Sometimes it is important to ask "how" rather than "why".

Worst month of the year is over.

No place to go but up!

The only thing keeping my sanity in one piece is this beard of mine.

Good bad good sandwich.

I threw a great IO forehand that would never work outdoors
I am slow
I am really good at up calls

Some things never change.

Sweet Potatoes

You heard it here first.

I am truly blessed to have a team here that lets me run suicides with them

The only question you should be asking yourself is: "Who is going to be the best dressed at Gunxgiving this year?".

And I'm thinkin' 'bout tryin' to spin just a little bit faster

Getting open for a dump is so easy. You just can't be lazy.

Don't be lazy.

for people who are upset about playing time or practice reps:

Don't count your reps; make your reps count.

Don't be lazy when cutting for dumps.

Never forget

To always fake before you throw.

The best feels are from when you break someone so bad, the rest of their team thinks that they had the force wrong.

Hey so

It's OK that you have been a pile of bad habits for about six months. The first step is admitting.

Don't wait for the "he doesn't belong here" talk to get motivated. Let's be honest; it has already started.

Quick Updates:

Through-forehand isn't quite back yet.
Need to do squats to be able to play long points.
I can't huck when I am tired.
Made the sickest play of my life, huge layout-D. Foul was called, because people don't like losing.
I can't beat a 4-man cup.
Being allowed to throw this many turnovers makes evaluating my play incredibly difficult.


Good thing we still have four tournaments to go!

Just realized that today is the last day of the worst month


finally.

tournament is 100% happening this weekend. Which I like. Outdoors is cool.

I am excited to play against people who aren't constantly yelling "Don't give him the inside out!".

Played outdoors today,

pretty sure my throws are better than they were pre-surgery.

who would have thought that a rotator cuff was important.

Tune in next time on Wednesday!

Too lazy to find a title

my shoulder feels like it is going to fall off but I feel like I am throwing the best I ever have

I am very out of shape

that's all I got for now

Take off the blazer loosen up the tie

Whenever I play against not my own team I feel like I am just dominant.

Maybe it was just because I was playing indoors and who doesn't play well indoors.

Oh well.

Had no problems laying out again, didn't hurt at the time. Pretty sore later on, but, when isn't my shoulder sore.

Just gotta keep the fire alive until March.

Thinking if Biggie can make it through it, man then I can.

I've been reading my posts from April/May 2010, just trying to figure out how long everything took me.

A couple of highlights:

1

"When people ask me advice on how to handle a situation or just what to do, they are often surprised when they hear my response: 'What are you trying to accomplish?' There is a subtle wisdom in slowing for a moment and reflecting on what exactly you are doing"

-Patrick Chapin, Next Level Magic


2
I weighed two hundred and thirteen pounds.

wow.

3
Got elected to captain for the first time. Kind of weird looking back on the fact that I didn't captain until my senior year.

4
I ran or walked everyday for a long time. Every. Day.



I grew up a lot in those couple of months, and I think I need to grow up a lot in these couple of months.



Gotta remember: Probably won't die, I've dealt with worse, if Biggie can make it through it, man then I can.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEi4I6UWuDQ

I'm just, tryin to stay above water, y'know

Not quite, but, anything that helps you get through the day:

http://dopacetic.blogspot.com/2008/12/why-breaking-up-with-your-girlfriend.html

Sorry for the re-use of a title.

I did air alert while making burgers

probably the manliest thing I have ever done

If you throw enough 60/40's to Bron Bron, eventually you will win.

It's science.

also too tired to make food so I am drinking milk eating a clif bar and passing out

Air Alert while sick is horrible

It is amazing how much something simple like getting to pick up the disc after every turnover with no dispute can really boost your confidence.

Also finally won practice today. Got real angry and took zero prisoners. Gotta control that emotion!

FUCK WHY DO I KEEP ON LOSING AT PRACTICE


Today I learned that it is very easy to throw to Bland.

Ice Ice my shoulder



Today is the first day in a very long time that I did not take ibuprofen. It's the small things in life.

I wonder: Will my shoulder ever stop hurting?

I also wonder: Does it matter?

Did the full back/shoulder workout today with an emphasis on the rotator cuff.

Feels good, man.


