Missing Bands

Into the gym a little bit late as I had parent/teacher interviews for Madi after school then had to feed Mojo. Was almost bordering on not going it was sooo late, but with the State comp looming I pushed on to the gym. Could not find the bands in the office where they usually are. Asked George, the owner of the gym.... and decided that speed deadlifts would have to take the place of deadlfting in bands. 10 mins later after George has made a few calls the bands are located and I'm able to do my band work! Yay. He is top notch our George! With 90kg plus bands for the remaining 7 of 12 sets x 2 reps I discovered just how much effect the bands have. Speed disappeared! Dumbell stiff leg deadlift, 75kg dumbbells using wraps again so my grip doesn't give out. I must be getting tough - no bruises on the wrists today - LOL Glute/ham raise - will I ever get this?? still only ding partials 8 reps, 7 reps, 6 reps...... Roman chair situps.... Called into the paddock on the way home to let Mojo out of the tack yard into the big paddock - pitch dark, raining and he would rather stay where he was, so had to drag my by the mane into the muddy paddock - yuck.

Home by 8pm, just in time to watch 'Saving Babies' followed by Law & Order: SVU and promptly fell asleep in the recliner during Criminal Intent. Dragged myself up to the bedroom - read for 5 mins before succumbing to the Z's

Benching with bands tonight, luckily Madi's basketball game is a late one - 8.40. Round 3 of the show jumping tomorrow - Madi doesn't ride until 11.56am so a sleep in is in order! Madi will be 15 on Sunday - so we'll be out for dinner Sunday night. Back to Being on P1 pager again Monday. Happy Happy Joy Joy.

Training update

Started this update yesterday and got too busy to finish......


Monday evening over to Doherty's to start sorting out my leg training and so Leigh can asses what sort of weight we should use in training. Started with walk outs - the idea being to get used to coming out of the rack with a heavy weight. Simple enough you would think, but set up for a big squat is very important and feeling the weight on your back and stepping backwards is not so easy. Walked out with a max of 140kg. Partial squats - starting from the squat position under the bar and driving up. Similar to the low box squat but not the same. The bar is sitting on supports in the rack and you have to get under to set up. First couple of sets were ok, then Leigh added just 5kg and I couldn't lift it. Now it wasn't heavy, but starting from the bottom of the squat takes a lot of effort and I needed to get my head around the fact that I *could* do it. Once I got the first rep - all was ok. Finished legs off with some single leg extensions - light, 2 sets of 15 reps + 1 set of 10 - quads were burning and weak! Last on the list was some ab work, decline situp with an overhead dumbell and cable sidebends (per my westside training).

Went out for coffee down Sydney Rd with Leigh afterward to discuss training and stuff.......

Benched with Shaz on Tuesday, but before I was allowed to start I was grilled about my dinner date with Leigh at the weekend. How did she know about it? Seems her and Leigh had caught up that morning and had coffee - - Gossips! I showed her the Inzer knee wraps he bought me and she responded "Oh, How romantic" LOL. Well, from one powerlifter to another...... :-)

When I was finally allowed to bench I managed a double at 80kg - RAW! very happy with myself. A couple of guys in the gym were impressed as Shaz told them that I had no idea how much I was benching and then she told me! 80kg! Then it was time to get the shirt on. Struggle to get it on, belt up, wrist wraps, chalk... I'm breaking into a sweat before I even touch the bar! Partial reps again - half way only with 100kg. Very happy, kept my back tight and shoulders down, finally some progress! As Shaz moved on to her next client I was 'ordered' to do more incline rows, light and high reps - 15's alternating each set overhand and underhand grips - 6 sets in all.

My new squat suit from Inzer is on its way - expected to arrive next Monday, April 2nd:

Type: Package
Status: In Transit
Shipped to: MELBOURNE, AU
Shipped or Billed on: 28/03/2007
Service Type: EXPRESS
Weight: .80 Lb

Package Progress
Location Date Local Time Description
SHREVEPORT,LA, US 28/03/2007 20:23 ARRIVAL SCAN
LONGVIEW,TX, US 28/03/2007 19:30 DEPARTURE SCAN
28/03/2007 19:24 ORIGIN SCAN
US 28/03/2007 19:43 BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Tracking results provided by UPS: 28/03/2007 21:55 Eastern Time (EST)/New York Time (USA)

Its another Z-suit, size 30 - 2 sizes smaller, ordered this one in navy blue to distinguish it from the what will now just be a training suit. Would still like to get a Hardcore suit but at $US145 I'll leave that for the Nationals in 2008 when I hope to challenge the National Squat record. Still on the wish list for this years Nationals is a proper deadlift suit and slippers (still eying off the pretty pink ones but I think my supporters on the day might disown me. LMAO.

