Recently, I posted Bont’s longest skate and now, the answer for my long uphill climbs…

Now if the kid had heat-moldable carbon fiber Vaypor boots, longer Sniper frames, 100 mm wheels and mini-bearings, he would really fly! John at One Mans Blog wonders how he would stop. Over here, we don’t worry about such issues. We want to know how fast he can go.

Besides, the brakes on that kid’s skates were already useless before he pimped his ride.

Tonight’s workout pretty much sucked so afterwards, I enjoyed some Pork and Beans. Now you can too.

Pick out the dumbbells

The big business plan in the fitness world these days is certifications. Crossfit can get you certified three levels into their system and you can get “certified” in Olympic lifting in a weekend. (Never mind those lifts take years to master). You can get certified in basic barbell training, running, triathlons. Hell, even kids have their own certification. I predict soon there will be a “Masters Certification” for aging baby boomers with time on their hands and plenty of disposable income. (I mean after all, if there is a kid’s cert, why not us?  Who do you think pays for the kid’s certification anyway.)

Dragondoor  and Pavel have made a lucrative industry out of kettlebell certifications and Crossfit is getting in on that action too.

Ross Enamait, in a kettlebell thread at rosstraining.com tells us don’t expect to find “dumbbell certifications”, but I disagree. For just half the price of all the above “certs” (2 mints in 1), I could capture the entire market with my “dumbbell certification” and I can give participants a piece of paper that acknowledges them as a certifiable dumbbell too. I already have mine.

When did a “weekend training seminar” start being called a “certification” anyway? What about those people who paid their $1,000 and just can’t get the hang of swinging a kettlebell or running around the block on the  balls of their feet? How about federal funding for a “No Fat Weekend Warrior Left Behind” program. No question, from a marketing standpoint, “certification” sells.

Ok, I better stop right here lest I sound like Rant at Moynihan Institute!

Memorial Day weekend is traditionally time for racing with the Indy 500. Instead, our focus was on Val’s 5K race in Brentwood on Sunday. My job, bleary-eyed as I was from the previous day’s Highland Games, was to get Val to Brentwood on time, ready to go. It worked out beautifully. Weather conditions according to a girl working at a nearby runners store were described as “cool, overcast and gross”. Translated, that means great for runners. What was great for me was the route was a flat, out and back course with the start and finish on opposite sides of the boulevard in Brentwood. I just had to walk the street! The start was memorable in that a race official sang the seldom heard last stanza of the Star Spangled Banner”. Starts are exciting, but take a look at her finish…

 
Val’s time of 21:43:71 was 15 seconds off her fastest time ever at the distance. We couldn’t figure out with a course so flat and so fast how she did not beat her best time at the distance, that is until she took her shoes off. Remember a few weeks ago she won a $12 pair of socks with right foot and left foot design. When she took her shoes off we discovered she did not match her socks with her feet. Yep, that cost her at least 15 seconds off her best time and she kept pulling to the left!

Seriously, though, she was a little bummed about her time but she thinks she can get personal bests everytime she is out there.

The second half of the road racing doubleheader came on Memorial Day; another 5K race, this time in Laguna Hills at the Laguna Hills Memorial Half Marathon and 5K. Last year, Val did the half and this time, she continues her successful 5K events. In this race, on a tougher course and with legs not fully recovered, she improved on yesterday’s race by posting a 21:41 time to cover the 3.1 mile distance.

 

As an added surprise, Val’s sister, Melanie and her niece Jacklyn came to watch. Again, ideal conditions, especially for the runners.

  

 

Every now and then in the world of Hacker Athletics* comes around an event that is just too good to pass by. I have had several of these in my lifetime like doing my first marathon with less than 6 months of training-none of it long distance. I was asked, and did, a 1000 meter inline skate race around the Dominguez Hills velodrome during a cycling event. I have, on a whim, raced in a couple 100+ mile inline races; Fresno to Bakersfield at 138 miles and from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to the beach in Santa Cruz, 100 miles away. I would also have to include my Olympic style lifting efforts proudly as Hacker even though I have not yet competed in the sport.

(I was going to include Crossfit in my hacker athletic career but it really needs to be considered a recognized sport in order to pass the muster. As my friend Mike pointed out, to paraphrase, air squats are not considered a sport).

The 2008 United Scottish Society Highland Games at Costa Mesa was one of those Hacker Athletic events for me. Please keep in mind, there is no disrespect to the other participants or the games themselves. I am the Hacker, but more about that later.

The Scottish Heavy Athletics is part of the Scottish competitions called the Highland Games. If you don’t know much about the Highland Games you probably have at least seen the Caber Toss.

When my three chances to heave the caber came, that missile never left the launch pad. I have nothing to add to that. Mark that as a “scratch”. Speaking of scratch, the first event of the day was called the Heavy Hammer. I scratched that too, by fouling on all three attempts. One foul got style points for the way I bounced off my head. Allow me to show you what the Heavy Hammer looks like when it is done right. It is really a thing of beauty.

