TRAINING LOG: Tom Lawrence

Thursday 6/20/13
Gym Deload

• Bench Press 95x5, 125x5, 140x5
• CG Press 3x5
• Wide Grip Press 3x5
  
• Abs

Felt much closer to normal today.  I made a good call going with an early deload.

Tuesday 6/25/13
Gym:

• OHP 60×5, 75×5, 90×3, 110×5, 120×5, 125×5, then 5x10@75 for volume
• Abs

Get in get it, get back to work.

Throwing:

• Sheaf bottom drills x10, full throws x > 10.  Found the sweet spot on my new fork.
• Need to work on power, but I have a plan for that. 

Wednesday 6/26/13:
Medical appointments for little Duncan all day.  Rainstorm all evening.

Thursday 6/27/13
Gym:

• Bench Press 95×5, 120×5, 145×3, 180×5, 190×5, 205×5, then 5x10@120 for volume
• Kroc Rows 2x5 per hand and 1x20 per hand @65.  Need to move to back up to 70 if the bicep doesn't complain.
• Abs

More rain, no throwing.

Friday 6/28/13
Gym:

• Squats 100×5, 125×5, 150×3, 190×5, 205×5, 215×5, then 3x10@125.  Should have done two more sets, but Raptor Jesus was talking to me by the eighth rep on the third and wanted to work in.  By all that is natural, I hate volume sets on squats.
• Cable Curls with rope 5x10.  Bicep did ok.
• Abs

More rain, no throwing.
Tacos and quesadillas.  Bueno.

Tuesday 7/2/13
Gym:

• OHP* 60×5 75×5 90×3 110×5 120×5 125×6, then 5x10@75 for volume
• Dips 3x10, working back up to 5x10
• Abs

*Every time I put OHP here, I mean strict overhead press.  Since I'm on Wendler 5/3/1, I don't push press.

Massive Rain = no throwing.

Wednesday 7/3/13
Had a health problem that kept me out of the gym.  So instead of dead lifts I spent a couple of hours debarking 15 feet of seasoned poplar tree with a draw knife.  Arms and lower back now toast.  Mission accomplished, and I have a new caber in the works.  Turning a caber is so far the only season goal I haven't reached this year.  Well you can't improve what you don't practice.

Massive Rain = no throwing.

Thursday 7/4/13
Acknowledged how lucky I am to live in a free nation.  Spending the day with my beloved family.
Began resin filling the cracks in the new caber.  This will take several days to do right, after which I will chemically treat it to weather-proof it.  Pictures will follow. 

Massive Rain = no throwing.

Back in the gym tomorrow to catch up on bench press and squats.

KiltBill wrote: Tom, how heavy is the caber?

Last time I tried to weigh it by hand with my deer scale I think it was about 80 pounds, but I'll hoist it on straps to get a good weight for it when I'm done treating it.  Taking the bark off will affect it as will adding the non-toxic chemical treatment.

Monday 7/8/13
It appears that the signs of Ragnarok were false.  The sun made a brief appearance in North Georgia today to indicate that it had not, in fact, been swallowed by Fenrir.

Throwing:

• Light Hammer - two five-winds, ten two-wind throws at 80%.  I tried Jake's "use your top hand to push from the middle of the handle" thing, and I can see what he's getting at.  Not surprisingly I can only focus on one new thing at a time, so some of my throws felt really 'pushed' and some of my throws felt really 'long armed', but I couldn't do both at the same time.  Reps will get it there.
  
• LWFD - three from the board, three single-turn, five double turn.  Just took it really slow to get my timing back and to deal with the wet ground.  Also trying out a hook grip.  Not bad.

Threw in my new Tanel 360 shoes, and I'll be... they worked exactly at advertised (thanks Craig and Eric).  They gripped enough that I was able to throw hammer on mud and slipped enough that I was able to throw LFWD safely on the same. 

The new caber is stripped, cracks and holes are repaired with resin and epoxy, and it has been rough sanded -- which is all the sanding it will get -- to get the major splinters off.  I'll get the magic sauce put on it in the next day or so to weather-proof it.  Then I'll get a good measurement and weight on it.  Then I get to find out how it throws and hopefully not break it on the first try.

Happy Birthday Tom!
Caber is sounding good. Love the Valhalla coat!

Thanks Bill and Glenn.

