Monday, July 30, 2007

practice: sat and sun 7/29 and 7/29

This was a little bit of a rude awakening. Well I guess Sunday was the only rude day. We had decent numbers both days. For d I think we were as low as 2 subs and as high as 4 depending on who was playing on what line and who was injured. I thought practice went real well although it was abbreviated on Saturday due to thunder and lightning. We played a lot which I dont necessarily like to do at practice, but because this was a new team and everyone is still learning from everyone else it was fun and very useful. We went for the 5+ hour marathon on Sunday and it was hot. We ended on 2 person relay (4) 70x70 yard sprints with pushups after the first 70 and situps after the 2nd 70 and then one 95 (goaline to back line) with pushups, and the good ol' 120 (back endzone to back endzone) to end it with situps. It was a war of attrition. Coming back to the line for my 4th 70 I was thinking that I might die of something, but my brain wasn't working well enough to determine what it would be. Hot Toddy kept us around the top through 2,3,4 and I would let people slip back in. We both caught someone on our 120 yarder to finish 2nd.

I completely lost track of how the d team did at practice. We lost the last game to 3, which was a victory I think the whole team really wanted. There were times on Sunday where I took notice of who was out there for the d line and got pretty excited as far as potential goes.

I got burned deep a couple times for easy goals. I like to play the physical defense that we are playing, but if your offender is really fast you can only contain them so long before they sneak past a bump and you are toast. I guess the big thing to remember through all this is hips direction; you want to keep the offender in front of you as they go deep and commit to them going deep and then make it a contested catch in when the come back towards the disc. I just find that really hard to do when they have the whole field to work with.

I still haven't got that big come-to block that validates being in on big points. I had few bids on Saturday and might have let one or two pass me by when I chose to get a mark on instead of bid on a 30% chance.

I put up one real bad floater and in general, except for one really nice one, my flick hucks are to high. I think I can afford to put them out there a little more and let people run them down. My mid-range throws felt real good. Like 20-30 yard aways and my breaks felt good. I still need to work on exploding out of cuts and then running by people. When I was cutting poorly I got used to people being with me so I would bale out of cuts to early.

My lower back is in some pain right now and my knee and shin were creaky to start yesterday, but I want to get in the gym today.

Mon lower
Tue upper
Wed track
Thu light, lower, speed, play
Fri rest
Sat colorado cup
Sun colorado cup

Monday, July 23, 2007

ultimate: Sat and Sun 7/21 and 7/22

I had the honor of playing with Quiet Coyote this past weekend at OwMyKnee in Albany. I had a great time and they are surely destined for great things once they get a couple more tournaments under their belt.

As the original 2 seed we lost in the semi's to the the 1 seed. Seems weird right. The TD reseeded the tournament after saturday by point dif dropping us to 4th. It didn't really matter. We would have had to play the 1 seed eventually. The 1 seed was utilizing the services of one Adam "Puberty" Croce in the semi's. Greg thought it would be funny, despite us just standing in the back of the stack, to launch his patented high release, swilly, deep backhand bomb right over my head. I found it, lost it, found it, misread it, corrected myself and caught it as it started to slink out of bounds for the score. I think Adam got cut right on the spot, but I couldn't be sure. There was this big blonde dude on their team too who, when I got a block on him said, "that's not gonna happen again". I scored on him on the next throw, but conceded the fact that he was probably right and played mediocre defense on him the rest of the game . I got a "nobody has made a play like that on me all tournament" comment from him in the handshake line. I asked his name so I could add that quote to my application for the USA all star team the next time that comes around.

I played all right. Had a couple bids on d that were anywhere from 25-99% intense and I got 2 of them. I skied the shit out of a guy who was under 5 feet tall. I made some deep bad decisions that were cleaned up, some good deep decisions that were miss read. A couple stupid forced throws into defenders after working it up the entire way as a zone handle. By the end I was just jacking it every time someone went deep, which hurt us more than helped us and I felt bad cause I was an invite trying to do to much. I handled a lot, but tried to work hard when I was cutting. Unfortunately I kept getting taken out as a result of people on the other team taking strange routes or being in weird places. Twice I took better lines to deep discs on D only to have the offender make a last second correction, crash into me and send me sailing. On the last one I took off deep only to be tripped up 4 or 5 steps into my cut, by a woman who was poaching. I landed quad first right on her cleat resulting in a nasty charlie horse that is bruising pretty nice. Luckily it is high up on the outside of my quad so I am still mobile. I remember getting knee'd a little lower at Terminus in '02 and being unable to walk the next day. I should be good to practice on Saturday.

I had a great time overall. It was a lot of fun playing with Alexis and there were many BF to GF scores thrown. It made me really want to get to Mars or Poultry Days next year.

