New Year's Resolutions

Yup. That time of year.

Throw at least 4 days per week.
Brush my teeth at least twice each day.
Keep track of all monetary transactions.
Save 10% of all income in a separate account.

Add those to my preexisting commitments to athleticism and health.

Track Workout

Warmup
400m in 1:04.50
800m in 2:48.28 (1:19.71, 1:28.57)
400m in 1:05.47
100m in 0:12.35

My hamstrings were, and still are, very sore from my workout on Saturday. I'm not sure how much that contributed to my times today, but those long-distance sprints are rough regardless. I could feel myself flagging with each step in the 800m, and it was a bitch to even come close to my first 400m time during the second. It wasn't that much slower, though, really, so despite the brevity of the workout I still consider it a decent showing for the cold off-season.

Tabata Pushups

Quick workout before I went out tonight. A little better this time. I got through 3 full reps with regular pushups, and finished the fourth with girl pushups.

Lifting at Home

8 pullups
2x12 lying pull-up rows
3x12 SL DB RDL 15lb
2x16 upright DB row
2x(4 curl, 4 hammer curl, 4 pronated curl, 4 curl) 15lb
16 hamstring curl
ab circuit

Like A Wimp

I tried Tabata intervals for the first time tonight.

First, I tried pushups. I got through the first two sets with regular pushups, had to switch to girl-pushups halfway through the third, but still couldn't do anything past the beginning of the fourth. Total muscular exhaustion in my upper arms. I wussied out.

Then, I did Tabata squats. This was hard, but I pushed through it and did the full 8 sets. My legs felt like lead for a while afterwards, but by the end I felt more confident and less wimpy than I had after failing the Tabata pushups.

Afterwards, once my arms had had some rest, I did a few more sets for arms:
2x8 pushups, 3x8 bench dips, 2x4 uneven pushups, 8 skull crushers 20lb
3x8 misc. shoulder raises

I also went ice skating. That counts for cardio, right?

Home Workout

8 pullups
6 chinups (then some more)
2x15 curls, 15lb
15 isolation curls 15lb
8 isolation curls 20lb, 8 isolation curls 15lb
8 lying dumbbell row 25lb
2x12 upright row 15lb
long ab circuit

Lift

We were accepted to Trouble in Vegas. The officers met today with the club sports director to discuss the viability of the trip; hopefully, our proposal will be accepted and we will be able to attend the tournament. If we can, we will need to be prepared physically. On that note, I've started a new cycle--a week or two of transition, then back to the endurance phase.

bench press: 8 at 45, 2x12 at 95, 7 at 105lb
incline bench press: 12 at 65, 8 at 85, 4 at 95lb
2x12 overhead squats, 45lb
squats: 8 at 95, 8 at 115, 8 at 135lb
barbell shoulder press: 12 at 45, 8 at 55lb (every other press from behind neck)
dumbbell shoulder press: 8 at 25lb

I had to push-press the last two reps with the dumbbells.

Lift

Whew! Lifting all this light weight is making me tired. Speaking of which, I found an accurate scale. As of tonight, I weigh 146 pounds. I exceeded my weight-gain goal for the semester, and all of it was lean muscle mass.

8 pullups
7 chinups
8 wide grip pullups, 80% body weight
short ab circuit
3x6 hang cleans, 95lb
6 hang cleans, 100lb
6 deadlifts 135lb, 4 deadlifts 205lb, 2 deadlifts 225lb
clean and jerk: 3 at 115lb, 1 at 125lb
farmer's walks: 2 at 45lb

The final rep of hang cleans at 100lb took 5 tries. Deadlifting 225lb was difficult, primarily because my hands didn't want to hold the bar, but also because it was not easy to sustain intra-abdominal pressure. Gotta work on that. The last two clean and jerks took two tries each for the jerk portion, and it's a little scary to lose control of the weight like that. During the second farmer's walk, I dropped the weight in the middle, and dropped it repeatedly right near the end--but I was taking a longer circuit this time. Lifting is a lot more fun now, and I feel my heart rate rise a lot when I'm doing the olympic lifts. It feels good to work hard.

Lift

Anonymous comments notwithstanding, I was in the gym again today.

8 pushups
8 clap pushups
8 pushups with both hands on small medicine balls
8 pushups each side, one hand on medium medicine ball
8 pushups with both hands on medium medicine ball
8 pushups with legs elevated
8 planche pushups
8 clap pushups

8 glute/ham raises each leg, 62.5lb
2x4 overhead squat 45lb
8 overhead squat 45lb

That's 72 pushups, for those of you who didn't count--I've never been real strong in the pushup department, and I really need to strengthen up my triceps to perform the way I want to. I keep having to alter the angle at which I descend. The glute raises just feel strange, and I am not quite comfortable with that feminine feeling. Overhead squats, on the other hand, are straight-up manly. Tonight, the limiting factor for me was my shoulders--keeping that weight above my head was not easy, and my arms fatigued long before my legs (although they started to feel it at the end of my last set). My shoulder flexibility was also taxed, which surprised me--I have always been flexible--but I guess it's a completely different question when you need to be flexible while supporting weight. When doing these kinds of exercises, I start to see why so many guys endorse the Olympic-style lifts. They kick your ass, and it feels good to do oddly difficult things with heavy weight.

Even if I can only do it with light weight right now. Suck it--at least I'm in the gym busting my ass.

The Big Chill 5k

I achieved the goal I set one year ago, to beat my 2006 Big Chill time in 2007. I would like to reestablish this goal: to beat my 2007 Big Chill time in 2008. Here's the rundown:

2006:
22:06 (7:07 pace)
120 of 451 M18-24, 218 of 861 men, 242 overall (59.6% PLP)

2007:
20:50 (6:42 pace; actual splits: 6:20, 7:00, 7:30)
56 of 412 M18-24, 116 of 845 men, 130 overall (62.6% PLP)

Clearly, I did something right this year, if I can break PRs in both the 100m, 200m, and 5k. Afterwards, I did Mio's plyometric workout with a couple other guys, then played durango boot pickup in Buccleuch Park with Pike players and other random dudes. It was pretty fun, but I am pretty tapped out from everything.

It's now the offseason, baby!

Run, Lift

A little bit of both tonight. I also jogged home from Werblin.

9 pull-ups
9 wide-grip pull-ups at 70% body weight
0.25mi warmup (2:30)
1mi in 7:20, 0.25 in 2:20, 0.25 in 1:38
12 wide-grip pull-ups at 70% body weight
8 upright bb row 50lb
12 db curl 15lb
4 supinated grip db curl 15lb, 4 db hammer curl 15lb
12 db curl 15lb
farmer's walks: 1 at 40lb, 1 at 45lb

Jog

Wow. I tried to take a jog. ~1.5mi in ~16 minutes. I don't know if I'm going to be ready for the Big Chill 5k this year.

Such are the sacrafices made for fast-twitch muscle gain. Guess I gotta take a more holistic approach this winter. I just can't imagine that it is beneficial to lose all my endurance.

Lift

Did something a little different in the weight room today.

9 pull-ups
stiff-leg deadlifts: 6 at 95, 6 at 135lb
romanian deadlifts: 2x6 at 135lb
single-rep deadlifts: 185lb, 205lb
2x6 hang cleans, 95lb
abs (misc. crunches, bicycle kicks, incline medball situps, etc)
db curls: 8 at 20, 8 at 25lb
bb preacher curls: 8 at 45lb
single arm upright db rows: 8 at 25lb
farmer's walks: 1 circuit at 45, 1 at 40lb

I was worried about dropping the weights if I tried to deadlift more. I tried to hang-clean 105lb, and could only do it twice before giving up. Aside from my weak form, my grip strength is awful--which is why I did the farmer's walks at the end of my workout. I sacraficed depth in exercises (no chin-ups, fewer sets of curls, etc) to get a broader workout. The db rows hurt my shoulder a little. Ab exercises are unfamiliar, so I'm easing into them (read: being a pussy and not doing much). I'd like a lifting coach to help me in my deadlift and hang-clean form. But, overall, it was a good lift.

