Boyz,
How we all goin. Now I would like to draw upon my trainin and focus the last few months with an analogy. A 3 way analogy in fact of mako my dog, pete my climbin mates dog and my self. Now these 3 creatures are interelated in that they are all dogs of sorts and have a drive that is unrelenting.
I will not bore you will trainin stats. But i will give you an insight to these 3 DOGS.
Mako: I dont think there is anything out there that loves frisbee more than mako, human or animal. He will froth on the disc for hrs on end givin the oppotunity. He loves the block, he will always bring it back. His actions speak louder than his words. He cares little if he is tired, or its cooking outside, he not fased if blood is pissin out his mouth from the disc. He is an unamotional plastic wanting machine. He also doesnt have any balls.
Pete: Now my climbin mates dog is one of those raggid, matty, two different coloured eyed border collies that loves to root. He has no balls like mako but that doesnt stop him trying to hump everything. He gives it to my mates cats, (one even lets him.) Or any dog or bitch he is into. If you are two leggid with long hair and on the short side he doesnt mind givin to you too. My mates young son laughs, "he is huggin me!" as you try to drag pete off his shoulders. He even tried on another mate of ours who has long dread locks when he was asleep on the couch drunk one night.
Its like he feel into a cauldron of viagra when he was a pup or somethin. He has no fear. Pete will run up to a huge german sheppard, go for the backdoor 'ello boys' only to get savaged , mauled, and pinned to the ground. 5 minutes later he will try again.
Timae: Now much like both these dogs, their drive for various motivations, this dog. A DINGO dog. has trained and focused with an intensity to try and rival the other 2 dogs. If i get a little down, or knocked back, that will not stop me. I will have a primal focus that will fuel me. Nothing else matters for me over the next couple of weeks. I will achieve my goal of never giving up till worlds is done and finished. I dont need motivation, my drive comes from within.
That is how i have trained, that is how i will play for my country.
The lessons to be learnt from 1 or all 3 of these dogs. Do what you love, no matter what. When you start to feel tired, or think of holding back think about the 3 dogs. They will always go hard, even if 2 of them dont have any balls.
Timbo
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Lonely San Fran
Hey Guys,
I got to San Fran 2 days ago and have been getting used to the time changes and such. Staying with one of the Fury girls, Team USA, and hung out with a bunch of them today. They talk a lot of frisbee and seem to be fairly confident in their open team to take home the gold. It got me real fired up and keen to get out there and show these chumps the Dingo and Aussie Mongrel! I just want to get out there and slap some seppos around (yes, I see the irony) and mess up every other freaking country! I know sports psych-wise, surely this post is breaking rules, but sometimes there is emotion and it needs to be released.
I did a Kai strength session tonight to release some of the built up desire. I got two pretty decent sized water bottles and filled them up to the brim with water. I then went into it. I took the two couches and put a broom in between and went into the pull ups. I did my set of 15 slow and hard, and then did the one leg butterfly looking thing to 15 on each leg also. I did 3 sets of this and then went forward. Next, 15 Kai push ups with the squat superset of 15 also. Did 3 sets of these. Didn't have the hamstring equipment, so substituted the saw horse and moved onward, pushing forward. I did 16 of the saw horse, then 15 of the extended crunch, and 3 sets of these. Finally, did the wall sits with arm lifts, 15 of course, and the superset of the laying on stomach and extending the arms forward, with 15. 3 sets indeed. I did all of these with the water bottles as weight and it was feeling great. Left shoulder felt good, worked through it hard, and never looked back boys!
I am so freaking fired up to have you guys get here and finally see all this training translate into performance! Just being around the Americans, they exude this arrogance that I want to bash out of them. We have been working hard and I know I am extremely proud, and lucky, to be a part of this team. We can't control the future, others, weather, genetics, the past, accidents, or (there was one more), but with what we can control, lets put it all in and leave it on the field! This is what we have all put it for, sacrificed for, and trained and worked hard towards, so lets look around at our dingo brethren and make sure we each do everything we possibly can to make sure they leave a world champion!
no excuses, no asterisks...just Dingos!
I got to San Fran 2 days ago and have been getting used to the time changes and such. Staying with one of the Fury girls, Team USA, and hung out with a bunch of them today. They talk a lot of frisbee and seem to be fairly confident in their open team to take home the gold. It got me real fired up and keen to get out there and show these chumps the Dingo and Aussie Mongrel! I just want to get out there and slap some seppos around (yes, I see the irony) and mess up every other freaking country! I know sports psych-wise, surely this post is breaking rules, but sometimes there is emotion and it needs to be released.
