Lift, Coaching

Snatch: 2x1 at 60, 65, 70; 2x1 at 60, 65, 70kg
Snatch pull: 3 at 70kg

Rough day in the gym. Felt better about the meeting with next year's Justice captains and coaches. Went over the logic model / framework for planning the upcoming year's tryouts, practices, and long-term vision for the program. Got down into some specifics, but most of that will come in our next meeting.

Sprints, Coaching

4x1x150m (20.0, 19.8, 20.2, 21.3)
4x1x100m (13.3, 13.3, 13.5, 13.5)
4x1x50m (7.0, 7.0, 7.0, 7.1)

Met with this year's Squirrels captains and next year's Justice captains to talk about building the entire Georgetown program.

Indoor

44-27 half and 75-54 final vs Calvin/Alanna, then a good talk over dinner with Dusty

Lift, Coaching

Snatch: 1 at 60, 65, 70, 73, 76, 69, 72, 69, 72, 70, 74kg
Clean and jerk: 1 at 60, 70, 78, 83, 87; 3x(1 at 78, 83kg)
Snatch pull: 5x2 at 83kg
Front squat: 1 at 60, 70, 80, 85, 90; 4x1 at 81; 3 at 81kg

The lights cut out at practice in the middle of the team's warmup, so instead we went indoors to talk about goals and commitments and the winter workout challenge.

MP Launch Package

FMS assessment

Field testing:
Vertical jump
Single leg approach vertical jump
Broad jump
Single leg broad jump
Triple bound
40yd dash
Serpentine
12x25yd shuttle

Beach testing:
20yd acceleration
Underhand medball toss
Z-cut right, Z-cut left
800yd soft sand run

Power Lifting Total

Front squat: 1 at 135, 155, 165, 175, 185lb
Back squat: 1 at 155, 175, 185, 195, 215lb (PR)
Bench press: 1 at 155, 165, 175, 185, 195 (PR)
Deadlift: 1 at 225, 255, 285, 315, 335*lb (PR)

*= with straps which would put me at a total of 745lb or 4.6x body weight. Not bad, though I was hoping to have made more progress in the squat. Came very close to getting up under 195lb in the front rack, but couldn't get through that sticking point. Didn't feel great in the back squat, either, but squeaked out a 5lb PR. I'll have to work on my grip strength if I want to keep PR'ing my deadlift.

Body Weight Snatch

Snatch: 2 at 75, 95, 115, 125, 135, 145; 1 at 165lb (PR)
Clean and jerk: 1 at 165, 175, 185, 195lb
Pullup: 1 at +15, +25, +35, +45, +55, +70, +80lb (PR)

Weighed in at a hair under 158.2lb, or 71.75kg, and hit a 75kg snatch. Lifetime goal: achieved.

Oly, Tennis, Soccer, Yo-Yo Test

Snatch: 3 at 65, 15x1 at 95lb
Power clean: 5x3 at 125lb

60min tennis
60min soccer

Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 2:
Level 15 reached (600m)

Birthday PRs

Snatch: 3 at 65, 85; 2x 95, 105; 1 at 115, 120, 125, 130, 135lb
Deadlift: 1 at 185, 205, 225, 245, 265, 275, 285, 295lb
Bench press: 3 at 135; 1 at 155, 165lb

That's a snatch PR and a deadlift PR. Bench is lagging.

Watching, Thinking, Planning, Pushing

I spent most of today indoors, casually watching the College Championships on ESPN. Even with the frustrations of a spotty stream, it's amazing that I could do that. It got me thinking.

This season has been, for me, an exercise in frustration. What should be the most amazing opportunity of my career to date has been, if I am honest with myself, clearly not nearly the experience I might have hoped it could be. Some of this is outside of my control, and some of it is my own attitude.

There are excuses aplenty. Between the difficulties we had getting off the ground, embroiled as I was in the early struggles we had with team leadership, and my own frailties as a player/leader/person, it would be all too easy to point out how the season's failure had been predetermined, to give up and take comfort in the commentators' dismissiveness.

Then add on top the three major injuries I've had: out four weeks for a calf contusion, out one week and limited another for second degree burns on my ankle, now out two weeks with a bruised hamstring tendon. I've never been the always-injured guy, but now that's how my teammates think of me.

It's taken a toll on my positivity. From being back at the end of 2012 the strongest I had ever been, to now barely making it by, my confidence is low and I've been playing out of practice. Then there are the difficulties that come with being a captain of a struggling team, in a new league with higher hopes than it's perhaps ready for.

All of this while settling in to a new city and a new job, nurturing a now nine-year relationship, and keeping my own business going so I can juggle my student loan debt and other big bills. The cost of relocating to DC was also much higher than it should have been, due to a rental car mishap that saddled me with an additional debt to pay.