Ultimate Christmas

Winter is upon us, and it makes me think of a couple different things. The first is that Rutgers is applying to College TiV this year, and I would love to attend that tournament.

For several years, now, my Christmas wishlist has included mostly Ultimate-related items. First on the list has always been the DVDs from UltiVillage. They do an excellent job at covering the major tournaments (including TiV!). I've seen some of the footage, and it really is the best that's out there right now, in terms of actual game coverage. This year, I also have to add UnderArmour to the list, because mine was stolen at Delaware SHOWdown. Finally, I'm in need of a good stopwatch and interval timer, just to make life easier. The reason I tend to ask for Ultimate-related gifts is that, honestly, I don't usually like to collect stuff. As a kid, I loved to see all the presents under the tree, loved opening packages for hours into late morning and early afternoon. Now, though, I feel a little more grinchy, a little more like my stepdad, who always says "I don't want anything, don't get me anything." I do want things, but less of them I guess. Time with the family and a few nice, meaningful presents is enough.

But I would still take a new car, were anybody to get me one!

Assessment

If there were any uncertainty before about whether or not lifting has brought results, note that on December 8th, 2006 I listed these quantifiable goals:

2mi in 14:00
200m in 0:26
100m in 0:12
Bench-press 135lbs

On both July 7th and August 17th, 2007 I ran a sub-14:00 2mi. Yesterday, I ran a 0:11.45 100m and a 0:24.46 200m. Those times may be slightly off, because I was timing myself and using an iPod. However, I think they are pretty close. Today, I benched 140 (but 145 was too much). It feels good to achieve goals, and it will be exciting to set new ones.

Lifting, this Season

Somebody asked why I did so few reps in my workouts. This season, I've tried to work my way through (relatively) high rep, low weight workouts progressively to low rep, high weight. The general idea is that you build an endurance base, then try to put on more raw strength. Muscles can't sustain maximum output for long periods of time (think, the difference between a 5k, a 200m sprint, and a 40yd dash). By training maximal output, your body gets used to being explosive, or at least that's the hope. I'm no sports scientist, but I've had better results this season than I have before.

Senior year of high school, I trained 4 days a week doing mostly the same things, except I did no lower-body lifting other than occasional leg-presses and calf-presses. My leg work was purely derived from sprint and fencing workouts (lunges, wall sits, pistols squats, etc). Either I overtrained or underate or both, but I never got stronger. My max bench press was around 115lb (I hope to hit 130 in my next attempt). I always did at least 8 reps, usually no more than 16. I felt sort of weak, because even in my best workouts I never put up much weight--I just didn't know how. Now, I've mined the internet and found some very useful websites, the best being ExRx.

This is what I found:
Periodization
Foundational Split
Muscle recruitment

Also, here's some more info on periodization. They explain how it isn't beneficial for people who don't have competition dates and a specific timeline for their goals (i.e. non-athletes). The nice thing is, I am an athlete. I intend to peak at Sectionals. So I sort of figure that periodization could work for me. This is what I came up with:

Transition: 1 week, 1-2 sets of 10-12 reps
Endurance: 3 weeks, 1-3 sets of 15-20 reps
Hypertrophy: 4 weeks, 3-5 sets of 8-15 reps
Strength: 3 weeks, 5-8 sets of 3-5 reps
Power: 2 weeks, 3-5 sets of 5-10 reps

I'm taking a break in between strength and power, and I upped the number of reps for some of my strength workouts. I'll probably ease into power, then try some interval work. I've taken it fairly easy this fall, in terms of volume--I'll need to do more back and shoulder work, plus abs. But that was the plan for this season, and you can tell based on my posts what I've actually done. Realize, also, that I've had practices and tournaments, and I really didn't want to overtrain. I'm still learning how to put it all together. Hopefully, though, that answers your question, Mr. Anonymous.

Scrimmage vs CHS

Alright, so I've taken a hiatus from training for the sake of Thanksgiving. I cooked Thanksgiving dinner myself, including turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole. Delicious, if I do say so myself--I'm chowing down on leftovers as I type. Given the lack of updates, it's probably due time that I wrote about the scrimmage against Columbia HS.

First of all, playing one of the best high school programs in the country is a unique opportunity for a rising college team, and I think this connection will prove extremely valuable for both teams. Especially so because of Columbia's consistency: they have a strong talent pool, a dedicated coach, a great support structure, and blah blah blah. They're good, we're getting better. The one thing I think is weird as hell is the extreme variance of my teammates' reactions. Some of them lost to CHS playing in the NJHSU, so about half of us realize how legit this juniors team is. The rest of the team is new or nearly new to the sport, and thinks they're probably going to be chumps--after all, aren't we in high school? Perhaps I'm imagining that second reaction, but the sidelines buzz with that sort of sentiment--we're older, we should be winning.

But we don't. Our matchup at Club Sectionals was intense and competitive, everything a good game should be (except we lost..haha). Our most recent scrimmage was not terribly different, but for a few things. I hesitate to mention them--it wouldn't do to make excuses--but the truth is, I was disappointed in my team's performance. Our focus was to be zone, something both teams need work on. Therefore, we determined the test would be two games to 11. In the first, both teams were required to come down zone on the pull. The second game was to be a real game, albeit shortened.

Neither game went well. I saw a lot of mental mistakes from my teammates, and I know I forced too many throws. The throws I know I have, but could not complete due to the weather--my hands were cold, and I didn't adjust, so I suppose that's one big mental mistake as well. I think I played well overall, however, and I am fairly confident that my defense was strong. I did get handblocked by Zander, though...that never feels good. I got skied twice in the same point by taller opponents, the first a hammer that sailed past my head and the second on a high pop to somebody that should have been covered and wasn't my responsibility, but more and more I realize my deep defense needs some serious work. I did sky somebody on D at another point, though...he was taller than I, too.

We lost both games 6-11. It did not leave a bad taste in my mouth, though, which is only surprising because of how I try to nurture a competitive nature. I was far from content, however, and will take these memories with me to the weights and the track this winter. I believe I have mentioned already, though, how much respect I have for those guys. I agree with Ariel's assessment of our team: a lot of potential, a lot of work to be done. I am confident that we can succeed, and I am happy with what I've seen already this season. Nunez told us that we are the strongest he has seen Rutgers to ever be in the fall, and I know we are further ahead from where we were last year, but I am hungry. I feel like a lot has been left up in the air and we need to nail it down, get everybody to put in a lot more work--in the gym, on the field, and in their mental game especially--before we can even approach the kind of success I see us capable of. That's really what impresses me about CHS: they're doing it. I can see them peaking this spring.

It makes me want to hit them weights. I just wish I had the support of my teammates doing it with me.

Lift

9 pull-ups
bench press: 8 at 50, 2x12 at 85lb
3x8 clap pushups
8 chin-ups
2x8 curls 20lb
8 hammer curls 20lb
6 curls 25lb, 4 bb curls 60lb
db press: 8 at 20, 3x8 at 25lb
8 concentration curls 25lb

I got to 9 pull-ups! I wanted to go with bigger weight with the bench, but unfortunately we don't have any more plates than that. Biceps felt good. Feels good to get stronger.

Practice Cancelled

So I ran 1.5mi in 10:53 instead. It's been a while since I took a run, so the time is not all that disappointing. I was gonna try to make it to 3mi, but my shins hurt and I didn't want to get splints the night before our scrimmage against CHS, especially with so many people already out with injuries. But 7:15 mile pace isn't that bad. I need to work in some longer runs, now that we are in off-season and the Big Chill 5k race is coming up.

