The Road to Costa Mesa

[Alan H]

I thought I'd post my last two weeks workouts, just for yucks and your entertainment. What has dominated the last few weeks is a growing concern with strength loss and a burning sensation in my lower back and hips. I thought it was overtraining and muscle fatigue, but I'm pretty sure that in fact there's a little bit of compression in the lumbar spine. I need to take it easy...and did. Between Costa Mesa and Watsonville I will work on the "non-torque" throws like caber, stone and WOB.

[Alan H]

5/13

GREAT Practice last night with Bethany. We video'd it and checked ourselves as we went along. Hopefully I'll have a composite in a day or two.

HWFD:
2 x 5 single spin drills- I learned something about my cast, which I will need to incorporate if I stay with a double spin.
2 x 5 single spin drills/throws- these *flew*! I was shocked. Seriously, most of these were just as far as my doubles.
2 x 5 double spin throws- had problems with eating up trig in my first turn, and staying down during the transition...not as good as last week

WOB
Did a few at 12.5 feet going easy just to get the feel for pulling the weight OVER the bar, not just up and down. Then moved to 13, which is now something I can clear with an 85% effort. Then came the SHOCKER of the season...I tried spinning it over 13, and did it. There's video. I was stunned. We moved the bar up to 14 and I got one standing toss over 14, and smacked another one into the bar, hard. Then came the mind-blower.... I SPUN one over 14 with 6 inches to spare. It's on video. I could not believe it, I've never been able to hold on and hang with the weight in the spin before. After this I finished up with a set of 3 standing @ 14 that weren't as good, but I was tired.

Sheaf
Just did about 8 throws. I started doing some wierd stuff with my left side that got me hooking the bag in the middle of this, so corrected it. Nothing earthshaking, here. The bag cleared my 17 foot bar by "a lot".

Really looking forward to Costa Mesa!

5/17

CHAC throws tonight, had good turnout...Bethany, Robert, Me, and new Master 65 guy, Ted. Ted threw shot put in college, he'll give Jack and Kit some competition, and someone new to harrass out there . My hips and supporting muscles around the knees were weak today, probably from only getting 5 hours of horizontal time, last night.

LWFD First turn drills 2 x 5 with 23 pound weight
LWFD single spin drills.."get down, get down", 23 pound weight, 2 x 5
LWFD double spin, go for the quickest feet I can get and damn the consequences with the 23 pounder. Most throws 56-58 feet, 2 x 5
LWFD, just two with the 28 pounder, about 48-49 feet.

Light Hammer ... about 30 winds, then 6 throws just going for LONG, catching the weight as far behind me to the right as I can, and head up. Most throws around 80-81 feet. Note to self: key word in hammer is "RELAX". This is your new hammer mantra.

Little bit of Open Stone and Braemar so Ted could feel what they're like. My Braemar is feeling pretty good...open still sucks. I tried two South Africans, haven't done that it many months and my distances were no worse than anything else, but no better.

Did some caber so Ted could try it out. 4 shots with the Boar...twisted out of my hands once, so I just yanked it and managed to get a turn. Pretty funny. Foot slipped on the plant on another one and I sat down hard. BOO. Then I remembered what Dan wrote about being aggressive with the stick or it'll bury you. So I did that...BANG two 12:00's.


5/19/11


Had a crappy day at work yesterday and had to work late. So after it was over, I went out and threw stones for a while in the dark, even though I wasn't gonna touch a stone before Costa Mesa.

I figured something out in the Braemar stance which seems to help with not fouling, and also adds a few inches. After watching video and stills of Ryan Vierra and Sean Betz, I am now setting the stone up in a very different position on my jaw. This also seems to help.

Open stone...I just tried a mess of stuff. I did a couple of South Africans and a few glides and a few variations on my usual standing throw. Everything goes about the same distance, though I have spent ZERO time working on the South African, so the fact that I'm not falling on my butt is probably good. There may be room for improvement there. Still and all, my regular old "jam the hip - stand throw" gets me 8-12 inches more than anything else. It feels good, the stone launches well, I'm following through, I don't think I'm not staying with the stone out over the trig....I need video of this.

