I kicked for over 3 hours today. w00t! Happy St. Patty’s Day!
Amazingly enough, I only filmed 5 rallies: 3 duds, and 2 like this. It was an awesome session, even with the chaos from the Frat boys and their dunking tank. There was coffee earlier, violently green drinking cups later, and the dunk tank crew supplied the tunes! Got new batteries for the boom box, then didn’t even need them.
I repaired Prissy, but not quite well enough; there’s still one spot where beads are still leaking. But, I brought an old net bag this time, and sure enough, the power hacker dude showed up at the end. So, I totally saved my freestyle bags this time. I even gave the guy the old net bag when I left.
My Speaker Circle presence so far has been to go long on rallies, but lame on difficulty and variety. Sometimes it seems like this old body needs to go lame on difficulty sometimes. I’ve been flogging (footbag blogging) for 2-1/2 years now, starting at 45. I’ll be hitting 30 years of footbag at the start of July, and 48 years of age at the end of August.
If there’s anything I can say is an age-related degeneration, I’ll have to spend half the time talking about general aches and pains, and the other half about the loss of motion range tolerance. For someone that used to do a lot of jumping stuff, I can barely get off the ground now. Landings often seem stiff and painful.
But still, for a guy my age…
I’m in great fucking shape. And I think I owe a lot of that to footbag. Just sayin’…
For 2011, I only carry over the footbag and bike mileage goals. Well, I also tweeted, “Do more fishing.” Considering I only got to go fishing 3 times last year, that shouldn’t be hard to beat. I hope. The rest? No promises, no goals. I’m just gonna deal with it a day at a time.
———-
On to footbag, the primary purpose of this blog. Today marked my 1st session of 2011. I had a chance to play footbag at the MU Rec center (they’re running a ‘trial membeship’ promotion), and at first I was really stoked about it. I’d be able to bring my camera in, and make a footbag blog video. But then, I realized I probably couldn’t bring my boombox in. Music is to my footbag, as breathing is to life. So, I bailed on the Rec center thing, and went back to the Secret Hideout. I can’t film in the secret hideout, because it wouldn’t be so secret anymore. So, no hassle of setting up a camera, and plenty of music!
It was a fairly average session, but I did hit a 30-contact “tiltless” string. “Tiltless” means a difficulty level of 3 or greater. In footbag, each aspect of difficulty is called an “add” becaue each thing beyond a basic kick adds a difficulty point. Stalling the bag on the foot (instead of just kicking it): 1 “add”. Going around the bag (a leg-over): another “add”. Spinning or doing a “cross-body” (touching the bag on the left side of your body, but with the right foot), another “add”.
To be honest, there are young punks that make me look like I’ve got broken legs. For every time I can go around the bag once, they can do it twice, maybe 3 times. The average difficulty level among today’s elite footbag players is over 4; mine is barely 2. OTOH, here I am, throwing down my own gauntlet: “OK, punks, keep that up for another 20-25 FUCKING YEARS.” Few athletes are still active in their sport at 47. I am. I have no intention of quitting.
I put in 1:30 tonight. That brings me back to the blog’s title: resetting the counter. It’s always a bit of a bummer to do that, but it also renews the drive; fuels the fire. At the end of almost every footbag-centric blog post, I end it with a line thats [today's time] [year's total time] Thanks for tuning in! So…
Happy Holidays Everyone! The audio track on this video is a radio segment produced by Lauren Sanguinet, a Mizzou J-School student, for KBIA News. I added the video. Thanks Lauren!
It’s wintertime in Columbia MO US. I’m kicking indoors, in my Secret Hideout. That means no video of my sessions for now. But I’ll still keep you up to date. I’ve put in 3 sessions at the hideout since my last post.
Dec. 2: OH GOD MY BACK! I worked late, then hopped on my bike to ride home and get my footbag stuff. When I got home, and got off my bike, my back was suddenly killing me! No fair!
