3/29
BJJ 1.5hrs
3/30
Frisbee 45mins
3/31
Afternoon:
Flagz N Abs
5 Rounds:
10x squats
Stairs (two at a time)
10x burpees
Completed in 15:11
Did not warm up sufficiently as hips (flexors?) are wrecked. :) Wanted to go relatively light b/c there might be a lot of rolling in BJJ tonight. As a cooldown, did sets of pullups and ab work. Did 20 pullups in total and 60 ab movements.
Evening:
BJJ 1.5hrs
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Good Fris
3/28
Afternoon:
Had a great frisbee game yesterday. It was 3 on 4, and I was on the side with 3. Definitely one of my better games. Had a couple of scoring throws, a couple of attempted scoring throws that weren't off by much and all of my short passes were on the money. Best day of throwing that I've had in quite some time. I didn't feel especially fast, but I wasn't intimidated (much) by guys going past me. Felt like I could catch them, or at least get to the fris if it was tossed their way. Had a couple of good defensive blocks, especially being on the team that was a man down.
Evening:
BJJ. T was teaching, and it was definitely a different atmosphere. Looks like we're going to be focusing on side-control for the next little while. We went over top control, transitions to mount and submissions. Started with takedowns, which I didn't do very well. Wasn't even a hip throw. *sigh* The side-control work was great practice. No rolling at the end which left me feeling unfullfilled. There will be people from other schools coming in on Thursday though, so should be a good crowd and hopefully we'll get a lot of rolling in then.
Afternoon:
Had a great frisbee game yesterday. It was 3 on 4, and I was on the side with 3. Definitely one of my better games. Had a couple of scoring throws, a couple of attempted scoring throws that weren't off by much and all of my short passes were on the money. Best day of throwing that I've had in quite some time. I didn't feel especially fast, but I wasn't intimidated (much) by guys going past me. Felt like I could catch them, or at least get to the fris if it was tossed their way. Had a couple of good defensive blocks, especially being on the team that was a man down.
Evening:
BJJ. T was teaching, and it was definitely a different atmosphere. Looks like we're going to be focusing on side-control for the next little while. We went over top control, transitions to mount and submissions. Started with takedowns, which I didn't do very well. Wasn't even a hip throw. *sigh* The side-control work was great practice. No rolling at the end which left me feeling unfullfilled. There will be people from other schools coming in on Thursday though, so should be a good crowd and hopefully we'll get a lot of rolling in then.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Grass Looks Green From Here...
Lawns are starting to green up...very exciting. Snow/rain mix this morning...a little less exciting.
Friday
Mock BJJ blue belt test. This was one straight hour of running through the 88 techniques that Pedro Sauer requires on the blue belt test. I felt like I did ok. Not amazing, not bad. We hadn't drilled the standing self-defense techniques nor head/arm escapes in quite awhile. I was pretty rusty on those, but felt good about the guard and mount positions. I was bummed about not knowing all of the techniques, but it was a great exercise to just spend an hour running through them.
Saturday
BJJ class. Good class, more guard work. Got to roll with Dane and Walter. I was in a bad position in side-control and couldn't get out of it but wasn't getting submitted either. I need to improve my awareness of hands/arms behind my head when I'm in side-control. I'll focus on that this week.
Sunday
Mixed doubles tennis. Was a little rusty but was a good workout.
Friday
Mock BJJ blue belt test. This was one straight hour of running through the 88 techniques that Pedro Sauer requires on the blue belt test. I felt like I did ok. Not amazing, not bad. We hadn't drilled the standing self-defense techniques nor head/arm escapes in quite awhile. I was pretty rusty on those, but felt good about the guard and mount positions. I was bummed about not knowing all of the techniques, but it was a great exercise to just spend an hour running through them.
Saturday
BJJ class. Good class, more guard work. Got to roll with Dane and Walter. I was in a bad position in side-control and couldn't get out of it but wasn't getting submitted either. I need to improve my awareness of hands/arms behind my head when I'm in side-control. I'll focus on that this week.
Sunday
Mixed doubles tennis. Was a little rusty but was a good workout.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Friday Already?
Wednesday
It was a gorgeous day, but couldn't get a frisbee game together. Crying shame. Had a chili cookoff at work for charity, and had all kinds of nom nom chili to choose from. In all fairness, I HAD to try all of the different chilis to give an educated vote. I also HAD to go to the gym later to work it all off.
W/U:
6 pullups (PR)
10x 45lb bench
10x 65lb bench
5x 95lb bench
10x 20lb kb swing
5x 30lb press
5x 25lb zercher squat
WOD:
5 rounds for time:
5x 95lb bench
10x 20lb kb swing
10x 30lb press
10x 25lb zercher squat
Completed in ~13mins (I'm not used to my new watch and hit split instead of stop)
Good workout. Last couple of press reps were tough in each round, but I picked a good weight. Shoulders were worked!
Cooldown:
3x 105lb bench
dips (unassisted but mostly assisted)
more pull-ups
attempt at knee-to-elbow
Thursday
Afternoon:
Frisbee (1hr)
Played decent, was able to run after some tosses and get them. Still not jumping like I should and finding it difficult to track a fris that is coming in on an arc (even a relatively slight arc). Weather was amazing. 50 degrees and mostly sunny.