So the plan is now lifts focused on power, lower weight and higher intensity. More ab exercises. Some Tabata work, probably, and a 3mi run here and there. After I run my race, it'll be swimming and yoga for two weeks so my body can rest and recover. With practices ending this week, I'm going to be able to put in more time at the gym.

Lift

squats: 5 at 0, 8 at 45, 6 at 135, 4 at 155, 2x6 at 135
8 pistols (single leg squats, full ROM) each leg
15 external shoulder rotations 7.5lb
15 internal shoulder rotations 7.5lb
15 shoulder abduction 5lb
15 shoulder adduction 5lb
3x8 single-leg calf raises each leg

I got scared doing the squats. I tried to do 155lb, and my form started to suffer. I couldn't go as deep as I wanted to, and I leaned forward on my third rep and my abs told me that I was an idiot--I started to lose intra-abdominal pressure and it scared me. I leaned back (probably not a good idea) and recovered, carefully did one more rep and dropped the weight back down. I either need stronger abs or I need to add weight more slowly. Or both. Either way, for my last set with the bar I made sure I was going deep enough by adjusting the bars on the rack so the bar on my shoulders could touch them when my butt was below my knee. I would tap the rack bars lightly at the bottom of each squat. It was harder this way, which tells me, again, that I should take things slowly and focus on good form, not adding weight.

The Vertical Jump Bible recommends being able to squat 1.5 x body weight before moving into serious plyometric exercise...that's roughly 210lb, so it'll take some time for me to get there. This week or next, I'd like to determine my 1rm for various lifts...mostly flat bench, squat, deadlift, and pull-ups. Maybe hang-clean if I'm feeling frisky. I'll move into more explosive movements with lighter weight within a week or so, then start wondering what to do in the off season. During the winter, I probably won't have access to a gym, so in addition to more yoga I'm interested in doing more body-weight exercises, especially gymnastics movements. I've browsed some videos recently, and those guys are wickedly strong, and functionally so--without excessive body mass that could kill a player on the field. I want to hit that balance, where I'm gaining mass and less liable to be pushed around on the field but not stuck with a body ill-suited for agility or endurance. My sport is weird that way.

Lift

squats: 5 at 0, 8 at 45, 6 at 135, 4 at 155, 2x6 at 135

8 pistols (single-leg squats, full ROM) each leg

external rotations, internal rotations: 15 at 7.5lb

abduction

Lift

7 pull-ups, 7 chin-ups
bench press: 8 at 45, 6 at 95, 2x6 at 115, 2.5 at 125, 3.5 at 120
7 pull-ups at 78%, 4 chin-ups at 78%
6 db curl 20lb
5 db curl 25lb
4 db curl 30lb
4 bb curl 55lb

Felt good to bench. I almost went for 135, because I really want to put a plate on each side, but I feel like it would be basically my max right now and I didn't want to go for it while I was tired. I do believe I will try to max out in a few days. The curls were not as fun, and pull-ups really sucked. Before long, I'll drop back down in weight for some of these exercises and go for explosiveness.

I don't feel too sore from the tournament, but my left knee feels a little funky. I know my back might bother me tomorrow at practice, especially if I don't warm up enough--it was feeling tweaked even on Saturday. I don't go for pain meds much, though, and it wasn't even bad enough to even put on icy-hot, so I'm thinking it isn't as big a deal as it was last year. I think that means I'm stronger, or at least better at warming up. Or maybe I'm not working as hard, but I don't think that is the case.

SHOWdown Recap

After some high-jinks getting to the fields, we warmed up for our first game of the day against rival Princeton. Oh, baby what a game. We jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, traded, let up some breaks to let them take half 6-7, then raised the intensity to win the game on univsere point 11-10. The Upset!

Second game, UPenn. Okay, we again went up 2-0, then slipped. Fell on our faces, in fact, and let them close out the half. We never got our breaks back, and ended up trading to lose 7-12.

Next up, Catholic. They were sort of scrubby, and we rolled during the first half. We were up by a lot, then somehow let them back in near the end of the game and they brought us to universe point. We won 11-10.

Last game on Saturday was against Delaware. I feel like we fought and stayed with them for most of the game, but the points do not reflect that. They were hungrier, and they scored on numerous bullshit hucks (huge blades to covered receivers, etc). We basically let them score, and didn't work hard enough. Lost 7-13. During this game, Thorpe ran into Ariel and Ariel sprained his ankle, out for the rest of the season.

Machine Sunday! First game against a hungover Bucks County, with illustrious ex-Pennsbury players. They started the game shorthanded, and most seemed less than ready to play. I remember one dude cutting deep on me, not getting thrown to, and then standing around for literally three full minutes watching his teammates move the disc. Eventually, he cut back in. Basically, though, we were running much harder than they were willing to, and won 13-3. I remember getting several D's in this game, including at least two on first/second-throws and a couple deep D's. The offense ran well, because the defense against us was lacking. I threw hucks and goals, sometimes both at the same time. This game was a lot of fun, but I guess there isn't much else to say about it.

Second game was much rougher, quarterfinals vs Penn State. They went up three breaks playing zone, and I called a timeout. They scored again, I think, before we were able to, and basically we dug ourselves into a huge hole in the first half with pure errors--drops, bad choices, slipped throws, you name it. I think I played solid zone O during this time, and didn't really have any turnovers on my shoulders, but the team was struggling. It mostly continued during the second half, though we were able to score a few more times. I think it was this game in which I was able to get off a pretty huck from goal-line to goal-line to Riz for a score, but it might have been in the BCCC game. Pretty sure it was this one, though, because I tried throwing another big backhand to him and this time he was covered by some dude with fuckin' horses--Riz never had a chance. PSU played mostly zone, some man, and in general just well enough to force us to choke ourselves with bad offense. We gave them the disc too often, and they were very welling to put up blades and floaters to their tall guy for a 4-13 win.

So now we're in the 5th place bracket, playing Salisbury to advance to the 5th place game. We brought up the intensity and played well here. I thought it was our last game of the day, as did most of the team, and we really took it to them. Strong man offense, moving the disc pretty well, and solid D that got us the disc. The energy was high, so I don't remember much--but I know it was a good game. We won by a score I do not remember. I threw a hammer goal in this game (unless it was the Penn State game?)

That brings us to the 5th place game vs Carelton University. We agreed to a shortened game, to 9, and we lost both flips. White for the first time all tournament, pulling, and the field is much smaller than it should be. We line up, straight across, I pull shorter than I intended to, and they set up ho-stack. My guy curls around and takes me deep, somebody lets them get off the huck, and I get screwed, 0-1. They pull OB, I put up a backhand to iso'ed Jay for the one-throw score, 1-1. I sit next point and watch Carelton answer back with a quick huck, 1-2. I'm in, they pull OB again, I call Jay in the lane again and within three passes we score, 2-2. I think we traded again without any turnovers, 3-3. I pull, we cover well, and force the turn, and go up a break! 4-3, and this is huge. Intensity is high. Mio tells us, throw zone. We do, their third pass is a dead bird to nobody, I throw a break forehand to Jared for the goal, 5-3.

