Musings - Reality Check

"Well I gotta say lady, you're my kinda stupid." Malcom Reynolds, Heart of Gold Friday 8/28 was a day filled with good intentions. Planned a big blow out, yoga and a long beer walk with buddy and the dog to end the last day at 49. Hit the gym by 8:15. Emails and the phone kept busy till 8:50. Got the mile in on the elliptical, workout went like this: First Circuit 15 push ups, feet elevated, one foot up for first eight, switch last seven; 10 true deadlifts, 155, 175, 185 10 rows, 60lbs, l/r 15 Tactical Lunges, 16kg, alternating sides. 3x Second Circuit 8 snatches, l/r, 45 lb oly bar 30 swings (60 sec) 2 TGU's, each side, 32 kg, 2 each side 24kg Planks, 75 sec., one foor up each side, 15 sec. 2x, interrupted third First two went great, except snatching an oly bar is nothing like a kbell. Clanged off the machines once and one of the trainers had a pregnant client within ten feet. Fled to more open space and it was better. Last circuit, 10 minute call after second killed swings and TGU's got in the snatches and planks, but swings and TGU's were out of the question due to forced cool down. Killer 60 minute vinyasa class. Client drama all afternoon and rolled up to home by 4. Its 98 in the shade and the beer walk is out of the question. Cancel and head out for indian dinner. Good. Rose got ball play. Birthday, fully intended to go for 90 minute yoga, but hottest night ever. No sleep and Saturday brought more heat. Took Brigid up to buy her dream bmx off of Craigslist for 60.00, hit the Napa farmer's market and back home. Marsh walk was out of the questiton, took the boys to see District 9. Metamorphisis with handheld camera, great movie. Dinner and football with all extended family. Slept outside with Brigid, heat broke, Rose was noisy all night, barking at phantom threats. Second night with little sleep, but at least it was cool. Sunday's reality check was a two hour kbell seminar. Had heard it before but Patrick J. had great kbell form. Pointers: Don't be afraid to hike it back. Need to stay harder in the core, not lean back in swings. Selling me on the RKC high hip bridge for TGU's, tried it, may not bite. Snatches were good, but lock out. Left is weak. Heaviest bell was a 20 kg; not much for rows. Worth doing and good to meet two other enthusiasts. Afternoon, walked the Haight with Ian buying back to school black clothing. Fun, he slept in the car on the way home and looked like a baby. Raced home, out again for Costco TJ's run, finally home at 6:45, cook dinner. Only exercise Rose gets is chasing the wayward rabbit back in the house after dark, but she was joyful.

Musings - Elliptical Madness

"The whole of me is an unfurnished room." Bob Kaufmann, Would You Wear My Eyes Too much elliptical. Went in this am, only had time for three miles, 80 snatches, really an afterthought (60/16kg, 20/24kg) and some time in a headstand. Total exercise, maybe 45 minutes, which blows considering how strong I felt. Gotta do some alternative cardio. No evening workout, instead came home, bbq, and discussed bmx bikes with Brigid while sending up pop flies with the chuck-it for Rose. This is my bliss. blow out tomorrow, circuit train, yoga, marsh walk late. Last day at 49.

Musings - Small Muscles and Sharp pains

"It is better to send in the Peace Corps than the Marine Corps." Ted Kennedy I would love to have the muscle recovery and cartilage to handle landings from jumps like Brigid's up there. That was taken at a about 7:30 a.m. two years ago at Capitol Reef in south central Utah. She was 11, the landing would have put me in the hospital. Even now, you train and train but we are just buying time. At least its worth the price. This morning felt like a drag ass Wednesday but that faded when the coffee and Ibuprofen kicked inby 7:15 . Went like this: First Circuit Floor press, 20 alternating L/R with 24kg, immediately flip to 10 pushups, hands on bells; 20 box squats, 12" box, then clean 2 16kg immediately and 10 squat to press with the two 16kg; 10 Rows each L/R, 55lb. dumbbell; 25 walking lunges 3x Second Circuit 10 reverse pull-ups off of Smith Machine, feet on 12" box; 12 cleans each L/R, 24 kg; TGU's, tried to go back to 2 32kg each side and then 2 24kg, but lost it on the second both sides. The 70lbs came down over my head slow and in control , but felt the potential for disaster. Changed plan to 4 24kg each side, better; Figure 8 to hold, 24kg, 45 seconds, which was 15. 3x Just shaking at the end; ate one of Miguel's very fine 4.00 breakfast burritos. Felt those calories just get sucked in and the metabolism was stoked all morning. I like windmills. Almost the same as triangle pose in yoga and with the weight up there it just feels good; great long stretch. It is dicey with the back so I usually stick to a light 16kg. Threw up a 20 last week without enough warm-up and immediately felt a pull in the ribs on the left side. Feel a sharp pain even unweighted, so just have to lay off the windmills entirely, which sucks. Felt it on the TGUs but not bad. Afternoon was a good 60 minute Vinyasa class, uncrowded and not too bad after the squats and lunges in the morning thought the single leg stuff was dicey. Shitty day for Rose, no good ball time. Make it up tomorrow . . .

