starting to commute by bicycle again

My wife and i have had only one vehicle all week and my wife's been taking it to work. I've been riding my old, beat up, 90's model Raleigh mountain bike everyday to The Miller Gym and work. At first i was afraid the cycling would hurt my weightlifting. But i think the cycling is actually helping it. I used to struggle getting my legs warmed up and ready to lift heavy. This week, by the time i bike the 11 miles to the gym, my legs feel great and are ready to lift right away. So it looks like I'm picking up commuting to work and gym on my bicycle again.

new PR's close to qualifying

Today i was scheduled to lift heavy. It's not often my programming has me go heavy, so it wasn't a day i was willing to miss. My wife's van broke down and she needed my vehicle for both her work and school. So i rode my old commuter mountain bike to the gym.

 It was only about 11 miles from my house to The Miller gym, not that far really,  but i was  still worried riding that far on an old dilapidated bike would fatigue my legs. It turns out it didn't. I lifted a lifetime PR of a 90k snatch and a clean and jerk of 113k for a total of 203k. That's only 4 kilos from qualifying for the masters weightlifting national championships.

 

Qualifying for the master's national championships would mean a ton to me. I used to be a pretty finominal triathlete, i had qualified for 6 national championships and one world championship. I assumed the cycling accident that ended my triathlon career marked the end of me competing in athletics at a national level. But here i am getting close to being able to compete at another national championship sporting event. I'm so excited and I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who's helped me get to where I'm at, particularly my weightlifting coaches Shane Miller,  Kim Alderwick, and Jodi Stumbo.

losing weight for an attractive woman

My wife started working out at Praxis (formerly Zia crossfit) a month ago.  She's lost so much weight so quickly that the transformation has been shocking. She's not just losing weight, she's getting that athletic and fit look, muscular arms, a slender waist line, long lean legs, and defined shoulders. On one hand I'm lucky because my wife was already a very attractive lady, but now she's looking unbelievable. And now i need to lose some dang weight or we're going to endup looking like the picture below.

forgiven and blessed

On Friday i received two medical bills totaling  $6700. Then a few days later my vehicle broke down, another  $706. Yesterday on the way to pick up my vehicle from the mechanic my wife's vehicles check engine light came on. The only way for my family to get out of that kind of financial mess would have been for me to go back to working massive amounts of overtime. I spent 9 years working 80-90 hour work weeks to pay off my wife's student loans. Working that much caused massive depression, marital problems, and i missed much to much of my children growing up. To have to work that many hours again was more than i could bear. I'll be honest, i started to pray for God to take me to heaven rather than me to have to work like that again. I wanted to die.

This morning i called the hospital to negotiate the bill. By the end if the of the phone call they agreed to forgive the bill. As soon as I hung up the phone i fell to my knees in relief and started crying, praying, and thanking God. Its amazing how loving and forgiving He is. i usually have the worst luck,  but i put it in Gods hands and He gave me so much more than i deserve. I'm so very blessed.

sleep, overtime, and PR's

In the last month my lifts have increased substantially. I'm %100 certain its because I've been sleeping more. In the last month I've slept 8 hours a night. That's the first time I've been able to feel rested in 9 years. It shows in my lifting. In 4 weeks my front squat alone increased by almost 20 kilos (42 pounds). I've PR'd my snatch and clean and jerk and they felt easy. Friday we received 2 medical bills totaling $6700. And tonight my Suburban broke down. I'm back to working 12-16 hours a day, 6 days a week and not sleeping much. Looks like until i pay these bills off I'll be going back to getting slow weightlifting gains.

medical bills and student loans

I worked 80-90 hours a week for 9 years. It was horrible. I was miserable. Just a few weeks ago ago i was finally able to pay off enough of my wife's student loans that i could afford to start working a bit less & staying home more. And then on Friday i received these. $6,709 in medical bills. I'm so sick and tired of working so much and sleeping so little. Starting tonight i'm going back to working 80-90 hours a week until i pay these off.  I just want to be home to spend time  with my family. I'm so sick of this.

a new bench press PR

8 weeks ago i asked Shane Miller from the Miller Gym to help me get my bench press stronger. Since i was 8 years old one of my biggest goals was to beat my natural fathers lifetime bench press max of 275 pounds. 8 weeks ago my max bench press was 240 pounds. On Friday i maxed out and to my amazement in 8 weeks i put 45 pounds on my bench & accomplished my life long goal of maxing more on bench press than my dad ever had, setting a lifetime PR of 285 pounds.

I asked Shane to build me another bench press program to get my max above 300 pounds before my 40th birthday in late November. My first day ofthe program was today.

injured weightlifters, a new weightlifting program, and a bench press program

There's a woman I train with named Chris Galvin. She's in the Olympic weightlifting hall of fame. After winning numerous national weightlifting championships (I'm talking 11 or 12!!!!) she had to have major shoulder surgery. For must people a surgery of that type would be a career ending surgery. But she's rehabbing her shoulder and slowly increasing the amount she lifts. Yesterday  i watched her doing some heavy snatches.  During every repetition I'd see her her grit her teeth or grunt in pain. I'm amazed at her determination to fight through the pain and do whatever it takes to get back to a high level of competition. I wish i was half as tough as she is. It's people like her that make it so motivating to train at The Miller Gym.

I'm one week into my new weightlifting program. It's hard. Awesome, but very hard.  I promised a couple of my buddies from church I'd compete in a N.A.S.A. powerlifting competition this December in Roswell New Mexico with them. So after each weightlifting training session I've been trying to do a bench program Coach Shane Miller built for me. The bench program is amazing,  I was getting great results from it, but by the end of my Olympic weightlifting session I'm too tired to bench. I'm not sure if i can follow through with the powerlifting meet. i desperately want to, but I just don't know if I'll have the energy to get through both. One of my life long dreams was to beat my natural fathers max bench press PR of 275lbs. Last year i did the program Coach Miller built for me and i got up to a 272lb max. So close! But just like now the Olympic weightlifting got intense and exhausted me so i just couldn't keep doing both. I'm hoping i can push through it, but it's not looking very promising.

bonking at the weight room

Yesterday i ran it of energy half way through my workout. I crashed hard. In triathlon we call that bonking. I took a double latte Power Gel which  usually helps me finish my workouts no matter how tired i get. I had ate well before the workout, slept well, etc. i can't think of any reason for it to  happened. The rest of the day i felt sluggish and worn out. Interesting. I'm not sure what happened.

 I'm hoping that I'll qualify for national championships by end if this year. To ensure this happens I'll be working less hours, sleeping more,  and taking creatine.

weightlifting goals and programming

Coach Miller started me on a new training program today. He always places the weights he thinks I'll hit at the bottom of the programs he builds. After he handed the new workout plan to me i dashed to a quiet place in the gym and greedily looked at what the numbers he thinks I'll accomplish. Snatch 92k, clean and jerk 116k, a total of 208k! If i am able to do what my weightlifting coach thinks i can do i will qualify for the 2016 USA masters weightlifting national championships!!!!! My biggest goal when i started weightlifting 19 months ago was to qualify for the masters weightlifting national championships. I thought it would take me many years to get to the national championships. Turns out i may reach that goal sooner than i thought.

After working 80-90 hour work weeks since 2006 I've finally got my families finances to the point where i can slow down a bit on overtime. Barring a vehicle breakdown or some other financial calamity i should only have to work 50-60 hour work weeks from here on out.  Perfect timing with me being so close to qualifying for the national championships. I'll be training extra hard and will need the extra time for rest and recovery. 

The 2015 New Mexico games weightlifting report

On Sunday July 19th 2015 i competed in the New Mexico games weightlifting meet. On Monday night of the 13th i got sick and was sick the rest of week. It wasn't  until the night before the meet that i felt well enough to get off the couch. The good news about being sick all week was i lost a few pounds, the bad news was i lost a bunch of strength. i weighed in at 131k, the third lowest I've ever weighed at a weightlifting meet.

The loss of strength was apparent during my warm up. My form was off too. Coach Shane was concerned enough to lower my openering lifts.

My first lift was a 79k snatch. I over pulled and i almost dropped it, i was able to recover. Barely. Good lift.

My 2nd snatch was 84k,  no problems at all,  good lift.

The third snatch was going to be a state record lift of 87k. i didn't finish the pull so the weight almost fell forward. As i was standing up i had to chase it forward. I was about 2 feet from the end of the platform before i was able to get under the bar and secure the lift. The middle judge raised his hands in fear, afraid the weight and i was going to fall on him. Despite scaring the judge i got three white lights, good lift.