In my head, I'm still scared to layout and catch with my right hand. I've got ~1 month to work it out before nocturnal.

For the first time in months, I get to play with no restrictions tomorrow.

Jeepers

Oh man I can barely do a single pullup but boy was it satisfying

I can't tell if my throws are getting better or if I am just throwing indoors.

Last follow up tomorrow. Hopefully he says I can bid and shoulder press and do pull ups.

I assume running in the morning is similar to coming home on Friday night and getting your homework done right away so that your Saturday night is free to just party.

(This is a Wayne's World reference)

Three-piece, cuff links, and the accoutrements

No matter how much you don't want to work out.

You always feel like a boss after you work out.



Always.

I need to listen to more music, it keeps me focused.

No more booze until May

I forgot how much satisfaction I got out of finishing a whole week of air alert

Looking forward to my next follow-up with the doc so I can get cleared for everything.

That's it for your weekend update

Dear Diary

Don't take two months off

surgery sucks

air alert is still hard

LOVE

DOOBER

I think I have been accidentally fostering a losing attitude in practice for years.


I've always preached trying to learn at practice, to not try and 'win' practice. To involve the tier 2/3 players rather than just playing through your studs.


But that doesn't teach someone the will to win. That doesn't teach someone to body up and lock their man down. That doesn't teach someone the killer instinct of when to strike. That doesn't teach someone to put the team on their back, get every other touch, and dominate a point.

A lot of times the teams that I have played for find them self near the end of a tight game and trying to play nice. They try to incorporate everyone. They say "they're open, I should throw this" rather than "The game is on the line. Who do I want to have the disc?". They don't play selfish when they need to.

It gives them an easy-out. It becomes "They should have caught that. They lost the game for us" "I made the right decision. They were open". The loss is no longer their fault. It allows them a logical way to displace the blame.

But that's not how you win. If you are among the best players on the team/the line/that point, it is your fault if the team loses. You have to be the one getting the ball. You have to be the one making the throws.

If you are forced into making a less-than-guaranteed play, wouldn't you rather it go through your stud?



It is hard to close out games when you are trying to make the 'right' play rather than the 'winning' play. And everything starts at practice.

I wonder if I should have delayed this surgery for years

I have no idea how much not having a rotator cuff affected my throws, but I know right now that I can't really throw a backhand further than ten yards outside.



Honestly, if I can make it back, the surgery will be great. I have been focusing very hard on cocking my wrist back as far as I can and snapping my wrist as hard as I can whenever I throw, and it shows. When I lose focus, my throws are shit. When I keep it, my throws are passable.  This surgery has shown me how much I crutched on just brute-forcing throws out.

Its encouraging, in a way. It means that part of my throwing form was good. I was able to translate my upper-body strength into accuracy and distance. It means that if I take my next couple of months, the couple of months where my arm is still getting back to that kind of strength, and focus on refining my wrist snap and use of lower body, that when I can put it all together my throws will be super nice.

Its also discouraging. That if I can't manage to refine my throws, that I will be useless come Regionals and club season. That if I can't improve the mechanics of my throws, I might not be playing ultimate this upcoming club season.

Returning from major surgery is very weird. I have been a very all-or-nothing type of player my entire career. I have never worked out 'a little'. I have never trained occasionally. I either went hard and was very strict, or did nothing. I can't do that. I can't just bench press my way out of this one (this is a Jingle all the way joke. It's OK, I barely remembered it too.) I can run, I can get in better shape, but at the end of the day I am a thrower and my arm just needs time.

Then again, my strengths have always lied in my decision making, in my positioning and knowing when to strike. Just because I can only dial in my forehand from 40 yards out rather than 60 really shouldn't impact my game much. I've gained a lot in other aspects. Would I like to still have the accurate 60-yard-bomb? Sure I would.

But I bet this surgery is going to make be a better player in ways that I don't even realize.

I think I will have to be a distributor for one more season. But I don't think I can really complain about distributing to the kind of people I have this year.

Plus, I even get to play some D-Line.

Let's stop complaining and start getting excited.

