2 Weeks Until Warrior Dash

Actually less than that. I will be honest...I am not ready for this crap. My foot is still a mess and realistically the most running I've been doing lately is the occasional Rugby practice. Now I've heard this course is not really that bad at all. It's the one near Canton, Ohio FYI. Heard it is pretty flat and not very challenging. So that is at least good news. My grip is just running that long without much training is a little unsettling to me. Although I heard that there are usually traffic jams near the obstacles anyways so I guess I'll get some rest stops along the way. Works for me, I guess.

I have practice tonight so running should get taken care of there. Otherwise I have about 12 days to prepare. So likely tomorrow Im hitting the bleachers again. Thursday I don't think theres practice so it'll likely be a sprint and sled pushing day. Friday I may try and get some hill runs in. Saturday maybe a few miles? Sunday I have pretty much booked so maybe a quick lift and thats about it. Like I said the biggest issue I am going to have is my right foot is still recovering. 5th metatarsal is likely going through a stress fracture. Lot of swelling in the usual spot (I've had this injury before). So that's the plan but we shall see how Im feeling day to day.

Thought of the day / mini rant

What is the issue with the younger generation lacking any sort of critical thinking ability? I'm not sure if it's this focus that schools have with just take a test on how well you can memorize things and move on or too many kids taking meds for every damn thing ever. But I swear if something happens that require to use their own free will they lose their minds.

Can't find something in the area I was told? Oh well not here.

That sentence didn't make sense. Should I make an initial thought on what they meant and follow up with a question? Nahh I just don't get it. Period.

What's this mean? Better avoid it instead of figuring it out.

And above all else it seems non have any desire to expand and learn. For that I blame Yolo and swag... And Bieber. And Disney Channel.

Weekend Superset Workout

If you need to get a quick lift in for the weekend and are not familiar with supersets well here's a brief intro to them and a sample workout.

Supersets are very fast ways to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time. Not quite circuits which involve several exercises or AMRAPS which involve some to several exercises that involve cranking out as many reps as possible (hence the name) but usually involve pairing two to three exercises that can either be similar muscle groups (bench, fly, triceps extension), opposing (bench press and bentover row), or unrelated (squats and crunches). Those listed are just some examples.

Here's a quick workout that is not only brutal but very time effective if the rest is kept to 60-90s per set.

10x10 volume workout
1st group (about 15mins)
Bench Press 10x10 @ 50%

Bentover Rows 10x10 @ 50%

2nd group (10mins)
Standing Press 5x10
Lat Pull Downs 5x10

3rd grouping (optional, 5mins)
Barbell Curl 3x20
Triceps Extension 3x20 
 ->Want to work abs and low back as well? Add in some weight situps and hyper extensions after tri-ext for 3x20. 

Break that down that is about 420 reps in approx 35-45mins.

Enjoy.

Every Damn Day

I swear it's just every day routine. Pop some pain meds. Go to work. Bitch about something hurting. Ice it down. Stretch. Rehab. Workout. Then repeat the next day.

I've heard of timers complain about bad knees, shoulders, whatever but me? It's always something new. Realistically my back should still be bad. Shoulder should be falling out. And both knees locked up and offline. Nope. I always seem to heal but come up with new injuries!

Sigh.... Aight enough complaining. Foot is about frozen and it's time for an 'easy' day. Clean and jerks, snatches, and some prowler pushing here I come.

2013 Throwing recap / thoughts

As I sit here with my foot drowning in sub 50 degree water and struggling for a distraction I started to get some thoughts together on the past season. It was a bit of a struggle, learning experience, and a bust as much as a success.

Here's a quick look at what I learned ;

Despite snow and ice Ohio weather can still be dealt with when it comes to throwing in mid January. It just takes much more preparation. And sometimes a steel shovel. And hand warmers.

Switching from Adidas to Nike shoes was the worst decision I made this year. My right foot, 3 months later, is still paying for it. The arch still is struggling to heal proper. I think I may be done wearing Nike for now on.

Even after 12 years of throwing my technique is still far from perfect.

I've gotten crazy slow since my 'good years'.

I still believe active recovery is the best method to heal by. Anytime I feel sore or beat up and decide to just relax I feel worse.

I'm starting to lean more and more to the camp of "overtraining is a bullshit concept". You'll eventually get used to it with enough sleep and food.

No matter what administrators will do what they can to piss you off then go full hypocrite behind your back.

Lastly, not exactly training related, is a money thing. I think Warren Buffet said "save first then spend". I've done much better with this idea this year. Unfortunately not quite enough. Looking back there's definitely some things I wish I didn't buy or dumb things I blew money on but at least I plugged that leak before I wasted everything. But back to the quote this is sound advice for anyone. Everytime you are paid for anything always put a percentage into savings. At least 10%. Lately I've been trying to put 25% in. And after bills that may not lead to much left to spend but that's just how it is. Looking back if I followed this simple concept I could EASILY have the money needed to get the gym started and pay first years rent to boot.

