John’s Ramblings

We went relatively light on the workout on Monday in anticipation of a much heavier Tuesday.  Luka did not disappoint.

Warm-ups, including some special “glute activation” drills.  If your trainer is taking extra time to activate your glutes, you can bet there’s going to be some lifting involved.

Double Kettlebell Clean-and-Press: 4 sets of 5 reps, 2 x 55lb KB’s

Barbell complex:

• Front Squats
• Lunges
• Thrusters
• Cleans

Dumbell Tabatas (20/10) 8 minutes:

• Goblet Squat
• Swings
• Clean & Press
• Squat Jumps

No more Tuesday nights with Luka for a while.  Sad.

…make Veal Piccatta, because it’s a high protein/low carb alternative to lemonade.

Our workout life & goals have just undertaken a huge shift.  I’m just now getting my mental-arms wrapped around the changes in store, but the bottom line is that our cash flow picture has changed significantly so we are curtailing expenses where possible.  Among the things on the “discretionary expenses” list that are to meet the budget axe are:

• Weekly Tuesday night training with Luka at Hocevar Performance, and
• My date with the Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certification Workshop in April.

This is a huge shift.  The RKC was my next big goal.  Tuesdays were the highlight of my workout week, my chance to “lift heavy shit” and mold my aging  protoplasm into something that looks halfway decent when naked (no, there will be no pictures).  I was just feeling like I was “turning the corner” on my recovery from the pre-Thanksgiving nerve injury, so now this second dose of adversity forces me to do a complete reboot on the training regime.  Terri is as devastated as I, as she was seeing changes in her body that she has never had in her entire life.  We are determined to get back to the gym as soon as possible, but short of holding a “Send a Calnan to Training” telethon on the public access channel (maybe this is where I should sell those pictures), the timeframe for our return to Prowler-Pushing and Tire-Flipping on Tuesdays is not clear.

The new training regime isn’t established yet, but it’s basically going to be Terri and I training each other 3 or 4 times a week.  I still have 5 weeks of bootcamp training to go, so my Monday/Wednesday/Friday mornings are scheduled for the next month.  With the equipment we’ve managed to acquire over the past year, we should be able to devise some pretty good kettlebell complexes, bodyweight sessions, and the occasional heavy lifting on our own (accepting donations of an Olympic Trap Bar, if you’ve got one laying unused in your garage).

With Spring apparently upon us (things are blooming, and the frogs are back!), we may even dust off the bicycles and start putting in some saddle time.  We haven’t led any rides in months, and I owe a friend or two a hilly ride to Black Diamond/Green River Gorge.

The next few months will probably be more of a mental than physical challenge.  We need to stay focused, even when the future gets foggy.

The neck/shoulder injury is about 50% better, I’m estimating.  My physical therapist thinks it will be months until I’m 100% again with the grip in my left hand.  I’m going for my RKC in April, so I better get my work-around figured out for the physical tests that await me…

Last night I got my wish and Luka set me up for trap-bar deadlifts.  I don’t think I’ve done any of these since early autumn, and I was really itchin’ to lift something heavy.  After a couple of warm-up sets at 245, Luka wanted to set me up for 295 (previous best 285).  I asked for, and received, the necessary 5 extra pounds to make an even 300.  The goal was 3 sets of 3.  I managed 2.5 sets of 2.  FRUSTRATION!  The body was totally willing and able to do this, the left hand was not up to the task.  As I’d start the second rep, the left hand could not maintain the required grip on the bar.  By the end of the second rep on set 1 & 2, the bar was hanging from the left fingers.  On set 3, it was hanging at the beginning of rep 2, and I couldn’t complete it.

I know I should be happy with what I accomplished.  But I’m not.  I must redouble my efforts at rehab, because this is just plain pissin’ me off.

To help me burn off a little steam, Luka set up the following workout for me next:

• 20 x 55 lb Kettlebell swings
• 10 Log clean & press
• 10 dumbell lunges R & L
• 10 pushups

Do set straight through, then start again with 18 swings, 9 reps of the rest.  Then 16/8, etc.  There wasn’t enough oxygen in Renton for me after this bad-boy.

We finished with a little 2x core circuit of pushup-position planks, elbow planks, 1 side v-ups R & L, and superman’s.

5 a.m. now, and I need to get moving for 6 a.m. bootcamp.  Working out this much not only makes me strong, it gives me the ability to predict the future.  The future is an afternoon nap!

As of yesterday, I was down 12.5 lbs in 2.5 weeks.  Moving along nicely on that front, anyway.

Then why am I constantly walking around on the verge of needing a nap?  Two plus weeks of bootcamps (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) plus the Tuesday night workouts with my trainer.  It’s been an interesting workload to adjust to, to say the least.

I miss doing 3-4 strength training sessions a week with the kettlebells, but with the grip issue still resolving itself I don’t think I can go there quite yet.  So this bootcamp-challenge of Luka’s has been a good way for me to get more active following the injury, yet still giving me time to heal.

