Fender Bender

Ouch! Got rear ended this morning on 95 North. Car in front of me slammed on their brakes. I slammed on mine. Stopped just in time. Looked in rear view mirror... uh oh, this isn't going to be good. BAM! pause... BAM! I got hit from behind then bounced forward into the car in front of me.

We all pulled off to the side. Took me a few seconds to catch my breath and let my adrenaline level come down. Everyone got out of their cars, all were ok. Car in front of me, no damage. Car behind me, front hood, bumper and one head light smashed in. My Civic, rear bumper somewhat dented, but not enough to worry about on a '99 model. Front of my car, nothing noticeable.

I'll carefully try to stretch out my back and neck today. I don't expect any problems beyond maybe some tightness. We shall see. Glad I worked out this morning, so that I was already warmed up and loose when struck.

Just another morning in NY.

Friday, 12/7

I was sooooooo tired this morning. But I forced myself to get up when the snooze went off at 5:15am. Just like Rif said, never ask yourself, "Do I feel like training?" Because you know what the answer will be, particularly if the alternative is to stay under the covers and catch another hour of zzz's. So I got up and got moving. And had a pretty good workout. Here's today...

2-Hand Swings: 16kg - 40; 24kg - 20
Halos: 16kg - 5/5; 24kg - 5/5
Figure 8 to Hold: 16kg - 5/5; 24kg - 5/5

These were done once through with the 16kg (swings, then halos, then 8's), then grabbed the 24kg and ran through each again in same order.

Windmills: 16kg - 5/5; 24kg - 5/2

My form broke down on the 3rd rep so I stopped right here and moved on.

Clean & Presses: 16kg - 5/5; 24kg - 3/3

These felt pretty good. I'm gonna wait and see how the bicep feels tomorrow.

High Pulls: 24kg - 5/5 x 7 sets

These felt pretty good today too. I increased the number of sets from prior sessions. Hoping to see that come Monday my Snatches are still feeling as good as they did this week.

That's all folks. Enjoy the weekend!!

KSB T-Shirt

My t-shirt from Rannoch was waiting for me when I got home from work last night. It is SWEET!! Thank you Rannoch. I'll take some pics over the weekend. Fashion show! Fashion show!

Thurs, 12/6

Some easy work this morning. It's been a while since I did any 'in-between' exercises, so today wasn't as easy as it usually is. But still not bad, not even close to the intensity of my kettlebell workouts.

Standing Ab Wheel Rollouts - 5, 5, 5, 5

I'm still working up to a complete roll out from standing position. My goal was to be able to perform one before the end of the year. I still have a little bit of time. Today's session consisted of me rolling out to a stop (45lb plate) from standing position then return. Each set I inched back farther away from the plate. Right now the hardest part is initiating the return when I'm extended in the jack knife position.

Then went back to working on Z-Health movements. Still working my way through the book/dvd. Today practiced the following:

Z-Health - Lengthening, Pelvis, Lumbar, Thoracic, Neck, Shoulders

That's it and that's all!

Wed, 12/5

Well all of our snow is pretty much gone now. I guess we'll just have to wait for the first big storm to blanket us with something that will last.

Still feeling the aftermath of Monday's awesome Snatch work, so I took it a little easy today.

2-Hand Swings: 16kg - 40

Turkish Getups: 16kg - 3/3; 24kg - 1/1

Pistols: 8kg - 3/3; 16kg - 3/3

1-Hand Swings: 24kg - 10/10, 10/10, 10/10

And that was it for today. Friday will be High Pulls again.

Monday, 12/3

Took the day off from work today, so I didn't have to wake up early. Did do some early Christmas shopping at the mall, got home and squeezed in my practice session.

Warmed up with...
2-Hand Swings: 16kg - 40, 24kg - 20
Halos: 16kg - 5/5
Figure 8 to Hold: 16kg - 5/5

Then on to...
Windmills: 16kg - 5/5, 24kg - 5/5

Snatches:
16kg - 5/5
24kg - 5/5, 5/5, 5/5, 5/5, 5/5

5 sets of 5 with the 24kg. This is a PR for me. Most volume to date. I was AMAZED at how good these felt. Only last week, I felt like I couldn't control the down swing using the 24kg. I guess a few sessions of High Pulls and 1-Hand Swings with the 24kg sure did help with that.

I'd like to thanks all those out there with your feedback and suggestions that have helped get me here. This feels awesome! Looking forward to next Monday's session already!

Baby It's Cold Outside

"I really can't stay."
"But baby it's cold outside..."

My favorite seen from the movie Elf.

And it was cold outside today! Down around 30-degrees. And snow is expected tomorrow! I finished hanging the Christmas icicle lights outside on the house today and it was bitter cold out there.

But beforehand, I loosened up with a few quick Swings. I was also a bit stuff from yesterday's session and because I did some Pistols for the first time in a while, my glutes are hurtin' today!

So anyway, just to loosen up and get the blood flowing today consisted of:

2-Hand Swings: 16kg - 20
1-Hand Swings: 16kg - 20/20
2-Hand Swings: 24kg - 10
1-Hand Swings: 24kg - 10/10

Not too much but something to hold me over till Monday. I wonder how much snow we'll get??? That reminds me, better get some gasoline for the snow blower!! =)