To wrap up I'll leave on a quote that my ex told me. "Quit dwelling on what you can't change. Worry about what is to come". So hopefully others learn from my mistakes and as for me I can only look to what I can do from now on.

Daily dose of motivation

Its 95 degrees out

Your legs are fried

Your back is sunburnt

Those bleachers only seem to be growing higher

And sweat is nearly blocking your vision...

But when your workout is over this is the only appropriate way to feel when its all over

Cobalt s1010 tablet - stay away

UPDATE: I'm even more pissed about this piece of shit. It fell off a stool in my garage thats barely a foot tall and the entire screen shattered as if it was made from the cheapest glass known to man. So now it not only is a subpar junky tablet its practically useless to resell since the entire screen is covered in a cobweb of cracks. What a waste....seriously DO NOT BUY THIS THING if you ever come across one. Cough the extra dough and get a decent tablet from a name brand.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

Man this thing is just junk. I got it a few weeks ago from eBay and I got to say I've been had. Granted it didn't cost much but still I could have put a good payment on a decent Samsung tablet or something similar than this garbage.
So to start off the manual is in a laughable engrish format. Non of it really makes much sense. Even when booting up everything was set to Hong Kong time.
Secondly it claims battery in use lasts for hours. Up to six even. Try an hour and a half tops. And forget trying to use it while you have it plugged in on its short wire. Touch the screen with it plugged in and out goes nuts. Apparently it needs some alone time while charging.
The screen itself ain't terrible.  Nor the size. But the touch function is just off. It does not feel like a normal touch screen at all.  And the keys not nearly as responsive.
Wi-fi is shaky at best. If you are close to the signal it works well.  Move away and say good bye to Internet.  Even on strong signals.
The camera is just useless so I won't even bother going much further.
Lastly, but not least, I mainly wanted this as a mini laptop and a way to blog on the go using a lightweight platform. The text function does not come with a English dictionary! It says it does but any word you may type will be tagged as misspelled until you manually add the word. Well screw that,  I say to myself, I'll just type on! Wrong! Get enough of those 'misspelled' words and it will slowly but surely slow down to screeching halt. I made it about a large paragraph before it cropped out on me.  And apparently that went to my browser as now that is slowed to mush.
Really the only thing I have found this piece of crap to be useful for is playing Angry Birds. Even then this supposedly HD screen looks low res to me.  Everything's very grainy.
That's what I get from buying the equivalent of China's Walmart. Which would be like saying if the crap was so cheaply made in China Walmart itself wouldn't sell it.  Which is pretty accurate here.

random thought of the day

Ranfom thought of the day inspired by The Chive's post I saw about how muvh they love fit chicks.

I will day I love them as well but they had a bunch that didn't fit the description at all. Random skinny chicks wearing booty shorts and sports bras does not count as 'fit' in my definition. They could be grossly undertrained with no aerobic or anaerobic work capacity and definitely no real strength to mention of. But they had the right outfit so I guess that makes them 'fit'. I could wear a golf outfit and buy expensive clubs but that sure as shit doesn't make me a golfer.

Cleveland Masters Open Quick Recap

That one sucked.

Hey I said it was a quick recap.

Ok, in all seriousness, I've had worse meets but this one just wasn't a good day for throwing. Especially since it was my last meet of the season. Unless I decide to do the weight pentathlon sometime later this year. But with rugby season fast approaching that isn't likely.

First off, it was damn hot. I don't know what the temp was but I had swamp ass by 10am and Conner looked like he died his shirt a darker color. Humidity was a major factor. By the time we threw, regardless of shade, I was already just down and depleted and literally my legs felt like they were ready to cramp and lock up on me.

I warmed up like shit and took more than I usually do. Nothing felt right. First round I went 153 which is actually a decent opener. Problem is I couldn't get it on film and every throw I did get on tape I fouled for one reason or another. In fact I didn't mark again until the 6th round and THAT one too didn't get filmed.

Side grumble....

There's this official. Old guy. Like really really old. Sorry in advance if you are friends with him, or are him, or just in general think Im wrong but he needs to retire and just spectate or coach or whatever. If you've thrown in Ohio in the past 40+ years you likely know who I am talking about. Number 1 if you're an official you can't just coach every random kid that enters the ring. Not everyone wants it nor is it allowed since, ya know, you are a official. Secondly, there were so many blatant fouls I wasn't sure if the ring was regulation size. Some guys just walked out to pass on the throw and still got a measure. Others foot fouled by almost a foot out of the ring but if they somehow bounced back in he wouldn't notice and called a mark. There's been situations in the past with this guy calling bad fouls or vice verse yet he's still around. To make it worse during the women's discus he called the marks from INSIDE the cage...wtf? I admire his dedication but when the work you are paid to do starts slipping dramatically to the point it screws with the event results its time to let it go.

