I've got to be heading for one b/c the down has been pretty....down. I played like crap in my doubles tennis match last night. We were competitive and playing fairly well in the 1st set, but we lost 4-6. We shouldn't have. I was going for too much and trying to hit difficult winners a lot. In the 2nd set, we were up 5-4 and I was serving. I don't think I had lost my serve the entire match. I double fault on the first three points! TERRIBLE. I can't remember ever double faulting that much before. My serve has been a little hinky since May, but I think that was just a mental plunge. I think we either got to 40-30 or deuce but lost the game and ended up losing the 2nd set 5-7.
I was pretty down on myself, b/c we should have at least won the second set and taken it to a 3rd set tiebreak. The set was in my hands and I totally blew it. I'm chalking it up to just being one of those days. Had an emotionally rough day at work so that probably contributed too.
The next day I'm already feeling better mentally and really ready to get back on the workout train. Will do some stretching today for lunch and then some sort of met-con. Lifting to start again soon, probably tomorrow. Lifting heavy things usually makes me feel better.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
The Losses Pile Up
Saturday was a big day.
Started off with mixed doubles practice. I'm really glad that I went, b/c I haven't played with men that really quite serious about winning in awhile. Joe had a mean kick-serve that I was able to return once. ONCE. I could not time that thing for the life. When I tried to come in and take it early, I became concerned for my well-being b/c he had quite a lot of a pace on it. He had it kicking over to the left quite a bit, so I thought I had it all figured out when he kicked it to the right and it was all I could do to move my head out of the way in time before getting clocked. *sigh*
I did fine with everyone else though. Played better than I thought I would since I've been doing nothing but lose at doubles once a week.
Immediately following mixed doubles practice was BJJ. Holly was instructing, so she went over some basics with a new kid (teenager) and Walter and she and I reviewed the ankle-sweep and kimura defense from last week. Another mellow class. I rolled with Walter twice at the end. I was happy with the rolls. Really need to work on subs from the guard when someone has committed their arm high up on my body (i.e. trying to perform a lapel choke).
Saturday evening I officially received my blue belt at graduation. w00t!
Sunday
Played a competitive 2hr doubles match. The sun was shining, the courts were empty and we went after it. Linda and I took the first set 6-3, dropped the second set 4-6 and lost a heart-breaking tiebreaker at 9-11. We were down 2-7 in the tiebreak and fought back to 9-9. Really impressed that we hung in there and made it tight. Bummed that we lost...we really did come close and we had our chances to win. I got a little creative several times and was overthinking my shots in the beginning of the 2nd set and the beginning of the tiebreak. When we tried, we did a good job of taking the net. More of that, please.
Started off with mixed doubles practice. I'm really glad that I went, b/c I haven't played with men that really quite serious about winning in awhile. Joe had a mean kick-serve that I was able to return once. ONCE. I could not time that thing for the life. When I tried to come in and take it early, I became concerned for my well-being b/c he had quite a lot of a pace on it. He had it kicking over to the left quite a bit, so I thought I had it all figured out when he kicked it to the right and it was all I could do to move my head out of the way in time before getting clocked. *sigh*
I did fine with everyone else though. Played better than I thought I would since I've been doing nothing but lose at doubles once a week.
Immediately following mixed doubles practice was BJJ. Holly was instructing, so she went over some basics with a new kid (teenager) and Walter and she and I reviewed the ankle-sweep and kimura defense from last week. Another mellow class. I rolled with Walter twice at the end. I was happy with the rolls. Really need to work on subs from the guard when someone has committed their arm high up on my body (i.e. trying to perform a lapel choke).
Saturday evening I officially received my blue belt at graduation. w00t!
Sunday
Played a competitive 2hr doubles match. The sun was shining, the courts were empty and we went after it. Linda and I took the first set 6-3, dropped the second set 4-6 and lost a heart-breaking tiebreaker at 9-11. We were down 2-7 in the tiebreak and fought back to 9-9. Really impressed that we hung in there and made it tight. Bummed that we lost...we really did come close and we had our chances to win. I got a little creative several times and was overthinking my shots in the beginning of the 2nd set and the beginning of the tiebreak. When we tried, we did a good job of taking the net. More of that, please.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Light Rolling
Had a very mellow class last night. Holly and I both had sore backs so we paired up and went through a kimura defense where you end up putting your partner in a kimura. Pretty awesome. We also did some double-ankle sweep defense and then putting the arm-bar on someone that is trying to defend. Mounted arm-bar escape. Everything felt pretty awkward, mostly b/c I was paranoid about my back. Not sure what happened, but I did something to tweak it earlier in the day and it was never right during class. Any sortof bridging was a big no-no.
