Throwing the Distance

I have to admit that coaching many of the field events in track and field still fills me with anxiety. I'm always afraid that I'm teaching something wrong, or teaching the wrong thing (which I think is different). Often, it feels like I'm only slightly ahead of my novice throwers and jumper and hurdlers as we learn these exotic events together.

But occasionally I experience a little bit of success, and that's very exciting. And sometimes, even my experience as a distance runner turns out to have an unexpected applicability to some other event.

A case in point: the best athlete on the Concord Academy Track and Field team is a boy named Olaf Prilo, and he doesn't run the mile or two-mile; he throws the javelin. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not responsible for Olaf's skill in his chosen event. In fact, he has throwing in the blood, so to speak. His father was an Olympic hopeful in his native Norway and taught the son to throw with proper technique while he was still a youngster.

Last summer, the father was transferred to the U.S. and the Boston area for a two-year assignment, and the son enrolled at CA in the fall as a 17-year-old junior. My first communication with Olaf was an email from him in late November asking me about Spring track and opportunities to compete in the Javelin throw. There was also a slightly shocking request: would I help him train through the winter? In spite of my ignorance of the event, he wanted suggestions for how to improve his fitness and admitted that he felt like he had hit a plateau, and wanted to try something different in hopes of a big improvement in the coming year.

As chance would have it, the first time we met I happened to be carrying Arthur Lydiard's "Running to the Top," and Olaf asked me about it, and we ended up having quite a discussion about Lydiard's methods and his success. I explained how many people mistakenly thought Lydiard was all about long slow distance. Not true. Ever the experimenter, Lydiard had found that developing endurance through long, arduous hilly runs through the New Zealand countryside allowed his runners to recruit more and more muscle fibers and deploy fast-twitch fibers more effectively at the end of races. Lydiard's runners had great kicks, because they were able to use the speed they DID have to greatest advantage.

For some reason, this idea really appealed to Olaf and he asked if anyone had ever tried Lydiard training in the throwing events. I replied by saying that Lydiard himself argued that his training was broadly applicable to sports other than distance running, but that, no, I wasn't aware of any "long slow throwers."

Almost as a joke, we came up with a plan for a thrower that was based on the total distance thrown in practice, rather than the usual focus on drills and non-throwing activities like strength work. I sketched out a plan similar to what I would give a runner beginning a base building period, but I cut the "mileage" (that is, the distance thrown) to 1/5th what a runner would do (it would have been absurd, otherwise). So for a week, the thrower would throw maybe 800 meters of distance, and gradually build up the volume over a period of many months, eventually throwing for miles. Anyway, it was fun to brainstorm about this crazy training, but I thought no more about it until a few weeks later when I heard from Olaf again. He had actually been doing the "workouts" I had sketched out using a turbojav that he was throwing for 30 minutes a day, and he wanted more.

Now, I really started to panic. I was completely convinced I was going to ruin this talented javelin thrower by having him throwing too much. I also worried what his dad would say. I tried to tell Olaf it had only been a thought experiment, but he was adamant. After a few weeks, he was already feeling much stronger.

I think it was about this time that I asked my friend, Henry Finch who maintains the Newton Running Times blog, whether he knew anything about the Javelin. I vaguely remembered that Henry had had a cousin, Sidd Finch, who had been quite a thrower at one time. Henry and I met a few times to discuss this curious case, but we both felt it was kind of unique. Here was a young thrower with impeccable technique who enjoyed throwing for 30-60 minutes each day. We finally decided that the best advice was to get him to take days off every few days, to avoid potential shoulder injury.

So that's how Olaf Prilo passed the winter. When it was 10 degrees out, he threw with gloves and a parka. When it snowed, he threw in the snow. And little by little, he increased the total distance of his throws.

Last week, he finally abandoned the turbojav and picked up a real javelin again. Even doing easy practice throws, the results were astounding. Last year, he said he was typically throwing 130-140 feet in competition. Now he was throwing well over 170 feet.... In practice.... In March. All by following Lydiard!

Yesterday, Olaf came up to me after practice and asked if he could throw "hard" today. "It's my 18th birthday," he said, "and I would like to throw 180 feet to celebrate."

Whether he does or doesn't reach this milestone on his birthday, this young man, who almost seems to good to be true, is poised for great things. Remember the name Olaf Prilo, he's about to become a legend.

For more pictures of Olaf throwing over the winter, click here.