10-30-2016

Workout:

Prehab exercises - 1 hr

Other Stuff:
- 1 leg balances
- Mini-band resisted knee drive drill (standing/prone)

Mini-circuit
- 10 KB sumo squats (25)
- 10 KB sumo deadlifts (25)
- 10 KB lateral lunges (25)

KB get-ups

Reading:

No reading.

Notes:

I voted early today.  It was cool.

10-29-2016

Workout:

Offensive Footwork
Dynamic Warm Up
Ladder - 1 leg hops
Ladder - 1 leg sticks
Ladder - Linear Quick Feet
Ladder - Sprinters Drill
A skips - Sprint
B skips - Sprint
C skips - Sprint
Outside Foot Push
Inside Foot Push
Combo OFP+IFP
- I am trying to work on having good/steep shin angles in this drill by keeping my hips low.  It was very different than how I have done this before.
Hollywood Squares (10x10)
Max Effort 150 shuttles (2) - 27, 28
Cool Down

Reading:

No reading today

Notes:

Today I went to Milwaukee to hang out with friends for Halloween weekend, it was great.

10-28-2016

Workout:

Week 7: Day 3
Warm Up: Hip Stretches, Miniband Series, Squat to Stand

Trap Bar Deadlift: Work up to a heavy x 1.  Don't sacrifice form for weight.
135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315, 345, 315

355 came off the ground, but I wasn't interested in letting my form fall apart to finish the rep.  345 was the best I had today,

Speed Deadlifts: 225x5, 135x2x10

Cool Down

Reading:

I listened to more of "The Signal and The Noise".  

10-27-2016

Workout:

No Workout

Reading:

I listed to more of "The Signal and The Noise".  The author talks about poker, the "poker bubble" of the 2000's, "fishes", "sharks", and his brief stint as a full-time online poker player.  I thought it was very entertaining.

The author talks about how the ESPN world series of poker made poker go mainstream.  He also talks about how the broadcasts made poker seem fun, dramatic, and made the viewer feel like poker was easy.  As a result, a whole bunch of fans felt like they were incredibly good at poker (despite having no skills at all), and signed up for online poker games and the world series of poker.  The author mentions an anecdote about how no other game has new players who are as full of hubris and deluded about their abilities as you'd find in poker.

Notes:

The Big Fish in a Small Pond
You head off to college and sign up for the ultimate team.  When you join, you are certainly one of the worst players, but definitely not the worst.  You stick with it, going regularly to practices and tournaments, and you feel committed.  After a few years, your ability level relative to your peers begins to grow.  Maybe you're an upperclassman, and those who you knew were better than you at ultimate have graduated by now.  You're clearly one of the better players on the team (in your opinion), but also definitely not the best.  You can't touch that guy, he's a beast.  You feel secure in your standing as an older, wiser player.  You feel like you have established yourself, that you are among The Upper Crust.  You have made it!  Maybe you dismiss a few disappointing regionals results as flukes.  How could you lose?  You're an all-star, right?  Maybe you get comfortable and start to make excuses.  Maybe you let your lifting schedule or throwing schedule slip.  I think this is the trap of the big fish in a small pond.

If it was the case that you would only ever compete against your own teammates, then this wouldn't be a problem.  This is what happens with Intramural sports.  But since you compete against teams outside your own, that you do not see very often, with players outside your immediate pool, the small pond is an illusion.  I think that the size of your pond is dictated by the competition you choose to enter.  You must be willing to look beyond your immediate surroundings, out of the pond and into the ocean.  And I think that if you choose to compete on a national stage, it is absolutely critical to realize that you are a very small fish in a massive ocean.

10-26-2016

Workout:

No Workout - Rest Day

Reading:

I listed to more of "The Signal and The Noise".  The author spends a lot of time trying to convince me that probabilistic approaches are valid.  Since I already believe they are, this feels a like known territory.  The author talks about Bayes, talks about lung cancer, talks about bias, and gets into the weeds more on Earthquake and Economy predictions.  Good stuff.

Notes:

10-25-2016

Workout:

Week 6: Day 2

Warm Up: High Knees, Jumping Jacks, Spidermans, Pushups into down dog, squats with a miniband

Every minute on the minute for 10 min:
Clark Complex (don't put the bar down): (95)
- 6 Deadlifts
- 4 Hang Power Cleans
- 3ea Front Rack Lunges
- 1 Jerk

As many rounds as possible in 8 min:
- 21 box jumps (24")
- 15 KB Swings (50)

Cool Down

Reading:

I listed to more of "The Signal and The Noise".  The author talks about the difficulty in predicting earthquakes and the behavior of the economy.

