Back at It!!

Nice long hard lift today.  More gym tomorrow and run if no rain.  Have a great evening!  More soon!  Bubba

Futile Effort!!

Futile Effort! = this kid & me today!

 

Today my sled felt very heavy?  Why?  I've only been vaulting so I've lost strength and speed.  See yesterday's post.  So on the 3rd sled, my right hamstring didn't grab, but it jumped up and yelled at me to stop, so I did.  I went to the gym and jumped up on the bars.  One #1 my shoulder ached, so I stopped.  Got on the hack squat and on #1 my knee ached, so I stopped.

As bad as this sounds it's really just the signal that I need a phase break for my change of focus as I've gotten the most out of what I was doing.  If I get one good vault day per week and two good lifting and running days, I'll be miles further ahead.

Let's put this in perspective.  I have 5.5 months before the world championships in France and I'm already over 12' 1/2" from 4 lefts/8 steps on a 12' 4"/3.75m pole.  My meet run s 6/12.  With my weight down to 160 lbs. these poles are working well.  That said I have three more coming in Tuesday, which will give me three poles bigger than the one I jumped 12' on.  I would be shocked if 3.65m/11' 11 1/2" didn't get a medal in France, so that needs to be automatic for me.  I think I'm real close to that, and with three poles bigger who knows.

I think being off until Thursday will give these aches and pains a chance to settle down a bit.  My new program is less abusive as it spreads the work out over several days rather than compresses it like when I jump two days.  My nine 12'4" poles are forgiving, yet big enough to jump high on.  I've never had a right hamstring, nor any hamstring strain this mild.  I'll give it three hard weeks to settle in my new training and then get back to jumping.  Have a great Sunday!  Bubba

Living Colour - "Cult f Personality" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xxgRUyzgs0

Reset!!

Got back from a four day trip, had lunch, went out to jump, and again felt my right hamstring when getting up out of the pit.  I started vaulting when I was 12 and I'm 61.  Never have I had a right leg hamstring issue.  Freak ding I guess.  In any case it's back to the training grind and I'm glad.

The problem with only jumping is that you don't have any way to get stronger or faster.  So I'll grind it out for three weeks and then ramp it back up. By then my body should be adjusted to the hard training.  Have a great day!  Bubba

The Who - "Won't Get Fooled Again" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp6-wG5LLqE

All About the Twos!!

Big travel week last week so I didn't get a chance to post after I vaulted Thursday. It was a better day in that I hit good hand pressure that resulted in good positions during my vault.  Today was a bit more of the same.  I felt better and faster but didn't jump as well.  M problem is poles and that will be fixed this week.

Here's the deal; at 159-160 my poles feel bigger and that's OK.  The problem is that on my smallest series, the 12'4"/3.75m I have BIG gaps between poles.  So a pole may be to small from one run, but the next one is a little too big from the next stride back.  This week I'm getting four new poles to fill those gaps.

Technically and physically I'm clearly getting better as I'm moving through poles much faster and feeling better on the runway.  The problem is that always seem to be in between poles.  So I feel like I'm two steps forward to got one step back.  As my great friend and former coach Dave Johnston (DJ) used to say "You want to change poles not your jump".  Big gaps make you change your jump and that's just not helpful at dialing in consistency.

I'm totally committed to the process because I know that if I can go back to zero and work my way up through, the technique and physical skills will grow together.  I'm doing a great job of this and keeping my patience, but it's hard with big gaps between poles. I've already jumped 12' 1/2"/3.68m this year on these poles so that makes me feel I can take my time a but too.
 
Sure I could start on my 13'1"/4m poles which are closer together, but  would have to run from 4 lefts/8 steps to start.  My objective is to at least be over 11' before  get to 4/8 so that's not the best solution.  I need to just go to the bottom and come back up from 2/4.  Have a great day and thanks for being here!  Bubba

Thanks again to my dear friend Dean "The Machine" Gregory for introducing me, and going to a concert with me, of the Winery Dogs - "Elevate" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnMBix9Zq5o

Reason for Optimism?!

