They think it’s all over, it is now.

Well, after months or even years building up to the World Championships in Japan, it’s all over.

Unfortunately no bling to show for it, but I do instead have some nice GB kit, a NZ shirt I traded for after our final game, a catalogue of photos, amazing memories, and lastly some Japanese chopsticks with my nickname on courtesy of my best friend.

For anyone who hasn’t been, a World Championship is a wonderful thing. It is also a lot of hard work. There is something special though about the feeling of entering into competition and treating yourself like an athlete for a whole week though. The 6am wake-ups, warming up, cooling down, ice baths, eating whenever you can, sleeping as much as you can, isn’t the most glamorous lifestyle however there is something for that feeling of playing on pristine grass fields, having spectators/friends/family cheering you on, and trying to do your very best to represent your country on the World stage.

The pristine grass fields

GB Women 2012

So thanks to everyone that lent a hand, has inspired myself and others for who you are, has shared a beer, who has coached, or have played with over the years, and to Align Chiropractic for keeping me in one piece. It’s all thanks to you.

But it doesn’t stop there. It never does. Several things are happening:

Brighton has its very first draft league: http://budl.webs.com/

Brighton Women finished 4^th and 16th overall in Tour: http://www.ukultimate.com/club_ultimate/womens_division/results/2012

Brighton Women also have UK Nationals in Southampton coming up on the 25/26^th August: http://www.ukunationals.org/

Lastly, if, and only if Brighton Women come in the Top 2, then we would qualify for European Club finals, which we have never been anywhere near, so that’s just exciting in itself: http://www.ultimatefederation.eu/club-champs/tournaments-2012/eucr-w.php

It’s been a great year, thanks all for reading. Maybe I’ll continue blogging, who knows, but this is the end of this journey to Worlds ;). If you want to pick my mind or ask me to write about anything in particular, just comment or get in touch.

PS: Some highlights: https://picasaweb.google.com/100907546823245513878/JapanHighlights?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDxhrLZ5I6Efg

Ultimate Frisbee World Championship - One week to go!

Everything is at a high right now.

Firstly, our Brighton Women's team competed at Tour 2 last weekend, sending 2 teams once again. Our first team accompished the season goal of being Top 4, but didn't stop there. We raised the bar and for the first time ever Brighton Women were in a Tour final, against the top team in the country Iceni! It was a great accomplishment for us, and a pleasure to play Iceni. We now know what to aspire to, and I hope that it will have given all the players on our squad the drive to always raise the bar and achieve more. Photo post-final:

Next, is the fact that the World Championships has crept up! After 9 moths of a GB selection process and then months of weight, plyometric and sprint training, plus countless training sessions and weekends away (usually involving driving up and down the country to train with the rest of the GB Women) and finally it is time to board the plane to the World Championships which only comes around once every 4 years.

The final trip to the gym was almost nostalgic. I reminisced on the first time I went in, not knowing what a split squat or single-leg deadlift was, and had looked around apprehensively at the seasoned gym-goers. There was definitely some pride in what had been achieved in those months (thanks coach Jools for our fitness program). One gym go-er kindly commented on me being 'strong' and asked "Are you an athlete?". This made me smile, and I answered "Kind of, I'm training for my sport". I then went on to explain what Ultimate frisbee was, and he was facinated, especially at the level of training involved.

On top of working a 9-5 job, this 'season' training for the Great Britain Women's Ultimate Frisbee team has been a glimpse of the life of a professional athlete. Particularly the taking care of your body aspect. Eating healthily, sleeping well, being busy almost every day with something for training.

I realised the importance and benefits of things like icing swollen muscles, dynamic warm-ups, and stretching. My sponsors at Align Chiropractic, who I saw once a week, kept me in good shape. Treating niggles, loosening my joints after strenuous weight sessions or weekend trainings, and ensuring my back was kept in line and stable so it could continue to undergo the training program to get me to this point. Thank you so much Align!

