Today... Actually went alright for a change. I warmed up for quite a while to mimic a competition warm-up and did some short approach jumps at nine steps. I wasn't bringing full speed to the board but still seemed to be jumping well. I only took five jumps (well maybe seven but two were botched) and the third one felt really good, effortless. I wasn't thinking about my arms at all and they seemed to move fluently. My last jump felt like I had a crazy amount of air time for a short approach jump but I couldn't finish the last phase.
Weights were quite as good, my snatch form is really lacking, it's definitely a weak point in my weight-lifting arsenal. After the season is over one of my priorities is to fix it up.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
600m jog
Warm-up
Dynamic mobility
Ankle hops 3x10
Twisting hops 3x10
Left hops 2x10
Right hops 2x10
LLRR 3x10
Low bounding 3x10
Five step bounds 1x3, 3x5
Five step LLLR x3
Nine step triple jump x5
Weights--
Power snatch 1x2@155lb's, 4x2@160.5lb's (oo, xx, xx, oo), 1x1@155lb's
Podium snatch-grip deadlifts 1x5@245lb's, 1x5@265lb's, 1x5@270.5lb's
Leg curls 1x5@143lb's, 2x5@154lb's
Static stretching

I definitely needed to take today off so I could regroup and refocus. The origin of my right hamstring is a little inflamed, as it has been since about January. It's something that seems to always be an issue but never a problem. Tomorrow I am going to do a little bit of testing (slj, stj and maybe five bounds). I'm hopefully also going to be feeling up for a couple nine step approaches to prepare for the upcoming meet.

Today was kind of a leftover day, I was pretty sore from yesterday's plyos so I was pretty much useless on the track. I was going to run some 100m before I went into the usual core routine but the weather wasn't nice enough to go outside and I was physically feeling up to running on the dalplex track. Today is the first day cycled off of creatine so I'm expecting to lose a couple pounds between now and the meet next Saturday. The second mesocycle of the season is now complete, nine more weeks until nationals. I'm really not feeling like a triple jumper right now, I'm heavy and beat up. It's time to slim down and become explosive.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
600m jog
Dynamic mobility
Front throws 3x5@6kg
Back throws 3x5@6kg
Hammer releases 1x5@6kg (Each side)
Standing med-ball twists 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Sitting med-ball twists 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Lunge-position med-ball throws 1x10@6kg
Inverted leg raises 3x8
TwistIng inverted leg raises 3x8
Oblique crunches 3x10@65lb's
Incline leg-raises 3x10
Abdominal pull-downs 3x10@170lb's, 2x10@180lb's, 1x5@190lb's, 1x5@200lb's
Seated twists 3x10@35lb's
Twisting incline leg-raises 3x10
Incline dumbbell press 3x5@65lb's
Static stretching

Well today was alright, it didn't start off well but it ended all right. The plan was to do a lot of jumping complexes, LLLRLR, LLRLR, but I was feeling really flat at the track. I started off with standing long jump and started to get frustrated when I could barely get over 3.00m but I shouldn't have even been pulling the tape, I was just doing them for the plyo benefit/to warm-up. I then went to standing triple jump and that went even worst. Again I shouldn't have been measuring them--it's discouraging to measure during a plyo workout since it's mid-week, I'm pretty run down and my weight is still up (168.6lb's this morning). I will be testing both on Sunday.
Weights weren't too bad, I tied my power-clean pb and I think if I went straight to 250lb's I would have pb'd but the set at 245lb's took a lot out of me. It's definitely better than the last couple of weeks though.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
400m jog
Warm-up
Dynamic mobility
Ankle hops 3x10
Twisting hops 3x10
Left hops 3x10
Right hops 3x10
LLRR 3x10
Low bounding 3x10
Standing long jump x5
Standing triple jump x5 (very flat)
LLLRLR x3 (felt really bad, flat)
Depth jumps 3x5
Single-legged depth jumps 2x5 (Each side)
Five step bounds 5x5
Weights--
Power-cleans 1x3@225lb's, 1x3@235lb's, 1x3@245lb's, 1x3@250lb's (oox), 1x3@225lb's (tired)
Jerks 2x3@155lb's, 1x3@165lb's
Bent-over rows 3x8@60lb's
Light stretching (quads/hamstrings)

