A group of Philly area folks headed out to Edgely to do the first real group workout of the spring. Group consisted of a bunch of Amp guys, two Amp ladies, a Truck Stop guy, and a Chain guy...who seemed lost. We did a Snertz workout. It was one of those workouts where everyone shows up and is joking around and having fun and about 1/4 of the way through the workout the joking is completely over and everyone is sucking wind. Great workout, especially without having practice this weekend so its ok to obliterate our legs the Thursday before the weekend.
Workout:
1/2 mile warm up
4 X 100yds strides at 50% effort
2 X 40yds grapevines at 50 % concentrating on quick feet
2 X 40yds slides at 50 % stay low, bend knees
2 X 40yds high knees at 50%
2 X 40yds butt kickers at 50%
2 X 40yds high skips at 50%
30 pushups 75 situps
5 minutes active stretching
With almost no break between sets
4 x 15 ground jumps x 40 - 4 sets of 15 squat jumps followed by a 40 yard sprint. Sprint...is a relative term.
4 x 15 tuck jumps x 40 - 4 sets of 15 tuck jumps
15 push ups - 75 situps
quick drink
2 x 40 yard lunge twists focusing on keeping your knee off the ground
2 x 40 yard one legged hops (20 yards left, 20 yards right)
1 x 10 forward cone hops
1 x 10 side to side cone hops
1 x 10 forward cone hops
1 x 10 side to side cone hops
30 push ups - 75 situps
quick drink
10 x 5-10-5 shuttle run - cones at 5 and 10 yards, run to the 5 yd cone, back, 10, back, 5 back
10 x 40 yard dashes with as little rest as possible
4 x 100 yd striders at 50%
Stretch
Throw 30-45 yards for 10 minutes
The one downside to this workout was about halfway through one of the sprinting portions a "Yeah Amp" cheer was heard for people finishing. I've got nothing but love for all of the Philadelphia ultimate teams but at a workout with intermixed teams we are all there working for the overall goal of making Philadelphia area ultimate teams better. Don't make it about one team or another, just come out to work hard and push yourself and push other people.
*steps down off soap box*
Stealing a line from a former Pike, What did you do today to help your team make Nationals?
(208)
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Beth Coltman Memorial
Getting a little behind here but regardless there was a tournament in Delaware, we brought mostly returners along with a few promising recruits. I was extremely pleased with the way we all played considering we haven't practiced yet. I was even more pleased that it was a tournament where we could come out and play to the level of our competition and make the weekend more difficult but instead we came out and generally dominated with one or two hiccups along the way.
I also got my captaining feet back under me and remembered that I need to think before I talk in huddles because I'm really good at saying the same thing twice.
7-0 on the weekend
(209)
I also got my captaining feet back under me and remembered that I need to think before I talk in huddles because I'm really good at saying the same thing twice.
7-0 on the weekend
(209)
Thursday, April 16, 2009
The time....is running...
Paganello 2009 in the books. Ended up finishing 3rd overall, sadly losing to Yellow Sub (who included Ross) twice. It did seem apparent when they kind of fell apart in the finals that they were clearly raising their game against us but I certainly won't take anything away from them as they cleanly beat us. Recap from the tournament is as follows.
Thursday: Met up with TC in Munich, flew to Bologna and then took the train to Rimini. Trains on Easter weekend in Europe are completely insane. TC and I ended up standing in the aisle in what ended up being a weird video game where more and more difficult things kept coming down the aisle starting with bags and escalating to people and eventually the final boss, which was a drink cart. Ridiculous. Got to the train station and who is the first American we run into? Chris Cline...awesome, never see enough of him.
We head to the hotel, check in, change and head to the beach where we expect to find out team getting ready to practice. We arrive and are the last people to get there and we say our hello's, get our hugs, and hit the field for practice. Trying to play beach ultimate in extremely deep sand on 4 hours of sleep is not easy but we make it through. We head to dinner, catch up with everyone and have a blast. We head briefly to gellato, go watch the opening fireworks, and then head home.
Friday: We liked our pool, last year we got stuck with the infamous "American team that Jumpi doesn't know how to seed but is actually really good." and ended up coming in 2nd. This year that was not the case. We had three games including one in the arena (much larger field with stands right in the center of the action). Ended up with a point diff of like 35+ (games are played to time not score). Started to get a feel for what my body felt like on the sand. It was clear morning games were going to be rough with afternoon games being where I felt the best. The other funky thing about this tournament is you have 2-3 hour byes which makes for lots of warming up and cooling down.
