I didn’t mention in my last that I did get a “recent PR”, that is, my best lately. Tonight I planned everything out and hit a PR w/ 6, twice! 
4 catches twice, plus 3 a few times, plus 2 a few more. So again. Plus I hit 4/1 for 2 catches, another PR, and 4c is doable. Beyond there be dragons.
That’s all I have energy for now. I may add more later.
Just got CRUSHED in draw poker. I’m majorly bummed :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
I’d been up up up then got hammered for $100 in an hour and a half. Had to make myself stop, but damn. Also, the frigging gym is frigging closed today :mad: :mad: :mad: so no training either.
I resolve not to say another word to any jugglers about my triumphs and tribulations until I nail 6. They all had contempt for me when I first tried it, now they’re expressing it again. I’ll get it, tape it, and no words required.
Every time I try to post something funny or interesting in the off-topic thread it gets removed. Okay, I get it. I’ll keep this journal going because it helps me, but after I get 6, I’ll delete it and go away.
As far as training goes, I’m not sure if backing off the weights has been related to my sudden improvement or not. I changed some other things at the same time, so ??? I’ll keep lifting light though for now, since the stress of going heavy really adds to my overall stress load since with numbers the demand keeps getting more intense.
Took a break from throwing thus no updates. I’ll post the lifting stuff here, let that slide during a majorly depressive February, now weak as hell and going through the motions. Have 0.0 enthusiasm for anything, but as Dave Draper says, without lifting it just gets worse.
Also disappointed in the season finale of The Shield. spoiler alert 
At this point I want to see Dutch nail Vic and Shane and send them to death row. Actually it’d be better if Shane were in general population since he’s such a bitch.
Oh, yeah – I’ve been reluctant to test this fearing the results, but I’m lately thinking I’m Johnny Slow-twitch. I’ll post my unscientific thoughts on this next time.
What things did you post in the off-topic? PM me if necessary.
Not lifting is awful… Honestly without doing some sort of exercise, I would probably go crazy. It helps keep me sane and focused. Hope all is well though outside of the juggling/lifting area–the weather is starting to be a bit nicer and the ladies are starting to wear their skirts again.
Everyone except me thinks my goals are unrealistic for me. Everyone I have spoken to, except The Man, has urged me to accept mediocrity. My results no doubt have indicated that I don’t have it – every successful athlete had indications that they would keep improving. Slow progress indicates that I’m at my peak or so close that futher progress is iffy.
Certainly 8 may have been a pipe dream. But I see good signs at times, and think that,
IF
I can fix a few issues, I can hit 6 clubs, and 7 balls, and that can be pretty much that for training. The quandry is: time/energy spent practicing is not a practical use of those finite resources. However, if I stop now it’s all been for nothing, and I will always be nothing as a juggler, and in fact can’t feel good about it. All I have to do is hit 6 on video (and yeah, 7 balls), and I then definitely don’t suck, and can speak on numbers without feeling like, and being seen as, a wanker, basically.
So my compromise is to go outside on warm days and fool around a little, while taking much much better care of myself fitness- and energywise. If I get close enough for a push to be reasonable, then I’ll go after it.
Re-reading the above, I see that I forgot about the above compromise with myself. I slipped back into being aggro, so much so that Saturday I was feeling like I should not practice at all. Then last night I “found” (I wasn’t the one to lose it in the first place) a club that I thought was lost, and I felt like throwing again. I change my mind constantly. Again I remind myself not to get aggro, either it’s working or it’s not, and to not spend too much energy on it either way. Hard to do though – a big appeal of numbers in the first place is getting after it with focus and a quasi-psychotic obsession. Maybe I can put “that” energy into the website, which I’ve been slacking on, and be more patient with juggling, kind of like how I approach lifting.
Speaking of which, my squat form sucks real bad. I’ll post a vid on Power & Bulk once I’m less weak. Bench is moving back up after my layoff. I’m doing little finger on the rings, which means less weight but my shoulder has no complaints. I’ll gradually move out a little wider, but will likely stay with a pretty close grip. My bench # is only in the gym, but I take my shoulder with me everywhere.
Got rid of an energy-sucking person tonight, I think. 
Other good news is that I got my cards for the business and they look good. Throwing wise, I’m suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucking, and don’t know why. Am just going out there and fooling around, but damn, I seem to be losing my ability to juggle. Easy peasy stuff is now a struggle 
Am still weak from the layoff but BP is finally moving upwards. Knees are feeling strange – my body can’t seem to find a good squat groove. I’ll work on this. I need good knees more than I need a bigger SQ, but I would like to improve my power/weight ratio.
I just realized last night that I may in fact not be able to progress any more. I’m 39 :eek: , and it may be too late to get better at a speed activity. Plus, I haven’t always taken the best care of myself so I’m probably biologically older still. When I look at my progression or lack thereof, it’s clear that I’m lagging more as time goes on, and I just may have run out of good years.
Ugh. I don’t want to think that, but what athlete ever does? I was at my best as a club juggler about a year ago, and now I see that that may have been my peak and it’s all downhill from here. It seems I got ambitious too late . . .
Plus I’m ever more spacey and sluggish. I see a real decline over the past 2 years, which is surprising since my financial situation has improved quite a bit. Maybe it’s just hitting the wall, age-wise.