But it's still only going 30+ feet, maybe 31. I was throwing 31+ from the middle of last season, onwards, so this just confuses me. I'd think that I just need to get stronger, but there's no question in my mind that I am stronger this season than I was last season.

Finish off workout by planning for tomorrows whining about it.


5/20/11


CHAC throws last night. New Guy Ted showed up again, so I didn't kill him on Tuesday. Becky Z. came down for some work on her LWFD and WOB.

It was a catch-as-catch-can night. Warmed up with the 23 pound weight, then tried some HWFD. After four horrible throws, I packed it in, there's no point in practicing bad technique, and I simply didn't have the gas in my hip flexors to throw properly. Something is seriously wrong, here.

Then alternate LWFD with Ted and Becky...First turn drills, single spins, easy double spins, then double spins for nothing but foot speed. Becky threw over 50 for the first time, happy girl. My feet are definitely quicker for spending 4-5 workouts with the 23 pounder. Monday I go back to the 28 for the last workout before Costa Mesa.

Then some WOB, again alternating with Becky and Ted. We traded off in sets of 3, each. Ted cleared 9 feet, good for him. Becky is knocking on the door of 12. I crawled one over 14 feet, missed another and cleared 13 twice spinning. Again, performance is limited by just being plumb wore out.

The plan for WOB in Costa Mesa is to stand at 12, stand at 13, and spin at 14, if I get that far.

Finished off with a couple of caber tosses. I remembered Dans words from the other day "Have to be aggressive, or it'll bury me". So I was aggressive. I got two "almost turns"....'The Whomper" went to 90 deg and fell over to the side twice. Considering how tired I was, that's pretty darned good.

Now, 3 days off....just stair climbs and a 4 mile Saturday hike with the Mrs.



5/22/11


Easy 4 mile hike, 1200 foot elevation gain with the Mrs. yesterday. It was a gorgeous day, wildlflowers everywhere, loads of butterflies. Really nice...



5/25/11


Yesterday.... I did not go to the gym or throw early in the week because of concern with the strength loss in my hips. I'm starting to get worried about it.. It's not muscles, I've given them plenty of rest. I suspect a small compression on a spinal nerve, and so todays gym time was...

Stretch cage - 10 minutes
foam roller - 40 minutes, working on medial and lateral quads, gracilis, piriformis, and all the glutes. Wow, huge difference!

raised feet pushups... 10, 5 - 24 inch box
sit ups, incline board....20
bench rows .... 2 x 8 x 75 each side
stupid curl machine .... 10, 8 @ 60 each arm
windmills .... 2 x 10 x 25
triceps pull downs.... 2 x 10 x 70
hammer wind aab crushers ... 2 x 8 x 10 lb ball

then 5 minutes easy <2:40/500 m on the rowing machine


5/25/11


Legs felt stronger climbing stairs today, so back to the foam roller. No more workouts before CM. (((Note to self, later...HA!)))

stretch cage - hamstrings, groin, quads, piriformis .... 10 min
Foam roller - more of the above, LOTS of it for 25 minutes, made a huge difference.

situps w 10 lbs incline board ....17
shrugs .... 55lb, x15, x10 haven't done these in a year at least
incline db press - *Fast* ..... 3 x 8 x 55 lbs

cable chops from a deep twist position .... 8 x 48, 8 x 30 *fast*
seated fly ... 3 x 4 x 175, 2 x 175

elliptical ... 13/13 10 min.

and then more foam roller on my butt, about 15 minutes



5/27/11


I broke my own rules and threw last night. It's late in the week but I haven't thrown for a week and I'm always half afraid that I'll forget how.... Went easy, did mostly 85% torque throws in several events, with lots of rest in between throws and events.

