Today definitely could have been worst, I still felt pretty flat but better than yesterday. I am really looking forward to competing again, I just want to get into the upcoming string of competitions. Everything is going the way it should, my weight is on the way down, my strength is staying about the same and technically I'm not getting any worst. And of course I have been essentially injury free--I would like to keep that trend

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Light 800m jog
Warm-up
Runways 2x3
Standing stair jumps x3
Running stair jumps x3
Triple running stair jumps x3
Bounds 8x4
Pop-up's 2x2 (Each side)
Hops 3x3 (Left side)
Weights--
Hang snatch 4x2@140.5lb's, 1x2@145lb's, 1x2@150.5lb's
Explosive bench press 6x2@95lb's
Laying twists 4x10@25lb's
Leg raises 4x10@20lb's
Oblique crunches 4x10@60lb's
Abdominal pull-down's 4x10@170lb's
Pull-up's 4x5@15lb's
Back-extensions 4x10@60lb's

Well after feeling very energetic yesterday I felt terrible today. I guess I fried my CNS... Every movement was a strain so I decided to pull the plug early, I wasn't doing myself any favors by trying to push through it.
I weighed in this morning at 161.5lb's which is about what I expected, considering I've been on a pretty high sodium diet recently I'll take it. I should be able to get down to around 159lb's for the next meet.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Light jog
Warm-up
Laying twists 4x10@25lb's
Abdominal pull-down's 4x10@170lb's
Stretching

I haven't weighed myself in a few days but I think I must have lost weight for two reasons: 1. I felt really springy during all the plyo's, it was probably the best I have ever felt; and two, my lifts felt worst than usual. I guess it's a fair trade off but it's always disconcerting when weight room numbers are down, I guess because they are probably the easiest numbers to measure. I'll make a note of weighing in tomorrow morning.
My lower back hurt a little but wasn't two bad and my right ankle was about the same. Overall I'm feeling another pb at the next meet, January 14 in Moncton--14.20m

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Jog 780m
Warm-up
Stair jumps x5
Running stair jumps x8
Triple stair jumps x5
Depth jumps 3x5
Single-legged depth jumps 2x5 (Each side)
Bounds 5x5
Weights--
Hang cleans 3x2@225lb's, 2x2@230.5lb's, 1x2@235.5lb's, 1x1@250lb's*
Clean and jerk 3x3@185lb's (fail on last set)

*I think it's worth noting that I didn't catch this one above parallel, not even close--I think it was an ATG clean.

I felt pretty flat today to be honest, I haven't really been getting enough sleep for the past two or three nights and I feel like it is starting to catch up with me. I will make a point of getting at least nine hours today.
My stride felt better than it has in the past but my ankle is a little sore now and I'm not really sure what the cause is, it hasn't been sore in a long time.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Warm-up
3x120m
3x100m
3x80m

Today felt a little better than I thought it would. I work 12-9 later today so I had to do everything in the morning. At first when I was warming up I was in a light daze and felt more asleep than awake but when it actually came time to sprint it was probably the fastest I have ever felt. If I can bring this speed to the runway in three weeks I should be in good shape.
Weights were... Well they were what they were. I hate doing squats in the morning because I don't find that my back is stretched out and I get pain right over my sacrum, I think it is possibly the insertion of the erector spinae muscle. I was happy with the weight however, I think next week I'm going to try to go up to 335lb's then cut the weight the week after.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Warm-up
Flying 30m x3
Flying 20m x2
Flying 10m x1
Weights--
Squats 3x5@315lb's
Glute-ham raises 3x5@10lb's

It felt nice to get back on track, hopefully it is the first day of a smooth week. This is really going to be my last "heavy" week for a while, after next Tuesday I'm going to drastically reduce the loads in the weightroom to prepare for the upcoming meets.
My lower back, which was bothering me for much of the last two weeks, seems to be on the mend and doesn't really seem to be an issue right now. So far I have been lucky injury-wise, hopefully it keeps up.
During the light bounding I tried to focus on leaving my leg behind.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Warm-up
Ankle hops 5x10
Twisting ankle hops 5x10
Backwards ankle hops 5x10
Left ankle hops 5x10
Right ankle hops 5x10
Low bounding 5x5
Weights--
Incline leg raises 4x10
Oblique crunch 4x10@60lb's (Each side)
Lying plate twists 4x10@22lb's
Leg raises 4x10@20lb's
Abdominal pull-downs 2x10@170lb's, 2x10@180lb's, 1x5@190lb's, 1x5@200lb's
Standing med-ball twists 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Sitting med-ball twists 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Lunge-position med-ball twists 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Back extensions 4x10@55lb's
Pull-up's 4x5@20lb's

