Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #1021 - First Ultimate in the Northwest

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #1021 - First Ultimate in the Northwest

Hi Mom,

So, I went out to pick up Ultimate today, Sunday, April 22nd, for the first time since I moved to the PACNW.

If I was smarter, I would have taken pictures at pick up. Maybe next time.

I am writing this post on the next day, Monday, and I am incredibly sore. I can barely lift my right leg. But then, I did not finish my post Monday, so now it's Tuesday. After some Ibuprofen at bed time, I am much better today. I really allowed myself to suffer much of Monday, but maybe it's good for me. I got up out of the office chair more often to walk around and loosen up the stiffening muscles.

So, playing...

First of all, I wore a lot of KUDL gear. I have to represent. The "Game of Throws" stuff are among the coolest things I have from my years in KUDL, even if they are the most recent.

I was not super nervous going. Actually, I was more nervous before my first Code and Learn meet up, before SQL Saturday, or the Start Up weekend than going to Ultimate.

Still, I had no idea of the skill level of the players. I was concerned that it would be tons of super fast guys with amazing throwing skills. I was happy to find out that my throwing skills fit right in. And the mean age for the group was trending older, so I also did not feel out classed by a lot of younger guys.

That said, after the first point, I was extremely winded. I have done some interval running and a lot of walking with the dogs since moving here in August, but since playing the KUDL 2017 summer tournament literally the day before I left for the west, I have not done any significant running or cardio. I have been wanting to get out on my bike, but I haven't. And the running with the dogs was, as I have noted, interval running, so I did not sustain the pace for long.

However, I know how to pace myself in Ultimate. I know how to conserve energy. I know how to get rest during and in between points, and I put the priority on running harder with defense. Even so, I got scored on and could not run as much as I would like.

The group grew slowly, and Ultimate Time is observed in the "'Couve" as I see it called. By the time the games started in force, we had 17, so three subs. This pick up game forms teams that you stay with for the duration of the game, and they play three games to seven, though we played the third game to five as several people left after game two. Stupidly, I forgot to bring a light shirt with my dark shirt, so I was on dark team the whole time. The "flip" they perform to start is for teams. First person to flip calls the side and color; for instance, tails is dark. Then all the other players flip. I assume adjustments are made if the disc flips tails 8 of 12 times or something so as to even up teams.

From the start, maybe more due to rust than nerves, I threw it away and dropped it. My first drop was epic, though, as the throw was low, so I stumbling forward and lost my footing and ended up falling over because I let my center of gravity shoot to my head.

But then as I started to feel comfortable and manage my out-of-breathedness, I made some good throws and one particularly great catch, trapping the disk against my neck and shoulder as I bobbled it. And then, I threw a score from deep, about two-thirds of the field, and I started to feel more comfortable.

I was rewarded when in a discussion with one of the players about the leagues in Portland, he told me that I was "too good for rec league."

It's a good group of guys of varying skill levels, and I am going to try to remember all their names for next time: Mugsy, Canute, Brice, Ron, Rob, Bob, Chuck, Paul, Dobbin, Andrew, Anthony, Jared, Chris, Bradley, Will, and one guy whose name is lost to memory degradation unless my original count was wrong.

I am eager to play again. They play Thursdays and Sunday. We'll see if I am ready to play again Thursday or if I am free of family stuff on Sunday again.

Happy to get back into Ultimate and even happier that I am going to be able to play and match up well with opponents in this group at least.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Reflect and connect.

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you, Mom.

I miss you so very much, Mom.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Days ago = 1023 days ago

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1804.22 - 10:10

NEW (written 1708.27) NOTE on time: I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of your death, Mom, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of your death, Mom. I know this only matters to me, and to you, Mom.