Eat Floor. High Fiber.

Still just kinda jackin around until Austin Celtic Festival is over this weekend. After that, I will start my off-season in earnest. Did a lot of overhead work today. Definitely zeroed in on a weak point - my shoulders. I can push press 225 most days, but I was struggling to strict press 165 today. Gotta target delts and triceps a little more these next few months.

Strict Press

45x10

95x5

135x3

95x10x3

Push Press

135x3

185x1

205x1

Speed Deads

275x5x3

Chins

10, 8, 6

Superset Standing Triceps Press/Upright Rows

12/10, 12/10, 12/12

Do I suck a lot more, or a little more?

Got a good week of training in last week, and I'm ramping up for the off-season fairly well. Hannah continues to rob the wife and I of precious sleep, so I have to make do with what level of rest I get. I got the "lift heavier" bug these past couple of sessions, so I loosened up the routine and kinda did whatever. Nothing wrong with testing myself a little to see what I lost over the course of the season in terms of top-end strength.

Cleans, snatch and deadlifts:

Squat variations and ugly, ugly, bench press:

I have been really getting into the idea of experimenting more with hard cider recipes, so I picked up the following at Austin Homebrew today:

• Bavarian Wheat Yeast
• Champagne Yeast
• 1 lb. Wheat DME
• 1 lb. Golden Light DME

...and then I forgot to get apple juice. It's tough to be this way. To be me.

Man, I totally had a kid! AGAIN!

Really the only thing of actual importance that has been going on with me is the birth of my daughter, Hannah Michelle Beech. Here she is just after being born:

Here she is making a grumpy, yet awesome face a few days later. Seriously, this kid is Queen Grumpface.

I have had a pretty successful season thus far making beer for Luke's big bad tailgate extravaganzas. The biggest hit so far has been a simple blonde ale that I really knocked out of the park. Hmm...replicating a batch; that should be easy in a garage brewery with no computers or skilled brewers.

My highlands game season is coming to a close. I have two more games in Austin and Salado, but I am kind of considering this last weekend's Celtober Cowtown Throwdown the official "end." So, re-capping my first year in the games:


- Competed in 9 games (will be 11 by year's end)
- Earned the right to throw with the A's by my 3rd ever games (north texas kickoff)
- Traveled out of state for a games (greenville, sc)
- Won my first overall games (sherwood forest faire)
- Gained 15 lb.
- Met and befriended throwers and ADs from all over
- Recruited 2 athletes to the sport
- Learned that entertaining and engaging the crowd is incredibly important for the sport

I can definitely live with that list. Let's look at the numbers now as compared to 11 months ago:

Braemar: 28'-1" --> 32'4"
Open Stone: 36'-2" --> 40'-10.5"
Heavy Weight for Distance: 17'7" --> 30'-9"
Light Weight for Distance: 36'-8" --> 62'-7"
Heavy Hammer: 54'-7" --> 68'-4"
Light Hammer: 87-7" (didnt throw this in 2011)
Caber: 12:00
Sheaf: 22' with 16# bag --> 24' with 20# bag
Weight Over Bar: 10' --> 13'

Looking those over, I'm supremely disappointed with open stone, especially given how much I work on it. Breaking 40 feet was great, but I am consistently stuck between 36 and 38 feet. Hammers are abysmal, but that's simply from lack of practice. Can't use that excuse any more. This off-season I will acquire every single implement so I can train how I need to.

Apples and Steel

Lots of pretty cool happenings around here. After years of suffering the insufferable in corporate gyms, I finally found a good deal on a rack, barbell, and weights and got my home gym started. Have already broken it in with a couple of lifts, and clearly I need to adjust the Feng-Shui of the set-up and build a platform as well. Loving it, though. Happy Father's Day to me.

My awesome wife also got me a legitimate pair of weightlifting shoes for Father's day so I can finally squat without my knee exploding every few weeks.

I haven't competed in a Highland Games since June, and I will be back at it in Huntsville, TX the first week of August. Looking forward to coming off a long rest and a couple of training cycles to get my throws locked in. I am really trying to emphasize hammers and sheaf, as I have really been disappointing in those events. Caber is a monster I need to conquer, but that might take a whole off-season.

Here's me throwing the 20 lb. sheaf in my front yard. It's feeling more natural every time I touch it.

I am down to the last few pints of my very first all-grain batch, the "Ill-Advised Pils." I am happy with this beer overall, especially the color and clarity. I am a believer in secondary and cold storage/lagering more than ever after this batch. My gripes are a touch of diacetyl, and a little unwelcome bitterness from using whole leaf hops and leaving it to sit on them for far too long. I think this is a good start to getting a regular, easy-drinking beer ready for tailgaiting season, though.

