2007 - and so it began; and so it ends

This past weekend marked the end of my 2007 Ultimate season. I broke my yearly record for tournaments played from 20 to 21. My teams finished 1st nine times, 2nd three times, and top 8 six times (not including 1st and 2nd place). That's about the same success rate as 2006 for me, but the tournaments that my teams played at were definitely of higher caliber this year.

What did I learn? I learned plenty, and I felt my understanding of the game advanced significantly this season. On the blog, my favourite passed on lessons this year were:

• Tournament 4 - Lesson 2 - Trust
• Tournament 5 - Lesson 2 - Was it the D's fault
• Tournament 7 - Lesson 2 - Rumours are true, A moving disc is harder to cover with moss
• Tournament 11 - Not the man, what to do
• Tournament 14 - Lesson 1 - Observers, the new parent
• Tournament 14 - Lesson 2 - Sweep, Sweep, Sweep that tunnel away

So, now what do I do? I've decided to take this week off, and then Monday or Tuesday morning next week I'm going to head into the gym and start working out. Most likely, we'll start swimming and cycling with some light weights to help rehab my shoulder. I'll minimize any stress on my Achilles for as long as it takes to feel no more pain by just touching it.

My sporting life changes over to low impact hockey. It's hard to believe for many, but playing non-contact hockey (equivalent to basketball's boxing out and pushing, but no hitting) is probably one of the gentlest sports on the body. It's a high pace game that offers the challenge of controlling the implement (stick and puck are not as challenging to use compared to a disc), but the game has an additional challenge in mobility. It is very interesting and challenging to play a sport where mobility is not simply a running and jumping issue like in ultimate, and you're mind will want to go get the puck, but you won't know how to do it. Great game.

I love Ultimate, but it's nice to be moving into phase I and be able to watch premiership football on Saturday morning instead of waking up early to warm up and play. Thanks all for another great season.

PJ