bethedream9-blog

[bethedream9-blog]

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” - Paulo Coelho

The first time I spent hours in a pool this summer was on a resort in Cancun where we were celebrating a friend’s wedding. The pool had natural salt water, was at the perfect temperature, and included a swanky swim up bar. One of my college friends explained how inflated lungs are buoyant after complaining I had trouble floating. I guess I forgot that tidbit from science class because it blew my mind. He introduced me to the breast stroke and helped me with the timing of the stroke and the breathing. 

A gentleman watching us swam up from the pool bar and joked, “Its ok people don’t understand that muscles are heavy.” He also became invested in my swimming and lent me his goggles. He pointed out how I was working against myself as shot my arms forward in the breaststroke. In general he got me thinking about how swimming was one of those things where trying to hard wasn't the answer.

Right after purchasing my membership at the YMCA I jumped in the pool to do some exercises I learned on YouTube. I was taking a break when this woman from the lane over said, “you gotta clap those feet.” She was commenting on my breast-stroke kick. She helped me work on the kicking mechanics - when to bring the knees up, how the toes should point, and what kind of angle to kick the feet out before clapping them. It turns out she actually coached for a living! She ran a boxing gym in north Philadelphia and she told me one of her fighters recently won a world title. She invited me to her gym telling me about her old school methods in training fighters. I’ll hold off for now.

The next time I met a man in the lane beside me who looked like he was swimming in slow motion. When our breaks synced up he also gave me some pointers and we started talking about immersion swimming. This form of swimming is all about conserving energy for survival and covering longer distances. Perhaps he brought this up since he saw me heaving after completing a lap. 

Just as I was starting to improve, the YMCA closed their pool for beautification week. This ended up being a blessing in disguise. My brother has an LA Fitness membership and told me there is a pool in a facility near the city. They are SUPER chill there. The staff barely looks up when you scan your card and people are still lifting close to an hour after the gym is technically closed. I easily got in scanning my brother’s card.

All the lanes were occupied when I got to the pool. One guy gestured to a spot in the water next to him inviting me to share the lane. I thanked him and start with my usual routine in the water. He meets me at the other end of the pool and says, “you need to appreciate the glide.” He ended up training me for the next hour and a half on my swim strokes, kicking technique, breathing, all with a focus on gliding through the water. It turned out that he trains swimming/running/biking guides for the visually impaired. In the hot tub afterwards, I asked to pay him for teaching me. He laughed it off telling me to pay him back by volunteering as a guide when I learn how to swim. We went at it for another 90 minutes the next day. So... I found myself a trainer by accident because my YMCA closed its pool for beautification, my brother has an LA Fitness membership, I can pass as my brother to get into LA Fitness, and all the lanes were full when I arrived. Lucky!

Just last weekend I went to this adult summer camp and got some pool time in between the activities. The lifeguard there was this extremely sweet elderly woman who had been teaching swimming for many years and trained all the lifeguards who worked at the camp. She helped me on my flutter kick asking me to imagine how I kicked back sand running on the beach. When she noticed me panic a bit as I swan over the deep end of the pool, she’d encouraged me, “you swim the same in deep water.” 

The people in my swimming journey have made it more special. This isn’t that surprising since people are usually a driving force of what makes many experiences more meaningful. Professionally, I’ve enjoyed projects more if I loved the team and wasn’t thrilled about the subject material than the other way around. Even my most memorable Frisbee seasons have been those where I’ve really connected with all my teammates. This reminds me of a quote I resonated with from a rap song, "do what you live for with the people you die for." That's the dream!

[bethedream9-blog]

Striving for Baby Steps

Imagine these three scenarios:

1) A parent playing with their 2-year-old in a pool. The baby splashes about carefree, naturally buoyant with all its baby fat and even be able to slightly propel itself with an instinctive crawling motion. It’s doing so well for trying so little.

2) A young kid or teen with a few swim lessons under her belt hanging out at a friend’s pool over summer break. At the start of summer, she was proficient enough not to drown. She ends summer with some serious pool agility after playing games like dibble and Marco Polo, practicing dives and racing her friends. She did not take any official lessons, but inadvertently was becoming a better swimmer by pushing herself out of her comfort zone for these games.

