Ivan I's Footblog

[isirc10]

Had a pretty cool session today, last session with the club before they go and kick ass at ECFC. It will be interesting to see how people's outlooks on their own game will change after competing in a tournament.

After warm up, I tested my groin and it felt fine so I started playing pretty cautiously, but still optimistic that everything was going to be all right. Hit my usual 30-40 contact tiltless strings, but now with more infinities. Then I decided to push it a bit and tested stepping - it felt a bit rusty, but the groin didn't hurt, so stepping got jammed into my strings. String length suffered, but OH MAN was is fun to bust out stuff like:
blur > ss butterfly > ripwalk repeat
blizzard > butterfly > ripwalk >ducking clipper repeat
shmoe > parkwalk > infinity rpt

Man, after playing conservatively for about 2 months and building up my tiltless game in anticipation of ECFC, putting on an all out assault on stepping 4 adds was the most beautiful thing in the world. It feels really great to have a set of 4 add tricks that I can hit on both sides fairly consistently. Now to go fill some gaps in my game. Not guiltless yet, but stepping seems to be the bridge that may get me there. Once my osis drills come to fruition and I bring out the pixies to play (I am quietly working on those every session now) I can almost see myself leveling up. Almost, but not quite. Anyway, I think its really awesome to buckle down and work the hell out of basics for a month or two and then see it pay off in harder tricks when you finally flip the switch. BOOM! Feelin' pretty good despite missing out on ECFC.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

As your teacher, all I want to say is that I knew you could do it, and I'm really proud of you. Guiltless is right around the corner.

[Cass]

Don't try to push guiltless too soon.

It will just kill your trick selection and run length and you'll start bailing to pdx mirage way too often like me

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

The wise words of an Anssi

[mtoolan]

Effin gnarly drills, Ivan. Let's see some pixie heavy drills. Try not to have too much fun this weekend, lol.

[isirc10]

Well, this weekend was interesting. I guess it wasn't too bad that I was missing ECFC, but I would have much rather been there than alone at home. Not gonna lie, it was a bit lonely. Friday night as everyone left for ECFC I studied the last hours before a CMPEN 270 exam which I then proceeded to demolish without much of a second thought. That was a nice feeling and made me feel a bit better about not going to ECFC. Then on Saturday Kat and I (Lauren was going to join but had back pains) biked to Mt Nittany and did the long loop hiking. It was a lot of fun and a nice way to forget about a tournament I really wanted to go to. At the end of the day we had covered 12 miles in total, which felt like a nice accomplishment. Then I worked the evening shift at my job, where I got let off early (Honestly the best thing that could have happened in that situation) and I ate a lot of free food. Then I studied a bit for my upcoming exams and spent a good amount of time browsing ebay for a new frame for my single speed road bike (I have a cromoly and I want to replace it with aluminum and carbon forks) and found something that I have a good chance of winning. Then sleep.

I woke up on Sunday around 7:00 and biked out to Shingletown Gap and hiked the James Cleveland Memorial trail (named after the memorial on top of the ridge where James Cleveland, an early airmail pilot perished when his plane hit the mountain in heavy fog). It was a really surreal hike as I was completely alone for the entire 6 mile loop and early on there was a heavy fog that enveloped the ridge. The memorial itself was just a concrete obelisk with an inscription and a similar concrete platform with rusted remains of the airplane laying on top. It was a really cool moment coming up to the site, almost reliving the despair of the first rescue crews that came up to the wreck (at least that was what I imagined). Then I sat at an overlook of the valley in which State College is located and watched as the fog lowered and funneled out through the valley. Lots of time for peaceful self reflection and thinking with only the birds and other local wildlife occasionally disturbing my thoughts. I biked home and took a nap. I had covered 14 miles that morning, and a total of 26 miles this weekend. I hope to expand my range to around 40 miles round trip in the coming year so I can hit most of the nearby trails and maybe get more fit for footbag as well. On a side note, I really miss hiking with Nick and Nate and can't wait for Nate to come back so we can hit some trails together again.

