Bathroom Deconstruction

4 more garbage cans full of smashed tile, yellowed wall paper, and dusty wall board. The better part of 3 walls are down leaving one wall, the floor, the ceiling, the toilet and the sink to remove.

Deadlift, KB swings, OH Squats, JPUs & RTs

Warm-up:

1 mile @ 8.5mph
Active Stretching

21-15-9 for time:

Deadlift @ 125lbs
Kettlebell Swings @ 25lbs
Overhead Squats w/ 20lb dumbbells
Total Time: 8:44

Tabata Sets:
Jumping Pull-ups:

31, 30, 28, 24, 23, 22, 22, 23

Russian Twists w/ 25lb plate:

19, 19, 18, 17, 16, 17, 16, 16

Compare to 7-7-2008

Winter League

Ouch, 10:30 pm start time. That's way past my bedtime!

Tonight was a bit more fun for me (and that's what counts in my book!). There were fewer folks in attendance and I was more assertive as far as getting myself on the field. More playtime always makes me happy. The team still has some chemistry issues, but we were able to keep the game reasonably close and tonight the points were at least long enough for me to get some work in. In the end, Glenn Poole's Marauders proved too much for us to handle.

My focus continues to be on cutting from motion which basically means that while we're on offense, I'm always jogging around, changing speed, altering direction, and generally trying to be a big pain in the ass for my defender. Since I'm the one initiating the motion, keeping pace isn't much of an issue.

I'm not running particularly hard most of the time and I create separation with changes of direction mostly, which means I can keep this up all game. As a defender, however, covering this type of cutting is exhausting. You are constantly forced re-triangulate, make up for lost ground, and react to what I'm doing. It's all about tipping the scales in your favor.

Recovery Circuit

I put this together with the aim of building cardiovascular endurance and improving my ability to recover while still doing work.

Warm-up:

5:00 @ 8.5 mph
Active Stretching

Recovery Circuit:
2 rounds of:

1/4 mile run (1:30 @ 10mph)
10 x pull-ups
1/4 mile run
25 x prisoner squats
1/4 mile run
10 x dips
1/4 mile run
10/leg lunges

Snow Shoveling and some core

OK, more like slush shoveling. Anyway, shoveling a couple inches of heavy slush in work boots with very little traction makes for a decent workout.

Core Circuit:

10 x Swiss Ball Push-ups (hands on ball, feet on
floor)
30 x Swiss Ball Crunches
10 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20 x Leg Raises w/ Ball bet. legs
10 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20 x Pike Bends w/ feet on
ball
10 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20/side x Swiss Ball Side Crunches
10 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20/side x Windshield Wipers w/ Ball bet. legs
10 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20/side x Side Knee Tucks w/ feet on ball
10 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20 x Left Swiss Ball Side Bend
10 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20 x Right Swiss Ball Side Bend
10 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20 x Swiss Ball Back Extension, legs anchored, raise upper
body
10 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20 x Swiss Ball Back Extension, upper body anchored, raise
legs

Bathroom Deconstruction

After dinner I went back at the bathroom and demo'd the better part of the 2nd wall. 4 more garbage cans full of crappy tile, particle board, and cement board. Did I mention they tiled the entire bathroom, floor to ceiling and did so by nailing particle board to the existing wallboard and then tiling on top of that? Seriously, each wall is about 3-4 inches thick.

Bathroom Deconstruction

I ended up taking a personal day to recover from Vegas and the dread Red Eye. That enabled me to catch up on some sleep and provided me with some time at home to start the next big home improvement project: re-doing our downstairs bathroom.

On went the safety goggles and the work gloves and off came the shower doors, tiles, wallboard, ...
After a couple of hours, I had 4 full trash cans of rubble along with assorted other larger items out on the curb waiting for trash pickup. Sad thing is, I barely demo'd one wall. 3 more, plus the floor and ceiling to go.

I really wish the previous home-owners had any clue and hadn't simply layered walls on top of old walls on top of old walls when they decided to redo things. Funniest thing I uncovered: the old window in the shower, complete with screen and turn-crank to open the window. They had boarded it up and tiled right over the whole thing.