Notes:

I listened to this, at the request of KB.  It was great!  It's about the science of deliberate practice.

http://freakonomics.com/podcast/peak/

10-24-2016

Workout:

Week 7: Day 1
Warm Up: Jog, Jump Squats, Squat to Stands, Hollowbody rocks, Band Assisted external rotation

Back Squat, work up to 1x10 heavy, then 2x10 at 90%.  Heavier than last week.
(45, 125, 145, 165, 185, 205, 225, 215, 215) x 10 ea

Assisted Pistols 4x8

Cool Down

Reading:

I listened to more of "The Signal and the Noise".  I'm loving this book.  The author digs into the history of 538, the terrible inaccuracy of political forecasting, "Foxes" vs "Hedgehogs", the "moneyball era" in baseball and Pagota, the relative success of modern weather forecasting, and the immense challenge presented by predicting earthquakes.  It's fascinating so far.

Quick hits from the book (these may be slightly paraphrased):

- "A forecaster's job is to make the most accurate forecast possible.  The original sin of forecasting is to tweak or fudge the forecast in some way for an external reason."

- (on political forecasting) "Foxes consider a lot of different kinds of information and take them into account in their predictions.  Hedgehogs latch on to one major thing and use that as their primary source.  Hedgehogs make better TV "experts" due to flashy claims, but foxes are more often correct."

Notes:

I like how the book is grounded in data and approaches things in a probabilistic way.  I think viewing sports though this lens can offer some insights.  

10-23-2016

Workout:

No Workout - Rest Day

Reading:

No Reading

Notes:

Today was the second day of Windy City Invite.

10-22-2016

Workout:

No workout - Rest Day

Reading:

No Reading

Notes:

Today was the first day of Windy City Invite.  I was a little sore from the deadlifts, but not bad.

The highest volume lifting workout I have ever done was back in college.  I don't think there was any rhyme or reason to why I did it, other than to see if I could.

The workout was:
20 sets of each, alternating:
Barbell Deadlift -  225 lbs x 5 reps
Barbell Bench Press -  135 lbs x 5 reps

10-21-2016

Workout:

Week 6: Day 3
Warm Up: Hip and Glute Activation, Miniband series

Trap Bar Deadlift Pyramid: 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

Warm Up: 135 x 5, 185 x 3, 235 x 3

10 - 235
8 - 255
6 - 275
4 - 295
2 - 315
1 - 335
2 - 315
4 - 295
6 - 275
8 - 255
10 - 235

Cool Down

Two things about this workout:
1.  About three hours before I did this workout, I was arguing with A about how training using volume deadlifts is generally a bad idea.  My argument was something like, it's fine if your form is flawless and you have a very weak deadlift, but why on earth would you train that way?  Then, when I looked at the programming for today it was the highest volume deadlift workout thus far.  Sweet.  Don't get me wrong, I love deadlifting, but for the record I would not recommend training volume deadlifts too often.

2.  This was a very difficult workout.  I believe Natalie programmed about 20 minutes for the pyramid (61 deadlifts over 20 minutes?! ).  This took me more like 45 minutes from start to finish.  While I was ramping up the first part of the pyramid, I was worried about my ability to finish the climb back down the other side.  By the last set, my hands were torn up, burning, and stinging.  I briefly considered phoning in the last few reps, but I glanced at my wrist and finished strong.  I think that a small reminder at the right time of a bigger purpose can be powerful.

Reading:

I listened to "The Signal and The Noise".  It's phenomenal so far.  I'm a big fan of 538, so I was not in a lot of danger of not liking this one.

10-20-2016

Workout:

Defensive Footwork

Dynamic Warm Up
Ladder - Slalom Drill
Ladder - Multi-Directional Slalom Drill
8 Cone - 2 in/2 out
8 Cone - 1 in/2 out
8 Cone - Jab/Crossover
8 Cone - Backwards Jab/Crossover
3 Step - Decel/Plant/Accel
Ladder - Defensive Backwards Icky
Ladder - Defensive Backwards Icky into sprint

Breakmark game - 10 discs, 2 x flick, 2 x backhand

Offhand 3-man marking

Reading:

I finished "Start With Why".  I stand by my original assertion that this book wasn't a total waste of time, but wasn't my favorite.  I didn't like how the author uses "why" as a noun.

The author shares an anecdote in the last chapter of the book that I liked:

"When you compete against everyone else, no one wants to help you.  But when you compete against yourself, everyone wants to help you."

The author presents this in the context of a cross-country runner, who shows up every day with the singular focus of competing against himself.  The author offers this as an example of purpose-driven growth, and it is an example with broad application that I like.  I think it's a good way to look at the "growth mindset".

Notes:

Next I am going to read (listen to) "The Signal and The Noise" by Nate Silver.