What would Macho Man Randy Savage do?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIaK3hEJiX0

gotta love the stream of consciousness posts.

holy cow real push ups are so hard this must be a joke

starting off at sets of 5, let's see how far we can go

My arm has not been this sore from throwing since I was a freshman

Boy I hate losing at practice a whole lot

I still think we should have been 'double-hawks'

doing some lifts inbetween games of DotA

oh ya

My favorite pastime is never changing my ratings on league or hat tournament registrations year after year

I have no idea if these stair workouts are getting me in better shape but boy are they hard

A pro tip:

If you ever come back from a major throwing-arm injury, start off indoors. It will make you feel much better about life.

Almost destroyed myself playing mini. Fell after catching a disc and broke my fall with my right arm. Feels totally fine, though.


Remember: Even if you mess up your routine for one day, you can still pick it up tomorrow.  Just because I ate maintenance today doesn't mean I can't continue to run the deficit tomorrow.

8 days until backhands

and

lost 3lbs past two weeks


both good things

I played today

and

I can't wait to play tomorrow.

Can't tell if my lungs are that out of shape, or just have been sick for three weeks.

Either way, legs felt great.

Never in my life have I been so excited to do wall push-ups.

And I don't need no hook for this shit

As much as stationary bike sucks, working out again is awesome.

I just want to be able to run again.

At least I am ahead of schedule for PT.

7 weeks to go!

I'm having a freshman help teach throwing tomorrow.

That's pretty sweet.

White Mountain Hop

Some people played better.
Some people played worse.
A lot of people stepped up in absence of 3 of our best guys.

Every team I have been on always comes out slow in the first game. I am not sure if that is me, the people I am around, or just something an inexperienced team goes through.

Glad to have that loss to Supercuts now than a loss to someone like that at sectionals.
Glad Destructors ripped us apart so we stop flexin' like we've done anything.

Can't forget, we haven't actually done anything yet. We've gone 9-8 over two tournaments.

I am starting to figure out some good, balanced lines that have a mix of people who can ball, people who can fill, and people who can grit it out. Starting to get who can sub in for who.

I always am scared to call O-Lines because they are so bad at defense. I am considering putting a very strong defensive player on the O-Line someplace to hedge a bit if our O-Line keeps on turning this disc over with this much consistency.

I think people are getting used to playing 1 point and then subbing off. I don't think they have quite adjusted their play to it yet. When you only play 1 point at a time, you don't have to save anything. You can go all-out on both sides of the ball. You can chase down every disc like it is universe and you can spend it. Letting people play like that is a big reason why I sub people so frequently.

Ritz-Bitz with cheese are bad. Almost as bad as Buffalo Bleu combos.

Sub-calling for 9 games is tiring. My brain is melted. Voice much more intact than normal.
I think I improved in both sub-calling and huddle-talking about what we need to do.
I think there is loads of room for improvement in both.
Unfortunately, the next time I am taking the field is at the big dance.

See you then!

New Goals:

Sub call like a boss
Body weight squats on the regular

Sometimes

Sometimes I think, "Boy, life sure is rough".

Then I remember, we won today.

twice.

Jeepers, losing not fun.

At least you always win at push-ups.

Best day

I got to throw forehands again.

I also threw a cross-field upwind backhand for a point. As much as it sucked to not have a forehand for 3 weeks, my backhand is thankful.

I threw 2 forehands today and it didn't really hurt.

Looking good for Monday.

If you do Snertz before playing in league...

you're gonna have a bad time.

Please

Please let me throw righty tomorrow. I would be very happy.

Love,
Doober

P.S. Adam Stern hooked SCAM up with the sweetest workout plan. Hit me up if you want the super secret details.

Paul puked during agilities.

Welcome to summer.

I am going to make their decision to cut me the worst decision of their lives.

Day 3

Can once again play League of Legends pain-free.

Should be fine, but doctor tomorrow at 950am!

The finest compliment anyone can recieve

"Doobs, you have the best up-call in all of ultimate"

We holding onto what's golden

HAVE TO

Throw everyday.

All of the days.

Zero days off.

JUST KIDDIN

http://scores.usaultimate.org/scores/#college-open/tournament/10701

Is anything worse than the "near-miss"?

BOOM

Hello, Ryan.

My apologies for the delay.  Your first USAU sanctioned event was in the fall of 2008.  Under the facts as you have stated, you are eligible to play for this season.  Good luck.

