose that you had some level of prior expertise to come back to!) I was talked into taking up the discus again by my boss. Her husband ran our company’s corporate track team and they thought that a 50 year-old discus thrower might help the team because of the age-grading system. I agree to begin practicing, and soon realized how much I enjoyed making it fly. I barely broke 100′ during that first meet, but it was enough to get me hooked, and I immediately started working toward 150′.
At present my PR is 128′ 7″, but I hope to increase that by about 10′ during this season. That should put me pretty close to where I need to be to meet my goal of 150′ sometime next year. Last year I also began throwing the shot a little, primarily so that when I drove 3 hours to meets I would have more than 45 minutes of action before I headed home. I have now gotten more serious in shot, and this year I’m trying to add javelin, hammer and the 25# weight throw to my repertoire. Hopefully, my skills will start to come around and I will be able to participate in my first Weight Pentathlon toward the end of this season.
I hope that my maintaining this web page will help to keep me focused on my goal, and will provide motivation to continue to work hard.
In November, Jake summed up his season:
Well, it’s the end of another season and although there were some disappointments there were also some bright spots to carry me forward to next year. I PB’d in 4 events this season, and missed a fifth by 1”.
I had a good time at last weekend’s meet. I didn’t perform as I had originally hoped but I was glad to have been able to compete without re-injuring my hamstring. That I was able to compete at all was pretty amazing considering that I couldn’t even walk without pain less than 2 weeks prior. The throws clinic yesterday was also encouraging, as I picked up several tips that I plan to focus on during the off-season.
Looking back on the year:
Hammer: I finished the year with a PR, but it was quite a bit short of my goal. Even though I’ve only thrown in 4 meets I know I’m on the verge of big improvements here. Ditto for the weight throw. I just need to work on the drills I’ve learned, and maybe buy a lighter hammer for developing better speed.
Shot Put: I did not throw well in the last few meets of the year, with my practice distances a good 3’ further than competition performances, and with the last meet tying the lowest of the year. Still, my average for the year was 1’ 7” further than last year. I’ve been toying with the idea of switching to the rotational style, but I’m not sure that’s for me. I also don’t want it to adversely affect my discus technique. Increasing strength is THE key to improving next year, as is working on maintaining torque in the power position.
Discus: A disappointing end to the year. I improved my season average by about 1’ but I was very inconsistent, and my best throws were no better than last year. I’m not falling in to the middle as badly as I have been, but my technique still needs a lot of work. I’m over-rotating, not continuing to turn in the middle, and losing torque in the power position.
Javelin: I seem to be stuck at around 100’ but I know that big improvements are right around the corner. Although this is primarily a technique event, some specific strength training will help a lot in being able to maintain a solid block, and also in being able to generate sufficient arm speed. Most importantly however, is to improve my technique through the drills that I learned in the clinic. I look for good things to happen here.
Off-season conditioning program:
– Bench press and plyo-pushups
– Hill sprints (forward and backward) with plyo-bounds on the way down, cross-overs.
– Power cleans, leg extensions and curls
– Lots of core work
– Pull-overs
– Educate myself about lifting cycles and periodization
Next meet is March 18, 2006. Exactly 117 days from today…16 full weeks of training. I had planned on taking a little time off, but I suddenly have a renewed sense of urgency.
A week ago, Jake wrote:
It hard to believe, but I think I’m actually starting to enjoy lifting weights. That’s not like me at all, as anyone who looks at my strength numbers can attest to. But, I’m starting to see some strength gains in the weight room, and last Sunday I’m pretty sure I felt a difference where it really counts…while throwing. I noticed I was much better at maintaining balance through 3 turns in the hammer and weight. (I casually tossed out a 25# weight throw that was 2’ 5” beyond my PB.) Shot, discus and javelin are showing glimmers of improvement but they should come around more after another month or so of lifting. I’ve only been back in the weight room for 3 weeks now after all.
I’ve identified about a dozen meets I want to attend next season and have them marked on my calendar. This time I’m going to gear towards peak performances in about 3 of them instead of trying to peak for every one as I have done in the past. (How stupid is that anywayt!) I would like big performances at the USATF Nationals, and the USATF Weight Pentathlon Championship, and maybe one other. We’ll see…
I’m a little frustrated that the meet director at the last meet hasn’t yet posted the results. It’s been almost a month now, and I have a couple of pretty embarrassing marks on mastersrankings.com that I would like to get replaced before the end of the season posting deadline freezes them forever in internet posterity.
Me again:
Jake’s blog is an inspiration. Not because he shares his training and meet performances in such detail, but because he fesses up to his frustrations and foibles. We can read about world-class throwers any day. But how do the “mediocres” manage to stay motivated? Jake gives us a clue. His blog also helps other see that their own self-doubts and second-guessing is normal.
We’re not alone in these feelings.
We really ARE in the same boat.
Jake’s take really is great.