The snow is gone.
Over the last few months I have been strength training while my knee recuperates, and the vaults I have done have been challenged by ice and snow. Now that it's gone and my knee has been checked out, it's time for the hard training to begin once more.
To start off I learned a new Kong take-off, a powerstep which (according to an experienced traceur in Eagan) will give me both more distance and more height than either the two foot punch or split foot take-off. I can now do this take-off at full sprint, jog, and walk.
The 360° Underbar has not suffered.
The Speed Vault has not suffered.
The Lazy Vault has not suffered.
The standard landing has not suffered.
The Cat Walk has improved.
The roll has improved (makes no sense to me either).
MCAD Parkour had a record turn-out today, 6 members, all of which but one are repeats. They just never came all on the same day. It's taking off, and feels good.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Pseudo Training Log: November 15, 2009
Over the last month I have been continuing to let my knee and ankle recover. So far, they're doing pretty well and significantly better than they were a month ago. Unfortunately, I fear I may have to take off yet another month for them to be completely ready to go.
That said, training has not stopped. It still happens a minimum of 3 times a week, usually 4, and I am getting stronger. I'm excited to see what I'll be able to do when performing full movements at full speed.
As of yesterday Parkour club got 3 more people, and 1 more person has been training with me for the past two weeks. I think he'll stick with it for sure. The only vaults I've had to do are the ones I'm teaching him, but for the most part I observe and critique. He has a lot of promise, I'm excited to see how he performs in the future.
That said, training has not stopped. It still happens a minimum of 3 times a week, usually 4, and I am getting stronger. I'm excited to see what I'll be able to do when performing full movements at full speed.
As of yesterday Parkour club got 3 more people, and 1 more person has been training with me for the past two weeks. I think he'll stick with it for sure. The only vaults I've had to do are the ones I'm teaching him, but for the most part I observe and critique. He has a lot of promise, I'm excited to see how he performs in the future.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Pseudo Training Log: October 18, 2009
Training log information will continue to be minimal again, as I actually fear for my knees and ankle now. Whereas before I wanted to take it slow with vaults etc., I now have no choice. I am certain permanent damage will occur if I continue. Does this mean I'm going to stop training? Hell. No. It does mean I can only focus on upper body strength and flexibility, however.
Bad news out of the way, I spent some time at Iowa State University this weekend. While a few of my friends were busy tailgating before the football game, a friend and I went on an adventure around campus. The entire place is ridiculously awesome for Parkour, and I was elated to find out they have an active club there. The above paragraph is a result of the training I did at ISU, and how I'm feeling afterward. It was still a lot of fun though, and when I'm healed I can easily imagine spending a weekend down there doing nothing but Parkour. All the main buildings are built of concrete with a really modern aesthetic, which means good grip, lots of precisions, lots of catwalks, plenty of vaultable "walls", plenty of wall run walls, it's really just a giant playground for traceurs. We're thinking about going back down there later in the year. The goal will be to have recovered by then.
Bad news out of the way, I spent some time at Iowa State University this weekend. While a few of my friends were busy tailgating before the football game, a friend and I went on an adventure around campus. The entire place is ridiculously awesome for Parkour, and I was elated to find out they have an active club there. The above paragraph is a result of the training I did at ISU, and how I'm feeling afterward. It was still a lot of fun though, and when I'm healed I can easily imagine spending a weekend down there doing nothing but Parkour. All the main buildings are built of concrete with a really modern aesthetic, which means good grip, lots of precisions, lots of catwalks, plenty of vaultable "walls", plenty of wall run walls, it's really just a giant playground for traceurs. We're thinking about going back down there later in the year. The goal will be to have recovered by then.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Pseudo Training Log: October 2-October 12, 2009
Training over the last week and a half has continued as normal. Mondays and Fridays I go to the park, Tuesday-Thursday I spend 45 minutes a day training at MCAD, and I train on the weekends when possible. My knee and ankle have been healing, the only pain I receive from them now is if I take a landing particularly hard or twist it funny. There's not much to report on skill improvement with an exception of the tic-tacs, which have vastly improved. I am now capable of making three quick steps on the wall. With enough speed, I can make two large ones and carry a fair amount of distance. I might even be able to make three, but the wall I have to train on isn't long enough to try.
Today ends my sixth month of training. It's hard to believe it's been that long, and even harder to realize I couldn't do so much as a speed vault when I started. Now I can do catwalks, QM, speed vaults, kong vaults in all three variations, lazy vaults, wall runs, tic-tacs, 360° turn vaults, top-outs, pop vaults, and precisions. I feel like I could get through almost any obstacle course with ease.
As a new challenge, I trained in the snow today. I don't know what the hell snow is doing on the ground on October 12, but it's here and I used it. The good news is I can do Parkour in full winter gear if I substitute winter boots for hiking boots. Today I did it in hiking boots, snow pants, winter jacket, gloves, and a face mask. The only thing I had to actually avoid were precisions and, as I found out rather quickly, the 6" beam run. All vaults were done without slipping, the 1" wall walk and 1" cat walk were unhindered. Top-outs were fine, QM was cold but fine. It was a lot of fun, and a good exercise in overcoming weather as an obstacle.
