All the other kids with their pumped up kicks....

I have been using my new Strength Training shoes that the EVHS staff bought me.  According to the shoes manual...yes they came with a manual and training video..."when athletes train properly with the strength Shoe, the calf muscles support 100% of the body weight.  Following the systm, athletes can expect to increase vertical leap by us much as 5 to 10 inches."

Right now I am doing everything within my power to make this happen.  I am working out my legs 3-4 times per week, using the special shoes, and even trying some new health supplements and diet.  I have a goal and I am willing to do whatever it takes to get there.

What happened to all of us?

I had the opportunity to travel this weekend to NYC.  Being in a city that large, with so many people, is a spectacle in and of itself.  We live on such a diverse planet when you think about NYC being a place where one square block of steel and concrete can house more people than probably all of Eagle County.  Time and again I just noticed people...more and more of them...pouring out of subway stations, running in central park, eating food from streetside vendors, taking a cigarette break, police officers, skateboarders, etc.

The crush of people only continued all the way through our flight back to Denver.  It was while I was waiting at Laguardia that I had my epiphany for this upcoming weeks training.  I had my headphones on and was doing some people watching during the wait for our departure.  When I was looking at people I noticed that they were all adults.  Business travelers, tourists, foreigners, retirees, flight crews, and just about anything in between.  It made me think about what each of them might of been like when they were in high school.  As I look at each person I thought to myself....was this a former????

• prom queen
• lunchroom loaner
• star quarterback
• voted most likely to succeed
• partier and drug user
• band geek
• class president
• social outcast
• debate captain
• class clown

What quickly became appearant to me was that in all of these anonymous people there was no way to gaurantee a match between my stereotypes. 

• Was the well dressed business man a former quarterback or social outcast?
• Did the guy with all the tatoos receive the most likely to succeed votes or was he a drug user?
• Was the beautiful woman a prom queen in her day or a band geek?

The more I thought about it I became facinanted with the potential of what high school back story existed for each person. 

• Did they go to a private school or public school?  Did they even go to school or graduate?
• Where they challenged or bored out of their minds? 
• Was their experience with teachers overall positive or negative? 
• Did they have the support of their parents or have to do it all on their own?

Ultimately what I decided was....What matters was the fact that all people are living the life that they have right here and now in front of them.  Why not sieze the moment and make of it what you will or what you want.  High school is one of those moments that is the story of most of our lives.  It does not define you forever but it is the moment that you have to live here and now.

2nd Street Basketball Court (Lesson - Patience)

This is a picture I took of the 2nd Street basketball goal...
there was something idyllic about the clouds, mountains, and sun-rays
that made it very photogenic today.

So I was driving home from the grocery store yesterday when I intentionally went out of my way to drive by the 2nd Street basketball courts in gypsum.  I got out of my car and decided to test my vertical right then and there.  I had already worked out for the day and could not help myself from testing out my vertical skills.  It's kind of funny because every time I see something that is either a basketball goal or around that height I immediately think....could I jump and reach that.
A valuable lesson I am learning is one of patience.  I really want to jump and reach and dunk the basketball....NOW.  Not two days from now, not two weeks from now, and definitely not two months from now.  Although I am seeing progress I cannot help but feel that the goal in mind becomes more frustrating when progress is not obvious or documented.  (Hold your breath because here comes the obvious educational parallel.)  In education we are often faced with a similar dilemma.  We want kids to change their behavior...NOW.  We want our test scores to improve...NOW.  We want to see implementation of new curriculum...NOW.  What is most important is to have a plan in place to achieve change and stick to those plans even when you face adversity or become frustrated with a lack of results. 

It is the patience to see through the entire process and work on all the components necessary when real change will occur.

Did I jump any higher at the 2nd Street basketball court than I had earlier in the day at my workout?  No, I did not.  However, I know that with continued hard work and patience I still believe I can achieve my goal.  I have a good plan in place and I cannot lose sight of how being patient when you have a good plan in place is a key part of achieving success.

Free Hug Friday!!!

Best day of the school year so far...FREE HUG FRIDAY!!!!

So the Pitchforks got out and greeted students as they entered the building by opening their car doors and offering free hugs.  The energy was awesome and the effect of having everyone do something that makes you feel good to start the day was infectious.  They then went around and hugged every teacher during first period. The students of EVHS love their teachers and it was great to see that.

I touched the Rim...I BELIEVE

Today was a tremendous day at school.  I had the chance to meet one-on-one with a Senior and interview her about who she is and what EVHS has meant to her.  By the end of our conversation I was buzzing about the work that we do here for kids and our community.  That energy continue when I met with the soccer team and talk to them about their 1st victory of the season and where they are headed as a team.  I also met with the "Pitchforks" and we planned their next major spirit event for the school.  This all fits with a meeting I also had today with the Administrators and Counselors at EVHS about what we can do to further push our agenda for College and Career Readiness. I BELIEVE EVHS is on a precipice and about ready to explode with EXTRAordinary achievement in the classroom, on the athletic fields, and in our community.