That's it.... Advice, comments,support and donations all welcome!!

ROFL.

Vicki xxx

Training? whats that?

Missed a couple of training days...... Sometimes life just gets in the way. Thursday night all set for deadlifting in bands when the call for help goes out..... Mum! I've lost my car keys. Yep, Leah had managed to get all the way into work, lock her car and at some point lose her keys..... So, knowing that I was expected at Jo's place in seville at 8.30 I had to drop the training session and drive back into the city with Leah's spare keys - damn peak hour traffic!. Got home in time to give Madi a kiss goodbye before heading out to Jo's.... Oh and Leah's keys... turns out they were locked *in* her car!

Finally met Steve, Jo's new boyfriend. Pretty quiet guy. Think our discussion on fanny waxing was a bit too over the top for him. She's none too keen to move to QLD where Steve has applied for a job as he'll be away for 12 days at a time leaving her on her own in some small town - without a job.

Friday night again missed training, Madi's basketball game saw us out at Waverly for a reasonably early game and with having to pick up one of the players along the way there just want enough time to get to the gym.

DARC sat morning..... Raining, so I stayed in bed thinking if the pager is quiet I'll go to the gym.... No such luck! Spent all afternoon getting paged over and over again. Especially annoyed as it was interfering with my dinner plans with Leigh. Speaking of whom,not only did the darling boy take me to dinner at the Meat & Wine Co. Restaurant at Southbank he also brought me back a cap from the Police and Fire games *and* gave me a new set of Inzer knee wraps to train in. He's certainly scoring some serious points with me. And to think, he's going to help me with my squatting too - I feel very special!

Sunday, much the same.... no worse, if thats possible! Paged non stop and worked all afternoon again. Thankfully its over now - next week back on pager again with the newly extended hours 8am to 3pm coverage but no weekends until mid May! Definitely training tonight!! Nothing's gonna stop me.

A run at last

Short run yesterday morning - the first in a while. Just under 3 km from my usual parking spot to Anderson st where I stopped for a quick drink of water and a stretch, then back again to the car. Could feel last nights low box squats in my glutes and upper hammies, into the attachment, every time my foot struck the pavement, tight, sore - but much better after the run. Nice hot shower at the office after.



Quiet night at home, Madi went out for a ride while I caught up on TV shows...... Had txt from Leigh and a call from Webby earlier in the day to say Leigh had done well - benched 182.5 RAW - not even wrist wraps!! A few more messages from Leigh throughout the evening which was really sweet. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing him on the weekend and hearing all about the games.

After a very restless night, I arrived at work at 6.30. Half hour massage this morning at 9am (before the pager kicks in from 10am), lower back, glutes and shoulders/neck - felt great after.... much *free-er*. Picked up some Haighs chocolate, yumm. They had samples of broken easter eggs.... after easter they'll be selling the broken eggs, then I'll really need to pick up the running.....

Training - speed bench - band work and then off to Joanne's place. It's takeaway night - not that I'm much into junk food, just a once a week thing for the girls really, and an excuse not to cook. Had a nice piece of grilled fish last week.... mind you I dont like seafood except for the said grilled flake and calamari. Dont know what to have, having eaten scorched almonds all afternoon I'm not all that hungry. Hmmmm What I'd really like... I nice lump of cow''s butt - well done and garlic sauce - what the hell.... no one else in that bed but me. I wonder if garlic will keep the mozzies away like vampires?

Catchya on the morrow.

Stupid Girl

Well I did end up training last night. Madi couldn't make basketball training because some idiot thought it would be funny to trip her at school playing basketball and she's banged her knee up pretty bad. So in all the excitement of going training I left my squat boots at home! Doh! Stupid girl! Funny how some tools very quickly become essential (unlike my bench shirt) Anyway still managed a 85 kg ultra low box squat max. Carefully executed the zercher squats 3 sets of 10 with 50kg - it is damn uncomfortable to have the bar in crook of your arms! Below knee partial deadlifts were next - at 100 kg. Decided that I should use reverse grip. For competition I always go left hand under right hand over. So for the sake of balance I trained the other way for all 3 sets of 10. Called it a night there as I only had decline situps and side bends to go and thought it better not to push my lower back on these just yet. I have booked a short massage for tomorrow morning, 1/2 hour with someone who is not Kelly - but I really need to have my lower back massaged.

R&R tonight, try to catch up on some TV shows that I've recorded, Law and Order and stuff, got Boston Legal out of the way last night..... So glad Nora is dead in Desperate Housewives - what a pain in the arse she was!