I made the first clean and jerk of 99k, but it felt awkward. My form was crap. I dropped my 2nd clean and jerk of 104k. I don't think it was that i lacked the strength,  i think because of the illness it was taking me longer to recover from the lift before. Coach Miller could tell i was tired and needed some extra recovery time so he changed my next lift to 105 so i could have an extra couple of lifters between me and my next lift. I told coach i'd already totalled and secured 1st place in  my division, i still felt strong, with the extra recovery time i was certain i could successfully lift another state record of 108k. Coach Shane's eyes almost popped out of his head when i asked for 108k, "you missed 104k & want to go up to 108k? That goes against every rule I have.... if you miss this....." he changed my next lift to 108k but he wasn't happy about it. The extra rest helped a ton. I nailed the lift! I was so happy i stood there on the platform and yelled "YEAH!".

I took 1st place in my division  and became state champion for the 2nd year in a row,  i also set three state records.

Last year i lifted a 65/89/154. This year i lifted a 87/108/195. That's an increase of 41k (90lbs)!

The next goal is to qualify for the national championships. I'll need to get a 207k total. Right now I'm 12k short of 207k.

weightlifting, massage and illness

My wife's family bought my wife a couples message for her birthday. She and i had a the massage on Monday. I thought that was perfect timing because I have a weightlifting meet this Sunday. I figured the massage would help me recover and taper. Instead of helping me,  3-4 hours after the massage i became sick. It was the exact same thing that happened last time i got a massage. Same symptoms and time frame. I'm trying to figure out if it's the massage that's making me sick or if I'm over training. The next time I get a massage I'm not going to get it during my taper. I don't know, can a massage cause a person to get sick?

The  week before last my wife and i did our budget,  but we neglected to factor in that our kids are home for summer break so we'd be going through a lot more food. By Thursday the following week we were out of food. That day was my last heavy day to determine what weights I'd be attempting at the New Mexico games weightlifting meet. Even though i hadn't eaten i still lifted a 85/105. After every lift I'd see spots and get light headed. Apparently eating  before lifting is important. Who knew? Haha.

motivation and weightlifting numbers

Out of 5 training cycles I'd become sick at the end of all 5. That was a sure sign of overtraining. This training cycle i've decreased the number of days I'm working out a week. Its worked perfectly. I haven't become sick  once.

On Sunday Barry Schroeder showed up to train at The Miller Gym the same time i did.  That was great motivation! I trained harder and took less recovery between sets that I'm used to. The next day i was so sore! For those of you who haven't read my blog one of my goals in life is to loose enough weight to be in his weight class and beat Barry in a weightlifting meet. When i set this goal I needed to loose 106 pounds. I still need to loose 83. Even if I'm able to loose that much weight, getting strong enough to beat him is another thing. His PR's are 105/125/230.  He knows my goal is to beat him, yet he still is constantly helping me. Sometimes it's weightlifting advise, diet advise, or just moral support. Needless to say, he's one of the nicest and most supportive people I've ever had the pleasure of training with.

The 2015 State Games is only 12 days away. My strength still hasn't returned to what it was in April of this year, but I'm still much stronger than i was at last years State Games. At the state games last year i only did a 65k snatch, 88k clean and jerk, a 154k total. This year i think I'll get a 84/104, 188.

powerlifting weekend excursion for the boys

Last year my buddy and i were planning on going to an out of town NASA powerlifting competition  but i wasn't able to get time off from work. I requested the time off from work this year for a meet on December 5th 2015 in Roswell New Mexico and was approved. I looked up the New Mexico NASA records for my age and weight and it was crazy how many different categories there were! The weight classes are in pounds, the records are in kilos.i know,  very confusing. But here they are in all its baffling glory:

On December I'll be 40, so i can compete in the
1)Masters 1 division
2)masters pure division
3):and if they let correctional officers compete in the police/firefighter division i could also compete in that.

Plus I'm teetering between the
1) 242 pound division (242-274lb)
2) and the 275 pound division  (275-308lbs).

In each of those divisions i could compete in the following divisions:
1) power sports & power press/clean
-unequppied records
2) unequiped division and retro
3) eq'd & uneq'd push/pull

Since it was so complicated and time consuming looking up all the divisions i decided to record the records for all the divisions i can compete in here so that i dont have to go through the headache of figuring it all out again.

Masters 1
Power sports
242lb
Curl 77.5
Bench 182.5
Deadlift 240
Total 500

Police/firefighter
Power sports
242lb
Curl none
Bench- none
Deadlift- none

Masters pure
Power sports
242lb
Curl 70
Bench 147.5
Deadlift 140
Total 347.5

Masters 1
Power sports
275lb
Curl 87.5
Bench 205
Deadlift 260
Total 497.5

Police/firefighter division
Power sports
275
Curl 70
Bench- none
Deadlift- none
Total- none

Masters pure
Power sports
275lb
Curl 82.5
Bench 172.5
Deadlift 272.5
Total 505

Masters 1
power press
242lb
Ttl 227.5

Police/firefighter
power press
242
total None

Masters pure
Power pres
242
total none

Masters 1
power press
275
Total none

Police/firefighters
Power press
275
Total none

Masters pure
power press
275
Total none

Masters 1
Power clean
242
None

Police /firefighters
power clean
242
None

Masters pure
power clean
242
None

masters 1
Power clean
275
None

Police /firefighters
Power clean
275
None

Masters pure
power clean
275
None

Masters1
Unequiped bench
242
Bench 150

Police/firefighter division
unequiped bench
242
Bench- none

Masters pure
unequiped bench
242
Bench 150

Masters 1
Unequiped bench
275
Bench 185

Police/firefighter
unequiped bench
275
Bench-none

Masters pure
unequiped bench
275lb
Bench- none

Masters 1
Unequiped records
242lb
Squat- 192
Bench 147.5
Deadlift 220
Total 547.5

Police/firefighter
Unequiped records
242
Squat- none
Bench- none
Deadlift- none
Total- none

Masters pure
unequiped records
242
Squat 210
Bench 122.5
Deadlift 127.5
Total 580

Masters 1
Unequiped records
275
Squat 205
Bench 170
Deadlift 232.5
Total 602.5

Police/firefighters
Unequiped records
275
Squat 227.5
Bench 125
Deadlift 227.5
Total 580

Masters pure
Unequiped records
275
Squat 275
Bench 172.5
Deadlift 260
Total 707.5

Masters 1
Push/pull
242
none

Police/firefighter
Push/pull
242
327.5

Masters pure
Push/pull
242
327.5

Masters 1
Push/pull
275
None

Police/firefighters
Push/pull
275
None

Masters pure
Push/pull
275
320

Masters 1
retro
242
none

Police/firefighter
retro
242
None

Masters pure
Retro
242
None

Masters 1
Retro
275
None

Police/firefighter
Retro
275
None

Masters pure
Retro
275
None

balancing weightlifting, work, and eating

Today i had a break through on my snatch form. My strength is still low from the 7 weeks off from training. But thanks to the breakthrough on my form i hit an 84k snatch. That's less than i was lifting in April, but I'll get back to my old numbers eventually.

I've been working 12-16 hours every day since June 6th. My first day off will be July 6th. That's over a month of 92 hour work weeks. Obviously exhaustion has a lot to do with my strength returning so slowly. My wife is pushing for me to work a lot of overtime so we can get enough of a down payment for a new home so that we can move. At first i was willing, but now I'm having 2nd thoughts. I've been working 80-90 hour work weeks non-stop since 2006. I'm tired. I'd like to have a normal life, more time with the kids, and more sleep. I know my wife wants to move off prison grounds and move back to Albuquerque so she can be closer to her parents, but I'm happy where we're at. I really enjoy my career, i like living on prison grounds, i enjoy living in Santa Fe more than I've ever enjoyed living anywhere else, i love the church we go to, and I love weightlifting at the Miller Gym. If we moved to Albuquerque all that would change. I'm not sure i want to change things. With the exception of the amount of hours I've been asked to work I've never been this happy. Where I'm at now is where I'm happiest, why kill myself to leave?

I have two workout buddies, Kevin Y. and Heather,  who were incuraging me to start logging my food on My Fitness pal. Logging my food is helping my diet a lot. I've gone 27 days without binge eating. That's getting pretty close to the longest I've gone without destructive eating since i fell off the wagon back in 2012.  I've lost a little weight, 10 pounds or so. But this time my goal isn't to lose weight.  It's just to eat relatively healthy and avoid binge eating. Losing some weight this month is probably another reason my strength is rebounding so slowly. Haha, that's a tough one: lose weight and look better and be healthier or be strong?

powerlifting totals

A couple of my buddies from church have been working out with each other all year. They told me their goal is to get to a  bench,  squat,  and deadlift of 1000 pounds. They motivated me to challenge them to a N.A.S.A. weightlifting competition.They agreed!  I'm already doing a ton of squatting and deadlifts in weightlifting. All i need to do is start doing bench press a few times a week. I already have a great bench press program. My weightlifting coach Shane Miller built one for me last year. In only a couple months i put on 60 pounds to my bench,  hitting a lifetime PR of 280. I'm going to start throwing in some  bench with my weightlifting and see if i can take these guys to school!  Gonna show 'em how olympic style weightlifters lift! The NASA divisions are:
SUBMASTER: 33 to and including 39
MASTER: 40 years to and including 49; 50 years upwards.