But I hadn’t gotten an opportunity to kick since I caught wind of the Shred Global BSOS competition, and I was determined to get something on tape for it. So, in more pain than I’ve been in for months, I spent a half hour – my first winter season’s use of the Secret Hideout – filming for my BSOS combo. I also couldn’t resist a little more promotion of MOvember: a dorky guy-centric corollary to the PINK campaign to raise awareness of breast cancer. MOvember is intended to raise awareness of cancers (prostate, testicular) affecting men.
Unfortunately, Shred Global doesn’t give a shit that I have such limited kicking opportunities. I missed the submission deadline. So I posted my combo directly on YouTube instead. The official competition results have now been announced and posted. I figure my combo would have taken next to last place anyway; my combo was a common 4-3-4 (difficulty rating) set. The winning combo had more than twice the difficulty rating.
Dec. 9: My back is feeling better, but still a little tender. My camera has run out of tape, but I’m able to capture video directly to my computer in the secret hideout. I try to limit tape usage to 10-15 mins per session, but direct to hard drive really lowers the barrier. No time wasted on ingest, no cost for tape. I was trying to hit something for Shred Global’s 2nd competition: LUNS for Link of Unusuals. I captured over an hour of video during my 1.5 hour session, but… couldn’t hit shit. DELETE! that session is wiped from my hard drive. No tape wasted.
Dec. 16: For over 2 months now, I’ve woken up every Thursday – my one opportunity per week to play footbag – with sciatica. Back pains that radiate down my leg, causing phantom knee, ankle, and foot pain. It’s starting to piss me off. Why can’t I feel good on a footbag day? If God is trying to tell me something, I’m decidedly not taking the hint. Down in the Secret Hideout, I set up the camera and computer once again, and went at it. Another 1.5
hour session, and this time I hit a couple LUNS combos for the competition. They’re still lame; what I’ve got will probably win me next to last place. But at least I’ll have it submitted before the deadline, and actually be in the competition. Other highlights of the session were easy (for a change) drifters and blenders.
It is so near the end of the year! I think I have 1, maybe 2 more footbag sessions left. With the 3.5 hours during the last 3 sessions, my total for the year is 68.5 hours. Just one more hour-and-a-half session, and I’ll hit 70 hours for the year! I think I can do it, and that’s freaking awesome, for me.
w00t! Thanks so much to everyone for sending me birthday wishes! Been having a great time so far today, carving it up at Speaker Circle, then grubbing and going for a nice, slow, easy bike ride. The old Rt. K bridge is open, new pedway over bridge is awesome! Now I’m hanging at home with the fam, taking it easy, having someone fetch me a sandwich…
Aside from nearly getting sick in the middle of the session (when I moved to the shade), it was… a ho-hum session. I realize I’ve gotten spoiled by kicking in building shade all summer. But the students definitely add a little pizzazz to the mix, eh? One of the ladies even stopped to try a hack.
I still haven’t been able to recover the w00t factor from a few weeks ago when I was averaging minute-long rallies at City Hall. What I did get on tape was barely 20 seconds a pop. On the upside, I’ve been pushing the drifters, torques, and blenders, and getting at least some reward for it. But it would be really nice if I could keep the damn bag off the ground, too.
At least as a small bonus, a couple guys came by and kicked with me for a bit at the end of my session. They were totally stoked, and will probably be meeting me for some kicking sessions.
MU classes start Monday (Aug. 23rd). I probably won’t be able to pull off a daytime session this week, because I support a lot of technology equipment on campus. I’ll be a human pinball here for a couple of weeks as technology gets shaken down with classes.
But I’m definitely planning a daytime session for my birthday – August 31st – if weather cooperates. Hopefully a circle full of students will inspire me to shred it up!
When I got there, workers were still doing something about a half block away. I keep a piece of sidewalk chalk in my bike traile, and like an idiot, I couldn’t resist writing “Hacky Circle” on the concrete (kinda small because I didn’t have much chalk). About the time I was done ‘marking my territory,’ the construction guys were leaving and one of them came over to talk to me. But all the construction guy said was that they had just finished sealing some joints in the concrete, and I might get sticky stuff on my shoes. I pointed out where I would be kicking, and he said, “Well you should be OK then.” and left.