Full steam ahead on the audiobook train!

10-19-2016

Workout:

Throwing - Wrist Mechanics (290)

40 minutes of Foam rolling, Stretching, and Activation

Reading:

I listened to more of "Start With Why".  More of the same.  Thankfully I'm almost done with the book.

Notes:

I don't consider myself a Cubs fan.

When I was a kid, my family lived in Evanston and my parents were Cubs fans.  We would occasionally go to Cubs games at Wrigley field when the weather was nice.  I remember taking stats on a scorecard at a few games, I remember Harry Caray, and I remember the Ivy-covered walls before they put "Underarmour" logos on the green doors in the outfield.

When I moved to Minnesota, I started following the Twins.  I would regularly listen to the games on the radio while I was doing my homework in high school.  The metrodome made weather a non-issue when we went to games, and we could get nosebleed tickets for $7, with $1 hot dogs on Wednesdays.  Johan Santana was in his prime and was dominating, Joe Mauer was close to hitting .400, Justin Morneau was cranking home runs on the regular, it was a good time to be a twins fan.

If there is such a thing as having a distant 2nd-favorite team, mine would be the Cubs.  So while I am not a Cubs fan, I am watching this playoff series with reserved interest.  It's easy to root for an underdog, and I reckon not winning a title in 108 years qualifies you as an underdog.  

10-18-2016

Workout:

Throwing - Blades, Offhands, Overheads - (348)

Week 6: day 1
Warm Up: Hip stretches, Running, Jump Squats, Toe Touch Squats, Hollowbody rocks, Band assisted external rotation

Back Squat - Work up to 1x10 heavy, then 2x10 and 90%, heavier than last week
(45, 115, 135, 155, 175, 195, 215, 205, 205)

Assisted Pistols 4x8

AMRAP in 5 minutes:
- 5 Hang Power Cleans (95)
- 5 Burpees

Deadbugs 4x8 each

Cool Down: Couch Stretch

Reading:

I listed to more of "Start With Why".  The more I listen to this book, the more I dislike it.  The author basically cherrypicks things from history that confirm his arbitrary hypothesis about how motivation works and sloppily tries to relate it to business.  The book title should probably be named "Confirmation Bias: Why I like Apple Inc., MLK's 'I have a dream speech', and the Wright Brothers".
Listening to this book, I feel like the author is blatantly disrespecting my intelligence.  The book is a carnival of vagueness told in short, simple business-speak.  While I don't feel like listening was a total waste of time, this book does make me think that writers in this genre can essentially just make up whatever bullshit they want, strap wings on it, and expect it to fly.

10-17-2016

Workout:

Throwing (230) - Pull Mechanics

No Workout - I am amped to squat tomorrow

Reading:

I started listening to "Start With Why" by Simon Sinek.  The title is pretty descriptive of what the book is like.  I don't hate it so far, but it feels extremely anecdotal and preachy.

Something I liked:
- Discussion of what it means to inspire and motivate by rallying around a single purpose or belief

Something I disliked:
- The author starts making claims about a "golden circle" that "has to be in balance" and then tries to tie it into the "symmetry present in nature" by talking about food chains and the golden ratio.

I can't stand it when people use "the symmetry in nature" as justification for random things.

Notes:

I went to "chicago ideas week" last night with C.  It was a good time.  There were 4 talks presented in succession that were all different:

- Abby Wambach talked about her memoir "Forward"
(Side note: This is a phenomenal book name choice)

- Bill Burnett and Dave Evans talked about the intersection of mechanical design and psychology

- Sebastian Junger talked about modern society, "tribes", human interaction, and never treating those upon who your life depends with contempt

- Jose Antonio Vargas talked about what it means to be an american, what the next 30 years will be like, and why we need to have more uncomfortable conversations

I felt like the show was worth the price of admission.

10-16-2016

Workout:

No Workout

Reading:

No Reading

Notes:

Today was a missed opportunity in terms of reading and training.

Side note, Matty Tsang is leading a coaching clinic in Chicago in December.  If you don't know Matty, you best educate yourself.

To help explain how excited I am about this, if I could pick any ultimate coach on earth to listen to at a 2-day clinic, it would be a tie between:

A. Matty Tsang
B. Dutchy

10-15-2016

Workout:

Physical Therapy Circuit - 1 hr
- Hip Flexor Stretch
- Adductor Stretch with Trunk Rotation
- Piriformis (supine)
- Adductor Stretch with Strap
- Eccentric Hamstring Strengthening (SLDL)
- Hip Flexion Extension - Ball
- Banded Side Shuffles
- Side-Lying Banded Hip Abduction
- Side-Lying Weighted Hip Abduction
- Resisted Hip Adduction
- Side-Lying Weighted Hip Adduction
- Split Squat Foot on Ball
- Eccentric Hamstring Curl - Ball
- Single-Leg Bridges - Ball
- Wall Sit - Ball

Reading:

No Reading.

