Max Squat Day

In the gym around 5:30.

Good mornings - bar 20 reps, 30kg/12reps, 40/12, 50/10, 60/4, 70/3, 80/2 (but poor form) put on the belt and 80kg for 3 reps.Could have gone heavier with the belt but that's not the purpose here.
Normal Squats - 60/6 attempted 90 only 4 reps, 2nd attempt at 90kg with wraps, still only 4 reps. Back to 80, 3 sets of 7 reps. Hip very tight - extra stretching between sets.
Stiff leg deadlift - 80kg 6, 8, 8 Fatiguing early :-( and hammy attachment into the glute was very tight and sore.
Barbell rollouts - 9,10,8
Fitball cable crunch - 100lb 3 sets of 10
Dumbbell Windmill - 15lb dumbbell 3 sets of 12 reps.

Left the gym at 7.30pm very stiff and sore - need to book in for a remedial massage. The good mornings and squats took most of the training time. By the time I finished with the barbell rollouts I told Dirk that I felt like that bar had my name on it. "well you're probably the only one making good use of it" he replied.

Slept well but woke at 5am. Ughh 15 mins and the alarm will go off. Had everything ready to go for a run. Rolled over to enjoy the last 15mins snooze and didn't wake until 5:50. Shit! Had set the alarm for 5.15 pm by mistake. Too late to go for a run now..... Got up and headed into work.



Podiatrist appointment at 11.20 - Chris took out my orthotics and padded them up and voila I can walk without pain. Amazing stuff. He's padded the orthotic to angle my toe downwards so that when I walk the toe doesn't need to bend back so far. Doesn't fix the problem, but allows me to walk pain free. Have to try this out for the next and report back to him. If its all good he will make something a little more permanent. I asked Chris about wearing heels..... "Oh stop being such a girl" Gosh, insulted twice this week with the "Girl' comment - LOL He conceded to see what he could do about making something that I could wear - in low heels. There goes my stiletto days! Will head out for a run tomorrow morning before work along the yarra , so long as I don't sleep in that is! Only problem I've noticed so far today is the shoe seems to rub on the other side of my foot now. The run will be the real test.


Shaz spoke to Webby - he's quite ok with me joining in when his group squats. They squat on Monday evenings at Doherty's so I'll have to reschedule my bench session with Shaz for Tuesday around Madi's Basketball training or on Wednesday. Although Tuesday if preferable for Shaz. In any case I'll give Webby a call tonight to sort out what time to be there on Monday.



Night off tonight - yay! TV shows are getting back in swing - Prison Break
tonight!! Grabbed a couple of little Haigh's treats while I was in the city - ahhh I'll run them off tomorrow!


See ya!

Vicki xxx

NEWSFLASH: Updated Pics on AMG-lite

A treat for the Physique fans, Andy has updated my page on Andy's Muscle Goddesses with some new pics taken over in New Zealand late last year. The site meter is spinning!! LOL. Hope you enjoy them and I'll keep posting regular pics and training progress here as well.

I've got my weight up to 68.5 kg (151 lb) now. So time to reign in the chocolate consumption! No more doing 'lines' at night watching TV - ha ha ha. A little closer to the comp I'll start keeping a food diary here - just to keep me honest?




Benched last night at Doherty's in Brunswick wtih Shaz. Warmed up to 60kg or 70kg raw - I have no idea because part of Shazza's tactics in training me is not to let me know how much I am pushing - so I cant do my head in thinking about it if its more than I think I can do. Anyway, Shirted up and worked on partials again, but this time we DID GO HEAVY. Sets of 4 reps at 100kg (220lb) - This time she did tell me how much was on the bar - as with this big a jump it becomes a safety issue. Decided to go for broke - 110kg (242lb) Only managed two reps. The first rep was good - only about 2 cm (less than 1 inch) off the chest before pressing. Second rep was crap - went up sideways LOL. No chance of a third rep - my whole body was wasted!! Gave me a head rush - couldnt get off the bench, tried to stand up and just dropped back down, felt like I'd popped a blood vessel in my eye - sight was a bit blurry - but nothing as good as that. Recovered for a short while and then went on to do my regular accessory work while Shaz went out to do cardio.

Accessory:
Floor pin press - close grip - 50kg 3 sets of 8 (amazingly hard after heavy benching)
Benchers lying tricep press - 10kg dumbbells - 3 sets of 10
Chest supported row - neutral grip - 60kg 3 sets of 8
Reverse grip bar front raise - 33lb 3 sets of 10
Dumbbell hammer & o/head press - 10kg dumbbells 3 sets 10, 8, 10 (dunno what happened in set 2......)

Shaz is confident that I have the 110kg bench press in me with the shirt. We'll aim for that in the Master comp next month, but in any case the masters is just going to be a bench mark for all my lifts to see what I will be able to do in the state open in March. She also wants me to squat with Webby, actually Shaz would prefer that I have a training partner but this is not something I'm keen on - on a permanent basis that is. I agree tho' I need someone on my max effort days. Hopefully Shaz saw Webby at Doherty's last night after I left. I check with her shortly and if not I'll drop Webby an line and see if I can come and squat with him and his guys a couple of times before the comp.

Well thats about it for today, catch you all again soon.

Love
Vicki xxx

Australia Day - Long weekend

Sorry for the lack of updates.... been a little busy running around. Australia Day long weekend always involves a basketball tournament for the Ringwood Hawks - the team Madi plays for. Two games Friday and three games today with finals on Sunday, which our girls wont be participating in having lost both games Friday, and the first and third game today and drawing for the second game. We've had some 'issues' with coaching and looks now like we have an experience coach - albeit still one of the parents!

Start of the basketball season also means I will have to juggle my training around. The girls train twice a week, Tuesday night and Sunday morning and games are played on Friday night. So I will have to train around Madi's basketball times - somehow.