3) Me - A full grown, lanky yet lean adult walking into the room with the indoor pool sporting triathlon-official googles and cap. I stroll past the area where the kids are playing straight to the lanes for swimming laps looking like I’m ready to crush many meters. I spend the first few minutes re-adjusting my goggles and cap, the next few getting used to breathing out under water, and then spend some time on my floating technique. After all that I start swimming, visualizing and repeating what I learned from the few YouTube videos I watched half an hour ago. Let me tell you I am not connecting many whole laps without gagging on water and having to stop.

Which of the three scenarios results in the fastest and most effective improvement in swimming? Is it the baby soon to be toddler, the young girl spending the summer at her friend’s pool, or adult me with a brand-new YMCA membership? Do your best to control for whatever variables pop in your head. I’m not sure I have an answer, but the question does bring me back to a theme I always struggled with when learning a new skill or trying to level-up: how much do you script and force versus being loose and letting your body adapt and learn naturally.

Its hard not to approach swimming like I’ve learned to approach Frisbee all these years. I get in the pool with a plan. Throughout the session, I’m constantly repeating and centering to the few cues I’ve picked up from the YouTube videos I crammed in before my swim. I work on subsections of the stroke for certain periods of time before bringing it all back together. At the end of course I’m trying to hit a distance PR, which for now is still less than 75 yards with the breaststroke. All this is good learning technique, but the script may be holding back in some ways that approaching swimming as a child would not. This approach in Frisbee allowed me to be a solid, fundamental player, but also made me very predictable and regimented in my game. I don’t think I ever flowed quite like some of my other teammates, and while I could show some creativity and spark in league games, I didn’t develop that for the higher levels of competition.

The young girl and toddler in the scenarios above have a different mentality in the pool. As an aside, the young girl could probably spend much longer in the water and more days before getting burned out. Foremost, they don’t inhibit themselves from letting their bodies pick up on the subtle cues that result in efficient swimming. Our body is so smart. For most injuries all we need to do is rest and the body will figure it out. Our body can get used to insane things like running 100 miles or enduring the cold in a t-shirt. Sports psychologists talk about the importance of silencing your mind and letting your body just do what it knows instinctively in competition and even some training settings. The toddler and young girl have this ability to let instinct kick in and lead more than adults.

Each method has its strengths and I’m sure the optimal way is somewhere in the middle. Maybe next time I’ll join the kids goofing off instead of walking past to the lap lanes. Anyways, I am truly enjoying applying all the ways I’ve learned how to learn to swimming, a skill that so many people pick up instinctively as kids after a few lessons.

[bethedream9-blog]

I’m Back!

It has been seven years! My last series of posts featured my preparation gearing up for Philadelphia Spinners tryouts in Spring of 2013. The nostalgia is so real re-reading those posts. My teammates now would roast me for the types of workouts I did. I think my most common phrase was “pounding those miles.”

I never finished the journal through tryouts so here is the quick and dirty conclusion. I made the team as the last roster spot; getting the email to sign my contract was one of the proudest moments of my life. Since then I’ve played 4 more professional seasons and club every year... until now!

Spending time thinking about the “what now” question has been pretty exciting. While I’m figuring out all the details, the first thing I’m taking action on is learning how to swim. I’m not sure how the idea came to me. I felt like it was a basic human skill that you need. I also am intrigued by the idea of doing triathlons. The strongest pull was me wanting the ability to effortlessly glide through the water like a fish. 

In this set of posts, I’ll document my journey as an adult learning how to swim. I’ve already ordered the highest rated swim goggles and cap off amazon. I’ll talk about the struggles of finding adult swim lessons and my search for a consistent open lap pool. I’ll talk about all the help I get - both from YouTube and the cool people I meet who cheer me on with “clap those feet” or “cut the water.” And my goodness, I love those water dumbbells!

Stay tuned!

[bethedream9-blog]

I Had to Give a Little

With less than six weeks before the first tryout I had a slip in schedule. I gave into the pressure of school. the pressure of my last and hardest final. 

Sunday after the Spinner's practice, I realized I needed work on endurance and pounded out five miles. I capped this with a strength circuit of planks, push ups, and wall sits. Burning out on each set. 

Monday, I was caught up in studying for Math 502. Dispersed through the studying, I was able to fit in a total of six minutes in wall sits, 6 minutes in planks, and 100 push ups. Tuesday was the same deal. By the end of Tuesday, I felt completely off. Taking days off not felt awful for more reasons than steps backwards from my goal. Food did not taste as good, I had a stuffy nose, and my stomach felt upset. I felt like I was starting to go into withdrawal. Without working out, my usual lifestyle cannot be supported. 

