Comp week day 1 Detroit

Coming off Claw weekend there's a short week to get some work in for Detroit. The best thing is that Detroit is a short games with 5 events, so it's not bad, but I don't want to miss time to get some work in pushing towards the end of the season.

Throwing:

Open stone:

15 throws flag at 50' put 5 over easily.

Training:

Warm up

Bike

Squat - Band Jumps - Box Jumps

465x2 0:3:0:0, Light x3, x3

x5

Glute Bridge, Bar Twist, Hip abd

Bench

275+Light band x3x5

Pullups

Good day, body felt ok...considering.

THE CLAW!

One of my favorite games! Comp week did not go as well as I would have liked and I didn't feel really primed for the competition due to the neck and disruption of my training schedule. I feel like I put together a decent games and with the exception of sheaf and open stone, had a solid outing. I ended up third behind Spencer and Dan T who had great clutch throws all weekend. The best was turning the caber every time except the first pull of the comp caber. Really worked on a deep fast pull which helped a ton. Detroit caber doesn't stand a chance.

I felt like I had more in the hammer than I got, but it's always a crap shoot when you throw without blades so, I'll take it!

Weights were decent, 42+ and 83+ with better finish on the LW. I did not do well of pushing the throws after I had the 83' throw on my first, I needed to progress and did not.

I'm still trying to find the next gear, but day two gave me more confidence that it's there, I just need to tap into it.

On to Detroit.

Comp Week Day 3 Claw

Neck is in rough shape...minimal movement into extension and rotation. I've been working on it all day and really debated whether to throw hammer tonight or not. I decided that it could either

1) Get Worse
2) Get Better
3) Stay the same
4) I would learn how it would respond in comp

As 2 of those are good, one is neutral, and one is bad. I went for it.

I was able to get some throws in without too much trouble. Claw doesn't allow boots, so it's a bit of an adjustment for the hammers. I added a few more winds to slowly build up speed and stay under control and ended with a few just over 120' with the 48" light hammer. This I feel is good, and hopefully I can get a few out there this year. Took about 15 throws with the light, didn't try heavy as I didn't want to push my luck with the neck.

Comp Week Day 2 Claw

Feeling pretty good, tired from a long Monday, but that's typical.

Braemar:
Best out to 38 with better R leg drive and block
Took about 15 throws

Training:

Bench - Assisted Pushups - Landmine Single arm press - Reactive med ball push
285 x3 - Average x3 - 45x5 OC - x3x4

Was about 3 times through this, when doing the landmine OC that I felt a pretty exquisite immediate pain in my neck. Thinking locked facet or disk...not happy about this.

Come on body...get it together.

Comp Week Day 1 Claw

Moved everything back a day as per usual, but will be trying the new training out to see how I feel.

Warm Up
Bike
Throga
Hip Work

HW
Took 4 one turns out to 40+
6 more full throws near 43'

Overhead Shot
8kg to 51' in 5 throws

Training:

Lower 70% with contrast

Squat 385 x3 with
4 step sprints x2
Band scissor jumps x3
Vertical jump x3
through 4 times

Snatch
95kg to hole 4 x3x5

Core work
Side bends
Ab Roller

Gassed

OS / LW

Throwing only today. Still really sore from the higher volume single leg work on Thursday. I'm trying to find the best day for the mini peak from this weeks work and I feel pretty good other than the soreness.

OS
Took about 15 throws total, had a few out past 52' really feeling the separation and aggressive finish.

LW
Took about 8 one turns out near 80, but had no block on the L due to the hip/glute soreness. I had about 5 more full throws, but wasn't feeling anything and didn't want to reinforce bad habits.

Very happy with the stone today.

HW / Upper/Lower volume

So I'm going to reduce training to 3x per week with upper and lower each day with a daily undulation. Hopefully this keeps me fresh and I can condense it into the early part of the week with a mini supercompensation at the end of the week for competition weeks.

This was a higher volume day with reps in the 6-8 range and sets 4-5. The focus is still on moving as fast as possible.

HW:
Frustrating day. Felt great the first few warmups and started rushing again. Hit out to 42' but didn't feel good. Took about 15 throws total before it got too dark to really push any more.