I've had two training sessions since I last blogged:

Thursday night: Speed bench - I am not a lazy wench Louise!! LOL. (To clarify, I was invited to have a go at Street Orienteering which was being held in my area, but I had to train)

Reverse Grip bench press - 45kg 3 sets of 10 (awkward movement and needed someone to lift off each time)
Dumbbell floor press - 45lb dumbbells 3 sets of 10 (initially needed someone to pass them, then balanced them on my quads between sets.
Single cable tricep ext. - 50lb 3 sets of 12 (Danny and John joined with this for something different)
Cable bent row pull - 150lb 1 set of 10 and 2 sets of 12 (hard to keep my balance.....)
V-press seated dumbbell - 20lb dumbbells 3 sets of 10
Superset: barbell curls @ 30lb (light) and bar hammer curls @ 15kg, 15/10 15/8 15/7


While we were doing the single tricep extensions, George, the owner of the gym was doing some tricep work using some hanging chains, kneeling on a bench and lowering himself holding the chains and pressing up again using triceps. Danny and John both gave it a go and found it very difficult but were able to get a couple of reps out.... I kept quiet and just went on with my tricep work until challenged by the boys to give it go. With my triceps already spent from doing reverse grip benches, floor presses and cable extn's I knew I had little chance of getting any reps out. However I was given no choice and pushed into doing it.... How incredibly hard!!! 1 rep..... 2 reps.... 3 reps (with assistance) no way I was doing any more. And what did I get??? Teasing!!! 'Oh... you're such a girl!' LOL and I copped if for the rest of the session..... Here I am pulling 150 on the cable for bent over cable pulls and Danny comes out with... '.....training that girly back now?' Grrrrrr!



Friday morning:
Short run: 25 mins probably about 3 ks - not sure as I found my foot pod battery had died when I got to Mullum Mullum track. Couple of guys pulled up in the car park just before me who were also going for a run and I heard them discussing the Maroondah Damn run - hope they didn't notice I was driving in from the street across from the car park. Hmmm maybe the 'Lazy wench' statement applies here..... he he he...... Anyway, waited in the car, fiddling with the foot pod until they were well and truly gone and then set out - still doing 5/1 intervals.

Really feeling the change in training.... triceps are very very sore... hamstrings still a little tight from Tuesday, but still its all good. Back/lats sore.... I know at least that the exercises are hitting the right spots and I'm getting results....

Girly back - My arse!!

Friday training: Speed squat.

Drop Squat (20 sec rest) Pressing the bar from behind the neck. 12 sets of 2 reps. Couldn't quite get the hang of this so for this week only Dirk suggested I do the drop squats while holding the bar over head and next week add in the press movement.
Reverse Hypers - 40kg 3 sets of 6
Deadlift @ 80% - 80kg 3 sets of 4
Side deadlifts - 40kg 3 sets of 6 (each side)
Saxon Bends - 10lb 3 sets (each side) - 7 6 6 (ouch)


Present time - Saturday evening.... Leah and Madi have gone out to dinner with their Dad before he drives back to Armidale in NSW. I'm about the settle in front of the box again and relax. Will get out for another short run tomorrow morning - Sunday paper run - LOL. Wont be pushing it tho' - just want to take it easy leading up to the comp. Will stick mainly to the 3 k runs (intervals) for now.

And the winner is.....

The 1,000th visitor:

Domain Name (Unknown)
ISP British Telecommunications
Location
Continent : Europe
Country : United Kingdom
State/Region : Liverpool
City : Liverpool

mytime Jan 24 2007 8:28:01 am
visitors time Jan 23 2007 9:28:01 pm


So where to start since I left off on Tuesday....

Tuesday evening Training:

Good mornings (to max 3 reps) - 20kg/12reps 40/10 50/10 60/6 70/3 75/3 attempted 80 but only 2reps and poor from
Normal squats, belt no knee warps. - 80kg 3 sets of 8reps
Stiff leg deadlift - 70kg 3 sets of 10
Barbell rollouts - 8 6 9 (felt a lot of stress in the lower back)
Fitball cable crunch - 60lb 3 sets of 10
Dumbbell windmill - 12.5 lb dumbbells 3 sets of 10. Seriously un-co doing these so started really light to get the feel on the movement.


Launceston, Tasmania

Arrived around 9.30 am and caught a cab into the city, more like a big country town. Beautiful morning and with a bit of time to kill moseyed on around the mall and found somewhere to sit outside to have a latte, read my book and take in a bit of Vitamin D. Had my feet assessed, printed, measured, prodded and finally tried on some boots. They will have to be made as they didn't have any in stock, the orthotic will be built into the shoe according to the requirements of my odd feet! Hopefully they will send them across in the next couple of weeks prior to the Masters so I can train in them a couple of time first.

Bone spur.

Yep -thats the diagnosis from Dr Ben Baressi, my sports doc. He arranged an for an xray and we could immediately see the bone spur. Well at least it's treatable! Ben has referred me to Mark Blackney, a surgeon for a consult to discuss having the spur removed. Warning: Gross surgery pics - Hallux Rigidus. Just rang and made the appointment - would you believe I can't get in until August 13th. On the positive side at least its after the Nationals!!!! Ben's also referred me back to Chris, the podiatrist to see what can be done in the mean time by way of taping / splinting the toe or some other orthotic adjustment. So I have come full circle.... Chris referred me to Joe, Joe referred me to Ben and now back to Chris.... I think I'm getting dizzy. LOL

No run this morning, although I had everything ready and set the alarm for 5.20.... Hammies and glutes wayyyyy to sore to consider running, so reset the alarm and slept until 6am. Maybe tomorrow - just a short one along Mullum Mullum track to Reynolds Rd and back if my legs are a little looser.