Now, we're receiving and the pull is finally in-bounds. Thorpe swings to me, they're poaching the lane in an attempt to stop Jay's in-cut, but the poacher looks away and I hit Jay for a nice gain. He sees nothing upfield, I get the upline dump cut. I see nothing upfield, there's a stoppage of play, disc comes in at 4 and I look right away to Jay upline. Again, nothing happening upfield, but they do a better job of stopping my cut and I have to throw an extra juke in, Jay gives me a wobbly upline throw and we're near the endzone. We score, 6-3. I'm out, we score again, 7-3. They score, 7-4, after calling a foul on Joe K's clean layout D. I'm a little hazy about the end of the game--I remember sitting on game point, I remember Dan Johnson getting a huge layout D (or two?), and one way or another we win 9-4 and I am very excited. We played a great game and brought the intensity for each point, raising the energy throughout the game and closing it out for the 5th place victory. I was proud.

One of the guys on the Carleton team looked away and put his hand down while passing me in the hand-shaking line. I think it was the same guy who had to be restrained by his teammates when we were all on the sideline, watching the following unfold: Greg has the disc, calls fast count on his mark, who repeats the last number he said and continues stalling (...6, 7, "fast count", 7, 8...). Greg calls fast-count again, but the guy doesn't respond. As Greg stares at him, holding the disc with both hands and trying to get him to listen, the guy keeps stalling with exaggerated slowness, "8....9....10. Stall-out!" Greg is dumbfounded. For the rule, please refer to XIV.B.7 and notice that you have to drop one before continuing the count. Knowing the rule, I'm watching this other guy blatantly cheat and refuse to back down, so after he calls "Stall-out!" I heckle from the sideline, "Oh, so you're not just an idiot, but an asshole as well!" The entire Carleton sideline sounds like a wounded bear, and this one dude starts cursing and trying to run at me. His teammates hold him back, I smile and watch Greg handle the situation. He tries reasoning with the dude, who maintains that the disc has to come back in as if it were a contested stall-out (coming in on 8, rather than 6 as it should), and Greg finally agrees after Mio yells "break-side deep!" Greg taps it in and puts up a big blade to Joe K for the goal, and I rush the field yelling my head off in excitement. Another Carleton player thought that I couldn't call fast-count, then call violation after he fast-counted again (see XIV.B.8), and that was silly too.

Lift, Practice

I tried something a little new today.

6 hang cleans
1 clean (to get the bar onto the rack)
8 squats, full range of motion

I did the whole thing 4 times with 85lb, then once through with 95lb. I try to do the pull correctly, and I'm jumping with my whole leg to get the bar up, but I don't really squat down to catch the bar, so I should start trying to focus on that. I'm also trying to stay on my heels to catch the bar and when I do my squats, but I sometimes give in to the urge to shift forward onto my toes. The olympic lift is fun, but not easy. Had to man up for that last hang clean rep.

Lift

8 pull-ups
bench press: 8 at 45, 6 at 95, 3x6 at 105, 3.5 115, 1.5 at 115
7 chin-ups
6 curl 20lb, 6 palm-away curl 15lb, 6 hammer curl 20lb
6 curl 20lb, 6 curl 25lb, 8 curl 20lb
8 db fly 12lb, 8 db fly 15lb
db press: 8 at 20, 2x8 at 25
6 pushups, 2x4 pushups with hands on small medicine balls
lat pulldowns: 8 at 70, 8 at 85, 2x8 at 100, 6 at 100

I think I should eat more slowly--I just gobbled down dinner in ten minutes. The workout felt pretty good, although the bench was tough and I would like to get better results. I also feel like my arms are getting larger, which is not bad really, but I don't want to lose muscle definition. Yeah, I know it's sort of silly to fret about physical appearance. But hell, this is my blog and these are my thoughts, so whatever. Perhaps they'll cut down and keep gaining strength as I move out of the "hypertrophy" phase. I do hope that all the quasi-research I've done (on the net) pays dividends in the long run.

Lift, Practice

These exercises are not really in order. I tried to do each set with minimal rest, but I interspersed the curls, RDL, and lunges so it was more like a circuit workout. But here's what I did, overall:

8 pull-ups
6 pull-ups at 72% body weight
8 chin-ups
4x6 DB curl 20lb, 6 DB curl 25lb, 6 DB curl 20lb
8 SL RDL
4x8 SL DB RDL 35lb
backwards box lunge: 8, 2x8 w/ 25lb
forward box lunge: 8, 8 w/ 25lb
8 forward lunge w/ 25lb


Warmup, go-to drill with mark. Next we split into two teams and did scrimmage, stop when the receiving team turns it over. We tried to work on the pull play and then flow into regular offense. We rarely ran the pull play successfully, and scored less than 50% of our possessions. My team's defense was good, though...I felt strong, especially after intercepting the first pass when I was the puller. Then we did a somewhat complex cut/dump/flow drill, which I thought was very useful. I wish we could have added defense, though, after we learned the concept and the rotation. I asked a few people to play defense on me while I made the dump cut, and it made the continuation throw significantly harder (obviously), and I think that is something worth working on against defense. Hopefully we can start incorporating more difficult things into practice soon.

Lift, Practice

Bench press: 8 at 45, 5 at 95, 3x5 at 105, 5.5 at 115, 3.5 at 115

Warmup, dishy drill, some side-shuffle exercises, learned some stack plays, scrimmaged without pulls (start each point with a stopped disc, O and D set),e squat-thrust-jumps to end it.

My O was very clean tonight, very conservative, and we won the majority of the points that I played regardless of whether we started on O or D. I threw one huck--it was bad, but to an open receiver as part of a play. Other than that, I only had one or two turnovers, from pure receiver errors. My D was hard. I feel that as long as I focus, I play strong, hard defense. I suppose that means I need to work on my in-game focus. I think I already knew that, but it's good to be reminded.

I got a Callahan on the last point I was on. Spiked it. People gotta bring up the intensity at practice--that's my excuse.

Swim

Another entry on the quest to improve overall muscular and respiratory endurance.

2x(50 free, 50 breast, 50 fly, 50 back)
50 free in 43 seconds.

Didn't have much rest before the last 50 free, I had to get some food and get to class. I timed my second 50 free of the night, too, and it was a 42. Awful, I know.

Power Gym

Had my first Power Gym workout of this season today. It is very different from last year--no footwork/ladder drills, less stations, an inferior warmup, but we are learning olympic lifts. My form is not great, but will improve with experience I should think. I did 3 sets of cleans with 89lbs (bar + 10kg plate on each side), 6, 6, and 5 reps. Other exercises that we did included pull-ups, chin-ups, lat pulldowns, toetouch-pushups, "man-makers" (pushups while gripping 15lb weights, one delt row each side after each pushup), squats on the half-ball thingy, and throwing medicine balls up/down/against the wall. We also did some jumps over a hurdle, no more than one step before the jump. That was good.

Practice

Nice. Been checking Nationals updates, and it looks favorable for some of my favorites. No way I'm winning the Ultivillage fantasy pool, though, unfortunately. I just don't know enough about Sockeye and whatever team they're going to face in the finals.

But my team had practice tonight, and it was a mixed bag for me. Everything we did, I wanted to do very much: warmup, dishy, comeback, sideline dumps, scrimmage, fight club, hospital drill. I felt good in the warmup, worked fairly hard in the dishy and definitely worked in the comeback, did well in the sideline dump drills...then came the scrimmage.

We split the team into almost half, approximately O and D teams (although newer players were fairly interchangeable). I was on O, though you would not have been able to tell why based on my performance. I threw two or three bad throws to in-cuts, sort of catchable but not something you could expect the receiver to have 100%. I threw at least one awful huck, maybe more. I think my defense was tight and physical, so I'm not as unhappy about that, but the O in general for my team was just...bad.

So for the fight club, the other team started with an 8-10yd lead. I was the only one from the back group to make the first-finishing group, but it was the most difficult fight club I have ever had. The groups were 9, 9, 10, with 15 in the front line and 14 in the back...I crossed with two others, we were 7 8 9.

The hospital drill was pretty good. I did well sometimes, but the throws were often nowhere near me. Came up with a couple.

