nags of a similar ilk

Paul workout when practice doesn't happen on Thursdays.

warm up, basic sprinting drills
3x accelerators
100 m race
6x W runs
3x10x40 on 35 second intervals (throwing in between)

I went to this morning's workout without Kris. For reasons I don't understand, hard workouts make me sore starting less than 12 hours after the workout ends, but Kris doesn't start feeling soreness until 24 hours after the end. Of course, this means that he's still sore two days after the workout, and I'm on the way back to full recovery.

So, he was tired and sore, and I really wanted to go. Paul goes Wednesdays and Fridays, so I was motivated to go. Honestly, I'm sore, too, but consistency is key, so go go go!

This morning's workout was four sets of reducing reps of

Overhead barbell squats
Side to side hurdle jumps
Swissball rollouts
Handstand pushups
Run 4 lengths (50m each)

Reps were 21 18 15 and 12.

The overhead squats were done with a barbell held overhead, so that the arms were straight and the bar was directly over the head. I originally thought the bar plus ten pounds would be fine for me. After three squats, I was sure I was wrong. I dropped the weights and just used the bar. I had problems keeping the bar directly over my head. I kept holding the bar slightly back, which allowed me to lean slightly forward, the bane of my squatting existence. I struggle to work the right set of squatting muscles every time, and compensensate by leaning forward. Such muscle weakness shows in my marking, too, unfortunately, so these lifts are important for me to perform right.

The side to side hurdle jumps were at two heights: 12" and 6". I did the first three sets at the lower height, once again because my knees have been achy, but also because my legs were (are) still exhausted from Monday's workout.

Today's swissball rollouts were different than Monday's rollups.. The rollout was started in a plank position with the ball under the arms, which were bent (e.g. with arms resting on the ball). The ball was then rolled backward to the point where only the hands were on the ball. The butt needs to go up into the air. That's one.

None of the four of us at class were able (well, willing in the case of Breanne) to do the full handstand pushups against the wall. I remember doing them with Gino, but I had a spotter when we did them. Instead, we put our feet on a jump block, and angled ourselves so that we were as close to the block as we could be, essentially doing a handstand pushup, but with greater range of motion since we had less weight on our shoulders.

I wasn't able to run the runs full out, so I had to settle for a fast, first five steps.

I am way sore. While I rather like the sore feeling, I don't like my achilles hurting as much as it has over the last few days. It's really starting to bother me a lot.

Just because Paul won't blog about how he can channel my anger and annoyance to do good, doesn't mean I won't.

Hey Kitt,

I saw your blog post about the "private event" at baylands. It also
pissed me off so I wrote to sunnyvale parks about the experience and
this is what they said. Thought you might be interested, but feel free
to ignore this :). My original email is at the bottom.

Paul

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nancy Steward
Date: Tue, May 13, 2008 at 6:19 PM
Subject: Re: Sunnyvale Baylands
To: Paul Youn

Hello Paul,

I am glad to know that you have had the opportunity to enjoy Baylands
Park and I am sorry that your most recent experience there was
frustrating. You are correct in suggesting that there was a
misunderstanding. While we do issue exclusive use permits for the
picnic areas, we do not allow groups to rent out the entire park at
any time, nor to we allow private groups to charge the public an
admission fee to enter the park. Unfortunately, the public safety
officer you spoke with was misinformed.

I appreciate you taking the time to let me know about your experience.
I can assure you that I will be following up with our public safety
department and the rental group as appropriate.

In the meantime, thank you again for contacting us about your
experience. I hope that you will continue to enjoy Baylands Park in
the future.

Best wishes,
Nancy Steward

Nancy Bolgard Steward
Superintendent of Recreation
City of Sunnyvale
Office: (408) 730-7342
Fax: (408) 730-7754
www.ci.sunnyvale.ca.us/recreation

Creating community through people, parks and programs.