My girls have arrived back home - I haven't seen them yet and already they have both buggered off! Leah is out tonight with friends that haven't seen her since the accident and as they are taking her out, she is staying over at Fannies place. Madi off to Fiona's - it's Fi's birthday today so she also is staying overnight. Welcome back girls.... Oh well, one more night alone.... at least they've bought back plenty of new dvd's, so movie night for me!

Cheers
Vicki xxx

1,000th vistor

How exciting!! Who will it be?? Is there a prize??


The 1,000th vistor to my blog since I added the site meter on Dec 30 2006 will click over sometime before my next post.... (I wont be posting tomorrow as I will be interstate) Not that I can tell who anyone is, but its really interesting to see where the vistors are from worldwide.



To be honest I was a little nervous putting the site meter on, fearing that only a couple of people might be visiting each week, but an average of 36 per day was a huge surprise! Thanks to everyone for visiting, especially those who take time to leave a comment.


Catch you all when I get back from Tassie!

Love Vicki xxx

Shirt Benching

Great minds think alike Louise! Remembered to take the camera to training and so here's a shot of me looking like a dwarf in a straight jacket with my shirt on (without the belt) My arms are up like that because with the shirt on you simply cannot put them down without cutting off blood circulation! Next week Shaz will organize her training partner to join us at Doherty's and we'll get a few pics in action as she want to coach from the side lines and have her training partner spot me.

So, the bench session went like this. Warmed up a few sets sans shirt... up to doing 6 reps at 60kg. Then the shirt went on... belt on.. wrist wraps on.... chalked... and try to bring just 60kg down to 'mah belly' Oh yeah! got it down, in the poorest form ever seen, shoulders totally off the bench, I think Shaz was ready to slap me.... 'NO NO NO - Lock your shoulders down, squeeze your scapula's together, pull them down to your butt, big arch, chest up, row the bar down.....' Good, couldn't get the bar near my chest.

Worked on form for the rest of the session doing partials, even with 80kg on the bar, could not get it down - and was very wobbly as I am not used to having to fight the shirt. Will probably need a 100kg / 110kg. This is going to take a lot of work. So until I get the technique right, my raw lift is better than my shirt lift. Acquired some nice bruising under the arms where the shirt bites.

Couple of pics of my trainer, Shaz. You can see how her triceps dominate her arms and how thick her lats are. This is how she is able to bench so big and this demonstrates why she is the best coach for my benching. Her raw bench is currently 100kg! By comparison when you look at my photo's in throughout the blog, you'llnotice that its my biceps that dominate my arems - from years of bodybuilding training. I need to really build my tricpes and so my training routines have a lot of tricep and back work for training towards a bigger bench press.

Into my regular gym after work, to finish off what was started in the morning. Straight onto the supplementary work.

3x10 Floor pin press - close grip - bottom pin. 50kg set 1- 8 reps, set 2 - 7 reps, drop back to 40kg set 3 - 10 reps
3x10 Benchers lying triceps press - 25lb dumbell set 1&2 10 reps, set 3 9 reps
3x8 Chest supported row Neutral grip - set 1 60kg 10 reps. bump up the weight since I did 10 reps... 70kg 3 sets 8 reps
3x10 Reverse grip bar front raise. 35lb 3 sets 10 reps
3x12 Dumbbell hammer curl with overhead press - 20lb dumbbell 3 sets of 12 (the last 3 reps in each set the overhead press was difficult!)

Really pumped when I left the gym - had a great workout. Was happy to see Daniel and John were back in the gym too. They had decided to try out another gym, but thankfully they're returned. Told them I missed them! No-one to help me on with my shirt! LOL. They're good spotters, two of the few guys that I really trust to spot me when I go heavy - especially squatting!

Tuesday 5.20am

The alarm blaring in my ear.... Had set the alarm early to go for a run before work.... reset the alarm for 5:50 and rolled over trying to justify not going for a run.... Heavy leg session tonight, better to run the day after training, will run tomorrow morning.... Nah gotta do it - cant run tomorrow morning anyway, heading off the Launceston at 8.30 am, will have to be at the airport around 7.30 which means getting up at 6am so no chance of a run.... Up, dressed and away 5.40 (thankfully I had everything prepared last night to go for then run). Arrived at the Tan just after 6am and set off along the river, across swan street bridge, down along the river again. Watched as 5 hot air balloons rose into the sky above the gardens, wondered if I'd ever be game enough to get into one of those things - not likely!! Especially not the weird-arse sharped one! So, back across Morrell bridge and across to the tan track and ran back down along the tan back to my car. Short 3.2 km 25 mins 5 min/1min run/walk intervals and HR was kept reasonable averaging 150 and peaking at 165 just near the end of the run.

Guilt free... I'm heading down the to gateway to get my apple muffin - yumm!

Cheers

Vicki xxx

Monday Jan 22. 67kg

Back in a routine, eating has been more regular and I've managed to put on 1kg this week. I'll be happy to get up around 68 / 68.5 as I can easily drop a kg in the sauna for the weigh in.

Sunday morning up a little later than I wanted to be. Didn't get out the door for my Sunday 4.5k run until nearly 8am. Looked pretty grey and miserable so I donned the long leggins and long sleeve T which I regretted about 20 mins into the run. Stuck with the 5min/1min intervals and walked the best (worst!) part of Reynolds road hill. The last K back saw my heart rate starting to climb into high 160's and so on advice from several coolrunners I dropped back into a walk until my HR came down and then back up to a very slow jog until the interval was complete.

The afternoon's show jumping class was great for my confidence. Taken back to basics and not just herded over the jumps, we walked and trotted in 2 point for a good 15 minutes which is excellent for balance and gets the load off the horses back ready for the jump. Its pretty taxing on the inner thighs and today I'm well aware of it! My lower back is also a wee bit sore, no amount of back conditioning work prepares it for the jarring of so much trot work over the past 2 days. Mojo was very well behaved, taking the little grade 5 jumps in his stride. We even managed to canter over a couple of them. Gill brought along her Olympic gold medals to show everyone - very impressive. Started to bucket down just as we riding home - and I was wishing that I'd made the effort to float him down. Never mind, still would have go drenched unloading him up at the paddock. All in all a satisfying 2 day clinic.