Tonight I came back to EVHS at 9:00pm to complete my workout for the day.  Before I got into my plyometric training I wanted to test myself in the gym with my jumping.  After several attempts I was falling short and not jumping very high.  I decided to just go into the workout and see what would happen later.  The plyometric training is 60 minutes of constant jumping, leaping, hoping, and anything else that gets up up and down.  It is by far the most strenuous on my lower body and cardiovascular system.  After completing the workout I stepped out into the gym and looked up at the goal.  It was staring me down...almost taunting me because of my earlier defeat.  I decided that I needed to try again before I would let myself leave.  After another failed attempt I gathered myself....gave a full run up...and touched the rim!  I did it three, four, five more times.  It was a huge validation that I am progressing.  The sacrifices and training that I am doing are having the desired effect that will ultimately lead to greater achievement.

I BELIEVE in myself and that all of this hard work is going to pay off.  In a literal sense I am talking about my working out and the vertical jump training.  In a bigger sense I am talking about EVHS and the students and staff that work here.  I BELIEVE in our kids and that they are capable of great things when given the opportunity.  I BELIEVE in the staff of EVHS and the lengths that they go to in order to provide those opportunities.

Running Sidebar

So this weekend I took a little detour from the intense jump training to participate in the RAGNAR relay.  I was invited to re-team with a group of collegues from Rock Canyon High School for this annual event.  We first did this event 6 years ago and I was not a part of the relay last year as I had left the school.  Because of a late dropout from the team they needed my services again.  I have to say I am very greatful for the invite as it was just as much fun as I remembered it.

The basics of the relay are that you have 10-12 people, 2 vans, and 188 miles of running to cover between Breckenridge and Snowmass.  The vans take 5-6 people and run their legs of the relay, pass it off to the other van of 5-6 people, and drive forward for the next leg.  We did it with 10 runners this year so we averaged 18 miles a piece over 3 different legs of running.  It is a physically demanding event as you run over major mountain passes, cram yourself into a car, sleep on the ground at rest stops, empty your body of its contents several times over, and get up to run all over again.  However, the comraderie and exstasy of completing the task in 24+ hours (including some incredible scenery and unforgettable runs) make it all worth it.

So thanks to Tony, Erica, Tyler, Emy, Karly, Brent, Jenna, Lauren, and Matt for including me in on the fun.  It was great to connect with some old friends, make new ones, and have another relay under the belt.

Tomorrow...back to lower leg lifting for explosive strength!

Pepfest Dunk Footage - August Trial

Here is the footage of my first attempt to dunk at the August 30th PepFest.  After challenging the student body and staff to EXPECT MORE this was my demonstration of where my vertical currently stands.  I have given myself until the December 5th PepFest to be able to dunk a basketball and fulfill a personal lifelong dream.  Can I do it?  Time will tell but right now I am working my hardest to get to that point and prove to everyone that you can achieve anything you set your mind to.

Phi Slamma Jamma

The last time I played basketball competitively/regularly was during my college years at Kansas State University.  I lived in a fraternity and we regularly played pickup games on the goal in our parking lot when the weather allowed.  Some of my favorite memories are from playing with my best friends and pledge brothers in winner stays/loser goes competitions.  They were always fierce with nobody calling any fouls and occasional injuries from rough play.  How could you not have a good time with guys named Hams, Saw, Waldo, Vibe, Clitch, Elmo, Sode, Solo, Fish, Bait, Yoda, Jed, Sunny, Splash, and Chester.

The ultimate however was my participation in intramural 3 on 3 basketball.  During my Junior and Senior years I teamed forces with brothers Taz and Walt to form my last forray into basketball specific training.  We were not just a team...we were PHI SLAMMA JAMMA.  Although the name was borrowed from the University of Houston team from the early 80's that featured Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon, we were convinced that we could emulate our basketball heroes on the court. 

Taz was the slasher with a quick first step and ability to finish at the rim.  Walt was the distributer who made the offense flow.  I took on the role of defensive stopper and generally annoying little white guy (think of every Duke gaurd you ever hated).  As a unit we trained at the gym and worked on the skills the would make us better.  Specifically we would do squats and call out the rebounds we were getting with each rep...Box Out...Snatch It...I Own You Fool...

Although none of us were ever varsity level players in high school...as a 3 on 3 team we were pretty formidable.  In my junior year we lost to a team called the Vanilla Gorillas who actually won a national tournament of college 3 on 3 intramural teams.  My senior year we made it to the quarterfinals and lost to a team in what I remember as an epic battle that went down to the wire.