Weight Classes
Men
52.0 kg Class - up to 52.0 kg
56.0 kg Class - 52.01 to 56.0 kg
60.0 kg Class - 56.01 to 60.0 kg
67.5 kg Class - 60.01 to 67.5 kg
75.0 kg Class - 67.51 to 75.0 kg
82.5 kg Class - 75.01 to 82.5 kg
90.0 kg Class - 82.51 to 00.0 kg
100.0 kg Class - 90.01 to 100.0 kg
110.0 kg Class - 100.01 to 110.0 kg
125.0 kg Class - 110.01 to 125.0 kg
140.0 kg Class - 125.1 to 140.0 kg
140+ kg. Class - 140.1 to unlimited

Full powerlifting
a. Squat
B. Bench Press
c. Deadlifts

Full Power Sports Division:
a. Curl
b. Bench Press
c. Deadlift

Power press:
A. Clean
b. Bench Press.

weightlifting without supplements and too much work

I've been back, training again for two and a half weeks. My power exercises like squat, clean, and deadlift are back to where they were before my hiatus. But form exercises like snatch, jerk,  overhead squat,  etc are still bad. The New Mexico games are only four and a half weeks away. It'll be close if i can get my lifts back to where they were at my last meet in April.

I've been training consistently. Haven't missed a day since coming back. My diet has been good. I'm eating relatively healthy,  keeping my proteins up. I haven't been using supplements at all. No protein  powder after workouts, no glutamine,  or creatine. I wanted to take a break from them for a weightlifting cycle.

I've been working unbelievable amounts of hours at work. By July fifth i will have worked 5 weeks straight with only two days off, twelve to sixteen hours shifts each day. I'm tying to save up enough cash to move my family off of prison grounds,  buy a house, retire from the prison, and start another career. I'm so tired. I'm sure working this many hours is negatively affecting my weightlifting,  but I'm eager to start the next chapter of my life.

My goal: the 2016 masters national weightlifting championships

One of my biggest weightlifting goals is to qualify for the masters national weightlifting championships. The qualifying total is 207k, my best total was 192k in April 2015. I have to gain 15k to my best lifts to qualify by March 2016.

Another great motivation for me to qualify for the 2016 masters national weightlifting championships  is that it will be held in Savannah Georgia. I have an aunt who lives in Columbia South Carolina, 2 hours 50 minutes from the competition. I could visit her and my uncle who just tried from the military. Aunt Stacie is one of only a couple family members who I'm in contact with. Its been almost 7 years since I've seen her. It would be beyond wonderful to see her again. And she's the most amazing cook I've ever seen! Motivation!

one year anniversary of my first weightlifting meet

The New Mexico games are next month in Albuquerque. I'm very excited about competing in it this year. Last year's New Mexico games (2014) was the first weightlifting meet I'd ever competed in. I'm hoping i can break the state records for my weight class. That'd be awesome. Breaking state records at a meet a year after my first ever competition.

getting back into training

It's amazing to me how quickly i lose strength when i miss training. I lost a ton during the 7 weeks i was out. The good news is I'm gaining it back really quickly.

I'm loving the new training program my coach built for me. It's a 10 day program. My body is chronically sore. I'm loving this so much. I'm hoping i can get back to where i was by the New Mexico games in late July.

back in training and the New Mexico games

Thanks to a vacation, illness, and a torn calf muscle yesterday was my first day training in over a month. Since it'd been so long since I'd lifted my coach had me lift light and with limited the sets. Snatches are mostly form so they were no problem, i was able to do the recommended weights and sets. For the  squat I built up to a relatively light weight of 115k. Even with the light weights my quads were exhausted and were cramping after the 2nd set. I also struggled at the end of my workout with push presses. Sets of 70k were no problem, buy anything more than that and my calf, which i tore a few weeks ago would hurt. Even though i went light I'm still SO SORE today!

It felt great getting back into the gym and training. i missed it so bad! I'm beyond grateful to whoever the anonymous person is that is helping finance me to get back into the gym.

I registered for the New Mexico state games last night. Hopefully my body will have recovered from my injuries and time off and I'll be back in shape by then. I'd like to break the state records at the New Mexico games that i had set earlier this year.

an amazing gift, weightlifting continues

Last week i posted on my blog that because of financial problems we had to pull my daughter out of gymnastics. I also posted i wouldn't be able to weightlift anymore because of the same reason. My post was overly emotion, full of self pity, and had some inappropriate  words in it so the next day i erased it. Apparently someone read it before i erased it. A couple days later i got a call from my weightlifting coach, Shane Miller. He asked if we could meet in person. When we met he told me there was an anonymous member at The Miller Gym who wanted to pay for my membership. My love and passion of weightlifting continues. Whoever you are, I'm speechless and touched beyond words. thank you so very much.

a new career

I've worked at the New Mexico state penitentiary since 1995. I'm eligible to retire from the prison on May 30th 2015. I put in a job application to my dream job of being a dock worker at ABF. Being a dock worker at ABF has all the things i love at my current career like shift bidding and bidding for days off based on seniority, but it has none of the bad things such as the possibility of being stabbed, taken hostage, or raped. I'll keep you informed if i hear anything.

a torn calf muscle

On Saturday i was playing football and chase with my kids and i tore my calf muscle. It hurt like a son of a gun. At the time i couldn't walk without crutches. It's healing up so quickly it's unbelievable. I can walk with only a slight limp, barely noticeable. I'm going to work tonight. Yup, I'm going to work with a torn calf muscle. I love my job and i love the people i work with. I always feel guilty when i call in sick, like I'm abandoning them. Anyways, back to my injury, I'm pretty sure I'll be back to training in a few weeks or less.  The New Mexico state games is in July and I'm close to qualifying for the masters national championships. I need  to get back in the gym!

The Miller Gym's 1st Anniversary Invitational Weightlifting Meet report

I haven't felt much like blogging recently. But I don't want to leave my last meet unblogged, so it'll be short and to the point.

Last week I competed in The Miller Gym's 1st Anniversary Invitational Weightlifting Meet. Before the meet I'd been on vacation and then I got sick. I missed a total of three weeks of training. Getting sick was my fault, my stupidity. It takes a long time to build up the ability to withstand a lot of training volume, especially when your 39 years old. I was pushing it, training to frequently. 

I went 5 for 6. I lifted an 80/84/86 in the snatch and a 100/106/ and missed my last attempt at 110k clean and jerk. The 86 snatch was a PR and a state record, I also set a state record with a 192k total. In the 15 months I've been weightlifting I've set 9 state records. 

bubba coffee mug

I'm broken hearted. I lost my big bubba coffee mug. I've had that thing for a little over 3 years. I used to ride my bike to work and my big bubba coffee mug lasted through bike crashes,  riots at work,  droped day on and day out,  etc. This is a very sad day for me. That was by far the best coffee mug I've ever owned.

trust your program, trust your coach

Since i missed two and a half weeks of training because of illness and vacation I asked Coach Miller if i could sit out the weightlifting competition this Saturday. He told me not to worry, I'd still lift more than i did at my meet in January. I didn't believe him. He loaded the bar with 86 kilos and had me snatch it setting a PR. He then loaded the bar with 108 kilos and i set another PR. After lifting those easily he told me, "trust your programming. Trust your coach. " He's right. He's one of the best at building programs in the nation. I need to stop doubting myself. As long as I'm being coached by coach Miller I'm in good hands.

rabbit Pâté Recipe

rabbit Pâté Recipe

Prep time
20 mins

Cook time
15 mins

Total time
35 mins

 A delicious Pâté recipe that uses fresh liver, spices, herbs and butter for a creamy and velvety Pâté that can be served on homemade crackers or vegetables.

Author: Wellness Mama

Recipe type: Condiment

Serves: 6+

Ingredients

½ pound chicken livers (I'll n be using rabbit liver)
6 Tablespoons grass fed butter (or coconut oil, but the taste will be different)
½ cup finely minced onion or shallots
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
½ teaspoon dried Thyme leaf
½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
1 bay leaf (optional)
3 Tablespoons Brandy or Scotch (or Apple Cider Vinegar but taste will be different)
2 tablespoons heavy cream (preferably raw)

Instructions

Note: You can soak the livers in milk or coconut milk for a few hours (up to overnight) and rinse before making this recipe for a more mild flavor if desired.

Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet. Add finely minced onion and garlic and cook on medium until translucent- 3-4 minutes.

Meanwhile, trim the connective tissue off of the livers. Add livers to pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper and thyme and add the bay leaf if using.

Brown livers for 6-10 minutes until cooked on the outside and barely pink on the inside.

Add the Brandy or Scotch and cook until it thickens, 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Put in food processor or blender and puree until smooth. While blending/pureeing, add the additional butter and cream (if using). Add more salt and pepper to taste, if desired.

Once mixture is completely smooth, remove from blender and put in ramekins or a glass container and cover tightly. Put in the fridge for at least 5-6 hours or overnight (preferred) to harden and let flavors meld. Serve with crackers or vegetables.

sick again- overtraining

I got sick on April 2nd. It was a heck of an illness. I took 32 hours of sick leave last week, and today i was still too sick to go to the gym. Last week i almost drove myself to the emergency room, i thought i was having a heart attack. Of course I'm   a stubborn man. I decided i would wait to see how i was feeling rather than go get checked to see if i was dieing.

I think it was a really horrible upper respiratory illness. I don't know what it was (is), but i do know what caused it. I've been getting ill at the tail end of every 3 month training cycle since i started weightlifting 15 months ago. I'm great at digging deep, pushing myself longer and harder than most could, but I'm not very good at allowing myself the proper amount of recovery. I've been told from one of my former coaches I'm all heart, no brains. Starting next week I'm going to train one less day every two weeks. Hopefully that will give myself enough rest and recovery to stop me from getting sick every training cycle.

This long of an illness may have totally destroyed my chances at setting more PR's and state records at the next weightlifting meet. As a matter of a fact, i'm going to ask coach Miller if i could just skip this next weightlifting tournament. Taking this long away from training would make for a piss poor performance.

massage causes illness?

Last night after my massage i got the aches all over my body. A few hours after that i became sick. Cough, aches (very bad aches), sinus pressure, runny nose, weakness, cough, etc. i have no idea where that came from. Perhaps my body was fighting the illness and the massage pushed my body over the brink?  I dunno,  but it sucked.  I'm afraid to get another massage now.

massage for Olympic weightlifting

When i was competing in triathlon I heard a ton about the benefits of massage for athletes. I'd heard  it promotes flexibility, reduces fatigue, improves endurance, helps prevent injuries and prepares the body and mind for optimal performance.

Yesterday I'd had two hard workouts in a row and i was incredibly sore so i thought I'd try it out. It felt AMAZING! After i left i felt like a new man! No soreness at all! Truly, I've never felt anything as magical as that was.  And to think, it'll help my lifting on the platform too! I believe I'm hooked. I'm going to have to get a massage more often!

I went to Massage Envey on Zafarano Drive in Santa Fe New Mexico. They were incredible there! I highly recommend them!

missed training time

I was on a two week vacation late March. That was the longest I'd been away from the prison excluding  funerals or family illnesses in 3 years. It was magical being away from the prison that long. My family and i went to Denver. I didn't get a chance to work out while we were gone, i went a total of 5 days without weightlifting. That was the longest I'd gone without training since October of last year. There's 23 days until my next weightlifting meet. I really feel horrible about missing that much training so close to my next meet. My next meet is really important. If all goes well I'll set 3 new state records. But, i don't regret missing the training . The trip with my family was one of the most fun vacations of my life.

I fell of the diet wagon the whole trip. I ate what ever i wanted. It was great.

 BTW, I'm so sore today!

how to cook rabbit

Rabbit is one of the most lean animals you can eat, its perfect for an Olympic weightlifter!

Back in 2011 i got ran over by avehicle while training for Ironman Arizona. i was unable work for  a while and the family was struggling without my income. I started raising rabbits so my family could eat. I've become pretty good at cooking rabbit after 4 years of raising and eating them.
I got this recipe off the Livestrong.com its the best rabbit recipe i've tried so far.

Rabbit is one of the easiest game animals for novices to work with, because of its compact size. Rabbit is easy to cut up and doesn't require a lot of complicated preparation, and ordinary methods are usually all that's required to cook it. Most chicken recipes can be adapted to use rabbit, though the meat is leaner and usually chewier than chicken. Young fryer rabbits can be fried or grilled, but slow cooking in a crock pot will make any rabbit tender and tasty.

Heat a heavy skillet over moderately high heat. While the skillet is warming up, dredge the rabbit pieces in flour seasoned with salt and pepper.

Pour 1 tablespoon of oil or butter into the hot skillet. Add the rabbit pieces and brown on all sides. Transfer the rabbit pieces to your preheated crock pot. Add 1/2 cup of water or other liquid to the hot skillet, and stir it to loosen the browned-on juices. Add this liquid to the crock pot.

Add the onion, garlic and bay leaf to your crock pot. Season the rabbit pieces with salt and pepper, and add enough water, broth or wine to almost cover the rabbit pieces.

Add vegetables to the pot if you want them to cook with the rabbit. Otherwise, prepare them separately and have them ready when the rabbit has finished cooking.

Cook the rabbit on high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or on low for 4 to 5 hours, until it is fork-tender. Remove the rabbit from your crock pot, as well as the vegetables if you've cooked them in the pot. 

Strain the cooking liquid from the crock pot into a small saucepan. To make a concentrated sauce, reduce the liquid until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If you want more sauce, whisk 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in 1/4 cup of water, then stir that into the cooking juices. Stop stirring once the sauce thickens.

Serve the rabbit and vegetables hot, with the sauce or gravy made from your cooking juices.

Things You'll Need

1 stewing rabbit or smaller fryer

Sharp knife

Heavy skillet

Flour

Salt and pepper

oil or butter

Water, broth or wine

1/2 medium onion, 

diced1 clove garlic, minced

1 small bay leaf

Mixed vegetables (optional)

SaucepanSpoon

Cornstarch

back squat day and increased calories

Today i was scheduled for 2X4 sets of back squat @147k (315lbs). On any other day that would be an easy couple sets, but it was a rough night last night at the prison. After all the adrenaline from last night my body was exhausted. It was all force of will and determination, but i was able to make the lifts.

About a week ago i started to struggle to finish my workouts so i increased my calories. Increasing my calories helped a ton. I maintained my weight during that week and started to feel 100% again. As of last night i decreased my calories again to 3250 calories a day. I'll lose about a pound a week with that. I'll keep you informed on how the weightlifting is going with the decreased calories. 

hydrostatic body fat test and Olympic weightlifting goals

Like i wrote on my blog yesterday,  I'm a flake. After i set a goal i get overly excited about a different goal and give up on my original. I've been losing weight since December and recently started thinking, "is this really worth it? What if I just maintain where I'm at? As long as I'm eating healthy foods and exercising why should it matter how much i weigh?". To help me decide what i should do in regards to my weight I went to get a hydrostatic body fat test at the University of New Mexico exercise physiology department.  The numbers i recieved were humbling. No. They were heart breaking. I'm currently weighing,  by their scale,  288.4lbs, i am 35.2% body fat, 187lbs lean mass, 101.5lbs fat. Alright, that hit me hard. I'll stay dieting. Yup, i need to drop 50-75 pounds. I think i need to set, AND STICK TO, a long term goal of getting to and maintaining 205-235 pounds.

Here are my hydrostatic body fat tests over the years:

March 2015: 288.4 pounds @ 35.2% body fat. 187 pounds lean mass. 101.5 pounds fat.

Nov 2013: 274.7 pounds @ 34.52% body fat. 179.9 pounds lean mass.  95.8 pounds fat.

April 2013: 229.7 pounds @ 23.12% body fat.  176.6 pounds lean mass. 53.1 pounds fat.

Feb 12 2013: 241.1 pounds @ 28.14% body fat. 173.3 pounds lean mass. 67.8 pounds fat.

Oct 2011: 181 pounds @ 6.86% body fat. 169.3 pounds lean mass. 12.5 pounds fat.

June 2011: 188.4 pounds @ 10.9%. 169.4 pounds lean mass. 19 pounds fat.

Nov 2010: 222.2 pounds at 19.01% body fat. 180 pounds lean mass. 42.2 pounds fat.

July 2010: 189 pounds at 9.81% body fat. 170.6 pounds lean mass. 18.5 pounds fat.