Benching with Shaz today at the studio at 11am. Will take off for an early lunch break to get this done. Packed the Metal Shirt into the car. Now the real work starts. We will be purely working on bench technique with the shirt for the hour. Tonight I will finish my bench training, skipping the main exercise, as I will have already benched heavy, just doing the supplementary and accessory work. Normally today would have been Max squat day, in a way I'm glad of the extra day's reprieve for the sake of my lower back - main exercise for this cycle is Good mornings working up to a max triple.

Team meeting with the new boss at 9am this morning. So far he's been pretty good, leaving us to do our jobs and understanding the pressure I was under last week with both the boys (my colleagues) working from home on Thursday, a nasty P1 and a stressed out account rep on my back about some script that was not packaged in one of our releases. All in a day's work.

Right - 8am and I need more coffee.....

Vicki xxx

Physio ---> Sports Doctor....

The appointment with the physio didn't go too well. The toe has been giving me trouble this past week, prior to the run - in fact the run didn't bother it so much as the one minute walking intervals. Joe cant explain it... the only thing that has changed is I stopped taking the anti-inflamms, however on the positive side, I do have more mobility in the toe than before. Upshot is that Joe wants me to get it investigated further with X-rays etc and a has referred me on to Ben Barassi (The sports doc that cortizoned my elbow a few weeks back). Made an appt with Dr Ben for next week. I wont be cortizoning this in a hurry as it will affect my comp prep and the problem doesn't really affect my lifting... just my walking! It may be even that there is a chipped bone or something. Anyway my main priority at the moment is to be ready for the upcoming comps in Feb and April. After that I can take whatever action is required since the Nationals are not until August. So best I have the problem investigated and be ready after the comps to get it fixed.

Best laid plan of mice and men..... Bought a book to read rather than watch another D grade movie, planted myself in the recliner to watch a bit of the news first and promptly fell asleep - until 9pm! woke up with a stiff neck and feeling dreadful, that horrible 'I've had a bit of sleep but not enough to feel good'. Stumbled up the stairs into the kitchen and brewed myself cuppa. Grabbed the book, the Haighs, the mobile and the coffee and dragged myself up some more stairs to my bedroom. Woke at 7.30 am still under a sleepy cloud.

After some mad rushing around in the morning I decided that I was going to be far too late to hook up the float, so drove up to the paddock and just rode Mojo down to the riding club. Thankfully they were running behind too. Eventually our class started, Gill Rolton is an excellent instructor, finally I understand my trot diagonals and which one I am meant to be on when left or right reining. YAY - the penny has dropped. Mojo was being a bit lazy, I guess the heat even tho we had light rain it was quite humid. I wasn't sure if I'd get him into a canter but he surprised me and moved up a gear easily. Left canter lead came easy to him, being an ex-racehorse, they run anti clockwise for their races. Right canter lead will need a lot more work - especially as I don't have the experience yet to tell if he's on the right lead yet. All up a great lesson. Looking forward to tomorrow afternoon's show jumping class. Gave Mojo a little extra 'show torque' in his dinner, hopefully he have a bit more 'zip' tomorrow.

Home, showered... oh glorious shower! after a day with Mojo.... Set about putting together a new chair for the study. One of those 'some assembly required' jobs. First step: put the wheels on, well they wouldn't bloody go on.... I hate to use brute force - generally when I do I break things.... but after several attempts at trying to coerce the wheels I started to lose it and just jammed the bloody thing into the slot - hey presto - it went in. Brute force it is!! and now proudly sitting on my construction while I type this update. Whoohoo go me.... out comes my theme song again....

I am woman, hear me roar

In numbers too big to ignore

And I know too much to go back an' pretend

'cause I've heard it all before

And I've been down there on the floor

No one's ever gonna keep me down again

Oh yes I am wise

But it's wisdom born of pain

Yes, I've paid the price

But look how much I gained

If I have to, I can do anything

I am strong (strong)

I am invincible (invincible)

I am woman

Pumped or what!! Am I good? You betcha! And on that note I'm gonna head off and have some coffee & chocolate! mmm -mmmm. Soooo good!

Vicki xxxx

PS. Salim..... stop pestering me when I'm online... It takes long enough to write my updates LOL. He wanted me to say that!

Rain at last......

At least enough to quell the bushfire we hope and dampen this scorched land. Rain offers hope for Firecrews

Shaz finally called late yesterday and we’re gonna catch up early next week for a bench shirt session. Still need to finalize time and place – possibly at Doherty’s in Brunswick. I’m looking forward to getting my gear on and training. I haven’t had the squat suit on since last August. Yep. That’s Westside style for you.

Still battling the end of this virus, but getting much better sleep at least. Tonight I have a physio appt at 4pm. Big toe is still giving me grief. :-( I’ll call into Haighs and treat myself to some chocolates. Might be nice to get a video and curl up in the recliner tonight.

This weekend I have the Gill Rolton Riding clinics. Dressage on Saturday and show jumping on Sunday. I might have a go at floating Mojo down to the club by myself, it usually take two of us to get him on the float.

Colleague at work is taking good care of me, his in-laws have a hobby farm and so he’s brought me in some fresh eggs (the chooks are over producing at the moment) So I’m looking forward to yummy bacon and eggs on Sunday morning when I get back from my early run to get the paper. They’re also keeping bees and so he has natural honey – unpasteurized and is very kindly making me peppermint tea with honey ‘cos I’m sick. What a sweetie!

Couple of interesting articles in the paper…. In true Aussie style this homeowner expressed his opinion to his neighbor. Freedom of expression.