Really more of a shakeout day then anything. I was going to do more but I was feeling flat and didn't want to push things. Better to save it for tomorrow.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
Warm-up
Dynamic mobility
Walking arm drives 3x10
Jogging arm drives 3x5
3x150m@80%
Low bounding 3x5
Static stretching

I felt good at the track but really bad in the weight room. Since I've stopped squatting twice a week/lost a couple pounds squatting has been a struggle. Could barely squat 20lb's under my pb.
   On the track I felt pretty good, I started off with some 20m's and then two sets of runways. My takeoff still needs work but I think am started to run through the board more without slowing down. Still work to be done.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
400m jog
Dynamic mobility
2x3x20m (Static start)
Runways 1x3
Runways with hop 1x3
Weights--
Squats 1x5@275lb's, 1x5@305lb's, 1x5@315lb's, 1x5@315lb's (oooox)
Romanian Deadlifts 3x8@205lb's
Pull-ups 3x5@20lb's

It's funny, I felt pretty flat when I first went to the gym but by the time I left I was feeling good--I was tired but I felt good. Today was the last day that the gym will be open at a sporadic time, I wasn't able to start my workout until 7:00pm and I'm just now on my way home at 9:30pm. I switched up the core routine a little bit to avoid boredom and to change the stimulus.
The weather is... Iffy for tomorrow, my original plan was to go to the track in the morning and get in a solid speed workout--focusing on runways mostly--and then kill the last set of five squats I'll be doing all season, I'm dropping down to threes the week after. But if it's raining excessively hard I'll have to do the workout in the Dalplex.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
600m jog
Light skips
Leg swings
Front med-ball throws 2x5@6kg
Standing twists 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Sitting twists 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Lunge-position twists 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Kneeling twists 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Abdominal pull-downs 3x10@170lb's, 2x5@180lb's, 1x5@190lb's, 1x5@200lb's
Hanging leg-raises 3x8 (feet over bar)
Oblique crunches 3x10@65lb's
Incline leg-raises 3x10
Twisting Hanging leg raises 3x8 (feet over bar)
Seated twists 3x10@22lb's
Cool down on bike
20 minutes of mobility (focusing on hips and core)

One word to describe today "meh". I wasn't sore but I was flat. I felt like I was falling asleep during practice and had no "pop" at all while jumping. Normally I would be upset after a workout like today but I think I'm just too tired to be upset. 

Not much to report for today, a much needed rest day. Tomorrow I'll be back at it, hopefully will be a solid technical day with a lot of progress.

It feels damn good to be through the week and rest up for about the next 48 hours. I know that it hasn't been the best week for training quality but I think I'm closer to being a 15m jumper than I was last Friday. Keep moving forward.
   I didn't do a whole lot today but I did about as much as I could handle. I am absolutely exhausted.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
Light 300m jog
Pull-ups 3x5@20lb's, 1x5@20lb's (oooox)
Bent-over rows 4x8@60lb's
Abdominal pull-downs 3x10@170lb's, 2x10@180lb's, 1x5@190lb's, 1x5@190lb's
Leg raises 3x10@20lb's
Oblique crunches 3x10@65lb's (Each side)
Incline leg-raises 3x10
Seated twists 3x10@35lb's
Twisting incline leg-raises 3x10
Standing med-ball twists 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Lunge-position 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Sitting 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Light stretching

