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

[Mark E. Hurling]

Some rounds of conditioning today consisting of SciFit, speed bag, cable rotations, supine medicine ball toss, crunches, heavy bag, plate halos, hip and knee flexor stretches, shoulder dislocates.

32 minutes average HR 153 BPM @ 103% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

What a week! Thomas (Gunny) Highway USMC-RET kept cropping up in my mind with his famous line "YOU IMPROVISE, YOU OVERCOME, YOU ADAPT!!!"

DB and I got a last minute request to help out with another Special Olympics event on Tuesday which had me cancelling the Jujitsu class. Also pass on squats Wednesday because of the long day before. When you get old, sometimes you gotta do that. Then last night the Karate guy asked if I could sub for his class tonight. Which then had me push squats to tomorrow. I didn't want to risk tweaking my back before teaching tonight. So, this was today's lifting:

Hepburn routine with 8 singles @ 90% of 1RM, working up to 10 singles and a backoff set of 5 @ 75% of 1RM.

Seated Press: 200, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 and 135 for 5.

Pin Press: Sets of 5, 180-180-180.

Hammer Row: 305, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 and 250 for 5.

Music: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Semper Fidelis, Rambling Gambling Man, Copperhead Road, Urgent, The Stroke, Punisher, Rescue Me, Hazy Shade of Winter, Mustang Sally, Amadeus, Mony Mony, Eye of the Tiger.

54 minutes average HR 126 BPM @ 85% of MHR.

Then tonight I taught the Karate folk, as it turned out the advanced and intermediate class. This was much different than than they were used to moving. After blocking a straight punch I showed them a couple of alternative entries to a ulna press arm bar takedown. Then a rear heel trip takedown after blocking a roundhouse punch. They needed a fair amount of coaching to get the foot work right. It's much different than the all too typical rock-em/sock-em robots so common in many Karate responses. Stepping around and deflecting is not common there, nor are close quarters palm heel strikes to the jaw to drive the head back from nearly a chest to chest position.

They were surprised when I showed them a stepping in body check response to a wrist grab. Getting knocked back a step or so was not something they had considered once they got stepped into. Let alone using such a simple technique.

Afterward I had a good discussion with Isaac, a 2nd degree Black Belt I've known for a couple of years about the difference and development of martial arts we had studied. A tough week so far, but a rewarding one.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Hepburn routine with 8 singles @ 90% of 1RM, working up to 10 singles.

Squat: 215, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.

High Pulls: 170, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.

Music: Darth Vader Death March, Kashmir, Star Spangled Banner, Fame, Life in the Fast Lane, Ring of Fire, Tarzan Boy, Any Way You Want It, Heat Wave, Cantina Band, Land of Confusion, Who Do You Love, Sledgehammer.

69 minutes average HR 129 BPM @ 87% of MHR.

The best squat session in some time. I made all 8 reps and all of them to depth. So far the knee and back is good, but the next 48-72 hours will tell the tale. Also I had to find a new squat rig. The standard power rack won't let me put my hands wide where my shoulders are the most comfortable and allows me to get the bar low enough on my back. The one I was using got taken out of the Rec Center so I had to bring in vise grips to see if I could adjust a pair of upright squat stands in about a foot to accommodate my aging shoulders. Worked great.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Hepburn routine with 9 singles @ 90% of 1RM, working up to 10 singles and a backoff set of 5 @ 75% of 1RM.

Bench Press: 200, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 and 165 for 5.

Hammer High Row: 260, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 and 220 for 5.

Hammer Curls: Sets of 12, 165-165-165.

Knee and hip flexor stretches, cable dislocates.

Music: Fanfare for the Common Man, Peter Gunn, Shipping Up to Boston, Foggy Bottom Breakdown, Miami Vice, Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Under Pressure, Maniac, Gimme All Your Loving, Rescue Me, Heat of the Moment, Wheel in the Sky, Go Your Own Way, Phantom of the Opera, Headknocker, Day-O,Lincoln Park Pirates.

66 minutes average HR 112 BPM @ 75% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Lifting went well for the Special Olympians. Life happens and tonight only two of the five athletes of the Big Muddy Iron Crew could make it. They worked hard and did well in their respective lifts, especially on the last intensity set. As usual, the deadlift was their greatest strength in terms of last and extra reps.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Did some conditioning today. Rounds of speed bag, elliptical, supine medicine ball toss, crunches, plate halos, heavy bag, hip and knee flexor stretches, shoulder dislocates.

30 minutes average HR 140 BPM @ 94% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Ball Cap.jpg

Jujitsu tonight with me teaching Ken. I am refining his technique in the rear naked strangle and it's starting to pay off. I was starting to lose my peripheral vision and get the "grays" after a lot of pain and about 4-5 seconds of torque to the carotids in my neck. Not bad for him. Seconds count in a fight. The sooner you end it, the better. Most of the rest of the chokes I taught tonight didn't require an assist from clothing.

An exception was the sliding lapel choke where you grab the attacker's lapel with one hand and his collar with the other and pull across the neck. Done correctly and with the right wrist action it shuts off the flow of air like turning a faucet.

Because these techniques take a toll on the neck, circulatory system, and blood pressure, we took some breaks in between. During those breaks I taught him how to use the short stick (yawara) for some escapes, locks, counters, strikes, and blocks. Since no one carries a short stick these days I teach using a small, very bright flashlight. Small, but long enough that the ends stick out a few inches from the ends of the hand at top and bottom.

A good session, but like many, one that left me slightly dizzy, tired, and drained.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I woke up feeling like I had been dragged behind a truck. But I went in to lift anyway. Feelings are not reliable predictors of performance.
It was SUPPOSED to be 9 singles with 325 in the deadlift. I failed on the second single but gritted my teeth and vowed to git er done. A young guy came up to me after the first one and fist bumped me saying I was an inspiration. Sure wish I felt like one.
Besides my general fatigue and malaise I've been fighting the last week or so, for some reason the knurling on the bar started taking off major hunks of skin on my thumbs. Besides the pain of that, my grip was failing even with chalk. So I packed it in.
I have no idea what is causing this. Maybe too many people passing all at once. Others who I have a past with looking really old all of a sudden. Then there's some peripheral stuff that's weighing on me.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I think I've managed to drive myself into the ground in fairly short order by going back to that singles routine. I can't seem to wake up and I find napping an absolute necessity now. So I'm taking a break for a while. I need to rally all my resources for the upcoming Special Olympics qualifier in mid March. Training for a meet will take a back seat until then. I may get in some trips to the gym between then and now, but only after I pull out of this crash dive my extra energy has taken. Getting old is not for sissies.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Another training session with the Special Olympians tonight. Other life events had some the athletes elsewhere tonight, but Lena and Sheridan put their all into moving the bar in good form. This was a light deload session to prep for the ramp up to the qualifier. So I had them key in on how to set up, how to listen for the commands, and maintaining good form. I found an approved wrist wrap for Lena to use. She had been using one that would not be approved by the judges and I had her try the new one on and practice wrapping it. The rules say you have to take the thumb loop off during the lifts and between me watching for it and the judges' scrutiny, things should go just fine.

The platform rules permit some close assistance in set up from the coach which will be good for some lifters and some lifts. Sheridan continues to get better and better at the squat. She'll load on more weight as she continues to train. Lena did great with the new wrist wrap for support.