Paragraph number three and no footbag? I must be doing something wrong. This weekend I decided to forget that I played footbag so it wouldn't ruin the time but I just couldn't block it out the entire two days so I had a 2 hours session with Kat at Old Main after my nap on Sunday. It was a pretty good session considering the mileage I had put my body through this weekend. Hit a lot of 20+ contact tiltless strings. Was even able to start with guiltless strings of 10-15 contacts and then when I started to get tired I could switch to tiltless and catch my breath and keep the string alive. Flip atomic just wasn't there for me today, but stepping on both sides was glorious again. Ripwalk is starting to replace butterfly/infinity and just feels relaxing now, which is nice. Still like to throw in those infinities because I know I need more practice with them, and they have definitely become more confident. Bailed to some Shmoes on both sides, which I thought was pretty cool (I know, in a month I am gonna think its lame as hell, but w/e live in the moment I guess) Blur and pdx mirage were solid and I even got some sidewalks into the mix. Osis showed up to the party late, but was very appreciated, and I even threw in some rakes and dragons (!?!?!?!?! <= that is me being surprised and excited at the same time) Even if I couldn't make it to ECFC, I think I am ready to blow up in terms of trick density and will be feeding off the enthusiasm of my returning members this coming week. Flip pixie is showing improvement and ducking is getting less awkward. Also got a big "fuck you" from my legs when I got a nasty charlie horse eating dinner with Kat after the session. Sorry legs, I hate to break it to you, but you will have to get used this. End of story

Sorry to make you guys read all of that, but I feel like I kinda want to have a written record of how I handled not going to a tournament I had spent the last few months preparing for. TLDR:

biked/hiked 26 miles this weekend
spent time alone reflecting on things
stepping out the wazzooo
sidewalk >ripwalk rpt
ducking dragon
ripwalk > blur > smear > atom (flip smear is miles away at this point)
lots of mirage >legover > illusion > pickup rpt drills while talking about / demoing footbag to people walking by
stepping SS mirage BSOS (lol. oops, sorry I forgot to hit you last year... )
stepping muted SS pickup BS
stepping muted bubba BS (NPipe inspired trick, looks so smooth when done correctly)

[isirc10]

So after talking to the ever helpful Mike Toolan yesterday, (and mimicking Nick P as well) I am going to concentrate on two concepts this month that are holding me back:

Osis and Pixies.

Just putting it out there so there is a written record. Back to drilling.

[Nathan]

nice posts, dude. sounds like killer hikes you've been going on. i miss the PA wilderness, though NH is pretty incredible too.

[isirc10]

Holy crap! Nathan posted on my footblog! He is alive!

Seriously though, that pretty much got my day off to the perfect start. Well, that and everything else.

Everything Else
Definition: Jean-Philippe Labbe rolls into town at 10pm on Monday and kicks with us at Rec Hall. It was a lot of fun kicking with someone I had never met before. Really enjoyed the fairy xbd rakes. We then get asked to leave nicely by the guy in charge of closing the place (he could have just told us to get out but he was very polite with his request). Then we went back to the apartment and had beer and pizza, while talking about random stuff and watching some footbag videos. This is the very condensed version of events as I do not really remember the details, I just remember that JP and Marie were really nice and funny, and generally awesome people to hang out with. The next morning, I gave them a quick tour of campus (and by that I mean we took the bus to the arboretum and I pointed at large buildings as we rode by). We walked around the arboretum and then headed to play some disc golf with JP while Marie tried to figure out their situation with customs. Both JP and I had only played disc golf once (I played twice) so it was fun (and funny) while we tried to pick up the finer points of the game. It was an easy nine hole par 3 course and on the third try we were both able to finish only 4 over par which was quite the achievement considering how our first two runs went. Then we went back to the apartment and JP and Marie were on their way to their next destination.

Then there was a session at 5:30.... I must say, our club is hopelessly addicted to footbag. Today was supposed to be a rest day, but everyone else said their legs didn't hurt so we ended up kicking anyway. My legs were sore - very sore. I have this strange tightness that I haven't felt before in my hamstrings and upper calf muscles in my legs that made it very nervy to kick - I was constantly expecting to cramp up. This started yesterday and continued into today's session. However, this soreness went away as I played more and after a half hour of kicking, I was back to my usual self. Ended the session with 30 minutes of shredding under a lamp post. Have a nagging feeling that I should probably give my legs a rest after 3 consecutive days of 2+ hour sessions. Still probably gonna kick at the session tomorrow.

