Chores

As promised to myself, I made a start on the chores around the house. One that I hadnt put on the list but has been completed today was to clean the BBQ and get a gas bottle refill, checked it all and made sure its working. So I'm all ready for the summer BBQ's out on the deck.


Speaking of the deck I can also tick off re-sealing the decking - just one coat this year. After close inspection, it wasn't in too bad of condition. Got it done in around 1 hour - this time I wore knee pads - what a difference they made: No knee blisters!!

I have a vistor staying here for a few days. One of Madii's friends who moved interstate has come down to Melbourne for a visit and no where to stay. He (yes He..) sleeping in the spare room at the very bottom of the house!! Seems pretty nice, for a vegetarian... polite 'n all.

Tomorrow we're all off to Melbourne Zoo. Haven't been for a few years and this will be Andrew's little girl Miss Olivia's first time.

Pretty quiet on the training front. Saturday morning's squat session went better than expected. Although wondering why I had agreed to squat at D's so early, I felt good, no hip twinge for a change and so warmed up raw to 5 reps at 75kg and knocked off 8 sets of 2reps at 90kg with light knee wraps ever careful of my wonky knee. Nice and easy. Tomorrow night I'll be back over at MBS in Richmond to speed bench with SPL.

Looking at that paragraph, I'm thinking I need to put an acronyms & abbreviations list on the side of the page. LOL

=====

Christmas Chainsaw Adventures

Guess who got a CHAINSAW for Christmas......

How funny too that Leigh, without prior knowledge of the chainsaw gave me a DVD titled 'Women that kill' and a 'Evil Penguins' featuring a penguin with a Chainsaw on the cover. He also gave me Dawn French's book 'Dear Fatty'. That alone is justification, officer, for a chainsaw massacre. Brave move that one! Actually, it looks like a good read.... :-) Its next on my list after I finish Jeffery Deaver's 'The Broken Window' which I got for my birthday last week.

Poor Andrew had the pleasure of buying the chainsaw and told the salesman that he was buying it for his 'mother-in-law'. 'You're game! Oh well if she has a go at you, you'll be dead before you know it - its pretty sharp!' LOL.

So, Christmas over for another year. Such a long day of eating, drinking, eating, drinking, eating, eating and then when you think its over... some more eating.

Spent Boxing day away from the crowds / shopping. I have this theory that all the stuff on sale has been brought in especially for the sales. ie. nothing that I saw / wanted last week is actually on sale. Watched a favorite movie with Madii, 'Love Actually' no matter how many times I watch it, it makes me laugh, it makes me cry. Pure fantasy of course - love is never so romantic in real life.

I did, however, venture to Westfield today (Saturday) with Madii as she wanted to spend her Christmas money and spoilt myself with a 1/2 price GUESS bag.

Have not made a move on any of the chores so far... choosing to indulge myself in doing nothing more than lounging in the sun. Tomorrow... no, Monday, I'll make a start on Monday.... (famous last words....)

Gym tomorrow - 0700 squatting - ick! Such an unfriendly time of the day.

=====

Christmas Eve

Had my MRI this morning - Eoww very claustrophobic. Worse than a sun bed! Fortunately my head wasn't too far into the machine and I could kinda see daylight behind me. Closed my eyes and listened to the music. Really noticed my breathing, big, shallow, shallow, shallow... My old yoga instructor always said to notice your breathing, but I never really did - not like this anyway. After a first little bit I was ok. Appt to get the results in mid Jan after I return from leave .

Yes 2 & 1/2 weeks of leave from today, of course returning smack bang into carrying the P1 pager :-(

Holiday Tasks.
==========
Clean and re-coat the decking (thats what Christmas holidays are for..)
Clean the gutters. Ick - ladder of death....
De-spiderize / cobweb the outside of the house.
Clean Windows (yuk)
Finish spray painting the horse float - and wash it!!
Train, train and when I'm not doing anything else... train.
Oh... and sleep in every day.

If I can find the money I might get some more stones and pavers for the drive and around the side of the house - where, since Leah has returned home, the truck has been relegated to (again)

Yay - Christmas tomorrow :-)

========

Pictoral post

Munted Rabbit

Priscilla's contribution to Christmas dinner.....

One bicep pic.
Actually the pic is of the bruise which looked uncannily like the little MSN man.

Me 'n Mojo - Isn't he a spunk!

Freshly mowed backyard (1/2 acre)
hours of fun on a 30c day.

Struck down by a virus

Miserable weekend - some dodgy damn Trojan virus infected my laptop. No matter how many times I cleaned it - it kept coming back. The main virus - a dropper, was loading other viruses and remaining undetected itself - sneaky. Took me until Tuesday to get rid of it, in the mean time I was using a older decommissioned machine to work with and after installing some updates to make it compliant - the hard disk failed. Fortunately Madii's photo's have been able to be retrieved and a new hard drive from another decomm machine has been installed. GIT are in the process of re-imaging it with all the oracle software and updates etc....

Tuesday I went off to see Dr. Barresi, my sports doctor about my wobbly knee cap. He's referred me on to a knee specialist concerned that I may have a slight tear in the meniscus. It doesn't hurt, just feels unstable sometimes and is rather stiff when I try to squat deep. Of course it hurts more now that there might really be something wrong - LOL, but in fact its been like this since mid September (2 weeks before Nats). I remember the exact moment it happened too, I was doing walkouts with 200kg and I felt my knee 'give a little' - didn't hurt, but since then the knee cap has felt 'wobbly'. I went on to squat 145kg at Nats so.... ahhh... I'll just be a llittle careful with it - keep the knees wrapped when I squat until I know what's what with it.

Also have an appointment next week for an MRI on my right hip. I am determined to know why my hip hurts - all the stretching in the world hasn't alleviated the pain - it's so annoying. Its not a pain that stops me lifting but more like.... it makes me hesitate and not drop into the squat becuase I know I'll get this sharp stabbing pain - grrrrr. Dr Barresi suspects "Labral tear with ligamentum teres tear" That's what we'll be looking for. Not that anything much can be done if that is what the problem is - pain management and inflammation control, but no magic bullet.

Benched with SPLC again on Tuesday evening - speed work, which is what they do on Tuesdays, nice and easy for me. I almost didn't go due some mad panic attack, a completely irrational feeling that I was like an intruder inviting myself along to their training - Stupid! and I'm glad I went. I've become so accustomed to training on my own or with Leigh that I find it a little hard to interact with others and then I try too hard and get into a mess. I'm sure it will get easier as I get to know them.

====

Friday, December 12

Busy week in the office with one of our main machines down for a few days making life very difficult and slow and then trying to get thru the backlog of work in my queue.

Madii came a cropper at the weekend falling from Mojo on the last jump of the last round of the State Qualifier. Stirrup leather broke just before a double jump, too late to pull up and when she landed between the jumps she came off onto her back and winded herself quite badly. Bugger too as she had a clear round otherwise. Poor Mojo didn't know what was going on and just stood there beside her even as I and the medics came running up - what a good boy. She's ok tho', sore but otherwise ok.

Tuesday night I trained with Southern Powerlifting Club at Muscle and Body Shape Gym in Richmond. They all made me feel very welcome and it was really good to train with like minded people. We did some speed bench with bands and board presses. I've done lockout work before but not board presses. Was really good to try something different too. For someone that trains 90% on my own, I really enjoyed training with the group. I think this will do a lot for my training and hopefully I can give back to them in some way too.

Deadlift training Wed afternoon went a bit pear shaped and so I ended up doing another leg workout Thursday night at Definition. Squats 8x3 @90kg with light wraps and belt. My right knee cap has taken on a life of its own and seems to be trying to escape so I've booked an appointment with Dr. Ben B at Melbourne Sports Medical Centre. It doesn't hurt to squat, but 'moves' which is really uncomfortable - so that's why I used wraps this week. I probably could have gone without the belt but I was just lazy. Did 5 reps@ 80kg with just light knee wraps... (Yep Lazy!)

Lunch at 'The Curry Club' today followed by chocolates and coffee at 'Truffles Chocolatier' in Richmond, all courtesy of our USA manager to thanks us for the excellent work our team does, given that there are only four of us here! Maybe some fat lady benching tonight at Definition - I'm sure I'm up a weight class....