Notes:

Prior to 2013 I did not consider mobility, core & hip strength, or eccentric strength to be priorities as I trained for ultimate.  I would go through the motions in warm ups, use a foam roller after hard workouts or tournaments, and deal with soreness as it cropped up in a reactionary way.  My primary goal at that time was basically to move as much weight in the gym as possible.  My thought was more weight lifted -> more explosive -> better player.  I was following a modified version of stronglifts, squatting in the low 300s, deadlifting in the 400s, doing front rack RFEs at over 200.  But I was also chronically injured.  My training had done a good job of making me faster, but I was also struggling with recurring hamstring and groin issues.  I spent more than half of 2013 on the sideline for various different tweaks and pulls.  This was frustrating mentally and physically.  On the 2nd to last day of the 2013 season, this proved to be too much for my body to take, and I tore my ACL on a non-contact play.  As anyone who has been through a surgical procedure like this knows, this tends to serve as a wake-up call for even the most stubborn people (like me).

After surgery, I spent the next six or seven months working with a physical therapist building basic function and strength.  The goal of these months is not to prepare someone for playing ultimate, it is to prepare someone for basic tasks like running, squatting, balancing, using stairs, and other simple day-to-day tasks.  When you are "cleared" by your surgeon, they are not saying you are "ready for ultimate", they are saying you are "ready for basic life tasks".  Once you are cleared it is up to you to prepare yourself for sports.  There is no set path or guideline for this, you are on your own.

So after I was cleared by my surgeon, I focused on the kinds of basic footwork and strength that are needed for ultimate.  I went to Long field and did workouts regularly with Jack and Walden to work on this.  I also hit the gym to build up basic strength.  I knew I wanted to get ~3 months of field work and lifting in before I returned to playing in real games - the thought here being that playing in a game is unpredictable, and I want to trust that my body is capable of moving and reacting in the correct ways in-game.  I also knew that it is very easy to overcompensate with the opposite leg, which can result in an increased chance of injury to that leg, and I wanted to avoid this as best I could.

About two months in to this field work, I was starting to have the same groin issues that I had had prior to my injury.  In my infinite wisdom I felt that I was past this injury, and that the stiffness and soreness was nothing to worry about.  A few weeks later, during a field workout I strained my groin again.  Not wanting to deal with another knee surgery down the road, I got a referral to Athletico and stopped all other training to focus on this.  My physical therapist had played NCAA Lacrosse with Northwestern, winning a number of championships, and also had personally torn both of her ACLs and dealt with groin issues for much of her athletic career.  I explained my injury history, what ultimate was, and my goals for recovery, and told her I did not care how lengthy or difficult the rehab circuits were.  I asked her not to take it easy on me at all, to give me something that an NCAA athlete would be expected to do.   I went to PT three times per week for the next four weeks, and on days when I didn't go I would do the circuits she gave me 1-2 times per day, religiously. She made me work very hard, and it was well worth it.

All told I spent about 6-8 weeks solely focused on physical therapy for my groin.  These weeks directly pushed back my ability to play ultimate, which at the time felt like a massive sacrifice.  But if I had not dedicated myself to this during those weeks, it is very likely this injury would have haunted me for the remainder of my playing days.

The circuit I did today was one of the circuits from 2014.  There are movements that I find easy and there are movements I still find very difficult.  No part of this workout is as "sexy" as a max squat or deadlift.  But I would argue that if you are worried about how "sexy" your training is, you have lost sight of what's important.  I would attribute my ability to be injury-free for the last two years to understanding my body better, recovering better, to circuits like this, and doing more of the critically important un-sexy stuff that goes into training.

10-14-2016

Workout:

Week 5, Day 4
Warm Up: Hip Mobility Drills, Core Stability Drills, Mini Band Sequence

Trap Bar Deadlift - 3x10 - don't sacrifice form for weight (225)

As many rounds as possible in 12 min:
- 20 KB swings (50)
- 15 Air Squats
- 10 Push Ups

Cool Down

Reading:

I finished listening to "Nudges".  I would highly recommend it, although I still think "Legacy" is more bang-for-your-buck.  I felt like the book provided insightful thoughts with actionable solutions.  I appreciated how the book explained relatively basic behavioral economics things to me without making me feel like an idiot, and I liked how the authors were able to shine some light on a few murky issues in plain sight.

