Last Duck Hunt of the Year

About as much fun as you can have with a long arm and canoe.  Buddy Bryan and I: out on the Pequea Creek this morning after the green heads and woodies and Canuck gooseye.  I would have called myself a passable to fair wing shot, but from the front of a moving boat, 30 degrees, water a few degrees warmer, well, it is a damn different, much more challenging, game.  Twice, jostling rapids knocked the gunwale into my trigger safe.  Had a good bead but no firing pin.  Is this why its called the gunwale?  That was in the first half hour.  It was a day of feeling much the amateur.  In other words, right at home, having the time of my life.  Had at least 5 occasions close enough to going in (the creek) to resign myself to going in.  But did not.  I learned too, that all those years of complaining of cold feet, I was just being a sissy, b/c TODAY I had cold feet.  And I rode (not rowed) up front on flat-open ankles for so long that when we finally took a break I was muscle-lock frozen in place with my heels caught under the seat so that if the canoe did go up, I'd still be at the bottom.  A canoe full of water weighs 2000lbs.  That's more than B currently dead lifts without at least a warm up.  Other misses (had plenty):  at least two were too far out, but I'm counting them (or not counting them depending on your view) b/c, well, still operator error.  We scared up dozens at 60+ yards, not even worth shouldering the gun, but jesus you get to see live ducks lighting from the water and maybe the only thing more beautiful than birds taking off is birds landing. When everything is right you have half a second.  Slightest hesitation and your're beat.  Missed a nice pair gawking at a Amishman's footbridge, trying to figure in the time it took to float underneath, how he built the thing.  We came around one bend and a boy was creekside, obviously duck hunting.  "How you making out?"  "I killed three ducks."  Felt extra humbled by his youth.  Luckily the water was pushing us downstream and I didn't have talk about my poor marksmanship.  Just a rock skip farther down we came to another boy and his dad, trying like hell to get something out of the water.  Huh,  a duck.  Funny, though, a white duck.  It was hung up in some branches.  We floated by and I collared the duck and flung it to the bank.  Never seen a duck so white.  Didn't even know to look for one.  Right there, there was a LOW bridge over the creek and we had to portage over.  While on the road, an Amish farmer (down that end of the county, the term is "round hat" which seems innocuous but is always said with a whisper of enmity) came up to us and said, "Boys, if'n its all the same maybe not kill the white ducks, theys sorta pets and been round here for years."  I had to apologize for laughing.  Bryan said, "No sir, they ain't with us.  We didn't shoot any ducks." "No?"  "No," I said, "I've only shot at ducks.  I have not shot any ducks." THough it was mistimed, the farmer got my joke and even seemed to appreciate it.  "how many do you have," Bryan asked?  "They's 3 or 4 of 'em"  I couldn't do anything but look at my felt-soled boots.  "no we aint with them," we said again.  Farmer went up the road and we dropped back into the stream.  The farmer and the dad had words, stern but not loud.  i didnt catch much after "not wild ducks really."  We laughed for a good water mile.  Who shoots a white duck?  Bryan said, "I sorta wondered when I saw it's orange feet."  I wouldn't have thought to put it that way, but it was verily spoken.  Bryan said, if that was an Englishman we woulda heard bitchin' and hollering, lawyers' names.  But the Amish dude, barely louder'n a whisper says, "all the same, let my pets live."  Also, true as gravity.  Round Hat now and honorific for me.  Sober as a judge, fierce as a mama, patient as a round hat.  Anyway, Don't kill the farm ducks.  Farmers don't like it.  It makes the ducks dead.  And duck hunters get a bad name.  I also Whiffed on two (mallards, not hunters) screaming right up the creek at us.  Still don't know how, but the teal shot in sporting clays makes a lot of sense 15 years later.  In fact, much fun as clay-birds are, now I see the activity for the pale shadow of sport that it is.  Putt-putt to a par 72 Eighteen.  Keep in mind that while you're hunting, you're slicking downstream though forest, field, gorge and geology.  Good bracing cold, the water making music, frosting caps of snow, hawks screeching, geese crying, minks, muskrats, deer yarding up by the dozens.  When you get to a deadfall dam you risk your neck or at least your warmth back paddling to take out and portage around the hold-up but it isn't all that bad 'cause it warms you up and when you go broad side into a rock the size of chevy only the hubcap of which you can see, just plunge you gun hand into the wet but keep a hold of the gun so it doesnt sink.  Post yourself on the rock and you're GOOD if hand-stove and a teensy bit not-hot in the finger region.  At least you got proof you did something worthwhile and your fancy gun dont look like a range toy anymore.  While I'm giving advice, wear your waders, the good gore-tex ones and down and a Filson coat and if you have any wool, wear it too.  All the fun you'll be having will keep you alive.  And if you DO knock one down, b/c you may not be good, but goddamn it you can get better at anything, well, it's okay if you lose it to the water, that second shot was to make sure no one was suffering, hunters are just unusual not cruel.  And don't leave your keys in the put-in vehicle.  You'll need 'em at take out (at the day's second covered bridge).  And then dream of the heron you played tag with all day, those long long long wings, bluer than heaven.

Happy New Year, my people.  You're my kinda people.  '13's gotta beat '12, though we had to do that'n to get to this'n.

We come on the ship they call the Mayflower/We come on the ship that sailed the moon/We come at the age's most uncertain hour and sing an American tune.

Once more from the top

January, I think you know, is C2 Team Challenge month.  If you intend to join POTTER'S PADDLERS, please do so though your C2 logbook page. If you need an invite, let me know.  Row as many meters as you can between Jan 1 and Jan 31.  My goal is 125K or roughly 4k/day.  Since the holiday challenge, I have been messing around with plain ol' crossfit wods. Simple, effective, humbling. Like falling in love again or rekindling an old enmity/grudge.  In short, I'm feeling called.  Yesterday I did deads/push ups/box jumps 12 min AMRAP.  Today at Chupacabra I did CTB pull/Wall balls/1.5p KB swings.  Gonna cherry pick the next couple days and on Jan 1 will begin following main-site, scaling when needed.  Hope you will join me.  Post results/scales to comments.  . . . .#@! Go

For last year's words belong to last year's language 
And next year's words await another voice.
                                   TS ELIOT, Four Quartets

(229)

POTTER WINS. SANT PREVENTS POTTER SWEEP

1.  LPotter-  204,903
2.  CPotter-  202,196
3.  LSant- 101,000
4.  NPotter-100,500
5.  CCopeland-100,115

DNF:  Williams, Naughton, McCready.