====

Something new

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.... Was lacking imagination last night for some core work so asked Dirk for a suggestion. What he came up with was nothing short of wicked. I'll try to describe it:

Bar anchored to the floor at one end with a plate of your choice at the other, I started with a 10kg plate. Standing with legs apart in front of the bar grip the bar, alternate grip, close to the plate. Stand erect and swing the bar, arms extended, across your body and up - stop before the bar descends in over the arc. Keep your knees facing forward and twist only from the waist - really works the obliques to control the bar. Too much swing and its going to fly over the arc and take you with it!! Massive cardio work too - or maybe that's just my poor CV fitness!

Squatting tonight at Doherty's....

Major running around to do tomorrow...

Sunday we're off to Wesburn Park Equestrian centre for the state qualifiers - Madii and Mojo are doing Grade 3 showjumping. We've had Mojo in the 'Jenny Craig' paddock this week and hand feeding him - he's just getting too fat, doubt he'll be able to haul his fat belly over the jumps. The video is Madii fighting with him to do the cross country jumps SLOW - he tends to bolt at them.

Kangaroos the back yard the other night.
Taken with my camera on max zoom.

My weird-arse Latte art

Max Ryan - need I say more. xxx

====

Landmark Sex:

Thanks to IceTV's online TV guide I'm discovering all manner of obscure shows.

On SBS tomorrow night:

Landmark Sex: Married to the Eiffel Tower
A compelling documentary about the ‘objectum sexual' disorder. Naisho is married to the Eiffel Tower. She has a passion for inanimate objects, and her mission is to fight the stigma surrounding the disorder and create a global network of sufferers - like Amy, in love with a church organ, and Eija Riita, who married the Berlin Wall. Present tense narrative mixes with intimate stories as the characters describe their love and relationships, and just what it's like to be in love with a highly public structure.

An interesting review of the 'documentary' is on the internet - and I quote:

"Standing wistfully in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, Naisho announced that "despite our vast differences, we are very much in love". The bridge kept quiet in that way bridges tend to. This former world champion archer had enjoyed previous affairs with a crossbow and a sword, which could at least be conducted indoors. Asking the Golden Gate Bridge to come back to your place is a bit trickier.

Naisho regularly made love to a piece of metal stolen from the bridge. Fortunately we were spared this spectacle, although she was filmed getting hot and heavy with a length of fencing."

So there is hope for me yet to find true love..... ;-)

=====

Drug free

It's been 9 days since I had any meloxicam (Mobic), I am in pain when I walk and the underside of my foot feels swollen although visually it appears not to be so. I am also questioning if the onset of a bout of tendinitis in my right elbow is related to the cessation of this anti-inflammatory drug. I've increased the does of glucosamine and fish oil but so far no tangible benefit. Mobic is, I am told, not addictive however it's not the sort of drug that anyone should be on long term given it has some cardio vascular risk. I've been on it for the past 12 months since my chilectomy. I'll hang out a bit longer and see if my body starts manage naturally. In the event of failure, the doctor advised that there is an alternative drug treatment...... I'm off to see Andrea Bisaz this afternoon - my chiro, no doubt he'll have some more poking and proding to for my elbow too.

Still cant complain too much, while the elbow is inhibiting my pull work, deadlift, back etc... I still managed to bench on Monday although I had to cut the assistance work - attempted some close grip bench (triceps) and this hurt majorly.

Night off tonight - gonna crash in front of the telly or do something equally exciting like wax my legs. A sigh of relief as Dad has gone home from hospital (admitted Tuesday morning) He wasn't too good when I saw him Sunday, but ok enough now to go home. Apparently he overdosed his Ventolin 'cos he was having trouble breathing and this caused some heart palpitations etc.... bit scary when you're 85. Parents.... what a worry!

=====

In the door

Just got home from the Colac comp and have got half an hour to kill before heading out to pick up Madii from the movies. So here's a brief update.

Quite a big turnout for a comp so far out of town, took over two hours to get there but it was worth the drive. Really good standard of competitors and I was very impressed with the 'Southern Belles' (the Chickies from Southern Powerlifting Club) Very strong and excellent technical benchers. I'll have to wrangle an invite to bench with the club. I was also surprised at the number of lifters from Marty Girvan's gym Apollo (ESP?) Some big guys!

The comp moved along at a slowish pace, well it seemed that way after lifting in the fastest comp ever in Perth. Sheesh, like we were hardly off the platform from the bench press when the deadlift was being called. Seriously I got to warm up with a double on 100, a double on 120 and a single on 140 before Leigh dragged me to the platform to do my 160 opener with the finals words of "you can catch your breath after you've done your opener..." And I was not the only one caught out by the fast pace.... Maria had to *cut* her squat suit off in order to make time before benching...

Anyway back to today's comp. As I said it was moving slow... (or regular pace) and unfortunatley leaving a t 5pm, (The comp started at 12.00) I didnt get to see the deadlifting section, my favorite! :-( But just couldnt stay any longer. I have some photo's from the squatting which I'll post a couple of them here once I get them off the camera and I'll check out both the PA and Souhern websites for the final results.

Well that's it, hanging to go to bed.... tired, once I get Madi home I'm off. Squatting tomorrow morning - extra light speed work, my legs are still sore from Thursday's training - must have been the leg press! :-)

=====

Previous applicants need not re-apply.

I would rather remain single for the rest of my life......... No 2nd chance so don't bother with the 'how'r doin' txt message some 18 months down the track. Foff.

Squat
Had a squat partner at Definition last night. Steve is training under George Mariolis, who has had awesome sucess this year at the various federation's body building shows with his clients. So we 'shared' the squat rack.

85x3 x8 (down up down up down up - rack)
80x3 x5 box squats - belt, light wraps and the safety squat bar just to add to the degree of difficulty!
100x8x2 140x6x2 Bottom leg press (partial press only)

Seated Calf raise 4x15
incline situps 5x20

Some new features on the side bar, a widget for following the blog and a chat style comment box - we'll see if this encourages some feedback.

It's a BOY

MAX RYAN - born November 20 2008.

Congratulations to Mumma Jo and Daddy Ryan.

Joanne is finally a Mum !!!!

Poker Pro's

Corporate games 2008 - Poker. I still question how poker is classified as a sport but what the hell, $1500 in Casino chips to play with - aka lose. I lasted about the same as last year - 45 mins, had a couple of good hands beaten by ever so slightly better hands and when the blinds started doubling it got too rich for me and I was out. Adrianna on the other hand made it thru to round 2 today and gets allocated $10000 in chips. What a pity they cant be cashed in :-)

On the training front, working backwards from today, squatted this morning at 6.30am - yuck!

Side note: I am getting damn tired of this bloody hip pain, I've kept up the stretching as suggested by the physio but its just not working. My flexibility has improved in that particular area, but its not relieving the pain when I squat, and I've go no more physio allowance on my health insurance until January when the new year limits are reset again. Wouldn't it be great if I could use Madii's allocation of physio benefit....

Where was I? Ahh squatting....
2 x 5 x bar (20kg), 5 x 40kg, 5 x 60kg, 5 x 80kg
5 x 5 x 100kg wraps and belt.
4x5 x15kg standing leg curl.

Friday
Poker - no training....

Thursday
Madii - spray tan for her school formal (this coming Monday eve)
Out shopping with Leah at the recently re-opened Westfield Shopping Town - trying to find a nice keepsake for her 21st -without any luck. Stopped in at Koko Black for one of their infamous hot chocolates and indulge in a couple of their hand made chocolates - yummmmmm. Felt sick after.....
No training....

Wednesday
Deadlift - warmed up to 5 x 120kg using conventional style and then 3 x 5 @ 140 with belt on sumo style. Probably should have warmed up a bit more in sumo rather than changing style for the last heavy sets. Felt strong with the conventional method for a change. Went on to do rack pulls (conventional) @ 160 but struggled and was not tight so rather than risk doing something stupid and getting hurt I moved on to do some shrugs. Could have really done with a massage the next day... grrr.. have run out of massage benefit too!