Anyway, we celebrate our victories with another great dinner. The downside was that the check took approximately forever to come. We took that out on the restaurant by stealing the bottle of limoncello and going to the arcade where 6 of us played arcade olympics. Apparently my stellar skiball skills were not enough to overcome our opponents. Got home fairly late and went to bed.
Saturday: Opened up with a game against the Yellow Subs. Sadly did not come away with the win. We had some trouble converting on O and didn't get the turns we needed. It helps when you make a clean D bid and have it called back on a contested foul. We finish up by playing a squeaker against a German team and then an Austrian team that was supposed to be much better but we kind of jumped all over them and hung a 13-7 ish score on them which came back to help later.
Went to dinner at a pizza place that was fun. Headed out to the main party dressed up. Started a conga line with two teammates and ended up on-stage with them. Went home fairly early focused on day 3.
Sunday: Opened up the day against Cota Tequilla who is the local Rimini team. They are very, very quick and have been playing on this deep ass sand forever and that helps. They also run really good beach ultimate and make some incredible plays. We ended up going to double game point and coming away with the win. While that's going on we learn that the third team in our Gold Pool lost to the Austrian team we beat the day before (which made no sense as they should have been much better). We move on to play this next team that has a guy who is like 6'5" and one really good lefty thrower. The rest of their team is pretty solid and more importantly manage to come up with a series of ridiculous bailout grabs. We end up losing by 1, but because of the 3 way tie that happens we end up in 1st thanks to the big win over the Austrians. This sets up a re-match with the Subs in the semifinals.
We're playing in the arena, and unfortunately the game before us runs long so we lose a lot of warm up time. We start flat and the subs take advantage getting a couple of breaks on us. We try to fight back and get a few breaks here and there. It was in this game that I think I really proved to myself that my knee is back to 100%. Off a pull I came down covering Schmucker. Right on his cut I jumped his move and his thrower, trusting Schmucker a bit too much, and I attacked the cut and got a beautiful layout D. We ended up getting the break but we just didn't have enough left and ended up losing again.
Sucktacular.
Went out to RIDICULOUSLY awesome dinner to make up for it but with me, I really can't take the bitter taste of losing out of my mouth.
Monday: Had the third place game against the team with the super tall guy. Its windy, we don't really play well, neither do they. The spirit gets kinda shitty. We gut it out at the end and take third. All in all a good weekend and still easily my favorite tournament in the world (with Nationals and Hawaii being close seconds).
Until next year...
For now going from the beaches of Italy to the beaches of Delaware. Fire it Up!
(212....yeah....lots of eating in Italy)
Thursday: Met up with TC in Munich, flew to Bologna and then took the train to Rimini. Trains on Easter weekend in Europe are completely insane. TC and I ended up standing in the aisle in what ended up being a weird video game where more and more difficult things kept coming down the aisle starting with bags and escalating to people and eventually the final boss, which was a drink cart. Ridiculous. Got to the train station and who is the first American we run into? Chris Cline...awesome, never see enough of him.
We head to the hotel, check in, change and head to the beach where we expect to find out team getting ready to practice. We arrive and are the last people to get there and we say our hello's, get our hugs, and hit the field for practice. Trying to play beach ultimate in extremely deep sand on 4 hours of sleep is not easy but we make it through. We head to dinner, catch up with everyone and have a blast. We head briefly to gellato, go watch the opening fireworks, and then head home.
Friday: We liked our pool, last year we got stuck with the infamous "American team that Jumpi doesn't know how to seed but is actually really good." and ended up coming in 2nd. This year that was not the case. We had three games including one in the arena (much larger field with stands right in the center of the action). Ended up with a point diff of like 35+ (games are played to time not score). Started to get a feel for what my body felt like on the sand. It was clear morning games were going to be rough with afternoon games being where I felt the best. The other funky thing about this tournament is you have 2-3 hour byes which makes for lots of warming up and cooling down.
Anyway, we celebrate our victories with another great dinner. The downside was that the check took approximately forever to come. We took that out on the restaurant by stealing the bottle of limoncello and going to the arcade where 6 of us played arcade olympics. Apparently my stellar skiball skills were not enough to overcome our opponents. Got home fairly late and went to bed.
