Archive July 2010

The Giants…It must be me!

I went to a game with Jon and Dan yesterday. Yes, Dan, Jon and Dan John went to a game. I haven’t been to a San Francisco Giant’s game since I took my dad in Junior College for Father’s Day. Mom was still alive, I lived in SSF and my old school friend, John Caravantes had the idea of taking our dads to a game. The Giants won in the bottom of the Ninth when the First Baseman homered with two on (and two outs) to wind 3-2. It couldn’t go any better, really.

So, last night, the Giants blew a huge lead, went into extra innings, and won on a solid hit to Centerfield. Again, it was pretty darn perfect. Sitting in the club seats (?), having a few beers and watching a ball game is not a bad way to spend a day or evening.

It’s odd to think about that game with my dad. My dad died in 1991 and John Caravantes died around the same time. The evening, though, sits in my head like one of those perfect days. I have had a few of them. My last home track meet at Utah State where I qualified for Nationals and then had this huge party after in Bullen Hall. I think about several times with the girls (my daughters) where I wish I could just stop time. There was a Valentine’s Date with Tiffini back in the day that was just perfect, too.

I got an email from Lindsay and she is getting set for college and my Godson, Seth, is having some issues but he is very excited about zipping back to the University of Indiana. These are golden moments in their life and I hope they embrace them.

It’s not always the last hit at the last bat, but enjoy it when it does happen.

Poor Prep=Poor Performance

Listen, no excuses and no blame here. Be sure we are are clear about that. I didn’t throw well Saturday at the Nationals. To quote my beloved, Tiffini, “Maybe picking the Nationals as a comeback meet is a bad idea.” There is a hint of truth there, but I managed to blow it early in the week. Again, no excuses and no blame, but it is important to learn from mistakes.

We had guests the week before the meet. Three very nice German girls. One worked for my wife’s half-sister in DC and her two friends had come along to see the USA. I gave some nice tours, made a lot of meals, and took care of guests. Usually five days out, I pack, but I decided to put this until Friday, the day I was going to leave for Sacramento.

Do you see how this works?

Friday morning, the girls ask me to show them the Golden Gate. No problem, but I make them promise me that we will only go three hours. We get back, we are all hungry…you see how this works. When I jump in my car…after changing plans to pick up Tiff…the tire pressure light goes off. I have a large nail in my tire. So, I limp the car in. Rather than leaving by one or two, now it is four or five and the heat of the Friday Bay Area commute. Tiff is great and rallies up by walking a way for an easier pick up but the Bay Bridge is packed. In fact, one mile an hour through Oakland. I won’t comment on Oakland…see better writers than me!

We finally drag into Sacramento and it is too late to weigh in my discus. We had a fabulous meal and went back to the hotel. “How far to Sac State?” “Oh, about forty minutes from here.”

I begin to panic. We have this wonderful navigation system, Maggie, and she doesn’t like Sacramento and Sac State is as hard to figure how to “get to” as anyplace I have ever seen. We change plans when I am lost (with a Nav System…a U Turn on the Freeway?) and Tiff hops a taxi to meet me there. It is already 98 when I pull in.

You see how it all just keeps adding up. Someone says something about something I wearing or doing or walking and I can’t stop the “edge” from creeping in. I take a warm up (Half Turn Throw) and someone says “That was flat.” And I LISTENED. You see how it works. I can’t get enough water in me because I didn’t eat breakfast, didn’t bring enough water…didn’t didn’t didn’t didn’t.

That’s the lesson. Oh, I was beaten and, in fact, I am happy Don beat me because I actually helped him a few weeks ago with some technical advice. I had four fours (I should have fouled six) and my third throw was “there” but it clanked the cage. I need work!

But, the lesson is this: if you want to compete, you MUST follow your little rituals and things. Or don’t. But, just remember that when you keep pushing things closer and closer into that “wall” that is the official start of competition, it takes a lot to overcome this and that and this and that. I’ve done it, sure…many have.

But, it is the lesson that really bugs me: prep is the key to good coaching, good teaching, good parenting. And, I let it get away from me. It is a great reminder for me about a lot of things. Hell, I make Gazpacho a day early…why can’t I do the same with an important track meet?

A good lesson. Again.

I’m Officially a Lousy Driver

I got my California license and now I can ignore any kindness or decency when behind the wheel!

Another fantastic session with the gang at Coyote Point. I’m not sure people realize how much can be accomplished when everybody just wants to learn a little bit more. As I continue to throw one or two times a day and train hard, I’m starting to pick up some better technique and a little bit of muscle. I also feel better.

I have my little tricks in training and I share them freely with anybody in ear shot. Today, we called Mark Twight from the field and he helped me understand endurance nutrition a lot more. Like I told him: anything after 1.6 seconds for me is endurance work. That’s the beauty of this community of friends: we all share the passion to improve and most of us don’t care who(m) gets the credit.