Evening:
BJJ (1.5hrs)
More guard work, this time working on regaining posture, breaking guard and passing. Good class. Need to work on maintaining grips on a leg and lapel/head while passing to get a solid side-control. I think I do a pretty good job drilling it, but am sure that I spaz a bit during rolls. Had 2x 2min positional drills in guard and then one 5min free roll session. Was happy when I was on top in guard, but not so happy when I had guard. Did ok at breaking posture and tried to go for sweeps, but was not able to complete. Need to really be able to have explosive, clean attempts at sweeps from guard.
It was a gorgeous day, but couldn't get a frisbee game together. Crying shame. Had a chili cookoff at work for charity, and had all kinds of nom nom chili to choose from. In all fairness, I HAD to try all of the different chilis to give an educated vote. I also HAD to go to the gym later to work it all off.
W/U:
6 pullups (PR)
10x 45lb bench
10x 65lb bench
5x 95lb bench
10x 20lb kb swing
5x 30lb press
5x 25lb zercher squat
WOD:
5 rounds for time:
5x 95lb bench
10x 20lb kb swing
10x 30lb press
10x 25lb zercher squat
Completed in ~13mins (I'm not used to my new watch and hit split instead of stop)
Good workout. Last couple of press reps were tough in each round, but I picked a good weight. Shoulders were worked!
Cooldown:
3x 105lb bench
dips (unassisted but mostly assisted)
more pull-ups
attempt at knee-to-elbow
Thursday
Afternoon:
Frisbee (1hr)
Played decent, was able to run after some tosses and get them. Still not jumping like I should and finding it difficult to track a fris that is coming in on an arc (even a relatively slight arc). Weather was amazing. 50 degrees and mostly sunny.
Evening:
BJJ (1.5hrs)
More guard work, this time working on regaining posture, breaking guard and passing. Good class. Need to work on maintaining grips on a leg and lapel/head while passing to get a solid side-control. I think I do a pretty good job drilling it, but am sure that I spaz a bit during rolls. Had 2x 2min positional drills in guard and then one 5min free roll session. Was happy when I was on top in guard, but not so happy when I had guard. Did ok at breaking posture and tried to go for sweeps, but was not able to complete. Need to really be able to have explosive, clean attempts at sweeps from guard.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Run Frisbee, Run
Monday
Afternoon:
Frisbee. Played better than I did on Friday. Was helped by the fact that it was 4x4 instead of 3x3.
Evening:
Watched the GU women's bball team take on a tough and talented UCLA team and get a big fat win at home!
Tuesday
Afternoon:
Ran to the park that is just past milepost 24 and back. Did pull-ups in the playground, probably 3 sets of 3? Also did a couple of incline pushups and regular pushups. Messed around there for four minutes. Wish I would have had a better plan in place, like doing laddered pull-ups, or sets of pull-ups/push-ups. Oh well. Still got in 47:53 worth of working out.
Afternoon:
Frisbee. Played better than I did on Friday. Was helped by the fact that it was 4x4 instead of 3x3.
Evening:
Watched the GU women's bball team take on a tough and talented UCLA team and get a big fat win at home!
Tuesday
Afternoon:
Ran to the park that is just past milepost 24 and back. Did pull-ups in the playground, probably 3 sets of 3? Also did a couple of incline pushups and regular pushups. Messed around there for four minutes. Wish I would have had a better plan in place, like doing laddered pull-ups, or sets of pull-ups/push-ups. Oh well. Still got in 47:53 worth of working out.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Squats Ain't Easy
Sunday:
Mixed doubles tennis. I played like poo.
WOD
5 Rounds -- Completed in 11:53
5x 95lb bench
10x 15lb kb swing
10x 25lb zercher squat
Mixed doubles tennis. I played like poo.
WOD
5 Rounds -- Completed in 11:53
5x 95lb bench
10x 15lb kb swing
10x 25lb zercher squat
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Saturday BJJ
Just Walter, myself and the kids. Went over same drills as we did throughout the week, focusing on the guard. Had a difficult time getting the collar choke on Walter. Good practice on making me get it right. Guard work and then a couple of 5 minute rolls with Walter and Scott.
Mock blue belt next Friday, kindof excited about that.
Watched the GU women beat Iowa tonight, VERY excited about that. I get to watch them take on UCLA on Monday night. If the energy generated on Monday is anything like the energy generated tonight, it should be fun!
Mock blue belt next Friday, kindof excited about that.
Watched the GU women beat Iowa tonight, VERY excited about that. I get to watch them take on UCLA on Monday night. If the energy generated on Monday is anything like the energy generated tonight, it should be fun!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Frisbee
An hour of lunchtime frisbee today. I really stunk up the joint. Tosses weren't great, I wasn't breaking in the same direction that the guys were throwing it and my defense wasn't great. At least the weather was nice. :)
Burpees in the Park
3/17
Afternoon:
5 rounds
Stairs up to the flags (two at a time)
10 burpees at the top
~15 minutes
Evening:
BJJ
Small class. Just the women (plus Gary). Focused on guard for the entire class. Mostly breaking down posture, controlling after you break posture, a couple of sweeps and working on the armbar. Also did a bit of armbar defense. The defense in particular is something that should be drilled to the point that it is an immediate reaction. If you have to think about how to defend the armbar in the midst of someone slapping it on, you are way too late. Did a couple of 2min positional drills and then a quick session of free grappling. We started standing for the free rolling, which was great. Hope we do more of that. Even if we don't drill a bunch of takedowns, it will help tremendously to get used to starting from a standing position for the next tournament.
