We will rock you

So apparently the brutality on my body of the half-marathon I ran last weekend was not quite enough for me. I felt like I needed a bit more.

photo courtesy of www.upa.org

Call it "cross training" if you will, as it certainly uses muscles that the nice, easy, forward motion of running does not.

I spent the weekend braving wet grass, collisions, fog and then enjoying a little bit of sun playing ultimate frisbee in a local tournament.

For those of you who have not experienced ultimate and the culture that surrounds it, I highly recommend it, though be prepared to be surprised. While deadly serious on the field, ultimate players are a raucous, rowdy, screaming, yelling, heckling, cheering, ranting, dancing, brawling, laughing crowd on the sidelines. It's literally two worlds, inexplicably and rather seamlessly melded into one as most of the noise on the sidelines is directed towards the players on the field and everyone — on field and off — is participating with heart and soul.

Largely inappropriate for children or the faint of heart, it's thrilling to be a part of the beast. Get down with it, or get lost, but if you're down with us, we're down with you without pause for your race, face, creed or greed. If you can handle a disc and be one with the dirt, you rock our world and that's just fine.

And by one with the dirt, for those of you who don't know, I mean be willing to eat it hard, twist, dodge, scramble, stretch with everything you've got to keep that spinning wheel of plastic from hitting the ground.

For a brief, here's ultimate in 10 simple rules from the Ultimate Players Association (UPA):

ULTIMATE IN 10 SIMPLE RULES

1. The Field: A rectangular shape with end zones at each end. A regulation field is 70 yards by 40 yards, with end zones 25 yards deep.
2. Initiate Play: Each point begins with both teams lining up on the front of their respective end zone line. The defense throws ("pulls") the disc to the offense. A regulation game has seven players per team.
3. Scoring: Each time the offense completes a pass in the defense's end zone, the offense scores a point. Play is initiated after each score.
4. Movement of the Disc: The disc may be advanced in any direction by completing a pass to a teammate. Players may not run with the disc. The person with the disc ("thrower") has ten seconds to throw the disc. The defender guarding the thrower ("marker") counts out the stall count.
5. Change of Possession: When a pass is not completed (e.g. out of bounds, drop, block, interception), the defense immediately takes possession of the disc and becomes the offense.
6. Substitutions: Players not in the game may replace players in the game after a score and during an injury timeout.
7. Non-contact: No physical contact is allowed between players. Picks and screens are also prohibited. A foul occurs when contact is made.
8. Fouls: When a player initiates contact on another player a foul occurs. When a foul disrupts possession, the play resumes as if the possession was retained. If the player committing the foul disagrees with the foul call, the play is redone.
9. Self-Officiating: Players are responsible for their own foul and line calls. Players resolve their own disputes.
10. Spirit of the Game: Ultimate stresses sportsmanship and fair play. Competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of respect between players, adherence to the rules, and the basic joy of play.

So that's what I did this weekend. WHAT DID YOU DO?

Muscles that I didn't remember I had are aching and my head still throbs slightly when I move too quickly, courtesy of the minor concussion I managed by a bid for the disc. The important thing you should know about ultimate injuries though can be explained by the following:

I caught the disc.

I got up and finished the point.

We scored the point.

Therefore, the concussion was worth it.

Seems crazy, but that's the way it is. If you can run or walk it off, we tend to. If you made an epic bid (which I did) and caught it, it was worth it. And if we can get up and keep playing, we do. Scary really.

Oh! One more thing: the best part about running like I do now is that I recover more quickly in ultimate. I've never had the endurance to finish 3 games in one day and still feel like I could keep playing, but this weekend I did. Unfortunately, it means you're a great deal more sore the next day...

Ciao for now,
kc

SUNDAY: 1.25 games of ultimate (I banged my head rather early during the second game)
SATURDAY: 3 games of ultimate (10 AM to 5 PM with 20 - 40 minute breaks between games)
FRIDAY (8/19): 3 mile hill run (fast!)
WEDNESDAY (8/18): 3 mile easy hill run
TUESDAY (8/17): 5 miles, flat recovery