Topic: Timothy Chen Allen's training log

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Location: Oyster School playground
Duration: 30 minutes
I mostly was trying to figure out what I could do in this space.

• I started out with some backwards and forwards QM.
• Then I tried some rail QMs, which mainly worked out to be me putting both hands and one foot on the rail and one in the air and trying to hold steady for as long as I could.
• I also did some sideways squat walking.  THIGHS-O-FLAMES!
• I tried a couple of lazy vaults on the same rail, but it didn't work out very well.
• After that I did precision jumps up and down a flight of stairs.  I did about five or six flights.
• I moved over to a wall and did cat traverses on the wall for a while.  These killed me.  Very hard.
• I did rolls whenever I could.  I think I've figured out how to do a decent roll, because these have stopped hurting my back as much.
• I tried doing some wall runs.  They have a wall that decreases in height.  I got my hand to the top of the lowest part of the wall.
• I did some mule kicks to hop to the top of a wall.  These went better than last time.
• I did some top ups from a cat hang.  These were awful.  We hates them forever!  

A lovely workout, life-affirming, really.

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Location: Oyster School playground
Duration: 30 minutes
Another lovely day in the park.  I did much the same workout as yesterday:

• QM: I did about twice as much of this today
• squat walking: a bit more of this, as well ++
• rail QMs: Today, I was able to stay up with two hands and two feet for a few seconds
• precision jumps upstairs : Today I counted; five times up the stairs.  My legs were more tired, but I think I'm just getting better at these.
• cat traverses
• rolls: I combined these with some jumps from about chest-high.  Getting better!
• top ups to mule kicks:  I combined these at first.  My top ups are getting better, but they still very much drain me quickly.  The good news: my mule kicks are solid now!  I just pop up to the top of the wall.  Incredible!  The power of practice.

Missing from the list: wall runs.  I attempted one of these and noticed that my sometimes twitchy right hamstring was giving me warnings.  So I decided to wait it out on these until my leg is feeling better.

A great workout.  Progress, not perfection.

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Date: 6 July 2009
Location: Gateway Park, Rosslyn, VA
Duration: 1 hour

Cameron, Wayne, and I met up for this.

• Started with backwards QMs up and down stairs in the overpass (brutal)
• precisions up onto concrete rails
• ran around the park a bit, some speed vaults
• precisions using the fountain-- these were longer than I had done before, but I was surprised to find I could do them
• precisions up to the bike railings-- about waist high!  I did not expect to be able, but was very pleased that I could.
• cat jumps
• kong vaults on the picnic tables.  We were going to just jump up onto the tables, but found that we were able to go all the way over!  A first for me.
• Cameron led us through some great stretching

Terrific.  For me the theme of this workout seemed to be that I can do more than I think I can.  It really helped working with others.

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Location: George Washington University, Lisner Auditorium Park
Duration: 1 hour

Met up with Johnny L. for this.

• Ran 2 miles
• Qm
• Lazy vaults
• Turn vaults
• Monkey vaults
• Rail qm
• Underbars

Another day of firsts for me.  First turn vault, first monkey vault, first time taking actual steps in a rail QM.  Very happy with this.

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Location: Oyster School
Duration: 30 minutes

Simple, but intense.  I'm finally finding what to do with the obstacles near my house (I live next to the school):

• QM on a long narrow wall behind my apartment
• Precision jumps down to a boulder next to that wal
• Lazy vaults
• then a bunch of turn vaults.
• Rail QM

I really worked turn vaults to a short drop, then back to the rail for a lazy vault.  I'm confident with the turn vault now pivoting on my left hand (I'm right-handed, don't really know if this is normal).  I'm not at all confident with the other hand; I need to work on turning the other direction.

My rail QM is getting much stronger.  I'm not having to muscle my balance as much, and I'm actually able to take three steps before falling off the rail.  Progress!

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Location: Gallaudet
Duration: 1 hour

A last-minute workout with Johnny.

• QM on the long curved wall, then backwards QM, then sideways QM.  Brutal!
• Vaults: speed then monkey.  We concentrated a lot on the monkeys, trying to leap from farther away on the wall.  It really was a lot better and easier launching from about four or five feet.
• Tic tac to a cat hang, then top up over the wall.  I was super pleased with this, considering I've never done a proper tic tac.  Johnny was able to add a cat to cat to the sequence!
• Underbars and reverse underbars.  Johnny got me to launch from farther back, and again, the move was greatly improved.  The big trouble was having faith that I was't going to kill myself going in feet first.
• Balance work, walking tightrope style on a rail.  This was very hard for me.  I finally got a little better when I started walking more and standing less.
• Stretching... you guys are so good, I would never stretch on my own.  This is why I'm shrinking as I get incessantly older.