From the sound of it, the bodyweight workouts that we’re doing at 6 a.m. should be way easier than, say, deadlifting 300 pounds.  Not so fast.   Due to the rapid-fire nature of these workouts there is little or no chance for rest, putting a big load on the cardiovascular system to keep up.  Here’s the circuit that Luka had us doing yesterday, after a quick warmup:

Tabata intervals – 40 secs work / 20 seconds rest – 4 mins (twice thru 2 exercises) per station:

• Station 1: Sprint 40 yards up-and-back (I managed 2 “laps” per 40 sec interval) & V-Ups
• Station 2: Kettlebell Deadlifts & “Prisoner” Jump-Squats
• Station 3: Dumbell curl & press & bent-over rows
• Station 4: Burpees with a lateral jump in between reps & Planks in a pushup position, alternating touching the shoulder with the hand.

The workout “finisher” yesterday was descending reps of two alternating exercises, 10 reps down to 1:

• Jump-squats
• Pushups

So yeah, lifting heavy is hard physically because you are testing the limits of strength.  This stuff tests/pushes your endurance, as well as your mental fortitude.  You just did your second set of 40 second v-ups and your abs and hip flexors are burning.  Your 20 seconds of “rest” gives you just enough time to drag yourself to your knees, then your feet.  How fast you willing to sprint, old timer?  You going to let that 23 year old girl beat your ass?  (The answer is YES, but only by a few feet).

The injury rehab is progressing.  I’m now maybe 50% back to where I need to be.  It no longer wakes me up and I don’t have to sleep flat on my back with no pillows! Woo-hoo!!  I’ve tapered my ibupofen back to less than 50% of what it was.  I’m continuing my regimen of stretching/physical therapy/z-health stuff that seems to be helping.

I don’t envision any cycling in my near future until my grip improves a bit… that one ride I did revealed that I can’t squeeze the front brake lever with much force.  Lack of stopping ability doesn’t make for safe group riding.

The weighing-in every morning is a bit maddening, since my water-weight seems to fluctuate so much.  Yesterday I was 3 pounds heavier than I am this morning.  That means I’ll probably be a couple of pounds heavier tomorrow even though I’ll spend today eating bunny-chow.  It’s all about the averages, and the trend over time.

Stay Below The Line!!!

Part 1200 in a series on my ongoing quest to figure out what the hell is going on with my neck/shoulder/arm.  Yes, the weakness continues…

At the recommendation of my Family Physician, I had an MRI done on my neck Wednesday night.  Cool machine, if you aren’t claustrophobic.  I wasn’t, until I got into this machine.  A coffin has more space that this thing.  I was actually cool until about 20 minutes into this 25 minute ordeal, then I got a very strong urge to getthehelloutofhere.  I had to calm my breathing, and think “happy thoughts” (mine was the bicycle descent from Sunrise/Mt. Rainier).

The results today:

It looks like you have quite a bit of degeneration of the discs between your vertebrae. Please make a telephone or in person appointment to discuss

FuckityFuckFuckFuckFuckFuckFuck.

I knew something was wrong, and I had pretty much assimilated that I may have had a slight bulging disc in the neck, but I wasn’t quite prepared for “degeneration”.  I’m hoping it sounds worse that it is, but when I look at it I just feel old.  Not good.

I’m determined to work around this thing, and still accomplish my goals.  In order to do that, I need to

• Rehab the current injury/symptoms (neck/shoulder pain & lack of grip in left hand)
• Improve my posture and movement patterns so as to avoid further injury
• Strengthen the neck and improve it’s flexibility
• Train consistently on the strength and endurance I will need to pass the RKC certification in April.

I am in week 1 of a 9 week “transformation contest” at Luka’s gym.  Three mornings a week, I’m rolling in to Renton at 6 a.m. for 40 minutes of hell.  That’s in addition to the 1 night a week of strength training I’m still doing.  I love the strength stuff, lifting heavy shit gives me great joy.  40 minutes of consistently hard bodyweight exercise amongst 20 heaving bodies is probably more difficult for me.  Bonus points that some of the bodies are pretty nice, even at 6 a.m.

Stay tuned to the ongoing saga of John’s pain-in-the-neck.  I’ll try to be more consistent in updating y’all.  For the sake of accountability, here’s the link to my FitDay stats, so you can see how the transformation is progressing:

John’s FitDay

It’s true!  I’m ashamed to say that, even though this is a blog started to chronicle my cycling exploits and there’s a bike pictured in the header, I have not ridden in a while.  A great while.  When I got home from Rapsody on August 29, I hung my bicycle in the garage and that’s where it’s been since.

Terri was heading to Lynnwood on Saturday for “spa day”, and there was a “brewery ride” taking place in my back yard.  So in the interest of community service I donned my bike togs, loaded my winter bike onto the car, and headed down to Kent Station to help out on the ride.

Not having ridden in a while, it was inevitable that I would forget something.  On this day, it was the saddle bag which was affixed to my summer bike (pictured above).  Not wanting to be late I ventured ahead, comforted by the knowledge that I had not had a single flat tire in 2009.