I did a Kai strength session tonight to release some of the built up desire. I got two pretty decent sized water bottles and filled them up to the brim with water. I then went into it. I took the two couches and put a broom in between and went into the pull ups. I did my set of 15 slow and hard, and then did the one leg butterfly looking thing to 15 on each leg also. I did 3 sets of this and then went forward. Next, 15 Kai push ups with the squat superset of 15 also. Did 3 sets of these. Didn't have the hamstring equipment, so substituted the saw horse and moved onward, pushing forward. I did 16 of the saw horse, then 15 of the extended crunch, and 3 sets of these. Finally, did the wall sits with arm lifts, 15 of course, and the superset of the laying on stomach and extending the arms forward, with 15. 3 sets indeed. I did all of these with the water bottles as weight and it was feeling great. Left shoulder felt good, worked through it hard, and never looked back boys!
I am so freaking fired up to have you guys get here and finally see all this training translate into performance! Just being around the Americans, they exude this arrogance that I want to bash out of them. We have been working hard and I know I am extremely proud, and lucky, to be a part of this team. We can't control the future, others, weather, genetics, the past, accidents, or (there was one more), but with what we can control, lets put it all in and leave it on the field! This is what we have all put it for, sacrificed for, and trained and worked hard towards, so lets look around at our dingo brethren and make sure we each do everything we possibly can to make sure they leave a world champion!
no excuses, no asterisks...just Dingos!
running around
Went for a run on Saturday. A few hill sprints on a cold / cool winter night. It wasn’t quite 3 degrees, maybe closer to 12.
I ran around the corner to the nearby steep hill that leads down to the river. The hill is about 100m long with a steep middle section of about 50m. The first section got the legs working, then I hit a speed bump, after which the incline became steeper. I focussed on leg speed and getting the arms up to keep the momentum going. The last 25m flattened out a bit, but it was the toughest part, as I struggled to keep the same cadence to the end. I used a few cue words at the top to make the jog down a bit easier.
10 runs and 30 minutes later I trundled back home.
I ran around the corner to the nearby steep hill that leads down to the river. The hill is about 100m long with a steep middle section of about 50m. The first section got the legs working, then I hit a speed bump, after which the incline became steeper. I focussed on leg speed and getting the arms up to keep the momentum going. The last 25m flattened out a bit, but it was the toughest part, as I struggled to keep the same cadence to the end. I used a few cue words at the top to make the jog down a bit easier.
10 runs and 30 minutes later I trundled back home.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Support
G'day boys
Last night Stacy and I went over to the families house for a send off dinner. It was a nice time with some enjoyable stories and classic Neild family giggles going on.
One of the highlights from the night was that my parents has prepared a going away card for Stacy and one for me as well and I enjoyed mine so much I though you boys might take something out of it as well.
Cheers Dingos
Mike
Last night Stacy and I went over to the families house for a send off dinner. It was a nice time with some enjoyable stories and classic Neild family giggles going on.
One of the highlights from the night was that my parents has prepared a going away card for Stacy and one for me as well and I enjoyed mine so much I though you boys might take something out of it as well.
Cheers Dingos
Mike
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The life of a injured professional sportsman
8 days to go boys before I take off.
So....thought I would give you an update on all things Matt over the last couple of days and what's in stall for me for the next week (a massive creditcard bill and uni commitments piling up). I spent 3 days on the sideline at eastern uni games, so am eager to get on that field come worlds - so whatever it takes - "suck it up Matt" - no crystal balling.
Day zero was Saturday when injury occured
Day 1 and Day 2 consisted of icing and resting, with a small amount of stretching on day 2
Day 3, I saw Physio number 1 - diagnosed a inflammed / deteoriating tenden. Gave me heaps of strengthening excerises for all other muscles around this hip flexor tendon - couldn't get in too deep to see if tear, cause it hurt too much.
Day 4, I saw Physio number 2 - she said the same thing but I also have a tear associated with the injury which is what I suspected. Gave me immediate rehab using laser / infrared thingy to stimulate repair of muscle fibers. She also reset my back and pelvis to prevent anything else happening when at worlds and also this took a lot of tenderness away. Am currently now on witch doctor drugs, drinking heaps of water and less sugar in the diet. This chick was good - she knew who the Gack was.
Day 5 (thursday). Saw sports physician in the morning (she was recently awarded an "order of Australia", on the queens behalf) - same diagnosis as above but included lots of doctor talk and naming things. Gave me some advise.....get cortisone injection. Called up a place and stressed my urgency about world championships- they got me in this afternoon - yeah baby. Went to movie to wait for 4 hours. Got ultrasound and an ultrasound injected cortisone (obviously with local numb juice). Picked up prescription drugs for anti-inflammatory. Drove home via Kai's place to pick up more drugs and goodies (he's looking after me).
