Geezer's Long March Toward the Elite Sneaking Up On the Finish Line

[Mark E. Hurling]

Later today I hopped on the Dark Lady and rode to the devil. Part of the ongoing Devil's Tour of Southern Illinois. This is the Devil's Standtable in Giant City.

[Mark E. Hurling]

It figgers that such a day full of sunshine had to have at least one dark cloud.

On the way to train Special Olympians in powerlifting, I got rear ended. The guy had been driving badly and I made the unforced error of passing him and then staying in the same lane with him behind me. Someone ahead made a U turn requiring a fast braking and, sure enough, this bozo hit me. No harm to me or damage to my Edge. Not even a scuff on the bumper. I got out to check and he shambled out (old guy like me with ZZ Top beard).

"You OK?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Good thing I didn't hit nuthin'."

Wrong thing to start with. "No just me in the ass!"

"Hey sorry," as he stepped in and put his hand on my shoulder.

Wrong thing #2 to do. I side stepped, took his hand off me and unconsciously cut off the rest of the sequence of a wrist lock that puts someone on their knee. I was THAT pissed off.

"I'm not hurt, you're not hurt, and my vehicle is OK. I don't give a shit about yours. Get back to it, shut up, and leave me alone. " At which point I gunned out of there.

I then had 5 minutes to decompress for the training session. My story and pesstivity was not germane and would not be helpful to the people I coach. So, don't ask, don't tell.

John did a 75% session in prep for the meet Saturday. I spotted the bar coming out from his shins 2/3 of the way up and got him (mostly) corrected. I told him to keep the hand touching the inside of his shins the bar touching his legs. He's not adept at it yet, but progressed a little.

Lena was rolling the bar forward and back to get it off the ground. I had her get the bar going straight up and to move her hands in closer together. She deadlifts conventionally.

Marissa had the bar coming out too far from her legs so I had her stand closer to the bar, and she did just fine. She's so tiny and thin, but she is courageous.

Altogether a good session, but I found that I was still pissed driving home, so I called it a night and decided that contact with others was not in the cards with mood I was in. I did my best to be civil with DB and our daughter.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 224.4.

Seated Press: 135: 6-6-6. Struggling back up.

Rope Handle Curl: 250-252-255 for sets of 8.

Pullover and Press: 115 7-6-6.

Claw Curl: Sets of 5, 120-130-140.

Average HR was 110 bpm @ 72% of MHR.

I bought a 6 lb. medicine ball for the women shotputters. It's got a bigger circumference than a shotput, but they've been forced to use a men's 8 lb. shot and the local Dick's couldn't even order a 6 lb. shot. So, one improvises as needs must.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 226.2. Apparently my recalcitrant fat cells are not ready to give up the fight.

Rounds of speed bag, cable crunch, prowler*, Jacob's Ladder, heavy bag, and stretched.

Average HR was 125 bpm @ 82% of MHR.

* My quest to conquer my distaste for the prowler continues. I tried this with liver every few years and remained unsuccessful in keeping it down without gagging. I gave up at age 35. I think I will overcome this one.

[Cheesepuff]

Very envious of your weight loss.
Joe Thomas and Tom Thayer both managed to lose weight after their playing days. They are also heroes of mine.
It's also great that you're working with kids. 65 in May, I'm likely to continue working though.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Very envious of your weight loss.
Joe Thomas and Tom Thayer both managed to lose weight after their playing days. They are also heroes of mine.
It's also great that you're working with kids. 65 in May, I'm likely to continue working though.

Thanks!

I'm not certain of the age of all of them. I do know that Lena is turning 23 tomorrow and John is 32. Jareth is a teen and John C is also in his 30's. Merrissa is of undetermined age, although she is high functioning enough to have a driver's license and drive on her own. I'm in something of a quandary about how to think of them. It's easy to default to putting them in the kid category, but I'm reluctant to do so given their adulthood. Direct contact with these folks is new to me and I am swamping my way through it.

OTOH, I have since discovered that one of my students in Jujitsu is a high functioning autistic. Knowing this changed my opinion of him which was more than a little negative. But just a few weeks of working with the Special Olympians has taught me to modulate some of my teaching methods and I am learning how to coach on the fly.

DB was hoggin' the laptop last night and I didn't get a chance to enter my new Jujitsu teaching session with the kid (and he IS a kid in high school) I referenced above. He was the only one to show up for the first session, and one on one teaching with him went VERY well.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 224. The Battle of the Bulge lurches onward

2nd Cycle, Week 2. 3 reps @ 70%, 3 reps @ 80%, as many reps as possible @ 90%.

Incline Press: 135-155-176/2. Not a good thing. I couldn't even make the 3 reps prescribed.

Hammer High Row: 265-300-330/4.

Deadlifts: 230-265-395/3. Also not stellar, since a rep or so more than the prescribed 3 is a goal, but at least not retrograde.

Average HR was 125 bpm @ 78% of MHR.

I'm debating whether or not to declare victory and start eating more again along with starting on creatine and BCAA's. As opposed to writing off this cycle as a casualty of the weight loss and holding out better things to come for Cycle 3 when I have hit 220 and can eat more. Probably the latter. It is now also a certainty that I need another hole in my lifting belt. It was a wee bit not quite tight enough when I hitched it up for the 2nd and 3rd heavy sets of deadlifts. No unmixed blessings I guess.

In other news, I coached the shotputters last night and gave John's parents my recommendations for his lifting attempts at the meet tomorrow. Subject to their concurrence of course. I was conservative in my 3rd attempts so as not to hurt his hernia. The women liked the 6 lb. medicine ball, but the circumference was a little tricky for their hands. I know that champion thrower Deanna Price works at the local Dick's Sporting Goods, so I may try to pick her brain for a used woman's shot put. She may prove more supportive than that POS Betsy De Vos did this week. I'm glad POTUS spanked her over her niggardliness.

[Cheesepuff]

I have found that teaching, is all about knowing where the audience is.
From there it is either finding an audience you can teach, or finding how to teach the audience you have.
Neither is easy.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Yeah, I've learned a little of that myself teaching Jujitsu. Everyone's abilities, skills, learning style, capacity, and potential are different.

DB and I spent Friday and Saturday going to, at, and returning from the regional qualifier powerlifting meet for the state level games in June. John did great. He exceeded my 3rd attempt recommendations by 10 to 30 lbs. The difference being in his confidence and competitive juices after talking to him after his 2nd attempts. Lena PR'd with a 190 lb. deadlift and Marisa had a good showing too. She was alone in the lightest weight class, slip of a thing that she is.

The other lifters were pretty amazing too. John's biggest competitor was a tall skinny guy who pulled a 305 deadlift out of somewhere compared to John's 225. But John is working back up to previous weights before his hernia and regaining his confidence and overcoming his fear of re-injury. I congratulated the other guy and asked his coach how the heck his neurological recruitment was so good. His coach said it was a mystery to him as well. One other lifter had mere stubs for fingers which had to make gripping the bar for deadlifts profoundly difficult. Incredible to see.

There's a lot to learn as a coach. Watching other competitors to gauge 3rd attempts for one. Also getting the lifters in and out of their belts and shoe changes as required. More than programming and congratulations. There was also keeping an eye on the upcoming screens for the other lifters being supported like Lena and Marisa. I had to toggle between two platforms to keep up with all of them.

Very inspiring experience.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 223.

I worked intervals of speed bag (and broke the bag's bladder) hanging leg raises, SciFit, medicine ball toss, rower, side bend, and stretching.

Average HR was 120 bpm @ 78% of MHR.