Just a couple minutes later, an MUPD – campus police – car came up 9th and turned his lights on. I figured he was going to chase me out right away. But he drove around the corner and down to the end of the street and parked behind some construction equipment. Then another 5 minutes later, he came back, lights still flashing, and approached me. Apparently he had gone to talk to the construction workers. I guess the construction guy couldn’t bring himself to ask me to clean up and scram, but was perfectly willing to put the cop up to it.
The cop said a construction worker wanted me to leave because they wanted to keep the area clean and let the concrete cure before they opened the area. Nevermind the fact that there were truck and tractor tire marks all over the place from the construction workers already. But… OK, I get it: They’re pissed about the sidewalk chalk, the place is still roped off with caution tape (very poorly; others were walking around the tape through the area), and it wasn’t officially open yet. OK, I’ll leave without a fuss.
Or would have, if they had let me. Instead, the cop got all puffed up, demanding to see my ID, and doing that “You stay right where you are while I run your license.” thing. Whatever, dood. I guess a sweat-soaked, middle-aged hackysacker with a bicycle and trailer looks like a big threat to you. The cop was nice enough while I had my camera set up, but he waited in his car while I packed up all my stuff. After I packed away my camera, he got back out of the car and started being a bit of a jerk.
“You know we’re not just talking about asking you to leave, Mr. Fogle. We’re talking First Degree Tresspassing Charges.” He insisted a couple of times that the only reason he wasn’t arresting me was because the area “…just isn’t quite marked well enough.” And finally, in a very confrontational tone, “You got any questions, Mr. Fogle?”
“Nope.”
I didn’t need to ask. I had already figured out he was an unwitting tool for a two-faced construction guy, and maybe a bit… insecure. Just asking me to clean up and leave would have accomplished the goal. The puffed-up authority figure routine, running my license, and threatening to arrest me on trespassing charges really wasn’t necessary. Really. Not. Necessary.
Getting busted and having to move cost me at least a half hour of my 1-1/2 hour session, and rattled me pretty good too. I’m calling this session an even hour. 1:00/45:00
The craziest part of it all? It looks like they are removing the caution tape and opening the area – less than 24 hours later.
They can hassle the blades, but they can’t stop them. Thanks for tuning in!
I was about to bail on my session when a group of kids stopped by to kick. Kept me going for a while, and I ended up putting in an hour and a half. I also shot musicless video from lots of different angles. I’m trying to put together a video about the venue in general.
Having the kids drop by and kick for a bit was awesome, but the rest of the session – without music – was decidedly uninspired. I’m totally addicted to having music to kick to; I suck without it. Oh well. Sound system will be working again next week.
Another great session this week on Stankowski field! Too bad the video doesn’t represent…
I’ve changed my filming strategy just a bit the last couple of sessions. I was usually recording 3 rallies in a row, kinda when I felt like it. Now, I’m recording just the first rally, starting at the beginning of each new song. It ends up being about the same amount of recording (15 mins over 2 hours) but it sure feels different. There’s tons more pressure to “present,” and when that one rally sucks, well, it really sucks.
A dream of mine is to get a single rally for an entire song on tape, and send that to the artist. Fat chance of that though; my average rally is less than 30 seconds, and the average song is 4-5 minutes. Still, always good to dream, eh? If I keep at it, I might get lucky and pull one off.
Most of the time, there’s a clear winner for the “best rally on tape” that I post for the session. But sometimes, it’s tough to decide. Do I go with the 29-contact rally with a good add ratio and a couple torques, or the much longer 60+ contact rally with the much lower add ratio? OK, yeah, I’ll usually post the shorter one with the higher add ratio.
I’m past the halfway point for my footbag goals. Another 2 hour session Thursday, for a total of 30:30 for the year. Yee-haw! I’m staying healthy and having a great time.
In the summer of 1980, Derrick Fogle,17, went to a party while visiting his older brother in the mountain community of Dillon, Colo. A group of people were standing in a circle, all working together, as they kicked a small bean-filled bag and tried to keep it from hitting the ground. This was the first time that Fogle was introduced to the game of hacky sack, or footbag.