10-13-2016

Workout:

Throwing - Flick Huck Mechanics Progression (203)

Defensive Footwork
Dynamic Warm Up

Ladder - Slalom Drill
Ladder - Multi-Directional Slalom Drill
8 Cone - 2 in/2 out
8 Cone - 1 in/2 out
8 Cone - Jab/Crossover
8 Cone - Backwards Jab/Crossover
3 Step - Decel/Plant/Accel
Ladder - Defensive Backwards Icky
Ladder - Defensive Backwards Icky into sprint

Marking - 5 cone drill

Conditioning - 40 yd change of pace drill, 15 min of work, about 25 reps

Cool Down


Reading:

I listened to more of "Nudges", I am about 3/4 of the way through.

The author has convinced me that Libertarian Paternalism is The Way.  (Note: in mechanical design, libertarian paternalism would be a fancy way of saying "good design".)  The author discusses how simply maximizing options doesn't result in people making the best decisions.  The example used for this are Medicare Part B and a Swedish retirement fund allocation case study.  In the Swedish case, an overwhelming number of options was presented, with the thought that more options would be better.  Most people were confused by the massive pile of choices and ended up selecting a worse decision than the "default".  In the Medicare case study, the argument was that it was far too complicated to sign up for the kind of personalized coverage you would want to optimize your costs.  So the takeaway is that if something is way too difficult to do, then people won't be able to make optimal choices because they get caught up in the process itself.

The author also talks about how transparency can be a nudge, for instance if people received a succinct yearly log of their energy bill, they would be much better able to adjust their use in an optimal way.

This was essentially the point of the summer throwing challenge.  I knew that some people would want to really compete, and others would not.  I also knew that some of those people who didn't want to compete would still log regularly.  But the main point was to create visibility between the team so that everyone could see how much others were throwing.  The thought was that getting a weekly reminder email and seeing the hard work of your teammates would galvanize you into throwing 10-20% more than you would have otherwise.  The throwing challenge was not required or mandated, it was an opt-in challenge with prizes.  While I feel that it was incredibly successful this summer, I'm not sure I was able to convey the power of logging your throws has on teammates, nudging them to throw more, nudging the team to collectively improve.  If I had conveyed this better, I think there are a few returners who may have put up some bigger numbers.

10-12-2016

Workout:

Throwing - wrist mechanics (116)

No Training - Rest day

Reading:

I listened to more of "Nudges" on my way to and from work.  A nudge is a basically a thing that influences the "doing mind"(automatic system/etc) to do something.  This could be anything, from where an architect places the bathrooms relative to the offices in a building, to which foods come first in a middle school lunch line, to how taxes and mortgages are presented.  Essentially, nudges are everywhere.  This book is mostly interested in how "Decision Architects" can design things in a way that helps people do the things they want to do (i.e. make the best choices), as naturally as possible.  An example of this that is given is having retirement savings plans be "Opt out", as in, employees are automatically signed up to save for retirement, unless they say otherwise.  The theory is that people actually do want to save for retirement, but they do a bad job of "getting to it".

This book is great so far.  The biggest carryover to coaching that I see is that language and actions matter.  My thought here is that language and actions have influence, whether you are aware of that influence or not.  Once people are aware of this, I think it is much easier to channel these nudges into making the best team (and team culture) possible.

Notes:

At the recommendation from KB, I am listening to this book at 1.5x speed.  It makes the audiobook sound like an extremely articulate and well-spoken child who has just had their first energy drink.   It is pretty weird adjusting to the pace, but I think I am getting used to it.  I'm not sure I would want to listen at this pace for every book.

10-11-2016

Workout:

Week 5: Day 2
Warm up: Hip activation series, burpees, jumping jacks, mountain climbers, banded front rack stretch, banded lat stretch

Clean Warm up (barbell only)

Power Clean x 3 - Every minute on the minute for 10 min (155)

Pull ups x 50 in 8 minutes, any rep scheme. (I did these strict, only got to 25 in the time cap)

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:
- Front rack walking lunges (barbell only)
- Burpees

Reading:

I am hopping on the audio book train, and I am psyched about it.  My typical commute time is 2+ hours a day, and it feels like I am taking this previously useless time and getting a bunch of value out of it.  On a side note, I realize that I get the majority of my daily news from Morning Edition, so I'm not sure abandoning the radio altogether is the best play.

It feels weird to list audiobooks under "reading", but I am going to do it anyway.

I started "Nudge", by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein.  It's great so far.  Listening to the speaker talk about "The Econ" and "Libertarian Paternalism" is entertaining.  It reminded me of a design contest I came across a while ago called The Fun Theory.

Notes:

I love behavioral economics.  I think one of the reasons I like it is because understanding the relationship and tensions between the planner (mind 1) and the doer (mind 2) feels like it cuts to the core of discipline.

