2005 Masters World Championships

YES I damn sure did and in fact if you had to ask then you really don't know me that well at all... 

It was the 3rd event at the 2005 Highland Games Masters World Championships at Loon Mountain and one of my favorite events, the Heavy Weight for Distance.  I must've been a little too amped up and jumped in too far on my first turn because I ran out of room on my second and stepped on the edge of the trig.   Seriously, I can still vividly remember that it felt like it was happening in slow motion but in reality it damn sure wasn't.  I can also remember telling myself to get off the damn trig and then I heard  SNAP!!!   I swear that it sounded like a shotgun going off and I fell to the ground with only one thought on my mind... Getting my Kilt back down and stop showing off my bright red compression shorts!! 

I can still see Sally's face asking me if I was alright while I'm watching my foot flop around uncontrollably and feeling my heart sink into my stomach.  All of the hard work over the past year ... gone ... gone in an instant ... or so I thought!!  One of the guys competing was a Physical Therapist so he came over to examine me and he grabs my achilles and says "welp the achilles is intact so you must have just torn your calve"  Yeah sure... just!!  Of course I didn't think back to my anatomy lessons so I said "shit that doesn't sound too bad let's just tape it so it can't move it and I can keep throwing!!!"  I got up, dusted myself off, got a kiss from Sally and went out and did a single turn with the Heavy Weight placing pretty high with a hell of a throw of around 46 feet.  We headed over to the Hammers and I'll admit that it was damn tough to walk and of course Sally had begun to further question my sanity in my decision to keep throwing.  I tried to explain to her how important this competition was to me and I reminded her of all of the work that I had put in during the past 10-12 months (we had been dating only for 6 months).  All of the hours spent lifting, jumping, throwing, technique work and don't forget all of the traveling I did to train and compete in different Games around the USA.  Add in the long drives to work with my Throws Coach James Parman who lived about an hour away or the days I headed to Austin to train in the University of Texas weight room with my buddy Mike Baab or all of the extra work I did on my own in a dusty field in the South Texas summer heat.  I reminded her that the time I was training took away from our time together.  She did see some of the work that I put in when she'd come train with me at Olympic Gym or when I dragged to different games which if you ask her she reluctantly went to but she did enjoy herself at many of the games. 

Speaking of the training in San Marcos or Austin since she worked at night I use to borrow her car so I didn't have to drive my Jeep with no top or AC and as hard as I tried I still got tacky on her steering wheel!!! I'M STILL SORRY!!

But let's get back to the field at the MWC and it seemed she was resigned to the fact that I was NOT coming off the field but I did make her a promise that if she saw me start hurting where she felt I was in danger of making the injury worse then I would then walk away... which only seemed fair to me!!!

We walked over the Caber event area (then thankfully got a ride) it seemed more and more people came up to me to talk to me and encourage me.  I looked over to Sally it seemed like she had started to understand a little of my drive and determination to continue throwing but it was during the Caber that she really seemed to understand.  She watched as I tired to run on my first attempt and while I got a turn the judge, Art McDermott, had to score me lower than I really earned (the Caber is judged by an imaginary clock face on the ground).  After my attempt Art told me that I didn't need to run to just stand there and Braemar the damn thing!!!  So on my second attempt I did just that scoring a perfect 12:00.  While waiting on my third attempt I went over near the crowd to get some encouragement and love from Sally when the announcer started 'playing it up for the crowd' telling them that if I turned another perfect 12:00 that I would place 3rd in Caber and that I had been competing all day injured with a torn calve which is why they saw me limping...  I got a hug and a kiss from Sally and headed to take my final attempt when people from the crowd began cheer for me, shouting encouragement and as I headed off this older lady came up and gave me a little hug for luck and she smiled over at Sally and her sister Sandra.  So I limped over to the Caber and as I got ready for the pick I turned to Sally and gave her a smile.  I bent down and picked the Caber, it was a clean pick and as I stood there balancing it I really did think about all of the work that I had put in not to just be there but to be competitive on this big stage at the Masters World Championships ... I took a deep breath, gave the Caber a little nudge with my shoulder and pulled hard while letting out a big ROAR and as the Caber settled I looked back at Art who was holding his hands high over his head signaling a perfect 12:00 turn.... I walked over to Sally and as people congratulated me I just hugged her tightly while folks from the crowd patted me on the back and congratulated me ...now I will admit as I buried my face in her neck that I had a few tears I think about rolling down my cheeks and she knew that I was emotionally spent and hugged me tightly and told me that she was proud of me.  I really don't think she understood just what I had done but she was there for me 100% and that's all that mattered to me then and right now as I write and share this story.

We gathered out stuff and headed over to the final event the Weight Over the Bar. 

I could hear Seven Nations, my favorite Scottish Rock Band starting to play as I warmed up then Sally looked at me and shook her head and said "NO"!!! She told me that I was leaning to the side and that I was gonna hurt myself worse so I took my throw at the opening height, made it and just as I promised her I walked off the field holding my hand up and my head up high and said "Alright guys that's it I'm done" 

A promise is a promise and I promised her that if she felt I was close to getting hurt worse that I'd listen to her and I did.  I walked off that field proud of what I had accomplished and with my head held high and vowed in my best Arnold voice  'I'll be Back!!'

We headed over to the tent to listen to the band and found a table and Sally and Sandra went and got me a beer and to get us something to eat when Seven Nations asked me to stand up after they had heard that I had kept competing after being injured ... everyone under the tent clapped and I as looked over at Sally she just smiled.  I sure hope she was proud of me then and I hope that if ever she reads this story and thinks back that day that she's still proud of me for perseverance that I showed!!   

Now back at the hotel she was not as nice to me (hahaha) because she had to help remove the tape from my ankle, think they used a can of tape base spray and 2 rolls of tape and as she pulled the tape off and all of the hair on my ankle with it she just laughed at me and said "Come on now .... you threw all day with this injury and now your whining!!"  About half way through when I couldn't take it anymore she suggested that I take a shower and then she'd finish taking it off and I was thinking OH HELL  I'll just leave it on as a fashion statement!!!  Man that hot shower felt so good and as I stood in there the tape got wet it just fell off when she said "Oh yeah the water will make it easier to pull the tape off!!"  She just smiled a devious smile and told me that I should have known that....

When we woke up my foot was a beautiful black and blue and was nice and swollen where I could only get my hippie sandals on (Birkenstocks).  We still had a couple of days left up in New Hampshire  to explore and Sally and Sandra would be walking nice and fast and every so often turn to me and remind me that I had thrown the whole day while I was hurt and so no one had any sympathy for me and you know to this very day I can't blame them!!!  "You competed all day yesterday so get your big ass up here and stop whining!!!"

SideNote: I didn't keep throwing because I thought I was some kind of bad ass but you can see in the gallery at the bottom the screenshots of what some of the guys who were judging thought of my performance on the field. I worked really hard after having a shit performace at the 2003 MWC and that performance really stuck with me.  Thousands of kilos lifted along with even more reps throwing and doing technique work. I've never been a 'gifted athlete' and I have worked my ass off for every accomplishment I have ever achieved.  'Last picked for recess in 6th grade to elite strength athlete' ... yeah that's me so they were gonna have to carry me off the field for me to leave it.  I walked off that day ... okay I limped off on my own terms which unfortunately I didn't get to do years later when I was forced into retirement.  

Next Blog we will talk about that health insurance stuff that I didn't have... even though Sally said I needed it... I've never been seriously injured throwing... I don't need that shit... OH YES YOU DO!!!