Rugby and Stuff

Hai d00ds. Sorry I disappeared for a while, moving and busy work kept me from wasting time on the internet.

Here's some stuff I did in the last few days.

▼ 1. 9/8/09 - Tuesday - Practice

I think I arrived late. I've been very sluggish and 'meh' about getting to practice.

▼ 1. 9/9/09 - Wednesday - Lifting

Got my teeth drilled immediately before this, so I was lifting with a numb mouth and kept biting my tongue. Special.

I'm now on the USARugby in-season lifting program, so there is less PL stuff, higher reps, more Oly, some jumping things. I'm changing things around to fit in more cool stuff like the prowler, the glut-ham raise, and making time for deads, bench, and back squat.

• P. Snatch: 55x6x3-4

These may have been hang snatches.

• P.Clean: 95x4,105x4x3

These were heavier than I normally do, but went fine, I just took a little more time to set up between reps.

Not doing jerk for a while, because it's not a priority and slows me down.

• Front Squat: 105x4x4

These were murder on my hamstrings, I'm still slightly feeling it 5 days later. Oof.

Concentrated on keeping a good tight arch, knees out, and trying to use the rebound

• Alternating Incline DB press: 30x6x4

It's been a while since I did these, so I started comparatively light. My right shoulder was hurting a lot, but as long as I hit the full range of motion, it was ok.

&&

• Single leg RDL : 45x8eax4

oof. Right leg really tight, some sort of shin splints.

• Single arm seated cable row: 20x10eax4

These felt good, I could feel it in my back the next day.

&&

• Pitcher squats: 40+bwx6eax3

oof. Definitely need to work on these.

▼ 1. 9/10/09 - Thursday - Practice

Backs plays looked very good at the beginning. Practiced 6-in offensive plays where the weak wing inserts between the flyhalf and inside center. Pretty cool. Got stuck at mandatory bar night until 11pm. Not happy.

▼ 1. 9/11/09 - Friday - Lifting

Slightly limited on time because we were going to the Sam Adams octoberfest. Which was excellent, btw.

• P. Snatch: 55x6x3-4

These were hang snatches. I think.

• P.Clean into Front Squat: 95x4x4

Lighter than wednesday because this is supposed to be a lighter lift before gameday. And my hams were still killing me.

• DB flies: 15sx8x3

Flies usually hurt my shoulder, so I went very light and slow.

&&

• Glut ham raise: BWx10x3

Initially set such that my hamstrings were mudered. Reset so the rest were slightly better.

• Sandbag slams: 45?x10x3

This was fun. Definitely worked me hard.

• DB rotational row: 20x8ea, 25x8eax3

I think I did these right. Reminded me of a turkish-get-up sort of movement, with good trunk rotation and shoulder extension.

• Foam roller: hamstrings, glutes, back.

▼ 1. 9/13/09 - Sunday - Charles River @ North Shore: 7 -20

Solidly beat our big rivals. First league game of the season. Turned into a brutally hot day, even the fittest of us were suffering.

We scored the first try, which probably was a big factor in giving us the confidence to push hard. I started as wing, got a few touches but didn't get to do much with them, I never had the space to run. Went to FLANKER when morgan went out. This was awesome. I was at every ruck and driving hard, helped us win a lot of ball, it was exhausting but really fun and satisfying. Then went to scrumhalf when katie went out, made some good tackles on their hesitating flyhalf, made some good plays, had a decent run that resulted in a try. Was wrecked by the end, but then we had a bside game. Played scrum for bside, but was really just done and not having as much fun with that one.

Contemplating leaving North Shore for Boston Women at the end of this season. The commute is killing me, all the social activities are several towns away and I have no car to get there. I don't want my love of the sport to be dampened by all the other bullshit I have to deal with to just play it, and that seems to be what's happening currently.

Dee is awesome

So it turns out that Dee earned herself some pretty awesome rankings according to powerliftingwatch.com. She is #17 in the total:

17. Deirdra Connolly IPA 2009-08-22 600

And #15 in the deadlift:

15. Deirdra Connolly IPA 2009-08-22 275

Good job Dee! Of course, they fucked up the spelling. And she would have been even better if she had bothered herself to make 123!