Officially getting my blue belt this weekend at graduation and damned excited about that. :)
Have mixed doubles practice tomorrow morning, immediately followed by BJJ. A doubles match on Sunday to round out the weekend. I really, really hope that we do better on Sunday and at least get 7 or 8 games, even if we lose. Getting crushed and only pulling out a couple of games per match is demoralizing. Onward!
Officially getting my blue belt this weekend at graduation and damned excited about that. :)
Have mixed doubles practice tomorrow morning, immediately followed by BJJ. A doubles match on Sunday to round out the weekend. I really, really hope that we do better on Sunday and at least get 7 or 8 games, even if we lose. Getting crushed and only pulling out a couple of games per match is demoralizing. Onward!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
First Class as Blue
Had my first class as a blue belt last night. Didn't really feel any different, except that a) there wasn't any pressure of studying for the test and b) we learned techniques that we had never done before. Both of those things made it a great class. Being able to breathe was also pretty fantastic.
Z and I paired off while the white belts worked on their techniques and we started with the working on the double ankle sweep. We then moved to the double ankle sweep defense, getting an armbar while someone is defending and keeping/finishgin it if they try to roll out of it. We then did arm-bar escapes from mount. One where you get the leg off of your head and one where you pendulum yourself up. Also did transitions between those two. Would love to just drill all of that over and over again to get the muscle memory down, especially the immediate defense of grabbing the elbow of the non-arm-barred arm. Overall, nothing too crazy, but it was nice to step outside of the 88 techniques that we've been drilling non-stop for the past couple of months.
Had five 4-minute rounds of rolling afterward. Z and I had a great roll, we were really well-matched. Had decent rolls with the other guys. I was a little tired, but felt a million times better than I did during the test b/c I could BREATHE. I think I am finally getting over this stupid cold.
Z and I paired off while the white belts worked on their techniques and we started with the working on the double ankle sweep. We then moved to the double ankle sweep defense, getting an armbar while someone is defending and keeping/finishgin it if they try to roll out of it. We then did arm-bar escapes from mount. One where you get the leg off of your head and one where you pendulum yourself up. Also did transitions between those two. Would love to just drill all of that over and over again to get the muscle memory down, especially the immediate defense of grabbing the elbow of the non-arm-barred arm. Overall, nothing too crazy, but it was nice to step outside of the 88 techniques that we've been drilling non-stop for the past couple of months.
Had five 4-minute rounds of rolling afterward. Z and I had a great roll, we were really well-matched. Had decent rolls with the other guys. I was a little tired, but felt a million times better than I did during the test b/c I could BREATHE. I think I am finally getting over this stupid cold.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Wimbledon is Safe for Awhile Longer
6/21
Tennis 1hr - One Doubles League
Oh dear. The match only took an hour, which is the first indicator that something either went really well in my favor or very poorly. Unfortunately, it was the latter. Team "V" got crushed, 2-6, 1-6. We were down in the first set 0-5 and got a little bit of momentum with 2 games, but that was the beginning and end of our upward swing. Yikes. Our opponents were quite good...top of the league thus far I think. One of them had a really hard serve, fast-paced forehands and could put balls away at the net. The other sliced and diced everything, including the serve. I struggled with that more than anything, took awhile to get used to it.
Not doing too well with this One Doubles league...hopefully brighter days are ahead. :p
Tennis 1hr - One Doubles League
Oh dear. The match only took an hour, which is the first indicator that something either went really well in my favor or very poorly. Unfortunately, it was the latter. Team "V" got crushed, 2-6, 1-6. We were down in the first set 0-5 and got a little bit of momentum with 2 games, but that was the beginning and end of our upward swing. Yikes. Our opponents were quite good...top of the league thus far I think. One of them had a really hard serve, fast-paced forehands and could put balls away at the net. The other sliced and diced everything, including the serve. I struggled with that more than anything, took awhile to get used to it.
