I ran my speed endurance section today with 3X200m, 2X150m and 1X100m and felt pretty good. One week ago I flared up my heel just a little doing the full warm up and speed session of my workout. So it took me 8 days to run one rotation. I'm being cautious but that's what I mean by "No Man's Land". Who knows how long it will take me to get to the point of two speed sessions and two speed endurance sessions per week? What I do know is that I will not jump until then.
Both speed and speed endurance programs are 14 weeks and I won't advance from week one until I can hit all four rotations. Sure, I can vault low level today but that's not what I'm after. I MUST raise my running level before starting. These aren't tough workouts but my body is not used to them at all, which I think is a great sign.
Enjoy Father's Day for all who that applies to! Have a great day and thanks for being here! Bubba
UFO - "Rock Bottom" -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpUsULr_uLw
Please click to enlarge
I went out with the Dana Hills kids this morning for our third session this week. It came to the point it was easier to demonstrate than to explain, so I did some little take offs without incident - thankfully. I also just got a message and a photo from My friend Phil Bisson of Kirk Bentz's winning jump today at the Southern California Masters Championships at 12' 6" (3.81m). My gut feeling is that I absolutely would have gotten injured had I went so I'm glad I passed. I learned a couple of years ago when I drove three hours to the San Marcos River Vault that spectating was not for me. Sure I like to go watch a good meet but not when I'm hurt. It reminds me of watching World Indoors in 2010 in Canada. I'm glad my friends did well but it sucked for me.
Yesterday I went to watch the new movie, "Rock of Ages" with Tom Cruise. Except for that whole "musical aspect", Tom Cruise was outstanding. Here he is singing Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuxdZqZ3egE
A word about my music. I have heard a few times that my varied music tastes don't seem like something I would listen to. My response is that I coach kids and some of their music appeals to me as far as beat and drive. All I know is that when I'm grinding through a tough workout I'm not dialing up the Carpenters or John Denver. Admittedly when I go to look for the video for a song that drove me that day, I'm sometimes a little shocked by the video. My only connection is that when I was suffering and wanted to quit, they got me through. Have a great day and thanks for following my journey! Bubba
PS - Late Add - Today I finally have arrived. After 14 years at UC Irvine and 9 years at The Wooldands High School, today I finally got a bathroom key to a stadium where I coach. Old guy thing. ;-)
When I chose to move back to Southern California I had a huge project to work on. Though I have plenty to do here that project is just coming out of some bureaucratic delays. It will be better than was anticipated, but it had to make some changes to position itself to move forward more effectively. In the interim I got a couple of huge deals in Denver that have settled into being there Monday/Tuesday every other week. Financially I'm in the same place I expected to be, but from a different source. Now the one deal I came here for will come online and the upside is even greater.
ALL of this was a calculated gamble to make the move, but I can do what I do no matter where I live. I lived in Texas and do deals in 49 states, mostly with people I've never met. I figured even if I had no business here I could still financially make the move so why not go for it. The Beverly Hills deal was as much of an excuse as an opportunity and I'm glad I took it. I love living in paradise but it took a roll of the dice to make it happen. Well, kind of.
That's how I feel about my training right now. Tomorrow is the Southern California Masters Championships and I won't jump. My leg is feeling great but that whole "insanity" definition keeps going through my head and it says NO!! Insanity is expecting a different result by doing the same things. So I won't.
I'm in a comfortable position right now in that I feel totally confident in my plan for this/next year and feel no need to rush through certain parts to get to other parts. If I have learned anything it is that you need to get the most out of every level before you move on. Like my running - I have run one day this week when normally I will run four. So I won't move to week #2 of my 14 week running program until I complete a full week one. It may take me a few weeks to ramp up to that, and that's cool. Until I can do that it makes no sense to vault, but doing big pole drills right now is perfect.