I'm a flake and OCD both

I used to drive my old triathlon coach Pete Alfino nuts. I'd set a goal to compete at a race and a couple months into training for it i'd get the itch and want to change my goal. And here i am contemplating changing my goal again.  Since December I'd been gradually losing weight. My goal was to get to the 105k weight class. Although i was still gaining strength as i was losing weight, I'm not gaining as much as I do when I'm not trying to lose weight. So now of course I'm attempting to  justify staying at current weight. There's no doubt I'd look better if i lost weight. I'm sure I'd also feel better about myself at a lighter weight. But if i stay my current weight I'll be stronger for Olympic style weightlifting. And i REALLY LOVE Olympic style weightlifting! I'm even better at weightlifting than i was at triathlon, and i ended up being a highly decorated triathlete. I also have a really legitimate fear of getting obsessed with weight loss. I have a tendency to get a little out of control with sports and food. I found a picture of when i was a hard core triathlete. I was to thin and absolutely not eating enough.

And here's one of me now. 

I'd love to lose 80-90 pounds, but I'm afraid of going off the deep end with my eating again. 

What to do? What to do? 

increased calories, PR's, and phone data

The last few workouts I've struggled to finish my workouts. I'm running out of energy which is an obvious sign that i need to increase my calories for awhile. I'll be raising it to my metabolic rate of 4000 calories a day for approximately 1-2 weeks depending how i feel.

I pick up my youngest son from pre-k before i go to weightlift each day. He's really well behaved for a 5 years old, but 1-2 hours in the gym everyday is a struggle for him. Last week i increased the data on my phone plan so he can watch NetFlix while I'm working out. That's been one of the best decisions I've made in awhile. I can lift with less interruptions and stress, and he's entertained and happy. Win win.

I lifted an 81k snatch rather easily last week which tied my training PR. The last time i got up an 81k snatch was in January and it was a struggle. Two weeks ago i squated 2 sets of 6 reps at 3301lb another PR. I'm looking forward to my next meet in April. I'm on track to crush my old PR's.

metabolic rate and Olympic weightlifting

In the last week I've lost 1.6 pounds. That's a little quicker than i had originally planned, but my strength doesn't seem to be affected at all. Last week i squated 301 pounds 6 times.  And today i tied a training PR snatch of 81k. In the last 3 weeks I've lost 1.75 inches around my waist. I've accomplished all that while eating 3,250 calories a day plus eating any calories burned from working out.  That means my metabolic rate is still hovering at around 4,000 calories a day. The life & metabolism of an Olympic weightlifter is great!

continued weight loss, 105k weightlifting division goal

This weight loss thing sucks. I'm down to 294 pounds. I've lost 17 pounds and it's been a huge struggle to say the least. i still have 58 pounds more to lose If I'm going to get to the 105k Olympic weightlifting division.  If i lose weight too fast my workouts fall apart. I've found the most i can lose a week without losing strength is 1 pound a week. If I'm able to stay on course with 1 pound of weight loss a week, that's a big if there, it's going to take me over a year to get to the top end of the 105k  division. There's weeks I've barely made it, 14 months of this is going to be tough. 

continued weight loss and a 94k weightlifting challenge

I'm still doing great with my weight loss, I'm down to 296 pounds. 15 pounds lost. So far no one from my gym has noticed. 


I'm even more motivated to lose weight now because my best friend challenged me to get down to the the 94k weight class and then we'd enter a weightlifting meet and compete against each other in the same weight class. He & i have always been super competitive with each other. That'll be great fun! Loser buys the beer!!!!

teaching my son to ride his bike without training wheels

Yesterday i taught my youngest son how to ride a bike without training wheels. I ran for what felt like miles hunched over his bike to keep him from falling. Today i woke up so sore! i rarely feel like i may be unable to get through a workout, but half way through today's workout i was struggling. My hands and back kept cramping and i had  to take a long time to recover between sets. I finished every set with all the proscribed weights. It was tough, but i did it.  Tomorrow is recovery day!  Yeah!

10 days left until i cant start taking creatine monohydrate again. I love creatine!  I've heard the results of creatine are individual, not everyone gets such wonderful results, but i sure do.

a world class weightlifting gym, weight loss, and weightlifting progress

Yesterday another athlete, Stephan, joined the Miller gym and is commuting to Santa Fe all the way from Albuquerque, 120 miles round trip to train with us. There's a half dozen athletes who are making that commute to be coached by Shane Miller. He's one of the best Olympic style  weightlifting coaches in the nation. When Shane introduced me to Stephan he introduced me as "...Cody, who owns all three of the 40-44 age group super heavy weight state records". That was the first time I'd been introduced as the state record holder. I must say, it felt awesome! It's addicting! I desperately want to get to the 105k weight class & break those records too. I know, I'm a glory hound. Nothing new there. 


One of the weight lifters, Katie, who commutes from Albuquerque set a personal best snatch today of 62k. One more kilo and she'll be doing a body weight snatch. A body weight snatch is what most amateur weightlifters aspire for, very few achieve it. i cant wait to see that. Talk about inspiring! 


 I've been eating perfectly for 31 days. Lots of meat, fruit, vegetables, nuts, and salads. I've had no sugar and virtually no processed foods. This is the 2nd longest steak I've been on since i stopped training and racing triathlon in 2011. I'm currently 298 pounds, I've lost 13 since mid December.  66 more pounds to lose until i get to my ultimate goal of lifting in the 105k weight class and hopefully breaking the 105k state records of 95k snatch, 135k clean and jerk, and a 228k total too. 

New Mexico weightlifting state records, diet, aand sleep

I just received an updated list of the New Mexico state weightlifting records. It was wonderful seeing my name on the list as a New Mexico weightlifting state record holder in the 105k+ 40-44 age group. 

I noticed that a couple of 105k state records in the 40-44 age group was broken late last year. The new clean and jerk state record is 135k & the new total is now 228k both set by Jeremy Hale. I had set a goal to lose weight and get down to the 105k 40-44 ag division and break those three records. I'm still hoping to do that, but it's going to take a little longer and a lot more work now. Those numbers are even bigger than what Barry Schroeder puts up!

Speaking of losing weight, I'm still doing well with my diet and weight loss. 25 days back on the diet wagon. Increasing the amount of calories i was eating while attempting to drop weight was the key. I'm not struggling with excessive hunger or extreme cravings anymore. I've lost 11 pound.

I've been eating healthy each and every meal & keeping my protein up. Unfortunately I've been working a lot of hours and not sleeping as much as an athlete should. My wife and i received her first student loan bill of $16,000. The same week my Chevy Suburban broke down costing just shy of $2,000 to fix. Most weeks I'm working 5 twelve hour and 1 sixteen hour shift a week. I'm tired. I've been the only income for our family of five since 2007.  I've been sleep deprived for a long time. It sucks. I'm really tired of being tired all the dang time. 8 years of this is to long.

cycling creatine monohydrate for olympic weightlifting

I've heard people are supposed to cycle creatine monohydrate rather than staying on it for long periods of time. I've been taking creatine for the last three months and have had amazing results. I'm going to cycle off of creatine for the next four weeks. I'm disappointed to have to stop taking it even if only temporarily. I just stopped taking it this weekend and am already looking forward to starting again.

next Olympic weightlifting goals/records

Now that the big weightlifting meet is over & i broke all three 105k+ 40-44 age group New Mexico state records it's time for me to set my eyes on my next big goal. I'm going to attempt to drop to the 105k weight class and break the 40-44 age group 105k state records. After the weights i lifted this weekend I've realized those records are well within my reach as long as i can lose 67 pounds. 67 pounds is a lot, but with coach Shane Miller's guidance I'm sure i can get there. 

Starting yesterday I plan on losing 1.5 pounds a week for 4 weeks, then 1 pound a week until the next weightlifting meet.

The 2015 John Davis memorial weightlifting meet report

Yesterday, January 24th 2015, I competed in the John Davis memorial weightlifting meet at The Miller gym in Santa Fe NM. I'd been training for this meet exclusively for over 13 months. I was on track to break the New Mexico weightlifting 40-44 age group super heavyweight division (105k+) state records held by Scott Carpenter since 2004. I took 2 days vacation from work before the meet to make sure I was fully rested.

I found out just before the meet started that Rise Miller wasn't going to be there at the meet to coach me. He'd been the guy who had ran me through warm ups and coached me at all three of my previous meets. I wasn't expecting that & I had a bit of a panic attack finding out that he wasn't going to be there to coach me as I had become accustomed. Another very knowledgeable and accomplished lifter, Dominic Farris, took Rise's spot and did so perfectly. Once I started warm ups I got really freakin nervous. This was the first meet I'd lifted for something other than just for fun. This meet meant something. I thought I'd be better about handling the pressure, but I was wrong. I was so anxious my hands were shaking.

As I was walking out for my opening lift I was so scared! I've walked into prison riots at work where I was less nervous than that. Somehow even through the massive adrenaline rush I still managed to make a good lift of a 75k snatch. That was NM state weightlufting record #1. The 2nd snatch was also successful and was NMW record #2 for the day. My third lift of 83k was going to be an all time personal best by over 4 kilos. It was also a good lift and was NMW record #3. My last snatch broke the old state record by 23 kilos!