TEAM CHALLENGE:  Check your C2 log page "TEAMS".  If you choose, join the team "Potter's Paddlers."  Our goal is 4k per day per team member.  Post questions/comments.

HLG's ID#: 948184

Well, your railroad gate, you know I just can't jump it.

Pastramize

coat your (grass-fed cow's) brisket in toasted/crushed coriander and pepper, then smoke that deal until you have goodness and the makings of a better Ruben.

Max watts pulls:  522@ DF 205  477@140  412@79

4:42.2 500m

Thought I could sneak in under 1:40.  not today.  Watts are WAY down, as well.  Just the way things are right now.  39K 'til Xmas

John 1:29

Behold the Ham of god which taketh away the sin of store-bought:

HAMIFY

Was gonna smoke this hog leg but they're hard to keep lit. . .

10 day brine (H2O, NACL, sugar, curing salt), A day of drying to form the pellicle.  Started hamifying it at 8 AM.  Hot smoke, 200 degrees or so.  After 4 hrs applied glaze (mustard, garlic, brown sugar) At 4pm I had 140 degrees at the center.  Going to 155-160.  HAMIFY!

I know what a pellicle is.  And a pessary.  And pas de deux.  Post your obscure P-word to comments. Don't go hunting for one.  Gotta come from your noggin.

He went to get the hanging judge, but the hanging judge was drunk.

Challenging Holiday

AS OF 10 DECEMBER, 6:25 PM

CJP:  128,512
LP:  113,252
Sant: 45,000
NDP:  40,000
Naughton: 40,000
Cope:  31,000
JW: 10,000

Good thing this is a quantity challenge.  Quality goes to Cope.  I think he could beat us all, one hand on the oar for speed and/or endurance.  In this case they don't ask how, they ask how many.  Whew.  If Rowing was your job, many of you would have been fired by now.  Jan team bids are at stake, people.  Before you get on the team, you gotta WANT to be on the team.

I picked up the erg data app and the patch cord (PM to iphone).  Super geeky and pretty fun.  maybe santa puts one in your stocking.  (makes santa sound like a perv, doesnt it?)

14 rowing opportunities until Xmas.

You don't have to call me darlin', darlin'.

HOLIDAY CHALLENGE

NEW POST: as of 3 December 2012:


1.  CJPotter  80,000  (943383)
2.  LMPotter 61,843  (994421)
3.  NDPotter 40,654  (884902)
4.  Lex 35000  (941262)
5.  Copeland 22,0000
6.  Naughton 15,691 (944415)
7.  JW  10000 (944971)


21 rowing days 'til Christmas.

What is with the odd # meters?  Finish your K's people.

IF YOU ARE ROWING, YOU WILL BE INTERESTED IN THIS LINK


Talk about things nobody cares, wearin' other things nobody wears

22:11 on 11:22

5K row:  22minutes, 11seconds.  My (negative) splits went:

4:43
4:29
4:24
4:21
4:12

That's and average of 2:13/500m.  A result with which I am not displeased.  I think I rowed a 20min 5k in a former life.  NB: Today until Xmas eve: row 'em up. ROWING HOLIDAY CHALLENGE  Check out the C2 site or shoot me an email or text or post or smoke signal if you have questions.  The more the merrier.  Not to say  |merry|

If you're in, shoot me your weekly totals and I'll post them.

Tonight let it be Lowenbrau

See the man, "Huggy Bear"

Hola, amigos.  I know it's been a long time since I rapped at you but shit has gotten off the hook.  The volvo needed new spark plugs and you know those things are platinum.  Had to melt the weddin' band down to keep the fam damily on wheels.  Since my last communique I knocked down a bruiser 8-point, began chasing an 8-min/2K on the rower and a few other things I will try to fill you up on.  In on.  In on.

The bruiser:  I knew he was out there.  A nice scrape line, rubs thigh-high on some pretty thick trees and some early morning grunting that was down low on the register.  Last morning there were deer everywhere and rutting hard.  Passed up a 5-point and a half-rack 3 hoping for my chance.  Around 8am  I heard what had to be either a buck or a man stomping in behind me.  He sneaked right in underneath my stand and at first glance I had him for a six and was doubtful I would shoot.  I was hooked up and at half draw.  Got a better look at his antlers--the first peek was straight down on top of him--and saw a brow tine.  OK, 7point, good size.  Full draw.  Had to let him get farther out for the shot I wanted, which was a first.  Usually, you're hoping they come in closer.  At about 15yds I let fly and it wasn't too steep.  Both lungs, didn't go 20yds.  Wasn't til I got to him that I saw he was a  full legitimate 8, lots of meat, several pounds of which we have already eaten.  I've read where natives said a prayer over hunted deer.  Seems right.  Also a bumper sticker that said vegetarian is Algonquin for bad hunter.  Glib, but hard to argue with.  A really terrific archery season.  Feel lucky to have done it.  If you dig meat from the hunt which is what venison translates to, let me know and I will see you get some.  Sharing is always fun.

8min/2K:  Had to get real about what my goals are/should be.  A 7min/2K is a terrific feat and nothing you can bumble your way into, but ironclad, inescapable logic says the 7min rower will also and first be able to row an 8min/2K.  Don't bother with Finnegan's Wake if you couldn't get though Ulysses.  So I put myself on the 8min ladder and have been working my way down (up?)--the intervals go down, the time and distance go up.  Tonight I was a whisker off from 2, thousand meter pieces at rate (2:00/500m) with 30 seconds rest.  The heart is willing, the mind weak.  There is no pain like C2 pain.

Nate and I finally got off our duffs and poked around the Governor Dick Park bouldering areas.  Hard to say just what a find it is.  Nate was equal to a couple of the routes.  I was good for exactly one, a V0 (yeah that's a zero) deal that had a challenging little knee maneuver that Nate figured out.  Listen, if the bouldering thing holds any interest for you, Governor Dick is pretty much El Dorado.  Chamonix to skiers, Yellow Breeches to fly fishers, Utah to candidates named Romney.  Grab your chalk bag, shoes and crash pad.  Give a call we'll set it up.  Twenty minutes from my front porch.  So too is a known Pagan hideout, but that's another post.