Trouble in Vegas, Day 2

3 games of ultimate with the Pike 04 alumni team.

I'm not feeling particularly eloquent today, so this will be short and to the point. It was fun to get out on the field with some great players, both teammates and opponents, on real grass and with decent weather. Much of the old chemistry was still there, though I wonder how much of that is due to years playing together and how much is simply because if you put intelligent and experienced players on the field together, they will work together to do intelligent things. Either way, I enjoyed being able to focus on my own on-field role, confident that there were 6 other guys out there performing theirs.

Trouble in Vegas, Day 1

3 games of ultimate with the Pike '04 Alumni team.

Winter League

Still fun, but the ultimate was decidedly sub-par tonight. Best I can tell, our team strategy is to look off open people, find the most covered player on the field, and try to throw the disc through the chests of any defenders who happen to be in the way. Any other strategy, and the game is too easy. Where's the fun in that?

50 minutes of 5 v 5 with 7 subs didn't amount to much of a workout, but I think I managed to work up a bit of sweat by the end. Worst part of the night was getting tripped from behind on a deep throw (I had given up after being looked off on at least 3 wide open cuts, when the "huck" went up. I'm not even sure it was to me, or to anyone for that matter. Mostly, we were all confused since it didn't hit any defenders in the chest. ). I popped up quickly, but not before losing all the skin on both knees. Goddammit! Can't you see I have no interest in diving on concrete and getting rug burns? I save that sort of crap for the more prestigious completely unimportant tournaments, not winter league! Hmm... maybe I'm getting snobbish in my old age.

Warrior Workout

This cheesy sounding workout comes from the book "Training for Warriors: The Ultimate Mixed Martial Arts Workout." There's the "Warrior Warm-up" and the "Warrior Bar Complex" and the "Warrior Heart and Lung Training." Seriously, if Martin Rooney couldn't tear my head off with his bare hands, I might tell him how lame preceding everything with "Warrior" makes him sound. Since he can, I think I'll keep my mouth shut.

Anyway, the workout was something new to try and with a few additions, made for a decent all-around workout that was just taxing enough for a pre-tournament week workout.

(non-Warrior) Warm-up:

1 mile @ 8.5 mph

Warrior Medicine Ball Warm-up using 6lb ball:

10/side x Straight Standing Side Pass
10/side x Standing Backward Wraparound Throw
10 x Standing Chest Pass
10 x Overhead Kneeling Pass
10/side x Straight Kneeling Side Pass
10/side x Perpendicular Kneeling Side Pass
10/side x One-arm Rotator Cuff Dribble
10/side x Kneeling Backward Wraparound Throw

Warrior Stationary Warm-up Drills:

10 x Prisoner Squat
30 x Jumping Jack
20 x Seal Jump
20/side x Seal Jump
20 x Pogo Jump
10/side x Forward Lunge
10/side x Side Lunge
20 x Wide Out
20 x Gate Swing

Warrior Bar Complex (using 5ft bar)
5 rounds for time of:

6 x Straight-Leg Deadlift
6 x Shrug
6 x Clean
6 x Press
6 x Upright Row
6 x Bent-over Row
6 x Snatch
6 x Good Morning
6 x Triceps Press
6 x Biceps Curl
6 x Bench Press
6 x Pull-over
Total Time: 7:57

Tabata Treadmill

10mph @ 7% incline

5:00 Exercise Bike

DDR, Snow, Swiss Ball

DDR:

575 Calories at difficult

Snow:

20 minutes shoveling show

Core Circuit:

25 x Swiss Ball Crunches
25 x Leg Raises w/ Ball bet. legs
25 x Pike Bends w/ feet on ball
25/side x Swiss Ball Side Crunches
25/side x Windshield Wipers w/ Ball bet. legs
25/side x Side Knee Tucks w/ feet on ball
25 x Left Swiss Ball Side Bend
25 x Right Swiss Ball Side Bend
25 x Swiss Ball Back Extension, legs anchored, raise upper body
25 x Swiss Ball Back Extension, upper body anchored, raise legs

Brumfis Pickup

I headed out for pick-up today, but I'm ashamed to admit that if not for the peer pressure going in, I probably would've bailed. I don't mind the cold, but I just wasn't feeling the frozen, ice-coated ground and complete lack of traction it provided. I found it really difficult to work on anything useful as even running straight lines was treacherous. Meow! Has anyone seen my scratching post?