Right after my final at 2:00 today, I headed out to the high rise fields to take on 1000+ throws, 500 from the hip area, and 500 below the hip area. The temperature was pretty nice for late December, but at times there was a decent amount of wind. I need work catching those floaty wind controlled throws. My left hand still has some embarrassing drops. Despite this I was feeling some improvement in muscle memory from the rote repetition  By the end my hands were completely swollen, mud ridden, and bruised. 

Later I decided to target the endurance.

2+ mile run to the Art Museum. Stair pyramid at the art museum.. Walking Pushups up every step close to 80 steps. 

Core workout: The core workout: 100 crunches, 75 flutter kicks, 15 dying cockroaches, 75 crazy ivans, 100 bicycles, 

2 mile jog home. 

Tomorrow winter break starts, and with it a disciplined regimin where I work the body and my strategic game(throwing, and field vision) every day. Wish my luck.

[bethedream9-blog]

38 Days, Sizing Up Day Two

There are 38 days left, it scary how time flies. I am hitting 48 military style push ups, 5.5 minutes on wall sits, and 3.5 minutes on planks. There is a long way to go and with winter break ahead, I will be easier to "be the dream." 

Last Saturday, I went to the Spinner's workout and scrimmage with a cold. It was 40 degrees outside, and the wind was mild. We started 9:30 sharp with the normal mile warm up, followed by a thorough dynamic warm up. Then we started our agility drills. We would go through a circuit in a snake like fashion going through an exercise and sprinting to the next. At the end of the circuit the coach was there to feed you some throws so you had to work when tired. After the agility drills we worked some lower leg exercises which definitely left the legs burnt out. We ended the strength session with a series of planks and roman chairs (wall sits, but back to back with a teammate). 

This was the end of the workout part, but now the real tough part begins. This is composed of four sets of five minute scrimmages. As soon as a team scores the other team takes it the other way. There are no subs and no breaks... this is killer. This first set I was doing some great things. I was getting open, bodying my man deep for the disc, and controlling the disc well--cutting down on the mental errors. The throws from the week definitely played a role in my playing. 

The coach had planned a second set of the same thing. This was a surprise, and a grueling experience. Every additional sprint I would be heaving a little harder, the legs would be burning a little more. By the end, I was backing my guy so I would not be burnt deep. Every stride, I could feel the burning in my legs. However, I made it through... Then the coach decided to have a regular game to seven. This game to seven was the most fatigued I have ever been playing Ultimate. 

My play style is to use my legs and win games. It was a completely polar experience to be on the other side, not being able to keep up with my legs. During this scrimmage, My calf and quads started cramping up regularly, and I had to call injury twice. 

After coming home, I went to a new fusion cafe close to my dorm and downed a bowl of veggies, tofu, and rice. Then I just sat on desk feeling completely spent for the next couple hours... 

[bethedream9-blog]

43 Days Left

Only 43 Days left: I am at 5.5 minutes of a wall sit at my best, 45 push ups, and three minutes of planks. Given finals, I have really not been putting in as much time as I could.

Last Saturday, I had my wake up call. As instructed, I threw 1000 throws on Sunday.

This week, the big goal was to work my endurance and work my throws.

So on Monday, I decided to go on a 4.5 mile run. First of all, I have become so averse to running distance after not doing it for the last nine months when I was in season. This run showed me how much work I really did need. Throughout the run I stopped to do sets of push ups, totaling around 150 push ups. With the arms sore and shoulders stiff, running is something else.  Given that this is the circumstance in which I will have to do the tryout, I started thinking about how effective ab circuits, push ups, and wall sits were going to be in the comfort of my dorm. 

Tuesday I was invited to a field like practice at Penn park. During this practice we worked on drills focused on working the legs and throws at the same time. Though my throws were adequate for the drills they were nowhere close to the perfection shown by the Spinner's players. When going for the deep shots, I found that I need work on catching technique as well as grabbing lefty. The practice was not too difficult, but it was exactly what I needed. I was able to watch amazing players throw and get the legs working while touching a disc. We did sprints interspersed with roman chairs (back to back wall sits)--I was shaking by the fifth one. I finished off with a light core circuit. 