It's JUNE and my big meets are in August and October of NEXT year. I'm not interested in a meet in a meet until Reno in January. So for the moment, I'm at peace with being "early for next year". Currently time and health are on my side. I'll take that and be grateful as well all know moments like this are fleeting. Thanks for being here! Bubba
"Hold on Loosely" by 38 Special
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJtf7R_oVaw
Well, not really. I'm supposed to run speed endurance, 3X200m, 2X150m and 1X100M. I chose not to because I want my heel flare completely gone before I run on Sunday. This Sunday I will do exactly what I did last Sunday and then go to Denver for M-W. The heel feels much better than a few days ago and I'm sure it will be fine. That said, I have had plantar fascitis before and you don't risk it; so I won't. Have a great evening! Bubba
I do a lot of thinking these days while training. It's kind of odd because I usually just get lost in my sessions like long distance runners or cyclists do. I think I'm adjusting to my new life, which is really the old life that I missed; consistent training. When you've worked as hard as I did and lost some fitness it's hard to regain the momentum necessary enough to sustain an effort to get it back. Don't get me wrong, I'm very strong and very fast for me, but I'm fragile to a greater degree because I have only "maintained" rather than advanced my fitness. SO, here are my random thoughts.
It has many times been said that three letters in the word "routine" are "rut", and three letters in the word "diet" are die". Unfortunately you need some of both of these in order to gain momentum. On the other hand, a friend used to tell me to be selective in my training thresholds with this reasoning; you can begin picking up a calf on the day it is born, and for training you can go out and pick it up every day - for awhile. At some point you can't pick up that cow so why kill yourself and kill the fun of the process?
Along these lines, I used to time every running rep and tried to PR in some lift each day whether it was a PR for a 6 rep, a 3 rep, or whatever. I got better real quick but I dreaded my workouts after awhile and begin getting hurt all of the time. Now I just go with what my body gives me, I ignore the weak mind but listen carefully to the weak body.
Today I'm Mike Myers as the "Fat Bastid", but I'm starting to feel like an athlete again. That feeling will get me over the threshold of fighting myself to be consistent. It also makes me more careful about what I eat.
The moral of today's story is that I have found that without a routine and diet in the initial stages, that I will quickly get in a rut and die athletically while diffusing my internal spirit to get better. In short - I hate myself!! When you're feeling fat and out of shape it's easy to continue the same because you can't get it in gear to get moving all of the time. When you start to get fit you say you're never going back. to fat I can't wait to say that again, but unfortunately that part is required - the wait.
Have a great day and thanks for being here. Today's music is Heart's, "Crazy on You", which I am working on with my guitar. Bubba
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gpNqB4dnT4
There is no fountain of youth nor do we seek it. What we are really trying to do is to stop the slide. I will be 59 in less than two weeks so I think about this stuff. I look a lot more forward to turning 60 and being the youngest person in my age group, then I do 59 and being the oldest. So how do I get through this when my body and mind say NO?!
Clearly if I jump 12' (3.66m) every year until I die then I improved every year. Of course that won't happen as age assures that your capacities will be diminished. Defying age in this manner "feels" like a fountain of youth to us othe the downswing on our abilities. And THAT is why I continue the grind in a battle I know I will eventually lose. The longer I can stay the same the longer I can improve. With that said I have cleared 13' (3.97m) or higher since I've been 55, but I'm trying to keep it real.
So the longer I can hold my baseline jump to 12' from 6 steps, the more likely I can remain at that height even if it requires 12 steps. To do this I must have certain lifting, running and bars benchmarks. It's not rocket science but it works.
Have a great day and thanks for caring enough to follow this foolhardy journey of an old man. I see a lot of myself in this superhero from days gone by - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPU8OAjjS4k in "Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down. Enjoy and step up to the starting line and march with me!! Bubba
It's been said a million times that you can't hold your peak too long and that at some point you have to cycle down and ramp up all over again if you're ever going to find the next level. You can't just continue and expect to grow from the top. The base must be revisited.
I think this has been me since just before I moved. I needed to be within striking distance to jump high at any point and as a result I had good residual strength and speed but my base had completely disappeared. For example, yesterday I did what used to be my warm up and it not only felt like an endurance workout, but made my feet sore from all of the running. I shouldn't be surprised that I keep getting these little dings. So yesterday I began the complete regroup. I'm sure it will take me a goo 3-4 months before I am in "worthy" physical condition again but that's where I need to go.
My metabolism has slowed to point it's a struggle to control my weight so it's back to the grind of base work. I'm actually relieved. My next meet on my horizon is Reno, in January 2013. And THAT is what it takes to get to "Higher Ground" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gs2o5T7oN8 Thanks for being here! Bubba