Catching up with Jo tomorrow night after training - girly stuff and gossip, I'd take a bottle of wine except its a long drive back from Seville and I'm whacked after 1 glass! Besides, her boyfriend Steve will be there stifling the gossip. He's applying for a job in North Queensland and after the disaster that was Martin, I don't think Jo's too keen to pull up roots and move interstate.

Right, I'm off early today - had enough of the pager. Four more days of this wretched thing.

Grumpy

Busy again on pager this week. At least after this weekend my weekends will be pager free until mid May. It totally drains me. This week particularly will drag, not only because I have been on pager since Sunday (and yes I got paged 3 times) and don't get off until next Monday but for other more personal reasons too.

Daylight saving ends this weekend and winter will come quickly - at least I hope its a wet one - we need the rain. Its already dark in the morning and getting colder too. Finally got the orthotic re-fixed yesterday so no excuse not to get out and run.... except that its cold and dark!

Andy has pinged me for some new photo's and clips to update my page on AMG, so I'll need to engage one of my volunteer photographers again soon.

Benched for an hour under Shazza's guidance yesterday afternoon. Had bit of a headache which was no fun! Started light with a full pause at the bottom and again pause at the top. I don't want to get into any bad habits like pressing or racking before I'm given the signal. Had a few goes with the shirt on - Light again, 80kg and could not bring the bar down more than a couple of centimeters, but at least I'm keeping 'better' form - still not perfect. Later I completed my training at Definition - supplemental work. Triceps - reverse California press 30kg 3 sets of 10, overhead press 20kg 3 sets of 10, wide row 100lb 3 sets of 12 (needed the wrist straps as my grip was giving out - so again I have bruised wrists)

















Injuries

My left elbow is totally trashed, I have an appointment for a ultrasound in April for lateral epicondyle - but now have developed medial pain as well. Grrrr. Lower back has eased off and I can toss around in the bed freely... however I've been so tired lately I just pass out and dont move! (falling asleep in the recliner repeatedly at 8pm - sad) Could still do with a decent massage. Might try for a really early one on Friday before the pager kicks in. My neck is also in bad shape - from benching so I'll get that worked thru as well.

Bit a of a whingy update isnt it? Sorry. I'm a little out of sorts this week. Grumpy. Coffee machine at work is still out of order.... how do they expect us to function without a decent caffeine fix? Never mind - I'll be fine once the weekend comes around, I've something to look forward to....

Not training tonight, Tuesdays are becoming too hard to squeeze in anything now that Leah is working afternoon shift, I have to ferry Madi from basketball training 5.30-6.30 to C-Certificate training at Pony club 7 - 8.30. So max squat will have to wait until Wednesday. I am going to have to organize myself a little better.

That's it for now... cya!

Friday - part 2

Constable T. Bear - Cute huh?

Right.... Where was I?

Got the truck fixed on Thursday morning..... Last weekend an almighty backfire while towing the float blew out the main muffler. I really could do without car problems! Drove the truck to work after having the muffler replaced and in my many attempts to park the damn thing my tight allocated parking space at work, it appears that I have lost a whole lot of power steering fluid.... at least that's what I think it is.... reddish... oily.... and now the steering is making some noise - sigh!

Tonights training..... In the gym by 6pm. Grabbed the skinny bands and setup the bench press. As this is for speed work I dropped the weight back to 50% of my 1 rep max - ie 40kg. 8 sets of 3 rapid reps. Felt much better this week with slightly less weight I was able to get the speed and effect of the bands. Followed this up with the leg press pushes.... Both Daniel and John had a go at it too and realized its not quite as easy as they thought. It really makes push with your whole body. Next week I'll load the leg press with a little weight. Into the boxing room - for some reason the Tbar row lives in there. Put 10kg on and lifted it up and setup for single arm presses - again this is not how the TBar is supposed to be used but and effective way of training shoulders/upper chest. Was chatting to Daniel when he all of a sudden mumbled something and disappeared - out in the main part of the gym was, I think, his wife... none too happy for some reason - I think he may have been in trouble.... for what I have no idea. Looked like they were a having a small barney. I moved on to the floor skull crushers with 30kg, 3 sets of 6 - up in weight from last week then finished off with face pulls 3 sets of 10 at 110lb - tried to keep my upper back as tight as possible.

Mad dash home at 7pm to take Madi to her basketball game in Warrandyte, which is fortunately only a 5min drive from home. Unfortunately tho' they lost 38 - 20 BUT this was only a practice match and it was against a team already graded for a higher division. Tomorrow is the 2nd round of the Metro Show Jumping - This time in Ringwood at Quambee reserve. 3 events all scheduled for the morning. With a little luck we'll be out of there by 1pm. Of course this means an early start tomorrow morning, especially as I need to go out and buy some power steering fluid for the truck (I have no idea where to put it!!) so I really should log off and go to bed soon......