Musings - Rolling Stones at 150+ BPM

In the fall of 1973, The Rolling Stones played a European tour that is widely regarded as their pinnacle. Mick Taylor, all of 25, had been with the band for four years, after having built his chops in John Mayall's Blues Breakers. The tour was recorded but never widely released. Bobby Keys was on tenor, Jim Horn on trumpet, Billy Preston on organ and Ian Stewart on piano. The October 17 show at the Foret Nationale in Brussels featured a mind blowing set. The last thirty plus minutes kicks off with Can't Always Get What You Want into Midnight Rambler. Mick Taylor is on fire and the lead rythym interplay behind Keys tenor solo is remarkable. There is a brief let down with Honky Tonk Woman, but then they blow the roof off with a medley of Rip It Up, Satisfaction, and Street Fighting Man, on which Taylor is other worldly. Oh yeah, you can find it at www.wolfgangsvault.com. Join (FREE) and enjoy. So it was 7 miles on the elliptical this morning; 75 minutes of drudgery but for the Stones. HR was up over 150 by the time the slow break on Midnight Rambler kicked in and up over 160 for Street Fighting Man. Killer. Missed a too early yoga class so afternoon was core work; one minute front plank, one foot up at 20 sec, switch at 30. 10 bird dogs each side into side plank on hand for 45 seconds. 3x. Rose got her ball session around 7:00 for which she was manic; cooling off as usual as above.

The Musings - 32 kg TGUS and sick Reverse Triangle Variation

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." Hunter S. Thompson Backpacking with Rose and Brigid 8/9-8/16. Had the Kelty mini-van 6500 cubic inches strapped to the back and could have walked forever. With Brigid it is all about creek walks and swimming holes. Was off balance and precarious all week but trouble spots were minor and the back felt good. Functional fitness in action. Have not been out of the gym for that long since the last trip two years ago. Rose's feet suffered; not as bad as last time. Her retrieving drive is not her friend here. She cannot bear to have us in the water unless she is there too and no matter how sore her feet, she hauls herself up to follow, stick in mouth. Up at 6, back at the gym, this morning was: First circuit Push-ups to renegade rows, 24kgx12, 6l, 6r single leg squats to 12"step, 2"pad on right, 4" on left, 10 each side 24kg cleans, slow and careful after watching ETK again, 10 each side forearms unscathed; Pavel says your press is only as good as your clean. Truer words never spoken. Front squat, 24kg, 12 3x through. Second Circuit Lat pulls, 10 plate, 8 wide grip, five narrow Single arm 24kg swings, 30 seconds a side TGU 32kg, 2 per side woodchoppers, 6.5 plate, ten per side. 3x through. 32kg TGU's were the centerpiece of the second circuit. Been pushing the 28 at home, 32 felt good, save weak wrist on the second both sides. All to try to make the 24 light, will keep pushing this. The single arm swings went well, trolling found Jeff Martone's You Tube vid on swing basics, good explanation of the one arm swing. I had been rotating the thumb back causing the shoulder to rotate inward on the down swing which was causing strain on the way back up. Kept them tight and focussed and they went much better. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixQiYqAkUHo Also really tried to feel lats engaging coming up; Pavel talks about a turtle pulling its head in. Good article here, focus on firing the lats completely controls the swing, takes the arms out of it and protects the back, scourge of my training. www.begin2dig.com/2008/12/why-fire-lats-to-swing-kettlebell.html Evening was an hour long Dynamic Vinyasa class, with a tremendous hamstring stretching straight leg reverse triangle. Also a new transition going from high crescent to chair, by first putting all the weight on the front leg, leaning forward, engaging core and bringing the rear leg up slowly to meet the leading. Rock solid. Major hamstring work felt great after morning. Rose got screwed out of an evening ball session due to lateness of hour, make it up tomorrow . . . at least she got the left over pot pie.