Saturday: Opened up with a game against the Yellow Subs. Sadly did not come away with the win. We had some trouble converting on O and didn't get the turns we needed. It helps when you make a clean D bid and have it called back on a contested foul. We finish up by playing a squeaker against a German team and then an Austrian team that was supposed to be much better but we kind of jumped all over them and hung a 13-7 ish score on them which came back to help later.
Went to dinner at a pizza place that was fun. Headed out to the main party dressed up. Started a conga line with two teammates and ended up on-stage with them. Went home fairly early focused on day 3.
Sunday: Opened up the day against Cota Tequilla who is the local Rimini team. They are very, very quick and have been playing on this deep ass sand forever and that helps. They also run really good beach ultimate and make some incredible plays. We ended up going to double game point and coming away with the win. While that's going on we learn that the third team in our Gold Pool lost to the Austrian team we beat the day before (which made no sense as they should have been much better). We move on to play this next team that has a guy who is like 6'5" and one really good lefty thrower. The rest of their team is pretty solid and more importantly manage to come up with a series of ridiculous bailout grabs. We end up losing by 1, but because of the 3 way tie that happens we end up in 1st thanks to the big win over the Austrians. This sets up a re-match with the Subs in the semifinals.
We're playing in the arena, and unfortunately the game before us runs long so we lose a lot of warm up time. We start flat and the subs take advantage getting a couple of breaks on us. We try to fight back and get a few breaks here and there. It was in this game that I think I really proved to myself that my knee is back to 100%. Off a pull I came down covering Schmucker. Right on his cut I jumped his move and his thrower, trusting Schmucker a bit too much, and I attacked the cut and got a beautiful layout D. We ended up getting the break but we just didn't have enough left and ended up losing again.
Sucktacular.
Went out to RIDICULOUSLY awesome dinner to make up for it but with me, I really can't take the bitter taste of losing out of my mouth.
Monday: Had the third place game against the team with the super tall guy. Its windy, we don't really play well, neither do they. The spirit gets kinda shitty. We gut it out at the end and take third. All in all a good weekend and still easily my favorite tournament in the world (with Nationals and Hawaii being close seconds).
Until next year...
For now going from the beaches of Italy to the beaches of Delaware. Fire it Up!
(212....yeah....lots of eating in Italy)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Notes
Recent notes.
No desire to elucidate further.
----
INDOOR ULTIMATE:
Thank heaven's that's over.
The indoor season is, apparently, not my strong suit. I think I went 1-3 in PADA and 0-7 at Nocturnal Decisions. 1-10? Hell's Bells. Current conjecture:
Wind makes throwers
Not wind makes not-throwers.
----
PICKUP IN NB
Have had some great runs, for pickup.
Introduced a whole new generation to "Losing at Boot".
Tracking "points for and points against" while playing pickup (yup, just basic +/-) provides me with solid motivation if lacking.
----
FOOLS FEST:
Stimulus Package (Mixed: Puppet Regime past, present, future, never was):
6-2 (2-1, 3-0, 1-1, Semis) lots of beer gardening. Lost to Lefty Loosy (NC Folks) in pool play. Beat them in quarters. Lost to eventual champs (Way of the Jackalope) in the semis.
.
----
WORKOUTS:
Have been doing tons of non-running stuff. Which shows, when I have to cover cutters for more than 1 possession.
Time to up the sprintage in workouts.
Loving the medball. Lunges, squats, jumps, throws, etc.
Loving discterity stuff.
Loving pullups.
----
DIET:
Gave up cheese for a while back in... December-Jan. That was a good thing. I will get back to that eventually, but not at the moment. Generally, I was in a good way just before the trip to SW+Hawaii. I derailed when I came back from Hawaii. I'm far too puppy and not enough squirrel when it comes to extra food. Back on it though.
Dusty's Proven Track Record Diet:
1: 1+ Salad per day.
2: Beer not Bread.
3: Vegetable > Fruit > Dried Fruit > Vegetable Juice > Fruit Juice > Candy.
4: Full Fat Greek Yogurt + Bits of Chocolate > Whole Chocolate Bar
5: Meats-n-Nuts-n-Olives-n-Eggs is good for me.
