Comp Week Day 5 - P-Town

Last high intensity day before comp!

Late night after work, and the sun isn't staying up as long so I'm throwing in the dark...not ideal

Throwing:

Warm Up
Bike, Hips

28
power position x3
1 turns x5
Full Throws x3

No measurements, not sure where they landed and I'm trying to get some work on feeling the weight and staying smooth through the finish.

Training:

Squat - Drop Jump Squat - Side Lunge - Lateral Plyo
335x2 - x2 - SSB +30kg x3 - x3 off R.

Trying to keep it short and sweet but get some CNS stimulation

Feeling good.

Comp Week Day 4 - P-Town

Feeling pretty good, the higher velocity movements seem to be tolerated well. Knees are a little beat up, but doing ok.

Throwing:

Hammer
16
Warm up winds
Single Winds up to 125' really working on the finish with an aggressive extension and lift. Felt pretty good and had a single wind out around 130

Full throws
Took 1-2 throws to get 130' and not blow through the finish
took probably 8 more trying to find the rhythm and finish. I probably had one of the best hammer series in practice with my last three "competition" type throws between 132 and 135.

Took 3 with the 14 and hit a long of 141.

Training:

Cleans paired with med ball overhead
153kg x1 + 18 med ball x1 x2
Oscillatory bench 135x3x3

x4

Good day.

Comp Week Day 3 P-Town

Getting used to the lower weights and hoping that it's what I need! It's all about building speed.

Throwing:

Warm Up

Bike 

Hips

Braemar 26#

10 throws best out to 38+

Training:

Warm Up

Squat worked up to 315x3 (prime the CNS)

Squat - Hurdle Hops - KB Jumps - Box Jumps

275x3 - x5 - 106x2 - x2

x4 3min rest

Between

Plate twists/winds/SB

Good day, felt fast. Really excited to potentially get a tendo in a few weeks in exchange for some NE Beef.

Comp Week Day 2 P-Town

Feeling a little sore from yesterday's WOB and contrast session. I did not train today so I can really lock in on a good practice. I was able to maintain focus well and get some good work done.

Throwing:

KB block/release

35#x10

56

1 Turns x6 best of 41

Full throws nearly to 43'

Feeling much better loading up at the finish and am hoping comp environment adds a foot or 2. I'd really like to be 44-45' this weekend, so we'll see if I can make that happen.

Comp Week Day 1 P-Town

Game Week!

Not sure why...I'll blame laziness, or apathy, or ego; but I have not get gotten my WOB standards out this season...I know 100% that I have not had the power or consistency in this event this season, and this is why. No excuses.

Saturday:

Throwing:
WOB
a few at 14' to warm up. Then we begin:
15' x 5
XXOXX
16' x3
XXX
17'x2
OX
18'x3
OOO but touches all 3 throws

Training:
Squat - ISO WOB pull - WOB - KB Jump
345x4 - 5" - 16' until made 1-3 throws - 70# x2
x4 3' rest

between
Oscillatory BP
60kg x3/1/3 x4

Not bad, very happy with the ease at 17' and the touches at 18. Need more consistency but at this point, I'm afraid to overtrain this event. Next week, I'll pull it out on Monday and work at 16' and see how many out of 10 I can get on Tuesday after hammers. Weight % will continue to reduce over the next 4 weeks to peak for Celtic.

Off Week Day 3

Not a great day of throwing. Training went well, I felt I had a lot of speed and explosion with the lifts. Starting to transition to lower % but higher speed and I feel like this is going well. I'm 99% sure that the problems with throwing were from the energy drink I had on the way home. They always seem to throw my timing off and I didn't feel like I could get my feet down fast or under control.

Throwing:
28
Took about 15-20 throws...trying to find the groove...still it evades me.

Training:

Squat - Sprint - Hex Jump - Squat Jump
445x2 - 2 trips - 160x2 - BWx3
x5 4 min rest

During rest times I worked on KB weight throw power position finishes, core, and pullups.

Throwing was awful, nothing over 80' which is atrocious...at least I know the cause. One more day of training before we start COMP WEEK!