But today I watched ultimate on ESPN.

So here's the thing. Today I signed up for 14 hours of yoga. Tomorrow is a holiday. I will see the PT. I fully expect to go for a run afterwards, then watch the College Finals while stuffing my face, followed by practice in the evening and foam rolling to finish. This week I will push, and I will prepare.

We have seven games behind us, two of which I sat. Two more I'll miss for work, leaving seven ahead. Past is past and I am focused. Seven games. Seven weeks.

It will be quite the ride.

Yo-Yo Test

Took out the measuring tape, counted off 65'7", cued up the beep test on my busted iPod and tackled the pre-season fitness assessment for Inside Rakete. We're using the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Level 2 assessment and it was my first time doing the test, so my performance was a little disappointing. But, to be fair, I was doing it on a wet stretch of asphalt in near-freezing temperatures. I made it to level 16, also known as stage 14.5? for a total of 640m. I would say that I can't wait to give it another go, but it's supposed to be a vO2max test and maxing out isn't always fun. Their formula for estimating vO2max from the beep test, incidentally, puts me at 54.0 mL/kg/min. It's a far cry from what I tested back on 12/13/10 but we'll see if I can't improve it over the next few months.

The Big Chill 2012

5k in 19:46.47 (6:22 pace)
Splits: 5:50, 6:45, 7:11 (6:30, 0:41)
Place: 45th overall
43rd of  827 men
12th of 129 M25-29
Age-graded PLP: 65.24%

Compare to 12/11/10, 12/13/08, 12/8/07

Two women, six kids ages 15-17, and one dude who was 51 all beat my time. The third-place girl also crept up on me in the middle of the third mile. I didn't see her but could tell by her breathing that it was a chick, her huffing was high pitched and shallow...plus a spectator yelled some encouragement to her, saying she was in third place, and that confirmed it was a girl. When we turned the final corner she tried to pick up the pace and push past me, and I'm glad--it gave me some motivation and I kicked into a higher gear when I might have otherwise just coasted. Halfway down that last stretch I caught sight of the time clock, and that's when I knew I'd achieve my goal. I crossed less than half a second ahead of the girl, might have peed myself a little, but broke my PR and felt pretty damn good about it. Stronger than ever, faster than ever. More work to do.

Except the world-record holder finished the race in the time it took me to run the first two miles. Holy crap.

Crossfit Total

Warmup
Overhead squat 3x45lb; front squat: 3x95, 3x135lb
Back squat: 3x155lb, 1 at 185, 200, 210lb (PR)
Military press: 3 at 95, 1 at 115, 120, 125*lb (PR)
Deadlift: 3 at 185, 1 at 225, 255, 265, 280, 285lb (PR)

Crossfit Total: 615lb (279kg) at 156lb (71kg) for BWx3.94

I failed to squat 215lb and didn't try to deadlift more than 285lb. I couldn't get the 125lb press past my ears so after a few attempts I took off the clips and got it up two separate times. Tried again with the clips back on and just couldn't get it past that sticking point. Reminds me to work the bottom half of the ROM in my HSPU. Soon I'll clear BWx4.

AMRAP 10:00 of:
5 clean and jerk 115lb
10 body-weight squats
Completed 6 rounds

I actually started out trying to do the 908 WoD, which was AMRAP 12:00 of (5 thrusters, 10 burpees), but after the first round (which took 1:05) I adjusted to my own thing. I wound up finishing 6 rounds with almost a minute left on the clock, so I called it there. It was like Grace lite plus 60 squats.

Snatch

4mi biking in 17:30

Snatch: 3 at 45, 65, 95, 105, 115, 125; 1 at 130lb

4mi biking in 18:30

That's a snatch PR by 15lb.

IR Trainingslager Karlsruhe, part 2

Woke up, had breakfast, piled into Botto's car (he picked me and two of the other guys up from the WG where we slept the night) and made our way to the hall. We ran some drills inside then moved it out to the cold for more work drilling the system. I kept busy watching and coaching, trying not to freeze. It looked a lot better today, though, after we added a couple key pieces to the offense and drilled some more. Long weekend, though...even without playing I got sore, especially my throat from all the yelling. Can't wait for the next one.