When I was a sophomore in college I took a microeconomics course taught by Eric Schulz.  In one of the lectures he offhandedly mentioned that he also taught behavioral econ during one of his related examples.  After listening for 5 minutes I knew I needed to take that class before leaving Northwestern.  A few years later I did, and it was well worth it.

10-10-2016

Workout:

Week 5: Day 1
Warm Up: 3 min jog, jump squats, squat to stands, hollowbody lifts, banded external rotation

Back Squat - work up to 1x10 heavy, then 2x10 at 90%.  Heavier than last week.
(45, 105, 125, 145, 165, 185, 205, 195, 195)

Alternating Dumbbell Shoulder Press 3x10 (40ea)

3 Rounds for Time:
- 400 m run
- 12 Trap Bar Deadlifts (155)
- 12 Box Jumps (24")

Cool Down: Couch Stretch, Adductor Stretch

Reading:

http://kbthemovement.blogspot.com/

I basically did not read anything yesterday.  I meant to read but did not get to it.

10-09-2016

Workout:

No Workout

Reading:

Chapters 12, 13, 14, 15 of "Legacy".

These chapters did a pretty good job wrapping up the book.  This is a book that is dense with strong quotations and anecdotes.  This is by far the most "bang-for-your-buck" book I've ever read on this topic.  I also think that the author is speaking a language of leadership that I believe in.  I would highly recommend it.

Reading 2:

I had more time on my flight.

Chapters 1, 2, 3 of "There is an I in team" by Mark De Rond.  

This book is basically about how individuals behave differently than each other in a team context.  The book is pretty interesting so far.  The author gets into a lot of topics that don't make that much sense of out context, but does bring up some culture themes that I relate to, especially with several of my club experiences.

10-08-2016

Workout:

No Workout

Reading:

"The Rap Yearbook" by Shea Serrano

Shea is a strange guy & his book is fun to read.

Notes:

I was in New York today:

-On Trains: New York Subway < Chicago Subway/El < Hong Kong Subway
-There is trash everywhere
-Times Square is full of tourists
-On the plus side, there is tons of stuff to do
-I can't imagine going to NYU as an incoming freshman

10-07-2016

Workout:

No Workout

Reading:

Chapters 9, 10, 11 of "Legacy".  These were called "Pressure", "Authenticity", and "Sacrifice".  I thought they were great.

Notes:

Planes are the ideal place to read or watch a movie.  You have essentially nothing better to do with your time.

10-06-2016

Workout:

Week 4: Day 4
Warm Up: Miniband Glute Series, Core Warmup, Hamstring Warmup

Trap Bar Deadlift 5x5 (265)

AMRAP in 15 min:
- Overhead Lunges 8 each leg (just the bar)
- Burpees

Cool down: Ankle strength, couch stretch

Reading:

Chapter 8 of "Legacy"

This chapter is about preparation.  I loved this chapter.  The author talks a lot about how mental preparation and putting players in uncomfortable or unexpected game-like situations is a way to grow a mentally strong team.  This chapter feels like it has direct application to what I'm looking for.

10-05-2016

Workout:

Throwing  - Backhand Breaks (290)

No Workout - Rest Day

Reading:

http://ericcressey.com/pitchers-elite-time-off-throwing

This was an interesting read.  I think this blog is one of the best free resources out there for information on training throwers.  There are also obvious differences between throwers in ultimate and baseball pitchers.  Mechanics aside, the volume and intensity of pitching several innings of baseball is clearly far greater than the kind of throwing done in ultimate.  Also, pitching a baseball is obviously very mechanically similar every time, whereas throwing in ultimate puts a lot of different kinds of movements into a single bucket (just in terms of arm and wrist position, e.g. flick, backhand, hammer, scoober, etc.).

Let's say a pitch is roughly equivalent to a max effort hammer.  So obviously you don't want to throw 100+ max effort hammers every day, year round, that would be asking for an injury.  Luckily in ultimate, there are lots of other things you can work on between max effort hammer sessions.  You can work on your arm positions, your accuracy, your wrist mechanics, and so on.  So I think you can throw a disc every day without injuring yourself, provided you have good variety in your throwing plan.

I think there is a lot of depth to throwing in ultimate, and I think it is essentially impossible to be "too good" at throwing.

Notes:

No Wisconsiquences

NUT went to No Wisco twice during my college career, in the fall of 2009 and in the fall of 2010.

2009:  I don't remember a lot about this tournament.  I do remember that we only had 1 bid and we took an odd squad of ~25, including a mix of captains, returners who needed reps, and people the leadership decided were "good rookies".  I think we did fairly well, looking decent against split squads from teams like CUT and Wisconsin, with those teams still solidly in the tryout phase.  It was a good time, it felt fun.

