2010 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships

Relaxed and ready to throw

JBLM hammer thrower to compete this weekend

Bob Reinert/Northwest Guardian

Relax, and go after it.

Those thoughts likely are floating through Mike Mai’s mind as he flies into Albuquerque, N.M., today in preparation for this weekend’s 2010 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, where he will compete in the weight throw.

“My goal is being relaxed and keeping good balance over my left side,” Mai said. “If I can do that, then I know that’s where that big throw is going to come.”

Mai knows all about balance, in the throwing circle and in his career. The 32-year-old Army major juggles his sport with his day job as commander of the 9th Financial Management Company and the Defense Military Pay Office at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The 6-foot-4-1/2-inch, 255-pound Mai tossed the weight a personal-record 75 feet, 7.5 inches at the Washington Husky Invitational late last month in Seattle to easily surpass the national qualifying standard of 65 feet. Last summer, Mai placed 21st in the hammer throw at the world outdoor championships in Berlin.

“Work keeps me busy,” Mai said. “I love doing it. (Work) definitely has to take precedence. It’s a serious job, taking care of money and taking care of Soldiers, but I really enjoy doing that.”

The U.S. Military Academy graduate also enjoys the weight throw, the indoor version of the hammer. Currently, he’s ranked seventh in the U.S. in the discipline.

Expect Mai to make an early statement in tomorrow afternoon’s weight-throw competition at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

“You can’t go in thinking you’re going to play it safe and win,” Mai said. “It doesn’t work that way. There’s a lot of competitors (who) are going after it. You’ve just got to go after it on every throw that you can.”

In a recent meet at the New York Armory that he won easily, Mai made one out-of-bounds toss that he would like to have back.

“It hit the fence about six or seven feet up, and then bounced straight down and landed at 76 feet,” Mai recalled. “So it would have been about an 80-foot throw, most likely. I really put one together, and it was just barely out of bounds.”

A.G. Kruger of Nike has the longest throw in the U.S. this year — 79 feet, 2.75 inches.

Mai said he won’t go to indoor nationals, where more than 700 athletes will vie for $117,000 in prize money, with any goals that can be measured in feet. He will pay more attention to his technique.

“It’s all about resting at this point and letting your body come back,” Mai said. “At this point, you’re not going to get any stronger. You’re not going to get any faster.”

But he feels strong and fast enough to make his mark in Albuquerque.

“I feel great,” Mai said. “I really do.”

Mai at nationals

What: 2010 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships

When: Saturday, Sunday

Where: Albuquerque, N.M.

Event: Weight throw

National ranking: 7th

Information: http://usatf.org/events/2010/USAIndoorTFChampionships/