No fris and no run yesterday...felt like I should give my legs a bit of a break. I think it worked out well, as I had plenty of energy for class. The stairs (and the burpees) worked my legs to an extent, but not to the fatigue of a run/fris. Did some pullups after the stairs/burpees. Had a hard time finding a tree branch that was the right width. Only did a couple sets of 3 shoulder pullups.
Afternoon:
5 rounds
Stairs up to the flags (two at a time)
10 burpees at the top
~15 minutes
Evening:
BJJ
Small class. Just the women (plus Gary). Focused on guard for the entire class. Mostly breaking down posture, controlling after you break posture, a couple of sweeps and working on the armbar. Also did a bit of armbar defense. The defense in particular is something that should be drilled to the point that it is an immediate reaction. If you have to think about how to defend the armbar in the midst of someone slapping it on, you are way too late. Did a couple of 2min positional drills and then a quick session of free grappling. We started standing for the free rolling, which was great. Hope we do more of that. Even if we don't drill a bunch of takedowns, it will help tremendously to get used to starting from a standing position for the next tournament.
No fris and no run yesterday...felt like I should give my legs a bit of a break. I think it worked out well, as I had plenty of energy for class. The stairs (and the burpees) worked my legs to an extent, but not to the fatigue of a run/fris. Did some pullups after the stairs/burpees. Had a hard time finding a tree branch that was the right width. Only did a couple sets of 3 shoulder pullups.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Ball Machine Fail
3/16
Lunch: Ultimate Frisbee 1hr
Gorgeous day...temps in the mid-to-high 40s. Field was in good shape and no one got hurt. 4 on 3 though...would have been even more fun if it was 4 on 4. Rolled my ankle a bit during the game but it seemed to work itself out after a few minutes.
Evening: Tennis 1.5hrs
Tried to hit with the ball machine but it did not work out very well. We'd program it to distribute the balls evenly between the ad and deuce courts and it would fire it to the deuce court 90% of the time. It also sounded a little sick every 8th ball or so. We ended up playing doubles and G and I did very well. I hit a couple of really sweet shots. G really rocked some shots too. As hard as I've ever seen her hit the ball.
Lunch: Ultimate Frisbee 1hr
Gorgeous day...temps in the mid-to-high 40s. Field was in good shape and no one got hurt. 4 on 3 though...would have been even more fun if it was 4 on 4. Rolled my ankle a bit during the game but it seemed to work itself out after a few minutes.
Evening: Tennis 1.5hrs
Tried to hit with the ball machine but it did not work out very well. We'd program it to distribute the balls evenly between the ad and deuce courts and it would fire it to the deuce court 90% of the time. It also sounded a little sick every 8th ball or so. We ended up playing doubles and G and I did very well. I hit a couple of really sweet shots. G really rocked some shots too. As hard as I've ever seen her hit the ball.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Back to Training
3/15
Noon: Frisbee 1hr
Not as windy today, but still a couple of gusts that made tosses unpredictable. I got scored on quite a bit in the first half hour or so. A little disappointing, but I think I did better in the latter half of the game. Had a couple of good catches, but dropped another game-winner. *sigh* Guys were getting hurt left and right. The field was in decent shape, so it wasn't at fault. Just a couple of freak accidents. I'm surprised there weren't more injuries last month when the fields were icy/muddy/slogfests.
Evening: BJJ 1.5hrs
Talked a little about my tournament experience with the group. We went over cross collar chokes (how ironic), guard sweeps (even more ironic), armbar from guard and breaking down an opponents posture when they're in your guard. I was stewing about the fundamental mistakes I made and how I was capable of getting 1st place but didn't. I'm just going to have to get over that. Master T was there and a new guy (Kevin). Otherwise it was just Holly, myself and Gary. Surprised that no one else was there.
Rolled with Master T (I got tooled of course) and Holly. Had decent rolls with both of them. T got me in something that was like a scarf hold. Intuitively I was trying to maintain some sort of half guard and turning into him. I should have released the half guard and turned *away*. I'm glad he told me that after I tapped, because I never would have tried to turn the other way.
Overall I felt good about class. Wasn't that tired at the end. Might be due to the fact that we did 4 rounds of 2minute positional drills and then I had about 13minutes of rolling. I think I'm doing well with staying relaxed during rolls. Thought I'd be more tired since I played frisbee earlier in the day. I'm glad that I can do both activities on the same day and not be wiped out.
Noon: Frisbee 1hr
Not as windy today, but still a couple of gusts that made tosses unpredictable. I got scored on quite a bit in the first half hour or so. A little disappointing, but I think I did better in the latter half of the game. Had a couple of good catches, but dropped another game-winner. *sigh* Guys were getting hurt left and right. The field was in decent shape, so it wasn't at fault. Just a couple of freak accidents. I'm surprised there weren't more injuries last month when the fields were icy/muddy/slogfests.
Evening: BJJ 1.5hrs
Talked a little about my tournament experience with the group. We went over cross collar chokes (how ironic), guard sweeps (even more ironic), armbar from guard and breaking down an opponents posture when they're in your guard. I was stewing about the fundamental mistakes I made and how I was capable of getting 1st place but didn't. I'm just going to have to get over that. Master T was there and a new guy (Kevin). Otherwise it was just Holly, myself and Gary. Surprised that no one else was there.
