Recovery
Modeling our awesome new jerseys before the first game. That grass was unbelievably soft.
As you read this, I’d like you to take a deep breath. Feels good, doesn’t it? Let it out and take another. Let that one out, and this time take a deep breath and hold it. Hold it just a little longer. A little longer… Now, don’t let it out and try to take another deep breath.
That didn’t feel nearly as good, did it? You’ve just experienced a little of how it feels to sprint a mile above sea level.
This past weekend I played with GrandMaster Flash at Masters Nationals on the gorgeous fields of Aurora Sports Park in Aurora, Colorado. We played two games on Friday, three on Saturday and one final game Sunday morning, and ended up with a 2-4 record. We had a chance to win every game, even against a couple of really solid teams, but more importantly enjoyed being out there again after the pandemic break.
Let’s recap a couple of points about ultimate. Each point is played with 7 players per team. In this tournament, games were to 15, with a time cap at around 90 minutes. There was a 10-minute halftime when a team reached 8 points. And each team had 2 timeouts per half.
The maximum roster size allowed is 28 people, and most teams brought close to that number. GMF did not - we brought 14, which had to be the smallest roster at the tournament.
The benefit of bringing more players is obvious - you have lots of subs so and can keep people fresh. The benefit of a smaller roster is that you gel much quicker since you are playing with the same people point after point.
However, this was our first tournament after a year and a half and it was at altitude in 90-degree heat. Fitness was going to play a part.
So, did my training pay off? Was it worth all the sprinting and running with a twenty pound vest? The short answer is “yes”.
The first point at altitude always feels the same, like someone has replaced your lungs with baby-sized versions. It’s not that it’s hard to breathe, it’s that your usual breathing doesn’t seem to bring in any oxygen. It shocks your body, but more importantly it messes with your head. Your mind panics a bit and you need to overcome the feeling of needing to breathe even harder.
I was fortunate in the second point of our first game to actually have to break into a full sprint to chase someone on defense. The first few steps my brain tried to tell me to stop and just breathe, but then I realized I was keeping up with the other player and even prevented him from getting the disc. That flipped a switch and I was able to turn off the panic and replace it with confidence.
During the second game I realized I was adjusting faster than some of my teammates, so I told my captains I could stay on for multiple points if needed and was told to play as much as I wanted. I played in chunks of 4 or 5 points and was able to maintain speed and stamina with little trouble. This allowed my teammates to get breaks as they needed.
The even better part was that one days 2 and 3, everyone seemed to be acclimated and I no longer had to play as many points (though sometimes I still did for the fun of it).
The key to this was recovery: I could reset my breathing and get my heart rate down between points with just a handful of deep breaths. In fact, I think I was recovering faster this weekend than I have at almost any point in my playing career. And that was all due to focusing on getting my VO2 max up during training.
Ok, so I could recover, but how about my legs? That’s a lot of running. Around 8 miles on Friday, well over 10 on Saturday and about 5 on Sunday.
In the past, I would wake up on day 2 and be pretty slow moving and achy. But not this weekend - I felt great until Sunday morning when my hips became a bit tight. But my leg muscles all felt great (and still do) through it all. The only issue was I tweaked my left knee a little and had to wear a brace day 2 and 3.
But, I felt little soreness and was able to play at the same level all three days once I warmed up. I’m very excited about this, and look forward to continuing the training protocols I used this time for future tournaments.
