Athletics - Exeter Open

Today, I had the opportunity to go and compete at Exeter again at an Evening Open Meeting. 


My friend Simon said he could get there too so we could throw against each other in the javelin. There were other events I could pick from too but number one goal was to get a 50m+ throw in so I could climb the Power Of Ten rankings a bit.


On the drive over I was contemplating Hurdles, High Jump or Long Jump as extra events in order to practice for the Decathlon. I was feeling a bit bloated though so running at full pelt didn't feel very appealing. I decided when I got there to try Hammer for fun, and then Shot and Javelin. 


First up was the Hammer. Now I've done this once before at Hull on a specific coaching day, about 20 years ago (!) and remember spinning round and then when I let go of the hammer I went flying into the netting of the cage! I therefore chose to just do standing throws, so swing it round and lob it as far as you can without all that fancy spinny stuff!


The hammer is 7.26kg on the end of a wire, which is the same weight as the Shot Put, so it's pretty heavy. When you start swinging it round your head you have to keep your balance whilst also trying to accelerate it up to full speed and when you come to throw it you have to keep your arms long and straight to get the most out of it. It's quite tricky to get the timing right. My first round throw was 26m or so. One of the competitors told me that was pretty good and that 25-27m is good for standing throws. Of course I wanted to be better than 'good' so I tried my hardest to get 30m. The next 5 throws were all between 28m and 28.90m (PB) which was my best throw. I enjoyed it, was pleased with the result and most of all I didn't get injured!


After the Hammer, the Javelin and Shot Put were starting at the same time. I decided to run to the other end of the stadium, get a couple of quick puts in if possible and then run back to focus on the javelin. I did 3 warm up throws - about 11.70m, 11.80m and then an attempt at a glide which flew out to about 12.40m! (my PB before tonight was 11.35m). It felt good and with the recent weight training I've been doing, I felt stronger and more powerful. I can't remember my exact distances in the competition, but my best was a standing throw of 11.68m (PB) and I didn't get the magic 12m I wanted this time. The last 3 throws I did I got the timing wrong and the technique went to pot. At least I know I am capable of a 12.50m - 13m if I can practice and get it right.


Javelin - I had run back to the javelin after a couple of Shot Puts and changed my trainers for the javelin boots  - no time to prepare, just get on the runway and chuck it. I had a very poor first throw, about 46m I think. I had pulled across the javelin and not hit it through the point. The next one was worse, too low and the same problem. After having run back to Shot and run back to Jav again, I was able to focus a bit more on the last couple of throws. My 5th round was better, but still only 48m or so. In the last round, I focused on turning my hand in and keeping the arm straight in the withdrawn position and then planting the left foot and bracing myself against it - BINGO - I got the magic twang and hit it much better, 51.56m (SB), target achieved. A flash of pain went up the right hand side of my spine as the energy transferred up through my legs and then through the hips and then spine. The pain goes after about 30 seconds but it's a good pain as you know you've harnessed the power properly. 


Pleased with the results and had a really enjoyable evening of athletics. My friend threw 58.98m which is slightly down on his recent best but he was relatively happy too.


As an aside - I had chosen to wear my Scotland T-Shirt which I'd kept hold of from when I represented them. A Scottish fellow asked me if I was Scottish and I told him I'm an Anglo-Scot and threw for Scotland as a Junior International. He said his son was aiming to do the same so I asked to meet him. He was 12 years old and I told him about how I started and what I was throwing when I was 14 - 43.43m. At 12, he's almost done 40m so I told him he was well on course for getting an international career if he sticks with it and works hard. He said - "Cool T-Shirt" - I looked down at the emblem and realised it was 17 years old!!! I told him he'd earn his own one day.

7 Ways to Grow Your Twitter Followers

1/ ReTweet this Blog


You'll be listed here in this blog post along with the others who did. 


Follow the others and tweet them with the tag #7ways - and follow back when you get them too - comment below with how many you get in the first 7 days (snowballs start slowly...)


the other 6 are Top Secret but I'll share them with you in the Twitter Newbie Guide 


RETWEETERS: (follow them and say hello with the #7ways tag for a follow back)


@Graham_Lay @Jayne_Wood @smileyjulie

Deadlift PBs

Having had a week off training last week due to work pressures and also giving the body a break, I've trained Monday and Tuesday and now today 'the big one'.


Again, a 10 min warm up on the Concept2 erg indoor rower aiming to beat yesterday.

2694m - 1:51.4 - r24 - still found it tough going but happy to do a further 50m

Then, I embarked on an epic weights session:

5 x 60kg power cleans
3 x 80kg power cleans
1 x 100kg power clean
1 x 110kg power clean =PB
115kg - fail - very close though. 

