Go Goalie, Go

Three and a half months ago, after a bitter bitter loss in the league playoffs, I found UGT 3.0 VIP and signed up, vowing to do everything within my power not to feel like that ever again. My track record with workout programs for the year prior to that wasn't the best- I'd start out with great intentions and a week later I'd find all kinds of excuses and reasons not to get my butt out of bed and into the gym. But this program seemed different. There were interactive elements to it that I thought would help with not only my motivation, but my accountability. The way I felt about this program was similar to the way I felt when I first started playing goal: I was absolutely, positively determined not to sabotage myself. And it's been very difficult at times, but it's paying off. I can feel a big difference on the ice, and quite honestly off it as well. I'm about 3-4 weeks behind the rest of the group that started at the same time as me, but I've had a tournament each month since starting that I've had to work around. I just completed Phase 3 and am about to start Phase 4, when I get back from vacation and the upcoming tournament this weekend.

This program is designed for professionals. It's progressive, the workouts are long (60-90 minutes), basically, it's hard. There have been times when I've wondered if I'm being ridiculous, a late 30's beer leaguer with a full time job trying to keep up with (very much younger) guys who have nothing to do but train all day and be in great shape for training camp. At one point I even emailed Maria, asking how I'd know if the program was just too hard for me. She said it's only too hard if you don't make the time for it and keep your commitment to it. Well, ok then. That little flame of self-doubt squelched, I banked on my competitiveness and pushed on. When I did the final workout in Phase 3 I felt triumphant. As I tweeted, I really thought that phase would be the death of me. I was really dragging, and in desperate need of some recovery days. Fortunately, that's when my vacation started. It's been several days of complete sluggy bliss, lounging about on the beach, reading, just being flat out lazy. Imagine my surprise when, in the midst of my best impression of a slug, I got an email from Maria informing me that she had chosen me as this month's "All Star".  I was flabbergasted. Of the hundreds of athletes she trains, and of those God knows how many are pros, she chose me??? I read the email out loud to my husband and brother-in-law (who happened to be sitting right there). I told my sister and my cousin. I may have squealed a little.

This morning was the end of my recovery period. I had a body-weight workout all ready to go, my clothes laid out to jump right into and get going. When I rolled over to shut off the alarm on my clock I saw it - the email going out to everyone, with the article about... me! Tough to beat that for motivation. I was out there on the porch, facing the water, kicking my own ass. I'll be at it again Friday morning, too. I have a tournament to play in this weekend, and I'm playing in the highest division. Behind 8 skaters. I'm going to need all the help I can get. Go goalie, go.

Fighting MS in Vermont - Part 2

After our 2-1 win and visit to the ice cream Mecca, we gathered again for our second game of the day. The sign in sheet had us listed as "away", and I distinctly remember asking the girl at the desk "That means we're dark, right?" She confirmed. Then I saw the name of the team we were playing. I'm not the only one who noticed it. Several other people in the locker room commented on it, and quipped that we might want to give the refs a heads-up, since this team apparently likes to body check them. Pants relayed some commentary she overheard while walking through the parking lot. Oh boy, we thought, here we go again.

And then we walked out of the locker room, in our dark jerseys, and the ref was standing there telling us to go back in and change, because the other team only had dark. Ok... this wasn't something they could come and tell us BEFORE we all got dressed? I mean, if you're a team with only one jersey, fine, I get it, but wouldn't you check with the other team in order to avoid a giant clusterfuck? It has definitely happened before, in fact it happened in our first game. They only had powder blue and asked what color we were, to make sure it wouldn't be confusing. Not exactly the most difficult concept in the world. 

So, we were a little miffed at being told just before getting on the ice, to go back and change. Then someone said "What about our socks? Do we have to change those too?" Everyone looked at me. They all know that, given the choice, I'd rather have all dark or all light socks in front of me, and all socks of the opposite side of the spectrum on the other. It's not a huge deal, but it definitely makes a difference. When you're primarily looking down, especially if you're down on the ice already, what you see are socks. When you see socks of one color or the other you know if it's a teammate or not. Is it a huge deal? No. Have I played a million games of open hockey and beer league games where everyone's socks are all different colors? Yes. But in this league, everyone's jerseys and socks tend to match, so that is what I am used to. However, I wasn't about to make a big deal out of it. With all of them looking at me expectantly, I kind of shrugged. I know changing your socks is an enormous pain in the ass, and I didn't feel like I wanted to ask that of everyone. The decision however, was taken out of my hands. Someone spoke up and told the refs to tell them if they want us to change, they have to wait for us to change our socks too. As we were in the locker room changing, a tournament person came in and said they were wearing light socks. The Captain made a split second decision and told everyone to put their socks in a pile - the other team could wear them. 

