2012 Olympic Trials Thoughts

Hey Hey Hey!!! Yeah it's been awhile since my last post!  The last post that I had was in September where I  started the season off with a 51.10foot throw with the 7.26kg shot put. That is what happens when you work too much, train just as much and think you can make improvements. Nature doesn't work like that. I had to take 8 months off from training and catch up on sleep. The schedule of falling asleep to awakening had to be consistent every night; and that's what I did. I slept for 8 hours every night and stopped the use of anti inflammatory and NyQuil.

I started the season with a low 59ft throw, the next week I went 59 high and then at The Penn Relays I went 61.7ft. I had a couple other meets to follow which built me up to 62.9 in the last meet to qualify for the Olympic Trials. In that meet I was hitting 64 mid but couldn't hold it in the circle. That throw of 62.9 put me on the bubble for the Olympic Trials. I really didn't want to be in that situation but that's where I found myself.  We had bought the tickets and all to go to Eugene in hope that someone would scratch, which two people did. I proceeded to practice as usual and do my tweak peak. Workouts went well and I felt really good, but during the second round of the Men's Hammer throw which was being held at the NIKE World Headquarters, I received the update that I had missed making the top 24 athletes.  I went right to the beer garden that was stationed at about 90 meters from the hammer circle, drank some beer, took pictures and experience the Trials as a fan, oh and I got engaged!!!  This was the first time that I couldn't compete in a USA National Championship meet in a year where I was able to train. Sad yes, but I was able to make huge gains in 10 months.  Starting with a body that couldn't walk to a body that was able to crack the top 26 athletes in the country was a great victory for me.

The Men's Shot Put was epic! It began to rain right before the competition and that is what I was looking forward to throwing in.  All year my best practices were in the rain and now it's raining during the trials! That would have been my advantage.  The throws were sloppy and the marks were low. One upset that silenced my fiance, cousin and I was when Adam Nelson didn't make it through to the next day. I think that his story would make an awesome movie.  Adam had two Olympic gold medals stolen from him in the past Olympics and being 36 years old  and not qualifying for this year's Olympics only makes for more drama. It was like nature said "no Adam... this is not your time... if you really want it you must continue another four years."  It really was like fate jumped in the way because the rain started right as the throwing started and then the rain stopped as the competition ended.  Another four years would make Adam 40 years old... but why not? Why not now just train for the 2016 Olympics? Leave the sponsorship, work and train for the next 3 years without the need to travel and compete. Stay home relax with the kids and then in 2015/2016 come back with a drive 100x's greater than this year! He is capable and that would make an epic story!

Adam is my motivation, because I think he may be thinking that, and that is what's getting me hyped to start the training next week.  This week I am doing an active recovery with one throwing session and will start a new training phase on Monday. I am really looking forward to continuing the baby steps and implementing everything I  have learned over the past 18 years into more efficient, stress free training.  Can I take my life time best of 66.3 feet to another level? Lets see what the rest of the summer has to offer!?

September 13th... what now?

So what has really changed from my last... NOTHING! Okay so I was able to train for a solid 7 weeks and then ran into a case of the flu. I am down 16lbs and still trying to fight this thing off. So what's the plan now? Heal up... get sleep and try to get back into the frame of mind that training is everything. It's really hard to do that now when there are so many responsibilities... but I think I can figure out a way to juggle them both together. 2012... this is it :(

Where Have I Been?

wow... it's been awhile! Let me fill everyone in. For the last 18 months I had to take on some extra hours at work to make ends meet. So, for three days out of the week my schedule would look like this:
Monday:
awake at 4:20am
work 5am-10am
Train 11am-3pm
Work 4pm-9pm
Repeat it for Tuesday & Thursday with the other week days looking like a normal work day.

Now before this happened I came out of 2008 with a 20.19meter throw. During the following '08/'09 winter, I was throwing 20+ consistently with the 15lb shot in 24 degree weather! When the work schedule changed I instantly dropped off in my distances and stayed suppressed for the past 18 months. I knew it was the sleep, but then decided that I would stick it out till things got financially better. Well, in January & February of 2011 I began to notice something. My mood had become a bit more in the gutter. I had no excitement and had become a living zombie. Feeling bad became constant, but I got use to it and kept training. When I was lifting one day in the winter, the football kids were running around screaming, acting all crazy and some weren't even lifting but were just jacked up with energy and excitement. I was quite in the corner throwing my weights around. I knew something was wrong. Then came one injury for every week in February, ending with a knee injury I believed to be a meniscus tear. I have never been injured structurally other than a partially torn adductor before the 2004 Olympic Trials.

