A pain in the gut

This week in terms of training has been very ez. I took Tuesday and Sunday off. Everything else was either a 20-30 minute jog or a 30-40 minute ride on the bike. It is a bit too early to take off the hard workouts, but my stomach/side have been hurting. This is all a result of my layout poach d in which I collided with the offensive dude. It kind of hurt then. And it still kind of hurts, although it hurts less this Monday than it did last Monday. I do not think it that serious as I landed on them later in the game for a called back score and felt ok.

Initially, I thought it was a rib injury, but the pain is no longer on my left ribs (the initial source of pain and where I was hit). The pain now most of the time feels like a bad muscle strain in the top/center of my stomach or on the right side of my ribs. My quick look on the internet gave some stretches and of course the morning starts with some ibuprofen.

It sucks to not feel completely 100% this close to regionals. Especially, with this being the first time in a long time that I do not feel 100% guaranteed of going to nationals. But really can you be 100% at this point in the season? In 05, I was much less than 100% and that worked out ok.

As far as seeding, first for the open, it seems fair to put Furious 4, but I would think there would be a bit more support for putting them 3rd. Yes, they did not have a good 07 season, but there is a bit of precedence with them not doing that well during the preseason and then turning it on for regionals and nationals. Although if you are for Jam/Revolver, you want Furious as the 4 that way they play Sockeye and the Bay area guys fight it out for a spot to go to nationals. And if I were Jam, I would rather play Revolver (And vice versea) in October then Fur ious. [That sounds quite arrogant of me, please note I am like 3-50 against the 4 of the teams I am talking about]. Based on 07, Furious should be 4. But it is not like the summer tourneys count for anything. This is not other sports were the non-playoffs count for qualification purposes. Everything before sectionals, really means nothing and is just for the improvement of your team. I think 06 results should definitely count for something. I would put Furious 2... Bold statement for someone with no clue/no investment/no voice in the division, I know. If you had to bet on 1 team in the NW open who would it be, Sockeye or Furious? Jam or Revolver would probably not be one of them. But all 4 will get to nationals and all 4 should, so it does not really matter how they get there/what place. And all 4 have an excellent shot of at least quarterfinals.

It does not seem much like any other open regional will be that big of problem for seeding.

For our division a week later and in a different local, Shazam 1, Brass 2, Mischief 3. We are probably 4. ALthough we lost to CTR in Portland, so they could 4. By my logic above, you could argue Portland ahead of us as well. I don't know about the #4 team out of the Norcal section, but there is probably an argument about them. BUT, if you just take the 07 season, we could argue for 3rd since we beat Mischief in Seattle. Now, I am not saying we should be above Mischief, I am just saying there could be an argument for us based on 07 results (although they did finish 2nd and we finished 6th, let's not let facts get in the way).

It would seem logical for us to be 4, maybe 5 considering the CTR thing. I don't think Portland has much of argument to be seeded over us. Although they beat CTR at Labor Day, so we are 0-1 v. CTR and 1-0 v. Horde, and they are 1-1 v. each other. Throw in the whole quarter final thing for Portland, that puts them 4/5 w/ CTR. Hmmm, maybe Portland is 4/5 then. And we are 6. With Salt Lake 7. Night Train 8, maybe.

Oh wait, we went to the prequarters last year, take that CTR. So does that vault us to 4/5. I don't know. Anyone care about coed out there?

So yeah, we are seeded anywhere from 3-6. 4 bids to nationals. Should be fun.

Big Sky Champs

But first a recap of the week:
T- 3 x [4 x 50/100], 15 s between 50+100, 60 s after 100, 2 min between sets, felt good, this one is tough
W- off
T- Practice, not too shabby
F- ran 3.2 miles

Sat - We get up early + head up, getting to the fields about 20 minutes before supposed gametime. We got a babysitter for the weekend, set up shop and get ready. The format was 11 teams. We were the 1 seed and had 5 teams in our pool. IF we win the pool, we are in the finals on Sunday. The weather was great. Cool to start warming up later. Sunny all day.