Rolled with Master T (I got tooled of course) and Holly. Had decent rolls with both of them. T got me in something that was like a scarf hold. Intuitively I was trying to maintain some sort of half guard and turning into him. I should have released the half guard and turned *away*. I'm glad he told me that after I tapped, because I never would have tried to turn the other way.
Overall I felt good about class. Wasn't that tired at the end. Might be due to the fact that we did 4 rounds of 2minute positional drills and then I had about 13minutes of rolling. I think I'm doing well with staying relaxed during rolls. Thought I'd be more tired since I played frisbee earlier in the day. I'm glad that I can do both activities on the same day and not be wiped out.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Wind is the Great Equalizer
Had lots of people playing, which was fun. 5 on 6 I think. I did better than I thought I would after a week off from playing. Had a couple of good catches and a nice pass or two. Also had some really terrible throws and muffed what would have been a game winning catch. The wind was wicked. Sometimes it would push the fris straight into the dirt and sometimes it would lift a short pass waaaay overhead. The worst part is that you were never sure what it was going to do which made it difficult to compensate.
My feet were absolutely killing me at the end, although I think we did end up playing for over an hour. Apparently I didn't do myself any favors with the 60 box jumps yesterday.
For future BJJ tournaments I don't think I'll take a full week off of activity beforehand. It worked out great for my tennis on Sunday, but even if I had four matches on Saturday the full week of rest wouldn't have been necessary. I felt like I had plenty of energy and cardio. Next time I'll probably only step it down for the three days leading up to the tourny instead of five. Maybe keep it down to an hour of exercise a day. :)
My feet were absolutely killing me at the end, although I think we did end up playing for over an hour. Apparently I didn't do myself any favors with the 60 box jumps yesterday.
For future BJJ tournaments I don't think I'll take a full week off of activity beforehand. It worked out great for my tennis on Sunday, but even if I had four matches on Saturday the full week of rest wouldn't have been necessary. I felt like I had plenty of energy and cardio. Next time I'll probably only step it down for the three days leading up to the tourny instead of five. Maybe keep it down to an hour of exercise a day. :)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Gym Work
Played doubles tennis for an hour and half in the morning. Had some amazing shots, played out of my mind. The week of rest for the tournament really paid off in tennis this morning. Had crazy gets and winners off of the gets. Net play was a little dice, but overall I had a blast with ridiculious shots.
In the evening, went the gym and did the following workout in about 14mins:
4 rounds
20 12" box jumps
20 15lb kettlebell swings
3 pullups
5 dips
1st round: dips unassisted, 2nd round dips 30lbs assisted, 3rd/4th rounds dips 50lbs assisted.
Brutal on the arms, and the pullups were very tricky. Should have thought about doing them assisted as well. I thought I'd do better on the dips but I'm not very good at those. Yet.
In the evening, went the gym and did the following workout in about 14mins:
4 rounds
20 12" box jumps
20 15lb kettlebell swings
3 pullups
5 dips
1st round: dips unassisted, 2nd round dips 30lbs assisted, 3rd/4th rounds dips 50lbs assisted.
Brutal on the arms, and the pullups were very tricky. Should have thought about doing them assisted as well. I thought I'd do better on the dips but I'm not very good at those. Yet.
Anticlimactic
Tournament is over. Won 1, lost 1 in gi. Did not compete in no gi b/c the lone competitor that was anywhere near my weight class did not show and the next closest divisions were in progress or had already finished. Bummmer.
However, I did get silver in my division in gi, so that's not nothing.
Won my first match by armbar. Ended up on the bottom after the takedown, but moved to side-control and then got the armbar.
Second match, pulled guard and went for a collar choke for the entire five minutes and didn't get it. Lost on points because I pulled guard. Tried a triangle and some armbars too, but should've swept. Could've swept and that would have won me the match. But I didn't. So silver it is. Next time....
First match:
However, I did get silver in my division in gi, so that's not nothing.
Won my first match by armbar. Ended up on the bottom after the takedown, but moved to side-control and then got the armbar.
Second match, pulled guard and went for a collar choke for the entire five minutes and didn't get it. Lost on points because I pulled guard. Tried a triangle and some armbars too, but should've swept. Could've swept and that would have won me the match. But I didn't. So silver it is. Next time....
First match:
Friday, March 11, 2011
Ready
Tomorrow is the big day!
BJJ class last night, 1.5hrs. Everyone was excited about my tournament and had tips for me. Was great to have that vibe and that tream feeling.
Did positional drills from the mount. Maintaining with grapevine or switching to side-mount and collar chokes from the top. Trap-n-roll, knee/elbow escape and defending chokes from the bottom. Learned a great escape when someone goes for a collar choke. Gable grip your hands on top of theirs, push your elbows into their arms, bridge and roll. So awesome. Good finish as you end up in guard is to bridge forward (into them) hard. If they maintained the collar grip through your escape, this should break it relatively easy. Just b/c you escaped doesn't mean you're out of danger if they maintain their collar grip (especially if they have both hands in).
Gary showed us a few new things and did some takedowns with me at the end. Ian gave me some takedown tips which was really nice of him. :) Basically, stay low, keep your head up. If they come in under you for a single or double, push their head down, sprawl back (create space between you and them) and block their shoulders from coming into your space. I think the gist of it is if you let their shoulders get past your hips your defense didn't work well enough. If you do have a good sprawl, take their back with big, quick steps. Don't take a bunch of baby steps to get around...one step to get perpendicular to them, one step to get the first hook in, one step to get the second hook in.