I went to the doctors and got some blood work done, a urinalysis and a saliva test. Results came back and guess what the verdict was? Yup, you guessed it- low testosterone! I suck as a man! On top of that I had low dopamine, low serotonin, low epinephrine and raised liver enzymes. Raised liver enzymes were due to the Motrin to train and NyQuil to sleep. Once I got the results of what the doctor called "adrenal Fatigue" I stopped all training 100%. Nothing, Nada, no way Jose was I doing anything. The next step was to get more sleep and by doing this I had to get out of my hours at work. Out of the 3 days getting up at 4:20am I am down to one day. Come September I will be out of that day also.

So what about my knee? Dr. Harry Bade of Professional Orthopedics took me in and conducted all the tests and found no sign of a tear! It was a bone bruise! A bad one at that! My body was so malnourished of it's hormones that repair could not happen and any movement I performed was susceptible to injury. Sleep is the time when all your androgens are produced and working for 10-12 hours, training for 4 hours and only getting 4-5 hours of sleep was a set up for disaster. This took 18 months to set my body up for injury.

The past 4 weeks I have begun to do rehab exercises to strengthen the core, hips and other injured areas. No drugs have helped the healing process. Eating nutrient dense foods like cod liver oil, raw milk, fruits, vegetables etc., getting more sleep have allowed time to recover. I can tell that all my chemicals within my body are elevating. My mood is enhanced, my body's aches and pains are diminished and I am now excited to train, but how much can be done in an 11 month time frame after taking off 4 months? That's going to be the challenge. After working with Mark Gottendenker (old college coach), Abe Flores (Monmouth Throws Coach), Tom Battaglia (former MU Strength & conditioning Coach) and Dane Miller (Garage Strength Guru), I believe I have the knowledge to get back to my 20 meter throws and surpass it. I am not a big or a strong guy, but with the information I have gathered doing Dr. Bundarchuck's training, I have found what days my nervous system is rock'n roll'n. Timing is key, nutrition is key, sleep is key, getting away for a weekend is key, staying positive and believing in 'the plan' is key.

These are all things that need to be done in order for me to take these past 17 years of first throwing 29 feet with the 12lb shot when I was 14 to throwing 67+ with the 16lb shot at 32 years of age. It's possible only if this year is epic in all facets!

January 10th... zombie mondays

It's been a very long time since I posted, but got some e-mails from people saying they read the blog and want to be updated. Well, Last week was the first week I was able to actively throw at 100% three days in a row. Since March (injury) I have been able only to throw Monday & Friday. I guess having no alcohol in my life, doing ice baths and floating around in the pool has really helped.

I have really been busy making training programs for people and working on the Jersey Trash Clothing Brand.

want programs or to read some blog posts on nutrition, exercise etc? Then go to www.strengthathletes.com
want some Jersey Trash Gear? Then go to www.jerseytrash.com
I am not really looking forward to this 2nd big snow storm coming tomorrow. The shoveling is absolutely terrible. Two weeks ago we got 30 inches and now it looks like we will be having another significant amount this week. Maybe I will post some pics of the snow we get. Later!

Today 11/8/10

Quick post on how I feel and how every thing is going:

Tired (5am work)
Head ache (sugar hangover... too much ice cream cake last night)
Nephew in the hospital with pneumonia (ugh)
70% recovered from my injury
need a nap before practice
...but staying positive

YOu can read some better blog posts here http://strengthathletes.com/?page_id=863

Chow!

My World Is Not Great Today..

I don't feel great about the world...something big and bad is going to happen. I can feel it. Makes life loose it's glimmer when Ass Holes are running around burning American flags and others burning the Quaran. :(

Watch these videos ... especially the last one...:(

James J. Lee Discovery Channel

Sitting here eating an awesome lunch and the news is finally entertaining! An activist names James J. Lee has entered the building with a gun and possibly some bombs. He has no hostages. It seems like he wants to be heard on a bigger stage... WORLWIDE! He has concerns about Earth. Pollution, over population, and saving the planet. After thinking we have all become zombies and will never stand up for a cause... it looks like someone has!

Now if you want to check out his site go here http://savetheplanetprotest.com/ but I have a good feeling they are taking it down... cause I have not been able to access it! POLICE STATE!