This is where I'm up to - with 1 hour worth of excerises and stretches each night.
Day 6 (tomorrow). See Physio 1 again for update
Day 7-9, will just be resting, excersises and stretching. Also, icing - which is helpfull if I can do it everyday.
Day 10, Physio 2 - for some more laser assisted physiotherapy and make sure pelvis is sorted (i actually have one leg which is true longer than the other and a very stiff lower spine (L4-5)).
Day 11, Sports Physician again for check up regarding cortisone and any other niggles i might have.
Day 12, Physio 2 - last laser assisted physio.
Day 13 - Get on plane for worlds baby. Get another creditcard to abosrb costs
That is as far as I have got (13 days, 8 visits to specialists) - but I'm sure there will be massage and physio visits in San Fran and Denver.
Although I can't physically run at the moment and train with you boys, I'm doing everything I can and my leg is improving everyday. I'm excited. Saw the boys rip out a training session in the cold and rain on wednesday - inspirational to me. People thanked me for turning up and enduring the weather - but I thank them - that is my inspiration and drive.
"I am a Dingo"
Matty D
So....thought I would give you an update on all things Matt over the last couple of days and what's in stall for me for the next week (a massive creditcard bill and uni commitments piling up). I spent 3 days on the sideline at eastern uni games, so am eager to get on that field come worlds - so whatever it takes - "suck it up Matt" - no crystal balling.
Day zero was Saturday when injury occured
Day 1 and Day 2 consisted of icing and resting, with a small amount of stretching on day 2
Day 3, I saw Physio number 1 - diagnosed a inflammed / deteoriating tenden. Gave me heaps of strengthening excerises for all other muscles around this hip flexor tendon - couldn't get in too deep to see if tear, cause it hurt too much.
Day 4, I saw Physio number 2 - she said the same thing but I also have a tear associated with the injury which is what I suspected. Gave me immediate rehab using laser / infrared thingy to stimulate repair of muscle fibers. She also reset my back and pelvis to prevent anything else happening when at worlds and also this took a lot of tenderness away. Am currently now on witch doctor drugs, drinking heaps of water and less sugar in the diet. This chick was good - she knew who the Gack was.
Day 5 (thursday). Saw sports physician in the morning (she was recently awarded an "order of Australia", on the queens behalf) - same diagnosis as above but included lots of doctor talk and naming things. Gave me some advise.....get cortisone injection. Called up a place and stressed my urgency about world championships- they got me in this afternoon - yeah baby. Went to movie to wait for 4 hours. Got ultrasound and an ultrasound injected cortisone (obviously with local numb juice). Picked up prescription drugs for anti-inflammatory. Drove home via Kai's place to pick up more drugs and goodies (he's looking after me).
This is where I'm up to - with 1 hour worth of excerises and stretches each night.
Day 6 (tomorrow). See Physio 1 again for update
Day 7-9, will just be resting, excersises and stretching. Also, icing - which is helpfull if I can do it everyday.
Day 10, Physio 2 - for some more laser assisted physiotherapy and make sure pelvis is sorted (i actually have one leg which is true longer than the other and a very stiff lower spine (L4-5)).
Day 11, Sports Physician again for check up regarding cortisone and any other niggles i might have.
Day 12, Physio 2 - last laser assisted physio.
Day 13 - Get on plane for worlds baby. Get another creditcard to abosrb costs
That is as far as I have got (13 days, 8 visits to specialists) - but I'm sure there will be massage and physio visits in San Fran and Denver.
Although I can't physically run at the moment and train with you boys, I'm doing everything I can and my leg is improving everyday. I'm excited. Saw the boys rip out a training session in the cold and rain on wednesday - inspirational to me. People thanked me for turning up and enduring the weather - but I thank them - that is my inspiration and drive.
"I am a Dingo"
Matty D
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
A Rare Tuesday Night in Newcastle
Dingos,
Last night the Newcastle Dingos made the most of a rare Tuesday where we didn't have to drive 4 hours on the F3, and went and did a sprint session in leui of joining Sydney training.
The first thing we did was get the curry simmering on the stove at my place.
We then headed to the fields for our session:
- Warm up jog
- Plyos (A's, B's, high knees, heel kicks, bounds, power hops, power skips)
- 40 x 40m sprints
We did these on a 30 sec interval timed with a beep on Tats's watch, with a 2 min rest in between each set of 10.