BC WINS!

Lift, Nationals

2x(8 shoulder raises 12lb, 8 lateral raises 10lb)
2x8 seated bb press 45lb
8 db shoulder shrugs 35lb
8 seated bb press 65lb
8 shoulder raises 10lb

I'm not really sure about shoulder shrugs. I did another set, but felt silly, like I didn't know what I was doing or why I was doing it.

As for Nationals, there are a few teams that I would like to see outperform expectations (others', as it may be difficult to outperform their own). Sockeye, Rhino, Chain, and Pike. I want to see at least three of them in the quarters--that would pretty much make my weekend. Sockeye, because they are badass...Rhino, because I got hooked by their highlights videos (these are my reasons, they don't have to make sense), Chain because I gotta have some love for the dirty (and I have much respect for Stubbs), and Pike for the hometown. No predictions, just what I'd like to see.

ARJI Recap

12 teams, 2 days, I got sunburned and didn't get to play a single point. Not the typical tournament weekend, but I had fun nonetheless. It was good to see the growth of youth teams in the area, and most seemed to have a lot of potential. It's hard to say whether many will exercize that potential, and I doubt that any will come close without a coach, but I've been impressed by coach-less teams in the past.

I thought it was interesting that the top teams at the tournament sometimes played down to the level of their opponents, overthrowing receivers and making rushed choices. It seemed that their biggest advantage was their ability to squash those impulses and run an efficient, conservative offense--they didn't always do it, but when they did the other teams would roll over. True, the stronger teams were more athletic, but there were always a lot of turnovers on either side and success was more about good O than good D. I was impressed by the fundamentals of the Stuy guys--perhaps I am merely duped into that belief by their...characteristic throwing form, but most seemed like good throwers. I thought their form was very reminiscent of the guys who play on 7Express, whom I did not know came from the same area until Nunez pointed it out to me--funny how I could tell. John Jay was a very athletic team, and could go far with good recruitment and stronger fundamentals. Scarsdale is not the team that I remember (...obviously) but they seem to me to play under their level. WWP-N had a lot of guys who looked like they could play serious Ultimate, but without a coach they seemed to simply not have sound strategies or know how to run them properly. I would love to see this team get a coach--they would jump into a more competitive level quickly.

Westfield is picking up speed, which I am very happy to see. They've got a great coach in Belline, so things are looking good for their future. HP had some players with real potential, but without a coach they will probably keep struggling. Bard seemed to play exactly like I hoped they would--strong against opponents around their level, and understandably having a harder time against the big dogs. Kittatinny, I think, could have performed much better if they knew how to run endzone offense and zone offense--the could get it to the goal line with some decent bladey hucks, but couldn't seem to put it in. Union County is out there improving, and it would be great to seem them in more tournaments.

CHS B is ballin'. I don't know what else to say about them, really. They bring great energy to the game, they're young enough to care about SOTG, and they have strong fundamentals for such young players--good cuts, good throws. I was surprised they didn't score more on Stuy and Scarsdale on Saturday, but not surprised at all that they played very well on Sunday. I think it is possible that they think of themselves as a B team, and that it limits their success in regular pool play against regular opponents. Columbia has a great program, and they're lucky to have the coaches they do.

There were a couple issues concerning SOTG...spiking when up by more than a dozen points, coaches making calls from the sideline, etc. Standard problems, but nothing too major. It seems that some players at the tournament felt disrespected at times, and it's rough to see teams on two totally different levels get into bad blood, but I'm not sure that there was much I could do about it, as TD. I believe that teams and players have to work out on their own what SOTG is, and how it changes based on the competition you're against.

The finals showed me, again, how little difference it takes, point by point, to win a game rather than lose it. I saw CHS come in with the intensity and the hunger to run away with the whole thing, but little things brought Pennsbury back and gave them the run it took to win. Slightly different styles, they match up well together--I would have liked to see them slug it out with more man-to-man, but you can't fault the pace change. I am fairly confident, however, that it will not work at the end of the spring--and you'll see one hell of a game at Easterns.

Lift

7 pull-ups
6 wide-grip pull-ups at 78% body weight
Bench Press: 8 at 45, 8 at 95, 5 at 95, 3x6 at 85
6 chin-ups
2x8 db curls 20lb
8 db curls 15lb

Yikes. Getting stronger in pull-ups, but hopefully I was just tired during the other exercises.

Lift, Practice

Squats: 8 at 115, 2x8 at 135, 8 at 140lb
8 deep squats (full ROM) at 95lb
3x8 single leg db RDL 25lb
3x8 bb RDL 115lb

Warmup, sprints--in a group with Greg and Jay, felt powerful on my first steps and was usually even or ahead of them--then dump drills. Finally.

Lift

6, 4 pull-ups
Bench press: 4 at 45, 8x3 at 95, 6x2 at 95
6 chin-ups
10x2 standing db curl, 15lb
8 standing db curl, 20lb
4 standing db curl, 20lb, 4 standing bb curl, 35lb
8 db press, 30lb

Plus a couple more 20lb curls for my left arm, for good measure.

Lift, Swim

Dips: 8 at 100%, 6 at 100%, 6 at 63% body weight
8 shoulder raises, 10lb
8 lateral raises, 10lb
8 close-grip bench press, 45lb
8 bb military press, 45lb
8 shoulder raises, 8lb
8 lateral raises, 8lb

My shoulders are weak, I guess. Sucks. Gotta work on it. It might also help to have more recovery time after workouts that use the shoulders as secondary muslces, but that is not easy--most workouts use the shoulders.

After lifting, I swam 400yds. 50 free, 50 breast, 50 fly, 50 back at (my) moderate pace (read: slow), then 50 frees in 42, 48, 47, 41 seconds. I want to keep track of this purely so I can follow any improvement, but I am an inexperienced swimmer with no endurance, so my times...suck. I nonetheless will keep swimming because I feel it might improve my respiratory grit--if I can push through a full-body workout in the water without breathing, then maybe I can push myself harder on the field when breath gets short from sprinting. Learning to use my lungs efficiently sounds like a good, if painful, idea.

Lift

Squats: 10 at 0, 2 at 95, 8 at 115, 8 at 125, 2x8 at 135lb
8 deep squats at 45lb (full ROM)
Romanian Deadlifts: 2x8 at 95, 8 at 105, 8 at 115lb

Finally got a plate on each side for squats. At the end of my last set I felt my abs were too loose, so it looks like I'll have to start doing actual ab workouts in order to get the requisite strength to stabilize and protect my spine. I decided to not do regular deadlifts or anything else, but I plan on adding some other components to my workout routine. Abs, obviously, plus erector spinae, possibly some lunge variations to incorporate more glutes...hell, I might even figure out how to work the lats, something I've never really understood. Power gym this Sunday might help me add some variety, as I hear we do olympic lifts. That's pretty exciting.

Lift

bench press: 12 at 45, 8 at 95, 6 at 105, 6 at 100, 3 at 95, 6 at 75
4 pull-ups, 4 chin-ups
2x8 isolation curls 15lb
2x8 db curls 15lb, 8 bb curls 35lb
2x12 fly 12lb, 8 fly 12lb

I got greedy on the bench, trying for 105. I should have tried to bang out two sets of 8 at 100, and instead tapped myself out early. I also should have done the pull-ups first; it's a lot harder after tiring myself out with any other exercise. My final excuse is that I did not follow my normal schedule--I worked out at 8:30pm instead of 4:30pm, and had not had my usual meal sequence. Tomorrow, I'll have to decide whether to do the legs or wait until Wednesday.

Conn Tourney

We arrived at the fields excessively early, and I had no problem with this. For the record, , however:
As Dave's navigator I recommended that we park on a particular street;
Ariel shows up and tells us all to move the cars to another location;
We end up having our first game on the field adjacent to the original parking location that I suggested.

