Flying 30s - Overspeed

This morning, I headed over to the start of it all, Buccleuch Park, the site of my first-ever Pike tryout, to get in my last speed workout before Regionals. I gave special attention to my warm-ups and picked out a nice stretch of running trail that was relatively straight and had a slight but constant downgrade.

Warm-up:

8:32 run
Active Stretching
Sprint Preperation Plyos

Flying 30s (running slightly downhill for overspeed training)
3 x 30/30s:

Accelerate for 30 yards, stride for 30 yards. This is where I focus on form and on truly getting my muscles ready for full sprints.

3 x 30 yard sprint:

All-out 30 yard sprint with full recovery between each one.

3 x 60 yard sprint:

All-out 60 yard sprint with full recovery between each one.

3 x 90 yard sprint:

All-out 90 yard sprint with full recovery between each one.

I finished things up with a short run back to the car. This is, by far, my favorite workout. It's fun to run fast! And it's fun to be prepping for a tournament that means something.

As Tony might say, "I feel grrrrrrreat!"

Half-Filthy 50 plus some core

Warm-up:

1 mile @ 8.5 mph
Long Active Stretching session

Half-Filthy 50 for time:

25 Box Jumps w/ 18-inch box
25 Jump Pull-ups
25 Kettleball Swings w/ 25lb ball
25 Lunges per leg (stationary lunges)
25 Knees-to-Elbows
25 Push-Press @ 55lbs
25 Back Extensions
25 Wall Balls
25 Burpees
25 Kangaroo Jumps
Total Time: 7:42

7 Steps Abs:

7 x 30 crunches, various positions

Cool-down:

Long mostly-static stretch session

Earth Mover

I spent a good portion of the afternoon moving soil from the front driveway to the backyard in order to re-grade the yard and stop water from pooling against the side of the house. I moved a total of 3 cubic yards. It might not sound like much, but you'd be surprised. I got in a ton of lunges and deadlifts in and I was soaked by the end.

That's some old-school, Rocky-style training right there!

Pike Practice/Muscle-Ups

Today was the last practice before Regionals. We ran a good mix of focused scrimmages and drills to get the team fine-tuned for next weekend. It's definitely gonna be exciting. We're a young team with a lot of promise. We're well-prepared and well-trained, but relatively untested thus far. Nobody out there knows what we're capable of (do we?), and I love it.

After practice, TC, Ross and I gave free 'Hot Box' lessons to all comers. Oh, and I performed my first-ever unassisted Muscle-ups! (That's been a goal of mine all season).

21-15-9 Workout: Legs, Core, and Arms/Shoulders

Warm-up:

8:00 Rowing Machine (127 Calories)
Active Stretching

21-15-9 for time:

Deadlift @ 95lbs
Reverse Lunges w/ 15lb dumbbells
Thrusters w/ 15lb dumbbells
Total Time: 11:44

21-15-9 for time:

Russian Twists w/ 35lb plate
Back Extensions
Total Time: 4:30

21-15-9 for time:

Dips
Hybrid Shoulder Raises w/ 15lb dumbbells
Total Time: 4:17

Suicide Workout @ RU

I met up with Glenn & Frenchy before RU (Exit! Nine!) practice yesterday to run some suicides. My bright idea for the workout was to set up the suicides to mimic the type of running done by the 3-cutter in the pull play and so we set up cones (read sneakers) at 0 yards, 30 yards, 40 yards, and 70 yards and ran a set of 90 yard suicides and a set of 60 yard suicides. The total workout went as follows:

Warm-up:

7:00 run (which I'm fairly certain was about 1 mile in length)
Active Warm-ups

Suicide Workout:
8 x 90 yard suicides (0-40-30-70), rest = walk to start

first 6 were in the :14-:15 range, last 2 were in the :15-:16 range

7 minute rest

8 x 60 yard suicides (30-40-30-70), rest = walk to start

first couple were around 11 seconds, then I stopped timing.

~10 minutes of throwing

Pike Practice/Scrimmage

Practice ran from 9am-1pm'ish today and involved an O vs. D scrimmage, some fast break/endzone work, and other fun stuff. Man, was I sore by the end of this. Rotten crappy practice fields!