2010:  As I remember it, this is how the tournament went down:

Thursday - Decision is made to drive up Saturday morning, departing at 5 am
Friday morning - We have only 1 bid again, van list gets sent, our team is 18 strong, 3 rookies, cool
Friday afternoon - Revised van list gets sent: team is now down to 12, including 2 captains who can no longer attend, yikes.
Friday night - At least 6 of the remaining 12 attend a Kid Cudi/Snoop Dogg concert at Welsh-Ryan arena, double yikes.
Saturday - People are on the sidelines, too hungover to play.  Terrible.  We struggle to get 7 bodies on the line all day.
Saturday - 4th game of the day we play Iowa

Side Note: Iowa before this was very middle of the road.  In 2010-2011 they were a straight up dominant team, qualifying for nationals in the toughest region in the nation and finishing tied for 3rd overall in the country.  They featured guys like Sean "Shark" Parker (6'5, linebacker sized), Jimmy Weisbrock and Tyler Glenn (6'2, 35"+ vertical), and they were coached by Mike Denardis, who later coached UNC to a college title.

I distinctly remember striking deep with Shark guarding me, the throw going up, him closing the gap, then laying out shoulder-height for the block.  I don't know why I remember that so vividly, but that still motivates me, to this day.

Saturday night - We go to Panhans' house.  While we are all battle weary and disappointed with how we performed, it is awesome

Sunday - We play some games in the loser's bracket, ending up in not-last by beating a high school team in a relatively close game

I remember watching the finals that year.  I believe it was Wisconsin X vs Wisconsin Y, since back then (maybe still now?) the hodags would use No Wisco as a tryout tournament.  For some reason I think muffin was there, playing, though he would have had to have been some kind of assistant coach at that point.  I remember him getting beat deep.  It was a hotly contested game, but while I was sitting there watching it all I could think about was how we could build a program as deep and as strong as possible.  This is a question I still think about often.  I believe there is no "silver bullet" for this, but I have a few ideas I like so far.

10-04-2016

Workout:

Throwing - Blades, Offhands, Overheads (290)

Week 4: Day 2
Warm Up: burpees, jumping jacks, mountain climbers, band assisted front rack stretch, band assisted lat stretch

Clean warm up (barbell only)

Every 2 minutes x 7:
2 Hang Power Clean (135)
4 Power Clean (135)

Reverse Push Ups 3 x 10

Circuit x 4:
Bulgarian Split Squat - 10 each leg (2 x 35 lb kb, front rack)
Iso Hold - 30 sec
Good Morning - 10 (barbell only)
Side Plank - 30 sec each

Lateral squats (25, bodyweight)

Cool Down: LAX Glutes

Reading:

Chapter 7 of "Legacy":

This chapter was about expectation.  The gist of the chapter was that if you set the expectation of being a world class team, then follow that by doing everything that you believe a world class team would do, you are in a great position to fulfill that expectation.  The chapter also talks about using fear of failure as a positive tool for motivation in preparation and practice.

This chapter offered some thought-provoking ideas.  I still believe that motivation and drive is fundamentally dependent on team personality, but this take was a bit different and interesting to think about.

10-03-2016

Workout:

Throwing: Wrist Mechanics (290 throws)

Week 4: Day 1
Warm Up: Running, squat jumps, squat-to-stand, hollowbody rocks, banded hip external rotation

Back Squat: Work up to 1x10 heavy, then 2x10 at 90%
(45, 95, 115, 135, 155, 175, 195, 185x2)

DB Strict Press 2x10 (35)
DB Push Press 2x10 (50)

AMRAP x 12 min:
- 12 KB swings (American) (45)
- 12 BB Thruster (45)
- 12 Box Jump (24")

Cool down: Couch Stretch, Adductor Stretch

Reading:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/ricky-williams-awful-nfl-contract-never-gave-him-a-chance/

Fun fact: Most NFL contracts aren't guaranteed and are heavily performance-based.

10-02-2016

Workout:

No workout.
I am getting antsy, I am dying to move around.

Reading:

No reading.
I am getting antsy with reading as well.  I probably could have read, but I did not.

Notes:

I spent most of the day watching the club finals.  The Boston sweep was exciting to witness.  DGP games from both Women's and Men's finals makes this year the exception when it comes to exciting finals games.

Misc thoughts:

- Brute Squad wins!  Lien gets the repeat!  Add this to the long list of titles won by women from Northwestern.

- Brute Squad's Dline was better at offense than their Oline.  Brute rolls out the Dline down 8-10 in a game to 12.  The Oline doesn't retake the field until they're receiving on DGP.  If that isn't a dominant Dline, nothing is.

