Battle Preparations

Machine,

In the few days left before we end or extend our season, we each have the power to influence the outcome of this tournament. What you do in the next few days will impact pool play, the crossover, the bracket, and the game to go. Each man must find his own way to prepare his mind and body for these challenges. Here is what I will be doing.

Monday: Half-tabata workout, partner throwing
Tuesday: Scrimmage vs CHS
Wednesday: Quick explosive workout, swim, stretch
Thursday: Practice
Friday: highlight videos, 3-man marking drill, yoga

8 hours of sleep each night, a big mean salad each day, lean protein and complex carbs. But because this game is mental as well as physical, I will be preparing my mind as well. Relaxing, allowing the memories and regrets of the past to dissolve, giving my attention to the things that I can control--the water I drink, the food I eat, the uniform I lay out ahead of time. The time I wake up on Saturday, the music I listen to before warmups, and the effort I put into my warmups. The way I extend my hands to catch the disc. The options I look for on the field, the throwing choices I make, the way I step out and how I throw. The energy I put into my cuts, the direction in which I look, and the way I seal off my defender with my body. The way I position my hips on defense, the way I look at his thrower, the way I stay on my toes and the way I always choose to work harder. The way I help my teammates from the sideline, the trust I put in each of them, the way I respond to bad calls or aggressive play. These are all things I can control. These things are what I will be focusing on during the week, as I'm visualizing the weekend, and they are what I will be focusing on from warmups on Saturday to the cool-down on Sunday. My focus. My effort.

Do that, trust your teammates to do the same, and we will be successful.

I play ultimate, not poetry...... my body flies, not my words

Machine,

Seven days left till Sectionals.

One hundred sixty eight hours till we end our Journey.

Ten thousand eighty minutes till we Breathe again.

Six hundred four thousand eight hundred seconds till the streets of Gunswick once again flow with blood.........

Till footsteps echo across the silent surfaces of the night, till broken profecies strewn across the ground like empty shards of glass begin their resurrection, and the gears of destiny once more begin to grind.

Grinding Gears in Ghetto Gunswick.

Get some........

Sunday Lifting Group, Practice

The other half of my workout:

Overhead squats: 8 at 45, 8 at 65, 8 at 85lb
Back squats: 3x8 at 135lb
Bench press: 2x8 at 115, 4 at 125, 5 at 115lb
Weighted calf raises: 3x10 each leg at 45lb
Medicine ball extensions: 10 each side
10 torso twists in a backhand lunge
10 torso twists in a forehand lunge

I love lifting before pickup/practice on back to back weekend days, preparing myself for those tournaments...

Saturday Lifting Group

Pullups: 4 L-hang/4 knee-tuck, 8 dead hang, 6 top-half only
Deadlifts: 10 at 135, 10 at 155, 8 at 165lb
High Pulls: 10 with 45lb BB, 10 with 25lb DBs, 10 with 30lb DBs
3x10 leg raises on the dip bars
45degree back extensions: 10 at body weight, 2x10 at +25lb
3x8 each leg lunge with shoulder press, with 25lb DBs
3x10 shoulder raises (forward and side) with 10lb DBs
Angry Dave Abs
25 pushups, right leg on left heel
25 seated medicine ball situp/throws with partner
25 pushups, left leg on right heel
25 exercise ball crunches
25 pushups

Then most of us headed over to Buccleuch for some Boot. Afterwards, we scarfed down some burritos with alumnus Vlad and talked for a while about all kinds of shit. Can't wait for practice tomorrow...

A good weekend ended badly when the car I borrowed broke down on the Mass Pike, and getting home became an ordeal instead of the liesurely several hours it should have been. This also slashed the time I had to complete my language-lab homework, due today. So I had some shit to take care of tonight.

Bench press: 11 at 115, 8 at 115, 5 at 125lb
Pistol squats: 3x8 per leg
Angry Dave Abs*
Overhead squats: 2x10 at 45, 1x10 at 55lb
Incline DB bench: 11 at 35, 5 at 40, 7 at 35lb

dinner at Brower

90 minutes climbing
20 minutes throwing, focus on throw placement

*10 vertical hip raises, 10 leg lifts forward, 10 leg lifts to the right, 10 leg lifts to the left, 10 leg lifts forward, 10 vertical hip raises. All exercises done without rest, holding on to a partners legs while he stands above and throws your feet down for all the leg lifts.

Finally.

People have finally accepted my ab workout. So for all the ridicule of Christmas' past.

 <^>

Missed Saturday Lift

Went up to Boston for the weekend, so I couldn't lead the group. Here's what I did instead:

2x(4 L-hang dead hang pullups
6 hang-clean and push press, 95lb
6 deadlift 135lb)
2x(6 knee-tuck pullups
6 cleans 115lb
6 deadlift 175, 185lb)

Then some extra pushups, 4 knee-tuck and 4 regular.