Linda

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 for time of:
Deadlift 155lb
Bench press 115lb
Hang power clean 115lb
Finished in 24:55

Compare to: 3/8/12 and 1/7/11

I did the first round of bench at 135lb but could tell that was gonna get nasty quick, especially without a spotter. I decided to drop it down. I did hang power cleans instead of from the ground because I was using those octagonal plates, no access to bumpers. Grip was the limiting factor, as usual, but the bench felt surprisingly tough at that weight. Not used to it anymore, I guess, but then again Linda is always rough.

Lift

Strict pullups: 5, 8, 8, 5, 5

Overhead squat: 10 at 45, 4x7 at 65lb

Thrusters: 5x5 at 95lb

Snatch: 3x3 at 95lb

2x15 toes to bar

2x15 incline situp and press 25lb

15mins stretching

DC Combines

Up at 3am, brushed my face and washed my teeth before jumping in the car with Dusty and a thermos of delicious coffee he had made. We stopped at Dunkin Donuts for some coffee for the masses and then arrived later than early but earlier than late at the bubble where tryouts were being held for the DC Current. After some tossing and individual warmups, we got right into a few drills designed to prove skill and athleticism at game pace. The first went well, I got a few handblocks and completed most of my break throws, was able to break away on a few cuts and stayed right on the cutters hip while on D. The second drill, 4v4 scrimmage with little to no subbing, was much tougher. Haven't been playing, and certainly haven't been playing at that pace. The third drill was a one-on-one, cut/play defense forever kind of drill that was exhausting. Right after I finished a round on O, the film crew pulled me aside for an interview. Yes, I was out of breath. After that we did some deep cut continuation, where I mostly didn't get skied but didn't always get it myself, and then 5v5 on a medium-sized field, where my team turned it over as I was busting open for a deep cut and then I got beat in the endzone after the turn. Shit.

Afterwards I drove a kid home who had sustained a concussion in the one-on-one cutting drill, he was pretty cool and probably fine but wanted to be safe. Dusty followed and then the two of us went for breakfast at a local diner, where I forgot to order the biscuit because normally it isn't an option in places like Jersey. Good conversation, glad for the rest, and a little more coffee before hitting the road back to DC for the second combine of the day.

This one, for the DC Breeze, was outside on a turf field covered in snow. Conditions and organization were substantially different, so it had a different energy and a more lighthearted feel. Apparently I ran a 4.9 40yd and was in the top 5 for the longer sprints, but during the scrimmage portion I got cold and wasn't moving very well. I was worried about another edition of the torn hip/groin problem I had last year around this time. Thankfully I seemed to make it through okay, despite being pretty sore from the earlier combine.

Afterwards I bounced back to Jersey, this time heading through PA to avoid tolls and Delaware. Had to stop for fuel and coffee on the way home, but the Starbucks and the music really made for a relatively enjoyable trip, even though I was making it alone. Lots of NJ-DC in the last few months, but already looking forward to another trip for tryouts next weekend.

Home Workout

5x5 HSPU to pillow, 3x15 pushups

Plyos: 3x10 squat jumps, wall taps, step-up jumps (from 2 steps), riccochet jumps, box jumps (to 3 steps)

Abs: 50 full body crunches, 25 leg lifts

25 crunches, 25 L situps, 25 R situps

25 toe touches, 25 crunches

IR Track Workout #1-3

3x(400m, 1:20 rest) (1:15, 1:16, 1:16)
4:00 rest
3x(400m, 1:20 rest) (1:16, 1:19, 1:18)

After the second round my face couldn't take it anymore. It dropped from 20° to 16°F, sweat was freezing the hairs of my beard and mustache together, and the air was painfully cold against every exposed pore. So I quit.

Lift

Bought a membership at a gym.

Warmup, 3 reps clean at 135lb
Deadlift: 5x5 at 185lb
Pullups: 5x5 at +10lb
Row: 500m in 2:00, 500m in 3:05
3x12 DB shoulder raise 10lb

Practice

3 hours of 7 on 7 outdoors, mostly scrimmage in a strong wind. Ended with a short workout:

Stair workout, 3x20 box jumps
15 pushups, 25yd sprint
20 situps, 25yd sprint
0:30 pushups (30), 0:30 situps (28)
1:00 pushups (28), 1:00 situps (48)
0:30 squats (22), 0:30 bicycles
1:00 squats (42), 20yds tire flips

Bench press: 8 at 130, 6 at 140, 6 at 140, 5 at 140, 1 at 160

Recovery

0.5mi jog, 1mi walk (with the dog)

20min stretching

Pickup

2 hours of indoor 5 on 5 without cleats. It was sort of a fundraiser for DEVYL, we had about a dozen people so I didn't sub out much. My Crossfit Reeboks were a decent substitute for turf shoes, but the large toe box is definitely not ideal for cutting. I had fun, threw some crazy stuff that only worked out half the time, and overall it was really enjoyable to be playing again. It was fairly competitive, but got more silly as time went on. Afterwards a few of us went for Mexican and talked about the new pro leagues.