David Belsheim

USAU College Eligibility Committee

EDIT: Most excited. Going to lots of practice and tournaments now.

Wake up in the morning feeling like P.Diddy

Did literally every rep of Ab Ripper X today.

Pull ups are still impossible.

Plyo yesterday was fun, though!

He said, you can go sleep at home tonight, if you can get up and walk away

Quick one before p90x --

Nocturnal was a ride. Playing indoors is always a blast because you feel like a wizard with the disc. Absolutely perfect throwing conditions.

My team was full of mostly-chilly throwers who would rather swing the disc than throw upfield most of the time. This worked well until the later rounds, where most of the team did not sub appropriately, and the few upfield cuts we got stopped working, stifling our offense. We went from a dominating 5-0 (+33) to 5-2, with losses to a good team by 2 and the eventual 2nd placer's by something like 5 in the quarters.

The team was fun to play on while we were winning, and incredibly frustrating while losing. I felt that I subbed appropriately during the close games. I would go in, make 2-3 very hard cuts, and sub out after throwing a swing pass. After the 1st game, I rarely stayed on for more than two possessions. It sucked losing by seeing people on your team get absolutely torched, stay on because they "have enough gas for offense", and either not get a chance to sub for D and/or ruin the offense by making lazy cuts because they don't have enough to get open.

Still, probably the best team I have played on in my years at nocturnal, and certainly the most fun. I think I played well once I got warmed up. Felt very fast, but no endurance, which seems to be the theme of the season. Better than slow and no endurance. Throws always feel good indoors, but I concentrated on getting as low and as far out as I could on many throws. I experimented throwing to downfield cutters while trapped on the line and actually attempted some backhands, to mostly good effect.

Need to remember that you are always going to feel fast on turf. That you are always going to throw well indoors. That defense is often easier because there is less ground to cover. As good as one is indoors, gotta remember that outdoor is that much harder.

Almost not sore -- two days later.

Enough procrastinating. Chest/Shoulders/Tris/Abs/ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


P.S. -- Sore in the hips. The more I think about cutting/defending, the more I realize that the only thing that matters is how fast you can turn your hips.

P.P.S. Quick link to Ben Wiggin's 5 part series on SkyD that was/is amazing. http://skydmagazine.com/2012/02/vision/

Everywhere I look, I see your eyes

178.

Gettin' back.

Never did this before, that's what the virgin says

Thank you Stiggles for teaching me how to play defense.  Still had no endurance, but totally shut my man down all game, and he was one of the better players on the team. Got a nasty layout-up D on him, and maybe another, as it was an iffy foul call that I no-contested, but would like to see the instant replay on. Just sat on his hip, so he couldn't go deep, and ran inside with him. After I got the first D, he was totally demoralized.

Played tight on offense, with no turnovers. Didn't force any deep shots, even though I wanted to throw a hammer to Dave Powow the entire time. Had a very nice forehand break that only worked because it was indoor. Gotta love it.

Winter league team is very good. Two nasty handler ladies, and decent depth. I think our low-end is worse than other teams, but, for the most part we don't turn the disc over, which goes pretty far. We were up something like 9-2, then 19-7 at half, and won like 31-15. Other team was missing Adam Stern, which is a lot, but not 15 points. The only players in the league that I think are going to give our team trouble is Brown and Siege. As good as Powow is, he just can't run with those guys.

Even though I have not been running, p90x is making me so, so much faster, at least in the 5-20 yd range. So much burst.

Wore the all-blue GUNX uniform today. Must've been why I played so well. Got llots of compliments. Didn't really think about it before today, but, tryouts started today.

Out of titles

Recovery weeks are awesome because all the results you felt over the past three weeks actually start showing up.

Slayed yoga today (not to mention it was awesome). Nailed Twisting Half-Moon and Warrior Three.  Actually fell asleep during Corpse Pose.

mmmm recovery drinks!

I don't know if NFL Network always did this around the Superbowl, but showing reruns of old Superbowls is amazing.

If I don't buy snacks, then I can't eat snacks.

Sometimes life is so simple.

Homecoming

Best indoor GUNX practice I have ever been to, IMO.