Friday, July 20, 2007

weights and speed: 7/19/7

weights:

jump squats:
(5) 4 @ 135

rack pulls: snatch grip
(3) 4 @ 235, my lower back still hurts although it is getting better and in the next few weeks I can start increasing the weight a bit

A1 split squats:
8 @ 35
8 @ 40
8 @ 45

A2 side bridges
(3) @ 45 secs

speed:

(4) high knee skips
(4) karaokee
(4) 4 long jumps
(4) 70 yds out jog back repeats
(4) 40's, 1 min between each
(8) sprint 50, jog 50 no rest
(8) accelerators to a cone and back: from push up position sprint 15 yards, cut, come back 20 yards

This was supposed to be a track workout, but the last one left my hamstrings feeling wierd and what I need most right now is not 80% over 200 yards, it's getting to 100% as quick as possible and getting that last little push when I am 3-4 steps from a d. I admit the empowerment you get when you finish one of those brutal track workouts, but I also know what best suits me.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

weights and agility: Wednesday 7/18/7

weights:

A1 flat bench: clusters
(2) 4x2 @ 205, I felt a lot stronger although I was lacking some push in my right arm, and I missed my last rep of my last set of 2's in the 2nd set.
(1) 4x2 @ 195

A2 pull ups: clusters
(3) 4x2 @ 25, Funny how this was much easier than last week. I think i shocked my system into production.

B1 flat bench DB: tyler grips
8 @ 45
8 @ 55
8 @ 65

B2 chest supported row
8 @ 45
8 @ 55
8 @ 75

I think all these nubers were up because I took it easy on volume on the clusters

C1 full contact twists
(3) 16 @ 25

C2 zottman curls
(3) 8 @ 25

agility:

I wanted to get a little more in than I did, but nature was against me

(4) 40 yard zig zags
(2) three cone continuous
(2) three cone one corner

I just made these names up.

Rest of the week:
Thurs: lower and track
Fri: off
Sat: ultimate, two navy seals
Sun: ultimate, two navy seals

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Weights: Monday 7/16/7

I had to get to a summer league game so I had to cut this one short.

front squats: clusters again, but with less reps
(3) 5x1 @ 225

GHR
(1) 8
(2) 8 @ 20

off to summer league!

I got some good running in at summer league. I was a layout away from some big d's, but the rocky sandy playing field was not inviting. Also blasted some backhands finally.

I played softball in DC on Sunday. Not much exercise in that except when I had to make a beeline for second from first to avoid a force out. I didn't make it. It took me two at bats to figure out the whole hitting thing. I hit a huge pop fly that was probably an error where i got a triple. I then hit a low liner past the 3rd baseman. I was tehn zeroed in for my next two at bats and homered both times. In order to hit my 2nd homerun I intentionally swung and missed on a 3-1 count on a ball that was going to hit me so I could run the count full and get another shot at a good pitch. Dick move? We needed the insurance runs. You never know when runs 24 and 25 are gonna mean the difference when it is 23-4 in the 5th.

I have switched gyms, from Excel in Waltham to Total Performance Sports in Everett. The guy I was working with in Waltham split ties with Excel and left me a workout orphan. It actually works out better for me. I get my next three weeks refunded and my commute becomes 5 minutes instead of 30-45 minutes. Excel is a white walled, new, open, crisp place. TPS is dark, creaky, old, and full of enourmous individuals. It is a strongman gym. Farmers walk things and 8 foot tires outside, atlas stones and huge logs inside. They have more equipment than excel and they have free boxing and kickboxing classes. These arent like Gold's Gym cardio kickboxing. These are cragly old golden gloves trainers and there could be 0-5 people in your group. Could be fun for the dreary winter time.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Weights: Wednesday 7/11/7

A1 bench clusters: same as with the squats. I started way to high. Whoops.
2x2 @ 225: this barely counted, i think I did two, except to tax me for the next two
3x2 @ 205: still to much, only got six total
4x2 @ 185: finally the weight is right, but Im still feeling it from taxing myself on the 1st two
4x2 @ 185: settling into a grove
4x2 @ nice finish

A2 pull up clusters: while doing the bench clusters I had to do pull up clusters.
4x2 @ 20
4x2 @ 20
4x2 @ 20
2x2 @ 15: Pullups aren't like the bench. Eventually you just can't do another one. During my 2nd set of reps I dropped the 15 lb weight on my foot and just called it there. Yes, it's sore.
4x2 @ 12

B1 DB incline press w tyler grips (makes the DB handles thicker)
(2) lots of weight, terrible form. I still need to be getting my motions correct and with that the weight will come.
(1) 8 @ 55

B2 supported chest row:
(2) same as above. I think the cluster exercises took a lot out of me and these are supplemental. Gotta be better disciplined.
(1) 8 @ 45

C1 cable backhands
(1) 10 @ 30
(2) 12 @ 30

C2 Zottman Curls: Yes! Some curls! Finally.
(3) 10 @ 25

These last three days might have been the hardest three days of exercise in my life.


rest of week: I think it is clear that I have to get my other two upper and lowers in this week. Tonight looks terrible cause I have to do laundry before leaving for DC on Fri morning where I am sure I can get on the track, but not sure of getting to a gym.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

track: Tuesday 7/10/07

warmup, stretch
5x200M. 75/75/75/75/4 minutes rest.
1x400M. 4 minutes rest. (at your 200m pace).
5x200M. 75/75/75/75/4 minutes rest.
4x200M. 90/90/90/Done.