Pullups

2x10 strict pullups
3x10 inverted rows
2x10 wide grip hang-shrugs
2x5 chinups

IR Track Workout #1-2

800m warmup jog

3x(400m, 1:30 rest) in 1:15, 1:16, 1:18
400m jog
3x(400m, 1:30 rest) in 1:19, 1:18, 1:16
400m jog, 400m walk
3x(1:00 run, 100m walk) for 300m, 330m, 315m

400m cooldown

I drove to the high school track dreading this workout, and just as I was about to warm up I saw another guy getting ready to do his own workout. It happened to be Mike Porter, a Rutgers alum and coach of the Watchung team, so I asked what he was planning on doing. Apparently he ran a 50k race two weeks ago and was looking to do some 800s, but thought they'd suck and so he was willing to hop in on a few of my 400s. Despite assuring me that he was in no shape for "speed work", he didn't trail by much. He said he ran a sub-19 5k earlier this year, at 43 years old, something he hadn't done since he was 19 or something. He's crazy fast for a guy in his 40s and it was nice to have somebody breathing behind me to take my mind off how much I hate 400m repeats.

So he ran the first set with me, skipped the first two reps of the second but came back for the third. He also called out split times, which was helpful because I'd forgotten my watch. The times are actually approximate because they were his own, I was slightly faster on each one.

Instead of doing a third set of 3x400m, because I was heaving and ready to quit, he started to tell me about Jack Daniels (no, not that Jack Daniels) and running economy. It helps that Porter is also a cross country coach. Apparently a stride length that is too long means that you're wasting energy with inefficient movements. It's physics. Porter convinced me to test it out so we did another three 1:00 sprints and counted strides. I hit 170, 200, and 186 strides per minute for each of the respective sprints and saw a pretty significant increase in distance covered (though sustainability was an issue). I'm gonna keep playing around with stride rate to find out if a faster turnover is helpful on the Ultimate field.

UMD Lift

Overhead squat: 10 at 45, 8 at 65lb
Front squat: 8 at 95, 8 at 115, 6 at 135lb
Military press: 5x3 at 95lb
DB Snatch (each arm): 5 at 35, 3 at 45, 3 at 55lb
3x(3 squat cleans, 1 push jerk) at 115lb
3x10 RLESS
4x(0:20 dip station L sit, 0:40 rest)

Movement Prep

Mixing up this week's workouts. First went for a jaunt with the dog around the neighborhood, then did a low-key workout for some of the complimentary muscles.

1km jog
100m shuffle left, 100m shuffle right
100m carioca left, 100m carioca right
100m backpedal, 500m jog

2x(2x8 strict pullups, 8 kipping pullups)
3x10 SL DB RDL 15lb
3x10 bent-over row 75lb
3x10 DB shrugs 25lb
3x8 DB curls 20lb
3x10 DB shoulder raise 10lb

Run

3mi in 20:25 (6:48 pace)
1mi splits: 6:15, 7:05, 7:05
0.5mi splits: 3:00, 3:15, 3:20, 3:45, 4:00, 3:05

Stations

A little bit of body-weight conditioning. Didn't push much.

2 rounds of 1:00 on, 0:10 transition, 5:00 between rounds:

Squats (42, 45)
Mountain climbers (90, 90)
Pushups (32, 30)
Front plank
Superman hold
Sky humps L (70, 80)
Sky humps R (70, 80)
Left plank
Right plank
Wall sit

Home Lift

10 overhead squats 45lb
10 pushups
10 DB deadlift 25lb
3x10 DB military press 25lb
3x10 front squat 65lb
3x8 HSPU to pillow
3x8 pistols squats per leg

65lb is what I get when I put all of the weights I have onto the EZ-curl bar at my house. It's awkward to clean, but not super challenging for any of the real strength movements. On the other hand, pistols and HSPUs kick my ass. I wish I could afford access to better equipment, but we'll see what I can do with what I've already got.

IR Track Workout #1-1

Week 1, Track Workout 1: 3x(3x400m)

400m in 1:20
1:20 rest
400m in 1:20
1:20 rest
400m in 1:18
3:30 rest
400m in 1:20
1:20 rest
400m in 1:20
1:20 rest
400m in 1:20
3:30 rest
400m in 1:20
1:20 rest
400m in 1:18
1:20 rest
400m in 1:16

Now the ring toe on my left foot is all bloody. I was wondering what hurt while I was running, other than my lungs.