Excellent.  A real sense that things are improving.

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Date: 13 July 2009
Location: Gateway Park, Rosslyn
Duration: 1.5 hours

A lot of folks: Johnny Le, Pilou, David, and Rob

• QM
• Rolls for time
• A three wall flow problem
• Monkey vaults and speed vaults
• Wall runs - I did my first real wall run at 9 feet!
• turn vaults on these cool double rails that David found
• conditioning - including one pretty good handstand that Rob got me to do

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Location: Oyster School Playground
Duration: 45 minutes

A solo workout, starting out with my new toys: a set of Elite Rings!  I am a weak little child-man on these rings!

• Ring support position-- I tried staying up for ten seconds at a time, just supporting my weight on straight arms.  I did this about 5 sets.  Agony.  I felt it along my sides more than anything.
• Pull-ups: These were a little more encouraging.  I could do a set of five and another of three.
• Push-ups: I dropped the rings down to a half foot off the floor and tried to do push-ups.  I could do five and then five.  Just so different!  I normally could do at least fifty on the floor.  This bodes well for soreness later.

After that I went on with a more normal workout:

• QM from the front gate of the basketball court down the stairs to the main playground.
• Backwards QM across the playground
• A full minute of rolling at random backwards and forwards.  Rolling is much less of a big deal now.  I learned this from my Gateway Park friends.
• lazy vaults, then turn vaults.  I got bad at these last workout, then good at them again.  I don't know why.  Something about how I am launching is just better today.
• Wall runs:  I tried this wall a bunch of times a few weeks ago.  It's about nine feet.  I could get my hands on the top, no problem.  Nowhere to go after, unfortunately.
• Precision jumps from my back wall to a large boulder we have.  I can nail these now, but going the other direction terrifies me.  It just looks so much harder-- it's about a foot jump back up.  I will get this, and soon.

Progress, not perfection!

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Location: Baltimore - Otaku Parkour Jam!
Duration: 8 hours

With Johnny Le, Rob, Zach, Matt, Michael, Eugene, Chris... at least 30 people in all!

This was fantastic.  I learned a lot just by spectating.  We trained in a few places that had no obstacles I could handle-- or so I thought.  I ended up finding out that I could either do more than I thought or that with a little more "Parkour Eye" I could find a way to use an obstacle.  I had a lot of opportunities to work flow today as well, there were just so many good obstacles.

I won't bother listing everything I did.  In eight hours I pretty much tried everything I know-- vaults of every kind... I learned how to do a Crane Vault for the first time.  Underbars, top ups, and a lot of rolls.  I did rolls on concrete for the first time ever and found I can do them with no pain at all.

This really was an excellent experience and opportunity to see the range of the discipline.  And really, the reputation of traceurs as good and helpful people was upheld: everyone was willing to help, to show me how, to give me tips, to cheer my fledgling skills.  Superb.

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Location: Home
Duration: 20 minutes

I was still beat from Otaku, so went for a simple rings workout:

• Support position: this is getting better.  I was able to hold this quite still for about ten seconds at a time, four times, leading me to get so cocky that I attempted...
• Dips: okay, I managed one.  It hurt all along my ribs.  Noice.
• Pullups: six, then five.
• Pushups: This is getting better fast, too.  Before I could only do five at a time, now ten then five.
• Straight-body inverted hang and then some pikes: this was the first time I did something kind of "fun" on the rings.  Cool.

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Date: 25 July 2009
Location: Reed Community Park (Adams-Morgan) Playground
Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=38.918814,-77.041197&spn=0.003356,0.004823&z=18
Duration: 30 minutes

This park is terrific!  I was just walking past and decided to do an impromptu session.  Excellent.
I did some QM, some rail QM, then some precisions and some vaults (lazy, speed, monkey, turn)

In the afternoon I went to my kid's school and practiced some tic-tacs to cat hangs.

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Duration: 30 minutes
Location: Oyster Playground

I showed my seven year old son, Daniel, some parkour moves.  I started off with some QM, then tried my tic-tac to a cat hang, some vaults (lazy, monkey, turn), then some wall runs.

Good fun.  He mostly watched, but tried some precisions.

[Timothy Chen Allen]

I've been fighting off the flu for almost a week, and I'm finally not sick, but still contagious.  So I was able to work on my Elite Rings for about a half an hour.  I did support position, dips, pullups, pushups, inverted pikes, and finally one "skin the cat" that felt pretty weird on my shoulders.

Good workout.  It's really true that consistent practice on the rings makes them easier to work with.

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Location: Oyster School
Duration: 1 hour

I did a series of ring exercises then concentrated on turn vaults, then cat hangs.