And if its nice on Sunday.... this is what I'll be doing (if I dont get paged for work)

Busy busy busy....

Partial update...

Flat out at work this week, haven't had much chance to update the blog....

The trip to Adelaide is off. :-( Unfortunately Shaz has some other commitments that can't be worked around so I'll just have to wait patiently to hear how Leigh fares at the bench next Wednesday. We caught up Wednesday just gone for coffee and he brought along a little friend for me - Constable T. Bear. So cute! He'll be watching over me while Leigh's away.... hmmm better frisk the bear for hidden microphones and camera's. I'll post a pic of the cutie tonight. (the bear that is.... lol) Last bench session for Leigh that night, now he needs to focus. To that end I'm keeping a low profile..... incommunicato... dont want to distract him.

Back is feeling better after a couple of rocky nights not being able roll over in bed, needed an engine hoist over the bed - now that would have been an idea.... Last night Deadlift with bands 90kg and used the every so slightly shorter bands, Dumbbell stiff leg deadlift with 75lb dumbbells, very tight in the glutes - to put it politely! Used wrist straps so that my grip would not come into play - after all this is a hamstring/glute exercise. This morning I wondered how I got the bruises on my wrists... Doh!!

To be continued..........

Stiff

You know when you know you just shouldn't have..... Woke up yesterday morning a bit stiff in the lower back, put it down to sleeping awkwardly. Went to the gym for a big leg workout got thru the ultra low box squats with a 1 rep max of 85kg.... I tried 90kg but went down and stayed there. Next up were Zercher squats and although these were light at 40kg I went down and something just gave..... Belted up and finished the 3 sets - carefully. Wasn't sure if I'd be able to do my rack pulls - loaded the bar to 100kg and really held myself tight but I could feel this wasn't a good thing.... didn't push myself too hard. Side bends also hurt as well as the decline cable situps - which I only managed 2 sets of partial reps - I just wasn't chancing it. Sleep poorly last night, unable to move without causing a lot of pain. This morning rolled out of bed, still in lots of trouble.... its muscular strain only tho... not a disk out I know what that's like from a long long time ago. Coupla days..... She'll be right mate.

Weekend events:

Madi and Mojo did really well in the dressage section of the Hickstead sitting in equal 5th place at the end of the day. Sunday's cross country was disappointing tho with Mojo refusing one of the 'easy' jumps and knocking the rail off the last jump and putting them both out of ribbon contention. Madi was not happy....

Madi and Mojo at gear check before the dressage event.

Back to Sat night..... Met Leigh outside Dallas Brooks Hall for the finals of the Pro show. Here are the placings and a couple of pics I took. Check out the results page for more pics and info on each of the competitors.

1 Dexter Jackson
2 Ronny Rockel
3 Vince Taylor
4 Martin Kjellstrom
5 Hidetada Yamagishi
6 Joel Stubbs
7 John Hodgson
8 Wong Hong
9 Luke Wood
10 Mossimo Villi
11 Neil Gardner

Martin Kjellstrom - isn't he just gorgeous!!!

Went out for supper with Leigh after the show and we 'chatted' until the wee hours.... I'm going to try to get over to Adelaide next week for the World Police and Fire Games where Leigh is competing in the Bench Press on Wednesday morning. Shaz was thinking of driving over and asked if I'd like to come with her. So.... I may be in Adelaide for a couple of days next week. Watchout!!

Whip me, beat me, make me write bad cheques.....

I like this westside stuff.... Kinky! Whips, chains, rubber bands...... ok, I admit, there's no whips.

Deadlift with Body Bands. 55% of 1rm = 85kg 12 sets of 2. This is for speed, with the resistance of the bands from feet to behind the neck providing a counteraction for the lift. Lost my balance only once and boy did I know about the bands then, pulling me back down.
Dumbbell stiff leg deadlifts. 60lb dumbbells 3 sets of 8 - last set I used wrist straps as my grip was giving out before my hammies.
Glute/Ham raises - not hypers!! quite tricky - 3 sets of 8 with a little push off
Low cable rotation row. 80lb. 3 sets of 10. Almost thought I would not be able to do this one because of my elbow injury, but a little innovation and using a strap anchored at the elbow I was able to take the pressure off the joint and still complete the exercie.
Roman chair situps. Up on the revers hypers machine - Uncomfortably high, felt like the whole thing might tip over as I leaned back. hmmmm Dirk wants me to do these holding a 20kg plate.... lets try 10kg first.....ok, didnt fall off or tip over. 20kg... took a bit or convincing myself that I wouldn't fall... 3 sets of 10 reps.