Next up is a hard apple cider I decided to try making on a whim after talking to Forest Rogness, owner of Austin Homebrew Supply. It's super simple: 4 gallons of apple juice, 2 lb. of dried malt extract and Belgian wit yeast. It's now in cold storage and I am gonna try force-carbonating and kegging it for kicks. Boom.

Predictably, he sprayed himself.

Started a new job a couple of months back. It's rewarding, it's basically a start-up but it can also be kind of consuming. Just starting to re-establish some balance.

Highland Games have been going well. Headed into my 4th of the season this weekend in Arlington. I switched from spin to glide in the open stone, so that's earth-shattering. I'm also training regularly with a friend who also happens to be the #1 amateur thrower in North America.

I have yet another failed pilsner in the works. That style is cursed. This one is probably going to end up being called "steam beer" so people finally think I know what the fuck I'm talking about with homebrewing.

In other news, IT'S FINALLY STARTING TO HAPPEN:

FREE LABOR

Stupid Left Foot

Things are quiet on the beer front, but I did have a chance to throw together a small tasting dinner with Luke at his place. We did a Mardi-Gras theme dinner with 4 courses. Since it was just us and our wives, we took some bigger chances to experiment with new techniques and pairings before we decide to another dinner for a broader audience. It went down like this:

Gumbo Consomé
2010 Blufeld Riesling - Mosel, Germany

Gulf Trio (Boudin Ball, Crawfish Boil, Raw Oyster)
Katana Junmai Ginjo Sake - Shizuoka, Japan
Boulevard Brewery Two Jokers Belgian Wit - Kansas City, MO

Blackened Redfish
Lemon Lassi (Indian Yogurt Drink)

King Cupcake & Beignet
Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout - Petaluma, CA

The Riesling was probably the best pairing of the night, but I almost think that's cheating; Riesling pairs with almost anything. The Katana saké went really well with the oyster (again, no surprise) but it sucked out loud with the boudin ball. The Belgian wit worked with the boudin ball and nothing else. The lassi did what I intended it to - cut the spice and added acid - but the texture and mouthfeel was too much for an entrée. The Cappucino Stout was a good enough beer on its own, and the concept was right, but cold drinks suck with those desserts.

Oh well. Gotta try everything, even if its not perfect. At least Luke got to show off his high-powered vent hood while blackening the fish.

Training has been going well, and my first Highland Games of the season is this weekend in Fort Worth. I am lifting 3 times a week and throwing 2 times, so I have been pretty beat. I am adjusting though.

Today was pretty crazy:

Speed/Power 1.2

Warm Up:
5 min treadmill
LOTS of foam rolling
a little static stretch and band work but had no patience

Push Press
45x3
95x3x2
135x3x8

I was doing funny things with my head today.

Deadlift
225x3x2
295x3x10

Chins
10x3

DB Rows
130x10x2 - Grip gave out before I could finish, time to strap up.

THEN

I went and threw with a guy named Spencer Tyler. He was the #4 amateur Highland Games thrower in North America last year. So yeah, I had to show him the ropes.

Stones - 5 stands, 5 reverse, 5 or 6 fulls. No great distance breakthroughs, but a lot of new stuff to process. Staying on my left forever out of the back.
HWFD - Only 5 or so 2-spins. Spencer found an issue with my cast that I need to work on now.
16# Hammer - 4 or 5 tosses. Still basically a n00b on this one.

I'm tired.

But I have been pooping so well!

Interesting week, athletically speaking. I took last week easy in the weight room since it was my de-load week. I also decided at the last minute to register for a fencing tournament that was taking place on Sunday. I only had enough time to get my gear out of storage, make sure it was working and try on my fancy pants. No practice at all. I really just wanted to scratch my competitive itch since I hadn't done anything to test myself physically since last November.

It was a pretty fun tournament, I only saw one person that knew me from back in the old days, and a 10-year old girl told me I was "hot." Also, I made it to the finals, but lost and took 2nd place.

This week was the first "speed" phase for me in Matt Vincent's program. It's always a challenge for me shifting gears from strength work to moving lighter weights as fast as possible. I think having throwing to tie it all together helps it make more sense though. Today looked like this:

Warm Up

5 min treadmill

Foam Roll

Static Stretch

Yoga Complex

Push Press

45x5

95x3

125x3x10

Bar speed actually got better as I progressed into the later sets.

Deadlift

135x3

275x3x11

I felt like I was flying through these, but I imagine they looked pretty slow.

Lat Pulldown

3 sets of 10

Barbell Row

135x10x3

Throwing is up to 2 or 3 times a week and there is still a lot of ugly to work out. I recently discovered that another excellent highland games thrower named Spencer Tyler lives just down the road from me. We are planning to throw together this weekend. If I don't eventually get good at this sport, it will be 100% due to me just not trying hard enough.