Finally, had a good check up Mon.  Got to catch up with Sarah, Scott and Mirany who is now in perfect health.  Stayed with Rick and Debbie and got to see a Beechcraft hanger with Adeline who was a faithful companion throughout a long trip.  Wishing you all a good holiday.  Check back next week, I'll try to be better about posting.  As ever, keep us informed of your loads, reps, rounds, times and exploits.  AMF

Just saying. . .

Cambered Bar

Good check up Monday.  Took Agnes with.

Cambered bar worse than a front squat.  This is 160 pounds (72kg or so)  99 problems, squat is near the bottom of the list.

get a pair(s)

Max push press today.  78KG.  Big jump for me.  Still far from old top, but starting to feel strong.  Here are two efforts from JW @ 95kg (or so).  Notice depth of dip.  Short and explosive wins, or almost does.  Earlier failure cost him the second rep shown here, but it clearly has the better dip/drive

Assistance work was lunged-out KB presses, delt work with axel grips, grenade (left above) pulls, rock ring (right above) levers (scaled), strict ring dips.  Finished ourselves off with some grenade farmer's carries:

and some quick body art

bluegrass hamstrings

Went on a search and destroy mission this training session.  Target:  posterior chain.

JW and I started with a 3RM good morning with the spider bar.  Sorry no vid or pictures.  My lower back was pissed after warm up.  Lots of experimenting with technique.  I think the hardest Good AM one can do is: wide leg, big camber, safety squat bar (spider), sending the caboose way back and pushing out on the yoke handles.  I did stand up with 180 or so, but my form started to crumble around 160.  Then we stripped weight and did a few reps at 60 (kg).  The spider bar is over there in the Oly area so we end up using communist plates.


4x10 Belt squats. Worked up to 50lbs.  I did a couple narrow, couple wide.  Wide= harder.  you'll note the way my torso folds forward at the bottom.  This is to be avoided.  Really hard on the hips. Good exercise.

We were thinking some good-form/bad form deads, but JW went Kurtz on us and we ended up doing good form/bad form banded GH raises.  Worst exercise ever.  At the top it felt like some one was driving railroad spikes into my proximal hams.  To be clear:  this is too heavy.  I should have done them unweighted.  Just thought I'd give you a look at the torture.  3x8.  NB: THE NEXT TWO VIDS ARE MIXED UP.  THIRD ONE GOES HERE.  THIS ONE SHOULD BE BELOW.

Conditioning:  12x 2 dead lifts @ 60% + 25% band tension/8 KTE.  No one in their right mind would count a few of these reps. but i wasnt in a right mind, I was hypoxic.  This is part of the last round.  11:29  I called KTE's ab work and quit.  JW scorched this.  Much heavier dead (245 i think) and band and much shorter time.  Matt had a similar dead (225ish), blue band and 13 and change.  I was most challenged in the core and shoulder girdle.  Matt said his grip ran away.  JW really did not blink.   he was done and i still had 4 rounds to go.  Impressive and a bummer at the same time

DNAB

Reverse band.  Lots of help in the bottom, less and less through the range, none at the tip top.  Good for lock out strength.  It also shows me how often I am beat psychologically at the top and how much speed matters out of the bottom.  I did 110kg  This is Matt and JW doing around 140-ish.  I'll be frank: I want to like Kilos, but I don't.  I just put plates on the bar and count when Im done.  This makes me an ugly American and Olympic lifters a little snooty.

Assistance: Decline, banded dumbbell presses, pulls, dips, tabata handstands
Conditioning: 10min max 1 pood KB snatches: 174.
Trunk:  GHD sits and:  New favorite exercise:  GHD bench press.  Give these a try.  There's a vid on the mainsite.  Wow is it demanding.  Let us know what you're up to.

completely lost count

Vid from training sesh at Chupacabra.  My man Willard has a keen eye for sloppy movement.  He caught me drifting ankle-in, toe-ward.  This would probably be more instructive (to you) if we caught some of the bad reps.  Here, I improve, but you can see me working for it and it's far from perfect.  The front squat can really challenge sissy and/or unmobilized ankles.  If you're ankles aren't right you're gonna push to the toes.  If you're out on your toes, well your neck can't stop the barbell b/c it's a front squat and the whole whole house of cards is coming down.  This is rep 40 or so of assistance sets @ 95#.  Woking on a stronger back, got the bonus plan.  Need some coaching?  Come see the Chupacabra.

100 thruster wed got moved to Tuesday, so we're gonna call it 100 thruster Tues from now on. 75# 15:44.  first thirty were simply awful.  Kinda hit a stride 30 to 70 but time was shot.  Finished okay.  Shoulda warmed up more.  I started in a sweatshirt and hat.  clothes came off every 10 reps or so until i was thrustering naked except for Minimi footwear.  Which is also how i sleep.  I just wanted to get them finished and get on with my day.  So much more satisfying to say that you did a 100 thrusters.  Saying you have to do 100 thrusters is worse than saying you have an enema appointment.

Check your calendar. Do your thrusters.

Its inhabitants are, as the man once said, "whores, pimps, gamblers and sons of bitches," by which he meant Everybody.  Had the man looked though another peephole he might have said, "Saints and angels and martyrs and holy men," and he would have meant the same thing.
                                                                  Steinbeck, Cannery Row
(148 I think)

Lettuce be married

WARNING:  this vid is very hard to watch.  I know.  I watched it.  I'm making corrections to my technique.  I've fired my cinematographer.  I'm going steady cam from here on out. And more pauses. Still, gotta start somewhere.  I don't know about the walleye effect.  I do know (now) not to cook and vid with the same pair of hands.    Excepting all that, well, like I said, gotta start somewhere.  Appreciate your thoughts.  Especially if you try it.

Lettuce Wraps

LINK

Ingredients:
1-2 pounds ground or finely chopped chicken.  Thigh and breast works.  All thigh is tasty.  All breast would be bland, I think, though I have not tried it.

1-2 tb peanut oil
big onion, chopped
couple cloves garlic
can o' water chestnuts, however you like 'em whole, sliced, chopped.  I like chopped
rice vinegar
sesame oil
brown sugar

 Dipping sauce:
2Tb soy
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup ketchup
sugar to taste
dijon
sriracha garlic chili sauce

head of iceberg lettuce

Method:
1. Gather ALL ingredients on countertop. Measure them out if you cook like that. Eyeballing amounts over the pan would be fine too. 2. Remove top layers of iceberg, rinse head, whack the stem out, peel carefully in to leaves, place leaves on towel to dry. 3. Heat on high, let the pan get hot. Add oil.  When it shimmers like a skinny-dipper's hair in the moonlight,  add onion, garlic. Sautee until going soft. 4. Add chicken.  Keep the heat high.  Cook until no longer rosy.  If you chopped your chicken it will release a good bit of liquid/fat.  You could use a slotted spoon to remove the meat/onion mix and reduce the liquid until it is like a salt on the bottom of the pan, don't burn.  It's a nice touch that intensifies bird flavor and controls the wet wrap problem, but in no way necessary. (put the meat back in)  5 Add chestnuts.  When they are up to temp, add a splash of vinegar, a touch of brown sugar, turn heat low and make sauce.  Sauce is a totally add hoc invention, do it by taste, but remember what you do so you can do it again (or avoid it next time) 6. serve chicken mixture with lettuce cups and sauce with napkins. Make your own wrap.  Eat faster than the kids, you'll get more.  It's your food, anyway.

Some additions/substitutions you may want to try, or reject out of hand:  5 spice powder, chopped peanuts or cashews, mung bean sprouts, grated carrot, cilantro, scallion, chopped boiled egg, romaine, red leaf, ground pork (beef wasn't that great, but try it if you like), shitakes (right after onion).

This is week 2 of current wave.  Max dead of some variety.  I'll probably do a Zercher.  Press conjugation very well may be reverse banded bench, which will make for some good footage.  Let us know what's cooking.

Love Gun

The Boston trip threatened to mess with my exercise schedule last week but I managed to cram most of it in.  Last week completed 3wk wave.  I urge you to give the suspended KB a try for squats.  Good for stability, control and keeping those knees out.  This week we start a new cycle in which we will use the safety squat bar, newly acquired at the Collective.  This is rarefied training.  The SS bar is cambered and has a yoke.  The effect is you must remain stick straight throughout the movement or get your nose broken on the deck, for that is indeed where you will end up should you not stay up right.  The bar insists, neigh, demands that you find your hamstrings and recruit every fiber of them while firing the mid back.  Sorry for the poor pic quality.  I was shaking from my PR rep. J's shin is just passing through to positive (it's a boat load of weight-those are KG's).  Ideally you want the shin pointing back at you.  Keep your back straight.  I tapped out when the bar started to fold me over, even though I thought I could have stood more up.  Don't lift ugly, lift pretty

Been working on my cast iron.  Believe I finally have something nice.  Secret: (lard)

If you're observing the Waldorf calendar, and why wouldn't you be, Happy Michaelmas.

So, if you're following at home:  Max squat today.  Come and use SS bar if you are able.  Assistance: Zercher deads, Pistols, hanging L lifts, Reverse hyper, bandy good mornings.  Conditioning: medium sled (240) 40yds/10 wall balls  x 4

INVITING YOU ALL TO COME TO LANCASTER FOR SOME EXERCISE AND/OR good company.  Truth is I don't travel right now.  But if you have access to this blog, I'd love to see you.  Give a ring, we'll set it up.

I love this line:  "In the fall the war was always there but we did not go to it anymore."

Hem, In Another Country

Machine gun

Good check up yesterday in Boston.  Highest blood numbers since transplant.  Dr says, "We hesitate to say perfect, but you're doing very well."  I am likewise cautious, hesitating.  But feeling very good. Back in a month.  McCready says he can do 100 push ups and 4 minutes of mountain climbers.  I think he should submit video.

Shotgun

particle or wave?

I have the goods on the stretch bands.  NB: these are ballpark weight/tensions.  Gonna say the error margin is +/— ten pounds.  Resistance grows as the band gets longer, there is a good bit of resistance variation in the age of the band, manufacturer etc.  Not to mention our instrument was a bathroom scale from Target. And there's always the observer effect.  I quickly realized this is a calculus (if not quantum) question.  I barely got out of trig alive and my brother is the physicist who no longer follows the blog.  So, if you find these to be off, well then they're off.  Im just trying to help.  Henceforth I will assume these are rough estimates of the resistance in American pounds. Even if it is a big fudge.  The world is not perfect.  Sometimes you put your shoe on and it has a rock in it.  If someone learns more and/or better about this, please tell us.  Consult with your doctor before beginning any exercise plan.

It's helpful to know the (a) tension value of a given band b/c on dynamic days the program calls for a certain percentage of straight weight and a certain value of "accommodating resistance"--weight that gets heavier in the easier (top) part of the movement.  Bands and chains do this very well.  Assume a 5ft length of 5/8in chain weighs 20lbs, about a pound a link.  If you have different chain, put it on the scale.  Make a note of the number, divide by # of links so you know many links to leave on the ground if you desire less than the poundage in an entire length.  Assume bands give you the values I list below. And always remember that you're usually using two bands (one a side) so you have to double the value.  If you fold the band for length or fit, of course, now thats Two bands to fight against. And those two will usually be at the higher end of the range b/c the band is already engaged, so to speak.

Left to right.  Orange, the so-called "mini band": 15-20lbs.  Black: "monster mini" 1/2in, 20-40lbs.  Purple 3/4in 30-50 lbs. [7/8in bands are common, they come in all colors, they go about 35-55lbs] Red 1in 40-70. Small blue: 1 and 1/8in, 45-80lbs.  Big blue: 1 and 3/4 in, 50-120lbs.
  
obviously, you want to pay more attention to width than color.  Colors are very often concomitant with these weights but they are in no way universal.  Spend enough time with them and you will know them by feel.  Don't get too hung up on what is essentially an immeasurable value.  Call it close enough and train.  What's most important anyway is speed, moving the bar with power.  If you're getting stuck, you have too much band or chain.  Hope this helps.  Your thoughts always welcome.