Blizzards just got a lot cleaner
Blur > ss butterfly > blizzard bs
Omelet > Atomsmasher bs
Blur > muted far clipper rpt x 7
Ripwalk > pdx illusion > ss butterfly rpt

Non footbag related stuff
Just got a new frame for my bike. 4 lb aluminum, horizontal rear dropouts, white paint. No branding, but the construction looks good.
Grandparents got me an early Christmas present - Brooks B17 saddle for my bike. I can't freaking wait till it gets here.
Got a 98 on my EE 210 exam. The class average was a 67. That makes me happy.
Really feeling happy after every session. I haven't felt this way in a long time. Feeling like I am actually kicking to the best of my ability and that I am leaving it all out there with almost every run. Not getting frustrated with tricks I am having trouble with, looking at those challenges more methodically now. Having a lot of fun teaching footbag as well - people are picking up on stuff really quickly and are enthusiastic about learning. School work isn't boring, but still leaves me with time to do fun things. Overall, I would say I am in a very good state of mind at the moment. Lets see how long this lasts.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Wow Ivan. I cant believe how mu h of a shredded you've turned into. You're going to be very fun to watch one day and I know you'll be making me cover my eyes, twitch uncontrollably, yell things that don't make sense, pace around the room in disbelief, and eat my shorts... maybe all at once too. Game is looking so sharp. Hoping to see another psu video release soon. Keep doing whatever it is that you're doing. Its working.

[isirc10]

Nick, I sure hope I will be good enough to make you do one/all of those things. Although I would prefer you not eat your shorts - I don't want you to experience gastrointestinal distress. I haven't taken much video, but maybe with my GoPro back in the game, I will have something out soon.

Anndddd now we have returned to real life. That was quick. Today I was tired. Just plain tired. I expected that. My stuff wasn't as sharp, my strings weren't as long or dense, and my legs felt it during the session - no pain, but just a bit of sluggishness. Kicking 2+ hours a day, 4 days in a row will do that to me. Regardless, I hit a few things and watched everyone else in the club hit some cool stuff as well.
ducking clipper > ducking clipper > ripwalk > ripwalk > ripwalk
lots of flip stepping sets
45 contact tiltless string with at least one ripwalk, blur, blizzard, shmoe, crispy dlo, sidewalk and crispy torque

Enjoyed the session, kicked with a bunch of people I hadn't seen in a few weeks and was surprised by their progress. In non footbag related news, the bike frame is supposed to be getting here Friday. My mom sent me cookies and other stuff from home and used chocolate candy to fill the empty spaces in the box instead of packing peanuts and that brightened my morning after an EE lab that took way too long to complete. Also, my bike seat was delivered today (although I never got it) so I called Amazon and they are sending out a replacement for me soon. Even though I was a bit upset about the seat getting lost/stolen, at least Amazon has awesome customer service. Overall, a mixed bag of emotions today. Hopefully tomorrow I can relax a bit and let my legs rest up before Friday's session.

[Asmus]

45 contact tiltless string with at least one ripwalk, blur, blizzard, shmoe, crispy dlo, sidewalk and crispy torque

Nice! Props man!

[isirc10]

Thank you!

Session on Friday. Drilled osis and pixies, then did some ducking.
ducking pdx mirage bsos
ducking pdx illusion bs
ducking far legover bsos
ducking far pickup bsos
pogo far osis bs

No cool strings, still lots of stepping, and bad pixies. There is progress, but it is minimal and on some days it seems like I am going backwards. That doesn't really worry me, I have been through this with clippers and ducking, so sooner or later pixies and osis will fall. Anyway, its late, I just worked for 10 hours and I am waking up early to go hike tomorrow and then play footbag. Oh, we had a cool party/get together thing after our session on Friday which was a lot of fun. Boy, this post may be the worst thing in terms of organization but at this point I am not in any state to correct it. Kids, don't get jobs where you serve drunk college idiots food at 3:00am. It's almost not worth it.

[isirc10]

Today was fun. Hiked/biked another 12 miles, the weather was beautiful as were the views:


Had a session at Old Main right after I came back from the hike. I thought I was gonna be pretty tired but I guess I am getting more in shape. Kicked for 2 hours, didn't hit anything of note except for
blurriest bs
ducking pdx miraging stallberger
stepping far guay bs
Yeah, that and I footed atomic double down on both sides. Just kinda fooled around, didn't really put much thought into today's session. Just enjoyed the wonderful weather and had a good time kicking with club members. Got milkshakes after the session and some other food. Now I am at home and feeling kinda lonely. Don't know why, but I am. Maybe I need a GF... but my last few experiences just suggest that it will just end up being a massive time commitment (and ultimately a waste) and I don't really have much time on my hands as it is. Kinda conflicted . W/e, you guys aren't really interested in that here anyway as this is a footbag forum. I guess I will just finish my paper and continue building my bike.