Well today was a change of pace, beyond going for a couple walks through the day I was stuck in the house. I find it difficult to take an off day even when I know in the long run it is going to be helpful.
My diet right now consists of 2400 calories a day, 150g of protein, 370g of carbs and a spike once a week to 500+ carbs. Well it was a bad combination having my "cheat" day fall on Christmas, I tripled my caloric goal... Whoops, Merry Christmas haha

I can't even begin to describe how beat up I am starting to feel. I'm so glad to have the next 48 hours off. It has been 8 days since my last recovery day and I definitely need another. I felt better today than I have the last couple of days however, it wasn't an overly intense day though.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Warm-up
Runways 2x3
Bounds 6x5
Weights--
Hang snatch 8x2@140lb's
Explosive bench press 8x2@95lb's

My whole body hurts, if I can survive practice tomorrow morning then I can finally have a proper recovery day. It hurts to move just about anything so I didn't get the best workout in today but it wasn't too intense anyway. It was the first full core workout I've got in for a while though since the weight room was closed most Monday's/Friday's for a while.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

1km run
Warm-up
Incline leg raises 4x10
Lying plate twists 4x10@22lb's
Leg raises 4x10@20lb's
Side crunches 4x10@60lb's
Abdominal pull-down's 3x10@170lb's, 3x10@180lb's, 2x5@190lb's, 2x5@200lb's
Back extensions 4x10@60lb's
Pull-up's 4x5@20lb's (fail on last two sets)

   I felt really flat today, I definitely need to stake an off day soon, I'm still pretty beat up from the meet last weekend. It is "hard week" as well which definitely isn't helping. Because of the sporadic gym schedule as of late I ended up doing weights two days in a row which definitely didn't help today. My cleans felt pretty terrible, I couldn't even get 225lb's up which is normally a joke. I ended up going to 205lb's, some sets were alright while others were messy.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Warm-up
Standing stair jumps x3
Running stair jumps x3
Triple stair jumps x3
Depth jumps 3x5
Single-legged depth jumps 2x5 (Each side)
Bounds 5x6
Weights--
Hang cleans 8x2@205lb's
Clean and jerk 2x3@155lb's, 1x3@185lb's

I feel like my schedule has been all displaced because of missing yesterday's weights. I was going to do some light 100m runs then do what I missed yesterday but I was feeling really flat/sore on the track so I decided to cut out the runs. My lower back seems to be really bothering me when I am walking around or just sitting but when I actually run or lift weights it doesn't seem to be a factor. I pb'd by 10.5lb's on my squats so I guess today wasn't such a bad day.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Warm-up
Squats 1x305lb's, 1x315lb's, 1x325.5lb's
Glute-Hamstring raises 3x5@11lb's
Abdominal pull-downs 2x10@170lb's, 2x10@180lb's, 1x5@190lb's, 1x5@200lb's
Incline leg raises 4x10
Lying plate twists 4x10@22lb's

Today was a little different, the Dalplex was closed today so I wasn't able to get in for my normal speed/weights. I am moving weights until tomorrow, although I hate to do so since I have a pretty strenuous routine planned for Thursday. I did my speed work at a facility I have never been to before, it was a pretty cool design--two rubberized lanes around an indoor soccer field. It was pretty chilly though so I paid heed to my hamstrings. My left one has been a little sore recently.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Extended Warm-up
Flying 30m x6
Cool down

I had to modify today greatly because of the gym's availability, I didn't feel like I got much out of it. It was a terrible workout, I still am not feeling the greatest and I wasn't able to do many of the exercises I do on Monday's. I'm going to try to finish today on Wednesday.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
Warm-up
Hanging leg-raises 4x10@25lb's
Lunge-position med-ball twists 4x10@16lb's
Standing twists 4x10@30lb's
Leg raises 4x10@25lb's

I feel pretty flat today, I didn't try to do very much. It was pretty much just a warm-up with a couple bounds thrown in. Nothing hurts acutely but I have no energy and my body aches dully.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Warm-up
Bounds 3x5
Weights--
Hang snatch 7x2@140lb's
Explosive Bench Press 7x2@95lb's
Cool-down

I started training for track and field near the end of grade nine when I was 14 and at the time my triple jump personal best was 9.50m. Shortly after I witnessed two jumpers jump over 14.00m and it was at that moment that I told myself that someday I would do it too. Well finally that day has come. The funny part? Well today really didn't feel like anything special (on the track), I was technically messy and not overly focused, the only difference was I am 3lb's lighter than I was at the last meet. Needless to say I am starving. Today is just the beginning, the season really hasn't started yet. If I can bring everything together I feel confident that I can jump over 14.40m before this season is over. I just hope I stay as healthy as I have been.
I don't remember the exact distances of all my jumps but my opener was a fault, the second one was 14.02m, the third I think 13.94m, the fourth 13.89ish, then 13.85ish and lastly 13.94m I believe. I think that shows consistency which is always a good thing. I can't wait to keep this season rolling.