I didn't want to try to learn anything new to use for the tournament...just wanted to drill the basics. Got a lot of that in, so I'm happy about class last night and looking forward to tomorrow. My matches won't start until 12:30 (at the earliest), so don't have to wake up *too* early to make the drive over.
I've been doing well with my food intake...still no pastries, espresso nor caffeine. Can't say that my body feels all that different w/o those delicious items, but it does feel pretty good after the week of rest. Keeping off of that stuff probably kept me from putting on a bunch of extra pounds. Stupid ankle did go hinky during the roll last night though (doing a triangle, of course!) Won't keep me from competing and won't affect my matches, but I was hoping that it was done being wonky. It surprises me more than it hurts. Bummed that it comes on during a triangle!
Onward!
BJJ class last night, 1.5hrs. Everyone was excited about my tournament and had tips for me. Was great to have that vibe and that tream feeling.
Did positional drills from the mount. Maintaining with grapevine or switching to side-mount and collar chokes from the top. Trap-n-roll, knee/elbow escape and defending chokes from the bottom. Learned a great escape when someone goes for a collar choke. Gable grip your hands on top of theirs, push your elbows into their arms, bridge and roll. So awesome. Good finish as you end up in guard is to bridge forward (into them) hard. If they maintained the collar grip through your escape, this should break it relatively easy. Just b/c you escaped doesn't mean you're out of danger if they maintain their collar grip (especially if they have both hands in).
Gary showed us a few new things and did some takedowns with me at the end. Ian gave me some takedown tips which was really nice of him. :) Basically, stay low, keep your head up. If they come in under you for a single or double, push their head down, sprawl back (create space between you and them) and block their shoulders from coming into your space. I think the gist of it is if you let their shoulders get past your hips your defense didn't work well enough. If you do have a good sprawl, take their back with big, quick steps. Don't take a bunch of baby steps to get around...one step to get perpendicular to them, one step to get the first hook in, one step to get the second hook in.
I didn't want to try to learn anything new to use for the tournament...just wanted to drill the basics. Got a lot of that in, so I'm happy about class last night and looking forward to tomorrow. My matches won't start until 12:30 (at the earliest), so don't have to wake up *too* early to make the drive over.
I've been doing well with my food intake...still no pastries, espresso nor caffeine. Can't say that my body feels all that different w/o those delicious items, but it does feel pretty good after the week of rest. Keeping off of that stuff probably kept me from putting on a bunch of extra pounds. Stupid ankle did go hinky during the roll last night though (doing a triangle, of course!) Won't keep me from competing and won't affect my matches, but I was hoping that it was done being wonky. It surprises me more than it hurts. Bummed that it comes on during a triangle!
Onward!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
On Track
Still resting. Feels weird to be "on the bench" and not sick. I've been ok with my diet. No cookies, no espressos, no alcohol. Choices of meals have been a little so-so, but not terrible. The baked goods have been really, really hard to pass up. I don't think cutting baked goods out of my diet is really going to make that big of a difference come Saturday, but I'm already more than halfway down the road...so might as well keep going.
I will say that Cadbury milk chocolate eggs (the small ones, not the big cream-filled ones) are crack and are to be avoided at all costs. Easter is weeks away, and they put this crap out so early you can't help but indulge before St Paddy's day. I've been completely off the wagon as far as chocolate is concerned. I cannot even have them in my house, as I will take down an entire bag if left to my own devices.
Even though I'm gobbling up Easter candy, I'm feeling pretty good. Legs almost feel rested, rest of my body feels fine. Nothing feels sore and even my hinky ankle is about right. Will be going to BJJ tonight and might do some light rolling at the end. I should have a ton of energy going into Saturday morning. Hopefully I don't leave it all on the mat in the first match!
I will say that Cadbury milk chocolate eggs (the small ones, not the big cream-filled ones) are crack and are to be avoided at all costs. Easter is weeks away, and they put this crap out so early you can't help but indulge before St Paddy's day. I've been completely off the wagon as far as chocolate is concerned. I cannot even have them in my house, as I will take down an entire bag if left to my own devices.
Even though I'm gobbling up Easter candy, I'm feeling pretty good. Legs almost feel rested, rest of my body feels fine. Nothing feels sore and even my hinky ankle is about right. Will be going to BJJ tonight and might do some light rolling at the end. I should have a ton of energy going into Saturday morning. Hopefully I don't leave it all on the mat in the first match!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Rest Week
Taking the week off. Might do some light cardio. Trying to eat fairly healthy. Did ok yesterday, but got too hungry in the afternoon b/c I didn't eat enough for breakfast/lunch. Had a bigger breakfast today and will eat a good-sized lunch. Brought in some bananas too.
Got the camcorder up and working last night, so will hopefully have videos of my matches on Saturday! w00t!
Got the camcorder up and working last night, so will hopefully have videos of my matches on Saturday! w00t!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Redemption
USTA 3.5 Singles Match 5-7; 6-1; 1-0 (10-3) Time: 2:15hrs
Wow. This was an amazing match. I ran my tail off the entire match. I went up 4-1 in the 1st and got a little cocky and lost my focus. That and I think my opponent got warmed up by then and started letting me have it. She reeled off 4 games in a row, then I tied it up 5-5, then she got game 6. I fought for that last game and we had several deuce points, but she pulled it out and I was down a set. I was mad at myself for letting a big lead go, and was really focused in the 2nd set.
