One of the things that I love a lot is track. In fact, it is possible that “love” does not even sufficiently describe my feelings toward track. I compete in the heptathlon, and the heptathlon is something that I love, even though it literally runs me into the ground.

As with most things that people love, however, there is that one part of it that I do not love so much. Most heptathletes have that one event where they think “If I could just long jump twice and not do that thing, the heptathlon would be perfect”. For me, that thing is javelin. I do not love javelin.

Javelin looks really cool. When you do it, you get to throw a giant spear around and look like someone from the Hunger Games. Doing javelin is not so cool. It involves a lot of technique, and that is something that is acquired through a lot of practice. I compete in six other events and I have to go to classes though, so I do not have time to practice javelin all day. This is not conducive to being good at the javelin, which means that it is kind of hard to have fun throwing javelin. The days when I have to practice javelin are hard. It is hard for me to stay positive when I am doing things wrong, and I know that I am doing them wrong, but I am not able to fix them. Every time I try to focus on one aspect of my technique, everything falls apart. This makes me throw badly, and this makes my shoulder hurt. It also makes my heart hurt. I want so badly to be good at javelin. One of my favorite heptatletes, the Olympian Chantae McMillan, loves the javelin. I want to be good at the javelin like Chantae. The sad truth is that I am not. It’s hard for me to have a good attitude at practice, and that makes it hard not only for me, but also for my teammates.

I know that attitude is half the battle. In long jump, it’s something as simple as having a good attitude and having the pieces fall together, hitting the board just right and landing a good jump. If you have a bad attitude, you’re a hundred times more likely to foul out. I’ve hardly ever fouled when I have a good attitude going into the jump. I know that the same principle applies to javelin. I decided that I was going to have a good attitude if it killed me.

This is how Javelin Games was born. It’s not as scary/dangerous as it sounds. There are many safe games you can play during javelin practice that help you improve, stay focused, and most importantly of all, positive. My favorite Javelin Game is Leaf Javelin. There are two ends of the javelin. Both are pointy, but one is pointier, and this is the end that goes into the ground. In Leaf Javelin, you stab a bunch of dead leaves on the less pointy end of the javelin (the back end). Then, you throw the javelin like normal. If all of the leaves fall off the javelin during the throw, you win. An added bonus to this game is that there are leaves flying through the air all practice and it feels like fall again.

It’s a simple game, and it’s a little silly, but it makes javelin a lot more fun. Instead of spending practice looking longingly at the long jump pit, I am excited about javelin and ready to focus on the event at hand. I’ve written several times about the importance of focusing on the event that you’re competing in, and only that event, during the multi events, but this applies to practice as well. I can’t be thinking about how much I would rather be long jumping during javelin practice, because this will just make it harder to get better at javelin and make me dislike it even more. Javelin Games make javelin almost as fun as long jump. Almost.