8 x 60kg front squat - chose these as haven't done them and will help power cleans
2 x 8 x 80kg front squat
4,3 x 60kg hang clean and jerk
5 x 1 x 60kg hang clean and jerk into 2 x overhead squat

10 x 60kg bench
4 x 80kg bench
1 x 100kg bench
1 x 110kg bench
120kg fail - this is my recent PB so slightly disappointed not to get it

5 x 1 x 60kg snatch
1 x 70kg snatch
80kg fail - almost, just didn't drop into it enough to catch it

80kg dead into 10 x shrugs
130kg deadlift into 5 x shrugs
1 x 170kg
1 x 190kg =PB
1 x 200kg new PB
1 x 210kg newer PB - very happy!

1 x 250kg deadlift with straps PB - took 10 seconds and a LOT of effort to get up and locked out but managed to get there without passing out.

erg
30s - 165m - 1:30.9 - r20 df120
30s - 165m - 1:30.9 - r20 max drag
30s - 164m - 1:31.4 - r20 min drag

1k cd slow

That lot took over two hours to get through, but thoroughly enjoyable!

I think one of the reasons I was able to improve the raw deadlift (from 190kg to 210kg) was drying my hands, rubbing them together to get rid of any dead skin and warm them up, making sure I got a good strong grip and then committing 100% to it. Recent strength training must also be helping with grip and forearm strength.


This session was to help all round strength for the Decathlon I'm doing in September. I also need to incorporate sprints and plyometrics to get bouncy again for the running and jumping events.

Facebook Check-Ins - Privacy Guide

 Do you want everyone to know where you are?  


Sometimes the answer might be yes. At other times the answer may be no. 


Facebook Check-Ins are when people 'check in' to a location which has been set up as a Facebook Page. You can also check other people into locations. This is the bit you may want to learn more about and hence this mini guide.


I won't go into the myriad of possible reasons for not wanting others to know but here's just one made up example using fictitious characters.


Ian Riggs has gone round to see a lady friend. Let's call her Hermione Thomas. Hermione decides to check into a place she's called "My Bed" and also check in Ian because she's happy about sharing this news. All of Hermione's and all of Ian's friends can see this wonderful news in their news feeds with the map and location for all to see. Ian is married to somebody else however. He would probably not want this information to be broadcast, so much so that he may even attempt to prevent this information being made public by going to the Court for a super injunction. But what if this public broadcast had already happened before he knew about it?


Don't forget - you don't even need to be there, your friend could just say you are! 


If you want control over who can see what, please read on.


When I checked my Facebook privacy settings it said I allowed friends to check me into locations and for my friends to see this. I happened to look into this after having seen myself being 'checked into' a pub by one of my friends. A pub of all places! I have only been out about once in a year and the one night I do, all my friends think I'm an alcoholic!


The following information is basically what I did to discover how to check and change my settings, I hope it's not too complicated for you to follow:


Account (Top right of your home page)
> Privacy Settings

> Customise Settings 

You then have a list of things you might want to look through and change the settings on so you control who sees what. 


This guide is about check-ins, so first of all, in the list "Things I Share" look at the line that says "Places you check into" and set the one you want from the list:

Places you check in to

Friends only

Everyone
Friends of Friends
Friends
Customise


Then - the next line is about letting people nearby see you too:

Include me in "People here now" after I check in

Visible to friends and people checked in nearby(See an example)

Enable

If you click (See an example) this is the kind of thing you might see:

So you need to decide if you want to have that ENABLED or DISABLED.


These two options above are about the check ins that YOU decide to post. Chances are, if you are posting these you will probably want friends only to see, up to you of course!


NEXT, and IMPORTANT bit is the section covering "Things Others Share"

Friends can check me in to places

Edit settings

Click Edit Settings and a box pops up:

Here, you choose ENABLED or DISABLED next to friends can check me into places.


If you click Disable, your friends cannot check you into places. There is a way they can still do this though via their status if they 'mention' you and they mention the name of a page in the same status. If you know how to stop this, please leave a comment below for me and others to find out how to prevent that? Thank You


I think that's it for the check in privacy options. I hope it's helped you to understand what it's all about and how to make the changes you need to make to have the amount of control YOU want over your privacy, not other people controlling it through Facebook.

Power Clean PB and strength conditioning

As part of the strength conditioning for the decathlon which I'm entering in September, I am working on power cleans and other weight movements that use the major muscle groups and work on core stability.


Tonight I equalled the power clean PB i set the other day, 110kg  

I then did a very tough general strength circuit:


10 x 60kg x ( Deadlift to Hang Clean > Push Press > Behind Neck > Deep Squat > Jump Squat > Snatch Balance > Back down to floor )


Starting to feel like I'm moving into the next 'band' of strength now, which is great.