Shred on modified, and thanks for taking the time to read my footblog. Seriously. It's nice to have people care enough in this big world to read what some random kid on the internet rambles on about. If you do read my footblog and haven't posted in it or haven't posted recently, just add a post saying hi or something - don't be shy, I will only be grateful.

[Cass]

Girlfriends ruin footbag


jk when you find the right one you'll know it and it shouldn't be an issue.


Blurriest is sick! Also sweet view, I wish I had something like that around here.

[boyle]

Girlfriends/boyfriends really should be a massive time commitment, but it should be put in to do things that you are both interested in together. Otherwise it's just a waste of time. Nice highlights and nice mountain views.

[isirc10]

Yeah, that's the tough part - I guess I just am not there yet in terms of time management - between footbag, university and my undergraduate research, I am hardly finding enough time to sleep and eat well. The hiking and biking is how I keep myself mentally fresh and physically engaged. Looks like I will have to be more efficient. My interests are pretty random though, so I guess I will just keep my options open for now.

Thanks for the comments guys (non gender specific use of the word). Have some more views:



Random highlights from my life (pretty much just happened so I am feeling pretty happy right now)
Just won a Bontrager carbon fiber front fork on ebay for my project bike - 21$ shipped, no blemishes or chips in the finish. The listing was categorized pretty poorly and I lost a few hours of sleep finding it, but I saved close to $100 on it. Right now my bike is going to make it under my $250 budget for the project and that makes me really happy.
Just got an email from my new engineering mentor (we get mentored by people who have worked in the field and are willing to help undergrads develop their careers). Turns out he has worked on just about every major UAV/aircraft project for the Navy in the past 30 years and is now the Branch Head for Strategy, Resources, and Requirements in the Pentagon for the Department of the Navy Staff. He also did a lot of civilian projects and seems to be very willing to help me find my feet so I am excited to meet him next weekend. Hopefully I can get some good stuff out of this (plus the dude seems to be full of awesome stories).

Looks like things are getting really busy in the next few weeks. Gonna have to get back on my 6 hour sleep schedule and crank out some schoolwork. At least I won't have time to think about how lonely/not lonely I am. That last post ended with sad thoughts, but now I am pretty happy/determined. Thanks again for the posts, combined with my recent highlights, they made my evening. Still have to write that paper due tomorrow though...

[isirc10]

Been busy out of my mind this week - probably a good thing. Sleep schedule is compressed and I am running from place to place doing stuff, but I kinda enjoy it. Its better than sitting on my hands. Junior year - I was warned of you but I never really thought it would be me doing the running. Needless to say, I am often mistaken in my predictions about my life.

In terms of footbag, I fit in a nice 1 hour shred session today with the rest of the PSU crew that showed up. There was some carnival thing going on at old main but we kicked right next to it and the music was pretty good. They even played a parov stellar song which surprised us. Not many highlights:
Fusion. So smooth, so quick, so freaking cool.
Had a run lasting about two minutes, lost count at 130 contacts, all tiltless and more or less done to the song with some key ripwalks, osis and butterflies/refractions thrown in there.

In other news my bike is starting to shape up and since I don't have any friends who are into bikes, I figure I would post it there - someone is bound to appreciate my excitement. I can't freaking wait.

[C-Fan]

Just got an email from my new engineering mentor ... he has worked on just about every major UAV/aircraft project for the Navy in the past 30 years ... (plus the dude seems to be full of awesome stories).

Really? I would expect him to just drone on...

Props on the 2 minute string btw. Doing stuff like that makes you realize dropless routines are possible.

How often does the PSU club meet? And what's the nearest airport? Is there a nearby airport?

[isirc10]

Ken, I kinda expected him to be really boring as well, but our conversations so far have been very insightful and he has a good sense of humor.
The 2 minute string made me realize a lot of things. First off, doing 2-3 adds for more than a minute is tiring. Second, my trick selection is pretty bland. Third, if I am gonna do a routine, I will need to have some breaks in there - even if they are breaks from doing pdx mirages. Fourth, holy crap I need to get way better at footbag if I want to do a routine.

In terms of airports, we have University Park Airport about 20 minutes away (taxi which I will be glad to pay for if you come here) from our apartment. They fly Delta (to Detriot), United express (to Washington/Dulles), and US Air (daily flights to Philly INT).
http://www.universityparkairport.com/

PSU meets every other day because we are kinda spontaneous... Our set days are Wednesdays and Fridays in the evenings but when people visit, we have kicked for 4-5 days straight... we love to have visitors!

Does this mean we could possibly have the illustrious C-FAN in our midst?