Looking back, it's a little silly. But clearly it was more gamesmanship than anything else. The Captain explained to the tournament rep that we have a history with this team, and told her about the game where one of their players checked a ref. She explained that if they were going to wait and then make us change, they could change too. By now, I was feeling like an idiot, because no less than three players had sliced their fingers open trying to get their socks off over their skates, one of them pretty badly. But I wasn't the one who had made the decision. Anyway, back out we went, onto the ice. I had just stepped onto the ice from the bench when I turned around and saw one of the opponents standing on our bench, addressing the few of us that were there. 

"I don't understand, what's the reason we all had to change our socks?" she asked. Someone explained that our goalie wants us to all have the same socks. We thought she honestly had come over to ask, so we answered. But the next few things she said made it clear she was there purely to give us a hard time. She started giving us an attitude about the socks. I asked her what took them so long to tell us about the dark jerseys. She huffed and said "We don't know you! We don't know what kind of jerseys you have!" I asked her if it was really that hard to ask. A couple people started talking at once, and one player told her to leave. She then demanded  in a very pissy voice "Where's your goalie?" I'd been standing no more than two feet in front of her, talking to her the entire time, so I opened my arms wide and said "Uhhhh, right here." She said something again about the socks and I, like an idiot, tried to explain. She said, as she turned to leave "Well then you should be a better fucking goalie". Since I never have been the queen of the comeback, I very wittily told her to go fuck herself. 

Were we a little obnoxious about the socks? Yeah, I can admit that now. But not without reason. Did they have to send someone over to our bench before the game to bitch us out? Well, I guess we shouldn't have been surprised. Initially, I was really steamed, but I took a few breaths and told myself not to let it get to me, and concentrated on kicking some ass. Imagine my delight when the final buzzer went off and I had stopped every single one of their shots. I couldn't stop thinking "Clearly I need to be a better goalie. I just shut you bitches out". Unfortunately in the handshake line I couldn't identify the one who'd come over to spout off at us. We didn't win- it was a 0-0 tie, but we still shut them down just the same. I've never had a shutout feel sweeter. 

Our Sunday morning game turned out to be the championship game. The way the tournament was organized, in our division, there was no actual "championship game". The winner was to be decided on a basis of points. But by Sunday morning, it was clear that whoever won our game would win the tournament. And they were just a step faster than we were. We hung in there for most of the game, with the score tied at 2, but in the last few minutes they just really turned it on and we ended up losing 4-2. I didn't even beat myself up over it though- I know I played damn well. We all did. We were just slightly outmatched.

All bullcrap aside, it was a great tournament, and we had a great time. I haven't even written about the fantastic awesomeness that was the Beer Festival... but really what is there to say except that I tried A LOT of beers and even loved some of them, but as luck would have it, I misplaced the program where I made all my notes. I'm actually kind of peeved about that. Anyone on the team will tell you I'm a huge beer aficionado (ok, snob) and I was very much looking forward to trying a lot of quality beers I'd never had. I can tell you though, that my favorite by far was Heady Topper. I was in that line no less than three times. And it was a pretty long line.

Right now I'm on vacation, but we are back on the ice fighting the good fight this coming weekend - this time in Bethlehem, PA. And this time, we're bringing THREE teams. Heads up, bitches. Here come the Quarry Cats. 

Fighting MS in Vermont - Part 1

It's not every day your team makes it onto a newscast. But then again, it's not every day your team gets a chance to help raise money for MS research. This year the QCats brought two teams to the Hockey Fights MS tournament held in South Burlington, Vermont, and I was fortunate to be one of the goalies. I was very excited about it, not just because of the location (and, as luck would have it, the beer fest going on that weekend), but also because a good friend of mine was recently diagnosed with MS.

It was quite a drive but it was so worth it. It was a typical tournament schedule: one game on Friday, two on Saturday, one on Sunday. But given the duration of the drive to get there (between 5 and 6 hours, depending on traffic), many of us decided to head up a day early. We seem to always do poorly in the first game of a tournament, and most of us are pretty sure that's due to the "road legs" we all have from the long drive to get there. So, on a Thursday morning in the middle of a heat wave, The Mayor and I hit the road. The further we got into the Adirondacks, the more beautiful the scenery got. We had the extra treat of taking a ferry to cross Lake Champlain from NY to VT. It was easy to find- all we had to do was follow the "Jesus car" signs:

Even though it was one more night to pay for in a hotel, it turned out to be a really good idea to head up early. When we got there, we had plenty of time to relax. We parked ourselves in the Captain's room, and as people arrived they drifted in and before long we had a typical QCat party in full swing.