The first 10 was just sprints.
The next 2 sets of 10 we started on a centre line and took turns to call "left" or "right" on the 30s beep - the others having to react and sprint the 40m in the right direction. The next sprint would be a normal sprint back to the centre line. I only got my left/right mixed up once.
The last 10 we did with a beach start on each sprint.
The 3 of us are pretty evenly matched over 40m so there was some good competition to push us all the way.
Then we did 100 throws with a pivot and/or give go, with consequences (we had to get 10 in a row of each throw or start that throw again). We had no turnovers.
Then we did 3 sets of 6 in-out kill drill. Cutter runs in and receives the throw, dumps it straight back to the thrower then cuts long for the huck - attacking it as much as possible, getting it at the top of jump. These were bloody hard - had to dig deep for the 6th out cut of each set.
Then back to my place for the curry, which had simmered nicely. Chicken Tikka Masala with eggplant, sweet potato and cauliflower. Basmati rice. Condiments of banana, yogurt, mango chutney and beetroot. I offered the boys a beer, but they opted for the brekky juice instead. Much better than our usual Tuesday night Maccas stop on the F3.
Last night the Newcastle Dingos made the most of a rare Tuesday where we didn't have to drive 4 hours on the F3, and went and did a sprint session in leui of joining Sydney training.
The first thing we did was get the curry simmering on the stove at my place.
We then headed to the fields for our session:
- Warm up jog
- Plyos (A's, B's, high knees, heel kicks, bounds, power hops, power skips)
- 40 x 40m sprints
We did these on a 30 sec interval timed with a beep on Tats's watch, with a 2 min rest in between each set of 10.
The first 10 was just sprints.
The next 2 sets of 10 we started on a centre line and took turns to call "left" or "right" on the 30s beep - the others having to react and sprint the 40m in the right direction. The next sprint would be a normal sprint back to the centre line. I only got my left/right mixed up once.
The last 10 we did with a beach start on each sprint.
The 3 of us are pretty evenly matched over 40m so there was some good competition to push us all the way.
Then we did 100 throws with a pivot and/or give go, with consequences (we had to get 10 in a row of each throw or start that throw again). We had no turnovers.
Then we did 3 sets of 6 in-out kill drill. Cutter runs in and receives the throw, dumps it straight back to the thrower then cuts long for the huck - attacking it as much as possible, getting it at the top of jump. These were bloody hard - had to dig deep for the 6th out cut of each set.
Then back to my place for the curry, which had simmered nicely. Chicken Tikka Masala with eggplant, sweet potato and cauliflower. Basmati rice. Condiments of banana, yogurt, mango chutney and beetroot. I offered the boys a beer, but they opted for the brekky juice instead. Much better than our usual Tuesday night Maccas stop on the F3.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Newcastle's "Hour of Power"
I'm too excited with thoughts about worlds today to do any actual work, so I figured I'd write something about our Newcastle sessions.
Since a couple of weeks before Nationals we've been doing a Power and Agility session on Friday evenings with a personal trainer up here in Newcastle. Friday evening is not the most ideal time, but with all the other training going on there weren't too many alternatives, and it has the additional benefit of reducing Tats's drinking opportunities.
The guy who runs our sessions is Marc, I met him some time ago as he is a trainer at the gym I go to and he drew up a training plan for me before world clubs in Perth. He has represented Australia at "Floor Ball", which I think is something like hockey on an indoor court. So he knows what it's like to be an elite athlete playing an obscure sport, and he took me seriously from the start when I told him I wanted to train for elite level ultimate frisbee.
Marc is not your typical "drill sergeant" type trainer. He's more like Kai - quiet, knowledgeable, authoritative and ruthless...you know, a sadist basically.
Before Nationals we had 12-14 people at each session, mostly the I-Beam guys. After nationals the numbers droped off a bit, but we've generally been getting around 8-10 people at each. There's the 3 Newcastle Dingos, Greenie and Graig from the Masters, Leanne from the Barramundis and Ellie Sparke from the Junior Women. Not all of them come to every session, but there's usually a few other Newcastle frisbee people who come along too. Their support has been gold.
Anyway, Marc runs similar sessions for other teams like soccer, rugby and afl teams in Newcastle, and although he doesn't know much about ultimate he's tailored the sessions based on what I've told him we need to work on. The sessions are held on an indoor netball court and are different each week, but last Friday's went something like this:
- 5 lap warmup on the 250m upstairs running track in the gym;
- 5 mins sprinting through a marker cone course - side to side between cones, sprint up to next cones, side to side etc
- One lap race on the running track.