Wednesday, I had planned a long run, but did not manage my time properly. The inertia I feel to get up and go on a long run if larger than ever. This will be overcome. Instead that night, I decided to run the high rise stairs (my dorm) with a focus on endurance. And yes, stair workout with a focus on endurance. There are 25 floors with eighteen steps for each floor. I ran up the stairs eight times, and took rest which taking elevators back down. I was sucking wind hard, my earlier decision to focus on explosiveness and building muscle was backfiring. 

Thursday was a very interesting day. Given I had two finals on Friday from 9-2, I sacrificed a good workout for a fast one. Furthermore since, I was feeling the beginnings of a cold or cough, I thought running outside was probably not a good idea. I decided to run on a treadmill in Mayor gym, a very secluded and usually empty gym which I used to always use freshman year. I started running hills (the treadmill option) at a little less than 7 minutes a mile, usually my base pace when I start running again. Except this time it was very challenging and I stopped the treadmill after one mile. I tried again and the same result. Finally, I decided to run a six minute mile to top it off and I ended up having to slow down. This may be due to lack of sleep, or the beginnings of a sickness, or most probably, the lack of work on endurance. I was more dedicated than ever to fix it. 

Friday morning, I felt the blunt of the sickness, completely stuffed up, with a cough and a lingering headache. I decided not to slow the recovery process by running with the cold air outside. Especially since I had the Spinner's workout and scrimmage to worry about Saturday morning. And I would be going to that sick, or not sick. I had also been invited to an Amp scrimmage later in the day. Given that I was sick, that I would be pretty beat from the Spinner's practice earlier, and with looming finals, I decided it would not be the best idea. So again, I decided to work on my throws (600 throws this time), and put the cherry on top with a core circuit. I went to a Penn dining hall and probably killed close to 1500 calories, increasing my weight by 5 pounds. 

Tomorrow, I get to size myself up with the crowd again. I will not be sick. And if I am, then it won't even matter. Hopefully, I can get a freshman on void with tons of potential and a solid chance of making the team out to the workout + scrimmage. As a second generation player, his throws are seasoned and his athleticism is respectable. 

[bethedream9-blog]

Team Meeting

I will be leading the fitness goals of the team in the spring. I will be doing a lot of research to put together a truly comprehensive and effective plan for the team. 

Other discussions include:

1. Get to practice, missing it will be unacceptable. Xin was serious when he said, "Get your shit together, work is not an excuse." 

2. The team needs to work more if we really wants to accomplish our goal of finishing top 5th

3. Know that the spring is much tougher than the fall. Tournaments are further and more frequent. 

       a. Hellfish, Rollcall, a few they did not know yet, and sectionals/regionals

       b. Running practice will be shorter but twice a week

       c. Throwing practice will be much more structured come the fall. 

       d. There will also be a practice on the weekend

5. The team will be split into pods with running captains for more accountability. We will probably not be the most skilled team but we can work hard to be the fittest team. The running captains will have a draft

6. There will be open week long tryouts for anyone on the B team to move up

7. When practicing work mentally to really understand everything you are doing on the field. 

7. Zhargam is a good resource to use

8. Come to the formal on time tonight at 9:00 PM

9. If you are rushing a frat go talk to them.

The formal was also that night and lots of fun. I really let loose and got to know void and oil can in a different light. I am working on building relationships and I the progress is good. Come spring time, we should be a tight squad so in tune with each other that we roll teams. 

[bethedream9-blog]

Efficient Days

49 days till the tryout, I have not gotten a chance to track my progress, though this will likely happen later tonight. Given that finals are around the corner, I am going to have to abbreviate my posts. My workouts will have to speak for me. 

After a tough week with little sleep and an upcoming Spinner's sponsored scrimmage, I decided to take Friday light. About 30 minutes of easy throwing just to get a feel for the plastic, a quick 8 minute abs, a decent amount of stretching, and Chipotle to top it all off. I packed my bag and went to bed early. 

Saturday was a big day. I woke up around 8:00AM, put the contacts in, slid on the under-armor and sweats, and had some oatmeal and bread topped with peanut butter for a fueling breakfast. It was going to be months since anybody on the elite Ultimate team had seen me play and I wanted to show improvement.

The practice started on time at 9:30 with the promised workout. After a .5 mile jog, and dynamic stretching we started with agility. We did quick feet ladder type of movements with sprints interspersed. Then we went on to do some lower body work--my right leg needs better balance. Afterwards, we did a drill focused on longer sprints. I don;t know what it was but I was making silly mental mistakes in the scrimmage which was unacceptable  I should have pickup up quickly to a simple drill but for some reason I was not hitting all the cuts and throws. Furthermore, maybe partially due to the temperature or just nerves, my hands did not feel the confidence they should have. 