Today with a couple of GB team-mates, we made the trip to Paris, alongside Julien Benneteau (who was heading home after his 5 set dramatic loss to Roger Federer), which in itself was inspiring. We drove around the Arc de Triomphe, and threw frisbees under the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

Tomorrow, with a couple of team-mates we board the plane to Osaka, Japan. We are going in to the tournament as 7th seed, but have hopes of putting all our training into action and coming back with some 'bling'. We are very excited to get to play the best teams in the world, including teams such as USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, and to rematch against Germany, who we lost to at the European Championships in 2011.

Excitement is at a high. Between team-mates we are sending out last minute motivational quotes, must-pack items, things to see in Japan, and there is a huge buzz in the air.

To follow the tournament, and see how we do between the 7-14th July, check out the GB Women progress on this website: http://wugc2012.org/

Thanks for reading and your support,

Alizé Clough
GB Women 2012 #8

Jubilant June

There are many reasons to be happy this month. Queen Elizabeth is celebrating her diamond jubilee, there's a 4-day weekend mainly in honour of the Queen for most, it's pretty much summer given the recent weather, the London 2012 Olympics are just around the corner, there are Union Jacks everywhere, and the World Championships of Ultimate Frisbee are only 5 weeks away!

It's the final corner around the track, before the home run. The jubilee weekend will be spent with 2 days in Loughborough training with the GB Women team. At work Monday and Tuesday as normal (stocking up as many days as I'm allowed for Japan - thanks your Highness and my boss for helping with this), and there's a countdown of the last few weight/sprint/plyometric sessions which have been building up gradually since December 2010. It's all very exciting. It's finally time to begin arranging travel details, insurance, buying necessary items (it could be hard to find jelly babies in Japan, and an athlete's habits are important, so stocking up is necessary). It feels tangibly close!

First, and a bit closer to home, a big shout out to all the Brighton Ultimate ladies who represented at Tour 1. We secured a spot in the Top 8 with our first team (7th) and will be looking to now build on that even more! Our 2nd team came 18th, but won 4 of their 6 games, fantastic for a first outing! I love our squad, the way the team has already gelled, seeing how well we are already working together against fierce competition has already exceeded expectations for this early in this season! Such a fun team, thanks all for your commitment, smiles and effort. Here's our team photos from the weekend and a shot of Brighton and fellow GB team-mate Becci looking to throw around her defence:

Brighton 2

Brighton 1

Oh, and of course we had our Saturday night showgame against Germany, a rematch of the European Championship final from August 2011 which Germany won. It was tough to come into it as "GB" each having played all day with our own clubs and different players. This showed as the German Women (who entered the Tour as a team) took an 8-6 lead. We pulled it together more in the second half to come back with strong defence, and went on a roll to take a 12-10 lead with the game to 13 points. Germany came back to make it 12-12 sudden death, very intense! We managed to keep calm and bring the disc down for an upwind score to take the game 13-12! A close battle, and hoping to meet again on the fields in Sakai.

Back to Japan training. Here's what I'm working on at the moment: Trying to throw every day after work to get the muscle memory and throws fine-tuned, so they are systematic and reliable in-game, this is anything from 30 minutes to 2+ hours after work. Eating right and a lot, sleeping right and a lot, I don't smoke, have very little alcohol. Fitting in all the fitness of course, something almost every day, either weights or sprints/plyometrics. On rest days, I throw anyway. Taking care of the shin splints which have been around since March (mainly due to the lack of rain) lots of icing, ibuprofen, working on calves with a tennis ball and foam roller is getting them through these weeks. Stretching. Can't stretch enough.

Well, it's well past my British 10pm bedtime. More to come later this month as we reach the very last bits of preparation, till then, thanks for reading and have a jubilant June yourself!