Tonight: speed bench. Dirk will show me how to bench with bands.....

Long Weekend ahead:
Saturday - Madi is riding in the Wyena Hickstead - we finally have her times and luckily both her dressage and jumping are in the morning. That will give me time to get a few things done at home before meeting up with Leigh at the Pro Show that Tony is hosting at Dallas Brooks.
Sunday - Madi again - final round of the Hickstead.
Monday - zilch, zippo, nada.... day of rest (except for training of course). Hopefully the weather will be nice and I can lay in the sun for a bit.

Hungry hungry hippo

Thank God my appetite has returned!

I was struggling to get a decent amount of food in each day since the comp. I'm still sitting at 67kg a week later! Very concerned as I didn't even have any chocolate cravings - now that's serious! Even resorted to taking a sachet of the gawd damn awful protein powder I bought last year when I went to India - where I thought I might fade away from not eating the sacred cow - I worship them too - when they're on my dinner plate. Anyways, trammed it into the city, picked up some Haighs choc almonds and whiskey truffles, spotted a pair shoes (mental note to go back after pay day - hmmm think I'm developing so kind of shoe fetish) called into Evelyn Faye Nutrition to get some more Fish oil and Glucosamine tabs, grabbed an Aussie Bodies Coffee flavored protein drink and that save me from the sachet.... Not naming the product, its not a massive well known brand name anyway, but this one just makes me want to gag....... BUT... this morning, I'm back in form and ever hungry. Of course just as I put it on it will be time to strip it off again.... Is this what they call yo-yo dieting?

Trained last night - but I dont have my sheet with me so I can only tell you what I remember.... Decline bench to a max 1 rep of 75kg. Daniel encouraged me to go for 80 but I needed help and it was crappy form. Today my front delts are sore.... Dirk is determined to get my triceps up, so next was reverse California presses 3 sets of 10 of around 20kg followed by another 3 sets of 10 of Overhead EZ bar press with 15kg? By then it was 6.45pm and I remembered I had to get Madi down to pony club for C certificate training - so I'll need to complete my training tonight - wide seated rows, dumbbell flyes/shrugs (superset) and Cuban press. At least I was able to cut out at the end of the tricep work.

Picked up a new book to read while I was in the city, went to bed at 9.30 to read but couldn't keep my eyes open for more than 3 pages........ and only 1 whiskey truffle....


Cheers Vicki xxx

Slacker....

Yeah I know, haven't written up anything since last week. Excuses? Hmmm... been a little distracted..... in a nice way.

So the weekend - disaster struck again. I'm beginning to have a real dread of pony club events. Mojo had thrown a shoe up at the paddock, and then threw in the last round of showjumping. Then as Madi is getting him ready to float home she notices that he's kicking his belly and sweating up - shit! colic! Called the vet (yep Saturday call out - great) He already has 2 other colic cases ahead of us. So, Mojo was getting worse and in a lot of pain and wanting to lie down, which is a bit no-no - if they roll they can twist their bowels - and that can be fatal! So Madi and I spend the next 2 and half hours walking Mojo up and down and drenching him with water. And just to top it off I got paged for work - what doesn't kill us make us stronger... right? The vet finally arrives, confirms colic and gives Mojo a sedative and some pain killers and proceeds to do a rectal exam - eoooww glad I'm not a vet - glad I'm not Mojo (shudder). Everything is nice and soft internally as it should be.... After an hour we can float him back up the paddock and then have to check him hourly until 11 pm when the painkiller will have worn off and then once again at 3am and 6am. He's recovering nicely now - thankfully, and the farrier is booked for Thusday morning. So we can event again this weekend!

Winded up being a very expensive weekend.... have no idea what the vet bill will be , but the call out alone is $120. Madi's birthday coming up - and SaddleUp had some long riding boots on sale... $200. Then I get the 'I need a graphics calculator for school' from Madi.... Fu...dge $250. Told her if she's loses that at school not to come home! Thankfully I got paged and earnt some extra money! Mojo's new Nike's will set me back another $100 this week and still some powerlifting gear I need.... gonna have to prioritize.

Training - yep that thing I do - back into it last night at Doherty's Started on my latest westside routine. Ultra low box squats - working up to a one rep max. I managed 80kg off the very low box - I should be able to better than pretty quickly Zercher squats - how uncomfortable! Light 30kg while I get a feel for these - 3 sets of 10 reps Rack pulls below knee - (knew I should have worn shorts!) 100kg 1 set of 10 and then messed up with 110 and only managed 2 sets of 6 - meant to do 3 sets of 10 - next week I'll know better. Decline weight cable crunch - no idea what weight I was using ... again should be 3 sets of 10, managed 2 sets of 2 plus 1 set of 4 ?? and finished the last 6 reps without the cable. Reverse Cable side bends - ie pushing the weight down and returning to centre - 40kg 3 sets of 10. Overall a good wrokout - but there's more in me I think - need to go even harder next week. Suitably sore butt today - all good.