- 1 minute rest
- 5 mins through the marker cone course, this time focussing on keeping low the whole time (working the quads)
- one lap race on the running track
- 1 minute rest
- 5 mins sprinting through a zig zag course, doing 1 standing vertical jump at each cone down the court, reaching down and touching the cones on the way back
- One lap race on the running track.
- 1 minute rest
- 5 mins of "suicides". This is not just a name, and it's one of Marc's favourites. Sprinting through the same zig zag course, but at each cone drop to the floor like a push up and jump back up again. There's about 12 cones in the course so you probably do about 60 of these. After about 3 mins its pretty hard to explode back up sprinting, you're just trying to survive it without Marc adding another minute if he sees you slacking off. They suck, but good for developing the strength and stamina required to continually lay out and get back up sprinting again in a game.
- One lap race on the running track.
- 1 minute rest
- In pairs, get down in the bottom of the push up position, one person with their feet on the wall of the court, the other in front of them. The back person jumps up and runs to the front and gets back into the pushup position, then the next person gets up does the same (kinda like leap frog). Do this as fast as you can till you get to the other end of the court. Then back.
- One lap race on the running track.
- 1 minute rest
- Same pushup thing again.
- One lap race on the running track.
- 1 minute rest
- Last exercise, get into squat position at one end of the court. 10 pulses of the squat, then sprint to the end of the court and back. Do this 3 times, no rest in between.
It was a good tough session. Tim won most of the 250m races, but I got him on the ones after the upper body things. Leanne was also looking strong, she'd usually be the first to get from the court to the track and we had to work hard to chase her down. Craig is also very fit, he was up there with me and Tim most times.
Other sessions have followed a similar format - a few mins of an exercise followed by a lap on the track. Exercises we have done in other sessions include:
- Starting lying flat on the ground, on Marc's call get up and sprint 25m then lie down again. x 30 (with no rest in between, maybe 5 secs if you're quick while he waits for everyone to get down - brutal)
- sprinting from one end of the court to the other, but when Marc claps you have to hit the ground, roll to the right and get up again (he starts this easy, but on the last few laps he's a real bastard).
- sprinting down the court holding a medicine ball above your head (works your core)
- sprinting up the hill outside the gym holding a medicine ball above your head
- Working up the hill as a group in single file, everyone close together holding a squat, the back person runs to the front of the line and gets into squat position, then the new back person runs to the front etc.
- boxing - not real sparring, just fast punching pads held by your partner. This was the one where me and Tim couldn't lift our arms above our heads for a few days.
You get the idea. Most sessions get me close to vomiting at some point.
This Friday is the last one before we leave, can't wait!
Chris
Since a couple of weeks before Nationals we've been doing a Power and Agility session on Friday evenings with a personal trainer up here in Newcastle. Friday evening is not the most ideal time, but with all the other training going on there weren't too many alternatives, and it has the additional benefit of reducing Tats's drinking opportunities.
The guy who runs our sessions is Marc, I met him some time ago as he is a trainer at the gym I go to and he drew up a training plan for me before world clubs in Perth. He has represented Australia at "Floor Ball", which I think is something like hockey on an indoor court. So he knows what it's like to be an elite athlete playing an obscure sport, and he took me seriously from the start when I told him I wanted to train for elite level ultimate frisbee.
Marc is not your typical "drill sergeant" type trainer. He's more like Kai - quiet, knowledgeable, authoritative and ruthless...you know, a sadist basically.
Before Nationals we had 12-14 people at each session, mostly the I-Beam guys. After nationals the numbers droped off a bit, but we've generally been getting around 8-10 people at each. There's the 3 Newcastle Dingos, Greenie and Graig from the Masters, Leanne from the Barramundis and Ellie Sparke from the Junior Women. Not all of them come to every session, but there's usually a few other Newcastle frisbee people who come along too. Their support has been gold.
Anyway, Marc runs similar sessions for other teams like soccer, rugby and afl teams in Newcastle, and although he doesn't know much about ultimate he's tailored the sessions based on what I've told him we need to work on. The sessions are held on an indoor netball court and are different each week, but last Friday's went something like this:
- 5 lap warmup on the 250m upstairs running track in the gym;
- 5 mins sprinting through a marker cone course - side to side between cones, sprint up to next cones, side to side etc
- One lap race on the running track.
- 1 minute rest
- 5 mins through the marker cone course, this time focussing on keeping low the whole time (working the quads)
- one lap race on the running track
- 1 minute rest
- 5 mins sprinting through a zig zag course, doing 1 standing vertical jump at each cone down the court, reaching down and touching the cones on the way back
- One lap race on the running track.