I went up 3-0 in the 2nd, and then she got a game and the next game (3-1) went to deuce. I was thinking "Oh no, it's the 1st set all over again", so I fought and fought for that game. So did she, as I'm sure she was aware that I wouldn't let a 4-1 go like I did the 1st set. We battled for a long time...felt like a 15minute game. Wish we could've counted the deuce points, but I estimate that there must have been close to 10. Fortunately for me, she was serving the game. She was doing a good job on her serves. Didn't really let up on speed too much, and never double-faulted. That's quite an accomplishment for such a long game. In fact, I'm not sure that she double-faulted more than once or twice for the entire match (if that). She didn't give up many unforced errors, period. Anyway, at one point during the deuce marathon, I half-jokingly asked her if she wanted to play next-point-wins. She laughed and said how about spin-for-the-win. We were both really tired. I ended up taking the game, which I think turned the set squarely in my favor.
We went to a 3rd set tiebreak (instead of playing the 3rd set out, you play a tiebreak of first to 10 must win by 2pts). I went up 5-1 and then kept it up for a 10-3 win.
Mad props to Paula, as she really made me work for that victory and play (according to spectators) the best tennis I've ever played. I had several fully-stretched-out single backhands that went in. Came up to the net a few times but whiffed some volleys. Thought about doing it later in the match, but was too gassed to do sprints up to the net. We ran each other all over the court, and many of the games went to deuce. We did a good job of moving each other side to side, although neither of us tried too many drop shots. I did a couple, but dropped them at the service line instead of closer to the net which turned out badly for me. The shots that she put at the service line I smashed for forehand winners, so I don't think she was going for drop shots later in the match either.
I'm very happy about the win, and the team won 4-1 overall. 4 of the 5 matches went to 3rd set tiebreak, so it could have easily gone the other way.
Hopefully this is a good omen for my coming BJJ tourny on Saturday!
Wow. This was an amazing match. I ran my tail off the entire match. I went up 4-1 in the 1st and got a little cocky and lost my focus. That and I think my opponent got warmed up by then and started letting me have it. She reeled off 4 games in a row, then I tied it up 5-5, then she got game 6. I fought for that last game and we had several deuce points, but she pulled it out and I was down a set. I was mad at myself for letting a big lead go, and was really focused in the 2nd set.
I went up 3-0 in the 2nd, and then she got a game and the next game (3-1) went to deuce. I was thinking "Oh no, it's the 1st set all over again", so I fought and fought for that game. So did she, as I'm sure she was aware that I wouldn't let a 4-1 go like I did the 1st set. We battled for a long time...felt like a 15minute game. Wish we could've counted the deuce points, but I estimate that there must have been close to 10. Fortunately for me, she was serving the game. She was doing a good job on her serves. Didn't really let up on speed too much, and never double-faulted. That's quite an accomplishment for such a long game. In fact, I'm not sure that she double-faulted more than once or twice for the entire match (if that). She didn't give up many unforced errors, period. Anyway, at one point during the deuce marathon, I half-jokingly asked her if she wanted to play next-point-wins. She laughed and said how about spin-for-the-win. We were both really tired. I ended up taking the game, which I think turned the set squarely in my favor.
We went to a 3rd set tiebreak (instead of playing the 3rd set out, you play a tiebreak of first to 10 must win by 2pts). I went up 5-1 and then kept it up for a 10-3 win.
Mad props to Paula, as she really made me work for that victory and play (according to spectators) the best tennis I've ever played. I had several fully-stretched-out single backhands that went in. Came up to the net a few times but whiffed some volleys. Thought about doing it later in the match, but was too gassed to do sprints up to the net. We ran each other all over the court, and many of the games went to deuce. We did a good job of moving each other side to side, although neither of us tried too many drop shots. I did a couple, but dropped them at the service line instead of closer to the net which turned out badly for me. The shots that she put at the service line I smashed for forehand winners, so I don't think she was going for drop shots later in the match either.
I'm very happy about the win, and the team won 4-1 overall. 4 of the 5 matches went to 3rd set tiebreak, so it could have easily gone the other way.
Hopefully this is a good omen for my coming BJJ tourny on Saturday!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Better Luck Next Time
Had an absymal BJJ class today. Dane was back, which was great, but he completed dominated position during our roll which was a little less great. Wrestling really seems to keep him primed for BJJ. I did ok in the techniques, but could not get anything going during the rolls. Was kept in side-control for the almost the entirety of all four rolls (one with Dane and Walter and twice with Scott). Couldn't get a knee in AT ALL. I didn't get submitted by Dane or Walter, but the fact that I couldn't improve my position was very disheartening. I was trying to stay relaxed, but having bigger guys on top for the full five minutes takes a bit out of the ole gas tank. By the time I rolled with Scott, I was pretty winded and discouraged. Bad combo, especially when he didn't give me much of anything to work with. At some point early in our first roll, my arm was trapped between our chests while he was on top and that made it very difficult to breathe. I came close to tapping, but said f it, I'm not going to tap just b/c someone's on top of me. I probably should've, b/c the combination of getting manhandled and almost having to tap due to chest pressure made me a bit emotional and it was all downhill from there. *sigh* Haven't had a class that bad in quite some time. The guys were fine, I just couldn't implement any sort of defense. The few times that I did get into guard, I'd try to throw up a triangle and they'd just push it aside and land in...you guessed it...side-control. I'm bummed that I had such a downer class the week before the tournament, but will have to put it out of my mind and focus on what I can do. Won't be rolling next Tuesday, so on the Thursday class I will probably not roll at the end or will maybe just do some light positional drills if someone is willing.