Email from Webby yesterday about the State Titles - Saturday April 28. Venue is the Crest on Barkley Hotel, St Kilda. Printed off my entry form. CAPO fees are due as well. This comp I will take Shazza's Deadlift record! Bringing my tally of State Open records to TWO of the Three. Squat and Deadlift. Bench will come!

Spent some time with Leigh after training, discussing various aspects of powerlifting training, getting to know where he's coming from in the sport and where this will all lead for me. Its all looking good for my future in powerlifting. Some long standing records are set to tumble.

New TITAN wraps arrived today - wrist and longer knee ones. I'll save these for the State titles, then according to Leigh these should become my training wraps and get new ones again for the next comp. Which for me will be the Nationals in August.

On the work front.... the 'be nice to the support guys' is working - I guess. Much to my disgust they now actively seek help from me - which means constant interruptions and I must resist the urge to bite them on the arse. I even put my hand up to do an 11g feature assessment for them - of course this was after the BR (Backup& Recovery) team had already picked the choice topics - leaving the shit ones that no-one wanted.... So my choice of the two crud topics that were left: Multi-instance parallel media recovery. Anyway its just a feature assessment - no debugging. On a more interesting note, Beverly from DDR in Germany let me know their may be an 11g code handover in the coming months in HQ in sunny California. Will have to start working on my justification to management to get myself on the attendees list.

Bench tonight..... must ring Shaz.

Late update: just back from our team meeting - we're being shafted - AGAIN! Longer hours on the pager and more frequent weekend oncall. What do we get in return - Zilch! Oh sorry thats not right is it - we get to do more work. Ugghhh.

Short update

Caught up with Dirk last night at the gym - he's on a different mobile temporarily which is why he didn't respond to my sms.... he didn't know I'd sent one! Upshot is we're having a sit down tonight at 6.30 to work out the training plan for the next 6 weeks. He's leaving the max bench and max squat stuff to Shazza and Leigh respectively and so we will work on max effort supplementals and speed training, concentrating on triceps, upperback hammies and of course core! Received an email from Leigh too, so its all falling into place.

Short workout last night - speed bench and technique work.

Speed bench worked up from just the bar to 6 sets of 3 fast reps at 50kg - holding form.
dumbell tricep press 25lb 3sets of 10
single arm reverse tricep press (light & fast) 30lb 3 sets of 12
rope face pulls (light again and strict) 100lb 3 sets of 10
incline ab curls 10kg 3 sets of 10

Tonights basketball game has been cancelled as the opposition team has forfeited. Early start tomorrow. First day of the Showjumping series and we'll need to have Mojo down at the pony club by 7am!

Maybe on msn at the weekend and maybe an update- if I get paged :-( Otherwise... See ya Monday.

Cheers
Vicki xxx

She got the job!!

Starting Monday Leah joins the ranks of the 'employed' working for the Victoria Police as a clerical assistant doing criminal record checks for employers, volunteers etc. Looks like my life of crime will have to come to an end.... ha ha ha . Its a temp job for 3 to 4 months and hopefully she'll go back to Uni in the second semester to finish her nursing course. She plans to keep her part time job at Coles and work weekends so that when she returns to Uni she'll still have some part time work to fund her social life. We'll see how long working 7 days a week lasts......


Went out with Leah and Madi last night to celebrate, although I wasn't really feeling up to it. Could easily sleep for a week I think! Somehow I ended up shouting dinner at the pancake parlor - yumm and then we went to see an early (6.30pm) session of Hannibal Rising - yes I finally finished the book! The book is better than the movie! Raced out as soon as it finished to be home in time to watch House!

Sadly, all this frivolity will have to conclude... and I'll have to buckle down for some serious training in the coming weeks. Haven't heard from Dirk and need to sit down with him to sort out my westside training plan. I should try putting something together with what I have learned and see what he thinks. Will venture down to the gym tonight to see if he's there.... might even train a little.... LOL.

Still waiting to hear from Leigh about getting some pointers for my squatting. Webby was going to pass my email addy to him. I'm pretty keen to hear from Leigh. Boys... they never call. LOL.

Weekends are booking up fast. Just booked myself and Madi in for a show jumping clinic on April 21 with Adam Wooton. Adam has trained with George Morris, an American Show Jumping team coach and Adam is currently competing for the Australian Sporting Equine Academy. I think DARC booked him last year for one of our rallies. If I remember rightly, he was great for getting my confidence back after a few falls and bad experience with another coach. Will have to be careful tho' a its the week before the State titles - don't want any accidents!