The Iron

"By your late thirties the ground has begun to grow hard. It grows harder and harder until the day that it admits you. " Thomas McGuane, Nobody's Angel Yes, something was going to have to give and it was not going to be Rose. As athletic as she was, I was sedentary. Another pear shaped professional walking downtown; cardiac event waiting to happen. Self-loathing had been setting in for a good long while. Rose was kicking my ass and there was no end in sight. The kids were getting big, I was getting bigger. Rose was the tipping point. Equinox SF was opening next door. I'd been out if shape before, but it had been eight years since any kind of workout and the gap between mid 30's and mid 40's is a wide one indeed. I walked into Equinox determined to turn the tide in March, 2005. The tale of the tape was grim indeed: Age, 45, 5'10", 240. Waist, 40 and climbing. Resting heart rate, 78. Met a young trainer, Casey K. Skeptical that anyone that young could teach me anything, after ten minutes I knew he knew what he was doing. At the end of the session, he just said: "Sir, I am not ready to cut you loose in here yet." I'd already figured that out. It was like a switch being thrown and I spent the next two plus years training regularly with Casey. Cardio on off days. Religiously. Weight dropped off, moved around, came back on in different places in different forms, floated around some more; still doing that. I turn 50 in a week. Presently I fluctuate from 197 to 202. Waist, 35, Chest, 44. Resting heart rate, 53. Thanks Case. Along the way Casey got his RKC cert and I started working with kettlebells. In May 2007 late to a training session, ran into the gym and with little warm up started the first station of the first circuit, burpees coming up with two 24 kg bells. The first one felt shitty. The second one, pop, and the pain was excrutiating. Had to crawl up the stairs into bed at night. MRI revealed a severely herniated disk at L4/L5, bulging disks on either side. With rehab by Labor day 2007 it was better. Still no bells. Casey was great at showing how to modify cable machines and dumbells to take strain off the back, but twice weekly training was a waste. Would fool around with rows, but presses were dicey and swings were out of the question. In January 2008 started yoga. That helped. Started slowly back with bells. Reinjured the disk in May 2008, doing a squat to press with two 12kgs. Frustrated beyond belief I felt like I just pissed away a year. Pain was again excruciating. Had an epidural, started rehab again. All the prior work had paid off and the epidural helped tremendously. By the end of July 2008 it felt great. Started working with bells again 12 months ago. I don't intend to stop.

The Dog

"It is easy to forget that in the main we die only seven times more slowly than our dogs."
Jim Harrison, The Road Home.

November 2004, November 11 at around 4:00 p.m. to be precise, a friend we have not seen since delivered a nine week old labrador puppy to our home. The arrival was unannounced; apparently a whim on her part, though I may never get the full story here. I was not happy with this addition to the family. With three children, and a menagerie that included two cats, a parrot, two geckos, several fish tanks, a guinea pig, and a rat, my plate was full.

But the puppy had arrived, with the vague promise that our friend would return in a week or so to reclaim the dog. My then eight year old daughter was enthralled, as was the entire family, except me. The responsible father who experienced a quiet joy when whatever tragic accident or insidious illness offed one pet or another, bringing the total closer to a reasonable number, however fleetingly.

By around 10:00 p.m., I was sitting on the kitchen floor nursing not my first glass of moderately priced cabernet with Rose, as she would soon come to be known, stretched out beside me, all twelve inches or so of her. I sat, stroking her impossibly soft muzzle, and murmering that she would be, in fact, the best dog in the world. She responded by growing limper and limper, tiny puppy farts wafting up from the linoleum.

Now I am not the first to be sucked in by canine devotion, nor will I be the last. As Rose grew, she became quite active. We had never owned a dog before.  Daily exercise was required and at four months, she was all over and everywhere; racing about the beach, yanking my arms out of the sockets, running me into the ground. I was 45, she was four months; the math was not going to work in my favor.

Her athleticism was, and remains, stunning; powered by an unstoppable retrieving drive and a love of water. At five months she would leap unafraid and undeterred into the surf; focussed on the ball, there was nothing but the ball. I was fat, and out of shape and had been for nearly a decade. Change was required to stand a chance of surviving this now welcome intruder.