Stefan's Blog

Yesterday was my first attempt at running after a week of pain in the (right) knee. After 200 m I was about to give up… but went for 4 to 5 miles instead. And paid dearly for it with a restless night, constantly waking up with a stabbing pain in the knee. I decided to see a specialist. This is too much.

Still, I got some work done in the gym. Last Sunday, I went for the all new and greatly improved card game work-out. The variety of exercises and different demands on the body is pretty staggering but very cool. I was a bit tired after the 75 minute work-out but not beaten to pulp. I like to move from station to station, only resting for 2 minutes when I hit a joker.

Yesterday, I did a heavy overhead press work-out, just concentrating on the overhead press and 3 x10 ab roll-outs with the wheel, 3 x 10 heavy cable sit-ups and 3 x 10 triceps push-downs. It took all of 25 minutes and it was all good.

I planned to run today but I’m glad it rains and there are thunderstorms in the area. The knee pain is a bit scary…

Well, Monday did not work out as planned. The noon workout never happened since work got in the way. And the evening gym work needed to be postponed as well.

Tuesday was a different story. We had a good morning session on the track. Late afternoon, the gym work went well with box squats and overhead presses being central.

Wednesday, I took the morning off and slept in (if you call 6:30 AM sleeping in). At noon, I threw the hammer and the 20 lbs weight in 95 F. It was hot and humid, to say the least. In the evening, I did more gym work concentrating on ab work and pull-overs. I’m bringing a new exercise to the sessions, straight arm pull-overs with a short 22 lbs bar. Done correctly, it really stretches the shoulder and adds flexibility. It is a perfect way to prevent the shoulder from getting petrified, something many of us experience from too much bench pressing. (I cut down on my bench work and switched to overhead presses instead. It ended shoulder pain!)

This morning found us back on the track again for a short one hour work-out that was basically an extended warm-up with ins and outs, plyo work and a few strides. The planned long jump session never happened since I felt pain in the knee from A-runs…

I’ll see my massage therapist later today.

Last week was tough, to say the least. Four mornings found me at the track @ 600 AM and coach Fuller had me work hard. 10 x 100 m with short rests, 4 x 150 m with short rests and so on.

At work I re-designed the website I had been working on for weeks.

And last Saturday, I went to Winston-Salem to throw stuff around @ the Carolinas Track & Field Throwers Meet. It started with the hammer and I improved a bit there. The shot put was alright but not as good as in Boone a few weeks ago. I threw the discus well; 36 m are good for me. Same with the weight but I need to train the event to get more comfortable. Same with the super weight as I got the exact same distance as I did in Boone. And the javelin flew 35+ m, not bad, not good enough…

I took the day off yesterday, did nothing. But this morning I was back on the track. Did a good warm-up and followed through with 10 x 100 m relaxed, fluid and fast with walk-back recovery. At noon, I will throw the weight and the hammer. Later in the afternoon, it will be a weight session.

And now, back to work.

Went down to the basement gym on Tuesday afternoon. After a full warm up, I did 10 x 2 x 245 lbs box squats with 6 x 3 x 18″ box jumps included. Ab work followed (3 x 10 x ab wheels; 3 x 20 x sprinter’s sit-ups; 3 x 10 x 50 lbs cable sit-ups). Done.

Schlepped my aching body to the track on Wednesday morning. After the warm-up, I felt much, much better. But after two 400 m with the first 50 full sprint, 300 m strides and 50 m all out, I was cooked, done. It was 78 Fahrenheit on the track at 600 am, just lousy.

Was on the track at 600 this morning. Another warm day as it was already 75 F when I arrived. Coach Fuller stayed in bed with hamstring problems. Warmed up with ins and outs, did 2 x 3 x flying 30 m and closed the session with three relaxed 100 m sprints. Once I was moving I was okay but the bed would have been alright as well.

Back from Sacramento. A day after the pentathlon, I was ready for the Javelin throw, one of 13 or 14 starters. I was surprised when I made it to the finals. I finished in 7th place, not bad for a combined eventer.

I was still upset over the discus ‘throws’ in the pentathlon and decided against the competition on Saturday. We went up to Wilbur Hot Springs instead (Andy Buchanan, Michael Carter of Canada, me). We had a wonderful time up there, running around naked and taking in the hot mineral waters and the fresh water pool. Spent the whole afternoon doing the Spa thing. And went down to Calistoga for a few beers, a bottle of wine and an early dinner. We  had a blast.

All in all, I had a good and relaxing week.

Obituaries: Wilma, eagle, 34. Old age & arthritis required her to lie down frequently. Put to sleep over the weekend.

A million butterflies escaped. All over the room throughout the night. No wonder that I did not have a good meet. The long jump: average. Javelin? Average. 200m okay. Diskus!!! Two fouls and a wobbler. The worst in years I had to run my add off in the 1500 m to medal. Yes, I did place second and got the much wanted silver but I wanted it to shine.

Well, it might tomorrow.