My first two clean and jerks were 98k and 103k. Both were NMW records. State records #4 &5. By the time I was ready to take my third and final C&J I was so very fatigued! Not because of the lifting, but because of the extreme amounts of adrenaline my body had been dumping into my system all day. As coach Shane Miller was talking to me about my last lift I was feeling so fatigued I was wondering if I'd have the energy to walk up to the platform, much less lift another PR. Somehow I pulled off a successful 107k clean and jerk. The last C & J broke the old state record by 27 kilos, state record #6. Plus the the totals were all records, they were records 7, 8, & 9.

My ending total was 190 kilos, breaking the old state record by 50 kilos, 110 lbs.

Tomorrow is the big day

Tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow is the John Davis memorial weightlifting meet. I've been training for this meet exclusively for the last 13 months.  If all goes as is expected I'll break all 3 of the New Mexico weightlifting state records for the 105k+ forty- fourty four age group division. I've taken a couple days of vacation time from work to taper & stay off my feet, and I've been eating extremely healthy the last couple weeks. Virtually no junk food or anything at all unhealthy. I've invited all of my friends, family, and co-workers to be there. I'll post how the meet goes. Wish me luck.

Lubbock Texas and Olympic weightlifting

While in Lubbock this weekend I attempted to find a gym with drop plates which are used for olympic style weightlifting. None of the normal gyms did. I know CrossFit gyms use drop plates. I called each and every CrossFit gym in Lubbock and left messages. Compass CrossFit and Flatland CrossFit were the only ones who called me back. Compass CrossFit doesn't allow anyone to use their gym unless they are doing the Workout Of the Day (WOD). Flatland CrossFit called me back on Monday after my family and I were already on our way home, but they said they'd allow me to use their facility anytime as long as I wasn't a distraction to their athletes performing the gym's WOD. Next time I'm visiting Lubbock TX I'm going to use the Flatland CF facilities to see if I like it there. I'm eligible to retire from the NM state penitentiary this May. Lubbock is one of the 4 places I'm thinking of moving after I retire. Where ever I go has GOT to have some sort of facilities available for me to weightlift olympic style. It's surprising how few cities has olympic style weightlifting gyms.
The cities I'm interested in moving to after i retire in order of favorites:
1) Santa  Fe New Mexico
2) Concord Metro New Hampshire
3) Lubbock Texas
4) Albuquerque New Mexico

traveling, illness, a dying family member, and Compass Crossfit

I still haven't healed up from my flue yet, and my big weightlifting meet is in 7 days. I'm starting to get nervous. I've never been sick this close to a meet before.  By the end of my workout on Thursday i was so fatigued from being ill i couldn't complete any of the repetitions of my three heaviest sets of jerks from the rack. 

In the morning my family and i will be leaving for Lubbock Texas to say goodbye to my favorite aunt. She has cancer and is in heart failure. The stress & emotions of traveling out of state & having a loved one leaving this life won't be good for my taper or help me heal up from my illness. 

My Aunt who we'll be visiting used to have me stay the summers with her and her husband. Those summers meant the world to me. It was one of the few times in my childhood i felt safe. She took care of me and loved me like one of her own children.  I've never had anyone who i love this much die. This is going to hurt. But i sure am glad for the time i had with her. She has been such an angel, and a source of hope and strength for me  my entire life. 

On Monday while in Lubbock I'm supposed to hit a small workout building up to the weight of my opening lifts of 78k & 98k. The last time i was in Lubbock Texas i trained at Compass CF. They were awesome about letting me use their facility. The trainer and the athletes were really friendly. I'm hoping they'll let me use their gym again while I'm there.

weight loss and olympic weightlifting part two: metabolism and olympic weightlifting

I've been trying unsuccessfully for over a year to lose weight while training olympic weightlifting. I was using the MyFitnessPal phone app. MyFitnessPal is great. It's easy to use and can be used anywhere. When using that app I assumed my metabolic rate was around 3000 calories a day. It was 3300 back when i was training triathlon 20+ hours a week. I assumed it would be slightly lower now that I was olympic weightlifting 4 times a week. I was wrong, and my assumption caused massive problems. I'd start dieting, I'd plan on losing 2 pounds a week. If my metabolic rate was 3000 calories a day and there's 3500 calories in a pound of fat, I'd have to cut out 7000 calories a week, which is 1000 calories a day. So I'd eat 2000 calories a day plus any calories I burned from workouts.

3000 (metabolic rate)
-1000 (calories per day for 2 pounds weight loss a week)
---------------------------
2000 (calories consumed per day)

Using this formula I'd get hungrier and hungrier everyday until I couldn't handle it anymore and I'd binge eat gaining more weight than I had lost. I decided to stop using MyFitnessPal and go back to using Dietpower. Dietpower is a program similar to MyFitnessPal, but the biggest differences is that Dietpower will figure out my metabolic rate, MyFitnessPal doesn't.

Now that I've been using DietPower, it's shown me my metabolic rate is much higher than 3000 calories a day. It's 4130 calories a day to be exact. That makes a lot sense as to why I was overly hungry and why I need more calories now. Muscle burns calories. I'm burning more calories now that I'm a weightlifter and have more muscle then I did as a triathlete.

Since starting to use dietpower I've dropped from 311 pounds to 299 pounds without being very hungry at all. So the good news is I'll be able to be more loyal to this diet because I'll be more comfortable. The bad news is I've decided to limit my weightloss to 1 pound a week and at that rate it will take me 68 weeks (May 2016) to get to my first goal of getting into the 105k weightclass. And it will take me 93 weeks (Oct 2016) to get to my 2nd goal of getting into the 94k weight class.

illness and an 81k /105k lifelong Olympic style weightlifting PR

A couple weeks ago i felt i was gaining strength in Olympic style weightlifting so quickly that the training program i was on wasn't keeping up with my gains. I wanted to do more but couldn't add more weight to the bar because my weightlifting coach watched everyone lift and he'd see if i veered from the training plan. So instead i threw in an extra day of training. I did 5 workouts in a week i was only supposed to do 4. By the end of the week my body was beat up, i felt unbelievably fatigued and i ended up showing the beginning stages of being sick. This was the 2nd time I've doubted my coach's programming, each time i did more than he prescribed, both times I've gotten sick. I've learned my lesson. My coach is extremely good at what he does. One of the best in the nation.  I need to learn to trust him. 

This morning i woke up feeling horrible.  I had a horrible cough, body aches, and the shivers. This morning was also the morning i was supposed to meet with coach Miller to do some heavy clean and jerks. It was also my last heavy day before starting to taper. I decided to gut check it, ignore the illness and lift. i felt like death warmed over. Even though i was slow, felt sluggish, and was getting fatigued very quickly i still lifted a life long clean and jerk PR of 105k. Last week i lifted a lifelong snatch PR of 81k. So at the John Davis memorial meet, the meet I've been training for the last 12 months, i should be able lift a minimum of an 81k /105k /186k, which will break the New Mexico weightlifting 105k+ 40-44ag state record by a hundred pounds!

weightlifting with a hangover

Today i learned two things:

1) new years day is really bad for weightlifting. I don't party much any more, so i was surprised by how much i was affected. I've had more than 24 hours to recover and i was still weak and felt incredibly sluggish. 

2) even though i had an off day lifting i was strong and made every lift. As long as my form and speed is half as good as my strength has become I'm going to crush the John Davis memorial weightlifting meet on January 24th, 2015. If my speed and form is half way decent i think i'll be able to put up an 81/107/188!!!! My old PR was set just 2 months ago,  in November 2014, it was a 79/103/182. The old New Mexico state record is a 60/80/140!!!!! I'm looking forward to crushing both my PR and the state record!!!!!

80k snatch

Today I set a new PR of a 80k snatch.

I wasn't lying if i really believed it was true

Today was the third day i was following a healthy eating plan. Between that and my new goals (see yesterdays blog post) i was pretty excited to go to Miller weightlifting to train and to share my new goals and motivations with my coach and fellow gym rats. The response was not what i was expecting. There was awkward glances at one another and a half hearted "sounds good." They might as well of laughed out loud and said, "bullshit". My feelings were hurt, but i shouldn't of expected anything different. I've announced hundreds of times that,

 "I'm going on a diet." 

"I've lost 5 pounds!"

"I'm going to do it this time! "

"One of my old t-shirts fit for the first time in weeks."

All of these grand announcements end up with the same results. Me falling off the wagon and gaining all of my weight back and more. This time is different. I know,  i always say that. But this time i believe it's true. Time to put mt words into action. 