Housekeeping:  Day 120.  Feeling great, training hard.  Thom McGuane has a sweet story in Sept 10 NEW YORKER.  Today: 100 thrusters at #55 in 8:58.  Huge jump for me.  Followed it up with a good bit of ab work--hollow holds, bosu ball crunches. (yes. bosu ball and crunches and hammer curls oh my)  I sense that our collective blog enthusiasm is waning, or maybe im projecting.  Anybody had it yet?  happy (more or less) to continue but not in an echo chamber. I already have a workout log.  Very happy to have the no-posters along.  Very happy.  maybe just a "hey" once a month just so we/I know who's still out there.  If it's just cope and CIP and me posting as my wife, I'd rather send a group email.  Please advise.

Have you heard about the midnight rambler, the one you never seen before?

To be stupid, selfish and healthy are the three requirements of happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.  —Flaubert.

Why don't we do it on the floor?

Max floor press.  Set up a low rack.  Take some time to get used to the movement if it's new.  Expect the floor to halt your elbows and make the press awkward and difficult.  Stay in control on the way down and push with all you got on the way up.  Try some knees up, some knees down.  I think you'll find knees down is tougher--reminding you to use your feet when you're on the bench.  Got up to 180.  Use this (your) number for percentages on speed days.

Assistance work:  dumbbell presses, Tate's presses, rolling tri extensions, handstand holds

100 abmat situps soles together.

Conditioning:  we dont need no stinking conditioning.  Tomorrow (I hope).

You need only 90 sec of the vid, but the other 3min won't waste your time. Im proud to say I learned the floor press in THAT VERY cage.  Ashamed to say with how much less weight.  Some strong cats there in Columbus.  Check out the drifter mid clip stretching nothing but the band itself.  Hey, um, what are you DOING?  Funnier thing is dudes suchlike float around the place pretty much all the time from what I could tell.  Skinny as all get out, no telling what their stories are, just hanging out at West Side, weeds in the garden.

hope you're getting stronger.

back to the top

Today begins a new 3-week wave for anyone following me in the West Side conjugate training.  The squat variation you do today will be the basis for percentages on dynamic days for the next three weeks.  I suggest something different and challenging.  Get 2KBs and affix them to the bar.  Warm up.  When you get the hang of it, start adding weight for singles till you get caught in a 30 second grinder, or get pinned.  I topped out at 175 which is well above my reg back squat couple weeks ago.  Incontrovertible progress, slow though it is.

JW at the gym invented a new demon assistance lift:  Deficit, sumo, banded KB deads.  If your back is flat, you shouldnt have any trouble finding your hamstrings. 10x3.  OH lunge steps and reverse hyper or back extensions will leave you worked.  Get your abs with 3 sets of 10-15 GHD sit ups and then do 100 unweighted, straight leg good mornings.

If you have anything left, 150 wall balls for conditioning.  Let us know how it goes.

(118)

talkin' 'bout you and me

  McCready will want to skip this one.

'65 Galaxie

  Dropped Wyatt, Agnes and Adeline at school yesterday and turned for the gym.  Somewhere on Rt. 30, scan-function radio landed on GAMES PEOPLE PLAY, song I don't believe I'd heard since the early 70's.  BLAMMO.  The nostalgia, memory ambush, auld lang syne--none of these seem equal to what hijacked me--transport, let's call it, was so powerful I considered pulling over.  The name Nixon on everyone's lips, parents' red Ford, the view out my bedroom at 333 Winthrop, a Lock Haven University Eagles jersey #34.  My aunt's green VW Bug. Whew.  I had to look at my pants to make sure they weren't still plaid sansabelt.  White belt?

As the song faded out, DJ said Joe South (the singer/songwriter) was dead.  I've become, too soon,  a compulsive obituary watcher and I more or less took this news in stride. We're all gonna die some day.  BUT the vividness of the memories South's voice induced became some kind of visitation.  I kept teasing it all day long like a loose tooth and ended up doing a little googling.  The artist Lissie has a cover of the song that my head knows is actually better than the original, but my heart melts for South's marble-mouth, authentic-sad delivery.  I get the sense that his comparatively less emotive version may be a result of his actually feeling the song more or even too much and needing to keep a leash on it, lest it get away from him. Whereas Lissie's talent just clears the decks.  Wildly speculative, but that's what I hear.  Yeah, this is 500 words titularly about B-grade pop, but the melody is damn near irresistible.  South is probably a poor man's John Stewart, and I'm okay with that.  South also did that corny one about the boondocks.  Spent some time there too.  I now own the single, call me and I'll play it over the phone for you.

Trout Run, PA

So then earlier tonight I get the song, both versions, on the computer and play them over and over and give myself a case of the goose bumps each time.  The back yard on Winthrop, first time eating a green onion from the garden.  Plumber neighbor melting lead in his garage.  Birdie and I were in a wreck in the '65 Galaxie on the Market Street bridge, pre seatbelt (truly, the sansabelt) era, have a scar to prove it.  'Course I played the song(s) for the kids.  The jaded second grader acknowledged the melody but really not enough drum or guitar for him. And, like, what games is he talking about?  My two cuddle doves loved the Lissie cover and as the living room darkened with evening they kinda swayed and whirled around the living room repeat after repeat stopping now and again to peck me on the cheek and remind me to shave.  Not much older than I the first time I remember hearing the song and I got all wigged out again.  Hope you are haunted by a good memory.

Dynamic presses today.  9 triples on the bench.  6 singles standing.
Assistance:  Standing KB presses, rolling tri extensions on a foam roller, sled rows
Conditioning:  12-9-6-3  1.5p KB/CTB pulls/clapping push ups
100 bandy pull ups
3x10 GHD sits

This post almost went a different direction, which I hint at here for your edification:

Got back?

(115)

two cheers for me

Dynamic front squats today.  10 doubles.  70# + one chain.  maybe a little slow.  If you're stuck on speed day you're too heavy.  6 X 1 sumo deads.  #95 + singled thin band.  JW and I did some quick scale work today and I think we established that a thin band is 30lbs at the top.  The thicker red or purple band (depending on your supplier) is 60lbs.  Give or take.  Crude measurement to say the least.  But I think it's close enough for exercise.  I intend to test the rest of the bands.  Will report.

Assistance work:  pistols (scaled), GH raises, Reverse-hypers.