Off Week Day 2

Feeling decent this morning after a hot shower. Everything was sore when I got up, but calmed down once I got moving. Scheduled a float today to get some relaxation and mental work done and that went well.

Throwing:

OS, working on the getting to the finish on balance, left foot down quick, and a smooth fast finish.

Felt good overall. I could tell I had quite a bit of fatigue in the legs from the weekend, but went ok.

Last 3 throws taken competition style went 51+, 52+, and 53+ which is a practice PR for that stone.

Training:

Starting to reduce the weight to work on speed.

Squat - Hudle Hops - Jump Squat - Assisted Jumps.

489x2 - x5 - 70kg x3 - Average Band x3

x5 4min rest

Between sets:

Thrower's Rows

Oscillating Bench Press 70kg x3

Good day, felt good on the open stone, practice PRs are perfect for this time of year and if I can keep my head right, should help immensely in games. 

Off Week Day 1

Pretty tired still from the weekend. Probably did too much hammer as my knees are pretty upset.

Not sure why, but I did a dumb thing last week and didn't adjust my days optimally. I have Tuesday's off, and Mon/Wed are my longest days at work. So stupidly, I did my hardest lifting days on Mon/Wed. Good during comp weeks, as I recover for the weekend, but bad on off weeks as it's not optimal.

In light of that, we adjust.

Throwing:
Braemar. Took about 15 throws, had one out at 39' but I must have blacked out, as I have no idea where or how that happened.

Training:
Clean at 87.5% which is about 160kg
x2x5

NormaTec and Bed.

Off Week Day 6

Very upset with how hammer went yesterday. Got some good video, found some easy things to fix, and decided to try to fix them today.

Plan was: no more than 15 single winds with a goal of 120', then no more than 5 full throws.

I hit 120' on my 6th single wind, did 4 more for 10 today and then my 5 full throws out to 130'

Off Week day 5

Hammer session #2.

Disappointed with hammer this week on Tuesday, and I didn't train on Friday, so I figured I'd give it a go and see how it went.

Not great.

Probably took around 20 throws and really never found the finish. Finished the day with 10 single winds with the 14.

The plus side is that I got some good video.

I was able to compare it to earlier in the season when I was throwing decently before my ankle injury. Looks like I'm really missing the finish. All of them are coming out way early and I'm just not finishing the throw fully. The switch to the 3 winds from the dynamic start is partly to blame I believe for my light hammer struggles. I am going to go back to the 2 winds and start at the finish to see if I can find it again before the end of the season. I know I have 140'+ throws in there, I just have to get everything to line up.

The right side of my back was really giving me trouble too...feels like a muscle issue, so I'll need to get that sorted. Good thing is, it shouldn't bother me with anything other than WOB. We'll see how this next week of training sorts out and go from there. I'll shift my days a day later this week as it makes no sense to try to squeeze training into days that are already late...it really screws up the end of the week for me.

Off Week Day 4

Light volume day.

Throwing:

56

10 one turns out near 40 but never got a good balanced finish, rushing the sprint and not getting set at the front.

5 full throws out to 42-43

Overhead Shot Put

8kg best of 51'7" which is an improvement

Training:

Clean grip snatch

New PR of 90kg

Worked at 90% of 90kg for 4 singles at 80kg

Cold Tub

Off week Day 3

Last heavy day before the end of the season 5 weeks out from Celtic and a lot of things are going to happen real quick before that. I may decide to add a heavy day here and there if I feel like strength is an issue, but hot nasty speed is what we are after.

It was late when I got to training and the days are starting to get shorter...which really sucks...

Throwing:
Stone
Took about 10 throws total last 4 were over 50 and best of 52'. It was one of those throwing days when everything feels like it's lining up and all you have to do is go faster to go further. I like those days.

Training:
Warm up was done between warm up sets of squat and included:
Hip swings, KB swings, Hip activation

Squat - Squat Drop Jump - Jump Squat - Assisted Jump
515x1 - x3 -  90kg - Average band
x4

Between sets I did:
Pullups, hanging leg raises, row, band pull aparts.