Pros:
Drills are sweet
Started on time
Even teams
High intensity

Cons:
Of team members, only Kquinn and David did extra sprints (Shows who is actually in this). Have you ever seen anyone faster than you are? Then you should be doing extra sprints.
No conditioning in practice
No one could keep score
Occasionally had confusion over which team was playing/transition time

One thing that I have always wanted to do, is institute a no walking during practice rule. Travis said it best "You have one 2.5 hour indoor practice a week and you are walking in between drills?" You never walk on an ultimate field, and you don't walk during practice. Saves time and sets a tone.

I would do drills for longer. I feel like people started to lose focus at about 3pm. Doing 1-2 more drills plus a conditioning drill seems like a more efficient use of time. Mixing up teams or scrimmage-style might accomplish a similar goal.

Had some good throws. Had some bad ones. People seem to love to cut on the break side. Played shitty defense, but got some help on it and played better towards the end. Felt fast, didn't run out of gas too quick. I had a sweet up-layout, but Little Rob skyed me anyway. He's always been OK, but I think he is really turning into quite the player. I'd invest a bit more time in him. Lefty's are quite the commodity. Anyway, throws felt pretty tight overall, as I hit some nice OI forehands for goals and I think I only threw one deep shot out the back. Only remember dropping two passes in game, and I had a lot of touches. Had a nice go-to grab while boxing out my defender.


Still 182, but, much more muscular, and my shirts fit again. I don't want to be a little husky. This is the core-stretch-yoga week for p90x. Boy do I need it. Always sore.

No motivation to go to SCAM practice. I don't think I am going to get to play for them this season -- makes it tough for me to get out there.

 As much as I complain about some of the New Paltz guys, God damn do I love those practices.

P.S. Doing your homework ahead of time is amazing. I highly recommend it.

The times, they are a-changin'

Skipping practice to do homework.

EDIT: Did two weeks worth. WTF.

With the same clip, and the same four-five

Same old.

I didn't weigh myself this week, but my stomach is noticeably tighter and the guns are growing.

I felt good about my agility and acceleration at practice yesterday, but my 20+ yard sprints are pretty bad and my endurance is comically bad. Right now, I'm built for a point or two at a time, and I have to cover handlers. I feel pretty good about that though -- I didn't have any trouble getting open during Mini yesterday, which felt nice. I also took a second and told myself to actually try on defense for a couple points (like, disregard how much gas I have left for offense and just stop my man), and did alright. I at least felt like I played tighter.

SCAM is running a pretty cool handler play for a Vert stack, which is something that I haven't really explored considering my total disdain for anything vert. It works best for when the disc is on the line, but, works anywhere really. Basically, Person with the disc calls (1) or (2). For (1), Main handler cuts upline, Second handle (who is the front of the stack) cuts back for the behind dump. (2) is the opposite call. Uses the space very well, and the look is pretty much to the second handle off the front of the stack.

Anyway, SCAM practice is always awesome. Lots of drills, but finally got to play Mini rather than Possession yesterday. We played Mini with pulls inbetween points, which takes longer, but leads to much, much higher quality play. Without breaks for pulls, a lot of games just turn into conditioning battles, which isn't quite the point. Also, without make-it-take-it, you don't have those silly games where someone gets lost in an endzone and its hammer-hammer-hammer game.

All of the drills we did were a mix of conditioning and throwing, depending on whichever you were worse at. For me, I just got winded 1/4 every drill, which helped me work on my tired throws and obviously gave me some cardio.  Three different drills, three combination of cuts and throws. Pretty nice. Did ~100 throws in total, in addition to the 40 throws we did in warm ups.

I'm noticing that SCAM has a few good players, and then the rest can just run and throw. They teach everyone a few plays to make sure everyone is on the same page, they run a very simple offense, and just ask their role players to catch, dump, and play defense. This seems like it works as long as you can get those studs to run the team, but I wonder how well the team will work once those players leave.

Brown was there yesterday, which is always the best. Earlier in the year he was telling me to not attempt certain throws, but now he is telling me to throw different ones, which I think means he's gaining a bit of confidence in me. It is also nice to have a player on your team that can just completely physically dominate anyone who marks him.