Training:

Single leg squat
SSB 155x8x4 each leg
paired with
hops up the driveway - 3 hops for distance. No pain at all with these, very happy about that.

Oscillatory presses on the land mine at 45# x8x4

Side Jumps

Core work

Dun.

Off Day

Wednesday off day, feeling pretty good. I have some soreness but not as bad as I thought with the aggressive squats.

Walked to the post office and back about a half mile and then cold tub for 15 minutes.

Good day.

Hammer / Lower

Felt pretty good after yesterday. I strained my lat/serratus on the braemar. Maybe not strained...but it cramped and I kept throwing...so maybe strained, maybe just eccentrically sore. Either way, I warmed it up well and it didn't seem to be a problem.

Hammers:
The focus is still on speed as this is where my hammers need to improve the most.

14# 50" / 16# 48"
Alternating light and comp hammer x10 total at medium intensity

3 measured throws with the short 16 out to 126' high intensity

Alternating light and comp throws x6 at medium/high intensity

Working on rhythm and speed here with the light hammer hopefully potentiating an increase in speed in the comp hammer

Training:
70-75%

Squat - 4 step sprints - Hex bar Jumps - Box Jumps
405, 425, 435, 405 x3 - x2 - 140x3 - 18"x3
4 sets

Clean
75% hole 5
120kg x3x5

Landmine Core
Oscillatory single arm press 45x3x5

Braemar / Upper

Feeling decent after PDX, I'm still physically and mentally tired, but I feel good to go. So far, I've been happy with my recovery after games this year. I've been taking it easy due to the ankle, and the need to be firing on all cylinders at the end of the year but even so, I've felt pretty good after games. I've made recovery a priority and it seems to be helping.


Warm up
Bike
Hip Work
it was already late and the clouds were menacing, so I didn't do much warming up prior to throwing.

Braemar
26# took about 20 throws total which is decent volume at this weight. Best out to 38'. We looked at the video and it looks like I need to open the hips more and sooner in the throw, so that will be a focus next session. I tried to really gear up the last few throws and it was nice to be able to hit a bigger number at the end of the session.

Training
This is a high force/velocity block, so I stayed around 70-75% range for max speed/power and did some contrast methods as well.

Snatch Pulls
Hole 5: 105kg x3 x5

Bench - band assisted pushups - med ball reactive throws
305 x3 - Blue x3 - 18# x3
5 sets

Plate twists

It was late by the time I was done, but good power throughout. Really focusing on neurological improvement in the next few weeks.

PDX

Had a decent week of training leading up to Portland and felt pretty good heading into the last days before the competition.

Traveled on Thursday to Seattle, Friday was sheaf so we drove down to Portland for that. Sheaf went ok, I didn't have my fork, which always is tough, but was able to take some good pulls at 30'. Overall, it's just nice to get some throws in before Saturday especially after travel just to get a little loosened up.

Saturday

Good breakfast, great friends, and a decent competition.

Overall, happy with the turnout. It really was probably closer than it should have been between 2nd and 3rd, but I did not throw hammers well. I always have to dig out of portland just because of the Portland stone. The first time I ever through it, I screwed my knee up trying to go all out...so now I am usually pretty careful and end up at the bottom of the pack on that one. So it's always a battle to claw back up so I have to rely on my weights and hammers being that much better. My weights were good, I think I ended up with 83 and 43 ish but hammers were not great. Looking back, my set up wasn't great, but I felt good...and an easy safety throw on my last heavy hammer after not getting a mark on my first 2 (90' doesn't count as a "mark") I was able to drop one out at 105. Great, because I was really struggling to even hit 105 in chicago....but frustrating because it was a safety throw. I should be consistently good for 110+ without problem so I'll try to get that fixed before Detroit. Light hammer was more of the same. Put one into the net, tightened up and couldn't get long and loose. I was able to get some more points in the WOB and Caber was typically Caber. I am learning more of the nuances and know I just need to get a caber to practice. I have more than enough pop to turn pretty much any Caber if I get my head right around my leg injuries and get the technique down.

The best part of the weekend was hanging with my friends, good people, river soaks, and ice cream are a surefire way to make even the worst performance a distant memory...even if I might have given myself a mild case of hypothermia...Thank god for heated seats and good conversation. 2 weeks until Claw.

