Scavenging for Gains

Before I trained today I drove about 10 miles north of my house to the San Gabriel River. I parked illegally by the shore and walked out into a dried up portion with a bathroom scale under my arm. I was looking for stones. Not just any stones - stones that I could balance in my hand and throw. I have an obsession, I admit it. Found a decent 22 lb. stone and a few good open stone candidates. I love Texas, but it's not the best destination for finding suitable stones for highland games. Any piece of limestone that weighs over 10 lb. is approximately the size of a basketball.

Slammed my energy drink and headed to Lord's Gym.

Deadlift

Warm up 135x10x2

285x5

325x5

365x5

Felt a little stiff-legged from squats earlier this week, but good overall. Bar was moving quickly enough.

High Pulls

135x5x5

Felt a little uncomfortable with these. Honestly can't remember the last time I ever did them. Started clicking by the last set, which was the one I filmed.

DB Swings (no KBs at this gym)

50x20x3

100-Foot Carry Medley - Farmer's Walk / Hydrant Carry

4 trips

Threw my new 22 lb. stone a little. The handle is a little strange, and the wrist wrap exacerbates that problem. I had decent tosses with a couple of different hand positions though.

Cale, the owner of Lord's stopped by right as I was finishing up. We had a great conversation about the future of the place and what we want to do there. A lot of potential and a big gaping hole in terms of strength facilities around here.

I really want to take my cranberry ale to my buddy's tailgate for the UT Football game tomorrow morning, but it still tastes so flat and thin. Gonna try to force carbonate it one more time tonight and see what I get.

Deadlifts and Dying Yeast

All I am lacking for my all grain brewing setup to be functional is a larger brew pot. I have a 10-gallon mash tun, so I guess it makes sense to get an 80-quart pot so I can move my batches from 5 to 10 gallons in the future. I know I can get an aluminum stock pot from Academy for $90-100 bucks. I am gonna keep scanning craigslist though and see if I can find one cheaper or maybe a stainless steel for a similar price. I am probably gonna end up drilling valves and temperature probes myself though, so I'm not exactly thrilled about drilling stainless steel.

Definitely getting the itch to brew. I have the ingredients sitting in my fridge for an extract blonde ale, so I hope Aaron can free up his schedule enough to sync up his brew dates with mine. Yes, we are adorable like that. I also have a vial of Irish Ale yeast sitting in the fridge rapidly approaching its "best if used by"date. I want to get my first all grain batch going in time for the holidays. I think I might be a little late to do anything good for Thanksgiving, so maybe a nice cranberry ale for Christmas. Something like this? Doesn't help my Irish Ale predicament though.

I am trying to match up a brewery tour or some kind of beer event in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for this coming weekend when I drive up for the powerlifting meet. Any suggestions welcome. I think Rahr & Sons is the obvious choice: lots of history and a great facility. I am open to anything really though.

I felt a little better about my training after my meltdown earlier this week. I told myself i was going to repeat my max effort squat day today since I was unsatisfied with Monday's session. However, several shots of tequila last night had me calling an audible. Since there hasn't been much deadlifting in my program this last couple of months, I decided to give it a go. Glad I did.

Max Effort Lower

Deadlift

135x10, 5

225x3

315x3

365x3

405x1

455x1 - This never felt so easy.

480x1 PR - It was a shaky rep and the lockout was far from ideal, but I'm calling it a gym record. No hitch and no downward bar motion. Probably wouldn't pass in a meet, though.

Wide Grip Chins

12, 12, 10 - Extra motivation from a random group of Crossfitters working on their kip right next to me.

45-degree Back Raises w/ Medium Band

4x15

Weight - 205

My right knee feels like it's full of wet cardboard. I need a haircut. I also desperately need this bowl: