I'll follow up the discussion of my past few days with an obligatory 'frisbee' post for those of you keeping score over at Idris' new http://www.ultimatetalk.com, the latest greatest in frisbee. It's like a metablog. Jesus, I'm a nerd, and all my friends are nerds.
don't deny it. (save yourself the 'what friends post'.)
Anyway, lite week... (i'm going with a 7 day week, since i've been off the air waves). Last thursday at a school sponsored raise money for the hurricane (32K) i did 6 x 7:20. Friday, was just a 6 x 8 minute miles. Saturday and Sunday were race, and sleep. (and at the races, I coach/ play inane walky talky pranks on the other coaches). So rest days. Monday, 6.5 x 8, then tuesday 6 x 8 min (yes repetetive, but I've not had time to leave campus for the longer runs up in the mountains... more to follow), then today, mile repeats, (warmup, then 3 at 6:15, :18, :05). Not so hot, but ya know...
The team: Boys currently #10 in state (polls), girls #7. The guys will move up. The girls might. Our #1 guy ran 5 intervals today, the last were 4:48 and 4:42, I think. Top freshman, 2nd race, 16:40. So, we'll see.
The week: Hellish. 6am-9pm, last night, then 2 hours work at home. Tues, til 9. Monday, til 9. Sunday no work. Saturday, 12 plus hours for a bus ride. And got back to find my bike stolen. To be fair, I thought my ipod was stolen, and then found it in a shoe 3 months later. So although I've told the cops, I'll keep my eyes open, check shoes, etc. Brand new pedals, too.
Anyway, long hours, tons of work, no time to eat... i'm bushed.
I'm going to skate out, and just let the chips fall where they may tommorrow (i mean, i got some stuff to do, just not the brilliant lesson plan i really like to bring to the table). That is, it's a potluck, and I'm going KFC. It's safe, it's not like i'm coming empty handed, but It's not like i brought the beer.
Although I guess that's a bad analogy for a high school teacher talking about lesson plans.
OK, FRISBEE CORNER.
Longevity, Training, Winning. Wow. This deserves a lot of time. But I think.
1) Old people quit because
a) They don't have the energy. They don't have time or whatever to train. I think Doo helped keep some of the boston guys going. He also helped me get Dylan back after a cheap shot. Classy.
b) They don't like young guys game style. The last thing an old guy wants is to play 'the big open high turnover game.' Yes, chicks dig the long ball. Go have fun at potlatch. My point? As each old guy is replaced by a younger guy, a team's game becomes more and more wide open, more turnover prone... etc.
it's like Elway reportedly said (see ESPN Page 2 for more), for old quarterbacks, by the time the game is starting to slow down for them because of head, the body is letting them down...
The next question is... what is old. The answer is, I'm not sure, but I know it's older than me. By a lot.
Tommorrow, easy 4-6 mile run and weights (me, i'm starting to train for skiing now), and friday depart for a 'fun' race (no, i don't run it, it's still a HS race).
That's all from Frisbee corner... I might edit it and see the refresh capabillities. Now that the blogosphere has a 'top posting' aspect. I wonder... How long until Idris has to moderate? Is there a 'b-blogosphere' around that we don't know about? Where did my bike go?
ps.
2) There is no 2.
3 comments:
i might start moderating just so people don't feel their posts _have_ to be frisbee related. since most don't have a categorized blog yet, that might be the way to go. if i turn moderation on it just sends me an email asking me to approve, so not a big deal. as it stands it pulls once an hour.. moderating would just delay that during non-business hours.
You know, you do lose something as you get older. It's not simply that you don't have as much time or energy to train as you did when you were younger and more care-free, but that it takes more time and energy and careful eating and proper recovery to get to close to the physical condition you were once in, and even then, you're subject to the whims of life. At this point, what might have been a minor injury at age 30 is now a career ender.
And this whole older thread doesn't even include the whole family way. There are a couple of stages in that. First you start with the girlfriend. Then that evolves into a long-time girlfriend. As you both get older, she may start to want more of your time. Then, if you get married, that is the next step. Now she feels she has a more legitimate call for you time. The final step is children. Now family really has ownership on your time. You can get away with it with one kid, but once you move past the first kid, it gets REALLY hard.
I have been fortunate to have been playing high-level ultimate while raising now 4-yr old twins. Interestingly enough, I have probably played some of my perceived best/most efficient (here defined as fewest turnovers, which probably also corresponds with fewer long throws as the newer players are not as aware that I actually used to throw long, and the built in long cut isn't there) ultimate at nationals the last few years. However, the demands/sacrifices to be able to continue playing have been tough. This was the first season that I was actually unable to attend a few tournaments that I WANTED to attend for one family related reason or another. And that has been very difficult for me. And somehow I doubt that pendulum is going to swing the other way.
Basically, I guess I'm saying that if you really want to continue playing elite as long as possible, stay single. I think my situation has been the exception to the rule, and that has been with a very understanding wife, who is becoming less understanding. I would be interested to know how many other elite players (fine, players who play elite, they don't have to be elite, didn't mean to assume...) are playing full-time with two children, more than a single season.
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