And this one also caught my eye – Buried alive under coffee.

“And I ran, I ran so far away.”

"I just ran, I ran all night and day. "

OK that’s not quite true.... but I did get out bed at 5.20am and head into the city for a very slow 25 min jog. Intervals of 5 min run / 1 min walk. 3k all up - along the river, across Morrell Bridge, back along the river, cross over at swan street bridge and back to the car where I subsequently coughed up a lung, but hey, I’ve got another one! Showered, dressed and scoffing breakfast at my desk by 7.30am and ready for a nap.

No training last night, of course, Wed is my night off. Did however manage to do some glute stretches on the couch at home while watching the tennis.

5.30 appt with Dirk. Sorted out my training for the next 4 weeks, yes only 4 weeks of training before the comp. We’ll make a couple of changes 2 weeks out when I’ll start training in my suit and shirt. Dirk has added some interesting core exercises like dumbbell windmills, Saxon bends, fitball cable crunch... ok that’s a boring one. Other new exercises for me - pin presses, drop squat (where as you squat you press the bar above your head!), side deadlifts; and the return of some tried and true.... Heavy good mornings, normal squats, normal deadlifts, stiff deadlifts, reverse hypers, barbell rollouts.... Today I’ll put it all into a spreadsheet so I know what I’m doing at each session and I’ll post the details from each training session.

Booked tickets to fly over to Launceston, Tasmania next Wednesday. Used my remaining frequent flyer points. Arriving at 9.25am and have made an appointment with the people at OVIDIO to have my feet and shoes assessed at 11:30am. They’ve asked that I bring a couple of pairs of shoes for them to see the current wear patterns etc.Ovidio will then make a boot with a full orthotic built in and being an ankle boot they will give me extra stability around the ankle when I'm squatting. . Because these are medical grade boots and I’m having personal assessment I’ll be able to claim the costs of both the appointment and the boots on my health insurance! Bonus! Flying back that afternoon at 2.55pm. Will have a little time to kill over there, hopefully they’re not too far out of the main part of Launceston so I can check out the shops!

9.45am
Right-o. Time to eat- again. Heading down to the Gateway to grab a muffin before pager duty kicks in.

Bushfires, blackouts and seering heat

Tuesday 4pm….

Ok – Did the boss forget to pay the power bill??? Power outage in the city and suburbs. Everyone was sent home. Of course those of us with parking in the building were stuck in the dark waiting as the garage doors could not be opened. No power, no doors open! Eventually they unhinged the door and forced it open. Bushfires had cut the electricity supply from NSW. Newsstory. It was so damn hot too. 41c (106f). Get home around 5.30pm and no power at home either… Sweltering in the house – as they say a picture is worth a thousand words… The pic on the left is of some decorative candles I have in my bedroom…. One of them needs some Viagra!! Luckily some places still had power and Definition, where I train, was one of those places! No air con but plenty of fans running. I don’t mind training in the heat… so right into the speed bench work. As there was no rush to get home I threw in some extra chest work - regular dumbbell presses. Since taking up powerlifting I haven’t really done any specific chest work, benching is all about back/lats and triceps. So I wasn’t all that surprised to find that my chest strength had dropped a little - even tho I bench more than I did a year ago… so 50lb dumbbells for 3 sets of 8 reps was about the best I could managed - I have been able to do 60lb in the past. Plus I have to consider that my triceps were already fatigues from the JM presses and lying triceps presses I had done earlier and my front delts had also been worked hard with the neutral front raises – so probably not the best ‘test’ of chest strength I could have done.

Take out for dinner…. No way to cook at home… Power back on about 8pm. Grilled some steak for morning tea tomorrow! Watched a bit of the Austalian Open Tennis and then bed… to try and sleep. Thank God for ceiling fans!

Wednesday 11am…

Have tried to get hold of Shaz on the phone to sort out some bench shirt training but no luck - have left a message. Tonight I have an appointment with Dirk to sort out my training leading up to the comp and we’ll need to get some squat suit practice in too!

Email this morning about Tan trials….

Can you beat your 2005 Go The Tan time of 0:23:59.62? Sprint, jog or walk a lap of the famous Tan and receive your Official 2007 Tan Time plus over $30 worth of prizes, including Mitch Dowd boxer shorts and much more!

Bit like waving a red flag in front of a bull. I’m not in any condition to do this, but there is a pair of Mitch Dowd boxers on offer! Hmmmm? Damn it…. Now I have to do it! But the last time I actually made it around the tan was just before Christmas when it took me 27 mins, but that was ok… it wasn’t really official… kinda. But this… Ughh I have to do it and I have to do better than 23:59:62. Grrrr How am I going to do this? Maybe I should just use the entry fee to buy a pair of boxers….. Not really in the spirit of things tho’. Only a little over two weeks… Help!!!!!

Yikes!! 66kg

Monday 9am....

The stress, illness and not eating right has really taken it toll.... My God I have abs! Usually I'd be floating around 69 - 70 kg but when I weighed myself this morning I was only 66kg. Have to remedy that! Packed 4 good meals to take to work today, tho' I'm still not over this virus, at least at work I'll remember to eat more regularly.
Tonight I'll go in and do the speed work that I missed last week.

7pm....

Just back from training. The crowds have returned to the gym and there was a queue for the squat rack! As planned I did the speed squat session - dropped back from 60% to 50% of max for my low box squats. Squatted well, but really feeling it in the hip, must stretch more! The guy waiting in line behind me for the squat rack was only doing deadlifts (why he needs the squat rack...???) Anyway I also need to do speed deads at 60% of my max and I notice he is only doing deads at 70kg so I convince him to up the weight to 80 kg and I work in with him... well I'm only doing 8 singles. Once I'm finished he drops back to 70kg..... doesn't want to get too big he explains.... yeah whatever..... Kneeling jump squats, hanging leg raises, side bridges...... The only exercise I missed was the barbell hypers, not only was there no-one I trusted to hand me the bar but with so many people in the gym there wasn't a spare bar! That's a first!