I’m just loving it. Love it. Keep an eye on things because for the next few months I am going to be announcing a lot of cool things.

Big writing day tomorrow…two books on the horizon.

Finding my way…

It has been an interesting few weeks. I am finally feeling like I know my path. I have been writing “a lot.” I have a book with Pavel coming out this fall and I think it will be an important work in Strength and Conditioning. I’m also doing another book for Laree and I am trying to work on the “art” side of lifetime fitness. I’m not a great believer that you can train a human like you put together a car on a factory line, but many programs argue that point.

I haven’t been throwing with Gary (John) as much as I would like, but his hours have been brutal lately. I throw every morning at Mills High School into the nets at about 6:30 and I come back several times a week to double up. Dan Martin has arranged those wonderful Coyote Point workouts and they help me a lot. I even found a GREAT Mexican Grill, “Gabriel and Daniel’s Mexican Grill” at 250 Anza Blvd here in Burlingame. Also, there are some fine places to drink and eat all over and I really thought the Half Moon Bay Brewery was an excellent place. So, there you go.

I have been trying to keep up on my reading, but it is amazing how much I get. I am previewing and reviewing about five books now and it is hard to keep all of this going.

As I spend a lot of my day with a pile of papers and notes, I’m beginning to notice that my overriding framework of training is fairly sound. I always talk about “Balance” with what I learned from Sister Maria Assumpta with her framework of “Pray, Play, Work and Rest” in a compass. I keep an eye on my focused training periods, but I also keep my eye opened for those fun “normal” periods, too. Then, I have that focus on Tonic and Phasic muscles which have proven time and again to be true. But, I keep learning, too. I picked up something from Cecelia Tom, RKC II, yesterday that really simplified by hip stretch routine. I’m also convinced that my discoveries in the discus in the last month deserve serious attention. So, yes, I’m not doing anything, but I am keeping busy!

I am also amazed at how simple my little “Do This!” list has become for lifetime health and fitness. It’s the key to my book with Laree, yet I’m sure most people will dismiss it. The principle for this from my new book:

There is a wonderful story that has been credited to several traditions. A young scholar is coming home from school and he has his satchel of books and a lofty air of intellect and superiority. He takes a small boat to get across the river that blocks his road home and the boatman asks a simple question: “What do you study in school.” The young scholar won’t deign to look the boatman in they eye. “Philosophy. Theology.”

“Ah. Did they teach you to swim?”

“Of course not, we were discussing important questions.”

“Too bad. The boat is sinking.”

Part of the job of youth is learning those life skills that come in handy later on. I know this: it is far better to fall off a bike at age six that is going four miles an hour than to try to learn to ride a bike as an adult where the frame is at crotch height. What are the things a child should learn?

Bike riding.
Swimming
Games and Sports (so, later, you won’t ask “how many is that?” when someone scores at the Super Bowl)
Basic First Aid
Basic Survival Skills (Stay dry, stay warm, hug a tree, that kind of thing)
Tumbling (!) and Fall Training
Some kind of “Urban” awareness training, too. Learn to take the bus and learn who to avoid.
The Joy of Great and Good Books (I have to throw that in!)

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Wednesday Mornings with Dan

Every week, a group of us meets at Coyote Point (and, yes, you are invited, but, more important, why aren’t you there?) and we move together. I had to call it “working out” because working what out? I thinking “training” is a better term, but we do a lot of mobility with kettlebells, some hard work, some learning, and a lot of unlearning.

Dan Martin is the go to guy on this. He arranges things and brings sandwiches. My biggest issue leaving Utah was losing the great community. Let’s be honest: having a guy like Mark Twight bring Lisa and the groups that they bring to my backyard is a pretty amazing resource. Also, I had a community build up that is hard to match.

So, I pick up and leave. Today, both daughters joined us to train. Kelly is an RKC (we also had Patrick, another RKC (RKC II actually) and Kevin. Lindsay was there, too. So, it was like Utah. I hope that my daughters live a life filled with such simple moments like this: under the sun, learning things, sweating a little, stretching and strengthening. It is, to quote Mike Rosenberg, “a beautiful thing.”

It is eye opening for me, as well. The more Thoracic Mobility work I do, the more my neck feels loose. Maybe I can get over all those hits from high school football some day! The more I stretch my hips out, the more I need to stretch my hips in. I know what the piriformus muscle is finally (the spell checker is telling me I misspelled the muscle, but, tough).

I continue to get up every morning and throw. Every day, I do something in the great weightroom called my “porch.” I train. I learn.

But, once a week, it is magic. And, that is what keeps us going, folks.