- 1 minute rest
- 5 mins of "suicides". This is not just a name, and it's one of Marc's favourites. Sprinting through the same zig zag course, but at each cone drop to the floor like a push up and jump back up again. There's about 12 cones in the course so you probably do about 60 of these. After about 3 mins its pretty hard to explode back up sprinting, you're just trying to survive it without Marc adding another minute if he sees you slacking off. They suck, but good for developing the strength and stamina required to continually lay out and get back up sprinting again in a game.
- One lap race on the running track.
- 1 minute rest
- In pairs, get down in the bottom of the push up position, one person with their feet on the wall of the court, the other in front of them. The back person jumps up and runs to the front and gets back into the pushup position, then the next person gets up does the same (kinda like leap frog). Do this as fast as you can till you get to the other end of the court. Then back.
- One lap race on the running track.
- 1 minute rest
- Same pushup thing again.
- One lap race on the running track.
- 1 minute rest
- Last exercise, get into squat position at one end of the court. 10 pulses of the squat, then sprint to the end of the court and back. Do this 3 times, no rest in between.
It was a good tough session. Tim won most of the 250m races, but I got him on the ones after the upper body things. Leanne was also looking strong, she'd usually be the first to get from the court to the track and we had to work hard to chase her down. Craig is also very fit, he was up there with me and Tim most times.
Other sessions have followed a similar format - a few mins of an exercise followed by a lap on the track. Exercises we have done in other sessions include:
- Starting lying flat on the ground, on Marc's call get up and sprint 25m then lie down again. x 30 (with no rest in between, maybe 5 secs if you're quick while he waits for everyone to get down - brutal)
- sprinting from one end of the court to the other, but when Marc claps you have to hit the ground, roll to the right and get up again (he starts this easy, but on the last few laps he's a real bastard).
- sprinting down the court holding a medicine ball above your head (works your core)
- sprinting up the hill outside the gym holding a medicine ball above your head
- Working up the hill as a group in single file, everyone close together holding a squat, the back person runs to the front of the line and gets into squat position, then the new back person runs to the front etc.
- boxing - not real sparring, just fast punching pads held by your partner. This was the one where me and Tim couldn't lift our arms above our heads for a few days.
You get the idea. Most sessions get me close to vomiting at some point.
This Friday is the last one before we leave, can't wait!
Chris
Exciting times
Lads,
In the eloquent words of Mikey Neild we are currently entering some "Very Exciting Times" ... personally, I'm currently counting down the days like this: "After today I only have one more Wednesday for hillsprints on Federation Mall". Just got back from my second last one.
Federation Mall is the long strip of grass extending up the hill from the back of Old Parliament House to the front of Parliament House. It's very close to where I work and it's where I've been basing my lunch time plyo and hillsprint sessions for the past couple of months. Today's session was a bit of a kick in the teeth - the current apparent temperature at 1:15pm is 1.7 degrees centigrade - but it feels good to have smashed it out and I'm sitting here in a post running glow avoiding doing any actual work.
Gareth's comments about cue words really struck home with me on the weekend. I started using a four word phrase some time after Nationals when we really started turning up the training and I've been using it more and more in recent weeks. During a game I'll think it before the pull. When I'm riding to work through freezing Canberra rain/sleet I'll think it and crank the pedels and suck it up. When it's a shitty training session here in Canberra and I need some motivation, I think about these four words. They mean a lot to me. They are simple, they make me run faster and focus more intensely. They remind me of the past, they inspire me for the future and they anchor me to the present.
The four words: "I am a dingo"
In the eloquent words of Mikey Neild we are currently entering some "Very Exciting Times" ... personally, I'm currently counting down the days like this: "After today I only have one more Wednesday for hillsprints on Federation Mall". Just got back from my second last one.
Federation Mall is the long strip of grass extending up the hill from the back of Old Parliament House to the front of Parliament House. It's very close to where I work and it's where I've been basing my lunch time plyo and hillsprint sessions for the past couple of months. Today's session was a bit of a kick in the teeth - the current apparent temperature at 1:15pm is 1.7 degrees centigrade - but it feels good to have smashed it out and I'm sitting here in a post running glow avoiding doing any actual work.
Gareth's comments about cue words really struck home with me on the weekend. I started using a four word phrase some time after Nationals when we really started turning up the training and I've been using it more and more in recent weeks. During a game I'll think it before the pull. When I'm riding to work through freezing Canberra rain/sleet I'll think it and crank the pedels and suck it up. When it's a shitty training session here in Canberra and I need some motivation, I think about these four words. They mean a lot to me. They are simple, they make me run faster and focus more intensely. They remind me of the past, they inspire me for the future and they anchor me to the present.