Blah, not what I was hoping for in the weight-room but I think it's more because of over-fatigue than loss of strength. I had to wake up at 5:30am to get to the gym so I guess it makes sense that I was nowhere near my pb at 6:00am in the morning near the end of a fairly tough week.
   I did some jumping which went surprisingly well, the sandpit was too hard and filled with rocks to actually finish a jump but it felt good technically. I'm definitely slowly down to "gather" before the jump so next week I will focus on running through. My body was pretty tired so the distances weren't spectacular (also the landings were pretty much standing) but I felt better than I was expecting and if I was fresh I think I would have put up some big numbers. On Sunday I'll pull the tape for a couple.
   I'm beyond tired right now, I'm currently studying for my last exam tomorrow morning, physiology. I'm kind of excited to finish it, kill the last workout of the week and then just relax... Well I guess I have to pack but then I can relax. I'm moving back to Dartmouth for a little while now that the school year is over, hopefully I won't be there too long though, it takes forever getting back and forth to the gym.
   When I was jumping today I was thinking to myself, "this is what it is all about". Everything else is supplementary at the end of the day I am a triple jumper and nothing in the weight-room matters if I am jumping well. I need to remind myself that more often.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
Morning--
600m jog
Dynamic mobility
Power-cleans 1x3@225lb's, 1x3@230lb's, 3x3@230lb's (oox, oox, oox)
Split Jerks 2x3@155lb's, 1x3@165lb's
Incline dumbbell press 2x5@60lb's, 2x5@65lb's
Mobility

Afternoon
400m jog
Light warm-up
Dynamic mobility
Ankle hops 3x10
Twisting hops 3x10
Left hops 2x10
Right hops 2x10
LLRR 3x10
Low bounding 3x10
Five step bounds 5x5
Five step LLRR x3
Five-step triple jump x4
Seven-step triple jump x3
Depth jumps 2x5

Another frustrating day, the work on the track was good but as soon as I got to the weight-room I had nothing left. These sporadic gym times are killing me, it's only for another two days then it will be open normally again. I had to do weights at 12:00pm and I just felt exhausted I couldn't even squat 320lb's by my second set so I pulled the plug. And unfortunately because of the schedule of the next two days I have to lift again tomorrow morning at 6:00am... Hopefully I can rebound from today's dreadful performance with some big numbers tomorrow.
   I ran a couple of short sprints at the track, up to 20m then moved on to runways. The sprints felt good but the runways didn't. I tried to do a hop phase from the end of my runway but couldn't handle it and just collapse upon landing and felt a huge shockwave through my body. I don't know if it's because my CNS is zapped or because going with a double arm is messing with my torso position but I'm hoping to get to the bottom of things on Friday with some video evidence.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
400m hog
Warm-up
Dynamic mobility
3x10m@100%
3x20m@100%
Runways 1x3, 1x1 (with hop)
Nine step runways with hop x3
Weights--
Squats 1x5@275lb's, 1x5@320lb's, 1x3@320lb's(gave up)
Scratch the rest
Static stretching

Today was an early one, up by 5:30am and to the gym at 6:00am. I didn't feel like I did a whole lot by I was there was a couple hours--time flies. I am pretty sore but I'm hoping that I wake up fresh so I can get in a solid speed workout in during the morning and squat heavy at noon.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
600m jog
Light warm up
Weighted hip thrusts 3x5@229lb's
Incline dumbbell press 1x5@60lb's, 2x5@65lb's
Front throws 1x10@6kg
Back throws 1x10@6kg
Hammer-releases 1x5@6kg (Each side)
Standing 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Sitting 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Lunge-position twists 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Leg raises 3x10@20lb's
Seated twists 3x10@33lb's
Oblique crunches 3x10@65lb's (Each side)
Abdominal pull-downs 5x10@180lb's, 1x5@190lb's, 1x5@200lb's

An alright day... not a whole lot of volume but yesterday was a hard day and I was still a little sore. I cut the workout early, not because I was injured but because I could tell I was fatigue and wasn't getting much out of it. The first three 150's that I ran felt really good, maybe the best a set of 150's has ever felt. But the fourth one was flat and my feet felt heavy.
   This week is all mixed up because of the gym availability, this normally would have been Wednesday's workout but I moved it to today and everything else is getting slide over one day.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
400m jog
Dynamic mobility
Standing long jump x3
Standing triple jump x3
Seven step arm rhythm x3
3x60m@75%
3x60m@85%
3x150m@80%, 1x150m@80%
Cool-down