Our games weren't until Friday evening, so we had a full day to explore the beauty of Vermont. Most of the team went on a three hour schooner ride, on a gorgeous wooden sailboat. They tried and tried to get me to join them, and as much as I love the water in general, and sailing in particular, the prospect of spending three hours in the blazing sun on a 95 degree day did not appeal to me in the least. Even with all my teammates and a cooler full of refreshments. I knew I made the right choice, but I was pretty bummed out when everyone was gone and I was left to my own devices. I had brought a book and intended to spend a few hours reading by the pool, but as luck would have it, when I went out to replenish our cooler ice, I ran into someone from another team with whom we're all friendly.  She mentioned that she and some friends were heading out to take a tour of the Magic Hat brewery, which was only minutes away. It couldn't have worked out more perfectly.  To be honest, at first I said no, because aaaaaahhh people I don't know. But I told myself to knock it off and take her up on the offer, and I was glad I did. We visited not only Magic Hat, but another brewery, Fiddlehead, at which I bought a mini growler of Double IPA to bring home for the hubs.

Given that most of the team was out on their booze cruise, I was a little worried about the game Friday night. As a twitter friend pointed out, dehydration and heat stroke would probably make for a pretty busy game for me. I needn't have worried. I had three shots. And regrettably, one goal. Games like those are actually extremely difficult, because keeping your focus is a real challenge (as you can tell by that abysmal GAA).

Friday night was a pretty tame night, because we all had early games on Saturday morning, and my team's first game was in a rink a half an hour away. (In the middle of a cornfield. I shit you not.) It was a much more even affair, and we came away with a 2-1 win. With only two hours between the end of that game and the beginning of the next, we high-tailed it out of there so we had time to hit the Ben & Jerry's factory on the way back to the other, closer, rink. There wasn't enough time for a tour, but there was plenty of time to enjoy some delicious ice cream.

(I'm the one in the vulgar t-shirt. And championship hat.)

It turned out to be pretty good pre-game fuel, despite my reservations about having a belly full of dairy product before a game. Of course, the fire in my belly from the nonsense that went on before the game probably had a lot more to do with my overall performance. As luck would have it, we were matched up against a team we'd faced in a tournament earlier this year, one that played dirty, and had a player who, coming out of the penalty box at the end of the game, actually checked one of the refs.  We should have known we were in for some drama when the passive aggressive commentary started out in the parking lot when two of our players passed two of theirs. Were we entirely innocent in the shenanigans that followed? Probably not. But we decided to give back to them a little of what they gave to us. 

How I lost my coffee privileges (and how I'll win them back)

There's nothing I like more on my way to work than a nice hot cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee. Especially after a workout (which is probably horrible for you but oh well). Unfortunately for the next 30 days I will have to forgo that particular pleasure, because I have to keep a promise to myself.

Last month when I started UGT, I expressed concern that I wouldn't stick with it. That I'd get going real good and then just flop. Maria suggested I set a goal, and also define something I'd sacrifice if I didn't meet the goal. So, I said I'd do the whole month of workouts, and if I didn't, no Dunkin on my way to work, for a month. I know. I heard you gasp. (But I didn't say no Dunkin, ever. Just clarifying).

As I mentioned yesterday, I fell short of that goal. In reality what I meant was get through the whole month without slacking, but that's not what I said. And I completely forgot a out the tournament when I was making that proclamation. So... no Dunks for me for the next month.

So now I have the chance to win it back. Here's my goal for this month, right here on the Internet where I can't back out of it. I will do the complete month of workouts- if for some reason I miss one I will make it up before moving on to the next phase. Barring major health issues though, I'm only giving myself 3 extra days. What I don't want is to end up 7 weeks later still derping along, not finished with 4 weeks worth of workouts. This stuff is progressive, so taking too long kind of defeats the purpose.

Setting the alarm for 5 a.m. #gogoaliego #accountability

Tales from the parking lot

I needed to get out of the office for a bit, so here I am in my car, chilling in the spring air. I expect this to last approximately 3 minutes before the pollen chases me back inside.

As you probably could have guessed by the lack of posts, the tournament didn't go too well. We won our second game by a landslide, beating the other "sacrificial lamb" team 10-0. Our final game was against a very tough opponent and it was a great game, in spite of the fact that we lost. There's a lot to be said for three periods of good hard battle, that is also not nasty. Just good old hockey, no b.s. And it was a much more respectable score as well: 4-2. This meant no game on Sunday, which was a major bummer, but we made the most of being in vacation land.