Carrying the p1 pager this weekend (have been on pager all week...) No time to train tomorrow. Gotta be at Bunnings for the DARC sausage sizzle in the morning for an hour or so. Then the pager will kick in. Monday benching after Madii goes off to her formal. Will train straight thru Mon - Thurs. Out Friday night for dinner with an old friend Andrea, who I have not seen for a couple of years - we have so much to catch up on!

Saturday - off to Colac to watch the PA/IPF Victorian Extravaganza.

But right now... I could do with a nap!

====

Tuesday Nov 17

Watched the funniest show last night. Nip/Tuck. Its on quite late and I just happened to chance on it last night, I know its been around for a while but I had never seen an episode. Hilarious, strange but hilarious! Have setup the Toppy to record this each week.

Talking of the Toppy - yes I finally mastered the network issue. I needed to have a 10 digit hex passkey - I had only setup a 5 character ascii key. Found this juicy little tidbit on the Topfield forum. Nowhere is it documented that this is required. Anyway, this messed up the laptops and my Dopod, had to change the passkey's on them also. End result: I now have the wireless modem/router over by the window were it gets the best 3G reception and everything connects, IceTv & Interactive is working, I can ping the Toppy and FTP to and from it !! Yay!!

Benched but still didnt crack the 5x5 on 70. 5 sets of 3 reps was best with belt on. Funny how 60 can fly up for 8 reps easy, just a little 10kg more and flat!
Dumbell press: 45lbx8 55lbx8 65lbx4 55lbx6 50lbx6
Doh - should have done some flyes....
Rope pulls 100 x8 4sets
Wide grip rows 110 x8 4sets
Ab crunches 3x20

=====

Monday Nov 17

Training plans a little messed up on Saturday, so settled for some arm work: close grip presses, french presses, reverse cables, ez-bar curls, machine curls....
Breakfast at the cafe around the corner afterward.

Sunday afternoon squat:
warmed up to 5x5 @ 82.5 (raw/raw)
Low box squats (belt and lightwraps) 70kg 4x5 too easy with equipment but engages the hips better.
Bottom hack squats 30kg 4x8
Leg extensions - crap not doing these any more, every 2nd rep I could feel my knee cap slipping out of place - doesn't hurt but is totally off putting and who knows what damage it might be doing.

No residual soreness today, Benching tonight at Definition. Plan is to stick with 70kg 5x5 until it feels easy. Deadlifting later in the week, maybe Wednesday.

Another failed attempt at getting my Toppy to connect to the wireless network last night - feeling quite frustrated by this network issue. Everthing else can connect to the wireless network - why not the Topfield 7100? Will see if disabling the WEP security works.

Working from home today and tomorrow - aka working in pjamas :-)

=====

November 12

Benched Monday as planned - wasn't feeling particularly strong and the 40kg warmups felt really heavy. Still, fought thru 5 sets of 3reps at 70kg, I did cheat some what by having my belt on. Lockouts @ 80kg were also lack lustre. Tricep JM presses, still protecting my elbows... then Chest supported rows 35kg each side: 2 sets of 8 and 2 sets of 6 followed by pulldowns 15,15,15,10 V-handle, wide, reverse, wide...

No training last night - stayed in and did the nerd thing - played with my toppy. Still no luck getting wireless working. I've downloaded some instruction off the Topfield forum which has some extra steps, but I wont get around to trying these out until Friday or at the weekend. Installed Icetv onto my Facebook page but its reporting some dodgy error which I've reported on the forum.

Traffic along the eastern freeway has been shocking the past few days - how is that on a freeway we can come to a complete halt and then crawl, stop, crawl, stop and then suddenly if frees up and back to doing 80k... then suddenly stopped again. Hoddle street / Punk road has also been bad and I've been getting to office after 8... Great case for working from home!

Managed to get off my seat at work today and sit outside in the sun - so nice. Just sat out the front of the building and soaked in some vitamin D for 10 mins.

Off to Leah and Andrew's tonight to try and figure out a problem they are having connecting/resyncing her IPOD.... Jack of all trades...

Tomorrow night - Deadlift training

Yowser

Not walking like an Egyptian... walking like a cowboy.

Not riding for a couple of months will do that to you. No matter how hard I train legs there's nothing like going for a ride to kill your inner thighs. I was thinking of deadlifting on Tuesday - forget it, I'll aim for Thursday, maybe then I will have recovered.

Did train legs Saturday afternoon - after riding as planned. Lacked a bit of spark, speed work (supposedly) 9sets of 3reps at 80kg, followed by ultra low box squats at 60kg - fun. Then out for dinner down Lygon street.

Madii rode on Sunday afternoon. Clear round in show jumping and one refusal on the cross country. We're all (all 3 of us) unfit. Mojo held up well - no sign of lameness (touch wood). Still supplementing his feed with glucosamine but no BZT's at the moment.

And on the supplement line... Chatted to Tony Torcasio From MAX's at Doherty's on Saturday, Leigh had been telling him about my successful lifts at Nationals. This also prompted me to check my supplies when I got home.... ughh getting low on my post workout protein shakes and I'd really like to try Max's Reload HGF... However I still haven't renewed my Doherty's membership and I need some new equipment ie: bench shirt and some bits n pieces for when I compete next year... so the supplements are gonna have to wait....

=====

Sore all over.

Training like a bodybuilder hurts - LOL - only because they are movements to which my body has become unaccustomed. dumbell bench, flyes, bicep curls.... my body hurts! Never mind I plough on.

Deadlift-y stuff last night. (back to powerlifting basics)
Rack pulls @ knee level - warmed up to 140kg for 5x5 with belt and straps - note to self adjust belt out one notch (yes the weight is coming back on.... bang on 70kg)
Then just for a bit of fun went for a 1 rep max, 150x3 160x2 170x1 180 fail. Just a bit knackered by then.

Dumbell shrugs - 50x12 60x10 75x10 x2
Dumbell snatch thing-y - never done this before so very light while getting technique right. 10x8 12.5x8 15x8 20x8
Cable pull thru's - 100x12 120x10 140x8 x2

Toddled into the city yesterday - replenish my supply of supplement from Evelyn Faye. $128.00 later I have just 3 bottles of goodies: Glucosamine, multi-vitamin and CoQ10 - Ouch. I had dropped all my supplements bar fishoil and glucosamine after the comp, but its time start loading again. I still have half a tub of creatine and half a tub of glutamine, so have started back on them. The loading phase for creatine is always difficult. I drink coffee way too often and rarely have an empty stomach! (LOL) I think there are some creatine's that don't need loading - I'll look into that when I run out, although I'm still not convince that creatine does all that much for me personally. Some of the other supplements I'll leave until I'm in a competition cycle. I don't believe in supplementing all year round - I feel it devalues the benefit (and it devalues my bank account).


Today my traps are sore... Thankfully tonight is rest night, my only one this week. Tomorrow afternoon squatting at Doherty's - my membership has runout - hopefully Tony will be there and I can get a good deal with him to rejoin.

I'm hoping to get down to DARC tomorrow morning, although the weather is looking pretty nasty. Just want to get in one lesson - I haven't ridden for such a long time, a few months at least. Probably not the best thing to do before squatting but no chance on Sunday - I'll be wayyyy to sore from riding to even consider training.

Finished reading the latest book by Lynda LaPlante 'Deadly Intent'. Now I have nothing to read :-( :-( Started re-reading Red Dahlia, with a sense of deja-vu strangely enough. This is why I've never re-read any of my books in the past.... Both Madii and Leah do it all the time..... Ughhh. Got hold of DEXTER season 3, but only the first 6 episodes. There'll be a DEXTER-FEST over the weekend with Madii :-)

Still on the todo list:
Configure the Toppy to connect wirelessly
Change the network from DHCP to Static (better see what address is available outside DHCP)
Create website for DARC

=====

After training....