At the very least, I got in a decent pre-game run and any throwing, especially in sub-par conditions, is good throwing.

Crazy Eights Workout

My joints were a little tight after last night's Winter League game, so I put together this little workout. The goal was get in a solid full-body session with very low impact.

Warm-up:

8:00 Exercise Bike
Active Stretching

Crazy Eights:
8 rounds for time:

8 x superman Push-ups
8 x Overhead Squats w/ 25lb dumbbells
8 x Pull-ups
8/side x Twisting Overhead Reverse Lunges w/ 5ft bar
8/side x Floor Wipers w/ 5ft bar
8 x Dips
8/side x Side Lunges
8 x Horizontal Pullups
Total Time: 29:31

My first three rounds were pretty slow, but then I picked things up tremendously towards the end. Definitely room for improvement here.

Winter League

Mel, Vlad and I attended our first Winter League game tonight. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it was a lot of fun. The field isn't huge, but at 5 v 5, there's plenty of open space. I was also a bit concerned about play time (11 on the roster), but I think with the amount of running involved, most folks seemed perfectly happy.

For me, this looks to be a great opportunity to get out and run and cut hard. As I mentioned before, there is plenty of open space, especially as people start to drag towards the end of games. I found myself with a lot of room to improvise in the open field. This meshes perfectly with one of my main goals for the off-season: initiate cuts from motion at speed. Doing this successfully, allows me to force a commitment out of my defender. If I can recognize what he's committed to defending fast enough, I can exploit it. If I can consistently force him to commit to what I want, I can exploit it. If he doesn't commit or doesn't commit quickly enough, I can exploit that too by blowing past him. If he can consistently cover me, at speed, for an entire point, I exploit that by recruiting him to play for Pike.

Medicine Ball Routine

Warm-up:

10:00 exercise bike
Active Stretching

Medicine Ball Routine I:
3 rounds of:

20 x front squat, w/ touching ball to floor and vertical toss & catch
20 x overhead slams
20 x push-ups w/ both hands on ball
1:00 rest

Medicine Ball Routine II:
3 rounds of:

20 x inclined sit-ups w/ vertical toss & catch
20 x sumo squats w/ backwards wall toss & catch
10/side x corkscrew
1:00 rest

Forearm Strength:

1:00 Dead man's hang
2:00 Dumbbell rope lift @ 10lb

9:00 exercise bike

Snatch, Pull, Squat

Warm-up:
10:00 Rowing Machine
Active Stretching

21-15-9:

Right Dumbbell Snatch @ 25lbs
Left Dumbbell Snatch @ 25lbs
Pull-ups
Total Time: ~15 minutes

First 31 pull-ups were rope-grip, after that I switched to regular pull-ups since my forearms couldn't hang on anymore.

SLS:

3 rounds of:
10/leg Single Leg Squats
10/leg Bulgarian Split Squats
10/leg Step-ups

Brumfis Pickup

Headed to Brumfis for a little run, some stretching, some good throwing and a couple of hours of pickup. Turnout was good despite the weather and we were able to run 6s or 7s for most of the time. The ground was frozen solid which made it extremely difficult to change direction and I really felt like I was being held on all my cuts (very strange). Anyway, I made some good throws and some bad, and at the very least, committed to running throughout, even if sharp changes in direction were difficult/dangerous.

