2012 - Year in Review

Before it's 2013, gonna close out the old year. No philosophy or regret-listing. Here’s a chronology… thanks for the memories.

January: Smashed my toes, layed around for a few weeks. Went to Disneyland in a wheelchair.

Feburary:  helped host the Valentine’s dance with the Shaws and went to Valentien’s again with the girls. Turned around and went back to Disneyland with the Rabideaus.

March: Christian Youth Film Fest. The next day, Insect Lore cut me loose. Brewed a Chinook IPA the day after that. Spent the rest of the month enjoying the end of the school year with the kids at the Jr Hi X Games day, Ft. Tejon, and roofing and painting with Todd.

April: Went to Carpinteria to getaway, but scoped out Territory Ahead and (unnamed) insurance company. The family went to the memorial services for Larry and Grandpa Lenick near Tehachapi. Did some fun art projects – hung a gauze cross for Easter services, built the “Love” tagger backdrop for Youth Sunday, painted a Tim Werdel caricature. Went to Matt Mahar/Third Day with the family, to High School “Dude Day” with Kon.

May: Went to the midnight opening of the Avengers, Magic Mountain with Haley. Drank up that Chinook IPA at the Amgen time trial at Hart Park.

June: Crazily, attended the opening day of Cars Land at California Adventure. Won the golf tournament with Bonetti, Matt Thompson, Bob Haenelt and Don Lucas at the 30 year reunion. Had fun that night but cut out a bit early. Hosted the best junior high swim party of the summer with an Avengers theme at the Chesneys’. Brewed a RyePA, which turned out a little barleywine-ish.

July:  Did the annual Catalina trip, didn’t do any diving at all this year. Enjoyed our 21^st anniversary dinner at Valentien’s.

August: Hit the 531 cycle hard with AM/PM workouts, bought the Ridley X-Fire and started really riding it. Spent my birthday at Disneyland with the fam. Visited the Bennetts in Fresno, where I lost sleep all night writing a personal resignation letter from 1^st Pres.

September: The immediate follow-up to this was helping (the Shaws, mostly) with the Fall Kickoff at church – this was pretty much the last straw, as well as my day to swear both to never listen to another Jeff sermon, and to start shopping for a new place to attend, all while beginning to teach the Real Jesus adult class with Sheldon. Began work at DSS, learning a new computer system, talking all day with walk-ins was both tiring and invigorating. Rode the hellaciously hilly Lighthouse with Dew. Gardiners came by for a visit. Did the Blues Fest with the Shaws and kids.

October: Spent a fun day in downtown LA with Haley for her birthday – missed the Volkslauf for the first time since I broke my arm, but it was worth it. Spent a week in Orlando for the Safety expo with the Campbells. Moved Bonnie to Orcutt, and brewed a Bowden Honey Brown ale with Monte and the DSS guys.

November: Watched the cyclocross rather than ride it. Laura came down for a visit. Restarted the 531 cycles with Scott Deppen.

December: Worked on the 1st Pres Christmas float with the Shaws. Went to Konrad’s first BC game, Condors game, 12-12-12 geocaching event. Brewed up a delicious Vanilla Porter. This year, Brian Setzer Orchestra was at the Fox, so we took CC and Haley. Butchered chickens at the Warrens, and spent the end of the month waking up to sustainable living and studying up on prepping concepts.

Learned a bit about friendship this year. Some that I thought were close, life-long friends weren't around when the darkness descended.

531 2d Dead Deload-ish - Dec 28

Buy in
3 rounds, 1 min RI
Hamstring curl x 10 @ 125 
Extensions x11 @ 195/210/225
5 mins.

Mixed calves, 4 rounds, one min RI
Seated @ 70/Donkey @ 225/A-frame @ 4
10 mins.

Deads: RDLs
10x 135/185///
8 mins.

8 - 3 hours - 2200/0600. 24 hours. 24 minutes total, PE: 8.

Deload Press n Bench/Pull n Pull - Dec 27

It's deload week, just mixing it up a bit. No true 531 today.

4 Rounds of 10/max reps in .30 on 1.15:
Pull up/Press @ 115
10 mins.

4 rounds of 10 reps, same timer:
Bench press @ 205/Underbar horz pulls
10 mins.

8.5 hours - 2130/0600. 24 hours. 21minutes total, PE: 7.

