Winter Training Thoughts

As Ultimate players from New England, we all know the drill when it comes to the winter season. You run on indoor tracks, lift weights, throw on basketball courts and dream of the sunny days during which you can actually lace up your cleats and feel the grass. As a college player I think that winter break is one of the biggest challenges that the season holds. After the exhilaration of creating the foundation for the team comes the strange feeling of being detached from your new teammates and your school. While my personal experiences with winter break have always been a little bit frustrating (as is expected), I've never felt a considerable road block when working out alone. This year is going to be a bit more of a challenge for me. During the fall my formerly independent training habits changed, and I found myself gravitating towards my teammates when it came time to hit the gym. Now I am facing a winter season where I'm flying solo for the most part again. This undertaking has led me to consider how winter break shapes the individual.

While there are multiple ways to think about how winter affects us (strength training, injury recovery, etc),  I think that the independent perseverance that winter training relies on is hard to ignore. The autonomy that we (ideally) foster during the "pre-season" can pay significant dividends later. As non-varsity college athletes, we all have different schedules and don't have the luxury of meeting up with each other 5 to 6 days a week . Therefore, at least part of our training relies on our own ability to initiate action. Winter is a chance to build this skill. If we, as players, can successfully put in the solo time while not at school, then it will come naturally when we need to function semi-independently in the spring.  In past years I have thought about my winter training as a physical preparation for the coming season, but the ability to mentally prepare is becoming more apparent to me this year.

Just a thought that's been in my head as the winter begins. Happy holidays.

- GB

Getting Huge

This morning, 19 E-men went over to Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning in Haverhill, MA to work with the legendary Tim Morrill. After some brief introductions and talking about ultimate training, we got into warm ups. A bit of foam rolling and a few plyos later, and we began to hit the weights. We learned some basics about cleans, and listened to some killer jams while practicing form, until nearly everyone could set up when Tim shouted out. Next up, single leg squats, all together. We had learned this one before thanks to DH and JTT, but getting that low was a bit of a shock to the system for us all. For our final sets, we did two tri-sets of three workouts, with everyone working hard to get their swell on. Once we finished that, Tim had a bit of a treat for us, as we plowed through the gym with sleds, going for speed and for power. It was nearly everyone's favorite part of the day, and though one team won the race, everyone won for fun.

After the sleds, we talked a bit more, thanked Tim for his help, and gave him a dank fresh new disc. If I were a betting man, I'd wager on us seeing quite a bit more of him this upcoming season, as we try to increase the athleticism of the team. Big up to Tim and his ultimate workouts; you all should check out his facebook, twitter, or youtube to see some of the stuff we did. The dude's an expert, and it was awesome working with him. Quite the day to see the squids in the weight room, but it was awesome working out with the other dudes who are psyched for the upcoming season.

-AC