You've seen the pics, now watch the movies....

Dont bother with the popcorn they dont run long enough.... Enjoy!

Pretty damn sore

Well I would be disappointed in myself if I wasn't!. Have some nice bruises, abs, knees hips, inner thighs...... Lower back is very sore after the failed 165.5 attempt. Still, a week to get over it and then back training. Wont be out running until later in the week either.... all I want to do is sleep!

Here are some pics from the comp. Once youtube is back up I'll try posting some clips.

Squat 130kg (286lb)

Bench 75kg (165lb)

setting up the deadlift

attractive sport isnt it? 140kg (308lb)

80kg (176lb) bench
See the ref,Tegan, checking my butt which is off the bench!

What is it about powerlifters and butt watching?

Junior Girl

Another Junior Girl

Big guy!! Big arch!!

Jason (who I met squatting with Webby)

Big lift for a young girl!

Junior Mens

A new state record

What a day. Up at 7.30 for a small breakfast, just 250g of cooked porridge and a latte - need the caffeine hit! After hitting the sauna last night I weighed in this morning at 66.8kg. 700grams under. Phew..... Finally I can eat and drink. Brought along some steamed chicken and rice and washed it down with a coffee flavored protein drink.

Both my girls came along - official photographer Leah - LOL. Was happy to see Leigh had come along to watch the comp also. As I found out he's a world champion competitor, having competed in the World Police and Fire games. So what Webby said about him have a wealth of knowledge certainly would be true! I'm impressed! Had a little chat with him after the comp. Told him that Webby had given me his number to contact him about squatting.... Apparently Webby had given my number to Leigh.... So we'll be in touch. Shaz said he was very impressed with my lifting.

So.... Let me prefix this by saying that in the MASTERS division 40-44 under 67.5 I currently hold all 3 records, squat, bench and deadlift from my first masters comp last year. So all the lifts today I did today are record breaking in the this division. The records that I mention below relate to the OPEN under 67.5 division.

First up is the squat, opened on 115kg easy. 2nd attempt 130kg easy (and an open state record!! Previously 125kg held by Shazza) 3rd attempt 140kg I went deep enough but couldn't get back up. As this was a record attempt I was allowed a 4th attempt at 140kg - failed again this time I did get it up but was not deep enough. So I know I have 140kg in me.

Next the bench press. Opened on 75kg - easy. 2nd attempt 80kg, very slow but I got it up after what felt like an eternity. Unfortunately 2 reds. One for lift my butt off the bench (damn it) the other for moving my foot - it slipped a little along the floor. Ref suggested to chalk the bottom of my shoes next time and Bazza suggested that I put my feet out wider to keep my butt down. 3rd attempt at 80kg - straight out no lift. The previous attempt wiped me out. Never mind, I know I can get 80kg! didn't bother with a 4th record attempt - better to save myself for the deadlift.

Deadlift - opened on 125kg - easy! 2nd attempt 140kg and again - easy! I planned to do 150 for my 3rd attempt but Shaz talked me into putting in for 155kg. And I got it!! This is 10kg over my gym PB and 20 kg over my RAW attempt back in November last year. Ecstatic about this lift!! my best for the day! Shazza then talked me into having a go at her OPEN state record of 165kg. So a 4th attempt at 165.5kg. I got it off the ground but had not set up well for this last attempt and tipped forward and had no way to bring it up! But I know I'll get this one at the State Open title at the end of April.

Bit of a shame I was the only masters competitor but there were two junior girls and a couple of junior guys, plus they were running a novice bench press comp - so a few competitors opted to only do the bench press this time. Still, for me, its not the trophy or the first place, its breaking records, my own personal ones and of course the state records. That is what drives me.

I'll be uploading some pics on Monday after I've sorted thru the hundreds of shots Leah took - and weeding out the pics she took of the guy she thought was cute, and if I can figure out how to do it I'll put up some clips as well.

Comp Eve

Walked into the city yesterday - steamy and humid, not at all pleasant with the lump in my shoe - this is not a good thing!. Found KOKO Black, another chocolatier that I've been meaning to try and bought a couple of chokky truffles - for later....



Today, no lunch with the boys down St Kilda Went and sat over the road in the gardens with Hannibal for 1/2 an hour. Found a nice grassy spot (yes there are still a few here and there), read a chapter, watched some runners making it all look so easy (sigh) and just enjoyed the sun. Such a beautiful day, could easy have fallen asleep out there.

Back in refrigerator I mean office... called up Chris the Podiatrist, and yes he took my call - lol. Explained that the lump in the shoe was quite painful, so I am to remove it and we'll go back to a more gentle build up with foam, just need to drop the orthotic in and he'll make another adjustment - We'll keep doing this until we get it right. I'll have to get this done *before* I got for a run next week.

