Alan's 2013 Season Log

[RogerWS76]

I saw that too but in a later post, Ryan said there would be sheaf!

[Alan H]

I saw that too but in a later post, Ryan said there would be sheaf!

We're setting up the sheaf standards at practice tonight, I sure HOPE there's going to be sheaf!

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Friday AM... well Denise and I put up the sheaf standards and she got started with the event. I took a few sets of 3 throws, and remembered how to do it, though the start was a bit shaky!

Dixon this weekend, I'm looking forward to it. Then there are three more practices here at Stanford, the Seaside Games in Ventura and that's a wrap to the 2013 season. The last practice is a "last man standing sheaf-off" with one try per height, and then we repair to Applewood Pizza for beer and pizza....a grand way to end the season. We'll do some sheaf and WOB in the next two "real" practices, and probably some stones one day and hammer the other day.

[Alan H]

Had a fun, but generally unremarkable day throwing at Dixon, on Saturday. The highlight was notching the best standing Open Stone throw in two-plus seasons, going 32' 2" with that. I can't complain about that! Hammers felt like they were flying, but they didn't. My weights are just messed up, I had to take two "SAFE" throws in LWFD to get a score, but my single-spin was a pretty decent on, for a safe throw, at 44' 5". We have a new caber, which I am looking forward to playing with, but I didn't turn it...got a 3rd place with an 85 degree score.

I got 13 feet in weight over bar, and Roger tells me that one of my attempts at 14 was clear above 13' 6", so I'll try reproducing that at Ventura.

[Alan H]

We'll be practicing WOB twice this week, so I'm going to try a different hand position.

[Alan H]

Practice last night was mostly me helping other folks relax in hammer, and get acquainted with sheaf. However, when everybody went home, it was just me and Ryan. I picked up the HWFD and delivered a series of balanced, easy throws that were all 36+, with one topping out around 38 feet. Where did THAT come from? I then picked up the 28 pounder, and remembered last year. Most of my 50+ footers last year were done completely relaxed. No big deal, no big pull, no big adrenalin amp. Just set it up, wait, reverse my feet and go. Easy peasy. Boom. 5 throws, all 49+.

I then swapped handles on the 42 pounder and went over to the WOB standards and did a bunch of throws using a different hand position. I'm not sure if the weight is going any higher or not, but it definitely has a cleaner and bigger arc. I'm less likely to put it way over the bar and then smack it coming down. I'll be trying this at Ventura.

[o1d_dude]

All tight and herky-jerky isn't a good way to throw. You should try to flow with the weight.

Smooth is fast.

[Alan H]

Ah, signs of life from Professor Soneson!.... good to see you here, again.

Last night I mostly played coach again. I'm pushing Ryan to work on his two-spin LWFD. He tossed a 54 footer last night, which is about 4 feet past his best with the single-spin so I think I might have him convinced. Schantae was out for fun. Neither of them are throwing at Ventura so this was very relaxed.

I didn't throw much, 3-4 LWFD tosses that were a bit "off" but I'm not going to stress over it.
Then pop-and-blocked a few sheaf tosses with my saggy-baggy 16 pound sheaf. It's totally NOT a flyer but I popped it over 20 feet a couple of times, so that's good. I should be able to "throw through the bag" and go 24+ as long as I remember that it's a DRIVE, not a PULL.
Then we did some WOB and I tried a few with the 56 pounder. I got 10 feet 2x and rang the bell at 11, twice. That's sort of my usual. It would be nice to get 11 for Scotland next year, but we'll see.

[Alan H]

I've been thinking my way through the preliminary layout of my off-season lifting and it seems to be working out.

My "Between Season Goal", which started last week and will actually continue until December is to get down to 285 lbs. I was 304 last Sunday. It'd be good to do next season at 285.

Ventura is Oct. 12, so I don't touch a weight until Monday Nov. 11th....four weeks off. I plan to drop ten pounds in the second half of October through Mid-November. Hopefully I'll be about 300, after Ventura, as I've been pretty good about my diet this week and will continue to do so, next week. If I can get to 290 by the time I start lifting, that would be great.

Three weeks strength block I takes me to November 29th.
Three weeks strength block II starts Dec 4th and goes to Monday Dec. 23rd. Then, long break (which I'll need!)
First week of January will be easy DL, Squat, Bench, for "form"...I'll get some coaching.... because we'll be having a HG throwers-only powerlifting fun meet the first weekend in January. It'd be cool to move 1K but I won't stress if I don't do it.