Good day, felt fast on the squat and felt I managed the fatigue well.

Off Week Day 2

Tried to throw hammer and weight, but had no gas today. The past 5 weeks have caught up with me and last night's training was the last nail.

Throwing:

Hammer

Took many throws with the 14 and struggled to reach 140'

early throws felt much better so I will chalk it up to fatigue. 

28

Took about 8 one turns out to around 80

5 full throws but kept getting hung up in the strap and my body was starting to really shut down.

Training:

Clean 90% x2 x4

162kg

Bench

OC-D 135x3x5

Accessory.

Worst workout I've had in a while. Lacking sleep, recovery, and nutrition. Just need to keep pushing through the end of the week on the higher intensity before I will back down for the end of the year push. 

Persevere.

Off Week Day 1

No throwing today, too late to get any work in and I wanted to hit the weights hard and get to bed.

Training:
Warm up
Bike, Hip work

Squat - Jump Squat - Hurdle Hops - Accelerated Jump
485x2 - 75kg x3 - x5 - x3
x5

In between I did core work and accessory.

Building more of that go-fast!

FERGUS GAME DAY

Well, I wrapped up the competition week on Thursday with some decent snatches and better overhead shotput which indicates that I'm fairly explosive currently. I had a less than ideal travel schedule as I was a late add to the comp and had to find a flight that wouldn't screw up my work schedule too much. I ended up missing a few hours of work to take a late flight to Toronto. After all was said and done, I was in my rental car on the way to the hotel at about 1:00 AM Toronto time and in bed at about 1:45 only to wake up at about 6 to get to the games on time in Fergus. A Monster, gas station donut, and muscle milk later, it was go time.

I knew I had a decent chance to end up in the mix of the top 3 but had my work cut out for me. I ended up 2nd in the heavy open stone, 3rd in both hammers, nothing crazy here, really need to find the groove in the hammers, I won the 56 and was 3rd in the 28. In a crazy turn of events, I was able to win the comp caber with a 12:30 throw which I really needed, and then it came down to the 56 for height in the overall. I needed to win outright to have a chance on count-backs to win against Lorne and was able to do so on my 2nd throw at 16'. Should be automatic, but it hasn't been for a while...which just means I need to get my standards out again and put in the time. I was very happy to get the win overall in a good group of throwers and to do it when it mattered. Biggest weaknesses are hammers and I really need to get those to progress in the next few weeks. 

I have a few weeks off before P-Town and need to be hitting on all cylinders there to have a chance on the podium.

Comp Week Day 4 Fergus

Last training day, all about speed.

Training:
Warm Up
Bike
Hips
Agility Ladder

Clean Grip Snatch
73kg x2x5

Paired with

Overhead Shot
16# x2x5
Best to 54'2"

Cold Tub
NormaTec

Pack.

Comp Week Day 3 Fergus

Heavy day, body is feeling decent but my knee has started to hurt. Had a good talk with the other half of Team Boom about some mental things and feel much better about where I am.

Throwing:
HW
determined to make this go.

Best 1 turn 40', took about 5
Full throws out to 44', no more than 7 of these


Training:
Warm up
Bike
Hips
Throwing

Squat - Jump Squat - Assisted Jumps
515x1 - 70kg x3 - Average x3
x4, 4 min rest

Between sets

Blast strap rows
Side Bends
Plate twists

Comp Week Day 2 Fergus

Feeling decent from yesterday, no soreness. Big day today as I have the day off of work as usual so I can get some more work in.

Throwing:
Hammers - 14/50", 16/49", 22/48"
Took about 8 throws with the 22 best out to about 108 which is very good with the short handle
Alternated the 14 and the 16 to work on speed and went out around 130 with the 16, no measurement on the 14 as I really just wanted to use it to potentiate the speed on the 16. I can feel myself just a little behind the finish on both the 14 and 16 which is why I'm using them, so I can work on catching and getting out in front for the finish.

