Well I'm back... In rainy old Nova Scotia where nothing ever goes on. I miss Winnipeg, it was sunny there every day and I had a lot of fun. There's definitely some moments I wouldn't mind clicking "replay" on. Maybe Sydney this weekend will clear my Nostalgia, or perhaps it won't. I just want to get out of this city, where nothing ever happens.
Side note: my hamstring still hurts, it shouldn't be an issue but it's still an annoyance,
I want to ratify this weekend and get in a jump complimentary to what I know I can do. I jumped about 30cm behind the board, I still couldn't run at top speed, there was still 15cm or so being lost in the sand and it was anything but technically perfect and I still managed 13.84m. I was worried that when I started to jump 14.00m I would peak but it seems to be clear that there's plenty of room for improvement.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
Warm-up
3x30m
4xrunways (31.90m)
Weights--
Hang cleans 1x3@185lb's, 2x3@205lb's, 1x3@210.5lb's
Hamstring curls--
Left: 2x5@135lb's, 1x5@145lb's
Right: 3x5@157lb's
Bench press-- 4x5@95lb's (explosive)
Pull up's 3x3@bodyweight
Cooldown

Well I got a bronze medal at nationals, I can't be too disappointed with that... I didn't hit the number I was looking for but I can't complain at all. I'm excited, plain and simple. After three rounds I was in first, but I know with a 15.22m jumper in the field that wouldn't last, then on the second last jump of the competition I got passed again. Looks like all this training is paying off after all.

Jump 1--13.54m, considering the farthest I have opened all season was 13.27m I knew that my hamstring was destined to survive. It was enough to jump out to an early lead though by a centimeter.

Jump 2-- 13.68m, I didn't touch the board which made me really excited. It also extended my lead.

Jump 3-- 13.82m, I was no where near the board, probably like 20cm away. Still in first though (: also a pb

Jump 4-- 13.84m +0.3m/s, ridiculous I was probably 30cm away from touching the board and it was still another pb. I was in second at this point.

Jump 5-- 13.83m-- again probably about 25cm away from the board. Still in second

Jump 6-- just clipped the board but only jumped 13.77m, still could have been close to 14m though

At Sydney next week records are falling, I'm going wayyy over 14m, no contest.

Today was light, just a competition warm-up. I leave for Winnipeg fist thing in the morning, I'm definitely not feeling the greatest--I'm still not sure if I'm going to be able to jump. I'm still half expecting to completely rupture my hamstring on the first jump if I get off the ground at all...  Maybe lead will turn to gold just this once, the next 36 hours will tell the tale...

I'm so close to being healthy, if I wasn't competing this weekend I probably wouldn't even mention my hamstring but unfortunately I am competing--and I'm not sure if I'm quite there yet. It's going to come down to the wire, I probably won't know if I can jump until Friday morning. When I did runways today I felt good for the first 14 strides but the last three didn't feel nearly as smooth as I would have hoped. I felt like instead of going into top gear I slowed down to relieve the tension. At this point it could go either way.
On a brighter note hang-cleans felt good today, it was the first time I went "heavy" with them in a couple weeks. I went up to 205lb's and didn't feel overly challenged. I searched the gym for a set of 2.5lb's to put on the end for the last set but I could only find one. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
My heel didn't seem to hurt today but in all fairness I didn't really jump on it beyond a few pop-up's.
I have visions of tearing my hamstring in half on my first long jump but that's a...that's a worst case scenario.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

Warm-up
3x30m (with a walk in)
5 runways
Cool-down
Weights--
Hang-cleans 3x3@205lb's
Hamstring curls--
Right side 3x5@162lb's
Left side 1x5@90lb's, 1x5@112lb's, 1x5@117lb's
Pull-up's 3x5@body weight
Incline dumbbell press 3x5@50lb's

I wanted to take today off so I would be at 100% for tomorrows last work-out before nationals. Instead of running or doing something that probably would have had a destructive I ended up going for a two hour walk just to clear my head and become lost in thought. It was a nice change of pace from the usual. I also ended up doing a quick (15 minute) ab circuit just for maintenance purposes.
Tomorrow I am going to do a set of runways and (hopefully) reach 100% speed for the first time since I have been injured!

   I tried to jump today but to no real avail, the pain in my heal was just too great... And nationals are in five days. I'm nervous, not of my performance but of my ability to even jump. It's not looking good right now, inbetween my heal and recovering hamstring. The hamstring however did feel a little better today, I got up to about 95% speed before I had to shut it down. I really would have liked to have jumped today but it wouldn't have down me any good. Hopefully this forced rest does something positive.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
Warm-up
3x30m@95%
1 three step triple jump (much heal pain)
Weights--
Explosive squats 3x5@185lb's
Romanian dead-lifts 2x5@185lb's

After a couple optimistic days my disillusion is starting to pass. It still hurts to contract my hamstring even though I may finally be able to hit 100% speed (we'll see tomorrow). I tried to keep today pretty low impact, I just did the usual ab circuit I do on Friday's. I couldn't get into the Dalplex last night so I had to do yesterday's workout today. I did however go to the track on Friday and did a competition warm-up as well as I couple short approach jumps. They hurt (a lot) but it was mostly my heal. I'm hoping tomorrow goes significantly better.
 
TODAY'S WORKOUT

Light jog (2 laps)
Ab circuit--
4x10 leg raises
4x10 sideways crunch @35lb's
4x10 leg throw downs
Ab pull-downs 4x15@160lb's, 2x10@170lb's
3x10 Seated twists @35lb's
2x10 seated crunch@35lb's