8pm...

eating dinner watching the DVD that Tom (Casually-me) has sent to me. Sat there in awe.... that guy, Gillingham, big boy!! and lifting some massive weights! I'll have to watch it a few times, pause it, take notes.... Thanks for sending that DVD Tom!!! Good luck when you come up against him!! WOW! As for your questions about CAPO, some time ago it split into to factions CAPO and IPO. IPO is IPF affiliated (I think) CAPO is not (?) There is a bit of in-fighting between the two and its frowned upon to compete in both feds. CAPO is not drug tested, I think IPO is supposed to be but not sure if they actually do it. The only powerlifters that I knew when I started were CAPO so I was 'guided' into the CAPO fold. Powerlifitng is not a huge sport here, its not very well promoted, and so a lot of records are old. Most of they guys in the gym just want to be 'pretty boys' or 'pigeons' as I call them - big chests and nothing else (no bloody legs thats for sure). I'm hoping that I can be an ambassador for the sport - for women. Present an alternative to the butch image that powerlifting has. I f I can do well this year then I'll look for some sponsorship and really promote the sport.

Tuesday 7am....

Back in the office already.... set the alarm for 5.20am with the intention of going for a run before work. Throat still way too sore and I don't want to chance prolonging this or making it worse. Will re-asses Thursday morning. Drugged up again today with cold &flu tabs.... Need coffee.... Heading down to the Gateway shortly to grab an apple muffin. new mantra... must eat must eat....

CAPO calendar 2007

Late notice: Just got word that the CAPO calendar has been published.

Website: http://www.vicnet.net.au/~capo

CAPO VICTORIA 2007 CALENDER OF EVENTS

Sat 24 February CAPO Masters & Junior State Titles / Novice Competition and Bench Press improvement competition.
VENUE: TBA

Sat 10 March CAPO National Pro Bench Competition.
VENUE: Melbourne (Dallas Brooks Hall)

Sat 28 April CAPO Victorian State Powerlifting Titles.
VENUE: Melbourne.
5th Grade qualifying standards apply. Look at CAPO website for more details.

Sat 4 August TBC CAPO Australian National Powerlifting Titles.
VENUE: Melbourne
2nd Grade qualifying standards apply. Look at CAPO website for more details.

Sat 22 September CAPO Victoria State Novice Bench Press Comp
VENUE: TBA

Sat 10 November RAW Push/Pull Titles and Novice Comp
VENUE: TBA

Sat 8 December National Postal Deadlift Comp
VENUE: TBA

I've highlighted the ones that I'll be entering but what has caught me by surprise is that the first comp of the year, the Masters/Novice is in six weeks!!! Earlier than last year! Looks like this may be due to the National Pro Bench comp being slotted in in March instead. Damn I'm gonna have to get cracking with only 5 training weeks and 1 taper I'll need to book some time with Dirk to plan my approach for the comp and get some serious sessions in with Shaz to get the bench shirt working for me! Its gonna be full on for the next few weeks!

Well, back to work tomorrow, life will gain a little order to it again. Checked the roster before - as expected, I'm on pager for the week! No chance of gently easing back into work!

Still not feeling 100% yet but the cold & flu tabs will see me thru. Didn't go out for a run this morning, still have a bad cough so no point pushing it just yet. Will see how much I've recovered by Tuesday and will have to give serious thought to how much running I'll be able to or shouldn't do in the lead up to the Masters next month.

As promised here's a pic of the truck - Nissan Patrol - parked beside the house now. Put a second coat on the decking this morning, spent the rest of the day pottering around doing not much at all, took in some sun, watched a movie, made some meals to take to work for the next few days (get back into some good eating habits).

Early night tonight after I finish watching a movie - have to be up at 5:45am. That's gonna take a bit of getting used to again!

Goodnight!!

Vicki xxx

Blah blah blah

Finished the last of the chores today. Washed the horse rugs at the self serve car wash.... well you can't put them in a washing machine.... washed the car while I was there too. LOL. Oiled the top section of the decking. I really should give the main section a second coat tomorrow but I want to relax and work on my tan.... being the last day of my holidays!

Mark dropped off my 'new' 4wd. Its two tone Black and Silver. Took it for a little drive - to put fuel in it. Drives really well. A little more gutsy than the Mav, took the incline up Reynolds road quite well. Haven't yet initiated it over any round abouts. Struggled a little with the driveway - will have to try it in 'power' mode next time. I'm still keen to do a 4wd drive course, so maybe when finances allow it I'll book myself in for a one day adventure! LOL

Well I promised myself an early night. So that's it for now. I'll post a pic of the new car tomorrow.

Cheers
Vicki xxx

Blood Diamond

OK - we didn't see a comedy.... but what good movie. Really enjoyed it, lots of action and none too much of the boring romance stuff that always spoils a good action movie, but still managed to tug on the heartstrings a little! Not that I don't like romance..... its good in the right place, but this movie didn't need it.

Had a great afternoon with Clay, coffee at Atomica, late lunch at The Fitz, and topped it off with popcorn and a movie. Girl couldn't be happier!

Still bogged down with this virus tho' and so gave my body another day of rest to try and recuperate. I've probably drawn out my recovery by continuing to train and now I'm paying for it. Likely I'll be well by Monday, ready to go back to work!

Actually I'm kinda looking forward to going back, just to get some routine back again. My sleeping pattern is all messed up, I haven't been eating as frequently. I've just been so disorganized. The only thing I've kept going properly was my westside training. Even my running as fallen victim.... well it was victim to the physio..... But it'll all fall back in place next week. My next training session is Monday, next run - Early (like 6 am) Tuesday morning (when I'll try out a new route around the yarra.) Eating - back to 6 meals a day.

