Adarq.org

Yeah, not cool. I was on this plane: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/20/afghan-airline-crash-safety-criticism 18 hours before it became a smoldering pile of twisted metal in the mountains north of Kabul. Not the same kind of plane, not the same airline, the same physical aircraft that is now in pieces. And I flew over the same spot where it crashed, in the same shitty weather (foggy as crap, couldn't see anything out the window), with the same pilot.

My colleagues, that pilot, and the 41 other people on the plane the next morning, weren't so lucky. They still haven't found any bodies but funerals were held last Friday as soon as they spotted the wreckage from the air (too mountainous/weather too bad to do a proper ground search yet, last I checked).

@vag: The high risk of getting killed part wasn't awesome, but most of the time I felt totally safe. The awesome part was the people out there and the work that we do. It's good fucking work and I'm really proud to be part of it. Also, the place I was flying to/from is absolutely, stunningly beautiful.

Closest I came to a level 7 was some explosions when I was up in the mountains, but it was just people blasting rock to use for construction. Still, I was ready to make like Usain Bolt for about two seconds until I figured out what was going on. The guys I was with (both Afghans) made so much fun of me for getting spooked. Afghanistan is a crazy place but 99.99% of the people are just trying to live their life and get by. Most of the people carrying AK-47s, even, and they are everywhere, are just trying to do their job, not hurt anybody.

Haha, here I was thinking you were calling me a vag 

The flight was 13 hours to/from Dubai and 2.5 hours each way between Dubai and Kabul. Too god damn long to be on a plane.

Also, how did I miss that you touched 11-3? That's nuts!

Just signed up for summer league ultimate. Enough of the participants are regionals/nationals level (and even a worlds player here and there) to make things interesting, but my schedule for the summer changes a little bit. I can still make progress on my vert with the 1-2 games plus practice per week because the games are not super intense and usually there are plenty of subs so they shouldn't be too draining. Thinking medium-term, if I end up getting surgery in the fall (end of October?), that'll push me back even farther. But coming back from that I will focus on nothing other than rehab and then regaining whatever I have by then, then building from there. No ultimate for at least five or six months.

It's funny, I love ultimate but it's definitely postponing achieving my goal, which is kind of discouraging. Life, she is a bitch.

Here's what I think my weeks ought to look like starting the third week of June and going through the first week of August:

Sunday lower body: sprints + jumps + jump squats/heavy squats/light unilaterals + light conditioning (e.g. jump rope)
Monday upper body: bench/press/rows/pull-ups + core + light conditioning (e.g. jump rope)
Tuesday game
Wednesday lower body: jumps + jump squats/moderate squats
Thursday game
Friday rest
Saturday practice

A couple of those weeks will have tournaments on the weekend; in the case I'll just drop the Sunday workout, obviously. Starting today with the plan I set up the other day, I'll build my strength back up to a reasonable place and then the second week of August I'll do week of MSEM squats. And the third week of August will be spent at the beach, so that will be a rest week. Probably jog some, kayak some, play a bit of tennis, but nothing intense at all. When I get back, re-test.

Heavy will be 2-3x2-3; moderate will be 3-5x3-5 just to keep the groove, not pushing weights too much; light will be 2-3x8-10. Foam rolling most days, too, and joint circles in the morning. They feel good.

Also, I just got Lyle's new book Applied Nutrition for Mixed Sports. Super sweet. Time to renew my diet tracking to make sure I'm getting enough protein and veggies. Calories usually take care of themselves, but I need to make sure I'm up over 170g of protein per day.