Comp Week Day 4 PDX

Winding down the week with the lighter throwing events. Feeling good today, minimal pain and good recovery.

Warm up
Bike
Hip work
Agility ladder

28:
Took about 6 one turns, rushing the drive and missing the finish, best out to 77'
Full throws improved as I slowed down the entry and was able to get an easy 80', sped up the entry very slightly with better block got to 83' which is a post ankle injury training PR.

Overhead Shot
Going to use this every week to 2 weeks as an indicator for training. I have set marks with the 8kg and now the 16#. Went 53'3" in 9 throws. I'd like to get that number up near 60' by the end of the season

Training:
Clean grip snatch
80% - 70kg x3x5

70# KB jumps x3x5

Done.

Felt ok, not happy with the LW but I know I need to control the entry better to line up for a better finish and then add speed to the whole system....but when you feel good, you want to go fast!

Comp Week Day 3 PDX

Day Off, did some stretching, tried to really stay up on the nutrition/hydration, and get some decent sleep.

Comp Week Day 2 PDX

Feeling a little beat up from day one but not bad. Was able to work out the soreness with a good warm up and hit some braemar stone, but not too much as Portland doesn't contest the Braemar instead doing the Portland stone...which I hate. So instead of beating myself up with the Braemar that I won't be doing this week, I hit more open stone earlier in the week as I've been changing up some technical things and wanted to drive them in a bit more.

Warm Up:
Bike 5min
Hip work
Light UE plyos
Core activation

Braemar:
10 throws with 26 best of 38'

Open Stone:
5 throws with 15 best of 51'

Training:
Keeping volume low and speed high.

Snatch
120kg hang to hole 5
x3x5

Bench
185+Light Band x3x3
225+Light Band x2x3

Assisted push-ups
x3x5

Plate twists
20kg x10 each

Good day, trying to stay fresh but get some work in. Working on improving RFD with the assisted pushups.

Comp Week Day 1 PDX

My days are a little flipped around for comp week. I try to get all my heavy work done in the first 2 days so I do HW and Braemar on Sunday, Monday is Hammers, Tuesday is off, Wednesday is LW and Thursday is usually open stone. O-stone is my worst event relatively to the competition so I try to get it in closest to the competition. Training is similar, Day 1 and 2 are fairly intense and the rest of the week tapers with mostly high speed low intensity work. I changed this week a little in that I hit hammers on Saturday since my ab was hurting and I wanted to get some work in as far from the comp as possible.

Warm Up:

Bike

Hip Warm Up

Agility Ladder

56

11 throws total out nearly to 43'

Took about 5 one turns to get to 40'+

Training:

Clean Pulls 125kg to hole 5

x3x5

Squat

315+40# chain x3x4

275+40# chain x3

Enhanced eccentric side lunge jumps

18# x3x4

Core Work

Pretty good day. Trying to keep the movements fast as I start the transmutation block. I'll keep the percentages in the 50-80% range through the next 3 weeks emphasizing RFD. Very happy with the heavyweight. Felt good to start to get some push on the weight with an emphasis on a big finish, I should be able to add a foot or two at Portland if I'm fresh. Anything 43+ would be a big boost for the end of season push.

Hammer

I decided I needed another hammer day this week since I most likely won't get one on Tuesday or Wednesday as I am working a weird schedule to get out of here to Portland. My ab held up well but started to get sore as I worked on increasing the orbit. I took some pretty high intensity throws and managed a 16# throw of 132 and a 14# throw of 141. I took probably 20 throws total. I would like to get the 14 out to 145-150 by the end of the season and I think everything else will fall into place.

Training:

10 step bounding
x7

Banded scissor jumps
x3x5

KB Jumps
70# x3x5

Glute strengthening

Not a bad day. I'm going to try to really push the explosive work this week at a higher volume and intensity that I may usually do for a competition week.

Stone

Taking it easy today, recovery is in the dumps and I've been putting in the time in some heat and not getting enough sleep. It's still more of a recovery week anyway, so I can hit it hard next week and build up for Claw

Open Stone
After a few really easy throws, took about 20 full throws ranging in effort from about 50% to 100%. Working on the rhythm of my feet and getting some lift out of the back and driving through the finish. Had a few out past 50' which is the best it's been obviously, since I hurt the ankle.