Had a great workout tonight - felt very strong. Very bodybuildery.. LOL

Bench (in the power rack) worked up to 70kg 5x5
Dumbell press 35lbx12 45x10 55x8 60x8 x2sets
Dumbell flyes 20lbx15 x4

Wide seated row 80x10, 90x10, 100x8 110x8 120x8
Wide pulldown 80x10 100x8 120x6 80x10

Hanging leg raise 2x8 2x8 (weighted)
Cable crunches 60 x12 x4

Shepards pie and vegies for dinner followed by a latte made from freshly roasted beans from Atomica - Does it get any better?

=====

Homeless

In limbo, homeless. The change is underway. Some will know what this means, but until the transition is complete I feel lost

Thursday night squat and deadlift. A brief chat with Paul Nay, CAPO president, Jojo and their training partner (I am so bad with names) who, if I understood correctly, may be competing in IPF here.

warmed up to 80kg then 5x5

First full on deadlift since the comp, an easy 80kg 5x5
Played with 140kg, but my hands were soft and not gripping the bar , bit like the guy at the olympics, my hand wouldn't stay closed around the bar. Left it alone as my head was not in the right place for anything big.

Friday - legs sore! I've really become unaccustomed to reps....

Brought home the new baby Friday night, a Toppy 7100, $650 from 'The Good Guys' Nunawading and HDMI cable for $45 (was 70). Pretty happy with those prices. Ripped out the old set top box and DVD recorder and hooked up the Toppy. Worked nicely out of the box. Spent Saturday on the couch fiddling with it and installing the lastest firmware so that IceTV would work. Couldnt get it to connect with my wireless network, but once I hooked up the ethernet cable it was fine. Still I want to get it going wireless so I'll get onto that tomorrow.

Gorgeous day yesterday, mowed the grass (again) - such a big job. Got a blister on my littte finger. Fell asleep in the recliner watching Indianna Jones 4.

Today (raining) - working from home, it's 1pm and I'm still in my PJ's. Tomorrow Cup day holiday, plenty of time to mess with the Toppy. I might even make a start on the DARC webpage. Taking Madii into Fitzroy to Atomica for a latte this afternoon. Will train at Definition tonight. Bench stuff and squeeze in a couple of hours tomorrow for legs again - accessory stuff.

Princess running water

Drinking more water - sucks!
Getting up at 3.28am to pee - sucks!
Having the LED time imprinted in your brain - sucks!
Knowing you only have a little more than 2 hours to sleep - sucks!
Finding the cat has taken the warm spot in the bed - sucks!

Training

Light biceps (because I haven't done them for a while and they're gonna hurt the next day - fact!)

Bicep bar curls 45lb 12 reps 4 sets
Seated dumbell hammer curls 30lb 8reps 4 sets
Cable curls low 30lb 10reps 4 sets

Tricep press down 100lb 10reps 4 sets (warmups @ 60 high reps (20's) to get the elbow warm...)
Standing french press 15kg 8reps 4 sets
Single reverse pushdown 40lb 10reps 4 sets

O/head shoulder press machine (very light) 60lb 15 reps 4 sets
Side raises 10's @ 7.5lb 10lb 12.5lb 15lb

Taking it easy with my shoulder - still not comfortable (rehabbing).

Tonight - squat/deadlift @ Doherty's.

=====

IceTV

Email just in from IceTV

The new High Definition Topfield TF7100HDPVRt PVR now officially supports IceTV Interactive.

Yay - Well that makes my decision to go with Topfield final. That, along with the fact that the DP-P2 doesn't have wifi ,clinched the deal. Now remains my negotiating a good price with a retailer. Best so far is $660.00, but I want to better that as I'll be buying a HDMI cable as well. No more than $700.00 for the lot.

Only thing that would top that for the best news this week would be if Toby's Estate cafe were to open. Stay tuned on that one!

Training:

Bench 70 x3 5 sets
Pin press 80 x5 5 sets
Triceps sore at the elbow - left that alone...
Chest supported row 70 x8 4 sets
Varied pulldowns 80lb x15x2 then 8x2 (overhand, underhand, extra-wide over, V-handle)
Supported Leg raise 10x4
Incline situps 3x15

Have been making an effort to drink more water - something I am very bad at, drinking coffee - ok, water - bad. Tried orange tea which absolutely needs sugar, smells like oranges but taste like... not like oranges. Will persist in this endeavor to hydrate properly.

=====

October 28

I feel a change in the air and the wheels are in motion.

===

Where the bloody hell are ya?

No I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Just been a bit lazy with the blogging. Several times I've had things to write but when it came time to put fingers to keys I simply couldn't be bothered... Motivation to write is somewhat lacking... errr sorry. :-)


My Mr. Lincoln is producing some lovely roses at the moment. Nice long stems and very fragrant. Couple of sprigs of lavender for contrast.




Trained legs Saturday morning - light squats, 60kg and some box squats below parallel. Tried the new leg press, a single leg (independent) which I didn't much like.

Saturday afternoon I was supposed to go to the DARC AGM but completely forgot as I ran around doing last minute stuff for Leah's 21st that night. Ferried the 'stolen' deck chairs over to their place along with my beloved Rancillio Silvia and Rocky. My job to 'baristerize' ie. make lovely latte's for the family. Madii and a couple of her friends were roped into 'waitressing' of sorts so that Leah could do the 'flitting' between guests. We ended up leaving around 12.30 am ish... The party went on.....

Sunday morning bright and early.... ughhh
Packed the truck and hooked up the float for a trip to Wandin Equestrian Centre for a day of cross country for Madii and Mojo. Because not everyone has a float etc etc we offered to float another horse to help out and so had to pick up a little white pony, Tonka, on the way. Well Mojo was quite indignant about that and every time the poor pony looked at Mojo in the float, Mojo would bite the pony's face - poor Tonka. Mojo, obviously feeling a lot better , really had some attitude about him, prancing about like a prize dick, but by the afternoon session he'd settled down - realizing that he wasn't quite as fit as he needs to be. Me... I took the chance to have a quick kip in the car, laid the seat back, hands behind my head and nodded off, woke up with dead arms and pins&needles.

Got home just ater 5, checked some emails, DARC AGM minutes.... saw that they still need someone to setup a website so what the hell, I volunteered my inexperienced and unprofessional services - how hard can it be?

??

===

Horsey Tales

Mojo rehab is progressing well. He was quite excited last night down at the pony club. There was no sign of lameness as he pranced around out back and flew over the cross country jumps. He does still, however, have a nasty lump on chest which seems to have built up over the past week after he scratched his chest on the fence wire. Luckily he had a tetanus shot back when he ripped his face on the fence.

Palpating the lump it felt kind of soft and was not bothering him too much. The puncture wound is not healing as well as I expected so I was suspecting some infection being the cause of the lump. Scratched off the scab which bled, but nothing else so I used an 18g needle which we had in the medical kit to puncture the lump. Ugghhhh puss gushed out, yellow and watery, tinged with a little blood - all over my hand. Stuck a syringe on the needle and aspirated probably around 20ml of fluid. Let it drain and put antiseptic on it.

I have a feeling it will swell again and I'll probably need to get some antibiotics from the vet. Will check on him tonight on my way to the gym.

====

For my next trick....

Started back at training Saturday morning. Just light stuff to get my tired body moving again. Squats at 50kg saw me feeling quite sore the following day. Light bench also just 50kg but its nice to be back in the gym.

Maria has certainly placed a challenge fair and square at my feet with her 180 squat. That will take some work to beat but I thrive on a challenge.

====

Nationals - My result.

Weighed in: 66.4kg

Training was planned for a 400kg (880lb) total comprising squat 145kg, bench 85kg, deadlift 170kg

Here's the outcome:

Squat1 130kg - passed
Squat2 140kg - failed depth
Squat3 145kg - passed

Bench1 75kg - passed
Bench2 82.5kg - passed
Bench3 87.5kg - passed (2.5kg over plan)

Deadlift1 160kg - passed
Deadlift2 170kg - passed
Deadlift3 177.5kg - passed (7.5kg over plan)

Total 410kg (902lb)

Won my weight class (67.5) and came 2nd overall !! :-)

Didn't get to see much of the other lifters attempts, Leigh kept me pretty well shielded so as to keep me focused on my own tasks ahead. There were some great lifts from the ladies and I do know that Maria blitzed a 180 squat in the 75kg class to take 1st place in the overall - Congrats Maria! And the Victorian ladies cleaned up again with Louise taking 3rd place.