The next was a three on three scrimmage on a 50 yard wide field, so basically this was meant to burn you out while forcing you to utilize the whole field. My mental stamina was not there. After a certain point on the three on three, I was be wishing to accept defeat, like I wanted them to score and end the agony. I really need to work on my mental fortitude to not give up ever--even if I cannot breathe. I have to stop playing scared and getting nervous of these players just because they have played professionally or on an elite club team before.

After the drills, I realized that my endurance was hurting given all the explosive stuff I was doing. I promised myself I was going to start pounding the miles out as soon as I could go back to training.  

After the workout was the scrimmage. Here I played decently as far as offense went. I was getting open, receiving the disc for gains and looking up field. I also had some great D's, but I think I can do better. Instead of looking to get the D sometimes I am content with shutting down my player to some part of the field. I also made some sloppy mental mistakes and was responsible for a score--this was notices. 

After the scrimmage people were going to play ultisquash, ultimate frisbee squash style where body and hops help win games. I decided I was not done for the day either and joined them for another ninety minutes of ulti-squash. 

Feedback from the coach, "Himalaya, I want you to do 1000 throws before next weeks scrimmage."

So Sunday that is what I did. 1000 throws with a buddy on the team. It was 2.5 hours in the wind, rain, and slightly cold temperature. So raw. At 600 throws, I was almost about to call it but somehow we pulled through!!! I worked on stepping out sideways instead of front wards, getting a smooth flight of the disc to whatever shoulder of the receiver I wanted. I realized I need to work on catching lefty, especially clamp style. Tomorrow I will pound some miles for the endurance. 

Basically, this weekend helped me gauge myself with others interested in trying out. I have a lot of work to do.  

[bethedream9-blog]

Last Running Practice

53 days to the tryout. I do not have updates on the pushups, situps, and wall sits because I am doing a slight taper for the exhibition Saturday. 

Today was our last running practice of the semester, and I am very proud of how far the team has come. The build through the semester has been incredible. From a measly run to the art museum and a few reps on the stairs, we have extended the workout to include sets of exercises, an a more comprehensive strength section. I was glad to see some different faces out in the crowd.  This is for a couple reasons. First, the more team members that come out, the better we will be for the spring. Secondly, the workout gives each different person an idea of exactly where they are and what they need to work on. 

The full workout is below:

Running Practice

1.5 miles intervals 1 minute on and 1 minute off. 

Dynamic Warm up,

Stairs set 1 with sprints in between:

1. up two down one, 2. Karaoke, 3. right leg, 4. left leg

sprint to the top

Stairs set 2 with sprints in between:

1. wide and together, 2. ice-skaters, 3. wheel barrow, 4. bear crawl

final sprint to the top

2 Cleavelands

Push ups up the stairs of the art museum:

3 sets of two flights. 

1st set was walking pushups sideways

2nd set was walking pushups sideways

3rd set was wide and together pushups, and backwards pushups

Finally, a 1 mile run back and quick static stretching. 

Dining Practice: Definitely 2000+ calories (around four full glasses of chocolate milk = success)

No extra wall sits, push ups, or core so I can recover completely for this coming Saturday. Ihedigbo, an inspired player in the NFL said, "A lot of times people say, 'I can't wait to get my opportunity,' and that opportunity is passing them by." This weekend is a major opportunity. I intend on taking it! 

[bethedream9-blog]

Getting Worked

54 Days: taking a rest day.

Today marked a third glorious B team practice: the pace was good and attendance was up. Drills have fewer drops and people feel stronger with the disc. I am also glad that we have some players who have grown to gain some disc skills. 

I was glad to hear that those who attended practice the previous two days were feeling it today. That means I did my job. My body also felt worked from the last four or five days, and the shin splints also decided to give me company. Given that I am leading a rough running practice tomorrow, and that I have to perform at the Spinner's scrimmage Saturday, it made sense that I take today a little lighter.

I also feel that all the focus on Ultimate has definitely detracted from my academic standing in classes, so I better put in some good work before finals. My fellow B team coach said it best, "Was your adviser upset when he learned that you were minoring in Ultimate?" He was joking, but it was one of those jokes with a hint of truth.  