End grumble....

Well that essentially wraps up my season. I figure one more week of organized practices for those who are left and then if the kids still want to throw they are on their own. I'm a little burnt out at this point and need to run around and start hitting people. To rugby season!

Update - "The Gym"

I'm using quotes because as of now that thing still is not in existence. At least physically. The idea is still alive and well but I've run into more snags than I am happy about since I really pushed to get this going. Some were out of my control, others just poor planning/ judgement, and some just due to losing that drive that I used to have. So lets start sometime back around October...ish.

Long story short I had a somewhat ok location picked out in an existing facility. What it boiled down to was it was not a very good deal for my end and I ran out of money. Looking back I am glad I held off signing that lease when I did or I would've been locked down and screwed worse than I was already. So despite a generous investment from a friend I still was buried in bills, debt, and at the moment no job and no plan of escape. I basically 'left' my old training job and ran out of money fast. Not to mention having a potential partner completely bail out without so much an email saying 'hey, sorry, but Im out"....thanks, brah.

I can't say it was a total disaster as the land lords were at least sympathetic to my situation. I literally lost what I had trying to get that thing going but was clearly over my head in a hurry. They even tried to work something out by bringing a different group in to help set something up. Didn't happen. So by end of Fall I was moved out and most of my gear was back in the high school weight room or in the track shed. Much cheaper than a storage unit.

So at this point I'm pretty bummed. I luckily still had a few clients left at Lifeworks but was still broke, unmotivated, and at loss of what the actual fuck I was going to do now. I kept pretty bottled up about it too which in hindsight just did not help. Nor did getting texts and or calls from folks I havn't talked to in awhile saying something along the lines of "Hey! Congrats on the gym!" ...yea about that.

So, anyways, as luck would have it I found a job working for UPS. Even better it was the morning shift which typically has more hours and pays better. PLUS it was out of the way of coaching/ training. See, at this point, I was ready to walk away. Just drop everything, sell my gear, pay back what I could, and work off the rest and just say "this is enough". In all reality, and this is likely one of the rare times I am saying this, I was about to retired completely from the coaching/training/whatever life and just get some shit job I was good at. Most signs were leading to warehouse work. Pay ain't bad plus theres benefits and I'm on my feet lifting things while getting paid for it. I guess as fate would have it most jobs turned me down due to lack of experience. Along comes UPS saying 'yea, you'll do' and thats where Ive been since.

Over Winter really not much happened. Well nothing out of the ordinary. Indoor season started. Trained the high schoolers like usual. Get threatened at least 2 to 3 times that I'll be fired...again. Then outdoors starts. By now I finally have some credit cards paid off. Yes I said cards with an "S". What was weird is having a decent enough paying job now so I actually had money. Usually Im broke about this time of the year. Now Im just broke because Im paying crap off. But I digress.

A few new oppurtunities arose after my misfortune last year. I was approached about restarting the gym. At this point I made it clear the only chance in hell I had of making this happen was if I had some MAJOR finacial backing as I was in no hurry to make the same mistake again. Unfortunately for both parties involved this just wasn't happening any time soon. What was agreed on was maybe sometime near July. Which, ironically, as Im writing this I noticed today is the first. So you can probably guess how that particular situation is going. But fear not! Due to some decent financial planning on my part, not just blowing my entire track contract on bullshit like I usually do, and being single (hey, man, girlfriends get expensive) I was able to get some money put away for once. AND after a meeting last Friday I may have found the assistant coach I was looking for. Assuming he doesn't bail like the others. Apparently this is a scary business. Or is it just me?

To top that off I may have found a suitable location that could literally fulfill the niche market I am going after. Track, football, rugby, and small group fitness in a warehouse style gym. Even better is compared to the last location is that this place is 400s/ft bigger, 4' higher ceiling (16' total), has a bay door, small office, and is about 3 minutes from I-71. Oh yea, and its about $400/month less than the other place. Pretty sweet, right?

There are still some obstacles that need to be cleared;
1- MONEY. Im getting sick of saying this but if anyone sees this thats considered opening a small business take my advice- Stow away some serious cash first!
2- Field turf. Part of the niche is having the ability to train athletes in a turfed environment. Well that doesn't work too well when you don't have any. Unfortunately brand new green costs about 1200 for what Im looking at.
3- Clients. This is something that I feel I will always struggle with until I pick up some sales techniques or hire someone to do it for me. My dad was always the sales guy. Me? Not so much.
4- The city. This one Im not entirely worried about but it's definitely worth noting. In order to put a gym into a warehouse style building I would need to file a variance. Otherwise I have to move into a commercial zone which will NOT do. This is more frustrating due to the fee involved of $200. So there goes that new bar I wanted.

So that sums up the past 9 months or so in a nutshell concerning business matters. Giant pain in the ass that is for sure. But I keep telling myself I don't want to work a warehouse forever and training in a big gym or the school is starting to wear on me.