Well done to everyone that competed and thanks to Henry Day and Adam Coe for putting on such a great event!

Weight not want not

Hovering around 67.5, I should squeeze under by the weigh-in tomorrow. Packed my bag at least three times to make sure everything is in there. Mad panic at the weekend over a missing piece of equipment... more on that later tho.

I am nervous to the point of feeling sick simply because there is nothing more I can do and I just want to get that first squat out of the way.

I'm also looking forward to catching up with everyone at the luncheon on Sunday - when I will be more relaxed! I've been quite anti-social of late and I don't imagine that will change until the last deadlift on Saturday.

This is my last pre-comp post. I'll post my lifts on Monday sometime.

===

All over bar the shouting...

It's a strange state to be in right now, I feel like its already over. I am at my target body weight, no more, no less. After each of my heavy workouts this week I was already planning my training for 'next year' for that particular discipline. Analyzing my weakness's and determining what I'll need to do to overcome them. Funny too, in my mind I keep referring to it as 'next year' when in fact I mean after the comp. Perhaps the language I use reflects my commitment to competing next year.

Understand that 'competing is what drives me to train', but I do not compete to beat 'someone'. I revel in seeing someone lift heavy, get a PB, master a technique. Which is why I give my encouragement to Jo entering her first comp, pay tribute to Maria for the amazing jump she made in her squat last year and have great respect for the champions before me - Tegan, Teresa, Taylor from whom I can learn so much (maybe I need to change my name to something that starts with T) I admire all my 'competitors' who put in so much effort.... I'm babbling now and have gone off track. What I am trying to say is, my competitiveness is not personal, yes I strive to win, I want that as much as the next person, but I am not compelled by rivalry.

This year has been difficult without any local comps to keep me focused. I feel this has affected me adversely this year, my gains are not what I had anticipated, then again there has to be a point at which progress slows unless it's unnaturally enhanced and at my age that is not path I wish to follow. Hell I'm having enough 'issues' moving towards 'that time of life' without introducing more.

What a pensive, reflective and boring post that was, but I guess, continuing on that theme I'd like to take time now to thank Leigh. With all the crap that has come his way this year, he still managed to be there every Monday night to punish me in the squat rack - and he did this because he believes in me. I could not ask for any more than that. Thank you!

===

Motivation

What an excellent quote Tegan. Thank you. It poses a very positive mind frame.

And in that very positive mind frame last night, despite Rhys being a no show for my last heavy bench, I pushed through my planned attempts successfully.

Lately I've been thinking about getting a dog. I guess the idea has raised itself this week with Madii being away and Leah having moved out, as much as I like my independence and all, I really want some company. I don't want some toy dog, I have 2 cats, Anderson and Priscilla, and they fulfill the 'lap' duties well enough. I'd really like a Husky, I certainly have a big enough backyard... being on an acre. Although no fences is a problem and an expensive one to remedy. And I do work full time and then spend evening in the gym.... Huskies need company or they can be become involved in 'remodeling' the house/yard. Of course I'm going to Europe next year too for 6 weeks... I could just fence off part of the yard... hmmm, this too will pass.

At my chiro appt yesterday I found myself chatting to Andrea about military combat techniques. He's teaches the Russian martial art / combat called Systema. This all stems from a DVD that I bought for Leigh - Human Weapon - Hand to hand combat which goes into the Krav Maga (sp) Israeli military combat fighting. Very interesting and different from the 'rehearsed' style of martial arts. Also the mind set that comes with learning a martial art, the focus, the awareness, the no fear... could also be useful for my lifting and competing. The document he has just sent me starts with "No rank, no rules, no pre-orchestrated movement, no limitations " Cool! I am interested to maybe take a class or two...

I also need to enroll myself into French language classes. I want to learn enough conversation French to get by traveling in Europe. Plus I just love the French language.... I am going to be busy over the coming months

Light legs tonight - just enough to get them moving and ready for tomorrow's last heavy deadlift session after work.

===

Disaster strikes.

Yes, it happened again last night. OMG, what am I going to do? How can this be happening to me? I broke a nail squatting. I'm not really sure when it happened, probably while wrapping my knees - that's the most dangerous part of the squat. I didn't know until I got home, into the shower and as I shampooed my hair my finger got caught in my hair - a rip in the nail - almost halfway across, right at the beginning of the nail bed. Mad dash around the house, pulling everything out of the drawers, I know I've got a repair kit somewhere....

The penny finally dropped for my body.... and I've spent more than a penny in the past two days. I am that little piggy who went wee wee wee and then some...

Back to the physio this afternoon to have my butt elbowed again. Ahh such fun... HBA have supposedly fixed the problem with my claim limits - or so they say. I guess I'll find out when I swipe my card at the medical centre.

Haven't heard much from Madii just the occasional sms. I asked her if she was having a good time. "yessem, it got to 40 yesterday...." and "The water here is so feral. It tastes like salt and some like Chlorine. Yuckieeee"

Light back tonight and Episodes 5 & 6 of Deadwood series 1.

===

PS. I should mention, if I haven't already... I finally got my refund from Inzer, and I think I made a profit?!? The dollar was almost parity when I bought the suit $150 AU and since the dollar has dropped my refund was $185 AU. LOL.

===

Elbowed

This morning went to see physio, Jessie Adams, from Melbourne Sports Medical Centre. Nothing to be concerned about with the quad, I may have impinged the nerve briefly, the numbness is starting to subside and all my reflexes are normal. He was more interested in what was going on with my right hip and after some poking and prodding he believes the pain is coming from the glute medius rather than TFL or Piriformis. The glute is extremely tight and not giving when I squat down. So he got stuck in with his elbow - how painful that was - but not nearly as bad as ITB massage. Squatting immediately after was almost pain free - but maybe I just couldn't feel anything - fullstop! Going back on Tuesday for a review after having done my last heavy squat session. Has prescribed some stretching to be done at least 5 times a day (well as much as I can).

Consoled my sore butt with a trip to Haighs. Never thought it would happen but I turned down the free sample after buying some chocolate almonds. Ughh If I have one piece of chocolate now the flood gates will open. The delictible purchase will come with me to Perth. In the meantime, I can look but not touch!

Also swung by the Estee Lauder staff shop and picked up some moisturizer for anmost half price and drowned myself in perfumes... We have a reciprocal card with Estee Lauder (MAC, Clinique, Bobbi Brown.... ) Handy!!

Picked up some supplies from Evelyn Faye, (sorry Kez, I'll be in touch next time) Fish Oil, Glucosamine&MSM powder and was given a couple of samples new product they will be stocking - Arthroflex-Max (glucosamine 1500 & chondroitin 1200) orange flavour - not the nicest tasting!

Leigh dropped by my work and handed over DEXTER series 1 & 2 and DEADWOOD series 1,2 & 3. I'll be making ummm 'backups' ! ;-)

No training for the weekend - just me and the cats and loads of DVD's to watch. Training tonight will just be some arms, heavy bi's and tri's. Light legs last night, some speed work, 5x5 @80kg, some slightly heavier partials/lockouts - again 5x5 and finished with some light leg press 100kg with varied foot positioning. Weighted incline abs and side twists put an end to my session.

Home Alone

Took Madii to school this morning at the un-Godly hour of 4am. School trip to Kakadu. They fly into Uluru and then for the next 12 days they make their way to Darwin aboard coaches.

Crawled back into bed at 5am and slept (if you can call it that) until 7am and worked from home.

Meeting Rhys at 6pm for my 2nd last bench session. He sms'ed me that he competed in some ESP bench press comp at the weekend and pushed a 250kg bench. Nice work for a 22yo. I'm looking forward to hearing about it tonight.