Shaz called to see how my weight was and how I was feeling.... She'll meet me at Mike's Gym about 12ish. Then she told me her news.... An opportunity has arisen for her up in Sydney and also she's met this gorgeous guy from up there, which is just icing on the cake!! Nothing firm yet, just something that she is thinking about.... If she takes up the offer then I'll have to find a new handler for the upcoming comps. At least I'll have somewhere to stay if I ever go for weekend away.

Sauna tonight, just to make sure. I want to be able to eat a decent breakfast and *still* be under 67.5kg. Thanks everyone that has called and sent messages to wish me all the best. I'll post the results over the weekend.

Cheers
Vicki xxx

I feel good, I knew that I would......

The Bath

Ok - a few bubbles....

Well maybe more than a few.....

Weight this morning 67.5 kg. Nice! The hot bath would have dehydrated me a little and only having a latte last light has helped the weight come down. Might be good to do this again Friday night before Madi's game - another late one at 8.40pm. If there's any grief sat morning with my weight I can always go for a quick sauna at the local pool.

More nice latte art!

Calves are sore from the massage, right hip and itb too.... and my left delt (sore to touch). Chris made some more adjustments to my shoe to yesterday after my massage, removed some of the unnecessary padding and has inserted a 'lump'! Feels like a boulder in the shoe, so I am wearing my running shoes at work today and tomorrow to see how it is - so far my big toe is not suffering, but the 'lump' is very uncomfortable. I have to call him with my assessment of the 'lump' tomorrow afternoon, however I think the real test will be next week when I start running again.

Since I have my shoes on I'll go for a wander at lunchtime.... either around the tan or into the city.

Leah has her first 'real' job interview this morning with Vic Police - a temp job for 3 months - clerical. She wants to go back to uni next semester. Would be good experience for her if she gets it. Fingers crossed. Good luck sweetie!

Another short sharp session.

Started benching at 40kg concentrating on technique only and correct set up under the bar. Used the squat boots as suggested by CasuallyMe and it seems comfortable. Might help more when I'm shirted. Anyways... benching loaded another 10kg, a few more sets, another 10kg, so loaded nicely at 60kg and 4 sets of 3 reps (reasonably fast pressing). And that's it! no more training this week.

At home, tried installing the 3G software for the internet on the other dodgy laptop, I only bring the work laptop home on weekends. Still have one more machine to install on... "Franki" as in Frankenstein.... this desktop machine is one I put together from other 'dead' boxes we had at work. The girls don't like Franki much.... he's a bit temperamental at times.

Went for my massage at lunchtime. Why do I associate massage with something pleasurable when it's totally not! As Kelly dug in thru my calves she noticed the massive red blisters and so had to explain..... then a knock at the door.... Chris the podiatrist! who was supposed to ring me last week.... so we discussed my orthotic adjustments thru a crack in the door while Kelly moved up to my hamstrings & glutes, which were not as bad as I thought they'd be. Over on my side for the most excruciating ITB and hip massage. Having that part of your leg massaged takes your breath away - and not in a nice way! Finally over to my chest. Now I've never had a pec massage before but with all the difficulty I'm having getting my shoulders back and on the bench I though I'd give it a try. Wasnt too bad, pain wise, but when she got into the front delts - yeeooowww!! the pain radiated down to my elbow and into the back of my hand. I asked Kelly if my delts were very tight and she replied that they weren't too bad, but my pecs were rock hard and that I really need to stretch them more, especially leading up to the comp. Parting advice was to stretch tonight and apply heat. So I might relax in the spa again - without the bubble bath this time!

Wandered past Haigh's on the way back to the office.... well not exactly past..... 200g coffee crunch, 2 latte truffle, 2 whiskey truffles, I violet cream, 2 frogs (for the girls) and a Bilby for Bane my colleague (its his birthday today). Of course it will be pure voyeurism for the next few days... but once I make weight.... those chokkies will be fair game. Talking of weight - been a bit slack with the ole food diary.. been a bit slack full stop. Still sitting on 68.3kg need to be under 67.5 by 11am Sat...... Looks like I'll be sitting in the sauna!


According to my stars, today I am supposed to have a romantic interlude - sometime after 6.30pm (how do you like that for specifics!) Fat chance of that happening considering I'll likely be in the bath, hot, cranky 'cos I cant eat the chocolates and sore from the massage. Perhaps I should set the mood, light a few candles, glass of wine (strike that...dieting), aromatic bath oil...... and some handsome mystery man will appear before me..... then I'll scream and kick him in the nuts!