Things started off badly and got better. I need to stop worrying so much, I stress myself out for no reason--I hate being neurotic by nature. I feel like I need to make a really mellow playlist so I can listen to it on my way to practice. Who knows maybe it will help!
   I completely lost my rhythm when I was jumping today at practice. There were a variety of factors at play but I literally completely forget how to jump. It was my first time jumping in my new spikes, they are a lot more narrow than my old ones so it took some getting used to landing on a smaller surface area. By the end of practice I felt I broke them in, I stopped thinking about my feet. My arms were another bothering detail, I was trying to take off with a double arm technique without gathering but each jump got worst and worst until I couldn't even jump, I was over-thinking things wayyyy too much. I was pretty frustrated and anxious, so much so I even tried jumping single armed but still couldn't get the rhythm down. All the work I was doing was off of 7 steps so I took my spikes off, dumped out the sand, put them back on and tried again off of three steps. It still took me a couple of attempts to get it down but on my third or fourth one something clicked. I moved up to five steps for a jump then back up to seven. From seven I jumped 12.40m, 12.60m, 12.80m and then called it quites, I definitely went over my jump count. I wasn't watching the board so those numbers could still be off but at the beginning of  practice I was barely making the pit from the 11m board. I don't have a seven step pb, since I usual go off eight. Next week I will film the board. Assuming I now have the rhythm down I'm hoping next week I can work on getting the positioning down, if I feel good I may move up to nine steps for a couple. In theory there is 20 days until the next meet.
   Things were alright in the weight-room, new snatch pb and definitely felt better than last week but still needs work. I'm still making "newbie gains". I'm still a little sick so I guess I have to be happy with today overall considering how much I was coughing and how lethargic I have been. Yesterday morning it hurt to even walk, and when I felt my shirt rub against my sides I thought I was dying!

TODAY'S WORKOUT
400m jog
Warm-up
Ankle hops 3x10
Twisting hops 3x10
Left hops 2x10
Right hops 2x10
LLRR 3x10
Low bounding 3x10
Jogging runway+takeoff x3
Five step bounds 3x3, 3x5
Seven step triple jump x6
Three step triple jump x4
Five step triple jump x1
Seven step triple jump x3
Light stretching
Weights--
Power Snatch 3x3@145lb's, 2x3@155lb's
Podium Snatch-grip Deadlifts 1x5@225lb's, 2x5@245lb's
Leg curls 3x5@139lb's (Both sides)
Abdominal crunches 3x10@170lb's
Seated twists 3x10@33lb's
Seated crunches 3x10@33lb's

*Note some jump attempts failed.

This was a bit of a weird day I suppose, it seemed to transition quite a bit. After a rough nights sleep (went to bed at 8:00pm, woke up 12-2am) I woke up at 6:00am feeling like complete shit, my head was pounding and I was positive that I was going to cough up a lung. I went to the gym feeling horrible and didn't get a whole lot done, it was only open for an hour from 7-8:00am. I actually started to feel a lot better throughout the day and have been coughing less and my headache is receding. I went to the baseball at the top of the street and just did some mock-runways, just for something to do. I am looking forward to jumping tomorrow and break in the new spikes!
   Cheers to the next six days, a full training week uninterrupted by sickness, injury or laziness. This is going to be the week that I squat 5x340lb's, power-clean 3x250lb's and jump farther than ever before off seven steps.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
600m jog
Leg raises 3x10@20lb's
Oblique crunches 3x10@60lb's
Abdominal pull-downs 3x10@170lb's, 2x10@180lb's, 1x5@190lb's, 1x5@200lb's
Back throws 2x5@6kg
Front throws 2x5@6kg
Standing 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Sitting 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Lunge-position medball twists 1x10@6kg (Each side)
Myofascial release