The four words: "I am a dingo"
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Frisbee chicks are (relatively) hot
Yo,
So, Marty called me up Monday night and offered me tickets to State of
To make up for it, I committed to a sprint session last night (Thursday).
Put out the email for some company at ES Marks but didn’t get any response. Sad. Messaged Abra who is always up for a sprint session but he gave me the cold shoulder and a rebuke for not having a life outside Frisbee and work, but inspired me with his closing remarks “solo sessions at es marks are fun. You will be great”
Unfortunately, it was getting pretty late at work and I was missing my 7pm nominated start time for the track session. A long public transport ride home, stopping off to buy some screwdrivers to fix my computer and got to my car at 8pm and it wasn’t looking good since the track closed at 8:30pm. The temptation to pull the plug was strong my friends.
Backup plan: drive around and find a lit field and do track on the side. This would also mean less impact on my ankle by avoiding the tartan. I drove past Waverley Oval and the lights were on, a couple of gaelic football teams were training there.
Ground very dodgy, strapping tape on, pop a pill.
Did a quick lap of the field. Warmed up with a set of ABCs and some dynamic stretching.
Measured out about 40m in the in-goal area of the field, some undulating ground but not too bad, actually better than the field itself. Navigated a path with no major divots. It was slightly uphill-downhill, so I was kind of doing resistance work in one direction and overspeed in the other.
Between sprints, I had about a 30m runoff area and then walk back to start the next.
After about 6 sprints, my right shoulder really started hurting, it had been annoying me all day, but now I thought I was starting to do damage. Note: this is a remnant sand-boarding injury. Solution: bit of a stretch and suck up the pain and keep going.
Now, beside me on the field were a bunch of girls attempting to play gaelic football. Oh my god we have it good in Frisbee - not just looks, these girls were so uncoordinated they could neither catch nor kick. No wonder a bunch of Frisbee players joined gaelic in
40 sprints is a lot on your own. After each sprint I was still breathing extremely heavily before I started the next one. Many thoughts of finishing at 20. But I wasn’t dying, I could keep going.
When running in one direction, the floodlighting projected my shadow in front of me. I looked at myself and became increasingly aware of my loping gait, especially as I got more tired. After about sprint #24 I decided to take action.
“Jonathan,“ I said to myself, “you know how you did those ABCs at the start of the session? Maybe you could incorporate some of that into your sprinting?”
“Hmmm, good idea”, I responded, “perhaps concentrate on driving down more quickly and a slightly shorter stride.”
Oh baby, I am a genius. A new lease of life and a bit of extra speed through the late 20s.
Harder work though, and by about #30 I was starting to feel it in my calves, probably from the increased stress of driving down into the ground. By 32 I decided to quit to avoid any niggle.
Short warmdown and long ice when I got home. Ready for the weekend, and Kai next week! See you out there boys.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Turf Trackin' it!
Dings,
So, my time in the states has been somewhat of a roller-coaster ride of emotion. From the lows of losing ALL my checked luggage (including roughly $10,000 in camera equipment) to the highs of finding Vapor TDs online and putting a smile on my teammate's faces.
My first training session was at approximately 9,500 feet in colorado. After my 38 hours of Thursday that ended in driving up the rockies to a resort at 11pm, I awoke on friday at 6am. Shook off the cobwebs, left the king size bed and headed to the first field i could find. I proceeded to do the hard plyos workout plus some of the cutting drills kai has done with us recently. It was fucking tough. I couldn't do more than a set of 3 before i needed to take a break. After about an hour and ten minutes, i was beat. It was so beautiful up there that I thought I'd go to the back of the SUV we rented, pull out a camera and take a shot to put on the blog. That was when I first realized that I had been relieved of a pelican case full of cameras.
I threw twice in the next couple days and attempted a fartlek at altitude. . . that was short lived and not much fun. I felt like Tats's stomach at the sydney uni indoor session, but probably looked more like bretty at kai's session two weeks ago.
In answer to your question, ken. . . No, I have not yet hit the Stanford track.
We were at the Redwood City High School track facilities last night, they have that super plush surface on their football field. The ground up tires in synthetic grass. It felt so good on my still bruised cartilage. Luckily Patrick Hard came with us, jo wasn't so good at resisting me using the harness.
I've been staying with my mate Turtle, he lives about 2 blocks from the College of San Mateo, that also has a very plush synthetic field, so i'll be up there tonight for another plyos session that will end in 20x25s and a bunch of throwing as per Mike's last spreadsheet entry.