That's pretty much it. Shut it down and hit it tomorrow. I've really been delving into periodization and trying to map out my progression for the next year and even this year.

I've come to the conclusion that I will probably have to sacrifice some performance in some of the games between now and Celtic to show well there. So I will be transitioning to a block periodization scheme with my first block a transmutation block through to Claw and then an Accumulation block, transmutation block, and realization block leading up to Celtic. Hopefully that will help build some more confidence in this body leading to the end of the season. I haven't been able to be real consistent with the injury and leading up to Utah and Chicago it was pretty much just survival mode. I still put together some decent games, but I know with a good build up and taper, I'll be able to really put some good throws out there.

Here's hoping.

Heavy Weight

Still considering this a deload week so nothing too heavy. Tried to keep the volume down to improve recovery for next week.

Warm Up:
Bike
Agility Ladder
Hip activation

HW:
3 warm ups
5 one turns, hit my first mark at 38 so I did three more and was able to get one out to 41 with good pop!
That left 7 more full throws for my 15 throws for the day and I was able to get out to 42 feet but not consistent. I'm missing the aggressive finish I need to throw far here and am trying to build it too fast out of the back to make up for it. The 41 1 turn was smooth and slow out of the back with great block and finish in the front and I need the fulls to start to get that way. If I can do it with a one turn, it will come in the fulls.

Clean Grip Snatch
70kg x3x5
90kg x1x3

OHP
135x3x5

Med Ball Plyo

Hammer Winds
14, was able to do these without ab pain...so that was neat

Sheaf

Wednesday, and I need some restoration. So I did some mobility and sheaf!

Felt better with the sheaf, took around 12 full throws but video shows that I am still leaving my R arm bent and not driving down to the right. Need to fix this. Chrystal and I discussed widening my grip a bit, so I'll try that next time. Need to get it straightened out for the Claw. Will take some pulls at sheaf in PDX on Friday to line things up.

Sprints
Feeling better about running so I did some 5 step sprints which felt pretty ok

Jumps
QR ankle jumps and vertical jumps today. Need a lot more work here but coming along with minimal ankle pain

Hammer

Happy 4th of July! I celebrated by throwing hammer poorly!

Early hammer day, still feeling beat up from the past few weeks and threw a bunch of braemar last night.

Hammer
Heavy: Took about 15 throws with the heavy, trying to stay long and loose, but missing the finish. Best of around 110
Light: First time throwing the 16 in a while, hard to find the catch here, kept losing them out early, none over 130 and I strained an ab and called it a day. Really need to work on staying loose and increasing the orbit, finding the rhythm here.

Clean
Worked up to 160kg to the 7 hole I believe

Side Jumps over hurdle

Called it a day, needed to get mowing and this is a semi-unofficial deload anyway

Braemar

Feeling kind of rough today. Not a lot of sleep over the weekend and a lot of driving combined with poor nutrition and hydration today and it wasn't nice. You have to push through those times and also know when it's not worth it to push too hard.

Braemar:
20 Throws out to 37+. I am starting to work more speed into the workouts as slightly more emphasis so I went to the 18# stone for 10 throws out past 45'

Overhead Shot
18# shot x10 best of 49'5"

Snatch
90% (135kg) x2x4

This was pretty much it. I didn't want to push much more than this with a big hammer day tomorrow.

Stone

Throwing in the sandhills today. I forgot my wrist wrap in the hurry to get things packed and loaded, so I knew I wasn't going to get much today. I'm still throwing the heavier implements primarily to build some of the specific strength and had a few more today that felt pretty good and a few that were not so great. Right at 48 probably with the 18 is really pretty good without a wrist wrap so I felt good about that. Tried to stay on balance throughout the throw and get a good block/strike, but started to fall away towards the end. Ended with 35# KB throws with a sharp block with 3-4 throws out past 45'. Not sure if this is good, as I haven't even kept track of the distances and am not sure I will. I think I'll just keep track of the overhead shot throws and vertical/standing long jump as a measure of explosive power for my training charting.