Monday night's squat session was the 'bad one that I had to have'. I dunno, I felt good thru the day but as the afternoon wore on I started to feel lethargic, maybe I over carbed? I was out of sorts and slow. Even the warmups were slow out of the hole. To top it off there was no-one I felt comfortable with there to spot me. Leigh dragged over this guy that, to be honest, kinda creeps me out watching me each week, anyway I sunk down too far (if thats possible) paused too long and didnt have the momentum to get up and this guy stood there, then feebily tried to lift me up until I yelled 'just get the bar off me'. Re-setup the bar and tried again - with my confidence shot and this guy behind me again, looking down instead of up I tipped forward as I went down, not wanting to be squashed again I called out and dumped the bar behind me. Re-setup again, and this time told Leigh I didnt want that guy behind me.... Squatted a clean albeit slightly shallow double. I thanked the guy for his help anyway but he was quite narky about it "you should have told me blah... you should have done this... you should have done that...' Yep, thanks - appreciate your help. Sheesh, He wasnt the one caught under the bar.

Yawned all the way home and collapsed into bed. How so little work could make me so tired I dont know.

Now I'm not sure if this is just a co-incidence, but, the last 2 days my left leg, outer quad, has been feeling strange - like its asleep, but without the pins and needles sensation. Whether I have compressed a nerve... I've booked in for a massage tomorrow and I'll do some lower back stretching tonight and see if that helps. I certainly dont remember getting hurt on Monday ' except my pride'. Hopefully its just temporary. Doesnt seem to affect me in any way - just feels weird as hell.


===

Weekend - no Gym!

Toddled over to the Broadmeadows novice comp, had to drop Madii at work at 11.30, which meant that I missed the first two rounds of squatting - bugger. Sat thru the benching - not so exciting. However the deadlift round really got me roused. I was yelling and screaming for people I don't even know, but it was great!! Some really impressive lifts. This is what I needed to psych me up. Mentally too, to see the bar loaded with the kind of lifts that I want to take, being able to visualize what the bar is going to look like. Really - WELL DONE to all the competitors.

Home alone Saturday evening, read my book - finished it actually and then panicked that I had nothing to read - rule out reading any techo documents - ick!

Sunday: Ponyclub - Mojo doing well after having his saddle re-fitted. Even Madii commented that the saddle was more comfortable. She took him over some jumps in the arena and then out back over the cross country course and he was loving it. Tho' she did say that he still having problems in the trot at corners.... hmmmm. Sunday afternoon spent mowing the back yard. A half acre of mountain goat land. I knew it was getting late when Leah and Andrew turned up for dinner and I was still mowing... Few more trees down and quite a few dead wattles that need to be excised - thinking of asking Santa for a chainsaw this year. Park Orchards Chainsaw Massacre - Part 1. :-) Unfortunately a slight mishap last night saw me run over the brush cutter with the truck.... I'll take it into the mower guys as see what the damage is, I'm hoping its just the casing that I've smashed. Maybe I'll have to rethink the chainsaw and ask for a new brush cutter. Eooow - hopefully not.

Anyhoo, scored a nice blister on my big toe which will add another level of distraction for tonight's squatting.

Ohh ohh got new beans on Friday - delivered fresh from CoffeeDays. Kenya AA. Nice - real nice. Here's a not so perfect pour but still a nice tasting shot.





Body weight check: Yep - still fat! Despite becoming grumpy and impatient. I should cut out all social activities from now until Sunday October 5th... In
the mean time - Don't talk to me - I bite!

===

day... (dunno)

Benched really well the other night. Good doubles touching the shirt. Couldn't stay long to do accessory work - school meeting for Madii. Got some close grip benching in tho'.

Massage on Wed. Ruth commented on the 'scabs' on my back - LOL. Yeah that's where the squat bar cuts into my back. Nice!!!

Deadlift tonight working up to a max double. Tomorrow thinking of going to a comp in Broadmeadows - as a spectator of course. Just to soak in some atmosphere and look at technique etc.

Pony club Sunday - Mojo will get to do one or two classes depending on how sore he is - they also have the saddle fitter booked in, so we'll get his Saddle checked. He has, after all, put on some weight since we first got the saddle fitted. :-)

===

Arrghhh.... Angry Angry Angry

Damn DVD recorder is on the blink. Sat down to watch Sunday nights episode of DEXTER and the recording failed - invalid disc. So now I've missed Dexter, Boston Legal and David Rabbitborough (the monkeys one). Grrrrrr.

Replacements are already under evaluation:

Beyonwiz DP-P2 - newest - just out, can record Foxtel (if I could get it), 320g HDD, twin HD tuner, ICEtv - mega priced. $950+

Topfield 7100HDPVRt - the most recent of this range, been out a few months, 320HDD, twin HD tuner, Awaiting a later firmware release to make it compatible with ICEtv - price coming down. $800 ?

Beyonwiz DP-P1 - older version of the P2, cannot record foxtel, 200 HDD (some with 250 installed - like magic) twin HD tuner etc... $650

TiVo - doesnt even make the grade...........


Well, better head home before the world ends at 5....
===

Slipped

Bit of a set back at the weekend. Up early Saturday morning, not really awake headed down stairs to make brekky and a latte and while trying to avoid Priscilla who had parked herself on the step I missed my footing and slipped down a couple of steps. Not falling exactly... although the image of me crashing down the stairs did cross my mind in that split second, but more to the point I've aggravated what was a healing piriformis injury. Errggh. Breakfast... porridge, latte and two Voltaren rapid.

Squatting last night was affected, warmups were sooo painful. All the time having to force the negative pain thoughts out of my head as I squatted. As much as I doped up on anti-inflamms, they don't help much with this as there is not a great deal of blood flow into the area, the only way to stop the pain would be a cortisone injection, which right now is out of the question. In fact I am loathe to even see a physio or sports doctor about this for fear that they tell me its something worse. Nah... better I just bite the bullet until after the comp, when I'm totally wrecked, and put on the 'total ignorance' face when I say I didn't know it was so bad...

I have however booked in for a massage on Thursday with Ruth....

Jo 'n me - NYE 2007....

Saw Jo at Doherty's briefly last night, not Jo my preggers friend, who by the way informs me that she's now 28 weeks and a rolly polley - LOL, but Sharon's friend Jo, or was friend.... errr I'm not getting caught up in that. Now, how to distinguish these two ladies... mmmm Both surnames start with M, so that doesn't help, and there's someone at work called Jojo (who I dont have a great deal of respect for... so that's out of the question... Ummm... I know... preggers Jo will be forthwith known as Mumma-Jo (ala Leah's boyfriend and his little girl Liv who call me Mumma Vicki - Yeah - NOT nanna Vicki - got it!!) Aaannny-hoo, I was pleased to hear that Jo's training is going well, she's training with another powerlifter (I'm not sure what the 'relationship' status is there (giggle)) , that things are on the up n up for her workwise AND that she's entered her first powerlifting comp. Nationals! Tough one to cut your teeth on, but what the hell - besides there hasn't exactly been any local state level comps this year!

Egg delivery on my desk this morning. One of my collegues, Andrew, well, his parents-in-law have a little hobby farm with chookies and he knows I go thru loads of eggs so every now and then I get some free - free range eggs. I've offered to 'sponsor' a chicken but so far they've declined. You see I'd love to have chickens and fresh eggs, but there's the problem of what to do with them once they stop laying... They'd be pets! I couldnt kill them and even if someone else did, I couldnt eat them. ick! So I'm gonna treat myself to a break in the diet and have eggs on muffins on Thursday morning.... Now do I want poached eggs or scrambled....? mmmmmmmm

===

Day 46 - I think...

When is a a rest day not a rest day?
When you have to train.

Accessory work that would have been done tomorrow I am heading into the gym to do tonight, but that means I get the whole weekend away from the gym. Like almost having 3 days rest before the big squats on Monday night.

The heavy work is taking its toll - I'm getting quite tired, have only cardio'd once this week and it was a half hearted effort around midday Wednesday before my 'big' bench session with Rhys - if you call 75kg big. Personally, my idea of big would be 100kg - that's something I could feel proud of. I also had my Chiro appt Wednesday morning, at least everything is going well from that perspective. I haven't really mad any progress on the bench this year given the shoulder problem I've had, but, touch wood, that is all behind me know and I'll make some gains in 2009 on the bench - perseverence is what its about!