[bethedream9-blog]

Updates

The Count:

54 Days to go: 40 military push-ups, somehow I hit 5 minutes 30 seconds on wall sits (this may have been a fluke, I could not hit more than 2 minutes in my circuit later in the day)-- and 40 push ups. 

Fueled from the stellar B team performance yesterday, I was excited to get another solid practice for the B team. To my dismay, four people showed up late...it was an inner struggle to stick with principle and do the longer sprints for every person that was late. See, Tuesdays class is killer, and I still carry the soreness from the 3+ hours of practice I have on Monday, and my hard day from the weekend. This coupled with the new stream of pushups, wall sits, and situps definitely had its toll. 

Regardless, today I embodied the spirit from yesterday's B team practice. It was effective and fast paced, though I myself was only feeling 60%. Everything was progressing smoothly when I started feeling sharper shin splints than ever. It was as if my usual long stride had a hitch,  in my right shin harder than I ever had. I better keep this in check: rest, ice, compression, elevation...maybe I'll invest in some insoles too, and make sure I stretch my heels and calves. 

After practice I came home to do a circuit of three exercises: 30-40 push ups, wall sits, and  core exercises in mass--directly working to win those stations come late January. There is elite pickup this weekend held by the coaches and captains of the Philadelphia Spinners. Workout 9:30 to 10:30 and scrimmage 10:30 to 12:00. This will not only be an opportunity to show my stuff, but moreover, it will be a  good opportunity to measure myself with the competition come late January.

I am starting to consistently dream Ultimate now, another step closer to "Be the Dream!"

[bethedream9-blog]

A Good Day

55 days until the first tryout. Woke up this morning and tested right away: 2 minute wall sit and 36 push ups with good form and chest to the ground. 8 minuted to go for my wall sit goal and too many push ups to count to go for my push up goal. 

As has been the situation for the past couple weeks, practice schedules for the A team today were a mess. Penn Rec closed fields to all club activities. With the short notice, A team practice was cancelled.  Regardless of Penn Rec's lack of organization, I was going to hold B team practice. You can have no more than a square yard box to work with, but you can still do something to improve your game. I have to applaud the atmosphere on the B team. Not only have they been practicing more than A team but their improvement has been immense, and their thirst to get better has been greater. 

There was no wind and the temperature was above 60. Practice started 5:30 PM on the dot with a brisk lap around the field--nobody was late at the onset. The dynamic stretches were first, quick but thorough. People were literally steaming by the time they were over. One teammate walked in during the warm ups so we did one 70 yard sprint for him. We got a quick drink and huddled around the board I had brought. I ran through a quick model of the drill highlighting the point we had practiced in previous weeks, my explanations felt simple and effective.  Then we got into it. I felt like I could explain everything simply and effectively. I also felt I did a good job of capturing the whole teams attention; it probably helped that most of the concepts were review. 

We hit our goals(number of catches) in the break mark drill only with a handful of drops. People were running hard and really finding their receivers with some pretty pretty throws. Afterwards we had a quick water break when I explained the baseball drill. This was a drill run at Southpaw tryouts were you are to run cuts back and forth delivering forehands and backhand to both in cuts and deep cuts. It tests your throws, but more importantly it tests your throws when tired. Oil Can ran this drill. People were timing the in cuts, and going hard for the deep cuts. Receivers were being hit, and people were making very athletic plays in the air catching discs at highest point. Though the throws were not amazing, the fact that a drill of this caliber was flowing is enough. 

Another huddle with water, where I diagrammed how to target the "break side" and attack from that direction. This was run beautifully. Some of the handlers were throwing bombs past the fence area-->too much time in the gym. But actually there is no such thing.

After running this I brought the team in for a final time. We were going to have a 30 minute scrimmage. I quickly explained the end zone principles we were working with, and then organized a game to three with double score...this means that once you score you walk it back ten yards and attempt to score again. This specifically focuses on end zone work and converting in the red zone. The scrimmage was not flawless, but then it can never be flawless. It was a huge step up from months ago. 

The A team players who had come to practice were very surprised to see the improvement among the B team players. There comments about improvement was more than enough for all those long hours put into coaching the team. We did our couple sprints and ended practice.... right in time to start an informal A team practice.