2015 & 2016 Olympic weightlifting goals

When i first started weightlifting in December of 2013 my ultimate goal was to beat an amazing local weightlifter by the name of Barry Schroeder. After watching him lift at a couple meets and seeing him break every New Mexico weightlifting record in both the 94k & 105k thirty five to thirty nine age group i decided to change my goals to something more realistic. 

On August 1st 2014, only 8 months into the sport of weightlifting i was strong enough to break the 105k+ forty to forty four age group New Mexico weightlifting state records. At that time I also become motivated to lose weight and i decided I'd attempt to break the state records in the 105k & 94k forty to forty four age group New Mexico state weightlifting records as i lost weight. Shortly after setting those new goals i fell off the diet wagon and gave up on losing weight. Since then I've gained more weight, for the first time in my life I'm over 300 pounds and I've developed the beginning stages of sleep apnea. So here i am motivated once again to break state records as i lose weight and get to an ideal body weight.  

Barry Schroeder will age up and start lifting in my age group in 2017. So i have until early 2017 to break the old 105k & 94k records, after which its possible he'll crush any records i set between now and then. Or the other option is I gain enough strength to accomplish my original goal of beating Barry Schroeder so my records will stand regardless of what age group he's in. 


My current best lifts after 12 months of Olympic weightlifting are:
Snatch 79k 
Clean and jerk 103k 
Total 182


The records for the 105k 40-44AG are: 
95k snatch set by Doug Briggs in 1999 (I'm currently 16k away from this state record)
122k clean and jerk set by Doug Briggs in 2000 (19k away)
215k total set by Doug Briggs in 1999 (35k away)


The 94k weight class state records are:
100k Snatch set by Jim Snyder in 2005 (I'm currently 21k away from this state record)
117.5k clean and jerk set by Jim Snyder in 2005 (15.5k away)
217.5k total set in 2005 by a Jim Snyder (36.5k away)

fat gain and olympic weightlifting

First things first, The Miller gym has changed the date of the The John Davis memorial weightlifting meet. The John Davis memorial is the meet I've been training the last 12 months for. The date has changed from Jan 17th to Jan 24th. I'm glad, that will give me an extra week to prepare. My strength has been gaining faster the last month than I've ever had happen. My strength has gained so much the training program coach Shane Miller has me on has become ridiculously easy. I've been wanting to throw some extra weight on the bar during my training sessions. The only thing that has stopped me is that I don't want to end up screwing up something with such an important meet coming up in January.

I'm still struggling with my weight. Struggling horribly. I've always struggled with my weight, but since I've picked up weightlifting controlling my eating has seemed like an impossible task. Now that I'm an olympic weightlifter I'm constantly hungry. At this point even when I'm not struggling with emotional eating I'm still struggling to not shovel excessive amounts of food down my throat because of being hungry from lifting. I've gained 40 pounds in the last year of olympic weightlifting. I know some of it's muscle, but most of my weight gain is fat. I have no idea how to stop getting fatter. Yeah yeah, I know some of you people out there are saying to yourselves "the way to not get fatter is to not eat so much". If it was that easy for me I'd never have become obese to begin with. What I really want to do is go back to a 12 step for emotional eaters. The only time I was ever in control of my weight was when I went to and utilized the things from a 12 step program. My church is against any 12 step. I'm not sure what to do. Even if I ignored the teachings of my church and was willing to go to a 12 step I don't have the time. I wont have the time until my wife either graduates nursing school or quits school to go back to work.

42 days until my big weightlifting meet

It's 1 month 12 days until the John Davis memorial weightlifting meet. All of my weights are moving up and my form is getting better day by day. My ultimate goal would be to have a 186 total. At my last meet I totaled a 182. I'm relatively sure with my recent strength and form increases I should be able to accomplish my goal. I cant wait, I'm super excited.

I've been trained by coach Shane Miller for a little over 11 months and already I can front squat more than I could back squat before. This week I set a front squat pr of 118.5 kilos and a back squat PR of 137 kilos.

My wife failed a 2nd class this semester. The nursing school she is attending kicks out any students who fails 2 classes. She is appealing the decision in hopes that she can continue. If she wins her appeal the school wont let her continue if she fails a third class. If she fails her appeal she's going to attempt getting a nursing degree in a third school. If she fails a third semester at the school she's at or at another school we have agreed she'll go back to work. We're racking up so many school loans we never be able to recover. Pray for her please.

The upcoming John Davis memorial olympic weightlifting meet

The olympic weightlifting meet that I've been training for over a year, the meet that I'm hoping to break the New Mexico weightlifting state record by over a hundred pounds at, has a tentative name and date. As long as the name and date is approved by USA weightlifting it will be called the John Davis memorial and it will be held at The Miller gym here in Santa Fe. I'm excited that the meet I may be able to set the 105k+ 40-44 age group NM weightlifting record will be named after my favorite athlete, John Davis. John Davis died in Albuquerque NM on July 13, 1984 and is buried here in Santa Fe. He died alone and relatively forgotten. Weightlifters are the only family he has. He died without a spouse, children, or any living family at the time of his death.

Here's a little history on John Davis: John Davis was the most dominant weightlifter in history. He took 2nd place at nationals and competed in the world championships at only 16 years old. At that world championship, Davis literally shocked the weightlifting world by winning the 82.5 kg category in his first appearance on an international weightlifting platform. What amazed the world even more was that Davis won his championship at the tender age of 17. This win occurred in an era when there were no junior championships and when weightlifting was dominated by athletes in their 20s and 30s. John had made weightlifting history by becoming the youngest athlete ever to have won a world championship. It was a distinction he was to enjoy for nearly 50 years.

 Davis won the Nationals again in 1942 and 1943, but was prevented from competing in 1944 and 1945 by his war service. In 1946 he was back again to win the Nationals and to go on to win the first post-war World Championships in Paris. The following year, Davis won the Nationals and Worlds again (those World Championships were held in Philadelphia that year--the first time the US had hosted the Championships).  In 1948, he won the Olympic Games, and in 1949 and 1950 the World Championships. In 1951 he made his highest lifetime total of 1,063 lbs. at the inaugural Pan American Games. That same year, at the 1951 Nationals, he made weightlifting history once again by becoming the first lifter to C&J 400 pounds under official conditions (Charles Rigoulot, the great French professional strongman, had done this some years earlier but on a specially designed bar that would not have satisfied the rules that were in effect in Davis' day). Continuing his fantastic string, Davis went on to win the 1952 Olympics.  In 1953, John injured his leg, which hampered his training significantly. Although he won the Nationals, Davis was defeated at the World Championships by Doug Hepburn. The Canadian strongman had ended the longest undefeated streak in World Weightlifting history--a record that remains to this day.  All told, when his victory string ended in 1953, Davis had won 6 consecutive World Championships and 2 consecutive Olympic Games. Since that time, only two other weightlifters have ever duplicated Davis' achievement--Tommy Kono and Vasili Alexseev (Naim Sulemanaglou won more World Championships than this legendary trio and one more Olympic Games, but his victories were not consecutive, and Naim's record was set up 43 years after Davis'). One can on ly imagine how many championships Davis might have won had the war years not cut 7 years out of the prime of his career. He was undefeated for straight 16 years.

THE BIG MEET!

2 more months until my next weightlifting meet. This next competition is the one I've been training for for the last 11 months. It's the one I've been training my heart, body, and mind for. It's the goal that I think of when I'm feeling tired and beat down and need motivation. This next meet is the one I think of when I'm struggling to get another repetition. I haven't been this excited about something since my first Ironman triathlon way back in 2006. Shane Miller, the meet director hasn't named the meet yet, but as soon as he does I'll let you know what it's named.

A new olympic weightlifting program

Yesterday my Olympic weightlifting coach built me a new weightlifting training plan. I love getting a new training plan. Since it's something new my body isn't used to I'm fatigued beyond belief for at least a couple weeks. Today after my workout, the first one of the new plan, I was so tired the only thing I did all day was sit in my lazy boy chair. The new workout regime is a 5 day workout program. I'm excited about this. It looks tough, it looks like something that will be extremely challenging and take me to the next level.

self doubt in olympic weightlifting

After Sunday's weightlifting competition I was happy I'd made gains even though I'd struggled during training the last 4 months. But I still harbored a lot of self doubt. I've been afraid I should be at a much higher level than I am after doing this consistently for 11 straight months. I got tired of that fear hovering over me and my training and decided to ask a couple of really amazing local lifters, Will O'Connel out of Zia CrossFit and Randy Steward from Miller weightlifting, what their totals were after about a year, so that I could get a base line to compare. I was relieved to see I'm right there with their numbers.