Madii had a Quad burger from Hungry Jacks last night - They're huge! 1000 calories and 70grams of fat! I told her should couldn't eat for the next 3 days after having it - LOL, well she can have some fruit. :-) She felt sick after afterwards - Just as well I thought.

Off to Kyneton tomorrow to picnic by the river while Leigh tests out his diving equipment. (Hence my training tonight) My job: make sure compressor doesn't stop running or if it does, haul him in so he doesn't drown, or something like that, Cant have that now can we, afterall he's back to work on Monday - and that's a punishment worse than death. hehehehe.

Gym Etiquette

Yes, I'm about to have a whinge.

Gym Etiquette - 101

PUT YOUR BLOODY WEIGHTS AWAY !!

Every week there are 4x45kg plates on the floor directly under or just behind the monolift at Doherty's. It is a pain in the arse to move them, but I have to in order to get into the monolift area. I know who leaves them there. I'm disgusted to say its another pair of powerlifters - who should know better. Its just plain rude and selfish to expect others to pick up after you. Grow a conscience!

**Gripe_mode=OFF**

Satisfactory squat session with some great pinch marks from the new squat suit. Trust me, the photo does not do the marks justice!! Need more practice getting the suit on without burning so much energy. Have some concern about the should straps being really really loose. Its 'extremely' tight everywhere else but almost like it was made for someone six ft tall. Fortunately we had a spotter last night, (thanks Mark) my first heavy squat in the suit and I went down like a sack of potatoes. Bit like when I put a handkerchief on the Anderson's back - sink down and no coming up. Mark grabbed the bar and I tried to get out from under it but my Tshirt was caught and Leigh had to yank me out - LOL. Made up for it tho by following up with a nice double 10 minutes later. Such a high afterward that I couldn't get to sleep.... Yep we powerlifters - we are amazing people! Especially us ladies!

Tonight - hammy's etc.... a la last week (and the week before...)

Ohh here are some pics as promised - me down the hole, my booty... my diggings that is, not my butt! And the boys!

Day 42 or there abouts...

Work appraisals - I'm getting something right for a change. Screened above the average no of bugs. Probably worked above the average no of weekends too. The overtime bides well for my Europe holiday next year with my niece Robyn. 6 weeks rootin' around Europe.... I mean sightseeing.... chuckle....

Gym Saturday afternoon, biceps/ triceps and yet another pathetic attempt at overhead presses. I guess I should be grateful that I can bench press at all given the shoulder problem I've had this year, overhead press will just have to be taken slowly. Biceps are still sore today - more from the fact that I haven't done any bicep work for a while rather than the intensity - LOL.

Sunday - on pager and surprise surprise, I got called. Lucky tho' I had managed to get out and have a bit of a dig around with Leigh and Merv - my first official bottle dig. Came away with a few little ink wells perfume bottles and butt plugs from the 1800's.

Will post some pics when I get my camera back from Leigh.

I read on the CAPO site that there are some 40 or so competitors for the Nationals next month - 11 from Victoria. Good to see that our state will still have strong representation this year. This will be my third Nationals - 3rd time lucky? More likely, third place - LOL. I did place 2nd last year in the OPEN behind Tegan who took out the Overall national Women's title.

Heavy squats tonight - somehow not feeling all that excited today.

===

Light Legs

The unfortunate thing about there being a squat rack at Definition is that suddenly people want to squat and / or do partial deadlifts that never did before. Waited patiently (not) for the squeeziods to finish their knee bends and warmed up for a light 5x5 @ 70kg - deep, deep, deep. Leg press 4x8 @ 150kg (knees to ears) and then 3x15@40lb leg extensions. Yibbida yibbida, that's all folks.

Kerry's last night working at Definition, such a shame, but she's off to do bigger and better things. She's been a real sweetie bringing me a sample of beta-alanine the other week (she also works at a health food store) and last night she had a pre-workout sample of something or another for me, its in my gym bag and I'm hanging on to it for Monday's big squat.

Tonight - night of rest, kindof, I'll try to get into my squat suit again. That will be a hour long cardio session in itself getting it on and then off again! No deadlifting tomorrow - sleep in, yeah! (does celebration dance) I'll go into the gym and do biceps, triceps and abs at Definition sometime in the afternoon. Sunday - On pager :-(

Leah officially moves out this weekend - moving in with her boyfriend Andrew. The first baby to leave the nest leaving just Madii and I in a big ol' house together.

===

Hello Tegan, Well, I'm flattered that you read my blog and even more so that you've posted some comments. Thanks! The weight will come off - it always does. I know what I have to do, I'm just in denial :-) All those times dieting for bodybuilding comps..... Cant wait to do 'the Haigh's run' where I take on the persona of a squirrel and start gathering chocolate for after the comp. As if I wont be able to get it then - madness! I'll keep up the accessory work a while longer. Doing less messes with my head, I still have the 'bodybuilder mentality' in that respect.

===

Day 38

Still 68.5kg, I’ll be able to get more cardio in from next week when I’m not on pager. I have plenty of fat reserves to shed :-)

Happy with training last night - hamstrings are feeling it today as are the traps. Toe giving me some grief today - but I'm learning to live with it.

Benching tonight, shirt work with Rhys. Confirmed with him last night at the gym. Pretty much like the ol’ Westside Max bench workout. I’ll follow up with some lockout work, tricep stuff, Lat pulldowns, cable face pulls and core/oblique.

Still have this goddam cough....

===

Yay - back online at home

Squats last night - not much to report - didnt use the new suit, maybe next week (although at this rate I may end up putting it off entirely.)

Tonight hamstrings a-la last week. ie Good mornings, Romanian DL, Reverse Hypers. Bit of upper back, Chest Supported rows, cable shrugs, dumbell rear delts and some ab work.

Also made it Genesis today, got my cardio program sorted out - lowered the levels a bit adn slowed the running intervals so my heart rate peaked at 150 instead of 170 and averaged around 145 for the 30 mins. Much better for fat burning.

Time now for the evening latte and unwind for a bit before hitting the sack.

===

Internet cafe

Eeeek dont know how long I have left on this internet cafe thingy at Eastland shopping centre...
Forgot to submit my online tattlotto tickets at work and so had to use this internet cafe...

Ohh oh the timer now says 8 mins....

quick...

Deadlifted this morning - 7am start - ick!
rack pulls and shoulder stuff

Got the deadlift suit on last night - 15 mins. Pretty good, so had it on for this morning's training.
Also managed to get the squat suit on - after 50 mins of struggling. Mind you it took another 30 mins to get it off. The joy of being home alone!

====

On the 5th day she rested

Tonight, my night of rest! A chance to read my book and relax.... Need to make sure I can get into my deadlift suit tonight in preparation for tomorrow's early morning deadlift session.

Trained at Definition last night - some lighter squats 60, 70 & 8okg and 4 sets of leg press 150kg. Even tried my hand at some over head shoulder press - shoulder at little niggly so I didn't push it too hard, 3 sets of 8 @ 80 lb.

Haven't done much cardio this week - only managed to get to Genesis once :-(
Next week wont be much better as I'm on pager. Bloody hell, I hope Optus get their act together and get this modem out to me on time - I'm on pager next weekend!!!

Gonna miss the internet this weekend, not that I'm an online junkie, but I do like to read the paper online, check my emails and mess around on Facebook and Ebay etc.

Might give Jo a call and see how's she's doing - big news in her world, I guess I'm allowed to announce it here.... She's preggers, due in December. Seems her dalliance with the boy next door, or rather across the road to be correct, has wound her up the duff. Much to her delight I suspect - I'm so happy for her, Ryan's been good and supportive too. I think she had in her mind that her chances for a baby were slipping away - especially after she broke up with Martin after such a long time.

Totally agree Fire 'n' Ice, I hate to think what stunts get pulled on the 'technically challenged' by these big companies. Even still, they just don't care! BTW my curiosity is running at an all time high - Who are you? LOL. And thanks for your comments!