There was much mulling and debate (the weather being vaguely shitty) but a core group of riders headed south toward Auburn.  After a “comfort stop” at the Auburn Golf Course, we made it another couple of miles before the call to “STOP!” was heard from the pack.  One rider had a wheel that was binding, and had stopped back at the bottom of Lea Hill.  Not wanting the whole group to backtrack to find this fellow, I of course volunteered to go rescue the cyclist.  I borrowed a multi-tool from one of the group, and struck out on my mission.  I made it about 100 yards before I hit a small divot around a water valve and got a pinch-flat on the rear tire.

Remember how I said I didn’t have my saddle bag?  What does one carry in a saddle bag besides a multi-tool?  A spare tube and a patch kit.  A 100 yard walk and an unanswered phone call later, your “ride to the rescue hero” was standing at the corner of “M” and Main St. in Auburn sans tube, patch kit, or rescue-ee.

Fortunately for our would-be hero, the gas station/mini mart at Main & M is a stopping point for cyclists heading out to Green Valley / Black Diamond / points east.  A group of 4 randonneurs were chomping powerbars and quaffing gatorade as I approached, a damp $5 bill in hand.  I was able to procure a FREE tube (“just give one to the next guy that needs one”), and commenced the tire repair process.  I had a tube (oversized, but servicable), and a multi-tool.  I pulled the multi-tool out of the pocket I had jammed it into a mere 10 minutes prior, and was startled by the complexity of this device.  There was everything on this tool from scissors to a magnifying glass.  A cyclist for the Swiss Army never had it so good.  I could see that there was a form of tire lever contained in the depths of this thing, but it took another few minutes to a.) find the safety release loop and release button that allowed the two halves of the tool to separate, revealing the utilitarian goodness inside, and b.) find the other secret button sequence that allowed you to move the scissors, magnifying glass, screwdriver, can opener, paint can opener, and tongue depressor out of the way so you could use the tire lever.

Once I had accomplished all that, I had to actually extricate the old tube from the tire.  You may recall from my last entry that the grip on my left hand is shot.  I was basically trying to change a tube without the use of an opposable thumb on my left hand.  After much cursing and 3rd stage Lamaze breathing, I was able to pull out the old tube, check for pointy-bits inside the tire, and reassemble everything, pump up the tire, and resume the RESCUE MISSION (all the while, wishing I could have been rescued from my rescue mission).

I backtracked the route, and our wayward rider was (of course) long gone.  It turns out he hopped a bus to the transit center, and took another bus to get him back to Everett.  A couple of phone calls revealed that the group had stopped for (what seemed like) 5 hours of coffee at Starbucks, and they were heading back to Kent Station.  I opted to NOT ride south to meet them, but instead to head to the destination in order to warm up a barstool and check the quality of the ales being poured.

Mission accomplished.

I’m not going for another ride this weekend, by the way.

I’ve been down and discouraged for several weeks now…

Rewind to the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I’d fully recovered from the H1N1 influenza from a couple of weeks prior, and ready to start consistent workouts in order to peak in time for my RKC certification in February. I had a nice kettlebell workout, and finished with some TRX scarecrows (sort of a reverse butterfly kinda thing).

By Monday I was getting pretty sore, and I had a trigger-point thing going on at my left Rhomboid muscle (above and center of the left shoulder-blade. I chalked it up to Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, but when I attempted to do a Viking Warrior Conditioning / kettlebell snatch workout I could not adequately grip the ‘bell in my left hand. On the downstroke it felt like it was going to fly out of my hand.

For a few weeks, I tried Active Release Therapy, Chiropractor, and Massage Therapy on the assumption that I had a muscular impingement of some sort. All I was really doing waS getting was more frustrated. For the RKC, my biggest worry is passing the kettlebell snatch test, and there was no way to even do more than a couple of snatches with my left hand. My latest fitness and life goal was slipping through my fingers… kind of like a kettlebell in my left hand on the downstroke of a snatch.

I went to my regular doctor, and she took x-rays of my neck to rule out a bulging disk, and she ended up giving me an injection of Lidocaine into the Rhomboid in order to stop the muscle spasms. That was pretty good for a couple of days, but the grip strength didn’t return and the muscle soreness in my back & shoulder soon returned.

After a wait of a couple of weeks, I got in to the physical therapist today. She did a lot of assessing, testing, and stretching of my neck and shoulder. Her conclusion is that I likely had a bulging disk for a time after that initial workout in the vicinity of the C-8 vertebra. The bulge has since subsided, but there is some scar tissue along the nerve to my hand which continues affect the grip. My homework is to 1.) improve my computing posture, and 2.) do a series of stretches that will help to work on the contact-point between the scar tissue and the nerves to my hand & arm.

While this is pretty good news for my long-term prognosis, it is not so good for my goal of RKC in February. I will likely be calling the RKC folks in the next week to reschedule my cert. for a later date as this healing & strengthening process could take weeks (or months).

In the meantime I’m going to dive headfirst into a bootcamp transformation contest that Luka is doing at Hocevar Performance Gym. I just have to decide what’s more distasteful… bootcamp three days a week at 6 a.m., or 6 p.m.