Afternoon--
Warm-up
10x mock runways+hop

I feel like pretty much everything that could have gone wrong recently has. I am moving today's workout to tomorrow and taking the day off since I'm still sick from yesterday, my head is spinning and my whole body aches although I must admit that I've been feeling better as the day progresses.
   My new spikes came in today and I told myself about a week ago that I would be healthy when they arrived. I guess I'm injury free so I have achieved my goal but I'm feeling like I'm at rock bottom. Things have been tough recently but I guess it's just all about perseverance. Tomorrow the gym is only open from 7-8am which really sucks but I'll just have to go hard at it for an hour then do what I can on my own after. I'm going to move non-stop to fit as much work as I can into that hour, since it's just core and med-balls anyway I should be able to get most of it done.

Today is Friday but I am writing this on behalf of yesterday... Which was not a very good day at all. During the morning session I was absolutely exhausted, getting up at 5:30am for four days straight started to take its toll especially where I am getting over a flu. So after failing miserably in the gym I headed into the afternoon session looking forward to rectify it and get in a good plyo workout. It was pretty cold out however but I got most of what I wanted to get done accomplished. When I was walking back home my joints started to ache and by the time I got back to my room I was shivering uncontrollably. I tried to warm myself up and ended up running quite the fever--to the point where I had convinced myself I was dying. I became quite disoriented and started losing control of my body, I couldn't stop shivering, shaking, twitching but eventually I went to bed and awoke this morning feeling like death. My head is still spinning but I'm feeling a little better, I just need some rest.
 
TODAY'S WORKOUT
Warm-up
Shock jumps 3x8
Depth jumps 2x5
Power-cleans 1x3@225lb's, 2x3@235lb's, 2x3@245lb's (xxx, xxx)
Clean and jerk 1x3@135lb's, 1x3@185lb's

Afternoon--
Ankle hops 3x10
Backwards hops 3x10
Twisting hops 3x10
Left hops 3x10
Right hops 3x10
Low bounding 3x6
LLRR 3x10m
Running bounds 5x5
Running LLRR x5
Pop-ups 3x3 (Each side)
Bound-jump x3

Today wasn't so bad, I felt pretty sore in the morning but after a nice long mobility session I felt pretty good this afternoon at the track. It was a nice day, about 12 degrees and sunny, my hamstring was a bit sore but not along the tendon as usual but in higher up in the bulk of the muscle. I modified the workout because of it, I was originally going to do 150's but I replaced them with 100's on grass instead. Hopefully I will be at 100% tomorrow.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
600m jog
Warm-up
myofascial release
static stretching

Afternoon--
400m jog
Warm-up
3x200m@75% (quick walk between each)
2x3x150m@75% (1 minute between each, 2 minutes between sets, on grass)

One word to describe today, "meh". It could have been better but I can count my blessings that I stayed healthy and didn't re-injure my hamstring. I was playing with fire a little bit, I did speed work for the first time since my injury and I had no pain at all. It was pretty cold out so I didn't do much work and the gym was only open in the morning so I had to do weights before speed which is never a great idea but I am going to justify it by saying I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to run at all.
   I felt pretty slow but I guess it will take some time to shake the rust off--I can't wait for summer, it was 8 degrees at the track today which I still found a bit chilly. I just want a nice, sunny 20 degree month, is that too much to ask?
   I almost had a pb in the weight-room but unfortunately I chickened out. I got 340lb's for the first four reps but I didn't think I was going to make the fifth rep so I didn't even try but I really wish I had. It seems like it was very symbolic of how I am afraid of failure. Next week I will be sure to go to failure.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
Morning--
600m jog
Warm-up
Squats 1x5@320lb's, 1x5@330lb's, 1x5@340lb's (only four reps)
Romanian dead-lifts 2x8@185lb's, 1x8@195lb's
Bent-over rows 3x8@60lb's
Pull-ups 3x5@20lb's
Static stretching

Evening
600m jog
Warm-up
3x10m
3x10m+20m hold
Flying 20m x3
Cool-down

Since the gym is only only open from 6-8am all week it was not such a fun workout, I got through it though although that's not saying much since it was a down day anyway. I think I will eventually get used to waking up this early but for now it's painful.

