excuse me little homey, i know you don't know me but

been a little while since last posting.

friday i took it easy. short bike ride to get some work done on my body.

saturday day; 45 minute bike ride. riding the cobwebs off from the night before with culla

saturday night; 10 mile run.

sunday; nothing

monday; exhausted and skipped gym

tuesday; climbing. 6 climbs. in kind of a rush so didn't try anything new. pretty soon, going to start challenging myself again and get better at this climbing thing.

simply because i can't

gym today.

warmed up shooting hoops.

overhead db incline
3x8 @40
calf raises
3x15 @ 40
lat.pulldown
3x8 @ 130
ab bench
3x20
2x15 each side
squats
1x7 @ 95
1x6 @ 105
1x5 @ 115
single leg rdl
3x8 each leg w/bar
pullups
3x5
deadlifts
1x6 @ 135
1x5 @ 135
1x5 @ 135
benchpress
1x6 @ 135
1x3 @ 145
1x4 @ 135
ab decline bench
2x10 rocky style
1x30 crunches
1x20 man tacos
full stretch
sauna.

felt allright. legs were still sore from monday, but didn't seem to affect me strength wise, which is good.

you put the lime in the coconut

climbing yesterday.

should have stretched a little more than i actually did. quads and hammies are sore from lifting. was going to go to the gym today, but am going to hold off and go tomorrow. hopefully i can get a bike ride, around 10 miles, in today.

did 6 climbs. nothing too hard. was more fatigued than last time, but still really good to get back up on the wall.

i keep on falling, iiiiiiiiiiiiiiin..........

back at it today.

2 mile run on treadmill. wasn't a great run. started at 7 mph, up yo 7.6, up to 8.1, and finished the last quarter mile at 9.1. wasn't hard, just hadn't run in awhile, so my legs took some warming up.

weights

overhead db incline
3x8 @ 40

calf raises
3x15 each leg @ 40

lat. pulldown
3x8 @ 130

ab bench
3x20
2x15 each side

deadlift
1x5 @ 95
1x5 @ 115
1x7 @ 135
1x6 @ 135
1x5 @135

squat
2x8 @ 95
1x8 @ 105

pullups
3x5

benchpress
3x6 @ 135

ab decline
3x10 rocky

1x100 crunches (got into a battle with some guy next to me that started doing modified ball crunches after i started and tried to go until he stopped. he won, but he was just bouncing off the ball at an angle, not really doing anything)

full stretch

steam room.

i think that is everything, not sure. if i remember anymore, i will add it.

i'm a genie in a bottle baby

so, some more concrete goals and some insight into when i am going to start training again, and a general idea of what i am going to do.

first thing i need to work on is explosiveness. i certainly got better at it this year, but i know i can get even better.

another thing people are raving about needing to work on is marking. i think this also goes along with a certain type of fitness in your legs. i am going to do wall sits next season and i think this is going to greatly improve my marking. i know what i want to do, but to have the strength to stay active during the mark, you need to not have that lactic acid breakdown and burning happen so fast.

in terms of fitness, the ability to sprint 30 yards, sprint 30 more yards in another direction, and repeat. my top speed was very good this year, but i was not able to cover at a high speed because my change of direction (explosiveness) and ability to stop and go consistently was not where it needs to be.

also, a very definite goal is to throw and catch more. i need to spend more time touching a frisbee. i did not get a lot of touches at practice, so when i did, i wasn't nearly as comfortable as i have been in the past because i wasn't as used to it. i even got nervous when the frisbee was coming to me that i was going to drop it. not good. soooooo, a very easy solution is to throw and catch more, a lot more. i will recruit someone to do that with.

so, when am i going to start all of this?

next week i am going to start back up with the lifting. the basic overall body routine for a few weeks, to reintroduce me to lifting. i hate squatting, but i am going to need to start doing it, so i don't have a choice. i am going to push myself more with the weights this off-season. will probably start vertical bible stuff in january.

i am going to lay off any real cardio work for awhile. i went really hard with it in february, march, and april and paid for it in may, june, july, august, september, and october. i just went too hard too soon. so, i am going to set a preliminary workout schedule now until i start doing vertical bible stuff.
monday; 3-5 mile jog. nothing fancy. indoor or outdoor. hopefully climbing as well
tuesday; lifting, full body
wednesday; rowing and climbing
thursday; lifting, full body
friday; some climbing, if not, rowing and stretching day
saturday; maybe bike ride, maybe skiing, something athletic
sunday; if nothing saturday, then skiing, bike ride, something athletic.