In any case, we warm up on the dewy ground, move to the field we were at before, and lose both the flip for color and for pull. White, we receive, and we play the game as if we had not warmed up. I don't remember much about this game, but I know it wasn't pretty. We lost 7-13.
I wanted to scream during this game. I didn't.

Then we came out fired up against Yale. We had a grudge against these guys from Southerns, where we gave up a several-point lead to lose on universe point in our last game of Spring Break. The first half was very close, and some of our deep shots were not connecting, but we stepped up the defense and cleaned up the O for the second half and ran off a 13-9 win. This game felt great--we were covering well, won some individual battles and worked fairly within the system to put it in.

Next up was Conn College B. Uh...we rolled, 13-3.

Bye round! Used to take in nutrients and water, then heckle and support Yale in beating Brown in a 13-5 upset. The game was big, seemed a decent huckfest, and Yale was hungrier. Our whole team was cheering them on, even during our warmup jog--we didn't know that Yale's upset would be our undoing. We took our two laps, stretched briefly, ran some EFGs, and got up for the game. The first half was intense--toe to toe with the Nationals-caliber team, we tied is at 5-5. Then they dropped the pull, and we FAILED TO CONVERT. This was, I feel, a turning point. We started playing sloppy, and let them run away with the game. We lost half 5-7, and lost the game 7-13. I was somewhat disappointed because I felt this game was definitely within reach, but we lost the mental focus required. We failed to adjust when their #10 began roasting all of his defenders, repeatedly scoring off hucks, and we failed to change up the defense when straight-up didn't take away those hucks. We kept our heads up, though. We were 2-2 on the day, with a play-in 9am Sunday. It so happened, however, that after Yale beat Brown we were playing them for 1st or 4th in the pool, and we ended up taking 4th. Crazy upsets in both pools.

Dinner at Chili's! Bottomless chips and salsa, shrimp caesar salad, and a neat "paradise pie" dessert. At the hotel, I gathered my moxy for an ice bath: my first attempt, I lasted two minutes before the pain in my ankles and feet became unbearable, and I had to get out. After a five minute break, I got back in and lasted a full 10 minutes. Then, we all watched a DISAPPOINTING PERFORMANCE by the Rutgers Football team.
Goddamnit, Mike Teel. I slept with a bitter taste in my mouth.

Woke up Sunday, Dunkin Donuts egg on a croisant and a bottled tropical fruit smoothie, pre-quarters against Yale B. We won 13-3 with poor defense and a fairly clean offense.

Quarterfinals against Brandeis, we played the best Ultimate of our weekend. They kept it close during the first half, and we traded to 5-5. Then we stepped it up--our defense started really clamping down on in-cuts, forcing them to put up less than perfect hucks, and cleaning up in the air. We played a patient offense, working it up and taking what they gave us--fast break when it was open, the bread and butter at all other times. Our endzone was working, and we went on a 10-2 run to win 15-7. It felt great.

That game set us up for a rematch against Brown in the semifinals. The game started off with bad offense--we let them go up 2-7 on us before we got back in the game. Despite their playing zone in the second half in the moderately strong crosswind, we traded points after 2-7 to lose 8-13 at the cap (we scored the last point). Intensity was high for this game, but we need to come out more consistently.

I remember throwing a lot of leading, moderately nice (read: catchable) hucks to open receivers who, due to general noobness, did not catch them. Apparently, my defense was at times sub-par. I threw completed hucks, threw a bunch of goals, scored a couple, got a couple D's, got shut down by Brown #10 on Saturday but not on Sunday, gave Ariel two heart attacks in one point, and threw a fadeaway jump-shot backhand to Jay for a goal against Brown. I got handblocked once (on Saturday, against WPI), missed maybe a couple layout opportunities (none blatant), and scored a goal on Brown that got taken back because they thought I jumped into the endzone after I caught the disc (false, but I didn't want to argue). We ended up not scoring that point, much to my dismay. I played okay at times, well at others. It was a normal tournament for me, a great tournament for the team--we held seed, came out with a winning record, and improved over the course of the weekend. I am very happy with how things went, but nonetheless was very upset at times.

Todd B., if I recall correctly, caught something like 10 goals for 12 points on the tournament. Does the "B" stand for "Beastly"?

Lift, Practice

2x8 free squats, 105lbs
2x8 free squats, 115lbs
2x8 romanian deadlift, 105lbs
2x8 deadlift, 95lbs

I also did 4x8 calf raises, but both calves at the same time, so it was more of a stretch than an exercise. The squats felt really good, and I think my form is slowly getting better. I feel comfortable adding more weight, little by little. I am not as confident about my form for the deadlifts.

Practice included warmup, dump drill, dishy drill, butterfly cutting drill, scrimmage, and redemption. My team won a game to 3, and I came in 2nd place again in redemption, this time to Maz. I had no good hucks in the butterfly drill, but only got a couple chances before I was told to cut.

Lift

6 pullups
incline bench press: 12 at 45, 8 at 85, 8 at 85, 8 at 75, 5 at 75, 3 at 70
decline bench press: 12 at 75
isolation curls: 12 at 20lb
standing curls: 12 at 15lb, 8 at 15lb
hammer curls: 2x8 at 15lb

Again, no spotter. My shoulders sounded like popcorn machines for every set of the incline bench, popping and cracking with each press. That was weird. I wasn't going to be able to finish 8 at 75, so I quickly swapped the 5lb plates for 2.5s and finished the set. The decline bench press felt easy, compared to the end of the incline stuff, so I guess it really is a separate muscle group. My left bicep is weaker than my right, so while my right breezed through the curls my left struggled at the end of each set. In an attempt to make them more even, I threw in two reps of 12lb curls at the end for my left arm. Why not, right?

Tim Edmunds Memorial

Before the recap, I'll just say that I took Monday off from lifting because I was very tired. I moved Monday's workout to Tuesday, then skipped Tuesday's workout altogether. I was too tired for quads and hamstrings today, especially after staying up til 4am (it was Jay's birthday). Alright, here's the recap.

Saturday, Game one: Princeton
We approached the game with a mixture of "let's beat the rivals" and "let's focus on our strategy, regardless of who we are playing." I don't want to say very much about this game, other than the following: our defense was poor, because we have not worked on it yet, and our offense was poor, because it requires coordinated movement, which we did not have. This was many a rookie's first game ever, so they were not really prepared. Our returners (including myself) also gave up the disc on dumps, and that sucked. Really. Okay, enough.

Game two: George Washington
The returners did a much better job of holding on to the disc, and we started to pull down some of the bullshit as well. They gave us the disc back a lot, probably because they were playing their rookies as well. So we got lucky on some ill-timed deep throws, played more conservative on offense, and got a little more aggressive on D. Lost 8-12, which I think is fairly respectable.

Game three: Lehigh
Always fun to play Lehigh. They threw in mostly their rookies, including J. Katzen from Watchung and a couple girls. We stayed almost even, then near the end of the game they played all-returner lines and brought it to universe point, which we lost. During this game, I think I skied somebody, got skied by somebody, and played about average on the whole. I had some nice hucks. When covering the pull near the end of the game, I was sprinting down and some Lehigh guy named Kahn turned and rammed his chin into my face. My lip started bleeding, it was very unpleasant. I think we scored to make it universe, and I think they scored without turning it over, but with some stupid throw where they got lucky. Honestly, I'm really hazy about what happened. As usual. Lost 12-13.

Game four: Swarthmore
Crossover game (i.e. prequarters). Even with our half-rookie lines, we stepped up and took control of the game. Our new guys started having much better cuts, and they played some really tight man defense--especially once we introduced straight-up mark. Our offense was pretty sweet as well, and I had more buttery hucks. I played pretty well this game. We won 11-8.