- The decision from Brute to throw a zone line out at 9-10 was interesting.  It threw Riot out of their rhythm and resulted in a back breaking miscue turn.  But it could have easily gone the other way, as Riot has a wealth of experience at the handler position and could have made quick work of the zone.  So in retrospect it looks right, but I think asking why is important.

- Kami Groom plays her best in the biggest games on the biggest stages.  This feels obvious, but I felt it should be reiterated in light of a 2nd title in 2 years.

- John Stubbs and Mark Vandenberg get 2nd at college nationals, then turn around and win it all in club.

- George Stubbs gets another silver medal, while playing against his old team, and gets scored on to lose.

- I have never seen Joel Schlatchet or Beau Kittredge turf a pass like they did in that game.  They were feeling the pressure.

- Weird stuff happens in the semis and finals.  I think this is because everyone is amped to 11 and dojos are burning.  This combination of extremely high energy and slim margins makes the games erratic and exciting.

- Kurt Gibson is seemingly impervious to pressure.  Is there any question he's the greatest in the modern era?

- Pulls matter a lot.

- The game is tied at 12, game to 14, Revolver receiving.  If this is 2015 Revolver (or 2010-2014), Revolver sends Beau to the endzone and Ashlin/Robbie puts it up.  Goal.  The door slams shut for Ironside.  But this is 2016, and it is obvious Beau isn't playing at the level he once was.  He's not as explosive after his knee injury, and that means Revolver can't just play "big man" in crunch time.  This is not why they lost, but it's a reason Ironside had a shot.

10-01-2016

Workout:

No workout.

Reading:

No reading.

Notes:

I went to watch the semifinals of club nationals with a bunch of nuts.  Semifinal Saturday is the best day of club ultimate of the year.  The reason for this is the final isn't always a great game, and the semifinals are almost always extremely close, hard-fought games.  Today did not disappoint, with DGP games between Fury/Riot and Ring/Revolver.

Some surprises:

- Molly Brown going down to Brute relatively quietly.  Before the game I thought this would be a very close game, maybe even in Molly Brown's favor.  I hadn't liked the way the Brute Squad oline had been playing and I felt that if Molly Brown could get even a decent game from Opi and Claire that they'd run away with the game.  Instead, it felt like Opi never found her groove and Brute Squad was able to put them away early with the depth of their Dline.  After the fact it looks like everything went to chalk, but I think this actually was a fairly surprising result.

- Dragn' Thrust losing to Slow White.  I felt like Slow White won on the back of testing Sarah Meckstroth deep.  This is essentially a crazy thing to do, since she's usually the best player on the field for Dragn.  But Slow White did this early and often, and did it very successfully.  They aimed at the king, and they did not miss.  The 3-time defending champs go down in semis.

- Ring showing up against Revolver.  This game was a testament to both Ring's level of defense and to Revolver in the "aging Beau" era.  Ring was consistently pressuring Revolvers O-line cutters in space.  Giving Cassidy nothing, testing Grant deep, denying Beau.  By the end of the game, Revolver was looking off Simon Higgins open by 10 yards deep.  Modern Revolver has made a living (and multiple titles) on pinpoint deep shots from anyone, and that they weren't taking those shots was uncomfortable to witness.

09-30-2016

Workout:

No workout.

Reading:

No reading.

Notes:

Today I went to club nationals to watch prequarters and quarters.  It was great!  Rockford was pretty much exactly as bad a place to host nationals as I expected, with the exception of the showcase field which was pretty nice.  It was pretty windy and rainy, but the big downside in my mind is that the field quality just isn't good enough.  The fields are lumpy, sloped, and not at the level you would expect of a marquee national championship event.  As convenient as it is for me, Rockford should not be the pick for next year.

Ring of Fire figured out how to play clean offense for the post-season and Machine did not.  This wasn't the whole story, as Ring also was able to apply tremendous pressure with matchup defense and get d's on isolated cutters in space.  They did this consistently and to great effect against Machine, Truck Stop, and even Revolver.  Jack Williams is probably the 2nd best player in college right now.  I don't have a good understanding of how the Ring of Fire team that I witnessed struggled so much early in the season, having not seen them play at all prior to this weekend.

There was more parity in the men's division this year, and it's a great thing.  I feel like as recently as 5 years ago things pretty much went to chalk and the games weren't very close between seeds 1-4 and 13-16.  But this year I think the bottom seeds were able to play much tighter games, and occasionally pull upsets in bracket play.  This makes the tournament way more interesting.

09-29-2016

Workout:

No workout.

Reading:

No reading.

Notes:

I spent my free time today following club nationals livestreams.  I was essentially unproductive otherwise.