Curious about the game, Fogle joined the circle and tried to get in on the action. “I totally sucked the first time I tried, but nobody cared,” he said. The hacky circle welcomed Fogle and even though it was only his first time, he was encouraged to join.
Before this party, Fogle’s life was a little different. “I wasn’t exactly a saint when I was a teenager. I had gotten into a couple brushes with the law already and was likely headed for more,” he said.
After Fogle experienced hacky sack for the first time, he was hooked and he soon got his own hacky sack to start practicing.
“Within two years I had come totally clean, quit the partying and quit the stupid stuff. I was spending my time getting better at footbag,” Fogle said. His partying habits led him to a hobby that changed his life.
Hacky sack showed Fogle the importance of dedication, as he had to work hard to excel at something. “Footbag gave me a spark of passion and a positive direction in my life,” he said.
Fogle grew up in Lawerence, Kan., and brought his passion of footbagging with him from his trip to Colorado. At 19 years old, he won his first freestyle competition, which would be the first of a long list of accomplishments in the sport of footbag.
Competing domestically and on foreign soil in worldwide competitions, he pursued his passion for the sport and avidly wanted everyone to experience the creativity and beauty of footbagging. “I’ve competed in World Footbag Championships [from] roughly 1985-1995; held in various places over the years,” Fogle said. These competitions include places like Boulder, Colo., San Francisco, Montreal and Chicago.
In 2005, after more than twenty years of competing, Fogle was officially inducted into the Footbag Hall of Fame. “It was both gratifying and humbling to be recognized by my peers in this way. I love being able to tell people that I am a member of the Footbag Hall of Fame when people stop and ask,” Fogle said.
Today, Fogle lives a simple, quiet life as a Systems Administrator for the University of Missouri. At the age of 47, he no longer competes in freestyle footbag competitions, however, in no way does that mean one cannot find Fogle “dancing” with his bag on the university’s campus. Known as the “Hacky Sack Guy” around MU, he is a living icon of the sport and displays his skills for students to watch about once a week.
“He is amazing at hackysacking and he is very concentrated out there. I am always impressed when I see him displaying his skills,” said Blair Felter, an undergraduate student at MU who is familiar with Fogle and his hobby.
In his basement office, surrounded with computer wires, Fogle sits at his desk, wearing a long sleeve plaid shirt as he goes about his ordinary day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. His work life is far different than his hacky sack life, where he is often shirtless in the middle of a college campus, sweating to his upbeat music as he “hacks the sack.”
Although Fogle leads an average life, he uses his passion of footbag to display another personality. “In ‘normal’ life, I’m fairly quiet and unassuming. Playing footbag in public is kind of like an alter-ego,” Fogle said.
He added, “Kicking at Speakers Circle is a very flamboyant activity. A couple hours a week balances out the quiet nerd of work life.” His random appearances on campus provide not only entertainment, but more importantly a subtle inspiration for students that encourages hard work and passion of hobbies.
Fogle set a world record in one discipline of footbag and although it has been broken, it still proves his dedication to the sport. He even inspired his wife to become an active footbagger when they first started seeing each other. She currently holds a world record in the women’s 5-minute timed consecutives event.
Spending years of his life promoting hacky sack, Fogle never stopped pursuing his enjoyment for the sport. “I wanted to share what footbag had done for me. But at some point in time, I realized that not everybody was going to find their salvation in footbag,” Fogle said.
Fogle and his wife have two children, a daughter, 14, and a son who is 11 years old. Although hacky sack is such a significant aspect of Fogle’s life, he encourages his children to find their own passions.
“Different people are inspired by different things,” Fogle added when talking about his children’s different interests. “I care far less about specifically what might inspire my children. I care far more that they do become inspired by something, and accomplish something,” he said.
At his age, a healthy lifestyle is important and Fogle’s physically demanding hobby keeps him motivated to continue kicking for as long as possible. Along with the physical benefits, Fogle mentally benefits from his hobby. He is merging a blogging and documentation project about footbag. “[This project] includes the issue of aging, and that helps keep me inspired too,” he said.