Sunday, Game five: Salisbury
It was windy, they went on a run in the beginning because our offense started off on the wrong foot. Then they played zone, but we worked it up and scored anyway, mostly thanks to our poppers Jay and Paul. Greg didn't play this game, so I was in for almost every point. We started pulling back into the game in the second half, capitalizing on their mistakes and forcing some turnovers with decent defense. We still had problems with O, though, and ended up losing 8-12. Not as bad as losing to Salisbury B, though, like last year. I was content.

Game six: Rutgers Y and Rutgers X combine and lost to Columbia U, 9-15. We still played half returner, half rookie lines. I think we could have won this game. We gave them the disc too easily. I didn't really play well. Not a great way to end the tournament, but overall the weekend was successful in that we got the new players lots of experience. I think they got a taste of how hard it is to go toe to toe with other teams. I was really really sore by the end of it, just drained. I also got sunburned, which sucked. But I feel alright about where the team is, and good about where the team is headed.

Lift, Practice

6 pull-ups
15 bench press, 45lb
12, 8, 6, 6 bench press 85lb
2x15 isolation curls 15lb
15 hammer curls 15lb

I would have done more on the bench, but I didn't have a spot and was afraid to push another rep at the end of the last two sets. At practice tonight: warmup, throwing, dishy drill, redemption, and scrimmage. Dishy was tiring--I am not so much sore from the tournament as tired, and there is definitely a difference. Scrimmage was okay, I overthrew Jay on a couple of his dump/swing cuts, but I took a balanced approach between throwing to receivers and holding back, working it with the handler motion. We had a line of around 40 people for redemption, and I lost in the finals to Joe K. who is just too lanky to stop. It was fun, though--and I felt like the newer players could start to see that, although they weren't heckling enough for my taste. I think redemption requires much heckling, and I surely did my share. At the end of practice, we did an ab ladder with pushups, and that was excellent but tiring--I had to really work to finish all the pushups, after doing bench today. Probably because I'm not stellar in pushups in the first place. I also did 20 squat-jumps, but refrained from the squat-thrusts and squat-thrust-jumps (burpees?) because my wrists hurt.

I'll post a tourney recap when I get around to it.

Lift, Practice

2x8 squats 95lb
2x15 squats 95lb
2x15 romanian deadlifts 95lb
15 deadlifts 85lb

Practice. Warmup, throwing (taught less this time), go-to, plinko, dump-throw (I liked this drill). Rosham'd with Greg to determine scrimmage or more drills, I wanted more drills but Mio said that we would scrimmage if I won. My scissors won, my rock lost, my scissors won. Damn. Scrimmage. Thursday should be better, Friday even better (I'll not speak of last Friday), and this weekend should be interesting. That is all for now.

Lift

Right back into it.

6 pullups
3 pullups
15 isolation db curls, 15lb
15 standing db curls, 12lb
bench press (15 at 45, 12 at 85, 9 at 85, 6 at 85, 2 neg. reps at 85)

Yeah, I know I'm weak. Leave my pullup numbers alone. To give a little credit, though, I'm releasing to full extension before each one--locked out elbows, dropping down at the shoulders, and hanging. I figure, why make it easier.

Club Sectionals, Day 2

This time, I got a proper breakfast: egg and turkey sausage on a bagel with a Vitamin Water. Showed up at the field with plenty of time, watched a couple points of Pike vs Roots, and meandered over to field 6 to warm up. One lap, stretching, dynamics, and a go-to drill. Our first game was against UPenn White, and our offense was really clicking here. Few mishaps, few memories of the game, we played pretty well and won 12-5. I do remember getting a lot of contact from one defender, who used his arms to block my path. I fought through it each time, scored the point, and said "yo, by the way..." and he replied "yeah, I know, I fouled you." Nice.

Next up was Columbia HS. I really wanted to approach this game as we would any other game against any team, but I feel that both sides were more intense because of the familiarity with each other. I certainly got up for this game. We pulled to start, and I watched from the sideline as their pull play scored without even sweating--somebody put up a huge loopy backhand, and somebody else didn't cover his man deep. I put myself in the second point, and we came right back at them. I am fairly certain that I forehand hucked for a goal after only a couple throws here. Basically, the game was point for point--we went up a break or two, but let them back in each time. Most points were scored within 5 passes during the first half, and I remember throwing a bunch of completed hucks--all forehands, all flat, most of them "nice" (except for the one that was to Jay, not quite open, it floated just a bit, but he went up strong with two hands and pulled it down in the endzone). It felt great to complete those hucks, and in general I was moving the disc very well. I threw to an open Thales, and he seemed to slow down and get D'd, but other than that (and another drop that wasn't my fault) I think I was close to turnover-free.

During the game I had another successful offensive layout, saving possession on an upline dump cut while covered by Zander, and this time I caught it without question. I also cut the shit up out of my knees in the process, because the field was turning dry and I was still a little scabby from my pavement-layout two weeks ago. I was bleeding a nice bit by the time we scored and I walked off the field. Later, I missed another offensive layout opportunity--Paul threw to me in the endzone, it was low and barely catchable with my left hand, so no dice. But we got it back and I caught the goal later that point anyway, so no problem. The few points I played defense (the captain kept me fresh for O), I mostly matched up with Declan, once with BWalt. I did alright, nothing too spectacular (I may have gotten a D or two during the game, but not on them). On offense, Zander stuck it to me, and played the tightest dump-defense on me of anybody all weekend. Lots of contact, very physical, and I felt pretty pressured when close to the disc. So I started cutting, and got much more separatation at that point. I did get pissed when Zander fouled me on the mark, then contested it--then talked smack about lifting more weights than I, so clearly he was just much faster. Interesting, I thought. It was all good, though--lots of respect for the kid, and I loved the intensity even if I thought it was the wrong call.

So we traded, and the game ended on serve. We lost 9-10 or 10-11, some kind of universe point. I was upset that we pulled, got the turn, then threw it away and let them score for the game--especially because I wasn't on the field for that last point. It was a great game, though, as intense as I remember it being between WHRHS and CHS in '06 states. They'll go far this year, and I hope we do too.

That gave us the rematch against Shippensburg. It felt great to avenge the loss, and we pulled off a solid 9-5 victory. We had pretty good intensity for this game, but some players weren't getting in the game after the battle against Columbia. There was one dude with platinum-blonde hair that had crazy change-of-direction, and I found it tough to cover him. Nobody really could shut me down, though, and I did my thing on offense. Their marks were not very good, so I made ample use of my IO's. Not much else to recall. We won 12th place after the next team (Bucknell?) forfeited. High hopes for the season, but some trepidation for the home tournament--getting playing time to all these new guys will be a challenge.

Club Sectionals, Day 1

We show up to the fields and find that it is raining, and that Joe J. hasn’t washed his jersey since the last Mercer game, weeks ago. The rain stinks, but not quite as much as Joe. I could only rectify one of the issues, however, and that was by ripping holes in a trash bag and wearing it as a shirt. Once Pete arrives with the tournament food and whatnot, I proceed to make two fields: one perfect, the other mangled by the treeline of the adjacent forest. I fix another field, then get warmed up for our first game of the day. My warmup includes about 30 seconds of stretching and 3 minutes of throwing. It is windy and wet, but more windy than wet, and though I’m excited the team is a little anxious, myself included. I win the flip, and we start out on D against Shippensburg.

We go up 3 points immediately, getting the turn and converting without too much trouble. Then, we slip a little, trading and losing point until somehow they win half. I honestly don’t remember much about this game--or the others, for that matter, but especially this one. I know they started pulling down some of the bullshit, and stopped completing passes. Problems. We lose by a couple at cap.