Conditioning:  tabata squats, min rest, tabata sumos @ 115.  Had 15 in the bag for the squats which would have been thrilling but I blew up in the last two cycles: 11.  BOOO.  Sumos were awful.  In the middle I totally quit on myself and posted a 4.  FOUR!  The rest were 7 and above.  HISSS

Power wheel is an ab contraption, contraction also.  I use my brother's.  He used to post here once in a while.

(114)

This is Fish Camp

Hello Trout Runland.  Two TV's.  Kegs o' Beer.  Campers, tents, and lots of glory days.  Grills hot enough to burn your chicken in the time it takes to do one loop on the four wheeler.  It's true Scott Francis needs to exercise.  We all need to.  I'm sorta scared by what the man could dead or clean if he got serious, but I'd still like to see it.  We're talking about a kid who at 17 stood in one end zone and threw a softball in to the other end zone.  On the fly.  It rolled out the back.  Im pretty sure he could snatch body weight.  if he had a little less body weight.  but just a little.  Did I mention the four wheelers?  And a guitar player and plenty of trees to water.  Fish Camp.

Went for a max push press today.  145.  Might have worked too hard a lower weights.  No matter.  good training.  And I got two more at 135.  Assistance work was all gymnastic:  weighted pulls, reg dips,  reg pushes.  And then the party started.  100 #25 dumbbell thrusters.  If that doesn't tell you what, you'll never know.  14 min and some seconds.  I have this idea that the quickest way to complete recovery is through:  a long line of action, mid-line stabilization and scorched lungs.  I'm trying to build conditioning around those.  Easy to dream up, hard to do.  Oh and I took the powerwheel for a walk too.  100 steps.

Seriously, get a Thera Cane.  Make your life better.
(112)

Guten Morgen

Find 3RM wide-stance, bent leg good morning.  155.  We were hindered a bit by our setup:  Partner deadlifts bar to your back, then you have an anderson squat just to get in postion.  Might have done more in the gym or just a squat stand even.  Eh, constantly varied.  Assistance:  one legged KB deadlifts, lunge steps, quad loaded step ups on to the retaining wall (the one behind me, not pictured).  Conditioning: Honda Fit + driver push, 80yd x 3.  Three max tuck holds from the stud pull up bar. (so named for location, not user)

Workers of the world unite.  You have nothing to lose but your chains.
The only antidote to mental suffering is physical pain.
--Uncle Karl.


Happy Labor Day comrades. (111)

Thrus: dynamic lower 12 x 2 banded box squat, 55% straight, 25% accommodating. 8x1 banded deads, 40% straight, 30% accommodating.  Assistance: GHR,  pistols, one-leg sled push.

Fri: dynamic bench 9x3 banded 55% straight, 25% accommodating.  8x1 banded press, 40% straight, 30% accommodating.  Assistance: decline dumbbell press, dumbbell row, dips.  Conditioning: 50 burpee pull-ups.  I didn't measure the bar height but it was up there.  I'll say 10-13in above reach.  17 and change.

do you have any of these?  You should.

(courtesy, Lut)

(courtesy, Pop-pop.  Note Adders for scale)

Achtung, babies

UPDATE--Results back from last week's bone marrow biopsy:  Clean as a whistle, zero measurable disease.  Chimerism also at 100% frau.  News as good as it can be.  Mobbin' like a mo-fo.

But not lynchin'

(106)

progress

max bench 185.  First time I've put up bodyweight in over a year.  Doctor told me to assume I'd been off at least 3 years considering everything.  Like I said, deep hole to climb out of.  Deep.  As long as the wall don't cave in on me, I think I can get out.  Felt like it today anyway.
Assistance: dumbbell bench press, close-grip, pulls, dips.
Conditioning: 100 barbell (#45) thrusters for time.  Call it 13 minutes.  Bad time, good work.
High rep band face-pulls, 100
100 situps

blurry b/c I still had thruster shake

(105)

102

Dynamic bench: chains 9x3, dynamic press: bands 8x1
Assistance: JM's press, dumbbell press incline, clapping push ups.
Mobility work.

This one's been hanging around for a while, waiting for the right time.  See, around here we like full-auto and big magazines.  Dark and/or poor people voting?  Not so much.

While there is a lower class, I am in it; and while there is a criminal element, I am of it; and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.  --Debs, convicted of sedition.

keep your powder dry.

prowler 101

Get you a heavy, runner-ed, push thing. Some people call them sleds, some prowlers (tm).  Others prefer not to name them or even really speak about them, so evil they are.  Some people just use cars. (Take the brake off, find neutral).  FUT BIRST, have three babies that grow to roughly 20 kg each.  Put them, the plate babies, on the push thing. Try to balance your load unless you want the added fun of compensating for a right or left pull, reminiscent of a misaligned auto.  Next, push the push thing and the plate babies like a good christian would the devil to his home in hell.  Hard and fast as you can manage.  It's fun to tell yourself the babies souls are depending on you because, let's face it, they are.  You'll slow down but you'll feel like you're working harder, these phenomena, the slowing down, the seeming increase in gravity, are magically proportionate.  Speed down, work up.  Yet, oddly, speed up, work also up.  This is the magic.  This is the reward.  Savor it, kinda like you do orange juice after you've already brushed your teeth, the way you do skunky sunflower seeds,  like you savor the taste in your mouth after you vomit.  Do this--push, devil, hell, guilt trip, savor,  a bunch of times, 'til you start to taste metal, 'til one of the plate babies says you're slowing down. 'Til you stop caring so much about who's going to hell or souls or who are the twerps on my push thing? and they sure are well-fed.  Yeah, do it say 40yds x 10.  Feel your heart explode with joy or hatred, self-pity or lactic acid or something.  Boom goes the ticker.  Cough a lot.  Try to find some saliva.  Calculate total weight.  Get confused by addition.  Call it 250, 255.  Whatever.  Three babies.   But FIRST first, 12x2 dynamic box squats, dynamic dead lifts 8x1.  GHR, reverse hyper, lunge steps.

Upon four-legged forest clouds the cowboy angel rides.  That's me, hiding in the back, the cowboy angel.  Just cowboy for short.

C

Hundy days.  Here it is.  Feel great.  Exercising, reading, sleeping, eating.  In short, very much alive.  Like the country song says, feels so good feeling good again.  Thank you for your love and constancy, your support, your gifts and generosity.