Edit: I just realized that Dee tied Brent for lifter ranking:

17.     Brent Tanaka    AAU    2009-06-27    1439

COMMENCE EPIC BATTLE.

Edit2: Dave is a close second...

19.     David Jurgens    USPF    2009-01-24    1609

Edit3: OMG, we have a three-way tie! (Raw Dave)

17.     David Jurgens    USAPL    2009-03-06    1377

Deirdre's First PL Meet

8/22/09 - Sat - MEET DAY (IPA CT STATES)

The past few workouts up til this were blah and nothing interesting so I'm skipping them.

I consider this meet to be a great success in several ways, in that I actually competed, I made all new PRs, and beat all the other raw women in my total. Plus some CT state records and IPA records.

• General

Drove down to CT on Friday night, and got nabbed by a statey for speeding, my first ever. :(

Got about 7 hours sleep, which is pretty awesome for me. Got up before the others and put on my rugby gear to put myself in the right mindset.

• Weigh-in : 126

Wtf? I've been weighing in on Nathan's scale as 130+, so this was a surprise. If I had tried to make 123 it would have been trivial. This turned out to work out in the end because I was the only one in 132.

• Squats warm-ups, 170 (90), 185 (95), 195 (105?)

So nervous.

Warm-ups : Not bad. Tried both (sketchy) monolifts, and those felt fine even though I only used one for the first time two weeks ago.

The competition bar was 55lbs instead of 45, then I think for one of my sets of 135 they put the weight on wrong. I did my set and nearly freaked out, because it felt way heavier than it should have. Then I found out it was 20lbs heavier and was relieved. Definitely nervous before first attempt.

1st : Easy. Didn't need to work to get myself psyched up because my heart was beating wicked hard anyway.

2nd : Also pretty easy, slightly slower than the first.

3rd : PR+5? Good. Solid. Not fast, but never got stuck anywhere. I was debating between 195 and 200 - 200 has been my long term goal, but I wanted 195 to try and get my 600 total, and didn't want to overshoot (195 was already 5 lbs over what sheiko recommended). Nathan was being conservative, while other dudes recommended I got balls-out. I listened to Nathan. I wish I had just done 200. That 5 lbs will be important later.

• Bench warm-ups, 115 (90), 125 (95), 130(105?)

Bench warmups were really rushed, and i skipped some of my planned sets. Definitely not feeling as ready for bench attempts as squat attempts. Took more effort to get psyched up, but then again bench always does.

1st : Easy. Pretty fast apparently.

2nd : Good, but not as fast.

3rd : Definitely hard enough. Another case of debating 130/135. Possibly would have failed on 135. But this is a PR+5(or 10?) anyway.

• Deadlift warm-ups, 240 (90), 255(95), 275 (105+?)

Warm-ups : Not bad. Got them all in. My quads were starting to feel sore at this point, which made me worried. Was feeling the fatigue of the day, and thus had to really work myself up hard. Loud music helps, along with timing.

1st : No problem

2nd : Starting feeling my back round slightly, but apparently not as much as I thought.

3rd : This was the big one. I got this, I got my 600 total. This was also a +10 pr (i think). So while I was getting really psyched up for this, I was fighting off worries that I couldn't get it, or just about how important it was to get it.

Back felt more rounded, but apparently again, not as much as I thought. It wasn't fast, but it wasn't too slow, and I never stuck. Solid.

• Total / recap 600 @ 126

Woohoo! Almost all goals achieved. If I had done 200 squat, and had actual tried to make 123, I would be classified as master. Next time, I will be.

I out-totalled the other two raw women, including the girl 10lbs heavier than me. Got two trophies, one for open 132, one for junior.

Set 4 CT state records, and 4 IPA world records (http://www.rychlakpowersystems.com/MEETRESULTS/CT09.html)

And now apparently I'm ranked 17th in the country for my total in Raw women's 132, and 15th for my deadlift. Cool! Check it on PLwatch.