PullPush - Dec 26

Easy in/out. 4 rounds, in .30 on 1.15
Neutral grip pulls (6's)
Ring dips (11-10's)

5 hours - 0100/0600. 24 hours. 10 minutes total, PE: 6.

531 2d Press deload - Dec 25

Nothing really near the 3x5 that was supposed to happen today: 65#/79/95 just seems silly.

Cooked brats and did 6x10-7 @ 120# in .30 on 1.15, with 6x10-8 curl @ 85/95 in for good measure.

7.5 + 1.5 hours - 2330/0700. 24 hours. 15 minutes total, PE: 6.

531 2d Squat Day + Cl - Dec 24

531 Squat deload
Rx: 3x5 @ 124/155/186
Actual: 3x10 @ 125/165/185
7 mins.

Cl circuit
5 rounds in .30 on 1.15
Extensions x10-11 @ 210
Hamstring curl x10-11 @ 120
Overhead squat x10 @ 65/75////
Seated calf @ 70
A-frame @ 4
25 mins.

8.5 + 1.5 hours - 2230/0700. 24 hours. 33 minutes total, PE: 7.

531 2c Bench Day - Dec 20

Buy in
3xmax reps pulls
4 mins.

531 Bench
Rx: 5/3/1 @ 219/249/278
Actual: 5x225/3x250/4x280
8 mins.

BBB (no split today, no press bar available-ish)
5x10 @ 195 (60%) /
5x10 underbar Horz pulls
11 mins.

8.5ish hours - 2130/0600. 24 hours. 25 minutes total, PE: 7.

531 2c Dead day - Dec 19

Buy in
4x11-10
Hamstring curl @ 125/
extensions @ 195/210/225/240
6 mins.

531 Deadlift
Rx: 5/3/1 @ 213/241/269
Actual: 5x225/3x245/2x270
11 mins.

BBB split
Dead 2x10 @ 190/
x10 Seated calf @ 70
5 mins.
3x10 squat @ 185
x10 Seated calf (same)
6 mins.

Legs, especially groins, are sore after Monday's squat day. Not a lot of zip there for the squats.

8.5ish hours - 2130/0600. 24 hours. 29 minutes total, PE: 7. 226/13.

531 2c Press day - Dec 18

531 press
Rx:  5/3/1 @ 118/135/150
Actual: 10x 95/5x 120/3x 135/2x 150
9 mins.

BBB Stuff
5x10 pull ups/
5x10 press @ 105# (60%)
12 mins.

Felt good.

8 hours - 2200/0600. 24 hours. 22 minutes total, PE: 8.

531 2c Squat Day - Dec 17

531 2c Squat
Rx: 5/3/1 @ 233/264/295
Misread the grid. Actual: 10xbar/10x135/5x220/3x250/1x315
BBB squat
2x10 @ 225 (60%=207/70%=241)
16 mins.

BBB con't
3x10 @ 225/
Seated calf x10 @ 70
(2x10) donkey raises @ 225
8 mins.

7.5 hours - 2230/0600. 24 hours. 25 minutes total, PE: 9.

Paleo Diet Guidelines and Standards

From the Lurong Challenge.

We define a Paleo Diet as eating meat, nuts, veggies, seeds, some fruit, little starch, no sugar, and no dairy. A Paleo recommended serving consists of 40% carbohydrate, 30% Protein, and 30% Fat. NOTE: These guidelines are established for the purpose of having standards for the Challenge. We are not creating Paleo Doctrine, but we are providing direction to see significant improvements.

Encouraged Foods

• Lean Meats such as Lean beef (trimmed of visible fat), Flank steak, Top Sirloin, Extra-lean hamburger (90/10), Lean pork (trimmed of visible fat), Pork loin, Pork chops, Any other lean cut
• Lean poultry (white meat, skin removed) such as Chicken breast, Turkey breast, Game hen breasts
• Eggs from Chicken (go for the enriched omega 3 variety), Duck, or Goose
• Other meats including organ meats and game meats such as venison, wild boar, or wild turkey
• Fish
• Shellfish
• Fruit
• Vegetables
• Nuts- Tree Nuts. Peanuts are not Nuts and are a no-no
• Seeds

In Moderation (Within the guidelines listed, these are not cheats. In the case of allowable sweeteners, they are not recommended if you want to see the best results)