Randy 12 months: 80/108/188
Me after 11 months: 79/103/183

Will 19 months: 75/100/175

Another outstanding lifter, Erik Hickey, told me recently ,"the most important thing to train in here (weightlifting gym) is our own self doubt." I am exactly where I should be after a year. I'm not falling behind at all. Now for the first time in this sport I believe in myself, I can put the fear and self doubt aside and throw myself into my training with full confidence.

"the Jody" invitational weightlifting meet Santa Fe NM November 9, 2014

Today I competed in "the Jody" weightlifting competition at The Miller gym in Santa Fe NM. This was my third weightlifting competition. My previous one was in July. Since the weightlifting tournament in July I've been struggling. My technical lifts hadn't gone up at all. Today I felt sure I wasn't going to be able to lift as much as I had at the last meet, which was a 76k snatch, 100k clean and jerk, a 176k total. My coach Shane Miller gave me a great motivational talk before my third and final snatch attempt. He told me to attempt a 79k snatch. 79k was higher than anything I'd accomplished in training, and MUCH greater than I felt I could make today. But if there's one thing I've learned in almost a year of Olympic weightlifting is ALWAYS trust Shane Miller. Shane is ALWAYS right. I nailed the 79k snatch which was a PR! After that I felt strong and confident and went 3 for 3 on my clean and jerks setting a lifetime personal best of 103k!

My next competition will be in January. If all continues to progress as it has been under Shane's tutelage I'll break the105k+ 40-44 age group New Mexico state record by over 100lbs.

The upcoming "The Jody" weightlifting competition and creatine monohydrate

On my last post I stated I was getting weaker even though I was training hard. I started taking creatine monohydrate. Less than two weeks later I had added 2k onto my snatch and 9k onto my clean and jerk, setting a PR on both. Creatine is amazing. I love that stuff.

I started making gains again just in time, tomorrow is the "the Jody", weightlifting competition at The Miller gym here in Santa Fe NM. I was so busy today I didn't eat or drink well all day. Not the smartest thing to do the day before a weightlifting competition. I'll post how I do tomorrow here on my blog..

weightlifting setbacks, parenting, and life

It's been awhile since I've posted. My wife is in nursing school and I'm working 12 shifts at night so I can do the parenting things during the day that my wife isn't able to do much of right now. Things like drop the kids off and pick them up from school, homework, driving them to their sports activities and practices, girl scouts, plus laundry, cooking, dishes, shopping, etc. I don't sleep much. Even though it feels chaotic keeping this busy, I've ever been this happy. Last year I wasn't handling the stress of such a busy life as well as I am now. That changed not to long ago when I met a little old lady who was depressed and lonely. After meeting her I had a revelation that even though life feels so incredibly busy, my quality of life is probably better now than it ever will be. My house is full of little people who love me, want me in their life, and are happy that I'm their Dad. My wife is so grateful for all I've been doing, she has never shown me this much love. Life is perfect. I've never been so content. Some day I'll be that old person willing to give up everything I own to have my kids  back home and to feel loved and needed every moment of the entire day like I do now.

I've still been training olympic style weightlifting. I'm still loving the heck out of it. But since July the totals of my snatch and clean and jerk have actually gone down. My totals are down to a pathetic 75/92/167k! I lost a few weeks of training last month. I had strep throat and my son had surgery. But the biggest reason my totals haven't been going up is lack of sleep. I'm averaging 2.5-3 hrs of sleep a day. I can't get stronger if I'm not sleeping. I started taking creatine monohydrate again yesterday. I'm hoping creatine will counter some of the negative effects of not sleeping.

a rough but healing time

It was a rough week last week. We knew something was wrong with my 7 year olds sleeping. We'd gone to the Dr every few months since he was little. The Dr always sent us away and told us everything was fine. I finally demanded to have my son seen by an ear nose and throat Dr.. As soon as the Ear Nose and Throat  DR saw him he said he has a level 4 airways obstruction in his throat, and the obstruction was probably to blame for his difficulty learning, emotional out bursts, irritability, etc. So on Thursday I found out my 7 year old son is going to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. At first that sounded horrible to me. But it's supposed to be an easy surgery and all the medical people who know about these things say this will turn his life into something so much easier and happier.

On Friday night I came down with a horrible illness. By Tuesday I wasn't better, went to the Dr's and found out I had strep. For 6 days I've been stuck at the house, bored, unable to train. I was supposed to take the family out to dinner on Saturday (we're on a strict budget, we don't get to eat out much)and camping on Sunday and Monday. we missed both. This sucks. Hopefully I'm going back to work on Wed night.

On a good note I think I've finally come to peace with my Dad not wanting to be a  part of my life. I'm not 100% certain where this peace in my heart came from but I think it's because I asked for my church group to pray for our relationship to get better. Our relationship didn't improve but my heart healed rather unexpectedly.

So back to my Dad. I've come to think each person sees others not as those people are, but as they would be themselves. For example my 2nd step dad thought I liked to have so many pets because I was a control freak. I was shocked and confused when I heard that. I've always had so many pets because I'm a nurturing and paternal person. He saw things incorrectly because he saw me not as I am, but as he would have seen himself. So now with that tid bit of information I realized that I was seeing my Dad's relationship the way I think. To me, there's nothing that means more to me than each one of my kids. I assumed all dad's felt the same way deep down inside them. And if he felt that way then he must think I'm a horrible person for him to not care about me enough to call me more than a couple times a year. Well now I've realized him wanting to have minimal contact with me isn't a problem he has with me, it's just because he's different then me. He has different priorities than me.... And now I've healed from 26 years of guilt and shame. It feels good.

exercise bulimia

Well, as you saw from my last post I fell off the weight loss wagon again. I've dieted a thousand times and have never been able to continue to eat healthy or keep the weight off. The closest I came to abstaining from binge eating was 9 months of abstinence and 1.5 years of maintaining a healthy body weight. 
That one time of success I was doing a some things well:
- I was going to 12 step meetings
- I was working with a sponsor
- I was working the 12 steps
- I was praying
- I wrote out a meal plan daily
- I was exercising regularly

The things I was doing wrong:
- I was too obsessed with triathlon and put in so much time training it was taking a crazy amount of time away my family and God 
- I was an Exercise bulimic

I still can't figure out if I had that one long streak of success with my weight and eating because of the good things I was doing or if it was because of the bad things I was doing. 

I found something in the AA book that I'm afraid is me. In chapter 5 of the AA book it says:

"Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves."

I'm killing myself by overeating. I can't stop. I don't know what to do. My wife is starting to get scared. I can't stop.

low carb diet and olympic weightlifting final update

My low carb diet/experiment went for 10 days before I fell off the wagon. I realize 10 days isn't a long enough time to make any big gains in knowledge, but I can share what bits of info I did pick up.

I found during that time of low carb I gained strength while losing fat. I didn't follow the low carb diet and train long enough to see if the strength gain were equivalent to a regular diet, but i did gain strength while on the low carb. I set a couple lifetime PR's during the 10 days I was low carbing it.

- I fatigued quickly at explosive exercises like snatches and clean and jerks. Training at more traditional weight training was fine, but the balistic exercises I couldn't do many of.

-I couldn't finish the long grueling workouts my coach had planned for me as well as I could on a more traditional diet. I countered the loss of endurance on the hard workout days by eating a high carb meal right before training. I only had to eat the high carb meal a couple times a week, for the harder training days. The other workout days were form and recovery days and I could finish the workout while continuing low carb and without a high carb meal. The high carb meal made it so I could inish my workout just as well as when I was eating a more traditional diet. Eating the high carb pre-workout meal only slowed my weight loss of a low carb diet slightly, barely noticeable amounts..

new olympic weightlifting goals

When I first started olympic weightlifting in November of 2013 the lifetime goal I set for myself was a 100k clean and jerk. Since I had never been naturally gifted with strength I thought 100k would take years. Turns out it only took me 8 months of training and it happened at my 2nd weightlifting tournament. Since I accomplished that goal I've set my eyes on 4 more.

1) break all 3 of the 105k+ weight class 40-44 age group New Mexico state weightlifting records by early 2015.
2) get down to the 105k weight class by late 2015 or early 2016.
3) break all 3 of the 105k weight class 40-44 age group New Mexico state weightlifting records.
4) Get down to the 194k weight class in the year 2016 or 2017.
5) Break all three of the 94k weight class 40-44 age group New Mexico state weightlifting records by early 2015.

The records for the 105 and the 94k  weight class 40-44 age group are similar in weight and are both very high. They are as follows:

105k weight class:
95k snatch held by Doug Briggs since 1999
122k clean and jerk held by Doug Briggs since 2000
215k total held by Doug Briggs since 1999

94k weight class:
100K snatch held by Jim Snyder since 2005
117.5k clean and jerk held by Jim Snyder since 2005
217.5k total held by Jim Snyder since 2005