Almost finished all the chores I set out to do. Today went for a long trail ride down to the Warrandyte. Took a couple of pics with my mobile phone.... Mojo got to paddle his feet in the Yarra river. Set out about 9.30am and got back to the paddock about 1:30. It was such a beautiful day, but we're both a little unfit so both came back hot and sweaty! Gave him a wash, which he enjoyed mostly until I tried to wash his face. I don't know who was wetter... me or him! The afternoon was spent clearing and cleaning out the garage. One of the windows was... caked in spiders - the only way to describe it! Not just webs but spiders. Wasted a can of fly spray on them and then later vacuumed them up - made my skin crawl!! Fixed the float floor the other day so now the only things remaining are to seal the 2nd level of the decking (See where Priscilla, my Birman cat, is sitting in the picture) and wash Mojo's winter rugs. That will leave Sunday to do bugger all!! A day of nothingness before I go back to work.

Picked up a DVD for tonight... not much choice in shop.... had to chose between Proof 'some sex scenes' and Miami Vice 'Strong Violence'. I picked Miami Vice... I wonder what that says about me.... LOL

Seeyall.......

Vicki xxx

After a restless night.....

Got up early this morning.... wasnt sleeping all that well anyway. Thick smoke in the air - worse than yesterday. Day off all training today. My body really needs the break.

Went to the hairdresser. Rebecca (Bec) has opened her own salon called Blush. Its in Ringwood East for those of you local enough, she's an excellent hairdresser! Give her a go sometime.

Went shopping at Eastland shopping centre, was looking for a new book finished 'Above Suspicion' last night. Really enjoyed it and tried to drag out the last few pages. Couldnt find anything I liked so treated myself to a new dress instead - try to look a little girlie - LOL. Here are some pics. What do you think? Like it?

Chatted to James on msn the other night - silly boy missed his flight from the UK back to New Zealand. So he's stuck there until God know's when... on standby waiting for a flight!

Catching up with Clay tomorrow - my pseudo date - LOL. He's confirmed that he wont be standing me up! Meeting up at Atomica for coffee and something to eat, later I'll go training and then we'll head off to the movies. Havent decided what to see, will have a look in the paper tomorrow. Clay suggested we see a comedy - given all that's happened I need some laughter!

So, that will give me incentive to get up early tomorrow - and walk to get the paper... Still dont think I want to push it for a run yet. Might leave that to the weekend. Tomorrow is supposed to be hot again 39c (102f).

My brother Mark has found me a 'new' 4wd, a 1989 Nissan Patrol LWB. He'll bring it around one night this week. Its an auto, but will do the job until Madi is closer to getting her Learner's Permit. Then I'll sell it and get a manual like the Mav was. Will have to arrange insurance tomorrow, tempted to put full comp on this one.... even tho' its not an expensive car, I cant afford to chance another total loss!

Well, nothing else to report. Gonna park myself in the recliner and watch a DVD. Something I picked up for the girls, an old one. Drop Dead Gorgeous.... at least its a comedy!

Cheers

Vicki xxx

Off to the Doctor.

It is ridiculous to be so sick when you're on holidays! Didn't go for a run this morning, took three attempts just to get out out of bed. Thought I might feel better after I had some brekky, but still not up for even a little run. Made an appointment with the doctor.... Seems that I have picked up some virus possibly let myself get a little run down, stress, hard training and trying to get in some runs... something had to give. All I can do is dope myself up with cold&flu tabs. At least I have a certificate to claim back 3 days of annual leave and use my oodles of sick leave that I have accrued.

Lazy day, not too hot but a heavy cover of smoke from the bush fires. Took time to lay out on the deck and work on my tan. Later in the afternoon I started taking 'junk' down to the road for the hard rubbish collection - already have more space in the garage.

Trained at 5:15, tho' I gave serious thought to not going. Still managed to bench 60kg plus chains, attempted 62.5 but needed assistance to get it up. Didn't bother with the shirt, neither Daniel or John were there to help put it on and really I just wasn't up for it anyway. Pretty mediocre training session.

Back to the hot weather tomorrow - expecting around 36c (97f). Have made an appointment to get my hair cut and colored. My regular hairdresser opened her own business before Christmas... So this 'll be my first visit to her new salon.

Just checked my work email... good thing I did... I'd forgotten that I'd booked myself and Mojo for a dressage and showjumping clinic on Jan 20 and 21.... Also an email from reception to say a parcel has arrived for me. I'm guessing its the DVD from Casually-me - ohhh so exciting!! I've arranged for my colleague to go an pick it up since I wont be in the office until next week. I'm interested in seeing those Rehband knee sleeves. I get some terrible bruises behind my knees if I don't tie off in the right spot!

Cheers
Vicki xxx

Ummm no title...

Stayed up way to late last night reading - Above Suspicion by Lynda LaPlante. After a terrible sleep I woke at 9am, the phone ringing.... insurance claim guy wanting to know stuff about Leah's accident... my head felt like a thick fog.... throat dry and raspy... ughhh. Trundled around the house, had brekky and generally felt miserable....

Drove out to the plant nursery, but had to do a quick retreat... Anthony, the farrier, would be at the paddock in an hour to shoe Mojo. So he's now sporting a fancy new set of New Balance runners... oops sorry Natural Balance shoes... LOL. Will have to test drive them later in the week.









Back to the nursery to get the plants - all good. Finished planting out behind the retaining wall with lavenders and carpet roses, with a white standard rose at one end. Took a pic from near the top of my driveway... if you look close you can just see the blue letter box at the bottom! Booked a hard rubbish collection - so I have until Sunday eve to get all the stuff I want taken away down to the road. Dead TV, dead lawn mover, unused fish tank etc etc.... They'll collect it sometime next week.