Also had an hour and a half of singles tennis. Having a break between BJJ and tennis if I have to do them the same day is a really good idea. Did ok in tennis. We just hit, didn't play out points or anything. My backhand was a lot better than it has been...was able to do a better job of directing it down the ad side of the court. Have a USTA match tomorrow and won't be doing any working out in the morning, so will hopefully have plenty of energy for the match. Will probably be paired up with another high school or college player. :P
Also had an hour and a half of singles tennis. Having a break between BJJ and tennis if I have to do them the same day is a really good idea. Did ok in tennis. We just hit, didn't play out points or anything. My backhand was a lot better than it has been...was able to do a better job of directing it down the ad side of the court. Have a USTA match tomorrow and won't be doing any working out in the morning, so will hopefully have plenty of energy for the match. Will probably be paired up with another high school or college player. :P
Friday, March 4, 2011
Lunch Frisbee
Played ultimate frisbee during lunch. Weather was about 42 degrees and sunny. Field was so-so. Still some snow on it, was dried out on one side but wet on the other. Played 4x3 and it was competitive, but I felt like I didn't play well. Haven't played in a week, so that should come as no surprise. Didn't feel especially winded, so I don't think I was sprinting as hard as I could have. Couldn't throw well under pressure and wasn't doing well with our defensive scheme (I was on the side with 4). Did better in the last 30mins, but wasn't really happy with my performance.
That's what I get for playing on my rest day. :)
That's what I get for playing on my rest day. :)
Pacing
So I didn't run or play frisbee yesterday because I wanted to be fresh for BJJ class. I was a little tired after work, but as soon as the warm-ups were over, I was dialed in. Very focused. I haven't done a BJJ tourny in over two years, and I've forgotten that the couple of classes that you have leading up to the tournament are intense. I'm not anxious, just focused. It's a great place to be mentally.
Did mount maintenance techniques (top and bottom) last night. A little bit of mount work thrown in too. Good stuff...hope I remember at least the absolute basics for the tourny.
Rolled with Leslie, Walter & Ian for 5min each. Did pretty well. Leslie did a great with maintaining and improving her position. I think she had a really good roll last night. Walter pulled guard (which he never does, I think he wanted to work on what we did in class :)) and I could not get out of it. I defended the collar choke attempts ok, but I was getting frustrated that I couldn't get out. Bah. My roll with Ian was good...I worked on positional control. He was protecting his arms and neck well, although I still should have had a triangle or two. Just couldn't get my hips around like I should have.
Physically I feel great, and may play frisbee today even though this is supposed to be my rest day. I have BJJ and tennis tomorrow and a tenns match on Sunday. Since I'm not doing BJJ class on Tuesday, I have plenty of time early next week to rest. Going to de-load my activity and eat well. No coffee, soda, pastries or cookies.
Did mount maintenance techniques (top and bottom) last night. A little bit of mount work thrown in too. Good stuff...hope I remember at least the absolute basics for the tourny.
Rolled with Leslie, Walter & Ian for 5min each. Did pretty well. Leslie did a great with maintaining and improving her position. I think she had a really good roll last night. Walter pulled guard (which he never does, I think he wanted to work on what we did in class :)) and I could not get out of it. I defended the collar choke attempts ok, but I was getting frustrated that I couldn't get out. Bah. My roll with Ian was good...I worked on positional control. He was protecting his arms and neck well, although I still should have had a triangle or two. Just couldn't get my hips around like I should have.
Physically I feel great, and may play frisbee today even though this is supposed to be my rest day. I have BJJ and tennis tomorrow and a tenns match on Sunday. Since I'm not doing BJJ class on Tuesday, I have plenty of time early next week to rest. Going to de-load my activity and eat well. No coffee, soda, pastries or cookies.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Whack-a-Mole
Singles tennis last night with Dawnell. I thought it would be nice to just hit instead of playing a set, keeping score or working toward any specific objective. Sometimes it's nice just to whack the ball for fun. My legs were tired (shocker) from the run earlier and I really felt it the first fifteen minutes. After I warmed up I was fine. We had some fun rallies and really went after it. Tried a bit of serve and volley, and completely botched it a couple of times by just serving and neglecting to volley. Oops.
Hour and half of solid hitting.
Hour and half of solid hitting.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Wednesday Nooner
Bench Challenge
Time: 42:00
Run usual route (Riverfront Park to mile marker 21). Along the way, do 5x dips at each set of benches. Do only benches that are right along the trail.
If someone is sitting on the bench, proceed to the next free bench along the way and make it up there.
Also threw in 3 pullups near the start (wide beam, so didn't have a great grip) and 4 pullups near the end (angled tree branch, so I faced the branch and did shoulder pullups.
I haven't done runs where I did any sortof station work along the way in a really long time. I don't think the burpees in the middle of a run quite count. This was fun and challenging. The end was especially tough because there were five benches in a row with a set of pullups in the middle. I hit about 15-20 benches. Was interesting how it affected my normal breathing pattern, even after I had "recovered" from the last set.