Anyway, both the case of cameras and the pack frontier airlines lost in denver found their way back to me. I'm not sure how, but i have them both in my possession, and with that sorted, I'm fired up to have some cleats to throw on and run around in.
That's about it, glad to see our VC running on the track.
Frank Hugenaard will be attending our game against Jam, and will be setting up a dischoops court if anyone's interested.
So, my time in the states has been somewhat of a roller-coaster ride of emotion. From the lows of losing ALL my checked luggage (including roughly $10,000 in camera equipment) to the highs of finding Vapor TDs online and putting a smile on my teammate's faces.
My first training session was at approximately 9,500 feet in colorado. After my 38 hours of Thursday that ended in driving up the rockies to a resort at 11pm, I awoke on friday at 6am. Shook off the cobwebs, left the king size bed and headed to the first field i could find. I proceeded to do the hard plyos workout plus some of the cutting drills kai has done with us recently. It was fucking tough. I couldn't do more than a set of 3 before i needed to take a break. After about an hour and ten minutes, i was beat. It was so beautiful up there that I thought I'd go to the back of the SUV we rented, pull out a camera and take a shot to put on the blog. That was when I first realized that I had been relieved of a pelican case full of cameras.
I threw twice in the next couple days and attempted a fartlek at altitude. . . that was short lived and not much fun. I felt like Tats's stomach at the sydney uni indoor session, but probably looked more like bretty at kai's session two weeks ago.
In answer to your question, ken. . . No, I have not yet hit the Stanford track.
We were at the Redwood City High School track facilities last night, they have that super plush surface on their football field. The ground up tires in synthetic grass. It felt so good on my still bruised cartilage. Luckily Patrick Hard came with us, jo wasn't so good at resisting me using the harness.
I've been staying with my mate Turtle, he lives about 2 blocks from the College of San Mateo, that also has a very plush synthetic field, so i'll be up there tonight for another plyos session that will end in 20x25s and a bunch of throwing as per Mike's last spreadsheet entry.
Anyway, both the case of cameras and the pack frontier airlines lost in denver found their way back to me. I'm not sure how, but i have them both in my possession, and with that sorted, I'm fired up to have some cleats to throw on and run around in.
That's about it, glad to see our VC running on the track.
Frank Hugenaard will be attending our game against Jam, and will be setting up a dischoops court if anyone's interested.
Tonight's training
Did 90 mins of drills at Albert Park with 12 other Worlds folk.
Then 80 throws with Mama: 40 throw and go, 20 hucks, 20 attack-a-random-floating-pass
Home to do strength session. Had some complex components: strength work followed by plyo set.
1. 10 x single leg squats, 10 x ponies, repeat
2. 10 x pushups with 1 leg on fitball, 10 x quick clap pushies against couch, repeat
3. 10 x Russian twists on fitball with toolbox as weight, 10 x superman with cans of chopped tomatoes, repeat
4. 10 x kneeling, slow roll fitball fwd and back w/ forearms
5. 45 sec wall squat with back against fitball, 12 x max vert leap, repeat
6. 10 x inverted flies on fitball, repeat, with toolbox in one hand, bag of tins in other. The tins were: 3 x chopped tomatoes, 1 x coconut milk, 1 x cannelini beans, 1 x beetroot, 1 x champignons (small), 1 x condensed milk.
Stretch for 20 minutes, then ate the chopped tomatoes as part of a pasta meal, while watching the 2004 dvd and scouting.
carn Dingos!
Then 80 throws with Mama: 40 throw and go, 20 hucks, 20 attack-a-random-floating-pass
Home to do strength session. Had some complex components: strength work followed by plyo set.
1. 10 x single leg squats, 10 x ponies, repeat
2. 10 x pushups with 1 leg on fitball, 10 x quick clap pushies against couch, repeat
3. 10 x Russian twists on fitball with toolbox as weight, 10 x superman with cans of chopped tomatoes, repeat
4. 10 x kneeling, slow roll fitball fwd and back w/ forearms
5. 45 sec wall squat with back against fitball, 12 x max vert leap, repeat
6. 10 x inverted flies on fitball, repeat, with toolbox in one hand, bag of tins in other. The tins were: 3 x chopped tomatoes, 1 x coconut milk, 1 x cannelini beans, 1 x beetroot, 1 x champignons (small), 1 x condensed milk.
Stretch for 20 minutes, then ate the chopped tomatoes as part of a pasta meal, while watching the 2004 dvd and scouting.
carn Dingos!
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