Hacky sack is not only a hobby for Fogle, but something that shaped his lifestyle.
Footbag started for Fogle in Colorado, and it persistently stimulates his life in Columbia. He has been dedicated to footbag for nearly 30 years and he continues to practice his love for the game.
“Just getting out and kicking to some music is pure and simple joy,” Fogle said.
Man…. 23 days since my last post. That suxorz. Of course 4 days of that was because I forgot my camera at a friend’s place south of town when I went there after my session last Thursday. Just remember: only users lose cameras.
I was WAY ahead on my kicking goal, but now, I’m just barely ahead. I’ve been busy with work, family, and stupid distractions, and ended up missing 2 weeks in a row. In that time, the chilled water pipe construction project on Speaker Circle has begun. I won’t be kicking there this summer, and I have no idea how it will be reconstructed when they finish. My first “after speaker circle” session is in Walnut Street park in downtown “The District” Columbia MO.
The session was barely an hour, and kinda shaky at that. At least I managed to get a pair of torques (one sealed) on tape. Boo-yah! I’m just worried that the destruction of Speaker Circle will sap my enthusiasm to kick. So my plan is to do a “tour of Columbia” thing this summer; each week a different spot. It’s just weird acclimating to new kicking venues. I’ll be trying out the new area in front of our new City Hall soon. Maybe I’ll even get video of being chased off.
I will be posting another article a student did on me for an assignment soon. So stay tuned!
And to think I almost scrubbed this session because it was so windy…
I’ve never felt so un-affected by the wind before. I guess I’ve just gotten used to it? I won’t claim to have been shredding the high add stuff (although I did hit my torques, blenders, and a paradox whirl) but it sure felt good. I was keeping the bag off the ground, and gettin creazy with the dance hacky stuff. I like it that way!
Both Pandora and Last.fm fail me again, insisting on feeding me ambient and slow stuff, when I want the rockin funky beat for footbag. I swear I’ve never favorited or recommended any of the tunes I get when I select “my recommended” last.fm station. That feature is really just a corporate sales tool. Speaking of which, I really need some new stuff for my own library too. Just not the crap last.fm is trying to sell me. In the meantime, I hope Timbuk 3 is obscure enough; I don’t think I’ve posted a video using that tune before now.
I only got in 1:45 before my muscles started cramping up this time. I was really going hard at it the whole time, but I can usually make it past 2 hours. What’s up with that? Oh well. I think I need to drink less coffee, and eat more bananas. Still not bad considering I was only planning to do an hour in the wind.
The sad part is, this may be one of my last Speaker Circle sessions for a while. The area will be closed off and torn up in a couple more weeks to install new chilled water lines. Once they shut the place down, it may be next spring before I can kick there again. I hope they don’t change / ruin it when they put it back together. I think the circle is just right the way it is. When the semester is over, and the circle is closed off, I’m planning to switch back to evening sessions on Stankowski field. The field has lights; I can kick after dark!
w00t! I woke up feeling good this morning, weather’s gorgeous, it’s 4/20 – time for some footbag!
71 contacts on this one (I think). I had some crazy awesome rallies today – like hitting both torques and both blenders without a drop, and just keeping the bag off the ground for a few. This is more like the springtime shredding I’ve been imagining!
I got down there early. Public performers know how intense turf competition can be. I stakez out my spot! I started off listening to Pandora, but was disappointed by it, and then Last.fm too. Oh well. Back to my personal library, I guess. It’s always good for some jamz! A couple other guys came by and kicked with me for a bit, too. After almost 2-1/2 hours, my legs were cramping up on me, and I was ‘saved’ (from over-shredding) by Mr. Bible Science Theater guy.
23:20 total, and a great time on Speaker Circle today!
Holocaust victim reading in speaker circle today. 6,000,000 names. Sad face. Kicked without music around the circle for a bit, then tested Stankowski field for the first time this year.