Not doing too well with this One Doubles league...hopefully brighter days are ahead. :p
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Blue Belt
6/17
Tested for and passed my blue belt. WOW! I was sick on Thursday to the point where I had to stay home from work and try to sleep. Friday morning I woke up feeling a little less congested, but still sick. I thought it would be a great idea to take DayQuil. NO.
I assumed we'd do a little extra cardio and then get the techniques under way. NO.
We started off with running. No problem. Jumping jacks. Fine. Suicides. Sure. Suicides with pushups at each line. Easy. Then we started doing mountain climbers. More pushups. Holding the plank position. Crunches. I would have been ok at this point (winded of course, but ok), except that I couldn't breathe. Could. Not. Breathe. Couldn't catch my breath. It was terrible. I can work through fatigue, but not being able to take a breath is another matter. Felt like I had asthma. More cardio. More cardio. Wide-stance squats into short stance squats. Holding the horse position. I was in trouble.
Cardio finally over, we go right into techniques. I'm huffing, and in trouble. I'm doing the techniques, but a littled panicked about the whole not being able to take a full breath thing. I keep going, hoping that I'll get it, but without much of a break (we did have a short water break every 10min or so) I never did. It wasn't until we were about halfway through the 88 techniques that I finally stopped gasping. Threw in some more cardio every so often just make sure we were working from muscle memory. Any techniques that required me to stand up made me sad. Techniques that started off with me under side control also made me sad.
In any case, we got through the techniques...and then did some rolling. Probably 4-5 minute rounds, and I had 4 guys. My last roll was pretty bad...I was pretty much balled up in side control with stomach cramps. Ugh. Terrible way to finish.
However, I did earn my blue belt!
Later, in the car, I felt a bit sick. In fact, I didn't feel right until 24hrs later. I was exhausted that night. Test ended at 4:30pm. Went for some food around 6pm, and ate in little tiny bites. Pretty miserable. Two days later I still have the cold or whatever ick I caught last week. Not as bad, and probably (hopefully) won't feel as bad as I did on Friday night for quite some time. I think the DayQuil really screwed up my stomach and I would have been a lot better without it. I really didn't want to drip crap on my partner(s) though! Lesson learned.
Tested for and passed my blue belt. WOW! I was sick on Thursday to the point where I had to stay home from work and try to sleep. Friday morning I woke up feeling a little less congested, but still sick. I thought it would be a great idea to take DayQuil. NO.
I assumed we'd do a little extra cardio and then get the techniques under way. NO.
We started off with running. No problem. Jumping jacks. Fine. Suicides. Sure. Suicides with pushups at each line. Easy. Then we started doing mountain climbers. More pushups. Holding the plank position. Crunches. I would have been ok at this point (winded of course, but ok), except that I couldn't breathe. Could. Not. Breathe. Couldn't catch my breath. It was terrible. I can work through fatigue, but not being able to take a breath is another matter. Felt like I had asthma. More cardio. More cardio. Wide-stance squats into short stance squats. Holding the horse position. I was in trouble.
Cardio finally over, we go right into techniques. I'm huffing, and in trouble. I'm doing the techniques, but a littled panicked about the whole not being able to take a full breath thing. I keep going, hoping that I'll get it, but without much of a break (we did have a short water break every 10min or so) I never did. It wasn't until we were about halfway through the 88 techniques that I finally stopped gasping. Threw in some more cardio every so often just make sure we were working from muscle memory. Any techniques that required me to stand up made me sad. Techniques that started off with me under side control also made me sad.
In any case, we got through the techniques...and then did some rolling. Probably 4-5 minute rounds, and I had 4 guys. My last roll was pretty bad...I was pretty much balled up in side control with stomach cramps. Ugh. Terrible way to finish.
However, I did earn my blue belt!
Later, in the car, I felt a bit sick. In fact, I didn't feel right until 24hrs later. I was exhausted that night. Test ended at 4:30pm. Went for some food around 6pm, and ate in little tiny bites. Pretty miserable. Two days later I still have the cold or whatever ick I caught last week. Not as bad, and probably (hopefully) won't feel as bad as I did on Friday night for quite some time. I think the DayQuil really screwed up my stomach and I would have been a lot better without it. I really didn't want to drip crap on my partner(s) though! Lesson learned.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Technique Review
6/14
BJJ 1.5hrs
Everyone was feeling a bit banged up and fatigued so we took it easy and went over techniques for the test that were giving us problems. It was a pretty mellow class and I was thankful for it. I'm feeling decent about the test but of course I wish I had more hours in the day to focus on the techniques.
