Stefan's Blog

Throwing/Training

admin — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:23:32 +0000

After returning on Thursday from the World Championship, I rested one day. On Saturday, I went to the Throwers Meet in Winston-Salem. Strangely, I recorded some personal bests, Hammer Throw, Discus Throw and Weight Throw. Did not do too well in the Javelin and the Shot Put but was not unhappy with the Super Weight. On Sunday, I decided to test my endurance for pain and ran 5 miles from an altitude of 1,250 to 2,972 feet in the North Carolina mountains. It felt okay and I thought I was back to normal later Sunday afternoon. On Monday, I had scheduled a weight workout and I almost fainted, it was so darn hard. No, it should not have been so difficult but the Saturday/Sunday combination caught up with me. On Tuesday, I threw the discus, tried a few things in the back of the ring, in the flight phase, the landing spot and in the front of the ring. And today was yet another work-0ut from hell. Late in the morning, the temps were already reaching 90, the humidity fogging up the office windows. I went on a hill next to the airport and did 5 x 30 second hill sprints with 90 seconds rest, 5 minutes rest, 5 x 26 seconds with 80 seconds rest, 5 minutes rest, 5 x 22 seconds with 70 seconds rest, 5 minutes and 5 x 18 seconds with 60 seconds rest. I walked back to the office, could not run a yard anymore! I think I do my Wednesday weight session tomorrow morning.

Back to (work)out(s)

admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:58:21 +0000

Now, the last three days have been typical for my Spring fun. On Sundays, a total of 4 miles with the real work being 9 x 1 minute lactate stackers. ? You run 1 minute, rest 1 minute, run 1 minute. Mine go like this: 1 minute slight uphill at 1500 m pace, 1 minute walk, return to finish of the 1500 m pace run, 1 minute @ 800 m or better pace slight downhill past starting point of 1500 m run with the rest of the 800 m pace run steep uphill, 1 minute 1500 m, rest , 800 m pace and so on. Short, painful, helpful. Monday at noon, discus and javelin training on my pasture behind the company building. Monday evening, gym work in my home gym: 8 x 3 box x 245 lbs box squats + 3 jumps on 18″ box, core work (cable sit-ups, Russian twists, Omni ball roll-outs, partial kettle bell get-ups, etc.), overhead press squats, overhead pull-ups. Today is Tuesday and that means hill work. Hill sprints, to be precise. 3 x 27 seconds with 90 seconds rest, 5 x each 22.5, 18.8 and 14.4 seconds with 60 seconds rest each, 5 minutes between sets.

January 6, 2011

admin — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 22:07:34 +0000

Happy New Year to everybody.

We spent New Year’s eve in the ‘new’ house in the NC mountains, the Bargain House in Traphill, North Carolina. Well, there is a little traveled road up there. It starts in Traphill and climbs 2.5 miles to the entry of the Stone Mountain State Park. I made this stretch my mountain home special and ran up there and back for the last couple of months. The incline is steep but not dramatic. At my turning point is a quaint little white Baptist church, pretty as a picture.

And a road called Oklahoma that climbs another 2.5 miles to Roaring Gap, all the way to the Eastern Continental Divide. I had taken my car up there and the road is bloody murder, mostly switchbacks and two inclines where the next curve seems to be hanging way up there in the sky. So, the total is 5 miles from an altitude of 1,250 to 2,972 feet. I know I’m not training for these kind of challenges but the stupid road was taunting me, asking me to do the impossible. I stared at it, thought about it, measured it and knew I would do it rather sooner than later.

I prepared for my first run of 2011 by driving up to the church, hiding a large bottle of Gatorade, driving back to Traphill and putting on my stuff. It was cold and a bit foggy down there and it got colder in the higher elevations. I don’t want to bore you with the details but I ran all the way up to the Continental Divide, never stopped. Close to Roaring Gap I got out of the clouds and ran above the cloud line. Nice.

Went back and it got worse by the minute, ankles, quads, knees, all crying out to stop this pain. It never stopped, not until I was under the hot shower back in the Bargain House. Will I do it again? Yes, but only the part up the mountain, I’ll never run down that road again.

Training @ 61

admin — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 23:08:14 +0000

Went to the basement and attacked some iron: time to get out the card game, 39 cards = 39 exercises. The last three? The second king asked for 14 box squats with 225 lbs., the third 8 asked for 8 snatches with the 28 kg kettle bell and the third king asked for 14 partial get-ups with the 28 kg kettle bell. Sometimes, the cards are a bitch.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

admin — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:35:16 +0000

I’ve had enough. The Comment Feature of this blog became a public restroom and a garbage dump for assorted assholes from around the world. Every day, I receive gibberish shit that I have to classify as either Trash or Spam. Enough.