It’s been a great spring so far. Lots of good weather. I drilled some garden seeds the first warm weekend in early March; those puppies sprouted and are growing like crazy! I dream of springtime bringing out my shred, but…
Not so. Maybe this time it was being discombobulated from the Speaker Circle thing, having to go somewhere else. Maybe it was the wind again. But I’m still really struggling to ratchet up the shred factor. Am I really that old? (don’t answer that).
Got a late start on a very windy day. Had to find some light! Stankowski wasn’t available, so I tried another old haunt, the park at 9th and Walnut.
A couple people I know stopped by to say hi, and another guy I never met before stopped and hacked for a bit. I wasn’t getting squat going on the shredding; I will blame the poor lighting, and the wind. But… I had a great time hamming it up for passers-by, getting a few people to stop and check me out for a bit.
Now for the heartbreaking news: I apparently lost one of my footbags! I had been breaking in 2 Abshire bags, and had been developing a bit of a preference for this one. I swear I’m so careful, always making sure I’ve got my footbags before I leave! I swear I double and triple checked to make sure I had them. But, my footbag was missing the next morning. Sad Face!
I don’t even know how long I played. I forgot to check my watch at the start. I’m calling it an hour twenty, for 19 total hours this year.
“It’s like a carnival out here today!” one girl said.
Free Tunes and T-Shirts from KCOU 88.1 FM, Free Coffee and Hot Chocolate from Silver Screen promoting their upcomfing Film Festival, Free Cookies from one of the fraternities, and students from SustainMIzzou wearing veggie outfits and collecting donations to supply poverty stricken people with local farm produce. Not only that, a Tweet-out from DJ Z when he came by the circle.
I was actually a little off my game today. I just couldn’t get the difficulty thing going. But I did have some really fun long-ish rallies (not on tape), and managed to pull off a couple torques, blenders, drifters, and paradox whirls (but not in the same rally, and not on tape either), plus all the usual stuff. I’ve also got a couple guys that are stopping by to kick with me, and interested in learning some moves. sw33t!
What I lacked in technical difficulty, I made up for in stamina. I put in well over 2-1/2 hours out there in the sunshine. Plus, I remembered the sunscreen this time. The top of my head may be saved from another scorching. All in all, another footbag blessing and a great time hacking on Speaker Circle. And the background jiggy-dance from the passing student? Priceless!
Name: Derrick Fogle
Location: Columbia MO
Site: http://h4x354x0r.com
Awesome sunny spring day on Speaker Circle!
The big MU Blood Drive is going on this week, and today they had a big tent set up and tables and all in the middle of speaker circle. I had to kick off to the side. Good deal, had a great time. I got this 43-contact rally on tape, and had a couple even better rallies off camera.
Two solid hours out there today. Forgot the sunscreen again, I’m fried! Physically, mentally, and on top of my bald head. It’s kinda funny sometimes, people will tell me I’m the best hacker they’ve ever seen, and I’ve got to admit there are guys out there that make me look like I got broken legs. “There are guys that can go around the bag twice or more for every time I can do it once.” I say. They’re usually less than half my age, too.
Sessions will be irregular for now, happening whenever I can get a nice day. But I’ll be sure to vid and blah about it.
Posted by Derrick Fogle | Archive,Derrick Fogle | Saturday 27 February 2010 6:19 pm
Name: Derrick Fogle
Location: Columbia MO
Site: http://h4x354x0r.com
I started the session WAY late last night; I got distracted by something shiny, had other business to attend to, etc. Starting at 10:40pm, I told myself. “Just the minimum 1:15. Maybe just an hour even.” I’m ahead on my time goals, and I ended up on foot and walked about 15km two days earlier. My shins were sore and tight. I could slack a little, couldn’t I?
Plans, meet addiction. Since I was figuring on a short session, I hit it hard from the get-go. And I was having a great time, feeling the music, hitting the groove. As long as I wasn’t counting guiltless contacts, that is. Just doing the hacky-dance thing, pushing the energy level but paying no attention to add counts, I was playing smooth and keeping the bag off the ground.
So it went – for the first hour. Then I decided to go for the guiltless strings. As good as I felt, surely I could hit a 20+ contact rally in the last 15 minutes. Bzzzzt! Almost 40 minutes later, my best was 19. My average was… I ain’t telling. Yikes! And now it was 12:20 in the morning. I was fried. I gave up. Some days, gravity wins.