Bought a foam roller yesterday and started rolling my calves and thighs per my trainer's recommendation. I had NO idea how many ugly knots I had in my calf muscles. Good grief. That was a real eye-opener. I'm hoping this loosening and stretching will help my sad feet.
Got about 5.5hrs of uninterrupted sleep...didn't wake up once during that time period. Wish I could have slept straight through for 8hrs, but I think that will come. I think my body is trying to get a little bit sick, but if I sleep enough, drink enough water and give myself the evil eye it might stay away long enough for me to play awesome tennis and pass my blue belt test. :)
BJJ 1.5hrs
Everyone was feeling a bit banged up and fatigued so we took it easy and went over techniques for the test that were giving us problems. It was a pretty mellow class and I was thankful for it. I'm feeling decent about the test but of course I wish I had more hours in the day to focus on the techniques.
Bought a foam roller yesterday and started rolling my calves and thighs per my trainer's recommendation. I had NO idea how many ugly knots I had in my calf muscles. Good grief. That was a real eye-opener. I'm hoping this loosening and stretching will help my sad feet.
Got about 5.5hrs of uninterrupted sleep...didn't wake up once during that time period. Wish I could have slept straight through for 8hrs, but I think that will come. I think my body is trying to get a little bit sick, but if I sleep enough, drink enough water and give myself the evil eye it might stay away long enough for me to play awesome tennis and pass my blue belt test. :)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Incoming...
Blue belt test is on Friday.
A little nervous, but after 2.5hrs of technique drilling on Sunday I feel a lot better about it.
Also have the my doubles match on Wednesday night.
Haven't been sleeping well for the past five days but got better rest last night.
6/6
Lift
Frisbee
6/7
BJJ 1.5hrs
6/8
Lift
6/9
"McGhee"
AMRAP 30mins
5 x Deadlift 70lb
13 x Pushups
9 x Box jumps 24"
Completed 11 rounds. Very, very tough. Pushups were a beast. Would scale differently next time...probably a little more weight on the deadlift and fewer pushups.
6/11
BJJ 1.5hrs
6/12
Tennis 1.5hrs
BJJ 2.5hrs
6/13
Trainer - Foam roll and stretch 1hr
Tennis - Doubles practice 1.5hrs
A little nervous, but after 2.5hrs of technique drilling on Sunday I feel a lot better about it.
Also have the my doubles match on Wednesday night.
Haven't been sleeping well for the past five days but got better rest last night.
6/6
Lift
Frisbee
6/7
BJJ 1.5hrs
6/8
Lift
6/9
"McGhee"
AMRAP 30mins
5 x Deadlift 70lb
13 x Pushups
9 x Box jumps 24"
Completed 11 rounds. Very, very tough. Pushups were a beast. Would scale differently next time...probably a little more weight on the deadlift and fewer pushups.
6/11
BJJ 1.5hrs
6/12
Tennis 1.5hrs
BJJ 2.5hrs
6/13
Trainer - Foam roll and stretch 1hr
Tennis - Doubles practice 1.5hrs
Monday, June 6, 2011
6/4
Lift
BS 45lb x 5 x 2; 65lb x 5; 75lb x 4; 80lb x 3; 90lb x 5 x 3
Bench 45lb x 5 x 2; 65lb x 5; 95lb x 4; 105lb x 3; 110lb x 5 x 3
Deads 45lb x 5 x 2; 65lb x 5; 75lb x 5; 85lb x 5; 95lb x 3
Dips 6; 4; 4
Had an AWESOME lifting session. Felt strong, easy and good.
Followed it up with an abbreviated WOD:
"Jack"
AMRAP 20mins (scaled to 10)
10 push press (45lb)
10 kb swings (20lb)
10 box jumps 24"
Completed 4 rounds. Had eaten early and light the night before and then had walked 3.5miles in the Relay for Life. Woke up late and went to the gym...so not much energy in the system for the WOD.
