Inside the Locker Room

KE: How did you feel going into the season after your shoulder surgery?
AB: I was really nervous, but I was very eager to get back to normal. The more I did the less nervous I got and the more I pushed myself out there to try more. I missed doing everyday things that I took for granted.

KE: Can you give us a quick recap of the throwers season?
AB: So far we have had a lot of great P.R.'s (personal records). I would definitely say that our season has been successful so far. We had a lot of our throwers make it into the conference meet, and two of us qualified for indoor nationals. I think that the group of throwers we have this year have a lot of potential. I am excited to see how outdoor season goes.

KE: What is a typical week in your shoes (practices, meets, training room)?
AB: Track takes a huge time commitment, but you get what you put into it. Typically practices are about two hours a day. We throw for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays,
Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Wednesdays are days we do plyometrics. Then, following practice, usually it takes about an hour in the weight room to finish the lifting workout. Usually we have a meet every Saturday, which takes the majority of the day. The field events usually start a little bit earlier than the other events. This indoor season was different than the previous years since I only did weight throw. Usually I do all the throwing events, which typically take up the whole day.

KE: You made it to nationals.How did that make you feel? Was it a surprise?
AB: Breaking the weight record again and going to nationals was a goal of mine this year. I was trying not to get my hopes too high after having surgery. My shoulder definitely recovered faster than the doctors and I had anticipated.

At one point I wasn't sure I was going to be able to compete this indoor season, but I worked hard to get back into things. I was just happy to have broken the record again, and I wasn't expecting much more the rest of the season.

I knew that I provisionally qualified for nationals with my personal record, but I knew that didn't guarantee that I got into the meet. It was a surprise that I got in, because I was sitting right on the bubble the week before the national meet. I was definitely relieved and excited when I found out that I had made it in the meet. Making it there was a huge accomplishment in itself and was more than I had expected this indoor season.

KE: What is the most challenging for you when you are practicing?
AB: First was overcoming my fear of reinjuring my shoulder after surgery, but I would say that the most challenging thing when I'm practicing would definitely be working on breaking old habits. There is a lot of technique that goes into throwing, and to get better every little thing has to be perfect. Once you pick up bad habits they are hard to break.

KE: What types of awards have you been given?
AB: I haven't really gotten any major awards yet. I have placed at meets and have gotten metals and trophies. I won outdoor conference in the hammer last year…I have broken two school throwing records. I broke both the weight and hammer throw my sophomore
year and rebroke the weight record this year. I also qualified for outdoor nationals in the hammer in 2009 and qualified in indoor nationals in 2010.

KE: Who are your coaches and what do you think about them?
AB: Our head coach is Ted Bulling. He is very inspirational, and really strives to help motivate each and every one of us to do our absolute best. The throwers coach is Derek Frese. He is an amazing coach. He is very knowledgeable about throwing technique and has all the tools to teach each of the throwers ways to improve. He definitely wants each of his throwers to continue to get better, and he gets to know each of the throwers so he can make a common vocabulary in order to teach them the right technique.

KE: What is your favorite thing about your event?
AB: It's hard to just pick one thing that I love about throwing. I'm a very competitive person and I love that throwing is very competitive. It also gives you many opportunities to make improvement and gains individually as well as provide support for a team.