Still, I’m amazed at how sore I’m not after a session like that. My muscles feel good. Too bad my knees don’t agree.
Not much else to say, except I’m dreaming of the day I can be the symbol of spring, and bloom on Speaker Circle. Long range weather forecast says I’m screwed, but… they’ve been wrong before. I’m jonesing to get the video fired up again. Speaking of video, don’t miss this little clip from the Vegas Jam!
Posted by Derrick Fogle | Archive,Derrick Fogle | Friday 12 February 2010 2:07 pm
Name: Derrick Fogle
Location: Columbia MO
Site: http://h4x354x0r.com
Another 1:45 at the Secret Hideout tonight. It’s definitely the most solid session yet this year. Consistent energy level, consistent and reasonably dense difficulty level, hit everything I was looking to hit. But that whirl on the right side… WTF? Why were you so hard tonight? At least my drifters were coming easy, and I was hitting some torques, including a pair in a single rally.
Remind me, I need to wash my bags. I meant to do that after last week’s session, but forgot. Still seeming like a slow-go on the simultaneous break-in of 2 bags, and my feeble attempt at learning juggling is, well, feeble. But a good washing will help. The poor things have hardly ever seen the outdoors, but with snow, salt, sodium chloride, and mud everywhere, the floor where I’m kicking is still filthy.
Despite the solidness of the session, all I’m doing is counting contacts and watching the clock. Tonight’s best guiltless was again 24, but I only had to count 4 or 5 rallies to get that. I’m putting in the time, putting in the effort, but I’m not escaping. I’m not losing myself in the game. That’s typical of indoor winter sessions. I dream of the warm summer days again, kicking on Speaker Circle. It will come, but not nearly soon enough. Last week’s insistence that I’ll get an outdoor session in Feb. looks like a pipe dream.
When summer does come, I want to be ready. I want to be conditioned, mind and body. I’m pumped about the longer sessions. Already at 3.5 hrs for the month, and that mental and physical conditioning for going that long consistently is important.
When I read other footbag player’s blogs, I feel kinda silly being excited about hitting drifters and whirls. Everyone else is doing pixie gyro this and atomic leggy that. My only consolation is to wait and see what others are doing near their 30-year career point. I’ve been saying I’ve been kicking for “almost 30 years” for a couple years now; technically I’ve got a little over a year before I officially hit that milestone. That’s one of my immediate goals – to actually make it to the 30-year mark and still be styling. At my age, almost any injury or health problem could take me out. NOT what I want.
Oh, and yes I did get a haircut, and trimmed the megastash. Thanks for tuning in!
Just a quick post to log my footbag time: 1:30 in the secret hideout. After 3 weeks off, and beating up my body having fun with my backyard sled run, it definitely wasn’t the best of sessions. I was stuck firmly in the 1-2 add zone. I hit my 3′s and 4′s, but I think my longest guiltless string was 5 or 6 contacts. Ouch.
With my new goal of 60 hours this year, I’ve upped my “minimum” session time from 1 hour to 1:15, and am trying to hit at least 1:30 per session. I’m still looking for a legitimate place to play in the winter though, and there’s a good chance I’ll only get an hour at a time. I’ll be glad when I can do 2-hour sessions in the warm sunshine again.
Just a quick note: Nick wanted to get just a little more filming for his project. Of course the amazing 5-week streak of balmy weather has finally turned to BITTER WINDY COLD! No prob, Nick got me into the Student Rec center. I had a great time kicking in a handball court (Walls!) and beside some of the basketball courts. Nick conned a couple guys into kicking with me, I laid down a sufficiently jaw-dropping rally in front of a crowd of students, and put in another hour!
57 hours down, 3 more weeks to hit 60. Time to pull out that can of Scheme-O-Matic…
Nick’s project is due today. Next post should be the final product. I’d like to thank Nick for his interest, dedication, energy, and enthusiasm in creating a documentary on my involvement in footbag. I can’t wait!