Don’t know where that leaves me. For now I’ll just lift and see if anything comes to mind to youngify myself. 
I know this sounds dumb coming from a teenager, but just because you’re maturing doesnt necessarily mean you can’t progress anymore. Sure, maybe it’ll take more time to recover after things that felt a lot easier years ago, but that really is no reason to get down on yourself. Recovery and rest now become all the more important, and as long as you still enjoy what you do or want to do it at all, then you shouldn’t stop because of your age. Good luck with whatever you want to pursue juggling-wise or lifting, I’m positive there’s still more for you to do.
Bob Delmonteque
google him
looks better at 84 than he did at 17 and is probably stronger/more fit.
I’ll post in general how lifting is going since it seems to keep my ass in the gym. I had a strange sleep cycle the past week so did nothing :mad: Today some moron was watching the news on the TV in the weight room. I hate hate hate that. I’d like to see the rec center block out everything but the sports channels. I mean that sucks for a training atmosphere. I was sluggish and awkward after a week (plus being slam tired from the weekend) so nothing good there, tomorrow may be better.
I find I still want to juggle, but have no desire to practice. So I’ll just go throw outside if the weather’s nice and I feel like it. I’ll just play with whatever. Did that today, just trying some stuff and bagging it as soon as I’d had enough.
Squatting is still feeling odd. I have yet to find a good groove, plus my knee is feeling strange after a few sets. Throwing was uber-sucky, I was super pissed till I realized that it’s due to other factors I have to control. I’m massively discouraged about fitness and life. I need some serious improvement soon.
Yesterday I didn’t have the time or energy to do a full weight session but wanted to do something so it wouldn’t be too long between times (Wed-Mon). So I just worked up to a single in the BP, not a max single, but 90%, done as fast as I could. Afterwards I felt, well, neurally activated --a little hopped up and ready to do stuff. That feeling carried over to today, so I picked up some beanbags at my friend’s house and flashed 7 pretty easily , which I haven’t done in I don’t know how long. Then later I tried 4 clubs in one hand, and although I wasn’t able to close my hand quick enough to catch them, I was certainly able to get my hand on all 4 so I could have flashed it , which I’ve never done. I’ve long thought this principle would be useful in juggling but thought I should get to a higher level to use it. But maybe a series of peaks is how I will get to a higher level.
Bench PR today, 250 lbs., which I haven’t peaked for, at all. Just been feeling down so thought it would give me a boost if I hit it, so after warming up, instead of my planned 5x5 (first WU set felt real light, so that made me think it was possible today), I put the bars in the rack and loaded it up. I’m probably good for 260; will do a peaking cycle and try to hit 300 by the end of May.
Edit: Hitting a max both energized and fried me. I seem to sort of want to do stuff, but had no energy and little brainpower.
Was wiped out yesterday from Monday. Had limited energy today, so went easy on SQ then planned 5x5 in BP, did 3x5 then ran out of pop on the 4th set so cut it short. Eye twitching now.
Kra’s account of doing well as a D3 school against the scholarship kids reminded me of a sort of “Revenge of the Nerds” moment of my own–
When I was living in SF, I used to ride my bike across the GG Bridge and ride up Conzelman Rd. Sometimes I’d bomb trails, but sometimes I’d just hammer up the hill on my fixie. It’s 500 vertical ft. in about a mile and a half. Into the wind, too, honest My bike was built by short Mike (a mechanic and awesome trail rider) from crap he was otherwise throwing away. I was broke as hell and just getting back into bikes, so the Neg Cycle was perfect for me. I’d go across the bridge and hammer up the hill a few times, just to boil off stress. On the day in question I was pounding up the hill and passed a couple of Marin gear weenies like they were standing still. At the top there’s a little parking lot. I just hung out and looked at the City for a bit (it’s the view you see in postcards). After a while, I tuned in to one of the weenies talking to his pal about how lagging he was - “everyone’s passing me today”. So before heading back down the hill, I rode a nice slow circle in front of him so he could get a good look at the zero dollar bike that just blew him away.
Great BP w/o today I knew from my first warmup set that I was strong but had no stamina, so after a set of 5 with 225, I did 2x2 with 245, then did a negative with 275. Followed that with trying to lift it back up off the pins, but no way. Then did tris to finish it off. Doesn’t look like much, but the doubles were decently fast and easy, so the BP is clearly moving up. The plan is to do 5x5 Friday, then triples Mon-Wed, doubles Fri, then a single PR the week after. This of course will depend on how I feel.
I lift in a small weight room at the rec center. More than half the time I am the only one there, which I like a lot, since I don’t have to deal with idiots like the one yesterday. The w/o was basically sets of doubles w/ 225 to focus on speed and explosiveness. Dummy apparently thought that was my max weight. I’m on pace for 3 wheels.
To continue that thought, Mister C’s journal has made me realize that I’ve been A) Not working hard enough, B) Not doing enough work between weights sessions, and C) Not being dedicated enough, as in avoiding that which inhibits progress.
The damn thing is, I have these bursts of clarity then fall back into the same – doldrums, you could say. One day at a time, I suppose, while keeping in mind that everything I do affects everything else I do, for better or for worse.
I am enthused about getting that 300. I am confident of 270 already – now to do everything I have before me to do.