Everything feels as it should except possibly my back. I weighed in at 160.9lb's this morning which is the lowest I have been since September. I will probably be even less tomorrow but I won't have any way of knowing since I have to get up at 4:40am. Physically I feel light and bouncy, mentally it's hard to say. There's no way of knowing for sure until I'm in the moment but I feel I'm strong enough to be able to pb even if I'm not at 100%.

I feel pretty good. My lower back is still bothersome but that's about the only thing of concern, everything else feels great. I'm hoping that everything will come together on Saturday. I did a very abbreviated workout today, taking a nice long, slow warm-up and following up with bounds and a 50lb drop in the weight room. I'm excited to compete again, it's been four weeks and it is another four weeks until I jump again but at that point I will be jumping three weeks in a row.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
Long warm-up
Bounds 6x6
Weights--
Hang cleans 4x2@185lb's

Two 6:00am workouts in a row, I'm on a weird schedule and it's only going to get stranger. It's 8:25pm and I'm all ready to head to bed, I'll be getting up at 5:30am tomorrow, 5:15am the next day and before 5:00am the day after. I'm starting to get used to it though, but I keep forgetting that everyone else is on a different schedule when 7:00pm is pitch black and feels like it's the middle of the night. My lower back is still giving me some grief and my legs are a little sore from squats yesterday. I haven't had an official weigh in for two days because of my odd schedule. I was 163.5lb's this morning after drinking a lot of water and having breakfast so hopefully I'll be around 162lb's tomorrow. My goal is sub 162lb's for the meet.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Warm-up
2x150m
2x120m
2x100m
Stretching
Light pool mobility

Today's schedule was a little but messy, because of exams I had to do today's workout at 6:00am, that's always fun. I surprisingly didn't feel too bad considering it was so early. I did still get 8 hours of sleep though. Nothing hurt beyond a little bit of a shin splint and I felt pretty quick (given the time of day). When I did weights in the evening I felt really good, I squatted 315lb's with ease and really wanted to go higher (I decided it was best not to risk it though so close to a competition).
   Over the next couple of days I'm going to try to wake up progressively earlier, today was 6:00am, tomorrow 5:45, then 5:30, then 5:15 and finally 5:00 on the day of competition (for travel). I figure this will me adjust instead of waking up four hours early one day.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
Warm-up
2x flying 50m
1x flying 40m
1x flying 30m
Weights--
Squats 2x5@305lb's, 1x5@315lb's
Glute-hamstring raises 3x5@10lb's

Today was another modified workout in the varsity room. My lower back is still bothering me, I took Advil to help relieve the symptoms. The only good part is it doesn't seem to hurt when I run or jump, doing anything rotational or just lounging around seems to hurt the most. I'm not too worried about it though.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Hanging leg raises 4x10@25lb's
Straight leg raises 4x10
Standing twists 4x10@35lb's (painful)
Sitting twists 4x10@16lb's (Each side)
Lunge position twists 4x10@16lb's (Each side)

I surprisingly didn't feel too bad today considering my sleep schedule has been fairly sporadic and I've been busy with exams and such. I was jumping off 9 steps today and I seemed to have more control than I have in the past. I felt like my ground contact times were huge though, I felt almost like I was stopping completely coming into the jump phase. Each jump seemed to get more technically proficient but I started to get fatigued.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Warm-up
Three step bounds 1x3, 2x5
Five step bounds  3x5
Seven step bounds 2x5
Five step triple jump x3
Ten step triple jump x6
Weights--
Hang snatch 5x2@135lb's, 1x2@140lb's
Explosive bench press 4x5@95lb's

Today was an off-day but not really since I was on my feet at work from 1-10. My lower back on the left side still seems to be a little sore but not debilitatingly so. I'm going to treat tomorrow's workout like a mini-competition to make sure everything is feeling as it should for the meet next weekend.

