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.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
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.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
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!
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!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
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.
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.
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.
Monday, October 22, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, October 15, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
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.
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.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, October 08, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
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"?
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"?
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, October 01, 2007
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?
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?
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