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TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
DIRK GRAHAM

Dirk Graham, partially of African descent, was one of the NHL’s first stars to come from such heritage, and in addition to being a big-game pressure player, also helped pave the way for eliminating color barriers in hockey.

Graham was a junior hockey and minor hockey superstar, producing four 100-point seasons in the WCHL, WHL and IHL, including 70 goals and 125 points for Toledo in 1982-83. This earned him a six-game tryout with the NHL’s Minnesota North Stars the following season, after which he acquired a permanent spot on the NHL roster.

He enjoyed a career year in Chicago with 33 goals and 78 points in 1988-89, though he was always known more for his heart than his scoring at the NHL level. During that season he also set a Blackhawks record with an astonishing 10 shorthanded goals in one season. Two years later, he won the Frank Selke Trophy as the league’s best defensive forward and also represented Team Canada at the 1991 Canada Cup.

He also became the first player of African descent to be named captain of an NHL team when he was given that honor by the Chicago Blackhawks. He held the captaincy for seven years until he retired in 1995, with 772 career games and 489 points (219 of them goals). He had produced seven 20-goal seasons when it was all said and done.

Perhaps his greatest moment came in the 1992 playoffs, when he led Chicago to the Stanley Cup finals (with Chicago winning 11 straight playoff games to get there). Later on, teammate and future Hall of Famer Jeremy Roenick would recall Graham’s performance in that post-season as the most inspiring thing he had ever witnessed on ice firsthand, and to this day calls Dirk Graham the best captain he has ever played for.

So today in the gym is Dirk Graham day. Dogged determination.

TODAY’S PERFORMANCE

One Mile: 6:00

Weights:
- Cable Tricep Underhand Pressdown (x5)
- Cable Tricep Overhand Pressdown (x5)

10 Miles on Stationary Bike: 29:36

iPod songs during training (shuffle):
1. Lynyrd Skynyrd – That Smell
2. Madonna – Die Another Day
3. Madonna – Keep it Together
4. Mandy Moore – In My Pocket
5. Matisyahu – King Without a Crown
6. Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch – Good Vibrations
7. MC Miker G and DJ Sven – Holiday Rap
8. Method Man and Redman – Da Rockwilder
9. Metro Station – Shake It
10. Michael Jackson – Jam
11. Michael Jackson – Smooth Criminal
12. Mike Jones – Mr. Jones
13. Milli Vanilli – Girl You Know It’s True

TRAINING NOTE

Well, not really a Dirk Graham-worthy day. Sorry, Dirk. I stepped on the treadmill at 10 mph with the intention of “seeing where it goes” and it was a struggle to finish one mile at that pace. I’ve been working my legs into the ground again, so I’m not shocked. But I think Dirk would have gone the whole 5K. Anyway, I stepped off and hit the weights. I had nothing left…

But after the weights I returned to the cardio and hit the bike, legs still tired from the mile. It was a struggle to maintain a 30-minute pace and I spent the first 7 miles or so struggling not to fall under the 3-minute-per-mile pace. I finally managed to open up a little bit of a lead on that pace in the last couple miles. I was only one day off of my personal best, but I was happy to finish in less than 30 minutes under the circumstances today.

I went back later for an attempted second round of punishment. It was too pathetic to bother including the details. We will call today a rest day of sorts.

INSPIRATIONAL CLIP

It’s a short clip, but in the following video we see tough but not-terribly-big Dirk Graham taking on one of the NHL’s best heavyweight fighters in Joey Kocur…and getting the better of the exchange.

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