Especially, thank you for your friendship.  Next to the love of a good woman, it's the most important thing.

yesterday:  max close-grip bench 150
assistance:  reverse grip press, rolling tri extensions, shoulder raises, hammer curls

today, conditioning:  40 yard backward sled drag (300#)/ 5 tire flips  X 5
skill work: 2 strict pull ups every minute, 20 minutes

The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.
                                                                             --Papa, Farewell to Arms

97 (official count) bottles of barolo on the wall

Big check up today.  Good report.  Slight dip in whites which they say is to be expected and not worrisome at all, especially b/c there was a good bump in the platelet department.  Over all that is a better predictor of engraftment, marrow health and the whatnot.  Reds steady.  Free to consume fresh fruits and vegetables.  Not needed back for a month.  Also did a marrow biopsy, results pending.  Should know in a week, but all other indicators are good.  Won't lie, quite a chore waiting on the verdict.  The news is either terrific or disastrous.  I feel great, so Im optimistic.

At the Rick's Sunday night for preseason football.  He offered me a glass of wine but I cant have any so I said just one.  He had the first hit and tasted something funky so I held off.  Later he said maybe it was kinda growing on him.  I tried it at dinner.   Hey now, i thought, that's tasty.  Another quaff.  Really tasty.  I dont know man, this tastes fantastic to me.  What is it?  Dont know, my parents gave us a couple bottles.  By the end of dinner I had finished a second glass.  Good as the chicken and Portuguese sausage was, the wine captivated me.  Seriously, man this is good.  That funky taste at the end is a delightful tannic finish.  Starts out cherry evolves to a mouth full of blackberries and just wrings your tongue clean.  Really structured stuff.  Is it gone?  No, we have two bottles.  Here.  Hmm.   I read the label.  '99 Barolo.  A swallow almost came out my nose.  Tremendous grape juice.  I figured it for at least a $50 bottle.  Google confirms 66-75 bucks.  I only had one or several more.  I have to drink for the German woman too, teach her a little Italian.

Max effort parallel box front squat 125
Assistance: bent over rows, GHR, back extensions
Conditioning 4 x 500m row, 30 second rest.  I think I averaged 2:17/500m. Slow as me in trig, but getting better (whereas all the trig I know is still in the calculator)

Wash that camping right outta your hair

Market for victuals, gym, breakfast, home depot for new spigot handle, drum store for new sticks, bakery for birthday cupcakes, gun store for trigger locks and eye protection. Range.  Wyatt's last 5 at 25yds all on the paper.  I shot a 3-group with the .243 you could cover with a penny.  Also at 25yd (I confess), but i was trying to dial the scope in. A day of fun for about $25.01.  Missed my nap.  Hope you all are staying busy.  Idle hands will high five WITH CHIPS.

Dynamic bench, 9x3 banded.  Dynamic shoulder press, 6x1 banded
Assistance:  pull, dip, push

Took a minute of video of  these two shuckin' an jivin' unaware.  It is simply delightful.  But not the kinda thing I want on the interweb.  Sorry.  Ags dances all around singing "hey soul sister" to Adders, who gives herself a keen suds beard and calls herself Mean Mr. Mustard.  Ags got tired of her soul sister ignoring her and pow, shower puff right in the kisser.  Time to put in your bedroom hottub.

96

Dynamic squats:  wide leg, box, band.  12x2, deadlifts: deficit, banded, 6x1
Assistance: deficit dead, GHR, reverse hyper
Conditioning: bent over sled tow sprints, 90yd x 5, rest while partner works.

Dell came down to help me measure for some replacement windows and he says he'll come back to teach me how to install them.  Heather and the twins went camping at Muddy Run.  Wyatt and I are at large.  We had soft-shell crabs for lunch and Asian pork burgers for dinner, no bun.  Went to the range for some .22 rounds but had no bullets.  Stopped by Brian's to cadge some.  He turned his back yard into a range in about 30 seconds.  Stretched Wyatt to twice his previous distance and he was twice as accurate.  Much improved.  Then we drove to Hershey to pick up Brian's Volvo tractor.  Wyatt rode back in the big rig.  Maybe we get to the range tomorrow.  If we're not too hungover or in need of bail.

Sir Walter Raleigh was such a stupid get.

on the paper at 10yd (94)

max press: 115
pull push dip
mobility training

Wyatt is shooting his new Cricket .22.  Peep sight, no less.

"signifying sureness of the soul"

Dynamic bench:  9x3 +chains
Assistance:  incline dumbs, pulls, reverse curl bench
Mobility

My mom made these  sundresses for the girls.  Made them, with her hands.  Wyatt's first hunting license arrived yesterday.  I had the best tomato of the year today.  Yellow, beginning to bleed red. Fat as a baby.  Dense as a pear and almost as sweet.  What's the mozz and basil for?   Anybody know the Frost poem of title?  One I never tire of.

89

Dynamic squats: Chained, wide-leg, box
Assistance: Deficit kb deads-single, double straight leg, reverse hyper

Conditioning: 12 amrap 1pood kb Russian swing

Cope: 286 (1.5 pood)
HG: 262
CJP: 216  If i didn't get 200 i was gonna quit.  Cope buried us.


It's not the Loyalsock football field, but it's good:

Ropes of Love

Cope asked a relevant question about content.  The answer is: up to you all.  If you train, I want to hear about it, whatever you do.  If you don't train, that's your business.  Feel free to mock those of us who do.  Exercisers are a weird buch.  I fight it off much as I can, but still weird, no question.  This is the Potter Transplant Daily.  I'm at a good point in my recovery and I intend to document it.  That's what I said I would do.  It gives me great pleasure to talk to my folk.  And hear back from them.  That dynamic has been instrumental in said recovery.  I happen to be an exerciser.  I have a big big hole to dig out of.  But the very digging makes me feel alive.  I just can't give that up or ignore it, so it's gonna be part of the blog.  Im also a pretty vigorous reader and a father and goddamn lucky husband and brother and friend and chess player and bow hunter and tomato connoisseur and flathead catfish-er person.  What are my hobbies?  What aint?  I want to know, do, be good at everything.  Like that sci-fi writer said, "specialization is for insects." Our lives are our poems. I don't want to leave any lines unwritten and since this might be a timed exercise, I gotta keep moving.   No one, nothing is censored.  All is fair game.  The rules for our blog are be funny or interesting, or be ridiculed.