The Strength Block focuses on four lifts: backsquat, flat bench press, deadlift, overhead press. I do accessory stuff, like relatively heavy hang cleans (assuming that my wrist tendonitis clears up or eases up enough to let me do them) and "pulls"...like cable pulls or chin-ups to balance out the "pushes".

Three weeks Speed block I January 13th to January 31st
Three weeks speed block II February 5th to February 26th
Two weeks speed block III March 5th to March 19th

The speed blocks are all about fast stuff... lots of cleans, dumbell snatches, Hungarian core blasters, pushups with my feet on a pylo box, running short sprints on the track.. and also rotational stuff like landmines and Russian twists. I'll also be doing some functional training -loading some stones, flipping tires, busting on the tire with a sledgehammer, stuff like that.

We start throwing Highland Stuff the last week in March...3/25, 3/27, 4/1, 4/3, 4/8 and then Ardenwood opens the season on 4/12

Next Season will probably look like this...

Ardenwood - April 12th, I AD it.
Woodland, end of April, throwing in the B's.
Costa Mesa in May, throwing in the B's
Santa Cruz-Watsonville - I AD it. If not, then I'll throw in the B's again.
Mid-July we go to Scotland... I'll do Games at Rosneath, Inverary, Inverness and Airth. That's four Games in 18 days, which I think is about the maximum this old body can take, though Games over there aren't as many events per day as we have here. I will also try to lift the Dinnie Stones..hahahaha!.. OK, well, I can lift the little one, almost for sure. Let's see if I can get the big one off the ground. I'll also take a shot at the Inver Stone. It would be very cool to get that to my chest, though I doubt I can get it to my shoulder.. It's 280 pounds. Back at the end of July.

August - back to the 42 pounder for the Duke Kahanamoku
September - Pleasanton, if I get an invitation, which if Mark Buchanon carries out his plan (which I think would be great) to get Frank Henry and Bill Leffler out for the most amazing 60's class, ever.....I might not. If I don't get an invitation, I work on the field.
... then Dixon and/or Fresno in September
October-Finish out with Ventura

And that would be my ultimate season. After 2014, I seriously ease off on the "big weights" during the offseason training, and try to drop my own weight down to 250-255. I'll be 57 years old and it's time to take care of that business. Besides, when I do that, I'll be able to fit into some of my kilts, again!

From 2015, forward until ?? I see myself doing a lot more cardio and agility and functional strength training and not so much just plain weights. No more powerlifting-type stuff. I also figure that I'll just throw in Nor Cal and Ventura, and call it good. If I do 5-6 Games a season, that's fine. That will give me time to get back to sailing, some more. I have my eyes on the 2018 Singlehanded TransPac, and a follow-up cruise. I also would like to get back to playing more music.

[o1d_dude]

Dropping the pounds is a good idea. I'm down from 240+ to 229 and my blood pressure appreciates it.

Last night at the Rattlesnake Highlanders throwing practice I again cited the adage that "any fool can get stronger but getting FASTER is a whole different matter". I think this was after we discussed holding the 1st Annual Rattlesnake Highlanders World Championship Downhill Games...

Emphasize the speed/dynamic movements. Use kettlebells, do Oly style lifts such as high pulls, snatch grip deads, true rack pulls (the ones that peak with a shrug), power cleans if you want and your wrists can handle the work. Any plyos you do should be of the jumping UP on things rather than jumping down...much less wear and tear on the joints.

The above is not to say that benches, squats, and the like have no place in HG training. They are excellent strength builders. Besides, I like benching and dead lifting.

Weighted carries are excellent as well. Farmers Walk, Waiter Walk, and Suitcase Walk, etc. will work the core in ways you must experience to believe. Another one of my sayings: "No trains to Heaven, you walk the whole way with a suitcase in each hand".

[Alan H]

Very easy and short throws last night because A.) it gets dark early and B.) I had a church council meeting to go to. We throw some standing O stone, I'm putting it out to about 31 feet, which is fine. Then we did some LWFD, where I mostly am throwing 48's because I'm standing up too much. However, it's a bit late to fix it, so we'll see how it goes in Ventura. Then WOB with the changed hand position...a whole lot of up, but not much "over". Hmmmm. We'll see. tomorrow night is a "sheaf-off" and then whoever shows up retires to Applewood Pizza for dinner and wild stories to wind up the season.

Bethany threw some real bombs, 63+ foot LWFD tosses. Ryan is settling into this two-spin thing, threw several out to 50 feet.