Muddy May

Success in Belgium ! After a very busy month, everything culminated with 9 games in Brugge at the fantastic Tom’s tourney with the GB Women’s team. Our first chance to put the things we have been working on over winter, and our fitness to the test and play together and have some good battles against club teams from Holland, France, Italy, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland! Here’s a photo of me listening to the line-call from the sideline, and a photo of the team after winning the final:

So we are going into the month of May on a high. We now have 2 months of hard work ahead with something scheduled every single weekend till July. Staying in the UK this time, mixing training together, doing our fitness, training with our local club teams and competing with our local club teams on the UK national competition level the “Tour”. A series of 3 events hosted across the country, where all the teams come together for the weekend and battle it out. After the 3 events, the standings are averaged out and the Top 8 Women’s teams get to attend UK Nationals in August (and then the Top 3 at Nationals get to represent the UK at the European Club Championship Finals at the very end of September which marks the end of the season).

So 2 great things here. At Tour 1 in London at the end of this month the GB Women will be spread out amongst their local club teams, and we’ll be coming up against each other a lot on the field which will be really fun and a good challenge! Also, the German National Women’s team (also going to Japan) is coming over to play in Tour 1 as part of their training. So in the evening, the GB Women will come back together from their local club teams and we will have a showgame against the German women’s team. A rematch of the European Championship final in Slovenia last year where Germany took Gold! I think both sides will be very excited and looking forward to this match, and we will see what the winter training will have brought and if there is any ‘home’ advantage.

The 2nd great thing which I am very excited about is the local club team I play for and am Captaining this year: Brighton Ultimate Women’s team. We have had a big recruitment drive, and have close to 60 women on our Squad. This means that we have over 20 women at our trainings, and have enough people committed to the Tours that we are able to enter 2 teams this year to every Tour event, and are pushing for 3!! This is the first time in the team’s – sorry squad’s history we have had more than 1 team. We will be looking to challenge both the very top end of the competition with our 1st team, and our 2nd team will be out to muscle their way up the rankings against as many other 1st teams as possible.

We had a training session together last Saturday where we coach our players who have playing experience of anything from 6 months to 10+ years. We cover all sorts of things like Accelerating/Sprinting, Throwing mechanics, Positional Defence, Game strategy, On-pitch communication, oh and fun! Here’s a shot of the ‘few’ who were left at the end of training:

and a video of team-mate Megan enjoying the slip’n’slide we brought along to practice laying out:

From Brighton women training

Thanks all for reading and your support! Bring on 2 months of hard but fun work – watch this space, and any feedback or requests for topics to cover, shout!

Rabbiting on in April

As busy as an Easter bunny. April is definitely busy season. Turns out I am actually spending more time abroad at Frisbee-related events, than in the UK. The breakdown:

1^st April – An actual day of rest! Only one in an 8 week period. A miracle!

5-10^th April – Paganello – World Beach Ultimate Cup, Rimini, Italy – Came 10^th in the Mixed division with a fun Brighton team of friends. Not bad. Fantastic tournament.

14-15^th April – GB Women Training weekend in Loughborough

16^th-22^nd April – Sockeye Skills clinic in Lignano, Italy – A rare opportunity to be coached by some of the best players in the world, a great chance to work with the best and get some top tips to work on before Japan. Also to get lots of excellent playing practice and experience under the belt before July.

28^th-30^th April – Warm-up tournament with the GB Women – Tom’s Tourney Brugge, Belgium. We are using this tournament to warm-up against some European competition, and put our training thus-far as a team into real practice. Bring it on!

In between? Going to work Mon-Fri 9-5pm, going to the gym, sprints, plyometrics, stretching, throwing…

How do you balance it all you ask? Well, with great difficulty. You need to be organised, and prepared to eat well and rest properly when you get the chance. Meeting up with friends usually happens at home, for dinner, or at tournaments (if they play Ultimate, which many do). Coordinate things like going to the gym straight after work, or doing your weekend shop for good healthy food on the way to a tournament. It’s all about saving time.

Now unfortunately partially because of the heavy training, and the lack of rain in the UK resulting in really hard ground in March, I have a mild case and possible onset of Shin splints (inflammation around the shin caused by overuse and excessive impact – i.e. running a lot on hard ground) . This means I have to keep a very close eye on my shins. Rest them, stretch them, ice them, take anti-inflammatory. I am avoiding running on hard ground now. Sand has been fine, weights are fine, but need to reduce things like running, jumping, and playing on hard ground.

