Sunday, May 31, 2009

Procrastinating

I shouldn't be on the computer right now. I have to scrub every square inch of my bathroom and finish packing. And I have to leave for wrestling in 2 1/2 hours. Yikes!

Yesterday, I taught a swim lesson to a 3 1/2 yr old little girl from San Diego. The water temperature out here is a bit colder than they are used to (they just moved here two weeks ago). But despite the cold, she listened really well and I'm pretty confident that she will be swimming before the end of the summer. When we finished the lesson, I also received a request from another parent to teach her son.

From the swim lesson, I went to the gym (after a detour cashing a check at the bank) and taught the women's class. Well, more like a private lesson since Mary Anne was solo today. Eric's wife was supposed to be there and showed up at Open Mat time when class ended. Eric got the times wrong. But we put her in my old pink and white War gi and put her on the mats anyway. Yay! New women is always fun!

I had to bust my ass to get up to my parents' house for my Dad's suprise 60th birthday party. Good thing he was late getting there or I would've missed the surprise. There were a lot of people I didn't recognize and it seems like everyone is having kids. There were probably 10 children under the age of 10 and 4 pregnant women all giving birth in the next month.

There was a chocolate fountain. Everything was dipped into it...strawberries, pineapples, fingers, even birthday cake. Kids were running around with chocolate covered shirts getting in the way of the bean bag toss, hitting each other with swords, and squirting water at each other. Occasionally, an adult got up to check on the reason behind a 3 yr olds tears or yell at the pre-teens for teasing the 5 year olds (yes plural at all age groups). Mostly it was a free for all of entirely too much consumed food. I got on the scale this morning and weighed more than I have in weeks. But damn those chocolate strawberries were good!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Tons to do and not enough time

I got the job I was hoping for, yay! It starts a week from Monday - right after flying in on a red-eye from the Mundials. It's temporary with the hope that I will get the permanent position, but may have other options just in case that doesn't work out. Thank GOD because I'm running out of money.

The swim lessons have helped, I've taught two so far and have three more before I go out of town. It's enough to just keep me afloat. :)

This morning I drove up to my parents' house to get their dolly for moving Ryan out tomorrow. We thought we'd get the uhaul all weekend but turns out we have to give it back and rent another one to move out my stuff on Sunday, then we move into the new place Monday. I can't wait, the new complex has a pool AND a hot tub! And it's spitting distance to Starbucks. Bonus!

After driving back from Maryland, I trained this afternoon with Ryan, Luis Pantoja (Yamasaki Brown Belt) and Quang (my favorite training partner). We did a bunch of 8 minute rounds since Luis and Ryan have 8 minute matches at the Worlds - it'll make my 6 min rounds seem easy! Haha!

After that I drove to Fairfax for my wrestling lesson, it was really really hot in that room today. My t-shirt was soaked half-way through our time. But coach was happy with our progress today, which is good because we got a speech last week and I don't want to get one of those again. Ever.

After that it was off to teach an hour swim lesson in Alexandria then back up to Arlington for evening practice. Whew! (At least I took 10 minutes to sit in the hot tub at the pool and attempt to relax, that was nice)

This whole new job thing, plus being broke, plus moving, plus training for Worlds is not easy. Lol!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Happy Day!

Ryan won his division at ADCC West Coast Trials!!! He is going to Barcelona! Woohoo!! And congrats to Paul Schreiner for finishing second in his division too!

Last night the team all met at Bailey's to watch the UFC. I had a great time hanging out with everyone, even though I ate some crap I probably shouldn't have and drank a few beers, it hasn't affected my weight at all...not that I am even remotely close enough to weight to really be concerned about it. Good times with Fifty/50!

Wrestling was canceled because coach was out of town but Kayla came up to our gym to drill with me, so I got to wrestle anyway! Yay! It is really starting to feel a lot smoother. (If only Anthony hadn't dropped me so hard on that one takedown, I'd be perfect right now, lol!)

Today I ate semi healthy, deli meat sandwich on whole wheat and a small acai smoothie. Then after training, I made myself some pasta when I got home and am now about to go finish the rest of the Ben & Jerry's Cake Batter Ice Cream sitting in my freezer. That stuff is so freaking delicious! It is my greatest weakness, lol!

p.s. I'm getting more requests for swim lessons too, so I'm HAPPY!

Friday, May 22, 2009

Glad I stuck in there

I rolled out of bed this morning stiff as a board. Every joint and muscle felt like it couldn't move.