I hope today is a sign of things to come, I had a fairly intensive practice with no pain in my hamstring. I felt a little bit like I was playing for fire but I made sure I was taking adequate breaks between jumps and limited the volume. I did some testing to compare to when I tested three weeks ago--standing long jump and standing triple jump were both up. Standing five bounds was down but I think it really might have been up. When I tested last time I didn't have the tape pulled to see where I was taking off from, I tried to eyeball a 13m board but it may have been 12.whatever. So for all intensive purposes I'm going to say I pb'd today. I didn't get a chance to do running five bounds, I opted not to risk it.

Another rest day, I wasn't feeling very well today at all. I was considering doing some light strides outside but given the current status of my hamstring and the fact that it was only 4 degrees today I decided better of it. I'll benefit more from the rest.
   My hamstring is healing and I may even be able to do some medium-intensity jumps tomorrow, I have some hop-hop, bound-bound complexes I want to work on. I feel like my hamstring is almost better but it is still vulnerable. It's been a frustrating couple of weeks but that's hopefully all in the past. There are many highs and lows in every season and I'm definitely at a low. Things haven't been going well recently, not only on the track but in life in general but tomorrow is the start of Mesocycle two, hopefully this is where things start to turn around--I could really use a confidence boost right now.
   I'm beginning to notice a pattern that 99% of all my problems are in my mind; it's easier said then done but I just need to relax and take things one day at a time. For better or worst whatever happens happens. 

Today was a rare off-day and I took it about as "off" as I could have possibly taken it. I practically did nothing all day, I have seemed to developed a bit of a cough and so I pretty much stayed in my room all day writing and watching How I Met Your Mother reruns. Oh well, I guess it's all for the greater good of recovery, it's nice not having to worry about going to the gym today but I wouldn't want to be this lazy too often.

Well, so ends the first mesocycle of training. It's been a weird three weeks, and for the most part not in a good way. I have put on 13.5lb's, mostly water and currently cannot sprint or jump because of my hamstring. I may be competing in as little as four weeks if I am healthy but that's a big "if". I just want to be able to run again without having to worry about tearing something. I don't think that I will be able to do speed work this Tuesday but I'm hoping to be able to the week after--that's the goal. I'm taking the next two days off completely (hopefully) to fully recover before I head into mesocycle 2.
I set one pb in the weight-room, 3x245lb's power cleans, I could have easily went higher but I felt it in my hamstring--strength definitely is not an issue right now.
Cheers to a terrible three weeks, hopefully the next three will be significantly better.
TODAY'S WORKOUT
Myofascial release
10 minute bike ride
Warm-up
Ankle hops 3x10
Twisting hops 3x10
Backwards hops 3x10
Left hops 3x10
Right hops 3x10
low bounding 3x6
Light LLRR 3x10
More intensive LLRR 5x10
Standing bounds 3x6
Five step bounds 3x6
Shock jumps 3x8
Weights--
Power-cleans 2x3@225lb's, 2x3@235lb's, 1x3@245lb's
Podium snatch-grip deadlifts 1x5@185lb's, 2x5@205lb's
Left leg-curls 1x5@112lb's, 2x5@122lb's
Right leg-curls 1x5@135lb's, 1x5@146lb's
Stretching

Today was kind of a mess of a workout, I was wavering back and forth about taking it off and ended up just running around the gym doing a random assortment of exercises. Hopefully I can get back into a more structured routine after this week once I'm healthy again.