IR Trainingslager Karlsruhe

All of Inside Rakete met this weekend for a conditioning and strategy training camp in Karlruhe. Botto picked me up from the Hofheim Bahnhof just after 7am, and the two of us (both injured) showed up nice and early on a cold Saturday morning, at the same site where I went to the Christmas Cup indoor tournament with Feldrenner back in Fall 2009. While the team warmed up and did some conditioning drills, the coach and I went over some strategy stuff and drills to teach it. After drawing some of the main points on an easel of paper, we put on a thousand layers and went outside to try it out. Both the scrimmages and drills were a little ugly, but I think the weather played a big role in that. The finer points of the new tactics were also somewhat unfamiliar, we hadn't gone through quite everything, and there were a lot of questions. But overall it was on track--most were starting to get the idea, even if they weren't yet comfortable in the offense, and best of all you could tell how many of our players have solid fundamentals.

I spent much of the day trying to get to know the names of my teammates while making suggestions and explaining the offense one-on-one to other D players. As frustrating as it was that I couldn't play, I really enjoyed it. I also liked when we gathered around in a circle, before going over strategy in the hall, and each shared what our personal goals were, as well as what we thought the team's goal should be. I like the team's energy, and I'm excited for the season.

After a leisurely dinner at an upscale pizza restaurant, I crashed on an extra mattress in the WG of a teammate's club teammate. Not having to sleep on the floor? Score!

Uni Lift - Max Out

Overhead squat: 1 at 20, 40, 50, 55, 57.5, 60, 65kg
Front squat: 1 at 67.5, 72.5, 77.5, 80kg
Clean and jerk: 1 at 67.5, 72.5kg
Power clean: 1 at 75, 77.5kg
Deadlift: 1 at 90, 100, 110, 120, 120kg
Bench press: 1 at 60, 65, 70, 75kg
Military press: 1 at 40, 45, 47.5kg

That's a PR in OS, FS , PC , DL , and MP.
Current Crossfit Total (CFT) is around 250kg/551lb, ACFT 217.5kg/480lb.

First Pickup

I am hopping in anticipation of the upcoming season. Though it will be short, I plan on making the most of every moment I get. I hope to be transitioning from my current job to a mixture of part-time work and tutoring so I can be in New Brunswick for practices. I'll be able to put more time and energy into preparing myself for the Series as I fight to earn more playing time on Pike, and mentally I'm going to have the wonderful challenge of leading Rutgers as well as I can before leaving for Germany. My departure date is still up in the air and I'm debating on how long to push back my trip, depending on which tournaments fall on what weekends, but I know the trip is something I want to do even as I regret the semester I'm missing at Rutgers. Being at pickup, and then afterwards going to Brower, I was the happiest I had been in a while and at the same time very chagrined that I would not be attending classes or spending my nights on campus. I can't wait to see what the team looks like tonight at practice.

If

the team is smaller, and the rotation is smaller, then my role is necessarily different from last year--on the surface. As an "O player" I could start with the disc, and do whatever it was that I could do to get that disc in the endzone. But all too often, we gave that disc to the other team, and had to get it back. All too often, we didn't. So really, my "role" last year was a sham--a superficial category applied to my name on the roster, which I welcomed as an opportunity to remain more often within my comfort zone, and used both productively--we're the "O line" and we should not give up the disc--and non-productively. All too often, I worked hard to not look silly--the pansy approach to Ultimate. Don't look bad, you might not get as much playing time. You're not the D superstar, so your job is to contain your man as best you can if we've given the disc up. Make the play if you can, and try not to resent your teammates when they can't, when they've made the error in judgment or execution that made it so you have to play defense, so you're forced outside of your comfort zone. Why couldn't they just throw and catch? They're the veterans/ballers/tallers, don't they know that I'm new here?

Well now I know (for now). If I have the disc, I move it to a more advantageous position. If my teammate has the disc, I create an opportunity to move it to a more advantageous position. If an opponent has the disc, I take it away, or don't let my man get it. At the very least, I make him get it in a less advantageous position, make him uncomfortable.

Being better conditioned is basic to all of these things. I can't rely on my teammates to push me. Walk, not talk.

Here we go.

Big Chill, then Pickup

5k race in 19:59
6:10, 6:40, 7:09 (6:26 pace)

46th place
44th out of 706 men
33rd out of 348 men 18-24

One 14, one 15, one 16, one 17, two 51s and one 53 year old beat me. So did a 41 year old woman, and a girl in my grade on the Rutgers women's track team--she ran an 18:30. But I ran under my goal time and this was about beating myself, so I feel pretty good about it.

About pickup, not so much. 6v6, I made a few nice plays, ran down a few hucks, but couldn't catch up or couldn't catch a lot more. Drops, bad throws, a couple bad choices, and (only) one (bad) layout. I handblocked DB's extension backhand, and later boxed him out for a goal. I got tackled mid-jump from a stationary position for a high blading backhand, and the >6' dude contested. I was pretty upset about that, once I realized he was not joking. His argument was that he "got the disc first." Despite all my mistakes the pickup was fun, not as cold and windy as I feared it would be.