• Oils such as Olive, avocado, walnut, flaxseed, and canola oils (use in moderation—4 tablespoons or less a day when weight loss is of primary importance)
• Natural Sweeteners- a total of 1/2 tablespoon is allowable per day of the natural sweeteners agave, coconut nectar, and coconut crystals.
• Stevia- 1 Packet (3.5 grams) is allowable per day
• Beverages such as Coffee, Tea
• Paleo Sweets such as Dried fruits and Nuts mixed with dried and fresh fruits- make sure there is no added sugar
• Some lean bacon- make sure it doesn’t have added sugar or nitrates
• Sweet potatoes, yams
• Red Wine- Paleo says that 1 glass of wine (6 oz.) a night is legal. We are pretty sure cave men had vineyards! Anything more than one glass per night is a cheat (-5), and you can't save them up from nights before. Anything over one per night is a cheat.
• Special Allowances: (Exceptions made to meet specific nutritional demands for additional protein)
  • Protein supplementation is allowed and is not considered a cheat under the following conditions: it is limited to one serving per day, has less than 25 carbs per serving, is taken within 30 minutes post workout, and cannot be used as a meal replacement. We will allow whey protein if it is a whey protein isolate. Remember, most protein powders have some sugar (natural or artificial), so if you are looking to slim down, be careful.
    OR a protein bar with whey protein isolate IF the rest of the ingredients match up with the Challenge guidelines.
  • Endurance Athletes: If you are currently training for an endurance race that takes place during the dates of the challenge such as a marathon , ½ marathon, or adventure race (minimum 8 mile race) you are allowed to use one non-paleo product (such as goo) per hour of training. Additionally, you can use whatever products you need during the race itself to help you have success. While we believe there are better options to the highly processed and artificial goo and energy block products, we understand that endurance athletes have a specific nutritional need. Recommendation: substitute a goo product with the following: mix apple butter (non-dairy) with almond butter in a zip-lock baggie and use that for a balanced energy sustenance tool.  

Don't Do It- These are Cheats

• Fatty Meats- such as fast food beef burger patties or low quality fatty bacon.
• Refined Sweeteners – sugar cane, white sugar, brown sugar, refined maple syrup, refined honey, aspartame, sucralose, Nutrasweet, Splenda, and anything else refined or man-made.
• Other Sweets: Candy, Sugar (raw or processed), glucose, syrup, and honey, NOTE: even though honey is a natural sweetener and is generally considered paleo, for the purpose of committing to the challenge and seeing results we are not allowing it.
• Coco power or Cocao powder
• More than 1/2 Tablespoon per day of the natural sweeteners including Raw Agave, coconut nectar, and coconut crystals.
• More than 1 packet per day of Stevia (3.5 grams)
• Baking Soda and baking powder
• Dairy Foods such as Butter, Cheese, Cream, Dairy spreads, Frozen yogurt, Ice cream, and All processed foods made with any dairy products
• Cereal Grains: Barley, Corn, Millet, Oats, Rice, Rye, Sorghum, Wheat, and bread products including bread, rolls, muffins, noodles, crackers, cookies, cake, doughnuts, pancakes, waffles, pasta, spaghetti, lasagna, wheat tortillas, pizza, pita bread, flat bread, and all processed foods made with wheat or wheat flour
• Cereal Grain-like Seeds: Amaranth, Buckwheat, Quinoa
• Legumes: All beans, Black-eyed peas, Chickpeas, Lentils, Peas, Peanut butter, Peanuts, Soybeans and all soybean products, including tofu
• Starchy Vegetables: Starchy tubers, Cassava root, Manioc, Potatoes and all potato products (French fries, potato chips, etc.), Tapioca pudding
• Soft Drinks and Fruit Juices: All sugary soft drinks, Canned, bottled, and freshly squeezed fruit drinks (which lack the fiber of fresh fruit and have a much higher glvcemic index)
• Alcohol - Tequila is the preferred Paleo liquor, but it is technically a cheat (-5). Anything other than 6oz of red wine per night is a cheat (-5).

Hinge + Push/Pull Bonus - Dec 16

4 rounds of the 4, in .30 on 1.15:
Ring Dips 11-10
Pull ups 10-9
Power clean n' Press 6's
Curl 10's

7.5 + 1 hours - 2330/0700. 48 hours. 20 minutes total, PE: 8.

531 2a Bench Day - Dec 14

No buy in, straight to the bench. And, if I can dead my BW with no warm up, I can be confident that I can bench it. Now to dead x10, since benching it is just silly easy. What an inversion.