I did this instead of burpees because the ground is still slushy/muddy and I got pretty dirty (and wet) and Monday. I tried doing some burpees on the wooden beams of the bridge, which were about the only area that was dry outside, but my feet were slipping as I was kicking back and I decided that wasn't a great idea.
This workout could be made more challenging by the following:
-increase the # of dips at each bench
-do *every* bench, not just sets of benches
-go off the trail and do those benches too
Tennis tonight, probably singles, might be double.
Time: 42:00
Run usual route (Riverfront Park to mile marker 21). Along the way, do 5x dips at each set of benches. Do only benches that are right along the trail.
If someone is sitting on the bench, proceed to the next free bench along the way and make it up there.
Also threw in 3 pullups near the start (wide beam, so didn't have a great grip) and 4 pullups near the end (angled tree branch, so I faced the branch and did shoulder pullups.
I haven't done runs where I did any sortof station work along the way in a really long time. I don't think the burpees in the middle of a run quite count. This was fun and challenging. The end was especially tough because there were five benches in a row with a set of pullups in the middle. I hit about 15-20 benches. Was interesting how it affected my normal breathing pattern, even after I had "recovered" from the last set.
I did this instead of burpees because the ground is still slushy/muddy and I got pretty dirty (and wet) and Monday. I tried doing some burpees on the wooden beams of the bridge, which were about the only area that was dry outside, but my feet were slipping as I was kicking back and I decided that wasn't a great idea.
This workout could be made more challenging by the following:
-increase the # of dips at each bench
-do *every* bench, not just sets of benches
-go off the trail and do those benches too
Tennis tonight, probably singles, might be double.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
Had a good BJJ class last night. Only three other attendees, so we got through quite a few techniques and had plenty of time to drill. Did the scramble drill again (you and partner lay side-by-side or head-to-foot next to each other, and when the instructor yells "Go!", you scramble up and see who can get up and in a dominate position first. We first did this on Saturday, and I've been enjoying it. I think they are going to work it into our warmups.
Worked guard-passes and side-control maintenance and submissions. Slowed down the guard pass and did it in pieces which really helped. Also makes it so that it will be more smooth.
Had four rolls, although the roll with Gary didn't quite count b/c he was instructing me more than we were rolling. Got subs on everyone except for Gary, but really tried to work obtaining and maintaining a dominant position. Worked very deliberately with Holly to maintain side control. I need work on keeping them from getting their knee in. I think my weight may be too far forward or my knee is not snug into their side. Overall, I felt good about my rolls.
Tournament is coming in less than 2 weeks! Will be missing next Tuesday's class, so that leaves me with four classes before the tourny. I don't feel like I need much in the way of last minute prep, although doing some no-gi work would be nice (but probably won't happen until after the tourny). Would also like to get some pointers on the triangle, because I naturally gravitate to that position, but I don't think I'm making enough hip movements to lock it in and finish it. Learned how to sweep someone who is stacking you if they are in your guard (which happens alot when I try to triangle) on Saturday but can't remember what it is. Will ask for help on that on Thursday.
Might do frisbee or run during lunch today and definitely some tennis late tonight. Frisbee would be challenging because there's still about an inch and half of slush on the grass. They tried to get a game together late yesterday, not sure if it actually happened. Looking forward to see if the box jumps help with my leaping ability in fris! :)
Worked guard-passes and side-control maintenance and submissions. Slowed down the guard pass and did it in pieces which really helped. Also makes it so that it will be more smooth.
Had four rolls, although the roll with Gary didn't quite count b/c he was instructing me more than we were rolling. Got subs on everyone except for Gary, but really tried to work obtaining and maintaining a dominant position. Worked very deliberately with Holly to maintain side control. I need work on keeping them from getting their knee in. I think my weight may be too far forward or my knee is not snug into their side. Overall, I felt good about my rolls.
Tournament is coming in less than 2 weeks! Will be missing next Tuesday's class, so that leaves me with four classes before the tourny. I don't feel like I need much in the way of last minute prep, although doing some no-gi work would be nice (but probably won't happen until after the tourny). Would also like to get some pointers on the triangle, because I naturally gravitate to that position, but I don't think I'm making enough hip movements to lock it in and finish it. Learned how to sweep someone who is stacking you if they are in your guard (which happens alot when I try to triangle) on Saturday but can't remember what it is. Will ask for help on that on Thursday.
Might do frisbee or run during lunch today and definitely some tennis late tonight. Frisbee would be challenging because there's still about an inch and half of slush on the grass. They tried to get a game together late yesterday, not sure if it actually happened. Looking forward to see if the box jumps help with my leaping ability in fris! :)
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
2011 Is a New Year
I'm going to consolidate all of my blog entries here, as blogging in multiple places is a little...um...lame.
Have BJJ tonight. Opted out of a frisbee game b/c I think my legs need a break. Ran for 35+ mins yesterday and played tennis, and did a billion box jumps plus tennis the day before. Need to be mindful of fatigue, and need to make sure I'm sharp for class before the tournament.
Have BJJ tonight. Opted out of a frisbee game b/c I think my legs need a break. Ran for 35+ mins yesterday and played tennis, and did a billion box jumps plus tennis the day before. Need to be mindful of fatigue, and need to make sure I'm sharp for class before the tournament.
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