I had a good hard four days of training as I prepare to hit the road again on business tomorrow.  Both jump days were much improved over last week.  Today I was able to take off on my biggest 3.75m pole from 5 lefts/10 steps.  I haven't been that far back in practice in quite awhile; at least a year.

On the troubling or confusing side, because of my lesser frequency of lifting I'm waking up around 159 lbs. whereas my vault weight used to be 165-67.  I'm not moving the poles from the same runs as I used to but unlike last year when I was light, I can still hold pretty high and jump high for me.  I have to be at least one stride back to hit the same pole but I think improved take off time will bring me back in.

I have three new 12'4"/3.75m poles coming in to round out my practice series.  The goal is to use the 4ms/13'1" on Thursday and the 3.75m on Sunday.  That said I may get to the point that the 3.75ms are useless before I move on to the 4ms full time.

A few weeks ago I started seeing a physician who specializes in athlete's internal and metabolic balance.  I now take 10 vitamin pills in the AM and 5 before bed, and once a week I do a 30-40 minute athletic based IV.  Strangely, or not so, all of my cramps and muscle issues have gone away.  I've never been a big believer in supplementation because they don't improve athletic performance.  But apparently I was out of whack which contributed to my injury issues. 

Long story short, it was shocking to me that I could take four jumps from 5 lefts today and not really worry about my legs.  That and the fact that I'm jumping two days a week have really helped me adjust to a little higher level jumping in practice.  Have a great Sunday and week ahead.  Thank you for being here!  Bubba

Ozzy Osborne - "No More Tears" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CprfjfN5PRs

Best & Worst!!

I'm in a necessary phase of extensive travel for our business development that will only produce superior rewards if I grind it out like this for the next 2-3 years.  The trade off is a 3-4 training week, which really works well, except ... it's so hard to get back into the grind when you've been away 3-4 days.  That said, grind away I do.  Today made possible in part by Chickenfoot and the bad ass guitar of Joe Satriani on "Turning Left" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1Ut9L4rqBM  Have a great day!  Bubba

Progress?!

Got to jump today and felt much better.  Not great but I set low goals and reached them.  My idea was to start on a small pole and get too much pole speed.  Then slowly build up until I was on the right pole and stop.  That's exactly what I did and it felt like progress.

Two years ago I jumped 13'1"/3.99m in February.  The reason was because I sent four months jumping from 2, 3 and 4 lefts or 4, 6 and 8 steps.  This year I'm doing this with my 12'4"/3.75m poles.  Actually I ordered three more today so I can jump from 2 to 5 lefts.  I think these are a bit forgiving. 

Considering I've already jumped 12' 1/2"/3.68m on my 2nd to biggest one, and now I will have two above that, I feel pretty good that this will be a great building block.

In comparison my next to largest 12'4" will be about the same size as my first 13'7/4.15m meet pole.  The big difference is more jumps and less chance of injury ... I hope.  Have a great evening!  Bubba

Metallica - "For Whom the Bell Tolls" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17HRV8k1YMw

Expected Disappointment!!

I had a tough day Saturday because I shortcut my take offs before putting up a bar, thus causing me timing issues all day.  Two more jumps rolling the pole would have been all I needed, especially on my first day on the 13'1/4m poles. 

Today I went out with the right mindset regarding that, but with only one day of rest in between my body felt dead.  I had some quickness in my legs but no power and was easily dead legged.  Had to happen but I needed the attempted reps anyway. 

Two subpar practices but it should be fine now.  It's not unusual for the first 2-3 lift sessions to feel good and then feel worse for a bit because you're coming back with less rest.  Same for jumping.  It's frustrating but expected and it will get better.  Not hurt anyway.  Have a great day!  Bubba

Megadeth - "Angry Again" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSgV8HMuRhs

Lifting Fun!!

VERY nice to get back to a full and normal lift day.  I will try and jump low level tomorrow on one day rest so I got a long stretch in today with my lifting.  Have a great Sunday!  Bubba

Metallica - "Wherever I May Roam" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwPg8gJq_Kw