28
Took about 20 throws total, most of them were 1 turns as I'm trying to find the groove. I did hit a few out to 82' which is the best the one turns have been post ankle injury. By the time I got to full throws, considering the workout last night, and the hammers, I was cooked. I went for rhythm and got a few out to 83'

Training:
Clean to hole 8 using 80%
145kg x2x5

Bench
225+light band 0:3:0:0 x2 x5

Blast strap accessory

Not bad, feeling a little better about hammers and weights. These events will make or break my performance at Fergus, so I will need to be sharp...very good hammer throwers there.

Comp Week Day 1 Fergus

Got everything shaken loose and ready to hit it hard this week for Fergus. This is the last game in a string of 4 and I'm happy that I feel pretty good considering I've ramped up the training intensity in preparation for end of season peaking as well as all the travel and competing I've done.

Throwing:
Stone
Fergus throws and "open" stone but it weight 26#. I played around with spinning and really didn't get much except for elbow pain. I will plan on Braemar unless something crazy happens.

26# stone
Took about 15 throws really working on timing the hips and shoulder with good block. Hit a few out past 38' which is very good for me.

Training:
Tweaking things a tiny bit this week and doing UE tomorrow

Squat - Jump Squat - Hurdle Hops
455x2 0:3:0:0 - 70kg x3 - x10
x5 w/ 4 min rest between

During rest breaks
Shoulder work, Side bend 106# x15x5

Good neurological day, 455 felt fast even with the 3" pause. I used the pacer on my stop watch to beep every second so I didn't cut my isometrics short. Knees felt good, good pop on the jumps.

DETROIT GAME DAY

Feeling good! Plane ride was ok, cramped but short. Good night out with the fellas the night before eating was solid and was able to get some good sleep due to the late start time.

Game Day:
Felt good, obviously a little more fatigued than usual due to the increased intensity this week.

Open stone: 53' season best, felt some decent pop at the finish

LW: 80' disappointing, had more in practice, too rotational

HH: 110' season best, feeling the extra speed is helping

Caber: No comment

WOB: No comment (except that I was launching them to at least 18' just out in front)

Ended 3rd. Before WOB there were 3 points separating the top 3, so that was good to be there. Podium is always good, but disappointed with the last 2 events.

On to Fergus...

Comp Week Day 4 Detroit

Rushed evening. I had to get the lawn mowed, bag and box packed, and training done.

Warm up:
1 hour on the lawn mower
5 min on the bike

Throwing
Not much today, no time

Training:
Clean grip snatch
85%
70kg x2x4
Paired with

Med ball overhead throw
18# x2

Cold Tub

Comp Week Day 3 Detroit

Wednesday. Usually an off day, but due to the compressed week, we work.

High intensity day >90% but no significant upper body work today as I got that in on Monday.

Throwing:
28# WFD
8 one turns, a few out near 80.
10 Full throws 84 best. I feel good, I feel like things are lining up better, just need a better finish at the end.

Training:

Warm up

Squat - Hex Bar Jumps - Depth Jumps off 12"
500x1, 100x2, 12" x2
x3

Accessory
Blast strap pushups
hip extension
Pike pull in.

Cold Tub x10 minutes
Normatec x25 minutes

Comp Week Day 2 Detroit

No rest for the weary...

The plan I put together to peak for the end of the year, taking into account the loss of conditioning due to my ankle injury, requires fairly heavy work for the next 3-4 weeks. Unfortunately, I also have games those weeks. So my plan is to cut everything down to intense training days 2x per week with one olympic lift done on each of the other throwing days. These will be heavy days...80-100% but reps and sets will be kept low.

Throwing:
22# Hammer 48"
Took probably 20 throws total including warm ups. Felt the groove on a few and hit out around 110'. I like the speed on the shorter hammer and it feels more like it does in competition.

Training:
Cleans
I needed a more accurate mark for a hang pull to hole 8 so I worked up to 180kg. Using that number, I took 85% of that to get 153kg. I didn't feel like trying to get 3 extra kg, so went with 150

150x2x5

Felt good to move the 180kg, even though it wasn't super high! Ha ha!