Pike Double Practice

We had a double practice today down in Philly. 9am-12pm'ish, then 1pm-4pm'ish, followed by a BBQ at Fink's House of the Blues.

Rutgers Field Workout

Mel, Walt, MJ, Raph, Mere, and I headed over to RU again tonight to get in some field work. We started things off with a throwing session. It wasn't scripted, but each pair focused on continually cutting and throwing to motion (no static throws here). Next up was an extended agility ladder workout led by MJ, followed by the Rabbit v Meatball drill (I love that drill! It reminds you that to play real defense, you need to work your ass off!). After that, we went into an Away and Back drill, and then Windshield Wipers (in cuts and fade cuts). Raph and I finished things off with 30 flicks/30 backhands/30 hammers.

Full Body Circuit

Warm-up:

5:00 Elliptical Machine (60 Calories)
Active Stretching

Full Body Circuit:

3 sets of:
10/leg x Dumbbell Curl - Lunge - Push Press Combo w/ 10lb dumbbells
10 x Deadlift - Shrug - Heel Raise Combo @ 85lbs
10 x Push-up - Core Row Combo w/ 20 lb dumbbells
10/side x Corkscrew w/ 35lb plate
1:30 Rest

7:00 Exercise Bike (69 Calories)

100 x Crunches

Field Work

Mel and I met up with Walt and snuck onto the sideline of Rutgers' practice tonight (Thanks Mio!). The workout was a ad lib'd but I was pleased with the results.

Workout Components:

Agility Ladder
Tous' mirror drill
Throwing with constant cutting
Windshield wipers w/ a mark (in cuts & fade cuts)
Pull Play cutting simulation
3-person deep cutting/throwing weave drill

Basically, we were able to get in a solid running/sprinting workout as a byproduct of focusing on disc skills. It's much more fun that way.

Recovery Workout

Despite cramping up like a - something that cramps too easily - yesterday, my body felt mostly fine today. A little muscle soreness here and there, but nothing too big. That, combined with the fact that I drank 4 glasses of water, a fountain Coke, and a Smithwicks at dinner last night and didn't end up peeing until 10pm or so tells me that I need to be better at hydration and at eating during the day if I'm going to be able to play at the level at which I need to play. Talk about stupid mistakes hurting your team - And I know better!

Enough self-pity... 2 weeks of hard work left before Regionals starts today and so I hit the gym for a low impact recovery workout. I find this sort of thing loosens me up and will hopefully get me ready for a real workout tomorrow.

Recovery Workout:
10:00 Elliptical Machine (115 Calories)

10:00 Excercise Bike (90 Calories)

Treadmill: 1 mile @ 8.5 mph (plus some walking to bring it to an even 140 Calories)

10:00 Rowing Machine (115 Calories)

(NB - I'm not overly concerned about Calories burned, but I find keeping track provides me with a measuring stick for how hard I am working over the different exercises.)

Sectionals, Day 2

After a day spent getting my shit back together, I felt pretty good on the field. We started the day off with a good win over Pittsburgh BURGH in the semis and then watched Pittsburgh Forge battle OLD SAG in the other semis. Forge came out on top by a few breaks and so we geared up to face them in the finals.

It was a close fought game. Our O faltered in the first half giving up a couple of breaks in a row before getting it back together. In the second half we re-captured a break before giving it back and then went on a run at 13-10 to tie the game. After that, the intensity picked up on both sides and, despite some great D by both teams, Offense prevailed down the stretch and we traded out until Forge finally took the game at DGP after both teams had multiple chances to win. 17-16 Forge.

I played fairly well in this game, but must've screwed up my nutrition or something because I ended up cramping up horribly towards the end of the game and couldn't even play the last few points. My pride took a real hit from that. Not being able to get on the field towards the end was painful and I really feel I let the team down.

After the tough loss, we faced off against OLD SAG in a bit of a lack-luster 2-3 game. SAG took half 8-7 before we picked it up. I think we ended up winning 15-10 or so.

Sectionals, Day 1

I'm generally not all that interested in recapping tournaments, but here's a quick run-down:

Awesome! A tournament < 5 minutes from my house!

I was definitely not sharp today. Two weeks away effected my mental game more than I would have expected. Also, not getting reps in with the team at the last two tournaments meant that inserting me back into the offense required a few adjustments on everyone's part. Fortunately, day 1 at sectionals wasn't too tough. Pike went 4-0 on the day with wins over Penn State (x or y), Rutgers, Bear Proof (CJ's team), and Love.

Afterward, we went back to my place for a team bbq, which Pike also won.

Sammy I-V Circuit

The hardest part about a tournament week is not letting all that anticipatory energy trick me into over-exerting myself on the workouts. I picked this one out of the stash since it's a fun all-around workout but not too taxing in any one area.

Warm-up:

10:00 Elliptical Machine (140 Calories)
Active Stretching

Sammy I-V:

3x
50 Richochet Jumps
10 Push-ups
30 sec rest

2x
10 Side-Side Box Jump
5 Divebombers
30 sec rest

2x
10 On Box Jump
5 Pike Push-ups
30 sec rest

3x
5 per leg Low Squat Jump into Jump Lunge
10 one-hand push-ups (x5 each arm)
30 sec rest

3x
5 one-legged jumps with one step walk-up (per leg)
30 sec rest

1x
1/2 Tabata Set of Split Jumps (:20 on, :10 rest)
26, 28, 29, 31
1:00 rest

3x
8 Consecutive Kangaroo Jumps
10 clap push-ups
30 sec rest

Abs:

1:30 Forward Plank
30 sec rest
1:30 Right Side Plank
30 sec rest
1:30 Left Side Plank

Adding that extra :30 to the planks really makes this into a mental workout for me.

Filthy 50

It's perhaps a bit much for a tournament week workout, but I figured doing it today would give me plenty of time to recover. Plus, I OWE, since I missed Heavyweights this past weekend.

Warm-up:
1 mile @ 8.5 mph
Active Stretching

Filthy 50 for time:

50 x Box jumps w/ 18-inch box
50 x Jump pull-ups
50 x Kettlebell swings w/ 16lb bell
50/leg x Lunges
50 x K2Es
50 x Push-press, 35lb bar
50 x Back extensions
50 x Wall balls
50 x Burpees
50 x Kangaroo (Tuck) jumps
Total Time: 18:28

Aside from checking my grip on the K2Es at 30 & 45, I powered through this workout until the wall balls. From then on, it was a battle. Those last three exercises are straight nasty.

Cool-down:

5:00 Exercise Bike (35 Calories)
5:00 Elliptical Machine (50 Calories)

Quickie before Bed

I had a little extra energy last night so I did a little more than my normal push-ups/crunches before bed:

50 x Pike Push-ups, feet on bed
20 x V-Ups
25 x TOs
35 x Superman Back Extensions
50 x Push-ups
2:00 Squats (as timed by my Oral B toothbrush)
100 x Crunches

Frosty Medicine Ball & Circuit Work

Warm-up:

1 mile @ 8.5 mph
Active Stretching

Medicine Ball Routine:

20 x front-squat vertical toss
20 x sumo-squat backwards toss (against wall w/ catch)
25/side x side-twist
20/side x chest throws in lunge position (against wall w/ catch)

5:00 Elliptical (68 Calories)

Frosty Timed Circuit:
5 sets of:

Kettlebell swings, 30 seconds on, 15 seconds off
(reps: 12, 12, 13, 13, 14)
Burpees, 30 seconds on, 15 seconds off
(reps: 12, 12, 14, 17, 18)
Box Jump March, 30 seconds on, 15 seconds off
(reps/leg: 13, 14, 16, 16, 18)

5:00 Stationary Bike Cool-down (25 Calories)

Combo Set & Screamers

Warm-up:

1 mile @ 8.5 mph
Active Stretching

Combination Set:

4 sets of 5 reps @ 75lbs, 1:00 rest bet. sets
1 rep represents a combination of the following exercises:
Romanian Dead Lift
Hang Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Reverse Lunge (1 per leg)

1:00 Rest

5:00 Elliptical Machine (60 Calories)

Screamer Ladder:

3 x push-ups
1 x kangaroo jump
6 x push-ups
2 x kangaroo jumps
9 x push-ups
3 x kangaroo jumps
.
..
...
21 x push-ups
7 x kangaroo jumps
...
..
.
3 x push-ups
1 x kangaroo jump

1:00 rest

7 Steps Abs:

7 x 30 crunches, various positions