As I trained today for my Expect More Dunk challenge I actually went back to those days almost 20 years ago and thought about what they meant.  Through comraderie, communication, hard work, and passion I was a part of something that made me really proud.  I hope that the EVHS community takes on these same characteristics as we work towards greater goals.

-kai-
(this is for you Beta Brothers and Phi Slamma Jamma)

I Love Statistics

I always like to think of myself as being an informed individual.  I like to be armed with as much information as possible to make the best decisions possible.  In the case of the “Expect More Dunk” challenge my information gathering is starting to show me that I am going to have to really achieve greatness to accomplish my goal.

 After doing some research on the internet on vertical jumping I was able to come to the following conclusion…Right now I am the exact definition of average!  Remember these are the numbers that I am starting my challenge from…

• Age = 37 (will turn 38 during training)
• Height = 6’1”
• Reach = 8’0’
• Vertical = 16”
• Goal Vertical to Dunk = 30”

According to an article from www.menshealth.com, men have an average vertical jump in the following age ranges. 

AGE     HEIGHT

20-29    19.7"

30-39    16.9"  I am right at the average on this one.

40-49    13.8"

50-59    11.0"

 

So this puts me at a starting point that makes me exactly average.  I kind of knew that going in but it also shows that in order to achieve my goal I will have to far out jump even the average for someone 10 years younger than myself.

I also found another resource that gives a more general overview for vertical jumping (Top End Sports, 2012).  This one includes males and females, doesn’t break it down by age, and has jumps categorized from very poor to excellent ratings.  Again I am starting in the average category.  It verifies again that I am going to have to reach well above average in order to be in the running to dunk the basketball. 

	males		females
rating	(inches)	(cm)	(inches)	(cm)
excellent	> 28	> 70	> 24	> 60
very good	24 - 28	61-70	20 - 24	51-60
above average	20 - 24	51-60	16 - 20	41-50
average	16 - 20	41-50	12 - 16	31-40
below average	12 - 16	31-40	8 - 12	21-30
poor	8 - 12	21-30	4 - 8	11-20
very poor	< 8	< 21	< 4	< 11

With all this data there is one more piece of information that I found fascinating, inspiring, and mostly intimidating.  According to a vertical training website called jumpshigher.com, here are some elite comparisons for vertical leaping.

Average Vertical Leap of NCAA Div. 1 Football player: 29-31 inches.

Average Vertical Leap of NCAA Div. 1 Basketball player: 27-30 inches

Michael Jordan had 48" vertical

Kadour Ziani is the unofficial world record holder at a 56" vertical

So I now have multiple sources confirming that it will take the EXTRA-ordinary for me to accomplish my ambitious goal of dunking the basketball.  Right now I am taking this as inspiration that not if I do it…but when I do it…I can truly relish in what is hopefully an inspiring accomplishment.

As a shout out to the Language Arts Department I want to point out that I tried to cite all of my sources for this post =)

Bibliography

Brant, J. (2012). Look great at any age. Retrieved from http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/build-strength-at-any-age/fit_standards.php

Top End Sports Network. (2012). Fitness testing: Vertical jump height norms. Retrieved from http://www.topendsports.com/testing/vertical-jump-norms.htm

Vertical Jump Research Blog. (2012). Average vertical jump by gender. Retrieved from http://jumpshigher.com/average-vertical-jump

The Master Workout Plan

Feeling like I am in pretty good shape.  I have been doing parts and pieces of some workouts and now I am going to focus on doing a lower body workout every other day.  I am going to mix some of the P90X videos with weightroom and court work.  The plan is to do the following....

Day 1 - Lower Body Weight Training (high weights, low reps, maximize explosion)
Day 2 - Kempo X and Ab Ripper X (core & aerobic strength)
Day 3 - Plyometrics X (possibly the hardest of the P90X workouts)
Day 4 - Basketball drills and Ab Ripper X (get in some court time)
Day 5 - Legs and Back X (another round of strength leg drills)
Day 6 - Stretch X and Ab Ripper X (bit of a recovery day)
Day 7 - Hill Run (I just can't give up the running and I hope the hills pay off)

So this is the optimistic plan.  Obviously it requires 7 days of work and I know already that some weeks will get blown up.  However, I am motivated to work on the legs and want to stick to the every other day plan and see if I can start to get some more results.

The other thing I am excited about is using my strength training shoes.  The gift from the EVHS staff was amazing.  I did return them to get a smaller size, but once they come in I want to start using them to see if they pay off with the training of the right muscle groups.

If anyone has any suggestions for what else I can do let me know.