----
SCRIMMAGES:
Have scrimmaged against Delaware and Drexel. This weekend will be UPenn. I'm not sure what it is these teams think they do well. These scrimmages always remind me how large a part experience plays in quality of play. Think of the 1000s more times that a 28 yr old player has done X than an 18 yr old player. Even if they've both been playing for 10 years, the years from 18-28 are more valuable in terms of high-value repetition. More pressure, more precise, more more more.
If an 18 yr old drops a pull and flips out and falls apart mentally, well... that's to be expected.
If a 28 yr old drops a pull, flips out and falls apart mentally, well... that's not to be expected.
One has a deeper issue than the other.
Also played some with the Old Sag guys against Drexel and the UDel alums against UDel. Add this to playing pickup in NB and then to playing with Puppet Regime at Fools to get valuable experience. I definitely don't fill the same roles with those teams as I do with Pike. Each experience teaches me how to play within my style within their frameworks.
That is, each group has its determined way of achieving the same goals. The skills and experience which I bring are generally valuable to ultimate teams. I am rarely valuable to two teams in identical fashion. Or, for that matter, degree. Even if each team were to define me by one characteristic, the descriptions would be contradictory.
I fail on each team.
I succeed on each team.
Usually the former precedes the latter.
Usually the former informs the method by which the latter will occur.
Ultimate: Heuristic not algorithmic.
----
PIKE:
First Delaware, then... THE WORLD.
Pike 2009!
No desire to elucidate further.
----
INDOOR ULTIMATE:
Thank heaven's that's over.
The indoor season is, apparently, not my strong suit. I think I went 1-3 in PADA and 0-7 at Nocturnal Decisions. 1-10? Hell's Bells. Current conjecture:
Wind makes throwers
Not wind makes not-throwers.
----
PICKUP IN NB
Have had some great runs, for pickup.
Introduced a whole new generation to "Losing at Boot".
Tracking "points for and points against" while playing pickup (yup, just basic +/-) provides me with solid motivation if lacking.
----
FOOLS FEST:
Stimulus Package (Mixed: Puppet Regime past, present, future, never was):
6-2 (2-1, 3-0, 1-1, Semis) lots of beer gardening. Lost to Lefty Loosy (NC Folks) in pool play. Beat them in quarters. Lost to eventual champs (Way of the Jackalope) in the semis.
.
----
WORKOUTS:
Have been doing tons of non-running stuff. Which shows, when I have to cover cutters for more than 1 possession.
Time to up the sprintage in workouts.
Loving the medball. Lunges, squats, jumps, throws, etc.
Loving discterity stuff.
Loving pullups.
----
DIET:
Gave up cheese for a while back in... December-Jan. That was a good thing. I will get back to that eventually, but not at the moment. Generally, I was in a good way just before the trip to SW+Hawaii. I derailed when I came back from Hawaii. I'm far too puppy and not enough squirrel when it comes to extra food. Back on it though.
Dusty's Proven Track Record Diet:
1: 1+ Salad per day.
2: Beer not Bread.
3: Vegetable > Fruit > Dried Fruit > Vegetable Juice > Fruit Juice > Candy.
4: Full Fat Greek Yogurt + Bits of Chocolate > Whole Chocolate Bar
5: Meats-n-Nuts-n-Olives-n-Eggs is good for me.
----
SCRIMMAGES:
Have scrimmaged against Delaware and Drexel. This weekend will be UPenn. I'm not sure what it is these teams think they do well. These scrimmages always remind me how large a part experience plays in quality of play. Think of the 1000s more times that a 28 yr old player has done X than an 18 yr old player. Even if they've both been playing for 10 years, the years from 18-28 are more valuable in terms of high-value repetition. More pressure, more precise, more more more.
If an 18 yr old drops a pull and flips out and falls apart mentally, well... that's to be expected.
If a 28 yr old drops a pull, flips out and falls apart mentally, well... that's not to be expected.
One has a deeper issue than the other.
Also played some with the Old Sag guys against Drexel and the UDel alums against UDel. Add this to playing pickup in NB and then to playing with Puppet Regime at Fools to get valuable experience. I definitely don't fill the same roles with those teams as I do with Pike. Each experience teaches me how to play within my style within their frameworks.
That is, each group has its determined way of achieving the same goals. The skills and experience which I bring are generally valuable to ultimate teams. I am rarely valuable to two teams in identical fashion. Or, for that matter, degree. Even if each team were to define me by one characteristic, the descriptions would be contradictory.
I fail on each team.
I succeed on each team.
Usually the former precedes the latter.