First game was against Insult. I don't know where they are from. The most memorable thing about this game was there were 2 kids of parents on the other team. And they hung out on our sideline the whole time. That was pretty funny except that it gets old to watch other people's kids... We eventually convince them and the parents to hangout.

We won this game something like 13-7. Oh yeah, we got our uniforms! Sweet, except the #s on the shorts are a bit small. Supposedly, that was a mishap with the printing. I am wearing #1 and it just looks like I have the 1/4" dash on my shorts.

About the game, I played about 5 points. We scored all of those. But I did have an awful drop. They turn it over in their endzone. Stu picks it up, I take off deep, beautiful backhand, hit both my hands near the goalline, doink. Whoops. I think I was patting myself on the back too much. I also threw my only successful huck of the weekend in this game. Alex wide open, all I had to do was keep it in the box.

Second game, against Moscow, ID. About the same score. Don't remember much here either. 2 more turns in this game. On the same point, first was an overthrow of T cutting wide open in the endzone. They turn it, we get it back, crappy hammer behind Nate. I played about 5 or 6 points. They scored one of those.

Third game, against Bozeman B-team. 13-1, I think. And that is all I got.

Fourth game, against Bozeman. They were the the 2 seed in our pool (4 seed in the tourney) and had the potential to give us a good game. We start out on D. Get the D, eventually on the goalline, I fake a blade to James for the goal and think to myself, nah be cautious, look around, James is smiling, blade to James, goal. 1-0. We score 2-0, 3-0 (me to Sky), 4-0. We score to make it 5-0 and that was a bad/weird goal. Johnny + Bozeman dude go up for a huck, both hit it, Johnny comes down weird, bends backwards and catches it as Bozeman dude lands awkward and breaks wrist. Ugly to watch and it was bummer for the Bozeman dude. He supposedly had a broken bone all last year too... Anyway, we go up 7-1 at half. Coast the rest of the game 13-3. No turns and threw the last goal. Also, very close to a Callahan, but I could not catch it. I still have 0 Callahans to my name (although I have an unofficial one from nationals 99). We played very well and we only had like 4 turns the whole game.

After that, we hung out. Got the Michigan score! (Yes seth, this appears to be the worst ND team ever). Ate good food. We crashed up in Missoula for the nite. T went to the party + the kids and I stayed in and slept. Now, I did not really enjoy the water at the fields, so I went right into beer. I woke up ~1:30/2 with a bad headache. Drank a bunch of Gatorade and ate some grapes. Went back to bed. Woke up later and felt great.

Taking care of myself during tourneys has not always been my strong suit. Now with 2 little ones, at times, I forget to drink/eat/reapply. I think it being so sunny but not hot killed me in the end. That and the beer.

Anyway, in the morning I felt better. And I refocused myself on drinking a ton of gatorade and water. And to win sectionals by beating Salt Lake. We played then over Memorial Day, but they looked really good on Saturday crushing everyone.

We start out on O. March it down, a couple of passes on the endzone, Daph scores 1-0.

We pull, force a turn, but we turn it back over on a deep throw, they score 1-1.

We score to make it 2-1 and then get the first break 3-1. Eventually they tie it up at 5s (I believe this was my failed greatest on this point, so maybe I should count that as my first turn?), we make it 7-5 after another break. 8-6 at half. So into half up a break and playing ok. Defensively we started out well and got stronger. Offensively, we were ok, but a bit too risky. Too many 50/50 discs which turned out to be 10/90 discs, I guess.

Thoughts on the first half, both teams turned it over deep a lot. Initially, we were a bit scared of their 2 best players, but we eventually clamped down on the men. And the women had a pretty successful scheme to contain Molly. Although we hucked some away, we were pretty good on the endzone. Very efficient in the redzone, it was just when we tried to get to the redzone quickly it hurt us. (Can you tell I am critical about how much we hucked it in this game?) It is not that we should not huck it ever, but we were really open underneath a ton and able to move the disc back and forth effectively. The good thing about it was we always turned it deep and Salt Lake had some problems getting into the endzone too. We never really gave them a short field, which was great.

