TRAINING LOG:Alan Hebert

Honored to be in the lineup, Alan. Congratulations.

First Games of the season, which I did on minimal practice, but at least not NO practice.  I Threw in the Masters on Saturday and went back for more punishment in a general Open Mens class on Sunday.

Saturday Masters

Braemar Stone - 26' 10" (beat this on Sunday @ 27' 4" in the Open competition)
Open Stone - 33' 2"
Heavy Weight for Distance (42) - 35' 6" PR...very happy with that.
Light Weight for Distance - 50' 6.5" (fouled two at 51+)

Heavy Hammer - 62' 0.5" (horrible hammers all weekend,  beat this by a foot and a bit more on Sunday in the Open competition)
Light Hammer - 75' 6" (again, horrible numbers - beat this on Sunday, 78' 10" in the Open competition)

Weight over Bar - 13
Sheaf - 23, considering as  haven't touched a fork or bag since October, that ain't too bad
Caber - 18 feet, 65 pounds- 12:00, but muffed the first one badly.   Need caber practice.

Sunday Open

sheaf ... nuttin.  I had it high enough to clear the bar at 17 but couldn't get the bag over.  I never throw a 20 pound bag and it was really sticky.
WOB ... 10, nicked the bar at 11, 3x..my usual with the 56 pounder
16 hammer... 78' 10" - almost acceptable.
22 Hammer ... 63+ ...better, but still not great.
Braemar stone... 27' 4"...had three throws all practically in the same divot
O stone ... 31' 10"
HWFD ... 17 feet or some such pathetic number. Fouled the first one which was about 23.
LWFD .... 41 and change.  No hips. Nothing. Zero. Out of gas.

Caber... 18 feet, 95 lbs, not much taper....got an 80 deg. I think. I'm pretty sure that I can turn this stick when I'm not exhausted, but no love on  Sunday

My hips just totally failed after lunch on Sunday.  I had a *Great*  Braemar sequence...three throws over 27, which is fantastic for me. After that...O stone was "Ok", not great and everything else was just sad.  My hips said "Done for today" after the second 56 WFD and the numbers were just awful.  I literally could not hold myself in power position during the weight throws, and fouled the first two LWFD and then settle for a very shaky single-spin to get that 41 footer. .  I've never had that happen before.  Ah, well....live and learn. I squeaked out a win in the Masters overall on Saturday and managed to tie for 2nd on Sunday.

Thanks, Greg!

Priorities for this season, in no particular order, even though they're numbered...

1.)  get something sort of halfway decent at the 56 WFD  for Scotland.
  1a.)  throw at 4-5  Games in Scotland, including Inverary and have fun and don't make an idjit out of     myself.
2.)  14 *&%()#$  damn feet with the 42  pounder in WOB
3.)  70 feet in heavy hammer.
4.)  break 87 feet in light hammer- SO stuck in hammers since 2010
5.)  3 Games in a row of 54+ in LWFD
6.)  get on the podium at Pleasanton, one more time....probably in Sundays caber.

Good goals, Alan!

Been throwing a lot this past month...3x a week, though some of that is playing "coach" at CHAC throws.

Light hammer is settling in, had a good session on  Sunday.  LWFD is good, HWFD is not as reliable, but still fine.  I hit a breakthrough in standing stone about a week ago, it will take a while for that to show up in my braemar numbers, but it'll be there....happy with that.

The current stinker is my total lack of progress  in weight over bar, but I've sent an inquiry to Matt about some stuff to do about that, and I have A PLAN...which beats what I've been doing until now.

Alan H wrote: The goal is to get 14 feet WOB by Portland.

jsully wrote: Alan H wrote: The goal is to get 14 feet WOB by Portland.   me too.. lol

HA!  Jake, I think your goal is to get 16 or 17 by Portland!

Tom, yeah, I won my division  55-59. If you combined the 50-54's  with the 55-59's I'd have been about 5th or 6th.  I have a really cool marble trophy sitting on my dresser at home, and trust me, I LIKE it. It's a *Really* cool trophy.  I pet it, every single morning when I wake up...LOL J/K.   It's fun to win the class. Of course it is.

At this point though, I'd rather throw big, than "win".  I've won some classes, and I've placed 2nd and 3rd and DFL a bunch of times, too.  "Winning" the class or finishing at the bottom of the heap just depends on who shows up.  However, hitting the positions and being athletic and throwing at the top of your potential?  That's ALL YOU. -- doesn't matter who showed up to "win" if your definition of "winning" is beating yourself.

I'm pleased that I'm 57 years old and still getting a little bit better.  I hit a PR in Open Stone in the last Games of last season,  out to 35 feet+.   The Games before that I PR'd in LWFD at 53+.  I started a LWFD streak in which I threw over 50 feet, four Games in a row.  Yeah, I broke the streak with a 48' 10" at Woodland, but I'll get back up on the pony at Costa Mesa, I think.  I got a PR in HWFD of 35+ at Sonora this year, which beats the HWFD PR that I set at Pleasanton last year.    I turned cabers last year that I never could have turned in previous years.  This year, I'm in the hunt for a PR in WOB...really want that 14.  On the other hand, I'm working as hard as I can in hammers to just stay in the same place!  GAAA!

All in all, not bad for a 57 year old geezer athlete.

THOSE are the things that I really aim for, the real reward is seeing the tape pulled tight and reading the biggest number, ever.

--->> And then there's the even bigger reward of having the respect and friendship of your fellow competitors.  I'd take that over any marble trophy, ANY day.

Alan H wrote: HA!  Jake, I think your goal is to get 16 or 17 by Portland!

All training has come to a complete stop because of the De Quervains tendonitis, as well as some aggravated tendons in my right elbow.  Grrr.  On the other hand, I don't have untreatable cancer, so I should be able to deal with it.

I will be there on Sunday, won't be there on Saturday. Long story.  Mrs. Alan, out of nowhere decided that she wanted to come along that weekend. This evolved into visiting her brothers family....all good, of course....and staying with friends. She doesn't want to go to the Games two days in a row, and of course it would be horrible if I went on Saturday, leaving her on her own, so I won't be there Saturday.   I will be there Sunday. Whether I throw or not, we'll see.  I hope so.

Cool - I'll see you on Sunday then! Hopefully you're healed up & can throw!

The cortisone seems to be helping, finally. I set up the sheaf standards at the field on Sunday and then because that didn't hurt at all, decided to throw a little bit....first time in a week +, really.

5  light hammer tosses, went short @ about 76 or so, but they didn't hurt, which was the main thing.
5  LWFD throws...short but felt OK.  45 footers.
5  HWFD throws ... farged one up, but had one decent toss and three biggies at 32+, so happy with this since this weight is absolutely NOT a flier..
5. O stone standing throws.... a little bit short, but not horrible @ about 30' 6" - 31.  should be 32+ with this rock.  Right elbow had some twinges after doing this  and it's a bit sensitive  this morning (Monday) at work..

So, clearly I should be able to dose up with Advil in the morning and be fine at Costa Mesa.  Three more practices before CM...they will be WOB, sheaf, probably some caber, and LWFD.  NO STONES.

I'm looking forward to being able to get back in the weight room. - maybe Friday.

-->  Signed up for Portland last night. YAY!

Me 'n the rock....1-2-3 cha-cha-cha!