Usually the former informs the method by which the latter will occur.
Ultimate: Heuristic not algorithmic.
----
PIKE:
First Delaware, then... THE WORLD.
Pike 2009!
Franklin Field _does_ still Exist
Was cajoled into into a "base" workout at Franklin Field. Though I whined and stomped my feet, it was probably good to re-enter the track season with some longer distances... Anyways, the details:
1200m @ 4:14 (2:30 rest)
800 @ 2:44 (2:20 rest)
400 @ 1:12 (2:15 rest)
200 @ 0:29 (3:15 rest)
200 @ 0:30
2 x 100 (Focusing on initial acceleration and coasting through the end)
2 x 100 (Focusing on constant acceleration throughout. For me, this means getting up to speed and then really trying to increase my turn-over rate)
To paraphrase Ellis, the reasoning behind doing longer distances in some of these earlier workouts is to build a solid base that will let us push through long hard workouts this summer into the fall when we are working on higher speeds for shorter distances.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Week of 3/30
Been a little while away from the blog. Had a very busy work week and am taking it slightly easy before Paganello so I didn't have a whole lot going on.
3/30 - Spring League game - I like my team. I'm excited to be playing with former Pikes Blo and JT. We kept our game against a Heckman/Snader/Felt squad pretty close however we didn't have the firepower and had some miscues due to learning to play with each other that caused us to lose by about 2-3...I think.
4/2 - Yoga - Further had stressed to me just how tight my hips are. I actually had the instructor turn around and ask me if I was ok because I looked like I was in some significant discomfort. Basically I've got something to focus on stretching wise for the next few weeks/months. The class was a good, high intensity stretching workout. Felt really good afterwards.
4/4-4/5 - Fools Fest.
I like to think of this as the unofficial opening of the club season. Mostly because its the end of the tournaments where the line between competitive and fun is extremely blurred. And its also the first 3 day tournament that many club players participate in and realize how much work they need to do to get ready for the real season. This year our team went with an outrageous theme as usual and all of us dressed up in ridiculous costumes, none of which will be mentioned, or posted in pictures on this site. What mattered was we had a hell of a lot of fun, I got my first post surgery, post being allowed to not wear a brace, layout D. My throws felt great (although I still need to work on my flick) and I found a new hunger. A hunger that comes from every time I visit the fields in Fredericksburg and I remember all the Regionals that have passed. And I go over and visit field 5 where the epic Pike comeback of 2007 took place and just kind of breathe the place in.
There's magic in those Fredericksburg fields. And they've given me a kick in the ass for the next stage of 2009 between now and Boston. Prepare yourselves Pikes. Its time to raise your games to another level.
Leaving for Paga on Wednesday. Looking to come back with another trophy and another umbrella.
#31
(209)
3/30 - Spring League game - I like my team. I'm excited to be playing with former Pikes Blo and JT. We kept our game against a Heckman/Snader/Felt squad pretty close however we didn't have the firepower and had some miscues due to learning to play with each other that caused us to lose by about 2-3...I think.
4/2 - Yoga - Further had stressed to me just how tight my hips are. I actually had the instructor turn around and ask me if I was ok because I looked like I was in some significant discomfort. Basically I've got something to focus on stretching wise for the next few weeks/months. The class was a good, high intensity stretching workout. Felt really good afterwards.
4/4-4/5 - Fools Fest.
I like to think of this as the unofficial opening of the club season. Mostly because its the end of the tournaments where the line between competitive and fun is extremely blurred. And its also the first 3 day tournament that many club players participate in and realize how much work they need to do to get ready for the real season. This year our team went with an outrageous theme as usual and all of us dressed up in ridiculous costumes, none of which will be mentioned, or posted in pictures on this site. What mattered was we had a hell of a lot of fun, I got my first post surgery, post being allowed to not wear a brace, layout D. My throws felt great (although I still need to work on my flick) and I found a new hunger. A hunger that comes from every time I visit the fields in Fredericksburg and I remember all the Regionals that have passed. And I go over and visit field 5 where the epic Pike comeback of 2007 took place and just kind of breathe the place in.
There's magic in those Fredericksburg fields. And they've given me a kick in the ass for the next stage of 2009 between now and Boston. Prepare yourselves Pikes. Its time to raise your games to another level.
Leaving for Paga on Wednesday. Looking to come back with another trophy and another umbrella.
#31
(209)
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