>>> On 5/12/2008 at 9:14 PM, "Paul Youn" wrote:

Hello Nancy,

I received your voice mail. First of all, thanks for taking the time
to get in touch with me. The reason I'm contacting you is that I have
enjoyed the Sunnyvale Baylands park for many years, and was a little
saddened to have a frustrating experience there. It isn't the end of
the world, and it could very well be a misunderstanding. Regardless,
I'd appreciate any help to avoid such a situation in the future, which
could be as simple as telling me how I can determine if someone has
rented out the entire park on a particular day.

The experience started when I arrived at the park around 2 pm. I
parked near by and walked in next to the vehicle entrance with my
friend. At this point, I was stopped by a man who insisted that we
pay an entry fee. I asked why, and he explained that his group (I
believe West Coast Cars) had rented out the entire park. I resisted at
first because to my knowledge, the park is a public resource. Although
I should support the park by paying for parking (and often do) I
didn't think it was a requirement. However, a police officer who was
also there confirmed that they had rented the entire park for the day.
So, I retrieved my car, entered, and paid the $5. I'd be very
interested if this money made it to support the park, or if it went to
the group.

This in itself wasn't so bad, though I was a bit put off by the fact
that it looked like a private group was turning the public park into a
business on mothers day. On my way in, not only did I see people
littering, but my frustration mounted when I realized that cars had
parked along the fire lanes, reducing the traffic to one lane in the
parking lot. The cars were on display. In addition, cars would slowly
take the only lane of traffic, stopping frequently to talk to friends
while cars were stuck behind them. This repeated when we tried to exit
the park, which took somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes.

However, this all seemed legitimate because there were several police
officers at the park who weren't so much as asking them to "move it
along". At the same time, I know it isn't really the police's job to
make sure I'm not stuck in traffic...

Anyway, like I said, my frustration may just stem from my own
ignorance of the situation. Which is why I'd love to hear more about
park policies!

Thanks for taking the time to read this,

Paul Youn

Last Friday night, Mischief descended on Wes' house for the inaugral event of the Shirley-Paul-I'm-gonna-kick-your-ass duodecathalon. The first event was, somewhat appropriately, a DDR dance off. Other events include Being Tall (Paul at 6'+ will probably win that one), Being Short (Paul will lose that one to Shirley's 5'5"), and others that, no doubt, include ro-sham-something.

The winner gets breakfast in bed. Said winner does not have to let the loser into the house. Should said loser wake up said winner before serving breakfast, the attempt doesn't count and the loser has to try again.

I arrived a little late, working on various projects. As I arrived, a ro-sham-eat had just finished up. Wes ran out of the kitchen and came back into the room dragging his dog's kennel. I looked at the crate, one made for the big, big dogs, and declared three people could fit in it.

Wes and several others looked at me like I was insane. Three people in that kennel? No way!

I responded, "Not only can three people fit in there, but if one is one of the small Asian women, the other two could be Tyler and I."

No one believed me.

Tyler was game, and, after taking off his shoes, crawled into the crate. He lay on his back, taking up most of the bottom of the crate. No, no, no way could more than two people fit in the crate, the men called out.

I asked Tyler to move to the back of the crate, and I "tried" to climb in next to him. The trick is, of course, to all great cons is to not quite fit.

Well, if I had truly been trying to con these guys.

When I didn't quite fit in the crate with Tyler, everyone started calling me on my "three people" declaration. I responded quickly by pulling out my wad of cash from my pocket. "I have 60, no, 80! Eighty dollars says I can fit in the crate with Tyler and Shirley or Pei. Eighty dollars."

Both Kevin and Paul immediately offered $20. Easy money they joked. Hand over the money, Kitt.

Silly boys.

I could get four people in that crate for $100.

Tyler unfolded himself from the bottom of the crate, I slid in next to him, and Pei zipped in, pulling the cage door closed behind her.

Easiest $40 ever.

EVAR.