Our offense is also working a lot smoother, especially in light of the new handler play, and I fit into the offense a lot more now.

Gonna miss practice on Thursday to go to the AUDA board meeting.

E-mailed USAU about eligibilty. They emailed back asking for my USAU number, and said they are currently reviewing my case. I think I wrote a pretty good letter, so they better let me play.

p90x is nice because you put the DVD in, and you just keep going until its over. You can't take a break because you are lazy, you can't stop in the middle because you don't feel like it. It just keeps going. Keeps my workouts short and efficient.

Long post is long.

No titles

Played OK at practice. Rusty at first, throws definitely tightened up as Go-To went on. Catching did as well, but not nearly as much. Had some icky drops later on. Sprinting felt good, but had no endurance. When I was at close to full capacity, I was definitely faster than I have been in recent times. I kept up with the middle of the pack during the first round of suicides, but by the end I was near the back. Layed out on the indoor tennis court. Didn't really hurt, but SCAM enjoyed it. Also threw a sweet scoober in Possession. Need new shoes -- my sneakers are definitely the cause of my foot problem. p90x is making my guns large. Yoga tomorrow, finally. Air Alert again. Womp.

If this is your first time hearin' this

Not doing Air Alert on Wednesdays -- p90x is Pylos and basically Air Alert already. Plus, practice on Wednesdays. Gotta make sure I still have knees by the end of this. Actual going to first practice tomorrow. Exciting! First day of school tomorrow. What am I going to wear?!

Another drug to juggle

So many leap ups! Stretch X was pretty sweet. Feel pretty good. Practice starts on Wednesday. Finally time to bust out the armsleeve! EDIT: When you work out everyday, it is so hard to shower. I'm just going to get smelly again tomorrow, so what is the point!?

Suddenly I'm not crazy

Kempo X today. I think it was so easy because I could not do most of the moves properly. Still made me sweat a lot. That was my last workout of my first week of p90x. Program is awesome. Most days I don't want to do it, but the fact that they walk you through every exercise, from what to do to how long to do it, makes it so easy to work out. I never realized how much figuring out what to work out was such a deterrent. I also feel like a strong-man. This is only after a week!

Not gonna double up on the p90x today because I don't want to throw off the rest day that they give you. Figure I will do more damage by doubling up than by taking 8 days for the first week.

Week 5 of Air Alert tomorrow. Time goes by so fast.

Doing p90x on tournament weekends will be mad awk. Such is life. Having double sessions with practice or conditioning, or triple with Air Alert, is going to be awesome

Bad news: School on Thursday
Good news: That means we have practice soon

I have to message the USAU about eligibility. I am such a procrastinator.

Lastly -- Once again told diet pepsi to stay at hannaford. Water water water.


EDIT: New Layout!

I am finding out that my legs are the weakest part of my body.

That is the opposite of good.

And what I loved most, she had so much soul

That yoga was amazing.

I forgot how awesome yoga is. Seriously, get out to the gym once a week and go to one of the beginner courses. Yoga is amazing for balance and flexibility -- things that are hard to train without specifically doing so, things that are extremely important (especially for throwing), things that most people neglect to work on. A lot of the poses also help with strength, training those little muscles that are hard to get to, the ones that hold you upright or transfer power from muscle to muscle.


Getting low for a forehand way outside requires an incredible amount of flexibility. Once you're out there, you need great balance to stay upright and deliver a sound throw.  Additionally, being able to get that far out, fake, and bounce back for an around backhand needs a lot of balance to be able to control your body and not fall over. If you can't bounce back from that low outside forehand, the mark does not have to respect the possibility of a fake, and can over commit without the threat of you coming back for the around. If you can't execute that fake swiftly, the mark has plenty of time to shift with you.

That, plus all of the benefits balance and flexibility give you in other areas, such as marking, using your body on defense, toe-ing the line, laying out, etc. And, less likely to be injured.

Yoga showed me where all of my weak spots are. My balance on my left leg is much, much worse than my right, which is pretty bad for throwing. I found out that my right shoulder (and my shoulders in general) has less range of motion than my left one. It gives you a good idea of where the weak spots are in your body.



I feel like everyday I get on this here blag and tell you that you should really go and do something. Actually go out and do some yoga.


