Took a dip in the freezing-cold lake first thing in the morning, then stopped by FitLab for a quick lift.
- Bench: 3x5@155lb
- RLESS: 5@100lb while waiting for squat rack
- Deadlift: 3x5@255lb
- Clean: 5@95,105,105lb
Took a dip in the freezing-cold lake first thing in the morning, then stopped by FitLab for a quick lift.
8 min of tabatas, alternating 35lb kb swings and pushups.
5 rounds for time:
5:50 with a 35lb kettlebell. 5 seconds slower than last time.
5 rounds for time:
5:45 with a 35lb kettlebell
Getting back in the saddle…
A close game vs DJ, Fro, Toddy, Moronne, and the rest. Came down to universe point, though they had the chance to tie it after I got the score wrong and was running around frantically when I should have just been playing possession.
Another year, another nationals. This year it was back in Sarasota. The weather was hot, but the location is the best - the fields were beautiful, the ocean was amazing (even at night, and even despite the jellyfish), and the Daquiri Deck was even better than I remember it. The only thing lacking was our game. We lost all our games on Thursday (9-12 Blackbird, 11-12 AMP, 11-12 Toro), then won the next 4 games and clawed our way back into the top 8 before losing the 7/8 game to Drag'n Thrust (13-10 Love Tractor, 14-11 Steamboat, 12-11 Blackbird, 15-9 shame, 9-15 Drag'n). So, no finals appearance this year, but we did win the spirit award, which is almost as big.
Personally I played fairly well. I was only in 2-4 points a game, so I was fresh overall. I had 3 turns total - a drop against AMP and two throwaways on hucks. Both were good decisions, decently well-thrown, and just a little off the mark. We talked about taking calculated risks, so I stand by them. I scored 5 goals, threw one, and got a D. I felt I could have contributed more, esp filling in as an O line cutter when our O was tired (like the last game on Thurs), but we ran a fairly tight rotation so I did my best to help from the sideline.
Another nationals highlight was watching AMP make it to the finals for the first time ever. They played really well, but ended up losing on universe to Mixtape in a very exciting game. Despite that, I’m really happy for them. Their team is very young and they’ll be strong for a few years at least (if they stick together).
Finally, the best part (as always) is spending time with people you know and like. I had a great time bonding with the team (chai time, skinny dipping every night, getting kicked off the beach at 4am, dirty dancing at the Daquiri Deck, spikeball vs Truck/Scandal) as well as people I don’t get to see that often (again at the Deck, and at the fields, and the beach, and random places in between).
Hope to do it all again next year.
Brought Zoya to her first ultimate game. Found some parents on the sideline who agreed to watch her while I played. She was great - no more stranger danger, all smiles and giggles. Our team crushed the other team, who was on the second game of their double-header and didn’t have many subs. Afterwards, we went out to lunch.
We came, we saw, we conquered (except for Slow). We started the weekend off in classic Metro North fashion: by ignoring everything we practice and jamming it in the jamhole repeatedly. But we eventually got our shit together, moved the disc well, and raised our game. The crossover with Slow was an epic back-and-forth game, and we even got the D on the goal line on universe and had the opportunity to win it, but a nice D by Todd got them the disc back and they converted for the win. On Sunday, we had a really close game with Xist - another universe-point game, but this time we won it and qualified for Nationals. We played Slow again in the finals, but it was just for seeding and half our team sat the game out.
Peronally, my main errors were on hucks. When I’m rushing my huck or I feel like I have to throw it (when we call Sausage), it never goes well. When I’m throwing in a power position or it feels natural, I’m great. Besides that, my game was great - solid defense (including several points where not only did my guy never touch the disc, but I felt like he was never open at all), strong cutting, and consistently moving the disc to the breakside. My only turns were 3 hucks, and only one of them was a bad decision. I even felt strong and fast all weekend, never feeling like I cannot keep up with my defender or cannot keep cutting well.