This afternoon's class was light for some reason, only 4 guys there besides me, none of them particularly good training partners because all were fairly new (except one blue belt) and significantly bigger - bigger than my usual training partners. I didn't want to roll at all, especially considering the group and the state of my body. But Seph rolled with me first, and I felt better after that. The warm-up seemed to help my body feel better, only 3 more matches before class ended, but I felt pretty good during and after sparring. I even got one of the passes Abmar Barbosa taught in his seminar on Wednesday night (one of the best seminars I've been to).

I had packed a lunch today since I didn't want to drive home and waste gas between afternoon and evening class (those of us without significant income need to be frugal, lol). Instead I went to Ryan's and cleaned his car, it was disgusting! I even took it to the gas station and vacuumed it out. After lunch, cleaning, and speaking to a few different companies about quotes for movers, it was time to head back to the gym. Unfortunately, the kinks had returned, lol!

A few more people showed up to evening class. Once again I didn't feel like sparring, yet once again after I started moving, I forgot that I was sore. This time I was able to catch a sweep from bottom of side mount that Abmar showed the other day. All in all, not a bad day. :)

Good luck to everyone competing at ADCC tomorrow (Ryan, Paul, Val, Johnny)! I'm more nervous than if I was competing, haha.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

I smell Honeysuckles

I swear I do! I don't know where they are coming from, but I may explore my neighborhood this weekend to find them. It reminds me of soccer practice when I was little and we used to suck out the juices.

I put an ad on Craigslist for private swim lessons and got a few responses. I'm going to line up as many as I can, first one starts this weekend. Woohoo!

I love Spring!!!

Wrestling practice today closed with a motivational/critical speech, I think I need to re-read a book on Sports Psychology that I read last year. Next week will be a renewed me!

BJJ training today was fun, lots of sparring sessions and a new tiny detail on an armlock sweep combo from Seph. Got punched in the face (yep in grappling), kneed in the crotch, discovered random bleeding toes when I got home, etc. but it was one of my favorite classes in a while. Not sure exactly why, maybe it was all the sparring...

Who cares, it was a good day overall!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Life catching up!

Life can be such a pain sometimes. Today (or the next two weeks) is one of those times.

Why is it that every time you think you have all your bills covered, another 2 or 3 other expenses pop up? I feel like I can never get ahead. I really hope I get a full-time job (not just helping with the gym) fast!

I'm trying to juggle training for the Mundials, hoping I can actually GO considering I will (hopefully) have just started a new job, worried because I can't pay all of my bills (even with Ryan helping me - I just don't want him to give me as much as I need, I like to carry my own weight), needing to pack up all my stuff because I'm supposed to move out of my house the weekend before I leave for the Mundials. Also, that weekend I have a surprise B-day party on Sat after teaching the women's class in the early afternoon. Sun I have my last wrestling class before the tournament and a baby shower. I have to move my stuff out of my house by Sunday at the latest but can't move in until Monday and have to manage moving in between a full day of work and BJJ class at night.

I am officially going insane with all this happening at once. Where are the money gods to just drop me a $1000 during the night? I'd play the lottery but I don't have enough money...Lol!

Okay, back to packing up all my belongings (and hopefully throwing a good amount out).

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Forced break leads to feeling better

Sooo my shoulder popped (the "good" one) on Friday during the day class. Man was I pissed! I got caught in a weird position with one of the guys, I KNEW it was about to be bad and tried to give a couple preemptory taps. Unfortunately, he was so set on yanking my shoulder that he didn't notice the first like 5 taps. Pop! About 5 more taps and a yelp later and he finally noticed and released his hold.

Honestly, it wasn't as much the pain as the complete and utter TERROR that he had torn my "good" shoulder 3 weeks before the Mundial that upset me. I was almost in tears as I was trying to figure out if it was seriously hurt or not. I recommenced sparring with him and then two others following that match, protecting the shoulder the whole time. But I could practically FEEL it swelling up. I took a TON of Advil (perhaps more than a 112lb person should) on Friday and Saturday and two days off training and although it still feels a little stiff and weak in specific movements, it is doing much better today. Thank God! I'm not sure if I was more worried about missing Mundials or having to go through surgery again, but it seems that fear has passed slightly.