So, in the meantime I have been working with one of my team-mates in the gym on our lifting form. I rarely get the chance to work-out with a team-mate, so we made the most of it by watching and helping each other with form. Here is the Back squat (Want to be able to jump? Do these! But get coaching on them!). Currently at 65Kg which is a nice buffer above my own bodyweight, and I can confirm is “heavy”. This video was helpful as it allowed me to see how much I am chickening out by not quite getting my quads parallel to the ground… Though in my defence this was the third set, and post-Paganello my muscles were feeling very tired and shaky.

                                          

So, time to go throw! Thanks for reading and supporting me. 


In the meantime a lovely photo from the final of Paganello:

March : Marching on…

So there are less than 4 months till the World Championships. Winter is finally over, and there are lots of tournaments and events in the calendar in the run-up to the World Championships in July.

During our team trainings where we get together from all over the UK usually in the midlands (Coventry and Loughborough being our regular haunts) we have been focusing on strategy, and gelling as a team, so that on-pitch we are a lean mean Frisbee machine!

Back home in Brighton, it really has just been a question of just plodding on. We have been working hard in the gym to build strength, and I for one am at a personal best on pretty much all exercises, now comfortably exceeding my own body weight on regular exercises such as the Squat and the Deadlift. I am now used to usually being the only girl in the weights area and have stopped doing clumsy things like sending the barbell flying by completely unloading one side before the other (from someone who was squatting over 200kg)…

As we continue with our training, we will continue on our Strength but will also be working on converting it into power! We need it to jump, dive, change direction, burst into a sprint, and all at the drop of a hat, or more realistically a Frisbee.

Here’s a clip of what I mean: 

(note: We will be playing against a number of the Women who feature in this footage!)

Thanks again all for reading and for your support! The dreams of a medal are growing…

Maximum mobility thanks to Chiropractic help

I recently wrote an article for Mike at Align focusing on how his help gives me more mobility and flexibility which helps treat my underlying back problems and ensures I get the most out of training. Here is what I wrote (for the other Ultimate players out there, does some of this sound familiar to problems you’ve had?):

As an athlete training to compete with the Great Britain Women’s Ultimate Frisbee team at the World Championships in July I need to train at the highest level possible. The mix of weight-training, sprints, plyometrics, and lots of practicing with the team itself is very demanding.

We warm-up, warm-down, stretch, foam-roll, and seek physio/sports massage when required but it’s not enough. When you have underlying conditions which cause you back pain, and you are training so much, you are sore and tight most of the time. You need help to prevent getting injured and give your body maximum mobility to get the most out of it.

With help from Align Chiropractic, my underlying condition of leg-length difference and mild scoliosis is being treated weekly, and I have a heel-lift to use when I train to adjust my posture.

This treatment has gradually helped lessen the aches and pains I would get from my underlying condition, and not only that but especially when I stretch my back and neck I now get a lot more range of motion and flexibility, and my posture is improving. This is great for day-to-day life, but it is also critical to have the best possible posture and mobility for strenuous training such as weight-lifting.

Having the help of Align, not only has helped to diagnose and treat an underlying condition but also is helping my body improve posture, flexibility, mobility, and in turn allowing me to get more out of my body in training and reach peak performance safely.

Here’s an example of the type of treatment I receive:

• Postural exercises
• Manipulations which improve the function and movement of my joints
• Recommended stretching exercises tailored to my body’s needs
• Analysing my weight-lifting form
• Advice on how much I can push my body in training, or if I need to rest

They offer Back Checks completely free of charge, and can talk you through what they can do to help you. I strongly recommend giving them a call and finding out for yourself!

Find out more on their website:

http://www.chiropractorbrighton.com/

or call : 01273 870 010

In the meantime, some neck stretches for you: