July 4th, 2012


90-120 minute hike, unloaded.  No music, no cell phone, completely unplugged.

Went up Mt. Tabor again, this time wandering around the trails and trying to stay off the beaten path.  This was actually really nice, exploring all the shady parts of the mountain; a little awkward when I stumbled upon a couple that were getting...amorous.  I managed to stay quiet, however, and keep moving.  Lots of time spent moving through the forest, listening to birds and leaves and such...very relaxing.  These Z1 efforts didn't make much sense to me until I started really doing them - the mental and physical recovery aspect is huge: there's the physiological aspect of the slow, constant movement that acts as low-stress aerobic capacity work and also does a lot to help blood and fluid move through the body as it recovers and repairs, but more importantly the mental effect in simply being "away."  A fixed amount of time in which your brain isn't given anything specific to focus on - no tv, no cell phones, no electronic media.  It doesn't necessarily mean that you have to keep your mind blank for two hours, rather just that you're letting your mind go wherever it wants...no pressure to focus or process anything in particular.  It seems like it'll only become more and more important as all the facebooks, twitters, etc, get further and further ingrained in our lives....

Found my way to the top of the mountain again and made a beeline back down.  Lots of thinking about past, current, future, etc....don't know if I actually came up with anything new, but still felt like I made some mental progress.  Mostly just thought about this project over the next few months along with that even bigger one at the end of the year...

What I'm wearing:  New Balance Minimums.  All the CF'ers know these shoes, and I love 'em.  Pretty much just wear them like slippers.

What I'm reading: Sadly, just finished APC Sugar Shack.  Also came to the realization that all the "models" in the book actually just work at the restaurant.  Sheeeeesh.  Appledore Cookbook is next (published in 1878!), and will be followed by either Supertraining or Exercise Physiology (though I can't remember the last time I opened a textbook, and I'm not sure if I'm really ready to do it again.

Wander for time

July 5th, 2012


Humped it over to CF Portland.  Didn't make it there till 2pm (their next class was at 3:30pm), so I had to keep it short:

Pre WO: 1 short black (coffee) + 10mg Beta-Alanine
Hang Clean from blocks (knee) 1RM: 122kg
Back Squat 3x3 (20X1): 130kg

122 was the most I've received since February of this year, and it felt pretty good.  118 was by far much cleaner (122 was a little foward), but didn't have too much of a struggle on the recovery so I don't think it was too bad - just that balance between urgency to pull the bar and urgency to get under...I was more concerned with getting under than getting high by the 122.  In any case 3kg under my all time best clean and I didn't feel too crushed coming out of the hole, so that 142kg FS 1RM I made a month ago might have been for real after all.  Really truly, I think doing the Neera cleanse has helped a lot, as my hip mobility (and comfort in the bottom of the front squat) has improved tremendously since getting back from OZ, especially since my physical activity during that time had pretty much no chance of any positive effect.  In any case, hopefully I'll be able to hit some nice numbers (still waiting on 300) in the next few months before it all come crashing down...

Squats felt good.  Not as heavy as they could or should be, but the focus was more on speed and intent out of the hole rather than the actual load lifted.  Definitely made the reps more challenging when I was really "going" for them, so I'll be interested to see if I can yield a good training effect simply through "intent" of reps rather than the absolute load lifted.

Today did also really remind me of the fact that I tend towards the "speed" end of the Speed-Strength continuum.  Not sure exactly how far towards speed (to be honest most likely only as far as speed-strength), but in any case I'm pretty sure that absolute strength is where I need to be looking if I want to make gains.  Not where I want to live, but I should probably try to spend some time there in any case.

Gym is ours today, so hopefully much more lifting soon.

What I'm riding:  1970s era Peugeot road bike.  Pretty little frame in great shape.  Drive train is a little rusty, but otherwise she's giving my legs all the work they can handle.  I figure I'll be able to get all of my aerobic capacity work (probably Map 7-3) through the bike and only have to worry about strength and some alactic work in the gym.  Also gives me an excuse to not feel like I have to live in ketosis either (eat your white rice!)

Ressurection

Resurrection


It's been quite a while since this blog's been active, but it seems like the whole year's been about letting go(s) and revivals.  In any case, with the transition from predominantly restaurant to gym work came a realization that I wouldn't spend the majority of my waking hours in some sort of work capacity, and that I needed outlets to at least *feel* like I was productive.  Thus, returns this blog as a brain dump for anything that everything that pops up into my head, but predominantly relevant to the three words that make up the banner....

July 1, 2012


Initially set out planning on doing interval sprints - 1 min all out with 5-6 minutes of rest, shooting for 7 sets unless there's a severe power drop.  Took a quick look on a map and realized that where I'm living now happens to be about 4 blocks from a mountain (Mt. Tabor, to be specific), and couldn't resist taking the chance to explore.

Ditched the interval plan bad basically stuck to a Fartlek run - didn't really have any sense of where I was on the mountain, but was just trying to go to the top. Whenever the path split I chose the one that went uphill....jogged the flats, sprinted the hills, and walked around a bit exploring the vegetation.  I eventually found the top of the mountain and was treated to some spectacular views of Portland and the surrounding countryside.  As well, the final stretch before the top happened to be a steep uphill with a sharp uptick about halfway up (a la Games 2009).  Ran up it, but my legs definitely weren't happy about it; couldn't imagine trying that with a sandbag as well, though I'll definitely be coming back to that little hill.  Total run time was about an hour, final elevation was around 636 feet.  Overall a Z1 effort with a few Z3/4 elements strewn in.

Still getting acquainted with the vegetation here in the Northwest...tremendous amounts of wild carrots, wild chamomile (pineapple weed), fennel, chickweed, mustards all over the mountain....funny that some of the things I really wish I could find more easily in VA are prolific here.  Was kind of surprised that I barely saw any wood sorrel here (just one tiny patch on my way down), but I suspect that because the entire mountain is heavily shaded mostly by pine trees there isn't enough sun (I think oxalis does like at least some sun).  As well, the pine likely makes the soil too acidic for the wood sorrel to grow - other areas where I've seen sorrel, and HUGE sorrel at that, have been fairly rich and open.  The many varieties of pine here definitely are part of the natural "presence" of the northwest, in a similar vein as the gum trees (eucalyptus) in Australia.  I'd been told there are over a 100 varieties of gum in OZ, I wonder if its a similar situation here in OR?  To consume nature here is to be surrounded in pine?

Baked off first bread in the new apartment - basic levain.  Water here seems different - starter's been a lot spongier since I've been up here, and dough was a bit looser than I expected (even though it was hydrated at 75%, rather than 80% as I was used to doing in VA).  Perhaps mineral content of the water is to blame?  As well this is probably the worst home oven I've ever tried baking in; the loaf looked like a damn jersey cow with the amount of black spots it had all over it.  Oh well, that's going to be as good as I get for the next few months.  As well roasted off a pork shoulder for the week and started a kimchi - as near as I can figure I need to keep weekly food expenses to around $50, which isn't going to be terribly easy given how much I usually eat.  Found a Mexican grocery pretty close to the apartment which should help; its mostly going to be fighting the urge to eat out that's going to make a difference.

As well took another shot at Kouign Ammans - almost there!  Found a Pierre Herme recipe which was actually a lot simpler than the Dave Leibowitz one I started with.  Also switched to European and did something much closer to a true laminated dough, no syrupy mess this time (likely from the sugar drawing water from the wetter, American-style butter).  Got a bit lazy on the laminations because I was more interested in seeing if the sugar would hold, so layers weren't the best (specifically on the edges; will trim them next time).  I also got a bit impatient on the proofing and probably put them in the oven about 30 minutes too soon...in any case, they looked much closer this time!  Had the right caramel crust on the outside, though the inner layers needed improvement...tasted like the leaked butter carried out a fair amount of sugar as well, but in any case there was plenty of progress.  Hopefully I'll have these buggers worked out by the time I leave Portland.

What I'm wearing:  Adidas Adizeros for the run - Pretty old pair of shoes, back when a sole less than 1" meant you were "barefoot."  Felt kind of heavy, but gave the kind of traction I needed for the mountain.

What I'm reading:  Just finished La Patisserie de Pierre Herme, starting on Au Pied du Cochon Sugar Shack by Martin Picard.  Really excited to read this one, and enjoying it even more after seeing the full page spread of the (female) pastry chef in a bath tub full of maple syrup.  Those damn French-Canadians...I gotta get up to Montreal someday.

July 2, 2012


Legs feeling pretty worn today, not a great sign considering my plan was to get some CP work done.  Went to CF  Portland in the afternoon (these guys have been really nice to us about allowing us to work out in their space).  Worked up to a 1RM Hang snatch off the blocks - 90kg.  Not fantastic, but fair to say that its an all time PR for that lift.  Looking forward to getting all these gears in order again.  Followed up with 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1 Back squats, working up to 145kg on legs that felt pretty beat up.  Hopefully once I get used to all the biking volume I won't feel it so much during the workouts.  In any case finished up with 3x3 Push press (80kg) and called it a day.

What I'm wearing: Adidas Ironworks 2 - the old school silver and red weightlifting shoes.  As far as I'm concerned these were the best ones they ever released and I'm continually happy that I have them and don't have to use any of the newer ones (why do they all look like plastic toys?)

What I'm reading:  http://zenhabits.net/barbell/  Great article

This looks delicious to me (from A Life Worth Eating)

Few notes

Posted at OPT Big Dawgs blog:

"For the last few months I've been doing a strength cycle for squats using the Texas Method - just recently finished with a best 5RM of 145kg (high bar squat, old 2RM is 150kg), and my last 5x5 squat was at 135kg. Been working on some mechanical issues - got evaluated by a rehab doc and a PT and have since figured out that I have FAIS (cam lesion), along with poor glute activation due to extreme quad dominance (best BS of 160kg, best FS of 145kg). Also have worked down to the 77kg weight class from the 85 (walking at 78-79kg).

I've been restructuring the load ordering and technique for my snatch and c&j to ensure that I'm staying as posterior chain-driven as possible along with a lot of rehab for the last few months, while trying to work on hip mobility to work around the FAIS. All in all the new lifting technique has made everything feel inexplicably weak, though I guess that's to be expected right now.

Hopefully I will be back to the blog soon ("Being" group), though it'll be dovetailed into other training, specifically training towards qualifying for Weightlifting nationals next year. Addtionally I'll be committing "heresy" of sorts - there's a local Westside gym and I've decided to do the deed and start training with those guys 1 - 2 times a week. The thing they preach there most is keeping an open mind to new training, and I figure I can't really argue with that. Hopefully it'll yield something good. Happy to see the blog so busy."

Workout today:

Pt 1 Westside:

5x5 Hip-belt squat, working up to 450lb for last 3 sets

2x3 min Hip-belt walking and good mornings @ 180lb

4x10 Single leg reverse hyper (both legs) @ 180lb

Rest 5 min

7 sets (anaerobic alactic capacity work):

3 clean pulls (225lb)

10 burpees AFAP

2:30 rest

Current projects at the Resto right now are Duck Katsuoboshi, Duck Ham, Rabbit liver pate, Lardo cures, more pickles and ferments, and figuring out how to grow that damn Ficoide Glaciale without it dying suddenly....

Catching up

So close...

Almost mine...

Dreams

Copyrighted by the site at the bottom, but can't ignore it.

Just need to keep myself a reminder.