New goals: 300 deadlift. 140/145 Bench. Bigger squat. Basically aiming for a 700 total someday. Next time I'll be in 123.

Rugby - Sheiko - Rugby

8/11/09 - Tuesday - Rugby

Arrived late yet again. Stupid bus.

• Sprints starting from the ground with some sets of 10 pushups thrown in: 6?

These were good because we had enough rest on the ground to actually sprint at near 100%.

• Tackling the bags (i think?)

• Rucking! 10 ft run up, hitting one person, driving for a count of 10. 4 stations, about 15ft apart. Run through all 4 then rest: x5-6?

These were great, haven't practiced just hitting and driving for a while. This is where the PL training serves me well, I was lower than almost everyone and actually driving hard and fast for the full count. Legs tired by the end, but felt great.

• Rucking against two people bound, 2 stations: x5-6

Same idea. I got an 'ow!' out of morgan on one. I chalk that up to a combination of hitting power and bony shoulders going into her butt.

• Running plays with backs: ~30mins

Full gallop. switched between wing and fullback. Looking pretty damn good actually. I'm definitely better conditioned for actual running play than say suicides.

• 6v6 full tackle: ~20mins

• X-drill - with a square area, jog the straightaways, sprint the diagonals: x6

This was the biggest damn box we've ever run this drill in ever. Definitely hard.

• Static stretching

8/12/09 - Wed - Sheiko

• Bench: 45x5, 65x3, 75x3, 85x3x2, 100x2x5 (80)

• DB bench: 20x10x4

• Deadlift: 135x3, 160x3, 185x3x2, 200x2x5 (75)

My hips were really tight and bothering me on these, likely due to falling on them during rugby. Started popping on the 185, then right one hurting on 200's. This made me try to lift completely with my quads/lower legs instead of using hip drive, thus hard and sucky lifts. Sucked it up and did it right on the last one, which wasn't comfortable, but because it was faster didn't hurt as bad as I expected.

• Good mornings: 45x10x2

Fuck good mornings.

8/13/09 - Thursday - Rugby

Arrived on time!

• Jogging: 10mins

• Dynamic Stretching: ~10mins

• Running lines of 4 with some looping and defenders: 25mins continuously

Brutal. So gassed by the end. We just kept going and going and going.

• Decision-making passing 3v2: 15mins

• Tackling the bags: x~5

• Tackling 2 bags one after the other: ~3times

• Lateral tackling of bodies: ~20mins

Not bad, only missed one with morgan running full out. She earlier tackled me such that I landed hard on my grumpy hip. Oof. I also banged tammy's head up a bit. oops.

• Mauling against pads: 20mins

• 6v6 full tackle: ~20mins

• Sprints down and back to 20m starting from the ground alternating with partner: 8

Considering how gassed I was at the beginning of practice, these felt good and !gassed.

• Static stretching

Talked with Coach Karen a bit about the merits of suicides/exhaustive sprinting. She did not discount Jake's argument, but noted that one school of thought for rugby training is to almost over-train during practice, so that in actual games, it is that much easier.

Last Two Workouts

8/7 - Sheiko

Horrible day for lifting, I was not mentally there at all, or had the energy. I pushed through the urge to just go take a nap in the grass.

• Bench: 45x5, 65x3, 75x3, 85x3x2, 100x3x5 (80)

• Squat: 45x5x2, 95x3, 115x3x2, 135x3x2, 155x3x6 (80)

These were hard due to lack of energy and focus. For the last set I resorted to the music I usually use for sprinting, which shows how desperate things were.

• Bench: 45x5, 65x4, 75x4, 85x4x4 (70)

• Dumbell bench: 20x10x5

• Good Mornings: none.

Fuck good mornings.

8/10 - Sheiko

Much better day than friday, everything went well.

• Hang Cleans: 45x10

• P. Cleans: 95x4, 105x4, 115x4, 125x4

Easier than I anticipated. Looking forward to training heavy cleans again when sheiko is over.