31,31,31,31,32; 73; 32,33,33,33,33;34,35,33,31

Keeping my form is huge. About 20 meters out from finishing my 2nd 200 in the 2nd group of 5 my form just deteriorated and I bet I looked like my sister playing soccer when she was 9. Limbs everywhere, elbows flailing and a legitimate safety concern to anyone in reach. After that whenever I felt my power leaving I just tried to keep everything in good working order; relax the arms, but get a good pump, tuck the chin, get my knees up, pull when my feet hit the ground. Power was at a premium. My lower body from Monday left my muscles aching most of the day. That 34,35 is obvioulsy a glaring indication of let down, but rallying for that 33,31 finish was nice although I couldn't think straight for a good 5 minutes afterwards.

Monday, July 9, 2007

weights: Monday 7/9/7

foam rolling

I am gonna tone down on the plyos as my running increases

front squats: cluster style
(5) 4x2 w/10 second break between each mini set of two @ 205
This means 5 sets of 8 reps except you get 10 seconds for every 2 reps, which allows you to do more weight, which doesn't make that much sense cause I was doing 205 before. The difference was I hadn't actually seen a front squat. They go deep, butt touching floor deep. I had been going sit on a toilet deep. This makes a big difference. Also having 205 lbs laying accross your collar bone is rather uncomfortable the next day. Basically it sucked.

reverse lunges:
(3) 8 @ 95
I was still feeling the cluster f*&#s from before and struggled through this.

A1 GHR's:
(1) 8
(2) 8 @ 10

A2 chops with bar:
16 @ 25

B1 butt squeezes
(3) 20 secs

B2 scap slides
(3) 10

this week
mon: lower
tue: track, I expect to feel bad, real bad, from Monday lower, so Ill play this by ear
wed: upper
thurs: lower, sprints
fri: off
sat: upper, sprint the straights jog curves
sun: off

Friday, July 6, 2007

Weights: Thursday 7/6/7

active stretching

A1 flat bench thick bar: 3 >90%, which means get up to a good weight by 3's and then drop it down to 1 rep.
1 @ 225
1 @ 245
1 @ 250
1 @ 245
2.5 @ 225 stupid

A2 DB row:
(1) 70
(2) 75
(1) 80

B1 DB floor press:
8 @ 65
8 @ 70

B2 face pulls:
(2) 10 @ 90

C1 scare crows:
(1) 12 @ 20
(2) 12 @ 30

C2 bowler squats:
(3) 10

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Track: Tuesday 7/3/7

warm up
200/45
200/90

real deal
400/90
400/3 minutes

6 x 200/75

3 minutes

400/90
400/90
200/75
200

71, 75, 32,33,34,34,34,34,78,78,32,31

Weights: Monday 7/2/7

foam rolling

high knee skips
(4) forward and back

broad jumps

deadlift: my lower back was still really tight from last week's DL. I tried to get the weight back up to where I was last week, but my lower back was not letting me pull at all so I went light worked on technique and speed
(1) 3 @ 205
(3) 3 @ 185

GHR: at an incline
8 @ 10
4 @ 10, 4 @ 0

ab rollers
(2) 12

reverse lunges from defecit:
(2) 8 @ 40

suitcase deadlifts:
(2) 8 @ 65

I forgot about Wednesday being a holiday and nothing being open so I have to reconfigure my week.

Monday, July 2, 2007

track: Sunday 7/1/7

Got up real early, well early for a vacation Sunday morning and after a banana was out on the track by 8:30 am. I feel like that alone was a victory. There is nothing much more demoralizing than getting to an empty track. Just sucking it up and finishing a track workout is big for me.

6:00 farlek (slow/med/fast)

200 (75 sec break)
300 (90)
400 (120)
400 (120)
300 (90)
200 (4 minute)

200 (75)
200 (75)
200 (90)
200

31,55,78,75, 56,33, 33,32,33,31

That 78 was really annoying. I felt like I was moving at a decent pace and that I kept that pace up the whole time. I should have been clued in when I looked at my 39 sec split that I needed to make up time, but I couldnt figure that math out and get around the turn at the same time. I still have to bust balls to get that 75 sec 400, which is slightly frusterating, but I know I am improving. My 200 times are right in line with everyone else and unlike the end of the last trackworkout I had some kick left to finish.

This week
Mon: Lower
Tue: Track? (im not sure what is planned team wise)
Wed: Upper
Thu: Lower, Speed
Fri: off
Sat: TBD in NY
Sun: TDB in NY