531
Rx: 3x3 @ 205/234/263
Actual: 10x 225/5x235/5x265
6 mins.

BBB split
2x10 @ 185 (50%=162/60%=195)/
Underbar pulls x10
3x10 Press @ 95/
Underbar pulls x10
13 mins.

3 rounds, max reps, in .30 on 1.15
Bar dip x7's/
Wide pulls x6's
7 mins,

7.5 hours - 2230/0600. 24 hours. 27 minutes total, PE: 7.

531 2b Dead Day - Dec 13

Buy in
3 roundsx10
Hamstring curl @ 125/
Extensions @195/
Seated calf @ 80/
Donkey raises @ 225
8 mins.

531 Deads
Rx: 3x3 @ 198/227/255
Actual: 225x3/275x3/275x3/225x6

8 mins.

3 rounds RDL @ 185 x6/8/8
4 mins.

6.5 hours - 2230/0500. 24 hours. 21 minutes total, PE: 7.

531 2b Press (n' Pulls) Day - Dec 12

Buy in
3x6 Squat Clean and press @ 95/105/115

531 Press
Rx: 3x3 @ 110/126/142
Actual: 3x115/3x125/4x145
Sandwiched pull up 6's between all sets today, in .30 on 1.15

BBB split
2x10 Press @ 85/95 - Overhand pulls
--
DB incline press x7's @ 70's - Neutral grip pulls

Didn't feel too hard at the time, just a nice pump. CNS was juiced a bit all afternoon from it though.

Fun 12-12-12 Geocaching event tonight, btw.

7.5 hours - 2230/0600. 24 hours. 26 minutes total, PE: 8.

531 2b Squat Day - Dec 11

Damn the torpedoes. Feeling woozy going in, feeling really woozy going out with a nice CNS buzz. Deadlift bar was in use today, so didn't do that BBB split. Just squatted and left.

Buy in
3x10-7 FtB with
2x10 Rotator cuff stuff
4 mins.

531 Squat
Rx: 3x3 @ 217/248/279
Actual: 10x bar/10x 135/10x 175/3x 215/3x 250/4x 280
12 mins. Sets on 2 min.

BBB
4x10 @ 175
in .30 ... on 1.15...
6 mins.

7.5 hours - 2230/0600. 24 hours. 24 minutes total, PE: 9.

S run - Dec 10

Can I say for the record? Blogger's new format sucks donkey. Why make it harder to write? Writing is a construct, and so unnatural for those of us seeking to live a real life anyway.

10 run up/walk down repeats on Brighthouse hill in 1.30ish.
Felt fluid, with a tight back near the end of the workout. Focus on short strides and arm swing/drive.
Jog to/from Eureka! ... 15 mins of real form running work at sunset, then the piles of beers I thought I deserved after today at work.

7.5 hours - 2230/0600. 72 hours. 21 minutes total, PE: 8.

Ca Bonus - Dec 7

Buy in
Death by (neutral grip) pull ups
9.8 rounds, 85%.
10 mins.

Main set
5 rounds, in .30 on 1.15
Assisted pulls/dips x10
Dips were +25#, and pulls went up a plate each round 25#-85#. The death by kinda took it out of me?
13 mins.

Cash out
Same timer, 4 and 3 rounds
Press @ 120# x9-7
Narrow Curl x10
9 mins.

7.5 hours - 2230/0600. 24 hours. 26 minutes total, PE: 8.

531 2a Squat day - Dec 6

Buy in
3x7 FtB
3 mins.

531 Squat
Rx: 3x5 @ 202/233/264
Actual: 10x 135#/5x 205/5x 235/6x 265
12 mins.

BBB Split
2x10 @ 175 (50%=172.5) - Deep and wide.
sandwiched with 5x10 Seated calf @ 70/Donkey @ 225//210
4 mins.
and
3x10 Deads @ 165
6 mins.

Was pretty out of breath during the BBB work. Sat the squats right on down into the grass. Was straight-legging the deads, pretty much.

7.5 hours - 2230/0600. 24 hours. 26 minutes total, PE: 8.

531 2a Bench Day - Dec 5

Whatever, whatever.

Buy in
3xmax reps pull ups on the idiot handles hanging from carabiners on the Ring of Fire Shit. 
4 mins.