Dirty Thirty

Warm-up:

1 mile @ 8.5 mph
Active Stretching

Dirty 30 for time:

30 x Box Jumps w/ 18-inch box
30 x Jump Pull-ups
30 x Kettlebell Swings w/ 25lb ball
30/leg x Lunges
30 x Knees-to-Elbows
30 x Push-Press w/ standard bar
30 x Back Extensions
30 x Wall Balls
30 x Burpees
30 x Kangaroo Jumps
Total Time: 9:20

10:00 Exercise bike

Planks:

1:00 forward plank
1:00 right side plank
1:00 left side plank

Fight Gone Bad

Warm-up:

1 mile @ 8.5 mph
Active Stretching

Fight Gone Bad:

3 rounds of:
1:00 Wall-ball, 20lb ball (reps) - 31, 26, 19
1:00 Sumo Deadlift, 75lbs (reps) - 24, 25, 24
1:00 Box Jumps, 20" box (reps) - 63, 63, 56
1:00 Push-press, 75 lbs (reps) - 26, 17, 15
1:00 Treadmill, 10mph & 7% incline (Calories) - 26, 26, 26
1:00 Rest
Total Points: 467

Scoring: One point for each rep except on the treadmill where each Calorie is one point.

I modified this workout from the Crossfit original such that, while I moved from one exercise to the next as fast as possible, I made sure to give a full minute for each exercise. During rounds 1 and 2, that ended up being about 10-15 seconds between exercises. In round 3 it was more like 20-25 seconds between exercises. I also substituted the treadmill for the rower since ours has a busted display. The treadmill is much harder, IMO, since its speed is constant and it doesn't care how much wind you're sucking.

Tabata Workout

Warm-up:

1 mile @ 8.5 mph
Active Stretching

Tabata Sets:
Push-ups:

38, 37, 31, 23, 15, 12, 10, 9

Overhead Squats w/ 35lb bar:

20, 18, 17, 16, 16, 14, 14, 15

KB Swings w/ 16lbs:

12, 12, 12, 11, 12, 12, 12, 12

Lunges (per leg):

8, 8.5, 8.5, 9, 9, 9.5, 9.5, 10

Core Strength:

3 rounds of:
10 x Horizontal Pull-ups
10 x Corkscrews w/ 25lb plate

Swiss Ball Core

Warm-up:

505 Calories at DDR (no way DDR Calories = real Calories)

Core Circuit:

20 x Swiss Ball Push-ups (hands on ball, feet on floor)
20 x Swiss Ball Crunches
20 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20 x Leg Raises w/ Ball bet. legs
20 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20 x Pike Bends w/ feet on ball
20 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20/side x Swiss Ball Side Crunches
20 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20/side x Windshield Wipers w/ Ball bet. legs
20 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20/side x Side Knee Tucks w/ feet on ball
20 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20 x Left Swiss Ball Side Bend
20 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20 x Right Swiss Ball Side Bend
20 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20 x Swiss Ball Back Extension, legs anchored, raise upper body
20 x Swiss Ball Push-ups
20 x Swiss Ball Back Extension, upper body anchored, raise legs

Red Fish Run

Warm-up:

4:52 run
Active Stretch

Tabata Sprints:

8 sets of :20 sprint, :10 rest

40/40s:

10 sets of 40 yard jog, 40 yard sprint
Total time: 3:58

Cool-down:

3:38 run
Walk around block

DDR Update:

Yesterday, rocking Difficult, I tallied up 431 Calories on the dance pad.

Deck of Cards

Warm-up:

Mel and I went for a quick run around the neighborhood and damn was it cold! We ran a pretty slow pace but threw in 3 hill sprints in the middle.
Total time: 7:24

Deck of Cards:

Spades = Burpees
Hearts = Mahlers
Diamonds = Push-ups
Clubs = Squats
Total Time: 20:51 (which sucked since I was shooting for sub 20)

My draw: 4S, 7D, AD, 7S, 5H, 7H, 3H, JD, QH, 4H, 6D, 6H, 8S, 10S, 8C, QC, JS, 2S, 9H, 3D, 2D, 9D, QD, 5C, AH, KS, 2H, 5S, 10H, 6S, JH, KS, 5D, KD, KH, 4D, 10D, 7C, QS, AC, 3S, AS, 3C, 2C, 9S, 6C, 8D, JC, 8H, 10C, 3C, 9C

Honorable Mention:

Just prior to this workout, I spent over an 1 hour playing DDR which equates to around 450 Calories according to the game's built-in calorimeter. After a solid week of playing, I can just about survive the Difficult level.