Well my hamstring pretty much kept me off the track but weights went pretty well today. It's funny, I can't sprint at all, can't jump at all but I can squat to max effort. I tried to do some light strides to get a feel for where my hamstring is at, they felt "risky" and hurt a little so I let them be. Pretty much all I did on the track was 2x3@40m and a light plyo circuit. At the end of each 40m sprint I tried to end with both arms forward to mimic the end of my runway. I have a physio appointment tomorrow so I'm hoping they will be able to give me a fairly accurate assessment. I know what I think the problem is so if they tell me the same thing there is a very good chance that really is the problem.
   I wasn't feeling great at the beginning of practice, my legs felt flat but I think it was just because of the nervous energy I have been harboring. As soon as I actually started squatting I felt good. On my fourth set I reached a new season best and on my last set I reached a pb, 5x335lb's. I am pretty happy with that because I went with a neutral stance and used boxes to check my depth--perfectly to 90 degrees! My old pb of 330lb's had a wide stance and questionable depth.

Here's a picture:

So starts the first day of hopefully the last rehab block I'll have to do in a while. I got right to it today, first thing I made a physio appointment for Wednesday--if nothing else hopefully they will be able to identify any weak areas around the injury and show me the most effective way to strengthen it. I'm a big believer in rehabbing myself so this who physio thing is foreign to me.
   As far as a workout went I took things pretty easy. Since I kind of worked through my off day last week I treated this as my off-day. I went to the gym in the afternoon and did some light stretching and myofascial release. In the evening I went for a 30 minute bike ride on the stationary, the core I missed yesterday and stretched.
   I ordered new spikes last Friday and I'm expecting them to get here in 7-20 days. I made a promise to myself to be healthy when they arrive. As hard as it is for me to give anything but 100% if I can hold myself back and get healthy I have still put on a lot of strength and there should be plenty of time to work out the technical issues caused from switching over to a double arm takeoff.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
Afternoon--
Light stretching
Myofascial release.

Evening--
30 minute bike ride
Light warm-up
Twisting leg raises 3x10
Seated twists 3x10@33lb's
Myofascial release

I don't think I have ever been as frustrated as I am at his moment. I can't even count how many times I have been here, in this exact spot... wondering what's next? Again I sit with ice resting callously beneath my left knee as I await the prognosis the morning will bring. I can't believe my hamstring tore again in the same spot. I just want to break things and throw things around my room. I want to scream at the top of my lungs and bang my forehead against my desk.
   Today was about as bad a day as I could have possibly imagined. And I'm beginning to ask myself if I'll ever truly get better or if this is a sign that the end is near. Because now there's fear--fear of doing what it is I love, to jump. I'm afraid to leave the ground for if I do I might feel that familiar ripping sensation. I was trying to do a seven step approach with at about 80% but as soon as I hit the board it snapped. It might not be as bad as it has been in the past but it's still an inconvenience. I tried to go to the weight-room after and squat but it didn't feel right. I wasn't getting much out of it so I kind of... chickened out and bailed early. I was afraid to push at max effort.
   This is a really disappointing time to get injured because the upcoming week was supposed to be "hard week". I was looking forward to putting in some real work. As much as I would love to keep getting stronger and put up some huge numbers in the weight-room I think my time would be better off spent getting healthy and  technically proficient. What good is it to be able to squat 400lb's if I can't even get off the ground? Where it is such a short season strength should not be the primary focus. I failed today, plain and simple. I failed. And I can wake up upset and wanderlust or I can wake up and take a step forward towards getting healthy. I always thought being an athlete was about what one does and how much time they spent training but I'm starting to think that it's the opposite. Being an athlete is more about doing the opposite--it's about what you don't do. It's about eating the right food and knowing when to take it hard and when to rest. I can honestly say I'm not there yet but I think I'm finally starting to learn... the hard way.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
Light jog
Warm-up
Five step bounds 2x3, 5x5
Five step triple jump x2
Seven step triple jump x2 (injured on second one)
Weights--
Squats 2x5@315lb's