I filmed this session: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1-qK_Uoroo

[Josh Wright]

Hi Timothy! I have to say, I really enjoy your training log, and I really enjoyed your first video you posted above!

Keep up the good work man, 45 years old and still in better shape than some kids around my age! It's truly amazing! I will def be keeping my eyes on this training log!


Take care, my friend!

[Spencer B]

I filmed this session: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1-qK_Uoroo

I LOVED IT, I LOVED IT!

The music was awesome mellow and it was enjoyable seeing someone out of the average age range really getting into it and focusing on the movement.

I was surprised with the ring work (although I don't know why seeing as you post a lot of it here) and I really enjoyed the conditioning of it. One thing I could say that I saw was pointed out in your video was about your rolls. Not too big of a deal, but it needs saying.

Keep it up and I'd love to see more. 

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Hi Timothy! I have to say, I really enjoy your training log, and I really enjoyed your first video you posted above!

Keep up the good work man, 45 years old and still in better shape than some kids around my age! It's truly amazing! I will def be keeping my eyes on this training log!

Thanks, Josh!  Or should I say, Legend!  It was a lot of fun filming that workout, and I learned a lot just by watching myself.  But more importantly, I got great pointers from folks out there-- I need to improve my roll and smooth out my landings so I land silently.  I also got pointers on new moves to try.

I appreciate what you said!  Now I wish I had found this sport when I was younger, but I'm happy I can practice it at my age anyway and that I get so much support.

[Timothy Chen Allen]

I filmed this session: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1-qK_Uoroo

I LOVED IT, I LOVED IT!

The music was awesome mellow and it was enjoyable seeing someone out of the average age range really getting into it and focusing on the movement.

I was surprised with the ring work (although I don't know why seeing as you post a lot of it here) and I really enjoyed the conditioning of it. One thing I could say that I saw was pointed out in your video was about your rolls. Not too big of a deal, but it needs saying.

Keep it up and I'd love to see more. 

Thanks, Spencer!  I'm glad you liked the music; I write a lot of music and was excited to work one of my own songs into the video.

The rings are a relatively new toy.  I got them off the APK store web site (right here).  They are really hard to work with, but I enjoy the challenge.  The idea is that by the time I'm really good with them, I will have improved my strength to weight ratio a lot.

The rolls are a problem.  I've decided to dedicate myself to becoming an expert on rolls.  I went out this morning and just worked rolls for about fifteen minutes-- I did 50 rolls in a row, then worked them as part of another drill.  I know I can do them right, but I have to "unlearn" the way I have been doing them before.

Thanks!

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Location: Oyster School
Duration: 1 hour

This workout was a follow-up to the previous one, in which I posted a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1-qK_Uoroo).  I got many useful pointers from other traceurs as a result: thanks, folks!  Here were the points:

• I roll incorrectly: straight up the spine, not shoulder to hip
• I land too loudly.  If I can try to land more silently, I will hurt myself less

I also got a suggestion to try to work the muscle-ups in both concentric and eccentric (negative) moves to get stronger.

Today's workout:

• Elite Ring work
• QM
• Fifty rolls: I had to really concentrate on this.  I filmed the last thirty of these and discovered a few things about myself.  I roll better when I start with my legs bent in a crouch, not standing straight up (which makes sense-- I normally roll after landing and absorbing some impact with my legs).  I have to concentrate a *lot* on these or I will not roll onto the opposite hip.  And shoulder to opposite hip does not come naturally to me; if I let up on concentration, I *will* roll incorrectly.  I'll need to work these every workout until the is very natural for me.
• Muscle-ups:  I tried Argie's suggestion to work these both positive and negative.  I really tried, but I'm just not strong enough to do the negative portion yet.  I kept trying for a while.  In the end, I did 20 cat jumps to muscle-ups.  I was very tired after this!  It was good work, and hopefully I will get strong enough to do negatives soon.
• Turn vaults and lazy vaults: Hey, a boy's gotta have fun, too!  Actually, I think this is important.  I like to do at least a few thing that I just enjoy in my workouts.  Otherwise I may as well go coop myself up in the gym with the spandex folk (nothing wrong with them, of course!  I just prefer parkour!)
• Back to the rings for pull ups and pushups for conditioning until I felt like doo-doo.

A terrific workout!

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Date: 8 August 2009
Location: Oyster Playground
Duration: 30 minutes

I only had 30 minutes max, so I had to get to the meat of it.  I want to improve my rolls and my landings, and I found a good place to do lazy vaults on my way to work.  So I worked those:

• QMs up and down stairs forwards and backwards
• 30 rolls, concentrating on form
• Cat leaps to muscle ups, jump down and roll about 10 times
• Turn vaults
• Lazy vaults on the new spot, about 20 times

I finished by conditioning on the rings.