The main weighroom in the Dalplex was closed today for exams so I had to work around it. I spent about 5 minutes on a bike and then modified my normal core routine. It's always a struggle when I can't get into the main gym because most of the exercises I usually do use some piece of equipment. My lower back is a tad sore but besides that I feel pretty good.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Light cycle
Pull-ups 4x5@25lb's
Hanging leg raises 4x10@30lb's
Hanging straight leg raises 4x10
Standing twists 4x10@35lb's
Sitting twists 4x10@35lb's
Sitting med-ball throws 4x10@16lb's (Each side)
Lunge position med-ball twists 2x10@16lb's (Each side)

I think today is very symbolic of this season compared to last. In the weight room today I felt worst than I probably have all season, just lifting the weight off the ground to do hang-cleans was a struggle. After failing multiple sets and barely getting in the sets that I didn't drop I gave up. Usually I would go home, eat supper and think about it all night until it drove me insane. Tonight however, I ate, mentally readjusted, and waited about an hour before heading back to the gym. Not only did I redo the weight room session but it was one of the best sessions I've ever had. I was able to move the bar immensely quicker and with more weight. I think it's one of the best decisions I've made all season, if nothing else it is a huge mental boost to show that I can turn things around even when they aren't going as planned. I left both workouts in on the bottom to compare.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Warm-up
Hurdle hops 4x5
Depth jumps 3x5
Bounds 4x5
Hops 2x5 (Each side)
Low bounding 5x6
Low hops 2x10 (Each side)
Ankle hops 3x10
Twisting ankle hops 3x10

Weights 1--
Hang cleans 3x2@225lb's (fail, fail, messy), 2x2@205lb's (messy, messy, fail)

Weights 2--
Hang cleans 3x2@205lb's (felt really good), 2x2@225lb's (Again felt really good), 1x2@235lb's (Felt lighter/quicker than 205lb's felt earlier)
Clean and jerk 3x3@185lb's

Today was a longer speed endurance day and everything felt pretty good physically. Of course I felt slow, I don't exactly have blistering speed especially when in reference of 200m. My body weight is up a little bit but I'm pretty sure it's mostly just a dietary thing, I have been eating many salads and my salt has been up a bit, I'm still only 164.2lb's though, I should be able to cut down to 161's by the 17th. Tonight I'm going to be having (vegetarian) sushi for the first time, that should be interesting--it doesn't exactly fit in with my normal dietary paradigm.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Warm-up
3x200m@70%
3x150m@75%
3x120m@80%
Stretching

A bit of frustration today in the weight room, I wasn't able to get 315lb's up on my last set and head to drop it. I failed on the third rep was was odd, I think I lost tension or something because on the set before, 305lb's, I felt fine for all five. I just want to squat again to rectify this lose of strength but I have to wait another week. This is driving me crazy even though it should be expected that I'm going to lose strength when I'm losing body weight like mad. I also didn't eat supper before practice today which I think is what made me feel so weak.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Warm-up
Flying 50m x4
Weights--
Squats 1x5@300lb's, 1x5@305lb's, 1x5@315lb's (fail)
Glute-ham raises 3x5

It had really low energy today, I made the executive decision to stop cutting carbs and I am even going to increase my caloric intake by 200 a day so I don't lose any more weight until I still my taper for the next meet (December 17th). I weighed in at 162.5lb's this morning but I'm expecting that to go up a little in the next week. As long as I can stay under 163.5 I should be able to go sub 162 for the meet.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Quick Warm-up
40 minutes of hurdle mobility
135 degree pike 4x10
Oblique crunches 4x10@55lb's
Abdominal pull-downs 5x10@180lb's
Laying twists 4x10@25lb's
Standing twists 3x10@33lb's
Leg raises 4x10@20lb's
Stretching

Today's was pretty good, I was feeling much better than yesterday but I still didn't want to push it. It's still easy week anyway so it worked out well.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
Long warm-up
135 degree plank 3x10
Leg raises 3x10@20lb's
Oblique crunches 3x10@60lb's
Laying twists 3x10@22lb's
Abdominal pull-ups 4x10@180lb's
Standing twists 3x10@33lb's
Pull-up's 3x10@15lb's

I decided to take today off instead of tomorrow because my lower back isn't feeling the greatest, the quality today would be well under par.

I can't believe that it is December, each month seems to pass quicker than the last. I definitely wouldn't be able to compete right now but I'm building for the 17th. I'm going to keep going for max strength until next Thursday then cut it down to taper for the meet. I feel like I am stronger than ever before right now.
   I did some testing, flying 25m. I scored better than I did in the fall but it still wasn't great. I wasn't feeling very well going into it so it's not surprising that I didn't pb. Weights went pretty well, I pb'd by 10lb's for hang-cleans and 6lb's for clean and jerk.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Warm-up
Flying 25m x3 (2.79s, 2.79s 2.78s)
Weights--
Hang cleans 1x3@230lb's, 1x3@235lb's, 1x3@240lb's
Clean and jerk 3x3@185lb's

I was a bit sore today from last night so I kept the volume pretty low, only 900m total of running. My legs are pretty rubbery from squats last night, hopefully they feel a bit better for tomorrow's speed testing.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Warm-up
2x3x150m
Cool down