Holy crap, look at all those girls!

I’m not kidding – I’ve never seen so many women on a BJJ mat at one time than I did at the women-only team training two weeks ago. I know, I know, I’m a bit behind in my posting. Sorry.

 

I did pretty well, considering my current lack of conditioning, but toward the end, after drilling, grip fighting, and positional drilling (against resistance), I was pretty worn out. The rolling was the hardest – I had no strength left, so there was a point toward the end where I couldn’t do anything but defend. I didn’t have anything left to work an reversal from half guard, so I defended my arm, defended the pass, defended my other arm, etc, etc. 

 

But the upshot of this was that I gained a bit of confidence from rolling with people more my size and strength. I was pleased with my performance while I still had energy, and it gave me some hope for when I finally get myself back up to speed. Unfortunately, that may be a while yet. I’m currently fighting the crud that’s going around the office, so I’m taking this week off in hopes of both not spreading it further and getting over it quicker. But it’s not encouraging when you hear the guy in the next cube over hocking up loogies. Ick.

 

On the other hand, I went surfing last weekend in Wrightsville Beach! This was my first ever attempt at surfing, and I’m proud to announce that I stood up on my first wave! For two seconds. Before wiping out spectacularly. Still, due to an offshore storm, the surf was really rough, the current was kicking, and I’m amazed I managed to paddle out past the breakers, let alone catch a wave. The Surf Camp instructors were great – I definitely recommend them if you’re going for surfing lessons. 

 

I’d have pictures, but the camera malfunctioned. Honest. So sorry, no blackmail pictures of me taking a header off my surfboard. 

In a bit of a funk

Last week was pretty much a drag. I had no energy, no motivation, and felt run down. So I didn’t train at all. No BJJ, no swimming. It is bit frustrating – I want to keep improving, and I know I can’t do that if I’m not training. But I’m learning to listen to my body and not push things when I need to rest. Better to miss a week than several months.   

 

But, on the other hand, I have surfing to look forward to this month. I’ve decided to take lessons in North Carolina later this month, as long as the hurricanes steer away from the southeast coast. This will be my first attempt at surfing, and I fully intend to have a blast and make a complete fool of myself. Hopefully I’ll get some good pictures that make it look like I know what I’m doing. Realistically, though, I expect to get the pictures of me going one direction with my legs up the air and the surfboard going the other…

 

Speaking of tropical weather, Hanna tried to flood our basement this weekend. We were on to her, though, and my sister rigged a piece of plywood that prevented leaves and flying debris from clogging the drain and steered the water away from the back door and into the yard. The only issue we had was the gutter overflowing in a way that caused a waterfall down the door itself. So things got slightly soggy, but it certainly has been worse.