I got hoisted by a wave of happiness today.  On an errand, in the car, nothing special, at a red light even: "Man, my hamstrings are sore.  That means you're doing it right.  I love training with Heather.  What a woman.  And those kids.  Wow I have good kids.  How'd we do that w/o practice?  Don't fuck it up.  Don't get angry. Be cool.  Straight and honest like with your friends.  My friends.  Jesus, my friends.  Like the lottery.  Green.  Go.  Where'm I goin' again?"  First wave of happiness in a fair amount of time.  Frost says, "Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length."


Max floor press 145 (use this for percentages in dynamic bench Sat.)
Assistance:  push, pull, reverse grip bench
Conditioning:  battling ropes 1 min on 1 min off  5x

Be kind, no blame, love everything.

86 kinda randy

I took a picture of the boss Hog BEE-ELL-TEE I had for dinner right before I had it for dinner.  The picture made it look gross.  Flash and bacon fat have their own agendas.  But it was a thing of beauty.  My goal was to get a whole tomato on board, which i did for the shot, but after a bite I picked slices off for sandwich sake.  You shoulda had one with us.  Mayo and tomato (Cherokee purple)  running to my elbow, smeared on my jowls.  Accompanied by the summer's best cob corn yet.  When the butter from the corn starts mixin' with the bread and you get mouthfuls of tomato corn and pig.  Anecdotal evidence of  G—D.  We gotta be in 1% of all humans to eat thusly and I think it's because we deserve it.  [here i pause for you to think about really good bacon] Know how long it's been, a meal like that?  Since like yesterday.  I told a dinner story about how when I was a kid my friend Naughton had an aunt named Peachy who owned a sandwich shop.  We'd do about 15 minutes work stacking boxes and moving displays and get paid in BLT cosmos (that's a hot submarine sandwich for you aliens).  It is on those occasions when I learned to love the tomato on a sandwich and when I learned that no one ever ever says, oh, too much bacon.  Wyatt listened thoughtfully and said, "And Scott Naughton's mom, Barb, yeah, she makes the BEST apple cake."  Tru' dat, boo

today we were scheduled for some skill work and conditioning.  Haven't done any olympic lifting yet.  Sounds like a "Randy" day, no?.  75lbs, 75 snatches for time.  We scaled back to 55lb.  Heather crushed me  7 minutes to 10 minutes.  I only sulked for a moment or two.  Here she is tributing me with the universal sign of uxorial devotion and desire.

True love and home-grown tomatoes.  (Guy Clark is who you really want here but the recordings were sketchy at best.  Apologies)

WEST SIDE in this MO-FO

Took a day off yesterday for periodization and being lazy.  Last week was a good warm up week.  Some lifting, some rowing, some X-Fit.  Made me very hungry to train the way I had been almost exactly a year ago (shudder) when I was simultaneously in the best and worst shape of my life.  With the Chupacabra's guidance Heather and I are going pretty much whole-hog (or should I say whole dog?) West Side Barbell conjugate training methods.  If you want the template, email me.  I'm just going to sketch in what I do.  If you want help ask.  Please chime in, whatever you're doing.  Please.

Max effort lower today.  Deadlift 225. (same as, ah-hem, my [very strong] wife)  Had hopes for higher but they weren't realistic for first time in 4mos.
Assistance work: reverse hyper, banded-straight-leg-KB dead, one-legged KB dead
Conditioning: prowler 8x35yd 170lbs.

Louie, 62, deadlifts way more than you.

83, 5, 4, 3, 2

Our twins turned five yesterday.  We prefer to celebrate on the 4th, however, because those first two years were so blindingly gemini that both their mother and I believed them to be born on the day after their actual birth.  Right down to filling out the social security forms. . .when we became aware.  If you have the chance come and get a load of them.  The sun and the moon right here on earth.  Really, the only two people alive that can give Wyatt a run for his money.

Fourth day of exercise.  Still powerfully sore but coming out of it.  Needed something short and challenging.  11min AMRAP:  10 KB thrusters (20lb ea)/ 1 rope climb (20 ft).  How's your mid-line stabilization?

We th' last ones left.

+2 thrusters

The Thunderbird Spirit

Allegorical source of thunder (wings) and lightning (beak).  This is on Little Indian Rock, on the Susquehanna,  in the shadow of the Safe Harbor dam(n).  The rock is covered in petroglyphs (and bird scat).  It's sorta funny when the jokers who swam out and carved "1883" are new to the neighborhood.  I wish I could explain the deep, plangent chord these strike in me, but I can't.  I just stare and marvel and stare some more.  Anyone know how to twist photos?

or what's a heaven for?

2K row  9:18

really wanted 9.

SORE

But, you know what? It's mostly in the hams, so early and mid form yesterday was not so bad.  These are some sore hams, ye-ouch.  Today got under the bench bar.  145, after lots of rep work. Which puts me in the unenviable category of  meathead who benches more (such as it is) than he squats.  5 sets of max pull ups. 4-3-3-2-2. One ring dip. Ugh. ONE. And then:  Hammer curls.  Yep.  I don't care.  Did them in front of everyone, proudly.  Aint gonna die with small arms.  No how.  So stuff it.

day 79, day 1

Good check up Mon.  Platelets at 50 which is sorta the Mendoza line for our kinda exercise, so I'm cleared for the gym.  Not required to return to Boston for three weeks and I can eat tomatoes from the garden. (like, what other kind would one eat?)  Red and whites solidly in normal range.  Went to the gym this AM to see how bad things were gonna be, what sort of task I was up against.  Call it my third climb out of the hole, (not to say grave.)  Squatted 135 in a many-second grinder.  The numbers don't lie, but I really didn't expect to touch much more than 100.  So.  All kinds of problems with form, you can see, but this was absolute end range, if a butterfly landed on the bar it would have sent me crashing.  Fought it up with quads and back.  Happily call it a max effort after lots of rep work.  Haven't felt jello leg in a while.  Better yet, I still had 4 pull ups.  Four pull ups is SO much better than none pull ups.  The blog will get a little exercise-y, from here sorry if that bores or offends.  Feel free to bitch about it, or tell us what you're up to.