531 2a Bench
Rx: 3x5 @ 190/219/249
Actual: 10x175/5x205/5x225/8x255
10 mins.
__
BBB split - 5 rounds, no timer
Ring rows (flat out) x10, alternated with
Bench 2x10 @ 175 (50%=162.5)
Press 3x10/8/8 @ 115
15 mins.

6.5 hours - 2330/0600. 24 hours. 30 minutes total, PE: 7.

531 2a Dead day - Dec 4

The juggling continues as I had an idea to modify the BBB section of the additional work ... by splitting it between "like" days. Volume is the same, but because of the spread out schedule, one should have two opportunities to work and recover from two moderate sessions, instead of one opportunity to recover from one more major session. In theory, it works great.
Now to experiment.

Buy in
3xmax reps Power Clean @ 135, no timer
9/8/8
6 mins.

531 Deads, no timer, on the platform
Rx:3x5 @ 184/213/241
Actual: 10x 175/5x185/5x225/6x245
--
BBB split
2x10 @ 175
10 mins.
--
BBB split
Squat 3x10 @ 175 (50%=172.5)
Focused on form and dropping deep.
8 mins.

7.5 - 1 hours - 2230/0600. 24 hours. 25 minutes total, PE: 7.

Cl + 531 2a Press Day-ish - Dec 3

Was supposed to be Squat day, but there were no bars available. Plan B took us to what might have been Friday's upcoming assistance workout.
BTW, max numbers for this cycle are Squat 345, Press 175, Dead 315, Bench 325.

AM
Buy in
3x7 FtB
4 mins.

5 rounds
RDL x10 @ 135#
Seated Calf x12 @ 70
Goblet Squat x10/11/12/13/14 @ 50/55/60/65/70
16 mins.

PM
Plan B continues as we opted to move Press day forward one. Still, I had to sub out and switch around as I was forced to go downtown, and it was doucheMonday.

3 rounds, in .30 on 1.15
Cable pull downs @ 165/180/195 x16/10/8
DB recline press @ 70's x10/7/8
8 mins.

531 Press
Rx: 3x5 @ 102/118/134
Actual: 3x5 @ 105/125/135 (tried for 6 on the "as many" set)
6 mins.

Cash out
4 rounds, in .30 on 1.15
assisted Chins x10-8 with 25#/30/35//
Bar dips x10-8 with same assist
10 mins.

8.5 - 1 hours - 2130/0600. 48 hours. 30 minutes total, PE: 6.

Cl Bonus day - Dec 1

4 rounds x12 in .30 on 1.15
Hamstring Curl @ 120
Extensions @ 190/210/225//
Seated Calf @ 60
A-frame @ 5 (only 3 of these)

5x10 OV squat @ 45/65/85/95//

7 - 1 hours - 2330/0630. 24 hours. 30 minutes total, PE: 7.

Urca Dry Dock Vanilla Porter

No Vanilla in it yet, but it's gonna be a good porter before that. Ignored the NB instructions and just did the tea-bag steep with 4 muslin bags - a full hour at 158 to 170 degrees.

1 lbs English Maris Otter
.875 lbs English Medium Crystal
.75 lbs Flaked Barley
.5 lbs Belgian Aromatic Malt
.5 lbs British Chocolate Malt
.5 lbs Belgian Special B
.25 lbs English Black Malt

Threw in the extracts and started a full boil:

3.15 lbs Gold malt syrup
2 lbs Munton's Plain Light dry malt extract

Did a 60 min boil with hop-drops at 45 mins, 30 mins, and 15 mins. Shut off the heat and coasted the last 10 mins - pellet Willamette Alpha 4.7/Beta 3.7 for all three.

Pitched a day-old Wyeast 1056 American smack pack. OG 1070. Predicted: 1062.

Will add 10 vanilla beans during secondary. See you in a few days.

Day 7: Final gravity: .1022, which sounds just a bit high ... But! An initial taste test says Right On. Lots of cocoa/coffee overtones with a smoky buttery maltiness down the pipe.

Will rack it tomorrow and add in the beans. Two weeks from now prepare to cream your jeans.

Day 11: Racked and added in 10 vanilla beans (5 bourbon/5 normal), split, skinned, fractionated and commingled into a tea ball.

Final at the 8 week mark: Super Bowl Sunday 2013, we downed all 5 gallons (minus a growler that went home with Meren). This was spot on, and a serious vanilla ass-kicking. Good round body, with just enough vanilla to know we meant business with the beans, but not so much it was all the beer was about. A good porter foundation with lots of round mouthfeel and mocha.