Today ends my sixth month of training. It's hard to believe it's been that long, and even harder to realize I couldn't do so much as a speed vault when I started. Now I can do catwalks, QM, speed vaults, kong vaults in all three variations, lazy vaults, wall runs, tic-tacs, 360° turn vaults, top-outs, pop vaults, and precisions. I feel like I could get through almost any obstacle course with ease.
As a new challenge, I trained in the snow today. I don't know what the hell snow is doing on the ground on October 12, but it's here and I used it. The good news is I can do Parkour in full winter gear if I substitute winter boots for hiking boots. Today I did it in hiking boots, snow pants, winter jacket, gloves, and a face mask. The only thing I had to actually avoid were precisions and, as I found out rather quickly, the 6" beam run. All vaults were done without slipping, the 1" wall walk and 1" cat walk were unhindered. Top-outs were fine, QM was cold but fine. It was a lot of fun, and a good exercise in overcoming weather as an obstacle.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Training Log: September 30-October 1 2009
Training over the last two days has included:
- Upper Body Conditioning
- Wall QM
- Wall Run
- Tic-tac
- Top Outs
I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, just because there's not much to say. Not being able to do vaults sucks so much a prostitute would blush. I throw in a small lazy vault now and then just to keep myself sane while training, but my knee and ankle can't heal fast enough. I feel like the wall runs and tic-tacs aren't helping much, but there's no way the knee and ankle are sustaining as much force with those as they were with vaults. I don't know, I can't do upper body conditioning by itself for an hour. I'm not strong enough, and the exercises take too much out of my arms. But if I don't train for an hour, I feel lazy. So what am I supposed to do?
- Upper Body Conditioning
- Wall QM
- Wall Run
- Tic-tac
- Top Outs
I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, just because there's not much to say. Not being able to do vaults sucks so much a prostitute would blush. I throw in a small lazy vault now and then just to keep myself sane while training, but my knee and ankle can't heal fast enough. I feel like the wall runs and tic-tacs aren't helping much, but there's no way the knee and ankle are sustaining as much force with those as they were with vaults. I don't know, I can't do upper body conditioning by itself for an hour. I'm not strong enough, and the exercises take too much out of my arms. But if I don't train for an hour, I feel lazy. So what am I supposed to do?
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Training Log: September 25-29, 2009
Training over the last five days has included:
- Upper body conditioning
- QM
- Tic-tacs
- Cat Walk
Upper body conditioning:
There's actually a wide variety of exercises available to me while I avoid the knee. I still do my standard crunches (40-30-20) and elevated push-ups (20) each day, but I've added things like dips, this strange wall exercise where you hang your body off of it and move across only on your hands, dive-bomber push-ups, things like that. It's not vaulting, but it keeps me in shape.
QM:
This actually irritates my knee somehow, not sure why. As a result, I keep it pretty slow. Still doing it on the library ramp wall though, adds balance into the training.
Tic-tacs (horizontal wall run):
Attempted these, and trained these, for the first time today. I now regret it because they put a lot more stress on my knee than I thought they would, so it hurts again. It was still fun though, and I'm certain that once I've recovered I can have it down decently in a month tops. The hard part is figuring out how my feet need to be situated so the left foot can actually step on the wall and contribute instead of just slapping it. I think if I bend in the right leg more and quickly put down the left foot it should work better.
Cat Walk:
I left the Vibrams off today for the sake of babying my legs and feet, but it made the cat walk harder. My Filas don't have the grip on the rail my Vibrams do, and while I still made it up the rail I also fell twice (which I have never done on the Morrison railing before). This is definitely no good, and I'll have to continue training in the Filas to fix it. An observation: Rails are easier in the Vibrams, walls are easier in the Filas.
- Upper body conditioning
- QM
- Tic-tacs
- Cat Walk
Upper body conditioning:
There's actually a wide variety of exercises available to me while I avoid the knee. I still do my standard crunches (40-30-20) and elevated push-ups (20) each day, but I've added things like dips, this strange wall exercise where you hang your body off of it and move across only on your hands, dive-bomber push-ups, things like that. It's not vaulting, but it keeps me in shape.
QM:
This actually irritates my knee somehow, not sure why. As a result, I keep it pretty slow. Still doing it on the library ramp wall though, adds balance into the training.
Tic-tacs (horizontal wall run):
Attempted these, and trained these, for the first time today. I now regret it because they put a lot more stress on my knee than I thought they would, so it hurts again. It was still fun though, and I'm certain that once I've recovered I can have it down decently in a month tops. The hard part is figuring out how my feet need to be situated so the left foot can actually step on the wall and contribute instead of just slapping it. I think if I bend in the right leg more and quickly put down the left foot it should work better.
Cat Walk:
I left the Vibrams off today for the sake of babying my legs and feet, but it made the cat walk harder. My Filas don't have the grip on the rail my Vibrams do, and while I still made it up the rail I also fell twice (which I have never done on the Morrison railing before). This is definitely no good, and I'll have to continue training in the Filas to fix it. An observation: Rails are easier in the Vibrams, walls are easier in the Filas.
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