Now I'm back in the real world, doing the corporate grind again. The less said about work, though, the better. Today I'm patting myself on the back a little, after finishing Phase One of UGT 3.0. I went the whole month without missing any workouts due to slacking, and I am really proud of that. Seriously, that is a huge accomplishment for me, the Queen of Slack. I did miss a few though, two because of the tournament and one because I w ole up feeling like complete ass one day and decided it would be smarter to give my body the rest. Not quite my goal of doing all of them, but much, much better than I have been historically . Tomorrow I start Phase Two. I'm looking forward to it but I'm also a little nervous. There are more exercises in these workouts that involve the cable columns, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little intimidated going over there. The cable columns seem to be Meathead Territory, and my toe-shoe-wearing, unconventional-exercise-doing self doesn't really fit in. But who cares right? I'm there for me. And as much as I worry about what people think about me, I'm pretty sure they're a lot busier looking at themselves in the mirrors. At least that's what I tell myself. That said, I will definitely retreat to the relative safety of the more female dominated "ab area" to do anything remotely resembling a glute bridge. Every time I do those I think of the guy in this cartoon*:

* This is from a great poster The Oatmeal did... unfortunately the link to the full comic doesn't seem to work, so in the interest of full credit, it's on this page 

Day One wrap-up

A day that began with a mercy-kill shellacking ended with the Rangers clinching a playoff berth with a marvelous overtime goal by none other than Captain Cally. That dude is clutch. Since NBC was broadcasting a completely meaningless game in the "road to the playoffs", we Ranger fans resorted to finding a live stream online to watch a game that actually mattered. Two or three people were clustered around Spitfire's laptop, and with cheering that erupted with that overtime goal, you'd have thought it was an actual playoff game. But since we were all pretty much certain the Rangers' playoff chances would come down to the very last game - against the Devils - we were elated to have that monkey off our backs.

I know.... I'm not here to write about the Rangers. But that game, even the 10 minutes of it that we saw, was much more interesting to write about than our own.  We are in the unfortunate position of having been bumped up to a tier I'm not entirely sure we belong in, after last year's win. One would think you'd at least be allowed the chance to defend your title before being moved up a division,  but when you look at the fact that there are only 3 other teams in Tier 1, I suppose they had to move us in order to get four teams in the tier. I don't think the rest of the games are going to be this bad (God, I hope not), but yesterday was pretty painful. They were just everywhere. We were down 6-1 at the end of the first period, and managed to stop the bleeding for the most part in the 2nd and 3rd, but by then it was too late. They scored another goal in the 2nd (two, actually, but one was waved off because the net had come off), so with a 6 goal differential going into the 3rd, we went to running time. That, for me, was a blessing. I'm not sure how many shots I had. And with that many goals you can imagine how I feel about my game. All I know is by the time we got off the ice I could barely stand and was weak with low blood sugar. Poutine's husband told me "you played triple the game you usually play". Still, it didn't feel too good to lose like that. We did manage to get one more in the 3rd, but they came right back with a few of their own. The official score was 8-2. The actual score was 10-2. Ouch.

After the game, Flipper was in the rink bar and a guy walked up to her and said "You're #29, right? You have an A on your jersey?" Besides being slightly creeped out by this complete stranger's ability to recognize her out of her gear, she stayed long enough to hear him tell her that the other team had one former Olympian, a couple Division 1 players, and a couple UNH players. I'm not sure how much stock I'd put in that information from some random creeper at the bar, but it sure does make us feel better about the beating we took.

Right now it's slug-ville at our condo. Pretty soon I have to get my butt in gear and work on my stretching/mobility though. I've been keeping right on schedule with my training, but this vacation has thrown a bit of a monkey wrench into it. I had it all planned out; even though I was going to be away, I'd do some body-weight workouts to keep myself going. Except then I looked at the schedule and realized all our games are at 2pm (ish). I asked Maria if I should be doing workouts in the morning with a game that early in the day and she said no, probably not. I said I didn't want to get behind on my training, and she said "don't forget we train to win- so go and win some games". Duh. I had to laugh at myself. As dedicated as I am to this training program I completely forgot the whole purpose. So I guess I can give myself a few days off if it means I'll be better prepared for the games. Certainly don't need to deplete my energy stores, if the games are going to be like they were yesterday.

Today's opponent: Mass Attack. Yeah. All the teams in this tier are from MA. We're gonna need all the help we can get.

Just sayin'