Trained ok tonight - ran out of steam pretty early tho. Managed some good squats, even without Daniel and John there to spot me. Up to 90kg without the knee wraps and still managed a 1 rep max at 110 - in spite of not being well. So I'm pretty happy with that. Rack pull were another matter. Loaded up 170kg per last week but had trouble with my grip, and yes this week I used straps!!!! Dirk was well impressed with how much I was lifting. Stiff legged good mornings are hard at the best of times but following heavy rack pulls, they kill !! Dirk laughed as and said 'Be thankful I didn't give you good morning squats..." but somehow I think they would still have been easier on my lower back than stiffed legged ones! Also got the nod from Dirk on my ab pull downs - good technique!

Next week will be the last week in this current cycle, will sit with Dirk mid next week to plan the next cycle. Have a short run in mind for tomorrow morning. Wed is predicted to be pretty hot, Lucky no running or powerlifting scheduled! Heading off to bed shortly (to read a bit more...) Have taken some nighttime cold and flu tabs - hopefully they'll knock me out.


Good night all

Vicki.xxx

Sunday - Day of rest....

Or so its supposed to be. Throat wasn't as bad this morning as it has been so I decided to head out for my Sunday run to get the paper. Thought I'd still best take it easy so I set the HRM to 5 minute intervals with 1 minute recovery. Mid point up Reynolds road (aka nasty hill bit) I started walking, apart from anything I was mindful that my toe wasn't going to like the incline. Grabbed the paper and started back down the hill gently still keeping to the 5 min/1min intervals. Pretty happy with the run 5k all up, average pace 6.40 - slowed up a bit on the return run, but that's just my crappy fitness level.... It will improve.

After brekky set out to do some of the chores on my 'to do while on hols'. So much to do kept switching from one thing to another. Started moving things out of the garage - gonna have a big clean out and put stuff out for a hard rubbish collection. Put the plastic pots in behind the retaining wall out back - now just need to get the plants!! Barrowed up the mulch, also to go behind the retaining wall., neatened up the stones. Decided that I'm never gonna hire a jackhammer and since Max has gone to Sydney to see his family I cant borrow his... so I've just put a planter in front of the retaining wall - It'll work , I hope. Tomorrow I'll get some plants and post some pics of the finished product!!! Raked out the remaining mulch down near the garage, swept the driveway (I'll post a pic of the drive too so you can all see why I complain so much about it!) Busy, busy.... I'm absolutely buggered tonight and limping like a cripple - yep the toe is severely swollen... oh well it'll be ok by tomorrow.

Spoke to the girls earlier, seems they are bored already up at their Dad's place.... They're heading off to Coffs Harbour tomorrow for a week at the beach. I'm sure they'll enjoy that.

Big squatting day tomorrow - better get a good nights rest.

Cheers
Vicki. xxx

Nearly missed training...

Damn these holiday hours..... got to the gym at 2:15 pm with less than an hour of opening time left. Usually Saturdays it's open until 4pm- and I don't usually train on Saturdays. Speed bench today.

Neutral dumbbell press. Dropped back to 30lb as I really need to get the 20 reps out - which I didn't manage last week. 3 sets of 20 - only one minute rest.

JM press. 30kg 3 sets 8 reps

Lying tricep extension. 20lb dumbbells 3 sets of 10 reps

Neutral front raise. 20lb dumbbells 3 sets of 10

Wide seated rows. 110 lb (increased from last week) 3 sets 9 reps, 10 reps 9 reps

Missed doing hammer curls as the gym was closing. Oh well, still not feeling that great anyway. Besides they way my triceps are growing, I only want to maintain my bicep size or I wont get my arms into the bench shirt. ROFL.

Other than training I haven't done much today. Read my horoscope.... Here are the highlights - and my interpretations/comments.... have a laugh....

THE YEAR AHEAD:
As long as you can avoid complicating your life unnecessarily around Feb 28 and June 26, things will be easier by the end of August. Skip late Feb and June for important decisions or discussions, as the end of October will be easier and guarantee you good PR.

LOVE:
Single Sagittarians. If you start a relationship between April 12 and June 21, or August 7 and September 28, you will need to face tricky questions about your appearance, image, reputation, name and face ( what the ???) Being in a partnership then will trigger some hard 'me,me,me' issues, so be prepared to reach a creative compromise with yourself. For total agreement between heart and head, make decisions around April 17 and June 15, when the new moon will help you make the right choices. (decisions about what ??) Skip Nov 25 for dating or texting your ex. (like that's gonna happen... we'll made a note of that one in my organizer...!!)

Judging by all that - think it might be safer just to avoid getting into any relationship at all this year.... note to self.... no dating for 2007!

MONEY:
Use the period around Jan 7 and 19 to organize your finances for the year. (well derrr... with having to replace the 4wd - I really have to plan a budget this year!) Allow for delays or errors around tax time (bugger!!) but do capitalize on your biggest wealth cycle for 12 years, which begins on December 19 and ends in January 2009. (whooo-hoo that sounds good.... damn its at the end of the year... hmmm shall I buy more Oracle shares or what??)

HEALTH:
Between March 18 and April 11, a flexible woman or adaptable man will some forward to help you with medical, dental, surgical or lifestyle concerns. (yay I'm gonna meet a sugar daddy.... or I'm gonna have one of those amazing makeovers.... new teeth, tits and toosh... LMAO) For the best outcome , skip the period around the full moon on may 2, but do your homework or make appointments a few days later. The new moon on may 17 should help you make decisions for your mind, body and spirit - in a way that serves all at the same time. Reduce the emotional temperature when making health decisions between June 25 and Aug 6. (Is something gonna happen to me during that time??)

WOW - sounds like it will be a busy year with so many decisions to make (about what I have no idea) and so many dates to avoid this or that, or do this...... Will have to update my organizer with all these dates.... LOL. And no dating or txting on Nov 25 - think I might even take the day off work and stay home.....


Cheers

Vicki xxx