Anyway, starting to eat better. Walked right by the diet pepsi aisle today. Eating less. Eating 4 meals on most days. 5 is so, so tough. Stomach (actual stomach, not fat part) is definitely smaller, though, so that is helpful.

When you do p90x AND air alert, days with just p90x are a joke.

Finally

No Air Alert today.

I'm living everyday like a hustle

p90x is awesome. Only on my third day (missed yesterday, gonna "skip" the rest day this week to catch up), and I have definitely gained muscle mass. Shit is intense. Don't get a gym membership, do this. Gotta get that High Tide body!

Air Alert is surprisingly difficult. About to do today, but, it feels almost as tough as the last time around. I never feel like I won't be able to finish a set, but it is always a struggle. Each week is just as tough as the last. I suspect that I am performing each exercise with much better form, so I am actually working the intended muscle rather than compensating with my whole body.

Haven't been able to do cardio because my foot is still messed up. It was good, but, walking around town today was almost unbearable. Gonna give it another week, and then get it checked out. Might have to start making the drive to the gym just for the elliptical or bike, but, such is life.


Most days, I feel like garbage until I workout. And then I feel like a boss.


Conclusion: Do work, son.


Edit: Must stretch today

Holy balls

That was difficult.

P.S. tomorrow will be the really fun one. Air Alert (after missing Wednesday last week) + more p90x. Shit is wild.

P.P.S. My fingernails sure are long. Better throw today.

Foot hurts again today.

At least I have my very own pull-up bar!

A true muthafucka' goin' out for the loot

Foot hurt again about a mile in. Ran another mile.

Gotta drop this extra skin.

I never clip my fingernails unless I am about to play frisbee. Makes for a wild winter. #noclipdecember

Goals:
5 baby meals
Water
Stop with this candy all the time

Girl I want you back

Foot didn't hurt, so I did Air Alert. Foot only hurts a little.

Success.

Back to running tomorrow, plan is to start up p90x on Monday.

In other news, something is giving me heartburn.

Also, LoL.

Life advice

Get a pull-up bar

Ups and downs

Downs:
Foot hurts enough to not walk. I think I tied my shoelaces one loop too tight.
Did nothing the past two days (^^) -- missed an Air Alert.
Feel like a fatty

Ups:
Pull ups!
The guns (^^)
Computer works again!


I will not run 5 miles from nothing again. Hopefully, foot feels better tomorrow (at like 60% right now). Priority is making sure I can do Air Alert on Friday, though, so if I have to do nothing again tomorrow I will. Hopefully I'll be good enough that I can take some long walks (not on the beach) to get some kind of calorie burn.

Sent in my AUDA statement! 153 words. Voting isn't quite open yet, but, vote for me!

What's the time?

I was 170lbs at club sectionals. I weighed in at 183.6.


5 miles + air alert today, p90x starts tomorrow.




New Years Resolutions (all the cool kids do it):

Throw everyday. Mostly to not suck at catching.
Don't be fat anymore.
Actually try on defence.
Accomplish your goals.


Need to write my AUDA board statement. Vote for me!

LOVE
DOOBER

The weather sucks

Start small:

Something three days a week
Pushups everyday
Walk the dogs
Please just drink water
And stretch

Better to start small than not at all.

P.S. A highlight reel! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTbPFwyAPww

Did a lot of work on the highlight reel. I am by no means an Adobe Premier Pro, but, this is looking pretty cool.  ~3 mins of highlight.

Air Alert is still tough. Squat Hops still blow. Sky is still blue. Etc.

Water!

Better not let them breathe

Pretty pleased with how I played at indoor on Sunday. Definitely showed that I hadn't played in a month+, as I had about six drops, all on discs that, while not easy, were extremely catchable. I do not think I have drop six discs in a tournament, let alone a day. I guess I am happy that the only thing that was really off was my catching, and that was probably also a bit of  variance. Besides that, though, I think I retained most of my speed and kept up with the veterans, and I think I used my body well to dictate where my man was going.

Attacking the field horizontally is so, so important. Especially in indoor when the field shrinks very quickly if you are only playing on the force side. On a related note, don't get broken, pleaaaaaaaase.