We enjoyed other challenging events including a couple types of stone tosses with what is called a Braemer Stone. These are of difference weights and different rules for throwing them, but both are measured for distance.

Other events included Weight Over Bar for height, the Heavy Hammer, the Light Hammer, the Light
Weight For distance and of course the main attraction, at least for the spectators, the Caber Toss.

Mike Covert covers these events well, with pictures at Clandestine Experience. I also have some pictures of our fellow Highlanders as well as some Highland games exclusive video.

Basically, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing but had a helluva good time doing it with a great bunch of Group C guys. (I would say Class C guys but for some reason that just doesn’t sound right. Some of those were from my gym, Met-Rx, including Mike Covert, pro strongman athlete, Scott “Circus Boy” Brengel and two of his proteges, Pete Danahy and Kevin. Another cool dude, Peter, while new to Met-Rx is an experienced Highland Games competitor and a heck of a nice guy besides. There were three 17 year old kids, two over 6′5″ and 300# and the other, a high school thrower. There were a couple other quiet guys that just went about their business rather well. I got plenty of help from these guys and the event officials, Nathan and TJ who were very generous with their time and tips.

Additional support, lunch and camera work game from Valerie, her sister and niece and Mike’s girl, Torri, the kettlebell painter.

As I write this, I am still gassed. Would I do this again? Sure. It IS a big man’s sport, but one of the two things that impressed me the most about the Games is the technical aspect of each event. Tricky stuff. The other, I already alluded to and that is the camaraderie in our group. Everyone gave and got a lot of support and we all had a great time.

Peter, Mike, Mark & Pete

*More on Hacker Athletics in another post.

Monday, 5/19/08

Oly Lifts…

HPS x 5: 45/50/55/65/90
HPC x 5: 90/110/128/130/140
CLD x 5: 149/165/175/185/205
PP x 5: 90/110/120/130/140
FS x 5: 90/120/120/130/14o
OHS x 5: 45/65/95
BP: 95 x 10/135 x 8/155 x 8

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Tuesday, 5/20/08

Burgener x 3 with PVC, 3 more with an empty bar.

Snatch + Behind the Neck Snatch Grip Presses + Overhead Squats
65/65.

HSC x3: 65/95/115/134/155/155/155/. The first rep of each of the last 3 sets was done from the floor.

Abs: 3 x 30

Ring Push-ups: 3 x 20

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Wednesday, 5/21/08

Time for a max single deadlift session…

To warm-up,

Snatch Grip deadlifts, standing on a step aerobics platform,
155×5/155×5/175×5
Deadlifts: 175×5/245×3

Deadlift singles, workset:
300/335/385/425/450/460 new pr/. Previous best was 435

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Thursday, 5/22/08

After yesterday max lifts, a little lighter today… Burgener warm-ups x 3

Hang Squat Snatch + Behind the Neck Press + Overhead Squat, x 3
65/70/75/90

Hang Squat Clean + Front Squat + Overhead Press, x 3
90/110/135

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Friday, 5/23/08

Rest Day

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Saturday, 5/24/08

Scottish Highland Games. More to follow in another post.

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Sunday, 5/25/08

R & R

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Maybe it was because I woke up this morning tired, achy and a little cranky that I come across the topic of overtraining. I have been guilty of this and good things don’t come of it. I don’t have that and I am not aware of any other syndrome going on at the moment and yes, I realize denial is the first sign. By the way, when did we start having all these new maladies called “syndromes” and then broken down to their initials, like CFS?

Overtraining can happen to elite athletes and to the exercise-obsessive rest of us. I have had it as a runner and a skater and bordered on it at times doing Crossfit, though never to the degree examined in this article on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

The article is from Active.com where they primarily cater to runners, cyclists and triathletes, who coincidentally are the folks most likely to overtrain in the first place.

With the Olympics coming up soon and those of us who will follow weightlifting, keep in mind, all weights will be metric and measured in kilograms. Some of us in the States are metric-challenged and for them we have a Weight Conversion Calculator.

Another useful calculator can be found at performancemenu.com. It is a Work and Power Output Calculator.

With this calculator, you can now approximate the work and power output of any workout. The measurement results are in joules, horsepower, foot-pounds and foot-pounds/sec. A more detailed explanation can be found in issue #14 of the Performance Menu.

Admittedly, the Work/Power Output calc is a bit on geeky side, but if you are a stat guy, you’ll probably enjoy it.

Imagine what she is going through!

Hat Tip: Gozino

Like most athletes I know, they keep ice packs on the ready in the freezer in the event of injury or inflammation from an overly strenuous workout. But is using ice the best thing to do when this happens?

POSE founder Dr. Romanov says an emphatic “No” to icing and has more to say about using ice to treat inflammation and injuries.

Any medical people or athletes out there disagree with Dr. Romanov’s “No Icing” rule?