Almost Forgot

I was trying to post this on Nancy's ipad and did something wrong so I'm back at my computer. Got my 10 X 50m hills in between rain and cold. Long gym day tomorrow. Short but at least I'm here. Have a great night! Bubba

Two Weeks Until Reno

At 5:30, in two weeks from this moment, I'll have finished my warm up and be waiting to start jumping in the meet. My final plans are starting to shape up. I changed my lifting today from 8,8,6,6 to 6,6,4,4 with a 20 rep max (instead of 28) per secondary exercise. Not surprisingly in two weeks I have already gotten stronger as I'm doing my "6" sets with what I use to do for 4s. The most important thing now is to make sure I get my full stretching in each day and miss no scheduled workouts no matter what the weather or how I feel.

Monday I'll hit the diet correction. I like to train 3-4 lbs. (2 kg) heavy and then lean down for the meet. I'm faster on the runway, hold my positions better and the poles throw me harder. Everything feels quicker. So I've upped the bars and added about 25% to my stretches.

I think that is about it for now but I will have more thoughts as I get closer. Have a great day and thanks for your support. Bubba

Odd Day @ the Gym

Got on the stairs and bike today and felt really good so was cranking away like usual. Got to the lifts and bars and they felt good so I was going hard at that too. Then a guy I haven't seen for a long time came over and started talking to me. Fortunately I was almost done, but it just completely took all of the steam out of my session and actually made me feel tired. I had four exercises left and people were on them either reading or looking at their phones and I just wanted to yell - GET THE HELL OUR OF THE WAY!! THAT IS NOT WORKING OUT!! Instead I left without stretching. This is a FAILED day in my eyes because I rarely let anything else throw me off of my appointed task.

If I had it to do over again I would do the same because Sal is the manager of a restaurant we always go to and he is being transferred back to the one by our house. I had gotten enough done but this shows why I don't talk to people at the gym; I'm working out. So after a nice visit with Sal, checking up on his son and dog, transfer, etc., he gave me a hug and said, "great to see you GREG!". That about sums up the day at the gym and I suddenly find that very ironic and funny. Have a great day and thanks for being here. Bubba - AKA - Doug or Greg

Back At It

Sled/hills felt heavy and sluggish today but I got all 10 done. It was 25 degrees this morning and 44 when I ran this afternoon. As usual for Texas, it will be 74 on Saturday, and raining.

Two weeks from tomorrow I head to Reno so I need to start refining my final ramp up. Though my legs felt dead today my body feels healthy and uninjured. Tomorrow will be a little test of the groin on the leg press again after cardio but I'll go a little easier and report back.

Kris isn't going to Reno this year so I think we may be shipping our poles through www.flyawaypoles.com. Shipping is the only way to go because they are picked up from the high school, arrive at the venue, and then are returned back to the high school and you never touch them in between. We can send two bags for a total of about $120 each for three people. The airlines, IF they take them, charge $80 each way and then you have to rent a car to transport them. We'll decide tomorrow or let Kris ship them if someone is getting a car.

I'm not going to Joshua even though I feel like I could jump. Not smart I don't think. Stick to the plan and train through it and start getting mentally and physically primed for Reno. Can't wait to jump at the big event and see all of my friends. Unbelievable experience. More soon. Bubba

Time Off

I made the decision to take two days off so I don't have to crawl back out of being trashed and HOPE to recover by Reno. After cardio the other day I felt the groin thing a little on leg press. It wasn't injured but it woke it up a little and I don't like that. I also added hang cleans back in and that jacked up my glute nerve thing a little.

I learned a long time ago that when you have an issue you go right after it. So yesterday I said, SCREW this back/nerve glute thing and did straight legged deadlifts as well as lunges and hang cleans. It worked as I actually feel a little better today. That said, I keep hearing my friend, the late orthopedic surgeon, Glenn Almquist warning me of "sunburn". This means when you first go out in the sun your skin isn't ready yet so you back out and then you can go out again for a little longer the next time. So after blasting my direct issues yesterday I'll take today off and resume tomorrow. HATE it but it's the thing to do.

Hope you are all having a great day. Thanks for hanging in here with as I try to figure this stuff out. Bubba

Stronger & Better

One week ago I decided to bump all of my reps up to 28 so that means any combination to hit 28. Previous to that I was going 18 one day (8,6,4) and 12 (6,4,2) on the 2nd day. I also added three cardio days where I go 12 minutes on the Gauntlet (actual stairs, not the tip toe up and down) and 12 minutes of stationary bike. I'm doing this instead of 200s/150s/100s. Instead of sled/hills on days of 8, 10, and 6 all days are 10. So one week later, I'm not only still standing but all of my lifts are almost up to where I was with the fewer reps. I know I have been in a maintenance mode in all areas while I got used to the 14' 7"/4.45m poles, but apparently I have more strength and endurance in reserve.

As I have gotten more aggressive I feel small hints of the groin deal but had I jumped last Saturday I would probably be jogging at 20-30% instead of running sled at 80-85%. I feel REALLY good about that decision last week. As hard as it was I needed to be cautious. Along the same lines, I will skip Joshua to be 100% at Reno. And yet again in a precautionary move I have asked to be put on Pit 2 instead of Pit 1 so I don't have to be on huge poles right from the start. All in all I'm where I need to be and am surprised that my body has responded so well to the bump in all loads. But that can change as time goes on. Have a great Sunday and thank you for supporting me! Bubba

Good Sled/Hill Day

After barely surviving yesterday's lifting I was a little surprised to feel so good running today when I did my 10 X 50m sled/hills. Got up to about 80-85% and never felt the groin cramp I had last week.

Cold day with ice on the pit this morning. Next week will be in the teens. Not my idea of Texas weather but we have been lucky so far. I expect the usual two months of crap now.

I saw on masterstrack.com that the entries are now posted for the World Championships in Sacramento in July. Normally that's a BIG complaint, you don't see the list until a week or so out. You can check it out here - http://wma2011.com/en/registration-status.htm

I wasn't tempted to vault today but I was tempted to reconsider and jump at Joshua next weekend. I decided against because I feel so good only one week after a scare at the Belton meet. Might as well keep cranking on the training and get it totally clear.

Hope you have a great Saturday and thanks for checking in on me! Bubba