Got a sweet bait-n-reel layout-d. A bit of advice: as a thrower, if you make eye-contact with your target's defender, don't throw it. I sat on the force side of my man (but close enough to make a play on a disc to the break side), stared down the thrower's eyes, and waited for them to think they had a window. If I am making eye-contact with the thrower, it is like I am the receiver. The D I got was well within my range and I had plenty of room to go. However, I got quite the booboo.

Played like shit when I got tired. Got lazy and just ran upline and into traffic because I didn't feel like planting and turning in for a dump. Threw a ton of hucks because there was a small window. Threw with lazy form. It wasn't like I felt tired -- I felt like I could run full speed, but I definitely was tired. Need to take extra care when it is later in the game/day/tournament to play my normal game.

I was surprisingly sore after practice. I've been working out a couple of days a week, but I guess there is no real substitute for actual play.

Air Alert is still tough, even in week 1. It wasn't like I couldn't do more, but it definitely is still a workout. Excited to see how much it does now that I have the right form and am coming in with some base-strength rather than nothing.

Back home soon, time to grind grind grind!

Rich pulled me aside and said something along the lines of, “You can tell when a player is in the zone, because he uses his cards as weapons, as tools.” At the time, I was still in a bit of trance, so it didn’t sink in very well. It seemed all around me, people were taking notice of things that I was just doing. It wasn’t that I was not doing them intentionally, as I clearly was, but I was declining to take part in the spectacle of my own play, and looking back, I think that was an important distinction to make that week. Getting caught up in any one play or moment turns good play into something of a shrine, rather than a benchmark. If you pat yourself on the back every time you make some insane play, you come to view those plays as extraordinary, and be that as it may, you can subconsciously convince yourself to make those plays less often because they are not expected out of you often. If, only the other hand, you decide that that is the level of play you expect out of yourself time and time again, and register the moment as good play, but nothing out of the ordinary, you are going to return to that place much more often, as it is expected out of yourself.

-- Conley Woods, http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/breaking-through-day-2-saboteur/

Makes no difference whether a Benz or Bentley or Beamer's the car you in

A few things:

My most common turnover is one this: I see the cut, and it is likely the only downfield option that will come (one of the better cutters, stall is at 3-4). However, it is a tough throw but one that I can make about 50-75% of the time. I throw it because I am not likely to have other options and I can often make the throw.  I should instead dump the disc. Had two of those turnovers today vs. Sienna.

Another one is off of set plays. Today we called a set play for me to either throw it to Buzzi under if he was open, or bomb it to Brown. However, my mark was pretty straight-up so I couldn't step through the throw very well to get the extra bit of power, so the throw was off. I recognized this right away, and should have looked elsewhere, but threw a uncatchable pass to Brown instead. Just because it is your set play doesn't mean you have to pull the trigger.

In Ultimate, the most important thing in the game is possession. Eventually, if you don't turn the disc over, you will score. Now, obviously, scoring is all about percentages. Even though a 90% throw is more risky than one 95% throw, one throw that is 90% to score is is safer than making 50 90% throws to score.

The point is that there are a lot of times that before I make the throw I KNOW that it is going to be a dicey one, and I throw it anyway. You don't have to -- you can live to fight another day. Dump or swing the disc, reset your offense, and go again.



Also, from Win the Fields over on Skyd magazine (bolded part for emphasis):

"It’s also hard to say enough about the Revolver defense.  Having gotten a really great look at it across 2+ games, I’ve come to realize that as technically sound as the downfield work is, it is the marking that is truly exceptional.  In the finals versus Ironside, the Revolver marks were able to keep the boys from Boston pinned on the forehand side, allowing their defenders to hone in and sell out on stopping comeback cuts into the hole.  Even when Ironside was able to hit arounds or comebacks, the mark was established immediately, disrupting any flow (particularly east-west.)"


Don't get broken.

LOVE
DOOBER

And I ain't never been afraid of a drought

Working in a warehouse all day gives you an awful lot of time to think.

Too much time.


Moving boxes full of Justin Beiber and KISS blankets for 8 hours is a pretty good workout. Not good enough, though. Gym yesterday after work, scrimmage + abs today.



Can't just want it, gotta need it.