I would not be so critical about it if we were not so good at working it during that game. Maybe Salt Lake was aware of our deep game and trying to take that away (plus Simon is a hell of a fast poacher deep). But we did get a bit of endzone eyes in this game and throwing to close matchups or to receivers not paying attention. But it good to win sectionals and feel like you can improve over the next couple of weeks. And I think the rest of the team agrees.

Back to the game, I don't remember how the game played out, but it was 12-9. And I think it was 10-8 at one point. To get to 10-8, we may have traded breaks. Again, I forget.

During this run to 12-8, I had a 2 layout d in one point sequence. First, I had my only turn of the finals. I tried to throw a backhand from the forehand side to backhand side, but too far near the sidleine. Poacher involved. And too close to the line. Ugly throw, not enough room, ugh (so 1-2 on hucks all weekend), But then the d's came. The first was a layout catch d. I believe the person was clearing and I poached into the lane. I get up and then we turn near the endzone (I guess we were not perfect on the endzone, but good). Next, another poach in the lane, layout, but this time with contact after I got the disc. The guy hit me in my side/ribs. Ouch. Still a little sore right now. No foul though. I did take an injury b/c the wind was a little knocked out of me. But we score the goal.

The game also began to get a little testy. A couple of close calls on fouls. Mix in a couple marking violations and marking fouls. Good times.

Anyway, 12-8 and I believe our 12th goal was jesse-me-will-em all on the break side. It seemed as though we were in control. But they come back.

After they score to make it 12-9, we force a huck deep . Turn. They work it and score 12-10.

We receive, working it ok, and a huck is thrown out the side. Not a huge deal, but I was open and I glared at Kerr. I was not too happy b/c I was open underneath. It was only a look out of love, I promise. Anyway, they score 12-11.

We receive and end up with a blade from one side to another on a high stall. Turn, 2 throws later 12-12

Uh oh, soft cap on. game to 14. And they have put together 4 in a row.

We receive, and this time work it down succesfully. I was very motivated and was able to get open on 2 big unders. Work it on the endzone, goal. 13-12. Gamepoint us.

Huge pull by either James or Will. They are in their endzone for a couple throws. Someone on their team tries an around the mark backhand, no catch on the endzone. I sprint to it, pick it up, tap it in, throw it to Daph. Goal, but no travel. Not lined fields, at least not lined endzone lines, and it was very close, but I was in the endzone. (We had the port-a-fields, which were pretty good, but the line did break on a layout attempt near a line). Anyway, check back in. Daph gets open, tougher catch than I wanted it to be, but nice grab and a goal! We win 14-12.

Fun game and a good game. Salt Lake was better than I expected. I feel we are deeper than them, but when you only are playing one game in the day, depth is not a big issue. They could be trouble at regionals.

Personally, I had one turn (2 if you count the greatest, which I won't). For a total of 4 on the tourney. I scored at least 2 goals, maybe 3. And threw a couple too. I felt good and focused on no stupid turns (like really bad hucks). I was 1-2 on that all weekend, so that was mission accomplished, I guess. I felt I did not have much opportunity to bomb in the finals. The one time I did to Johnny, he had a couple of steps, but the angle was too hard. I had to throw too much outside in, and in the end I did not.

I had some nice grabs on a couple points, but still bummed about the drop in the first game.

I thought the team did pretty well, major criticism addressed above. Our defense was great in the finals game and with the exception of maybe 1 or 2 points against Salt Lake, they had to work very hard to score. Our defense should be able to keep us in games. And our O was pretty solid. One bad stretch in the Salt Lake, but I think a fixable stretch. I really enjoy winning sectionals, but I think winning sectionals with something to work on is even better. It gives a focus going into regionals. More on that later, cheers.