Next, we move to play Philly Love, a team deeper and taller than ours, maybe more athletic as well. D Murf was playing for them, and we exchanged greetings. Before the game, we did a go-to drill at my request, because I felt we needed some focus. I know it helped me. The other team won the flip though, and we started out receiving with wind. The slap a zone O on us, and Ariel yells from the sideline to take a timeout. I refuse, of course, and then break through their cup. Maz and I, with the help of Dave, Jay, Ryan, Steve, and Joe J., work it up 50 yards, turn it over, get it back near our own goal line, then do the same thing at least four more times before finally punching it in for the point. I was extremely confident that we could shred their zone, and shred it we did. I then sat, fired up about shedding the stigma of the Rutgers Zone O. Of course, Philly then scored three in a row on us. The game wasn’t over, however: we scored twice, the scored, we scored, and it was tied at fours. They say it’s tied at fives, but I don’t remember trading another two points. We had found a decent groove, however, and were able to work it up through their zone despite some rushed throws from a veteran handler and some defensive mishaps from non-veterans. They score a “sixth” time (I think we turned it over on the goal line), cap goes on, they roll us for the last two. Mostly, I remember us playing a solid zone O. I definitely had a couple assists, and at least the first goal of the game.

We stay on the field to face UPenn Purple, and I win the flip again because I am amazing like that. I tell Ariel that we are starting on O, to his amused disagreement, but we score and score again. We might have traded the next two, but at some point Purple scores to ruin the planned D-line roll. I connected on some hucks during this game and did my job well on man offense, but did have some occasional trouble setting up for the dump properly. I threw some goals to make up for it, though, and sky-D’ed their primary handler (and captain?) in the endzone. Almost a callahan, but he had the inside position. I threw the goal right afterwards, though. In any case, somehow we get to 7-7, receiving for universe point. We work it right down the field, although one throw went over the intended receiver’s head and another teammate saved possession. We scored! Game: blouses.

Moving on, we took a short break and then played Old Sag, the top seed in our pool. They were in great shape, especially for a Masters team, and played a good mix of loose and tight zone D, often trapping, and various looks on offense. We got a lot of D’s, but never converted. We worked it all the way up the field through their zone over and over, but couldn’t get it in the endzone. There were some crazy bad miscues, and the Sag defenders behind the cup also got a couple amazing layout D’s. I layed out to save possession from a dump throw from Ariel, caught it, clapped it to my body as I hit the ground, and retained possession I THINK. It was definitely loose for a second, but I’m not sure it hit the ground during that time. My defender had called pick on me anyway, though, and even though he tried to take it back (he thought he didn’t have a play on the disc?) I sent it back to Ariel. Anyway, we played well, and fought them for every point, got plenty of D’s, but still lost 0-13. A shutout. I was very frustrated about this, but I felt that I played my part well, especially on offense. I am confident about tomorrow.

Lift, Practice

15 bench press 85lb
8 bench press 85lb
8 bench press 80lb
8 dumbbell bench press 30lb
20 cable fly 7.5lb
8 bench press 45lb

A team tryout practice tonight. Warmup, throwing, triangle drill, straight-on drill, cutting drill, scrimmage, sprints. I poached too much during the scrimmage, my teammates have informed me, so I'll have to remember to stick to the basics in practice. Practice what we preach, in other words...

My hucks during the drill were consistently on point, and my throws to in-cuts felt much nicer than Tuesday's. They had the right feel and the right flight path to receivers. I was feeling better about moving the disc in scrimmage, too. There were times when throwers got stuck, and most of the time we completed something to get it off the line--although one time I threw into a poach for the up-line dump cut. The intended receiver caught it, but there was a small collision. Some other miscommunications worked out, too, but I was a little harsh when a cutter cut off my dump cut. I was more upset because he had played in high school, but should have kept cool because we haven't taught that much yet, and I shouldn't have expected him to know. I changed my cut, though, and caught the disc in the endzone. Always nice.

I tried to mark against returners, so even though I poached too often I still got to play some solid D. Especially against the roommate, I worked hard. He was staying closer to the disc than he usually does, but he took me deep a couple times too, and blew me away at least once with his raw acceleration. I stayed tight other than that one time, though, and even kick-blocked him. He slapped a mark so tight on me after that kickblock that I thought he might have been trying to somehow get in my shorts with me, but I was expecting the physicality and worked through it (although it took me a lot longer in the count than usual). I got a few breaks off and hit a lot of swings, mostly because my guys downfield were cutting for them, which impressed me and made me happy. It's really nice when teammates take the initiative and do the right thing, especially when they are new and you aren't altogether expecting it.

The sprints at the end felt awesome. The 30 pushups I had to do when my straight-on drill lost the completions-in-a-row game felt less awesome, after benching earlier in the day. Looking back, I am not proud of the D's I got, because most of them came from poaching. That was dumb, because they didn't mean anything.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's returner practice and Club Sectionals this weekend.

Lift

Continuing with the "endurance" phase...

1x20 romanian deadlift 45lb
2x20 romanian deadlift 65lb
1x20 deadlift 65lb
20 shoulder raises 10lb
20 standing dumbbell press 10lb

Lift, Practice

2x20 free squat 45lb
20 free squat 75lb
3x20 single leg calf raises

First practice of the season. Between 50 and 60 attended, and it seemed to run smoothly enough. Introduction, warmup, throwing, then a cutting drill in which I was one of the two throwers. My hucks were mostly solid, with a few floaty and a few forehands that bladed, but I was pretty happy with most of them. My passes to in-cuts were fine, but didn't feel perfect--I expect that I will get closer to that "just-right" feeling soon. Then we broke into 6 teams for scrimmage. My team had Andrew, Bryan, and Jared, plus 10 guys that were fairly new. I was impressed with the understanding of the game that some of them had, but not very impressed with the application thereof. They were better than I expected, though. I had maybe two turns, both from hucks that were definitely catchable. I had several other hucks that felt buttery, and I moved the disc well in general. My defense was tight enough, but I'm still worried about blocking the disc with my left hand--it just hurts too much. This really only becomes a problem while marking, but I stayed active enough--and it was scrimmagey enough--that it wasn't actually a problem.

All in all, a good night. I finished up with some tossing with two of the new guys.

Lift

12 squats, 45lb
12 squats, 140lb on front squat machine
12 squats, 45lb on smith machine
2x12 squats, 95lb on smith machine
2x12 calf press, 180lb on leg press machine
2x12 lat pulldowns, 80lb
2x12 seated row, 45lb

As long as I can get a spotter, I will try to do free squats, rather than use the smith machine.

Lift

Bench press: 12 @ 45, 12 @ 85, 10 @ 85
Fly: 2x12 @ 20lb
Tricep curls: 2x12 @ 20lb

I also did one set each of hip abductor and adductor, mostly out of curiosity. I felt like a woman the whole time, but it might be a useful exercize to throw in the bag. Other than that, I threw around for a while today and finished with a 5 minute jog. Also semi-argued with Ariel about the value of outside-in and inside-out throws. I feel like they have useful application in various situations, but he feels that our possession-based offense prohibits these supposedly riskier throws. "If you can't throw to a space with a flat throw, you shouldn't be throwing there." Maybe I just like being able to put an accurate semi-blade--it's true that bladey throws have much less margin for error, but I don't think it means they should be discarded altogether. A lot of teams use them effectively; a team can exploit a defense's holes more easily once you get the disc to those areas closed off from nice, flat, safe throws, so the reward is worth the additional risk.

Defenses are built to take a team out of its comfort zone by shutting down its prioritized looks. Why not then practice your second and third options? A defense can't take everything away at once.