Haven't been able to throw due to schedule and weather, so I have been tinkering with gear (like I do) and my caber project is finally done -- all completely by hand so I could get some conditioning value out of it at least.

De-barking:


Clean and patched with resin and epoxy in the cracks and bad patches:


Add magic sauce to weather-proof it and turn it a sexy silver color like old barn wood:


Weigh and measure:


And the answer is:


The balance point is about 65% - 70% up the length and the taper is decent, though the pictures don't show that well.  It should make a good training tool if I don't break it.

Now how to practice this safely by myself?  Easy --

Portable feet to stand it in:


Tom



Edited by TomLawrence - 7/12/13 at 6:43am

Monday 7/22
Correction to last post -- I lost 7 pounds while on vacation.  Who does that?  Back to eating normally.
Throwing:

• Heavy Hammer -- two 5-winds to warm up, working on 'pushing' the hammer.  It's hard with the 22# because I feel like I have to counter the centrifugal force so much.  About five or six throws.  None particularly good, but it just felt good to be throwing again after a longer break than in intended.
• LWFD -- three standing, three single turn, five double turn.  Only only one foul where I got my foot placement off.  Timing wasn't great, but the throws were decent for me.  My next step is to work on loading the forward leg a lot more so that the sprint is faster and more effective.

Tuesday 7/23
Gym (short on time):

• OHP 60×5, 75×5, 90×3, 115×5, 125×5, 130×4.5(fffuuuuuu), then 5x10@75 for volume.  Sets were harder than they should have been.
• Core work

Tom

Monday 7/29/13
Went on a 50 minute walk to test out my hip.  Walking was good.  Standing sucked.

Tuesday 7/30/13
Gym:

• OHP 60×5, 75×5, 90×3, 125×3, 130×3, 140×3, then 5x10@75 for volume.  Better than last week.
• Rehab curls 3 sets
• Rack dips 3 sets
• Core work

Wednesday 7/31/13
Gym:

• Dead Lifts 135×5, 185×5, 205×3, 225×3, 225×3, 225×3 Kept it nice and light to work the hip / glute sprain.  No trouble.
• Good Mornings 3x5@95  Actually made the sprain feel good.
• Core work

Tuesday 8/6/13
Throwing Light Hammer

• 2 windups
• 10 throws, starting off light and going up to about 90%.
• Working on technique and testing out stability on my hip.  No trouble.  Awesome.
  
• Short but very good throwing session considering I didn't expect to be able to.

Wanted to pause for a second and say thanks again to Duncan, Gene, and Jake for guidance, videos, and coaching on the WFD events.  I'm feeling much more comfortable with the movements than I was.

I was like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=4VgaqOXUCJA&t=22

But now I'm like this:




And I'm working toward this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=pR26RMI9T8c&t=128

Stay at it Tom...going to call this weekend and check.

The iron price.

Thursday 8/22
Gym:

• Bench Press 95×5, 120×5, 145×3, 185×5, 195×5, 205×5, then 5x10@120 for volume
• Kroc Rows 2x5@60, then 1x20@60  Bicep tendons survived.
• Core Work

Friday 8/23
Gym:

• Squats 105×5, 130×5, 155×3, 195×5, 205×5  Just like dead lifts earlier in the week.  Hip is holding solid, just weak and slow.
• Rehab Curls
• Core Work

Saturday 8/24
Throwing (hallelujah...):

• 16# stone, 45° drills: 3xtoes-to-board, 10xBraemar, 10xOpen (hops and glides).  Trying not to drop my elbow and to keep my chest up.
• Caberrrrrrr!:  Practicing picks and balance.  Four attempts with the boss lady spotting me and taking pictures.  First was a failed pick and dump.  Second was a good pick, but too far forward so I Braemared it and proved it wouldn't break.  Third was a marginal pick but better balanced before I dumped it.  The last was a good pick and I actually managed to take a couple of steps.  I think this training caber is going to be a fine tool, and my 'portable feet' for standing it up work like a charm.  Better yet, no injuries other than a little burn on my neck and my right wrist.

Note the mountain in the distance between the caber and the pine tree.  That's Brasstown Bald.

Yeah.

Tom

Thanks Britton.  I'm still cabering at the remedial level, but you don't get better at what you don't practice.  I was actually hearing Joe Wilson shouting at us, "Get your butt BACK!" while I was trying to balance the darn thing.

Hope to see you in Ringgold.

Tom