What do I do in my free time?

     Last time we talked about the equipment I use daily and what it is used for. In this post I will discuss when my free time is and what I usually do during it. Obviously on weekends I usually have nothing to do, so I will only be talking about my free time on the weekdays.

Mondays, Wednesdays: On these days we lift at 6am but don't have class until 11am so once we are done with lifting around 7-7:15am I have about 2.5 hours of free time. Typically I just use this time to sleep. But if I don't I will use it to catch up on any homework I haven't done yet, or just study a little extra for a test, etc. I might watch a little Netflix or something as well. Once class starts at 11am I don't really have any free time until 6pm because I have practice. Once it is 6pm I have about 50 minutes until I have to go to study hall so I'll shower and then go eat dinner. That's what I'll do every time and it wont change. Now once it is 9pm that's when I'm officially done with everything and have time to relax. Sometimes I'll get food from a restaurant, other times I'll go back to my dorm and watch TV or play video games. However last night as an example, I studied extra for a math test that I had. I usually get in bed by midnight so once that point comes, I'm completely unproductive.

Tuesdays: On Tuesdays we don't have a lift which means I sleep in until 9am because I have a 9:30 am class. I get done with class on Tuesdays at noon usually which means I'm completely free from then until about 1:30pm. I always use this time to eat lunch, and then just relax and watch Netflix. That definitely wont ever change. From then I'm occupied until 6pm, and then the rest is the same as above.

Thursdays: These are very similar to Tuesdays but what changes is that I don't have study hall so once 6pm comes I'm done. I'll usually shower, eat, and then completely laze around the rest of the night. I might do some weekend homework in advance but not usually. However this week I will be watching the Packer game since they play this Thursday.

Fridays: Everything on Fridays is the same as Monday/Wednesday but like Thursday, once 6pm strikes I am done with everything as I don't have study hall. So like usual, I will shower, eat, and then from there I do a wide array of things. Sometimes I'll just stay in and be a couch potato, and sometimes I will hang out with people. It really just depends on how I'm feeling.

    Anyways that's my post about how I use my free time, thanks for reading!

Baseball Equipment

     Hello everyone, for my next post I will be discussing all of the equipment that I use to play and maintain to be successful. I am a catcher so I will have more equipment than others. I will separate each part of the body into different paragraphs.

Head: First off I have my standard issue baseball cap. Currently we have one hat since it is only the fall. Next I have my Oakley sunglasses. I wear them a lot since it is usually really sunny in Texas as well as Kansas. Regarding catchers gear I have my skullcap which is essentially a batting helmet without ear flaps. I wear this and then have a mask with straps that I pull around the skullcap as
shown below.

Chest: In terms of clothing I have a couple long sleeve shirts to wear incase it is cold. Next I have a shirt I wear for lifting weights, and two other shirts for afternoon practice. I also have my catchers chest protector, shown above. 

Arms: Here I have a few things. I have a pair of batting gloves for hitting as well as a protective glove I wear under my catchers mitt so my hand wont get injured. I also have another catchers mitt that I am breaking in for the spring season. Lastly I have a glove for the outfield, as I occasionally play there as well. 

Legs: Here I have about 3 pairs of baseball pants, either gray or white. I have 2 different belts for the pants as well. For under the pants I have a few pairs of compression shorts and a protective cup. For catchers equipment I have the shin guards that I wear so I can slide around to block balls and such. 

Feet: For my feet I obviously have a bunch of socks that I wear. Other than that I have a pair of cleats, a pair of "turf" shoes for lifting and running around on the field. A pair of casual Adidas shoes that I wear to practice and around school. Lastly I have a pair of shoes only for running/conditioning because they are formed the best for that. 

My Daily Schedule Including Athletics and Academics Part 2

     In my last blog post I described what my Monday Wednesday Friday (1st rotation) daily schedule looks like and includes. Those days are the longest compared to my Tuesday Thursday (2nd rotation) daily schedule because of the fact I have to get up at 5 am in my first rotation. For my 2nd rotation I usually get up at 8:30 am so its about a 4 hour difference. But I still have practice and study hall usually, so its not a huge difference. Anyways, here is what my schedule looks like on Tuesdays and Thursdays:

8:30-9:15 am: wake up, eat breakfast, shower, get dressed

9:30-10:45 am: Go to Intro to Mass Media

11:00-12:15pm: Go to College Algebra

12:30-12:45pm: Go to dining hall for lunch

12:50-2:00pm: Chill out in my dorm room, maybe take a 15 minute nap or just lay down and look at my phone, socialization, etc.

2:00-2:30: Get all my stuff for practice, get clothes ready, maybe eat a granola bar or something else small. Drive to baseball field for practice.

2:30-4:30ish pm: Baseball practice

5:00-5:30 pm: Team swim workout in the pool

5:30-6:00pm: get back to my dorm, shower, rest for a little bit.

6:30-6:50pm: Eat dinner in the dining hall. Head to library for mandatory study hall.

7:00-8/9pm: Mandatory study hall.

9:15-11:00 pm: hang out in dorm room, socialize, etc. Then get ready for bed.

11:00-5am: Sleep and then wake up for 6am weights. Repeat 1st rotation.


    So as you can see its not as long of a day but I do like to go to bed preferably around 10:30-11pm so I can hopefully get 6ish hours of sleep and then 2 more after weights so I basically end up with 8ish hours of sleep. I'm able to go to sleep earlier though cause I get basically get all my homework done during the mandatory study hall. In my next post ill talk about the equipment I use to play and how to maintain it, clean it, etc. Thanks for reading!

My Daily Schedule Including Athletics and Academics Part 1

    For my first official blog post I will be describing what my daily schedule is during the week which includes athletics and academics. My schedule rotates every other day, meaning that Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I follow a routine while on Tuesday and Thursday I follow a different one. So I will start with my first rotation in this blog post and do the 2nd rotation in a different post.

1st rotation:

5am-6am: wake up, eat something light, get dressed

6am-7:15am: Team weightlifting

7:30am-10am: get back to dorm, eat something light, shower, go back to sleep

10am-10:45am: wake up again, eat a snack, check email, surf the web, etc.

11am-11:50am: BU101 class

12pm-12:50pm: MMBC class

12:50pm-1pm: get snack/drink from library, head to last class

1pm-1:50pm: WU101 class

1:50pm-2:15pm: get back to dorm, get dressed for practice, get to field at 2:30

2:30pm-5pm: practice/conditioning

5:15pm-6:45pm: shower, gather school materials, eat dinner, go to mandatory study hall for 1-2 hours

7pm-8/9pm: study hall

8/9pm- chill out in dorm room, maybe get more food, watch tv, video games, etc.

10:30pm-12pm: set alarm, go to sleep

     As you can see, this 1st rotation is at least a 17 hour day, possible 19 hours, depending on when I choose to go to sleep. The days seem long, but for me they seem to go by fast. I'm basically either in class, study hall, or practicing so I don't have a lot of social time, which isn't the worst because I can do a lot of studying in one day. This is good so I don't procrastinate.

Thanks for reading, ill post my 2nd rotation next time!

Introductory Post Ryne Ryskoski

       Hello my name is Ryne Ryskoski and I am a student-athlete at Washburn studying Journalism and business and playing baseball. This blog will focus on my daily life schedule and what I do that revolves around baseball in general. I am writing this blog because I feel like writing out my daily life will help me feel more organized and composed. Also because I feel some people may be interested in the daily life of an athlete and what they go through in terms of athletics and academics. I'll also write about what I do in my off time, my diet, and the equipment I use/maintain.

Ryne Ryskoski