If you want to comment on any future post, you will have to use e-mail. I know that is inconvenient but those bastards are relentless in making the virtual world an unpleasant place to live in.

Monday, December 6, 2010

admin — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 18:10:43 +0000

Information overkill! For the last week or two, I sorted my data for the planning of my athletic year, hopefully culminating in a good placing in the decathlon at the US Masters Decathlon Nationals, US Nationals, the Masters World Championships and Ultra Decathlon World Championships.

The gym work has been completed a while ago. I’m comfortable with the result. The track & field work is a bit different. I start relatively late with the base work and need a structured plan to reach my goals in 2011. The plan is basically the plan a 400 m sprinter would come up with. Plus the jumps and all the throws, of course.

It is fun right now but confusing as well.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

admin — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:48:07 +0000

It has been a while. The meniscus surgery went well and I’m back in training for a few weeks already. Still, the progression with my running training is slow, to say the least. Last week, I ran two back to back days up a steep 2.5 miles to Stone Mountain State Park in Wilkes County, NC. It is plain beautiful up there but after a mile or so, your eyes focus on the first six to 10 yards in front of you since you simply don’t want to see what’s ahead of you. It is tough, man is it tough. Still, when reaching the park entry, you can go for another easy 11 miles to loop back to the home in Traphill, NC or you can continue for yet another 2.5 miles on a very steep winding road up to Roaring Gap, NC. That’s the plan for the coming weekend, five most difficult miles up the mountain to the ramp to the Blue Ridge Parkway with 10 downhill miles back home on day 1, followed by a 13.5 miler with a very demanding first 2.5 miles and 11 miles through the Stone Mountain State Park on day 2.

Recovery

admin — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 13:24:18 +0000

It has been 10 days since surgery. The first few days I took it easy, one day on crutches, the next day without but with the main weight on the left foot. And it got better from day to day. I went to physical therapy, got a list of exercises to do at home. Strangely, it said “three sessions per day” and I did them. It took a large chunk of time out of my days. Besides, I concentrated on ab exercises like partial get-ups with kettle-bells and did overhead presses from a sitting position. Over the course of the first week, I cranked up the partial get ups to over 100 reps with 28 kg (62 lbs) kettle bells. (partial get-ups: lay on your back on the floor, press the kettle-bell straight up and lift your upper body off the ground, good one!) I also increase the overhead press to my body weight and did three sets at 3 x body weight.

I’m in the second week of recovery. I can walk without pain for about half a mile. I got a new set of exercises, this time it is one session per day 3 x per week but I’m doing the stuff daily since it does not hurt. Also, I don’t use a 6″ box, I use a 12″ box for step ups and downs. I cut back a bit on ab stuff and work ladders up to and down from body weight on the overhead press from a sitting position.

It’s getting better all the time…

Meniscus

admin — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:33:20 +0000

Sure, it hurt to compete in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico at the Regional Championships. It hurt last Saturday at the Winston-Salem Throwers Meet as well. Yesterday, I went to a local knee specialist that Dr. J recommended. Dr. Liljeberg confirmed what I already highly suspected: meniscus tear, hopefully small.

I will have arthroscopic surgery and it will be fixed. I think within three or four weeks I’m going to start the hopefully not so long road back, base work that I have done each fall to begin with. Nothing hard, nothing fast, just long easy miles.

Back to the Regionals. I feel I did alright. I was happy with the Pentathlon score of 2,817 points according to Model 2010, over 3000 points on the old scale. I won and threw a personal best in the discus and the javelin. Got a gold medal in the weights and throw pentathlon as well but a guest from Panama (Omar Diaz del Castillo) kicked my ass. You can see a bunch of photos on my website under NEWS and on facebook.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:48:07 +0000

Hurricane Earl will be gone by tomorrow, so I hope. Flying into Puerto Rico should not be problematic and flying on to Mayaguez should be possible, so I hope.

Ken Stone published the list of entrants on masterstrack.com. I noticed Rex Harvey competing in the pentathlon and very much look forward meeting him. I’ve never done an event with Rex. And I’m looking forward to meeting Norman Hough again. We competed at the US Decathlon Nationals and had a good time with the rest of the gang.

And maybe, just maybe, we can get a 4 x 1 and 4 x 4 M60 team on the track.

Even with my bum knee, I’m looking forward to the coming weekend!

(Find her a vacant knee, fellas)