So it held up through wrestling practice...which, by the way, went much better today than Thursday. Perhaps the forced break came at the right time, my body was exhausted. We are incorporating more and more resistance into the drilling which is good for me. I'm beginning to almost feel like a wrestler...almost. I still get a little kick out of it every time I tie on my hand-me-down wrestling shoes. I think it helps that I genuinely like the girls and the coach. When everyone in the room has a great attitude, it makes it easier to learn and train hard.

Random topic time!

Random Topic #1. One of my old friends from Capital JJ came in to visit yesterday. He says he wants to sign up with us after a long break from BJJ. I hope he follows through, we have some great guys his size who could use more training partners and he is a really fun person to have around. Our gym is full of characters and I think it would be great to throw him into the mix!

Random Topic #2. I dropped Ryan off at the airport at the butt crack of dawn on Saturday morning and almost miss him already (about 2 days is what it usually takes, haha). He is training with Paul Schreiner all week in Santa Cruz and then competing at the ADCC West Coast Trials next weekend. Good luck, Ry!!!

Random Topic #3:Hollie and Mary Ann are looking SHARP! It's so exciting to see how much progress they've made in such a short amount of time! Yay! Great job, ladies!!!

Random Topic #4: I am almost finished creating a promotional video for the women's class and am working with Sport & Health to set up a table in the "lobby" and run a promotional event and show the video later this week or next week. Can't wait!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Tired

I think I forgot what it was like to train hard for a tournament, having not done it in so long. I forgot the sheer amount of exhaustedness (is that even a word? It should be...)

I am in constant varying states of pain, soreness, stiffness, and just plain old tiredness at all moments from every limb and joint in my body. Sometimes I don't want to go to training. It's difficult to drag myself in and work hard against people a lot bigger than me everyday (let alone twice a day). Luckily yesterday we went to Richmond and I got to train with another small person and with another girl. I felt good post training in the afternoon but after driving back up here, I was in no mood to train again last night. It is leglock/footlock month though so it was an interesting class of course. I learned a good defense to a heel hook that I hadn't seen before. And rolled with a couple of the guys at the end of class. Then crawled home to bed.

Today I opted to skip morning class and hang out at the house and do laundry. But I have to go to wrestling practice soon and then training again after that. My mind and body both would like a break from training, but we need to keep pushing hard for a few more weeks. It's starting to feel less like fun and more like work, but I know this is only temporary. After the Mundial, I will take a well earned vacation from training...well except for wrestling classes, I'll still go to them. :)

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Retrospect - Not Sure It Would've Helped

I'm debating a few issues in my head right now. So my last post was on Thursday night after a super hard practice and lots of hard practice this week (around 5 hours that day alone). I'm now debating whether or not this was a good idea...

Of COURSE I know that one day post-hard workout is painful but two days post-hard workout is actually awful. How I seemed to forget this Thursday night is beyond me. However, I am struggling desperately to reconcile the two different ideas going through my head tonight.

The first is that I was so sore today, my muscles were so fatigued from training this week, that I couldn't seem to make them (my muscles) do what I wanted during my matches - this was not a good thing for competing in the tournament today, and I definitely paid for it in my results.

But the other side of the issue is, what am I training for right now? The Copa Nova? Nope. The answer is the Mundial. And in order to be in top shape for the Mundial, I needed to work very hard this week and for the next 3 weeks. According to that timeline, I couldn't afford a week off hard training. Therefore, I shouldn't be too frustrated about today's matches.

And yet I am extremely frustrated! I know some of the other guys were hurting today too and it showed in our slowness and our inability to move the way we wanted/saw ourselves moving in our heads. This was not the kind of sore where your cardio is failing you, this was the kind of sore where you so overtrained that no muscle in your body seems capable of movement, no matter how hard you want it to go. On the one hand, you feel really good about all the hard work it takes to get your body to this stage, and on the other, you want to punch yourself in the face for thinking super legs "wasn't so bad after all". It wasn't...until approximately 24 hours later.

As I type this, I can still feel the heat coming from the muscles in my legs - hours after competing. I need one of those ice baths I used to stick my legs in after field hockey in college when I had shin splints. Lol!

The only plus side is that this was the second tournament in a row where I did not have an issue with my asthma. This was the first time my muscles have been able to get this fatigued in a very long time, in fact my lungs usually give out WAY before the rest of my body. Bonus! (I have to take my small victories.)

I'll try to post one or more of my videos once I have them converted so my Mac can see the files and upload them. I love my Mac but what is it's issue with mini discs?