HWFD ... Alan has hips again! I did three throws and fouled the last one, but in a good way if that makes any sense. I stayed with the weight and pulled linear up and out. I didn't relase in time so I got pulled over the front of the trig. However I did NOT try to pull the weight out of its natural path...no "fighting the weight" or wierd footwork. If I have to foul this is a good way to do it. I got good pulls and good distance on the first two, out to 27+ with my 3 pound overweight implement.

LWFD .... did more like 6 of these. Inconsistent, but not bad throws. 48-50 feet. Bleah.

WOB .... two @ 12, four @ 13, four @ 14 with lots of rest between heights and called it good. I still have a case of the ups and downs when I stand but it's getting a little bit better. I need to finish properly and it's fine. I'm pretty certain I can spin over 13 pretty much every time, now. I stand so far over the bar @ 13 that it's silly, now but I tend to heave it over and it hits the bar on the way down. I tried moving back 4-6 inches and that's better. Smacked the weight into the bar @ 14 every time.

Hammer .... No winds, they're too hard on my lower back for right now...four easy throws, focusing on being relaxed and starting slow, then building. 81-84 feet. The Usual.

Stone ... three standing throws... 28, 30, 30'6 or thereabouts. So I tried gliding. 31+, 32+, possibly 33. OK, that does it. Screw it. I am gliding at Costa Mesa. It's damn well about time.

Lower back was burning when I was done and there was still some strength loss in the hips but MUCH better than last week. I feel fine this morning. I will go foam roll and stretch today and that's it until Sunday.

Goals:

Braemar: 26+
Open Stone: 32 feet
HWFD: 29+ again. I did it at Woodland, I can do it again.
LWFD: 50+
Heavy Hammer: No goal- I never practice it. Anything in the mid 60's+ is groovy.
Light Hammer: 84+
WOB: dare I say it? 14.

Today (Friday the 27th) I will go to the gym and stretch and use the foam roller again. That's it before Sunday.

[Alan H]

Won it.

Didn't throw all that consistently, and still had back problems, but won it, anyway.

[Korvyn]

Well done.

[Droid]

Congrats, Alan!

[Duke of Delrio]

Rootin' for you all the way. Congratulations!!!

[o1d_dude]

A win is a win. Take them whenever you can.

Admittedly your light hammer marks were below your usual numbers but you did hit 27' and change with the BIG Braemar stone. Gotta be happy with that.

[Alan H]

A win is a win. Take them whenever you can.

Admittedly your light hammer marks were below your usual numbers but you did hit 27' and change with the BIG Braemar stone. Gotta be happy with that.

Yeah, that was the high point of the day, and I am in fact, *quite* happy with that! It's not a fluke, either, I'm going 27's in practice with my 22 pounders, now. I also popped out a good open stone throw, I just started way back in the trig, so stopped a good 18 inches in front of the board. While that's annoying, Now I know I can do it. Watsonville is two and a half weeks away.

[TimC]

Well done Alan. See ya in Watsonville.

-Tim

[o1d_dude]

More like Monterey or Fresno or Dixon.

I threw in one official practice so far this year. On the other hand, there aren't a whole lot of games to look forward to this year.

Well, if you're willing to travel to SoCal or Arizona, or Washington I guess there are some games.

[geezer mode]Back in the day, we used to throw in 15-20 games a year and never left the state except for the Reno games which were only 3 hours away. [/geezer mode]

Off the top of my head a list of NorCal games that are no more:
1. Rhino Games
2. Poco Whiskey Games
3. Dunsmuir Games (maybe this year?)
4. Campbell Games
5. Dixon Games (maybe this year?)
6. Loch Lomond Games
7. Sebastopol Games
8. Lake Tahoe Games
9. Angels Camp Games
10. Mariposa Games
11. Grass Valley/KVMR Games
12. Livermore Games

Depressing, innit? Guess we didn't realize how good we had it.