App St and Oregon are REALLY good at football (aka Go Lions!)

Unfortunately, that has been more in the lab than on the track/field/road/etc. I feel I have 2 phases in my post-doc experience, one is "Oh #$%^, I am still a contract worker, I need to work harder" and "$%^& it, if they aren't offering me a full time gig, well I am not doing overtime". Currently, I am in the former. And I am a little tired. I have still found time to workout, but not as much as I would like with Sectionals approaching.

Yeah, Sectionals is next week! I am excited for the fall series. I am a UPA member again (the $$ is not worth the magazine if I am not playing in the fall. Too much misinformation about the recaps, but that is a different story). Of course, instead of lining up strategy stuff and playing time considerations, I am arrainging babysitters and places to crash on Saturday nite, so we can stay up in the big city.

I don't know if we are in the largest section ever, but it has to be close. The "Northwoods" was Minn, Wisc, and whatever Candian province is North of Minnesota, forgive me with my lack of Canadian province knowledge (I can find it on a map though). But this section is Montana, Idaho, Utah, and whatever Canadian province is North of Montana (See previous comment in parenthesis). Anyway, that is BIG. 11 teams, which is pretty impressive for this section. There seems to be one other serious contender in the section, Golden SPike from Salt Lake City. We played them in Bozeman and won, they were pretty good and they had an ok performance at Labor Day. Assuming all goes well, we will play them Sunday for the finals.

I love the thought of just one game on a day. It makes it seem like frisbee is a real professional sport and not just some random endurance match over a weekend. One game days rule and are very weird too (well, if we lose we have to play more, so I guess I am hoping we win). I was talking about this with Jaegs in Seattle after their Buzz Bullets game on the Thursday before ECCfest. Just a strange experience, but usually a good feeling b/c if you only have one game on the day, it usually means Finals. Finals = Fun.

Oh, random Jaeger story since at least 2 people asked for it in Seattle. Halloween tourney in OU either 97 or 98. Most likely 98, anyway we are playing OSU last game of the day. This tourney is just a fun one day tourney where you go down, play frisbee all day and then party all nite. Good time. Everyone wears costumes, not the most serious of tourneys. Well, we are up on OSU pretty big and Jaegs decides he wants to throw his reverse thumber for the score, I think that is self explanatory. THe play call is this, Jaegs, Jefff, and Reiskin will 3-man it up near the endzone. I will sit in the stack and wait for the signal. When Jaegs is happy with the positioning (~15 yards out from the endzone, middle of the field), he will travel on purpose so as to stop the disc. And that will be the sign for me to be ready for the cut (to the backhand front cone).

So they work it up the field, I am sitting and waiting. Jaegs gets it in perfect condition and then starts running with the disc to the sideline yelling "Look at me, I am travelling". --Really funny to watch--- Travel call. Jaegs walks back. Disc checked in. He turns to the dump and then throws a perfect strike of a thumber (while facing the wrong way) to the backhand cone. Goal. Good times.

Maybe not the most spirited during a really game, but during a Halloween tourney, perfect.

Anyway, quick recap of harder workouts:

~25 minute jog with 1 mile on the track of accelerate the straightaways, jog the turns.
8 x (50/100), 30 seconds between reps, 2 minutes between sets
(50/50/60/60/70/70/80/80/90/90/100/100) and then back down. Start the watch, each minute you should be starting a sprint, meaning at 0, your first sprint, at 1 minute your second sprint.....
10x(60/90), same concept as above, start the watch, every minute you should be starting your sprint. Oh yeah, all sprints at the same starting line. Hard on the 90s, especially later in the workout.
1 x 400, 4 x 200. I ran the 400 in 71/72, 3 of the 200s at 31 and the last at 29. I was pretty happy with the times. I did this with ample rest, meaning after each spring, I waited until I felt ready to go.

The 100s I have been happy with too, 12s whichi is pretty good for me.

Anyway, too much for now. I am tired and need to rest up for the big weekend!