I need some sleep to attempt a brief physical recovery before wrestling practice tomorrow...

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Happiness

I survived! Our first week of official Competition Team Practices are over and I don't feel anywhere near as tired or sore as I thought I would (not saying I don't feel sore at all - just better than expected)...AND we even did the Danny Ives special "Super Legs" Set after Comp Team tonight which was after our regular practice (all stand up today taught by Anthony) and before that earlier today I wrestled with one of the high school girls for 2 hours...the most amazing thing is that I am still standing, haha! (Although, in reality I'm not sure I would have made it through today if not for my 20 minute massage yesterday at the awesome place across from the gym, lol.)

So I am officially signed up to wrestle (aka drill, learn, and pretend I'm a real wrestler) twice a week with the ladies from now through August! Woohoo! In just three practices my stand-up has already progressed at a completely ridiculous rate. It definitely pays to learn from not just a REAL wrestling coach (and not a bjj coach who learned from someone else and is trying to pass it on) but a real wrestling coach who has both competed at AND successfully coached male and female wrestlers to very high levels. Total sweetness!

Tomorrow, unfortunately, I have to miss evening training to go teach a swim class in Maryland so I plan to get in a good LONG cardio and lifting workout earlier in the day. No, this is not something I would usually do before a tournament but the tournament this Saturday is just a warm-up for the big deal in a month anyway. (And no one in my weight class at blue belt or above is expected...surprise of surprises I'll probably have to compete up in weight again (and perhaps belt rank), but it's not so bad because I'm a little fat right now anyway - 115 tonight after practice - ugh, lol!)

As a side note: Ryan and Brendan went out to Vegas to join up with Cameron Diffley as part of "Team Guard Pullers" to compete against "Team Takedown" in a pro match-up at Grapplers Quest on Saturday. Kick butt, baby!

p.s. Our new website has been moved off the development site to it's new home and will be launched online officially sometime tomorrow! Thanks, Erik!! Your design skills are amazing! Check us out soon at: Fifty/50 BJJ

Monday, May 4, 2009

Training Blahs

I was still pretty sore on Saturday from working out with a trainer last week and wrestling practice on top of my regular bjj classes and I think the rainy weather had me feeling extra lazy so I didn't really train much at open mat after teaching the women's class. However, I was still really looking forward to wrestling practice on Sunday. Except I woke up (many times) on Saturday night/Sunday morning with the most violent sickness I've ever had.

Although I did go out drinking Saturday night, I think on top of the alcohol I actually had food poisoning or something because I've been sick from alcohol many times and usually after you throw up once or twice you actually feel much better. This was not the case for me on Sunday morning. I have never vomited more times in a short period of time in my life. I was stationed at the toilet bowl about every 30-60 minutes until the only thing coming back up was more stomach acid. My abs got a serious work-out though...

Needless to say I had to miss my wrestling workout on Sunday after not training hard on Saturday THEN I showed up today for training and long story short, didn't end up getting to train. :(

I need to get ready with some seriously hard training for Worlds, dammit! Ryan and Seph say tonight will be the first killer practice to get ready and we will have 3 killer practices each week until Worlds, and by god I need it!

Friday, May 1, 2009

More wrastlin'!

Today was my second wrestling practice. This time there was only one other girl there and she is MY SIZE! Woohoo!

I am sure my legs are getting stronger by the minute from constantly being in a wrestling stance. No more need for Danny Ives' special "Super Legs" class, lol! (Miss you Danny!)

Today we spent a lot of time on hand fighting. I am making a lot of mistakes still but at least I'm starting to recognize them...baby steps. =)

I really enjoy the coach's style. He believes that women's wrestling is 20 years behind men's wrestling because women are treated like women instead of like wrestlers in the wrestling room. Therefore, he treats us like wrestlers. We are learning to take away any female timidity and DEMAND a grip or a position. That wrist is MINE...and you are not going to get it back. Lol!

He is a perfectionist. And it's exactly what I enjoy. Almost every single grip/shot/throw needs to be adjusted for one reason or another and he demands that we perform as proficiently as any man he instructs...and I love it!

I will go back on Sunday afternoon and I can't wait already! I love BJJ but I can't remember the last time I had so much fun. There is definitely something to be said for training with someone your size.

Oooo people my size reminds me that we drove down to Richmond yesterday and I got to train with Lo and Liz! Hopefully, my new job won't start until after next Wednesday so I can go back again next week and train!