I did my second warm up and got into scrimmage. I was glad to see that some of the B team players stuck around to play at a higher level. I was making moves: catching discs deep and working it under. However, I was definitely sucking wind by the end of the scrimmage. I started dancing much more instead of making fundamentally sound, decisive cuts. I also got lazy on the mark and gave up more high release backhands than I had done in my life. I think I mentally caved thinking, "Himalaya, you did such a hard workout yesterday, and ran a b team practice today, and are now playing scrimmage without subs." We won our first two games, but lost the last one to three on universe point. This type of thinking will not happen again. 57 days!

[bethedream9-blog]

Wake Up Call

Email from the assistant coach of the professional Ultimate Frisbee team from Philly.

___________________________________________________________________

Spinners, You have about 8 weeks until the first tryout. I think most of you know me and know that I'm not looking for the 25 best players in the area but I'm looking for the 25 guys with the biggest heart who are ready to work their asses off. In 8 weeks you need to be prepared to do planks, roman chairs, 350 situps and pushups, an agility test and something similar to the beep test. We will have stations set up and every station will have a winner. Then the winners will compete against each other at the end of "station" portion of the tryout. Whoever doesn't quit during the stations gets to scrimmage. "Failure to prepare is preparing to fail" - John Wooden So you can spend the rest of the day watching football or you can go prepare. You decide.

____________________________________________________________________

The anti is up, gotta work even harder! Goals have changed, its time to go. 

It started today:

.5 mile warmup, dynamic stretching

6x400, 3 minutes rest, in less than 1:10

3x200, 2 minutes rest, less than 33

.25 mile cool down stretch

4x circuit of 20-35 pushups, 50 situps, 1:35 second wall sits no rest

Some lonely throwing

A shot of whey, then lentils, bread and rice, and easy stretching

[bethedream9-blog]

A Give and Take

Given the unexpected addition to the workout yesterday, and my knotted calfs from the cleans, I decided that I needed to make today a rehab day. 1. I was not going to pound my legs. 2. I was going to dedicate a lot of time to stretching, something that has been falling off the way side.

To this end, I was going to try what many others have suggested--swimming. It is great cross training to keep the pressure off the joints, work muscles I have never developed, and get a aerobic workout. However, given my goals I do not know how much it will help. After some internet browsing, I found that swimming and running and very polar--great athletes in one can be very poor in the other. Different muscles are at work, different types of breathing, and in general for those looking to build sprint speed there is almost no benefit. It did not matter in the end because the pool was closed today. Next time I need to use facilities I better be more proactive and check these things out. 

So instead, I decided to do a workout I did in the Mayor gym late at night previous years. I built up to interval training between 5:30 pace for 1 minute and 7:30 pace for another. Last year I would work hard and do eight cycles. This year I barely made it to six and I was dead. Today it was clearer than ever that all the anaerobic work has definitely been taking a toll on my endurance. Its a give and take, but I do believe in a good base endurance, which I definitely have not reached. 

After the lousy intervals, I hit the abs hard with a few friends. I tried sets of circuits where there is no rest between exercises and sets. It was definitely a very different experience from my normal, but such variation is very beneficial when working out. The goal is to improve performance over mastering a type of workout. 

The circuits can be found: http://www.theultimateathleteproject.com/fe/34677-free-core-workout. We also added a third set with medicine balls: explosive v-ups, toe touches, and windmills. Comprehensive stretching followed--with the extended time, I was able to definitely increase range of motion. With a little push from a few friends, I reached further than I had in the past couple years during the strattle stretch. 

This give and take is something I really need to take into consideration given how that there will be not off season for the next 12 months. Did I build a good enough base last year to last? I really need a trainer for all of this. 

[bethedream9-blog]

The Usual and More

It is Friday, the day after a tough running practice, a week full of coaching and practice, and the day before my hard day. I am always content to simply work on my throws for an hour to ninety minutes, and maybe do a light core circuit. This would have definitely been the case given I was running on 9 hours of sleep in the last two nights combined, something very unhealthy for athletes.

Throwing was focused today, but with many unwarranted drops. Discs were simply bouncing off my hand and at times, when the disc was in the air I was not 100% sure I was going to catch it. This is not the right feeling. If I need to make these plays with defense, then without it the catch should be simple and easy. I still need work on my forehands and flicks. They have touch and fly smoothly to my target, but they do not glide and at times come off awkward. When I Huck  I am not able to pinpoint my target. Instead, I simple concentrate and getting a flat throw with decent range. On a different note, the book on coaching I am reading came in handy when discussing proper catching form today... I should really finish it. 