6/6
Lift
BS 45lb x 5 x 2; 65lb x 5; 75lb x 4; 80lb x 4; 90lb x 5 x 3
Press 20lb x 5; 30lb x 5; 40lb x 5; 45lb x 5 x 3
PC 45lb x 5 x 2; 55lb x 5; 60lb x 3 x 3
Pullups 7; 4; 3
Squats felt pretty good, the press work set felt hard, mostly b/c I was focusing on technique. I'm pretty sure my technique on the power cleans was pretty poor. Other than that, the workout felt pretty good.
Lift
BS 45lb x 5 x 2; 65lb x 5; 75lb x 4; 80lb x 3; 90lb x 5 x 3
Bench 45lb x 5 x 2; 65lb x 5; 95lb x 4; 105lb x 3; 110lb x 5 x 3
Deads 45lb x 5 x 2; 65lb x 5; 75lb x 5; 85lb x 5; 95lb x 3
Dips 6; 4; 4
Had an AWESOME lifting session. Felt strong, easy and good.
Followed it up with an abbreviated WOD:
"Jack"
AMRAP 20mins (scaled to 10)
10 push press (45lb)
10 kb swings (20lb)
10 box jumps 24"
Completed 4 rounds. Had eaten early and light the night before and then had walked 3.5miles in the Relay for Life. Woke up late and went to the gym...so not much energy in the system for the WOD.
6/6
Lift
BS 45lb x 5 x 2; 65lb x 5; 75lb x 4; 80lb x 4; 90lb x 5 x 3
Press 20lb x 5; 30lb x 5; 40lb x 5; 45lb x 5 x 3
PC 45lb x 5 x 2; 55lb x 5; 60lb x 3 x 3
Pullups 7; 4; 3
Squats felt pretty good, the press work set felt hard, mostly b/c I was focusing on technique. I'm pretty sure my technique on the power cleans was pretty poor. Other than that, the workout felt pretty good.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Sun = Energy
6/1
Afternoon
Frisbee 1hr
Was slower than I thought I was going to be, but my defensive positioning was pretty good. I think my body was still recovering from its 48hr slow-down.
6/2
BJJ 1.5hrs
Had a MUCH better class than Tuesday night. My mood and energy was greatly improved. Still feeling edgy about all of the side-control techniques for the test, but feel good about just about everything else (even the self defense and takedowns). Worked on mostly self-defense and takedowns last night. Did a bit of maintaining side-control and guard sweeps. No rolling at the end, which was probably for the best. I did some Frankstein-type work on my knee to try to keep it pain-free and not rip the scab open again and failed on both counts. Got punched in the face by Leslie during...self-defense of all things. :)
6/3
Frisbee
Bagged the lifting this morning, but on reflection probably should have gone. Will go during the weekend.
Afternoon
Frisbee 1hr
Was slower than I thought I was going to be, but my defensive positioning was pretty good. I think my body was still recovering from its 48hr slow-down.
6/2
BJJ 1.5hrs
Had a MUCH better class than Tuesday night. My mood and energy was greatly improved. Still feeling edgy about all of the side-control techniques for the test, but feel good about just about everything else (even the self defense and takedowns). Worked on mostly self-defense and takedowns last night. Did a bit of maintaining side-control and guard sweeps. No rolling at the end, which was probably for the best. I did some Frankstein-type work on my knee to try to keep it pain-free and not rip the scab open again and failed on both counts. Got punched in the face by Leslie during...self-defense of all things. :)
6/3
Frisbee
Bagged the lifting this morning, but on reflection probably should have gone. Will go during the weekend.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Some Workouts are Better Left Undone
5/31
BJJ 1.5hrs
6/1
Lift
Squat 45lb x 5 x 2; 65lb x 5; 75lb x 4; 80lb x 5 x 3
Press 20lb x 5; 30lb x 5; 40lb x 5; 45lb x 5 x 3
Pullups 7; 4; 4
Felt very sleepy and NO energy for the workout today. Punted the cleans or deads that I was supposed to do. Had a banging headache after BJJ last night and probably should've punted the entire workout.
BJJ 1.5hrs
6/1
Lift
Squat 45lb x 5 x 2; 65lb x 5; 75lb x 4; 80lb x 5 x 3
Press 20lb x 5; 30lb x 5; 40lb x 5; 45lb x 5 x 3
Pullups 7; 4; 4
Felt very sleepy and NO energy for the workout today. Punted the cleans or deads that I was supposed to do. Had a banging headache after BJJ last night and probably should've punted the entire workout.
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