Runner coming back to KB's after 6-7 years off, what have I missed?

Hey so I got into KBs back in 2008 or so. I trained in them for about two years (ETK PM/RoP, VWC, and some RotK) and then fell out of it in favor of running. For a while I did both, but eventually running took over and I had a lot of performance goals with racing and didn't really train anything else.

Right now I am kind of bored with endurance sports and the motivation is just not there, which of course is making it very hard to succeed. So I think it's best if I just de-emphasize running and focus on something else again, and why not KBs?

I'd like to continue easy jogging 30-45 minutes every morning (this is about 30-40% of my normal training load with running), and then following a KB routine in the evenings.

I'm in very good cardiovascular shape but have lost a lot of strength obviously. I'm a "clydesdale" runner which means I have a bigger build and higher intensity stuff comes naturally to me. I'm 6'2" and 215lbs right now (a little fatter than I should be), 5k time around 18:30 and I suck balls as the distance gets longer, this is just the nature of my genetics moreso than anything to do with training.

My goal really is to maintain/build all around fitness and maintain my running performance as much as possible in the mile-5k. I realize some of it will deteriorate and I'm OK with that, but I'd like to keep a 5k time around 21:00 or so. I don't care about performance at any events longer than 5k. I think this is possible with running 30-45 mins per day and KBs, especially if I work in higher volume swings/snatches like VWC type workouts.

When I did KBs in the past, I always did Hard Style, but I was always intrigued by GS. I guess because GS had a progression and competitions.

So I guess what I'm wondering is, what is the current state of Hard Style and GS? I see that it looks like Pavel has left Dragondoor, and StrongFirst/S&S is the new jam. I did buy the S&S book on Kindle and looked it over, it seems like a more in-depth ETK PM, which is a good thing.

As far as GS, I can never figure it out. I'm in Memphis and there are not meets or anything near me. WKC has some thing where you can upload a video to get ranks, and I think it would be a nice goal to get MS. But you have to start at 12kg for long cycle, and you can't skip ranks? I feel like I could seriously train for 24kg right now, and then I would want to go for 32kg after that. But if I'm reading this right, you can't even attempt 32kg until you have completed 12, 16, 20, 24, and 28kg. So essentially I would have to buy a dozen KBs in order to meet my goal in long cycle!

I feel like GS is a little inaccessable, especially considering I have no instruction or meet opportunities and am basically a solitary practitioner, HardStyle/SFG may be the best option (I already own dragondoor KBs in 16,24,32kg anyhow). Thoughts?

Final questions.

• Why did Pavel leave Dragondoor and start another thing? Was it simply that he thought there were better opportunities individually, or was there some kind of falling out / difference of ideas?

• Is there anything else major that I'm missing in the KB world in the last 6-7 years?

• Would it be bad to follow S&S, but with the C&P ladder protocol from ETK RoP instead of the TGUs? And maybe throw in some pull ups afterwards. I really fucking hate TGUs. I know this is a tired ass argument, and every newbie says they hate TGUs, but I've done a million TGUs, and still hate them. I'm a germaphobe and hate getting on floors, and I don't have a lot of room anyway.

I feel like S&S Swings + RoP C&P may be the best of the both worlds, because, to be quite honest, I always felt like swings were superior to snatches, and I always hated TGUs. Thoughts?

Thanks,

Comrade HDRgument