After 90 minutes I was totally read to call it quits. But of course, a friend wanted to lift, and after a bit I succumbed. I am glad we only went to do arms and core. We first did cleans, I really need to work on form. Then we worked in bench press, overhead press, push ups with a pulls of dumbbells for explosiveness, three sets of pull ups, three sets of up and out swings, and finally core with a medicine ball. All the exercise were very focused on explosiveness and jumping as well. After the whole affair, I realized that more than three hours had passed since my first throw. Time somehow just becomes irrelevant once I am working out or playing Ultimate. Glorious dining practice followed. 

Afterwards, I went to go see a teammate perform with his poetry group, the Excelano Project. I was so impressed and amazed; I realize that I love love love seeing people in their element. It is important to build relationships on a team, and this is the least you can do--supporting a teammate in something they are so passionate about. Along the same theme, After the show I visited the house and got to see many people I had been missing at practice and catch up on their lives. 

Overall, it was a very eventful day and I think a good building block for what I want to do for the team in the Spring. 

[bethedream9-blog]

Penn's Fitness Practice

Running Practice is once a week for our team, and this is nothing compared to what other more established teams are doing. For this reason, given that I lead these workouts, I aim to really work whoever shows up. I target almost all aspects of the training: intervals, endurance, explosiveness, strength building... Given this responsibility of leading this practice, the team's fitness relies so much more on myself.

On three hours of sleep, and after hastily finishing the problem set I made it to practice barely on time. It took some fight to shake off the soreness from lack of sleep and the mental fatigue. But once we started running, as usual all of this melted away. I took the team on our usual 1.5 mile interval training to the Art Museum. At the stairs we did a dynamic warm-up, and got ready to go. Keep in mind that this workout has been building since running practices started up. At this point we were almost to the peak of what I wanted to accomplish in the winter time.

Set 1: Sprint to the top of the stairs in between each exercise: hop up 2 down 1, karaoke, left foot, right foot. Final Sprint to the top. 

8 minute break

Set 2: Sprint to the top of the stairs in between each exercise: spread and together, speed skaters, bear crawls, wheel barrows. Final Sprint to the top. 

Arms: Walking pushups, two sets of one staircase of 13. Then one set of reverse walking pushups. Finally we did a core circuit which comprised of four sets of two exercises targeting the lower abs, hip flexors, upper abs, and side-packs. 

We finally jogged it back, did a quick static stretch and went for a dining practice. Here I wrecked havoc as always with plentiful chocolate milk, two servings of the main line, a loaded salad, and an apple.

When the Spring starts up, we will need to definitely ramp up. I need to be in even better shape to lead these workouts and pick this team up to a higher level. Given that I lead these practices, if the team is not fit, some of the fault is on me. 

[bethedream9-blog]

Post Thanksgiving Break

During Thanksgiving Break, Penn Rec started preparing one of the fields in Penn park to be covered by a "bubble" to make it indoor. To do this they closed down the field. Since, the process of putting up the bubble has not even started. With one less field, Penn Rec is doing a constant reshuffling of schedules, and therefore practice times are up in the air until the day of practice or late the night before. The varying practice times make it difficult on all the members of the team to show up, given everyone has classes, labs, work, and other extracurricular commitments during the time. Though I understand the reason for the low practice numbers, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth to close out the season like this. It seems like after our last Fall tournament, the team lost some fire. This hurts because to really be competitive in the spring we have to keep working. It seems like we have pressed the snooze button. 

Anyways, Wednesday was a well structured practice on defense and offense, with a focus on the deep game. We did a drill where we worked on having two dangerous spaces, and offense tried to attack one and defense tried to be a threat to that space. Afterwards, we worked one on one deep game. I was running well, exploding well and catching discs at highest point. Later in the drill, when we added the defense, the additional pressure made it more difficult, and I had more drops. 

Takeaways: The object of the thrower is not to always deliver a flat throw to the open space, which is what I expect to run down in a game. Instead they can sometimes blade it to the break side--news to me. This added a twist in the game. Furthermore, I need work on deviating from the straight path of the disc so I can attack it at the highest point. I am used to gaining position under the disc and then leaping. I need to learn how to use an explosive few steps to get more inches and attack the disc higher. If I can I need to defend the player from the line of the disc and at the right time, explode to that line--given that the disc is being delayed. 

In total, I need to focus on delivering on my deep game. Even more so, our team needs the work, both on the offensive and defensive sides.