Monday, August 20

The Weekend was Hard on Me

Not to get too into the details...

...because then I'll just be a whiny little bitch, but the combination of both traveling and playing a ton this weekend was pretty rough. It left me with some sore muscles for once (my arm was worn out after Saturday and then pushed to about a limit on Sunday) and a couple of occasionally recurring injuries to my feet. Nothing a couple of days without cleats won't fix. Although, I'll be sure to get my boots back on for a field session or two before Chesapeake this weekend.

Speaking of which, the schedule is apparently up. I can't really quibble with our bottom-of-the-pool seeding, and even if I could, who cares? I just want good non-intra-team competition! Clapham should be a good way to warm up. We last played at Boston back in 04 or 05. Nice to play good teams that you don't have an established relationship with. Without preconceptions of "how a game will play out" you are often afforded a glimpse into the actual attitude/talent level of your team. We always seems to have close games with Goat, no matter who is having an up or down year. Similar with BAT . At least as far as I can remember
(exception: Last year at this very tournament). Finishing straight through with Ring in round 4 should be fun. I haven't seen them all year and don't know what to expect from them in 07.

Last year at Chesapeake, we got pasted to the tune of 0-4 on the first day and 2-1 on the second. I expect much better things this year. I don't know exactly how or why, just that my confidence level with Pike v.2.007 is much higher than Pike v.2.006 at this point in the season. That makes me happy. Same with my level of confidence in my own abilities as a player and comfort with the role that I play on my team.

That last thing is very interesting to me. As I've progressed in ultimate (Roughly: Best freshman -> 3 years of college captaining w/o knowing anything -> bench on Pike -> starting cutter on O w/ Pike -> starter handler on D w/ Pike -> ???) has been very informative in terms of learning my own preferences and tendencies on the field and as a teammate. I've been increasingly happy at each stop thus far. I wonder what can top this role? What's next? That's a thought for November, not for August. I will return to it.

For now, I'll note that I'm still really sore this afternoon and will be sure to take a brisk walk after work to stretch the muscles out and then do a short/moderate intensity/low-impact bodyweight workout. Just to keep the muscles active and get through full ranges of motion of major joints. Yoga will be included.

I will then follow it up with Madden!
--
Planned Workout:
20 min walk around the city (rain be damned!)
20 min stretching/yoga
10-15 min bodyweight strength workout

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Madden? Did you get '08? If so, I'm throwing that gauntlet.

gapoole said...

Yoga is easily my favorite recooperating activity, and damn good for strengthening as well. Swimming is probably second, but it's harder to come by and I don't find it as easy to power through a workout in the water.

At some point, I think it would be interesting to read a post on how/why you have come through that progression, especially how you made Pike and how you made it off the bench. But really, I'd be interested in that because I dream of Pike tryouts within a couple years.

dusty.rhodes said...

I did break down and get 08. It was a tough decision. Do I really still want to spend time playing Madden? Seems that the answer is "yes." At first glance, it doesn't seem that different, but it seems harder. Once I find some time, I'll actually sit down and play for a while-- I haven't made it through more than one half yet.

Yoga rocks.

As for my history in ultimate, I guess that might be interesting to someone... Maybe in the future.

Seigs said...

Last "played" Boston in '05 or '04? Perhaps you meant last "beat" Boston?

I wasn't there, but I think you guys beat a small DoG squad at the Pike Invite in '05. (We still went on to win that tournament.) Since then, we have played and beaten you at least two times that I remember (BI '05 and Pike Invite '07).

dusty.rhodes said...

No no... last played Clapham *at* Boston.

Your Parinella-esque matter-of-fact chest-pounding could have all been avoided if I instead wrote "We last played Clapham in 04 or 05 at The Boston Invitational."

Not sure how you keep getting yourself into trouble with your blogs, but I just noticed that I can't visit yours any longer. That's too bad.

Seigs said...

Missed that little word. Whoops.

And can you really accuse me of chest pumping?

I'll send you an invite to view the blog. I privatized it for reasons I will explain.

Ryan Todd said...

Sorry Seigs, in '05 Pike beat Potomac in the NJ Invite finals, Boston lost to DC in the semis.

dusty.rhodes said...

Really? No, but I thought it was funny to do so. Particularly because of the missed word and the truly Parinella-esque tone that it took suddenly. Almost as if there is a handbook given to all players when they make DoG concerning "How to remind everyone that you beat them without sounding like a complete jerk."

Since you're a holdover, you've got the book. Ryan Todd is SOL. He's always gonna sound like a jerk. Just like me.

Seigs said...

I'll take your word for it - I hadn't even been to my first tryout then. Must be confusing '05 with '06, which I also missed...

But my point still stands. No matter which way you spin it, I personally have never lost to Pike (or DC)...

My chest hurts...

Ariel Jackson said...

Seigs, I'm not aware of the reasons that you decided to make your blog private, but it is a shame. You had a lot of good stuff there, and I really enjoyed reading the discussion about different philosophies of training for a tournament.

I hope that your blog will be able to become public once again.
(I realize that this comment would be better suited on Seigs blog, but for obvious reasons, I don't have access to that.)

Seigs said...

As I said on my last post, anyone who would like to continue reading simply has to email me his/her email address. Jackson, send me yours and I will add you.