Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Optathlon review October 14th, 2012


Event 1 CJ - 250# (-10 from last year)
Event 2 TJ - 27 feet 0.5 inches  (up 7 inches from last year)
Event 3 2:58.5  ( up 1.1s from last year)
Event 4 - 4 rounds.  poor placing amongst field
Event 5 - 38 feet 11 inches - up 7 feet from last year
Event 6 - 12:31.  Up 45s from last year

Event 1 Clean and Jerk- score 250#.   (-10#) from last year. Good news is that in the last year my clean has went up 25# from 260 to 285.  Bad news is my jerk is still shit. A part of that was my inability to do much jerking overhead in the past year due to a shoulder issue.  I have now sorted out the shoulder issue and was able to jerk pain free at the competition. And truth be told as recently as a month ago I just wanted to be able to do this event and not have to take a DNF, so getting only 205 isn’t a huge let down. Now that my shoulder is pain free and I can do jerks my focus on them during every session needs to be proper mechanics without concern for load. My focus will be on keeping chest up and putting head through on the jerk. I need to continue to work on shoulder flexibility. I have the power today to CJ 275 but lack the proper mechanics at heavier loads.  Next year the goal is 275#.  I get there by focusing on form at lower loads because I believe I have the power to do it.

Event 2. Standing Triple Jump.  27’ ½”. (+7.5”) from last year. I didn’t expect to PR on this but a final jump that went well allowed for that. This is something that I still want to maintain touches on over the year just so that it isn’t completely foreign. I will be getting some indirect training on this, as I will be playing basketball once a week in a fairly competitive league. Next year the goal is 27’6”. I get there with continued touches on bounding and really improving the flow of the three jumps.

Event 3.: Row 500m, rest 90s, Row 500m.  1:26.8, 1:31.7 for total time of 2:58.5. (+ 1.1s from last year.)  This was my best workout relative to the field but was a huge disappointment as 6 days earlier I had rowed a 2:57.8 and that was at 95% effort.  I moved the damper to 5.5 from 5 but don’t really think that made a huge difference as I generally row much better at a high damper. I could tell halfway into the first row that it was going to be more difficult than I was anticipating to keep the pace I wanted. I kept the pace fine but used a bit more effort than I really wanted to be at that time. The second row was rough, as I knew it would be but I just couldn’t keep it under 1:30. I think for me personally doing the test at 95%, 6 days before almost made me remember how bad it was last year, and then when it came time to get deep into the pain cave I shied away from it this year. This year hurt and I was in rough shape after but it was nothing like last year. Last year I was on ground in tons of pain for 10 minutes after and then another 30 as I walked around and moved.  I didn’t quite get to that nasty disgusting place this year. Next year the goal is 2:56. I get there by continuing to work hard on the rows during training and really maintaining good body position on the rows in a fatigued state. It’s easy to maintain good position when doing longer sustainable pieces or even doing sprints with full recovery, but my focus on every pull on the rower for the next year needs to be with perfect form.



Event 4: 8 minute AMRAP of
 8 Thrusters 115#
8 CTB chins
8 bar facing burgees
Score:   4 rounds  - no comparison point.

Looking at that now a day later doesn’t make that score any less shitty. That’s 1 round every 2 minutes. For 24 reps in a round. Of not super difficult movements. Even with a super conservative pace I should be exceeding 4 rounds of this.  I was breathing super heavy and couldn’t function well at all. I hope with further training that this is a workout I can get to 5 rounds and beyond on.

Event 5:  Overhead shot toss 16# ball.   38’11”. (Up 7’ 10”) from last year. Was pleased to make a good gain here. This was mainly due to familiarity of the movement and really understanding how to best heave the ball.  It’s my belief that as the clean and squat go up, so does the throw.  To throw 40’ next year I just need to keep getting stronger and get touches on the movement.

Event 6:  3k run 12:31. (+42s) from last year. Quad cramped and started to get painful around 400m in and turned this run into a complete shit show. This wasn’t a true measure of my capabilities here as the battle wasn’t with my aerobic system it was with my aching quad and figuring out how to keep moving with a quad that was getting more painful each step. Looking back a day later I suppose I was pleased to not completely cramp and lock up until the run was over. My expectation on this was in the 11:30 area so in that regard I was a bit disappointed but many athletes had similar experiences cramping on the workout and not coming close to expectations. The goal on this is still 11:30 and I think I could do it next week if I didn’t cramp.

In summary my total score went down a bit from last year due to decreases in the CJ, the row and the run despite the increases in the jump and throw.  While in the past I have almost always improved performance on game day, this particular time I definitely did not do that. As far as nutrition goes, maybe more whole foods throughout the day could’ve prevented the cramping as other athletes that didn’t cramp mentioned they did this. Also I had a cup of what I later found out was super strong coffee. I had a huge headache while getting ready for CJ portion.  I don’t drink much coffee but like to for max effort lifts. While I had pop on the lifts (but shit technique) I don’t know if the coffee had anything to do with the lack of pop I felt on rower etc., the rest of day.  

Goals next year
CJ-275#  - how I achieve this:  focus on technique EVERY lift without concern for poundage as the explosive quality is there for 275# I just need to improve technique. Improve shoulder flexibility to make getting into the proper positions possible.
TJ – 27’6” – How I achieve this – touches, technique
Row: 2:56- technique during every rowing session of the year.
Event 4- improve this energy system.
OH shot toss – 40’.  Touches on technique and keep improving clean and squat.
3k run 11:30. – Maintain, as I truly believe I had this but just cramped. 

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