• Squat: 45x5x2,95x3, 115x3, 135x3x2, 155x2x5 (80)

Felt good. Used monolift for last 4 sets. I find monolift distracting.

• Bench: 45x5, 65x3, 75x3, 85x3x2, 100x2x3, 105x1x3 (85)

Also felt good. Pinching my shoulders together higher seems to serving me well.

• Dumbell bench: 25x10x4

Last 4 Days

8/3/09 - Sheiko

• Squat: 45x5x2, 95x5, 115x3x2, 135x3x2, 155x2x4 (80)

• Bench: 45x5, 65x3, 75x3, 85x3x2, 100x3x5 (80)

• Dumbell bench: 20x10x5

• Squat: 105x3, 125x3x2, 145x3x4 (75)

8/4/09 - Rugby

Back to the hot and humid and bug-riddled GEAA field. Luckily we had the whole field this night, instead of being relegated to our little corner by the softball peoples. First practice wrecked me, but I usually adapt back to conditioning pretty fast.

• Warmup: 2 laps, dynamic stretching.

• 'Beep' test. Confirmed I should have done more cardio this summer.

• Quick pass in a circle drill

• Conditioning: 8 stations, 30secs/station, 10secs rest in between: squat jumps, hurdles, lunges, serpentine sprint, burpees (YAY BURPEES), situps, pushups, lateral hurdles.

Originally was supposed to be 60 secs i think, but that was impossible. I like this a lot, it totally destroys the fast twitch fibers and builds endurance for fast changing activity.

• Tackling the bags

Oy, my neck.

• Wrestling

Forgot about this. My partner and I seemed evenly matched most of the time. Turned out later that I separated her shoulder at some point. Oops.

• 6x6 full tackle: 15-20 minutes

I made a few tries.

• Conditioning: groups of 4 running suicides in pairs, 1 with 2, 1 with 3, 1 with 4, then 2 with 3, 2 with 4, etc. I was 2 and 4 in our group of 3.

We were short so I chose to be two people to punish myself. Hard push through the final sprint at the end.

• Static Stretching

8/5/09 - Sheiko

After feeling destroyed from the first practice the night before, I actually woke up feeling fine today and none of this was a problem.

• Deadlift to knees: 135x3x3, 160x2x2, 175x2x2, 185x1x3 (70)

• Bench: 45x5, 65x3, 75x3, 85x3x2, 100x3x2, 105x2x3 (85)

Was feeling off balance during some of these, so towards the end I tightened everything up (esp. my 'bad' shoulder) and really braced against the bench, which seemed to help. I think I'm learning.

• Dumbell bench: 20x10x5

• Deadlift: 135x3, 160x3, 185x3 185x3, 215x3x5 (80)

Tended to focus more on squeezing the bar off the ground as opposed to jerking it, which I sometimes tend to do. Thus I concentrated less on a tight, straight back, and rounded a little during my last set, but nothing very significant.

• Foam roll back, hips. Stretch.

8/6/09 - Rugby

My bus was 20 minutes late so I missed proper warmups.

• Passing drills: step over and place, pop pass, stomach punch, something else.

• Pop pass from the ground drill, for several minutes.

• Conditioning: 6 stations, 30secs/station, 10secs rest in between: hurdles, jump split lunges, serpentine sprint, burpees (YAY BURPEES), situps, lateral hurdles. X2

Felt easier than the first time. Done twice, with a few minutes between cycles. I did v-ups for crunches the second cycle, and we ended with burpees on that one, which were terrible-looking because I couldn't jump anymore.

• Tackling the bags (with squishy balls in our hands to force wrapping instead of grabbing)

• Spin passing

• 4x4 full tackle: 15-20 minutes

I made a few tries, good tackles at the beginning, began to get too high towards the end as I got tired. Getting better at just attacking, rather than waiting to catch the ball carrier.

• Conditioning: pairs running suicides alternating, placing and picking the ball: 15-20 mins?

I ran with some girls slower than me, so instead of suicides they were more like brisk jogs.

• Static Stretching