this schedule is very manageable and will take me into january, where i will look it over again and probably make some tweaks.

also, let's start eating more healthy.

i'm coming to take you away

little bit more of a personal reflection on the season.

started out as a tryout. the whole time, nervous as hell. every throw, cut, sprint, could be my last, for 3 months. every day i could receive a call or email saying thanks, but no thanks. during this time, i was in constant competition with everyone on my team. instead of using this time to start becoming a team for me, i had to try and be better than them, see them as enemies. not a real healthy start to building team cohesion for me.

after making the team, still there was this sense of weirdness. everyone welcomed me, but i was the only person on the team that had not been teammates with at least one other person before on the team (exception being jeff but i didn't really have the same type of attitude and was a much different player, so hard to include that). that made it tough to really connect. even the people who were new, had been on teams in the past with other players.

this also made it difficult to really be the type of player i am. it also ended up with a lot of little "compliments" that weren't especially helpful, but rather like when you talk to a puppy for taking a dump outside. yes, i am actually happy the puppy did it outside, but it is pretty expected not only of me, but everyone else and it isn't that big of a deal. it made me feel like they had zero confidence in my to do the right thing, so when i did, it was party time. argh.

the type of player and person i am, i really like to get pumped up and motivate people. i really couldn't do that on this team. next year, i will. it seems like this whole year was an extended getting to know you session. a couple times during the finals, i wanted to call a timeout and talk to people, some deep breaths, you know the drill. but i didn't feel comfortable doing that, not saying it would have helped, but it has in the past. the role i have played on past teams has me excited to get people ready to play, mentally and physically.

for next year, i am going to do just that. i am going to be in very good shape and also be much more vocal and feel as though i am contributing more to the overall greatness of our team.

can't get you out of my head

one thing that stands out to me about the finals was the lack of mental toughness by many players on the team. this is not meant as a putdown, but an observation. so many people were worried about the outcome instead of just staying in the moment letting that dictate what happens.

some general idea quotes from before and during the game.
"this is last half of the season"
"we are in the finals, we need to play like it"
"this is the last time we are going to be with this exact team"
"remember this for a long time"

each of these things are true, but not something that needs to be acknowledged right before we play the game. these are things that can be talked about maybe the day before or right after the game, not during or in preparation for the game just minutes away. i think that this type of thinking got into a lot of people's head, sub-conciously effecting how we played, which is unfortunate.

..will only make me stronger

nationals.

wow. what a great experience it was.

i learned two things above all.

first, that i am at a very high level.
second, train a little harder and i will be at the most elite level.

i am very happy with my preparation for this tournament and this season overall. but, i know what i need to do to be at the level that i know i can dominate at and am very willing to make the steps to be there. watch out, it is going to be badass.

in terms of my playing at nationals, i am fairly satisfied. didn't really get as many d's as i wanted and really never found my place once we were on offense, both at this tournament and at previous tournaments. really need to make sure that is better next year.

nationals isn't when you start trying to prove yourself. that happens before you get to florida. i need to prove myself sooner next year.

as i said before, january 1st, i am going to start treating my life and body as though i am a "real" athlete. i am not completely sure of the parameters, but i will have a pretty good idea come january. i want to commit one year to getting myself into the best shape ever. make my body work and move like it never thought possible.

this will be accomplished through lifting, eating right, running, biking, climbing, and making good decisions that i know will benefit me in the right way. i don't plan on giving anything up like i have done in the past, but those other substances and such will be very limited.

when it came to crunch time, semis and finals, i didn't get on the field. i am not mad at the coaches. the fact i was not being called was my fault. i wasn't getting called, not because i had played poorly, but because i had not made enough plays earlier in the year. you don't prove yourself in the finals. that's where you continue to take care of business the same way you did before.

so, this writeup really is more of a written statement to become awesome. i know that i can come out with more fire than before, stay focused, and meet these goals with enough intensity to scare myself.

i am excited to do just that.

you've got mail

what i posted on the ironside blog

"looking back on the season, i am comfortable saying i trained harder and smarter than i had before. but, i am very certain that i can do better for next season and that i can push myself harder.

my goal for next year, starting january 1st is to train and maintain the lifestyle i think a "real" athlete would do. things that i and most of us probably already do, but with more emphasis on a healthy lifestyle and making my body into something remarkable.

i know, sounds pretty gay, but i think i can do it and really make a difference come next season."

i am going to get into some things later today.

this opportunity

lot of things to say about this past weekend and will get in to them later.

need to get better.