Cork, Ireland

Hey all,

Sorry about the last post. I was in the airport and European keyboards can be quite tricky when you don't have a lot of time! On Friday, Nedzad (my Croatian friend) and I went to Ireland. It was a long day of traveling - moreso than usual. We had to leave the hotel at 8am to catch a ride to Graz, Austria (2 hrs). We had to wait 4 hours in Graz before our flight left for London. In London we had another 3 hour layover before we left for Cork, Ireland. It ended up being 14 hours of travel which isn't great for the body. Especially, when you have a meet the next day! I try not to let things like that bother me though.

The meet Ireland was o.k. I felt like I could have thrown much much farther. It was weird today. My body felt pretty good but I felt very uncoordinated in the ring. I opened up with a throw of 18.05m (59') which is pretty bad for me. I ended up muscling a throw out to 18.94m (62'2") but not one throw felt even average. I lost half the throws off of my hand and didn't feel connected with any of them. My throw ended up being good enough for 5th. I took 2nd last year and my throw from last year (64'9") would have been good enough for 2nd again. That's a bit disappointing. But, oh well! I didn't have a great outdoor season this year so it is hard to expect myself to have great meets everytime. Usually, when my technique is not on, the bad meets are really bad. But I can still have great days and who knows how I feel when I am fresh.

I should be pretty fresh for my meet in Zagreb, Croatia on Wednesday. I'm leaving for Zagreb with Ned tomorrow and will have 2 solid days of rest with no travel. I'm very excited to go to Croatia because my Croatian is getting much better. It will be fun to use it and get the best practice available for learning a language. The meet in Croatia is a big one. It is a Grand Prix meeting which means lots of competition and big points for my World Ranking. I'm happy that I won't have to travel at all before the meet. So, cross your fingers!

After the Zagreb Grand Prix, I will head back to the States for 2 days. My sister is getting married on July 7th and I can't miss that! Although I haven't been gone long, I'm excited to see my family and my girlfriend (Miss you!). I should have a computer available in Zagreb, so I will be able to post after the meet before I head home for 48 hours.

Oh, here are the results from the meet. You can also go to www.corkcitysports.ie for pictures or results from the meet.

Cork City Sports Meeting Results 7/1/07:
1. Reese Hoffa USA 21.47m (70'5")
2. Ivan Yushov RUS 19.53m (64'1")
3. Jamie Beyer USA 19.13m (62'9")
4. Nedzad Mulabegovic CRO 19.09m (62'7")
5. Steve Manz USA 18.94m (62'2")
6. Rhuben Williams USA 18.53 (60'9")

Talk to you soon!