===

Internet woes

My in-zone modem from OPTUS has shit itself after 7 months. Took it back to the store and it will be 3 weeks before they'll even tell me if it will be repaired or replaced. Of course loaning me a modem is out of the question - I might not return it - yeah! Not good enough. I canceled my service and demanded that the waive the early exit fee - which they did after much arguing. I then rang up OPTUS sales - rejoined the same service and they'll have a new modem to me on Monday. How mad is that!?!

Fire 'n' Ice: Gosh I had forgotten how hard it was to get into the MaxDL suit when it was new - the Hardcore is just as bad. Could not get it up over my hips - sweating profusely did NOT help. Scored two blisters on the tips of my fingers!! I'll give it another go later in the week. I know it took several sessions before I mastered the squeeze. Saturday I plan to don the MaxDL for my deadlift session - I wonder how long that will take!?!

Louise: Inzer do make custom suits but they cost $$$ But even then I dont think they would make allowances for 'headlights' LOL

Day 30

Thank you Fire 'n' Ice, my Deadlift IS coming along nicely , my bench... well, I'm aiming to get the 85kg that I missed last year - its not my favorite lift. Strangely enough the squat *is* my favorite, however its not my best lift! Go figure! You would think the one I like the most I would be best at.

None of the equipment was designed with the female form in mind - LOL. I have legs - fat ones at that! and a HUGE derrier as Hiram CODD pointed out! My squat suit squooshes my boobies and one of them always tries to escape out the side. Then there's the bench shirt......

Getting the suit on is definately easier with suit slippers, sexy damn things they are too! I've become quite efficient at getting my Z-suit on, the deadlift suit, a MAX DL, I got down to about 20 minutes before last years nationals (although I havent put it on this year so far tho') But I think the award for pain and suffering has to go to getting the suits off. Do you have any tips for that one?


Hamstrings tonight at Definition:
heavy good mornings,
romanian deadlifts,
pull thrus
Side bridges
and rep out reverse hypers

Followed up by my first attempt at getting the new Hardcore suit on.... a practice run so to speak. I can hang from the A-frame squat rack and amuse the guys there - some, like Darren and the owner George stifle thier laughter long enough to help.

Day 29

Weight 68.6

Still cant shake the cough, at least it doesn't keep me awake at night.

Last week's bench session with Rhys was awesome, got the groove for the Metal shirt and was able to touch bar to chest after getting some hints from him about how far down to jack the shirt and getting my arms into the sleeves better. I'll try to get a few more heavy sessions in with him so that I can get comfortable in the shirt. After benching he suggested I do some extra lat work - didn't seem like much at the time but until today my lats have been so sore I couldn't get my arms over my head to take my t-shirt off without being in pain!

Thursday night off training and I finally took that bath that I've been promising myself for weeks! Home alone, hot bath, lectric soda in the water, my book and off I went 'pruning' for nest 45mins with the hot jets massaging me all over. Could have done with some hunky male dressed in only a towel feeding me strawberries... ahhhhh (oops - wakeup!)

Deadlift training - Adverse conditions (or some such rot!) 7 am start.

Out of sorts for the first few sets, bad form, hunched over, using my back and not my legs etc etc... Unable to fill my belly out to the belt, taking too long to set up, thinking too much and consequently NOT doing much. Then, in one set I pulled and felt something strain in my upper traps on the left, that on top the strain I was feeling in lower back did not put me in the best frame for deadlifting. Applied some Finalgon to my traps and put my windcheater back on and belt over the top - that took up the slack where my waist has narrowed from losing some 3 and a bit kilos, walked up to the bar quick set up and PULL, down, PULL, down, PULL - much better stronger finish. 4 triples at 135. Followed up with some lighter rack pulls and hypers.

By the time I got home my neck was really starting to stiffen up, downed a couple of voltaren and made a desperate call to Fearnly Massage, pleading for any time available for a remedial massage. Wonderful , 1 hour available at 2.15 pm with Eilidh (pronounced Ayley) E Relief was at hand, literally!

On the way back, driving past the paddock, blue and red lights flashing. Ohh shit, there's been an accident and there's a car in the horse paddock. Nasty too, the car which has wound up in the paddock had apparently lost control and ended up ont he wrong side of the road and then hit by a ute coming down the hill which has shunted the car thru the fence and into the paddock.
The ute was a write-off and the poor driver taken to hospital. I stopped up by the paddock and went in to fetch the horses - the last thing we need is to have them running out onto the road causing more accidents! Totally destroyed my running shoes tho' after sinking to my ankles in mud!

Ohh and for those still staring at the picture of the two suits, trying to figure out the difference.... The length of the shoulder straps... Thats it!

And for my next trick I will be squeezing my enormous fat legs into the tiny holes that Inzer call leg openings... :-)

===

Spot the difference

The Logo's and......

Yay!

Much to my delight there is finally a squat rack in the gym at Definition.


I'm ordering my own set of crossbars - no doubt those will get bent!

So, yes, that pic was taken last night while I was benching. Rhys took a quick look at my bench technique with my Inzer shirt on and thinks I'm not getting much rebound out of it. I can touch quite easily with 75kg and because I bench low I'm not hitting the sweet spot in the shirt. Rhys uses a Metal shirt and he's offered to give me a hand with Metal shirt - Benchshirt 101. Going in tonight while he is benching and we'll have bit of a play. Last time I tried it I couldnt even get 100kg to touch.

No response from Inzer about the charges on my card, however I received a shipping notice from UPS so the Hardcore suit is on its way. I'll tram it into the city tomorrow and send the MAX DL back to them.

Corporate Games is on again - Poker practice starting soon :-)
The card shark is back!

===

A funny way to do business...

Received an email from Scott at Inzer this morning advising that a Hardcore suit is being shipped today. Hmmm

I still wanted to call Scott regarding the extra charges against my credit card, but I am not allowed to speak to him. The guy on the end of the phone confirmed that Scott was the person I need to talk to - by email tho', no I cant speak to him in person. Riiiight....

Fire 'n' Ice:

Thanks for your comment.

To be honest I've never had a problem with Inzer in the past either, this has just been unfortunate. I suspect you're right, there probably isn't much difference between the two suits - I'll find out soon enough. I already have a MAX DL which I used for the first time at last years Nationals - had to change my deadlift style to sumo because I simply could not get down to the bar conventional style - still lifted a PB tho!

Right now I'm squatting in my old Z-suit with the straps down and will probably bring the new suit in 4-5 weeks out. I expect having some weight on my back will help me get down in the Hardcore suit.

===

what a farce

My Inzer package arrived this morning - hooray I say, until I open it. Oh great, a deadlift suit which I didn't order, Correct me if I am wrong but the order says HARDCORE not MAXDL

-----------------
Purchase Summary
-----------------
Order ID: 63812
Item 1
Product ID: 01_HARDCORE
Product Name: HardCore
Attributes: 30,
RED,
Product Price: $145.00
Quantity: 1

And to add to my woes I find that they have charged my credit card for the suit AGAIN!

As its still Sunday in the US I'll have to wait until tomorrow to call them, but I've already sent a couple of emails pointing out their grandiose errors.

Plus I am still sick - cough cough cough.... erghhh

This is seriously shaping up to be a shit Nationals for me. Stay tuned.

===

Day 19... I think....

Still struck with the flu, the medication for the ear infection is causing me to have nose bleeds - great (not). Have a shower, nose bleed, massage, nose bleed, training, nose bleed, blow my nose, nose bleed..... Apparently a side effect of the antibiotics, along with the massive headaches. Ughhh. And with all that, my ear is still blocked!

INZER are kindly re-shipping my parcel to Australia.... yay!

Package Progress
Location Date Local Time Description
LITTLE ROCK, AR, US 07/08/2008 22:33 DEPARTURE SCAN 07/08/2008 21:52 ARRIVAL SCAN
SHREVEPORT, LA, US 07/08/2008 21:14 DEPARTURE SCAN 07/08/2008 20:41 ARRIVAL SCAN
LONGVIEW, TX, US 07/08/2008 19:30 DEPARTURE SCAN 07/08/2008 19:14 ORIGIN SCAN
US 07/08/2008 16:07 BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED Tracking results provided by UPS: 08/08/2008


Yay!!

Uploaded some more pics from my trip to Sydney: