it's too sunny to practice in the rain

yesterday i had my first day feeling strong! it was great. we had a lifting session in the morning and i finally started feeling strong again. i hadn't lifted regularly for awhile before coming to san diego, so it's taken me a bit to get some strength back. i felt it good yesterday!

we were back in the gym today and i was really pushing myself. our strength coach has been on me about using weights that are too light for me, but now he's happy-and so am i. i still have some ways to go in getting where i want to be, but i feel like i made a breakthrough and i'll be moving up fast.

we had a webinar with usada (anti-doping stuff) today. this was my 3rd usada talk..and we're still not even in the pool of players to be tested. seems kinda silly if you ask me. maybe one day the women will be in it and the talks will carry a bit more weight. for now, we know we can't dope (duh) and we take care to use clean supplements (those of us that take them). im actually not upset about staying away from usada for now because it involves quite a bit of scheduling-which, as my baby knows, is not my strong suit.

the week has been moving slowly and i can't say i'm mad about it. last weekend was LONG for me, so the "recovery" time has been quite nice. (i'm not sure you can call 2-3 sessions/day a recovery, but whatever, rugby is fun!) i went to joshua tree national park with a friend and a friend of a friend : ) it was beautiful out there! we stayed with my friend's grandparents who live just a few miles from the park. we climbed boulders, saw cool trees and played a lot in the desert. i was exhausted from the elevation, which was conveniently not mentioned to me until after our day of running and climbing on rocks, and a full day in the sun. the trip was perfect though and i was really happy to get away from campus for a bit. i also learned how to play mexican train, a dominoes game, which was really fun.

im excited for some friends to come to san diego this weekend. there is a tournament-i wish i could remember the name of it-here and i'll get to watch some rugby and hang out a bit..yay! : )

serious business

my lady came to visit! not only did i get the BEST sleep i've had since i arrived in california, but i enjoyed a fabulous 5 days of smiles, snuggles and love. we were in rugby recovery mode while she was here, so it couldn't have been more perfect. massages at the otc and relaxation time at home :) it was a sad, sad night when she flew back to nyc..

back to business. this week we have craig white with us. he is the irb strength & conditioning coach for both men and women. he spoke with both teams yesterday about game speed and how it differs from speed itself. he also highlighted many limitations that rugby athletes encounter when trying to increase their game speed. i wrote out a list of the limitations that apply to me and it almost filled my notebook page. my list ranged from on-field things, like deceleration (which in our later session i realized i wasn't as bad at as i thought) to off-field pieces like hydration (outside of practice/game time) and keeping my nutrition clean (ie no tea or stupid sugars).

after our classroom chat, we went out to the field where craig first took the men, then the women through a speed session. we focused on leg drive and how to push back off the ground, rather than into it. he introduced some new ways (for me) of seeing running form, which was cool, and showed us lots of small pieces to improve our own form. craig will be with us all week, so hopefully we'll learn a lot more!

we were back on the field with ric in the afternoon. in addition to the 8 residents, we had 2 other ruggers join us. it was a lot of fun getting back into the practice routine. we worked a lot on passing skills and small field situations.

i have a few things i'm focusing on this month. hydration: drinking water when it's not practice time! being a lefty: holding the ball in my left arm, stepping to the left, etc. catching/passing: catching the ball with my fingertips in order to transfer/pass quickly. here goes!

4-1, "home" + JPP

we lost internet for the last few days out in vegas-i think the smoke clogged up the airwaves. anywho-a lot has happened and i'm now back "home" to write about it. one day i'll write "home" without the quotes, but for now i'm still getting used to it.

we played through our pool undefeated and headed into the semi-final against the Netherlands. we played in the stadium which was amazing! it was really cool and crazy LOUD! winning ugly is a book that's been recommended to me as good reading and that is exactly what we did. it wasn't our prettiest match, but it was effective and strong. (or maybe that's just my view from being smacked in the face with the ball-yeeks) either way, we won! the last play of the game was my favorite-thanks to the mental genius of dowty and cj.

sunday we played canada in the final-also in the stadium. now that the stadium jitters were gone it was time to rock. the game was really exciting and so much fun to play in. of course it would have been way more fun to win, but alas we did not. we had such great support from the fans in the stadium and around the country. thank you!! : )

you can still watch the weekend's games here: Vegas 7s women's matches
thanks to wendy at scrumhalf connection for putting the women online and streaming live!

..a taste of what helped keep the USA girls pumped up this weekend: Rack City & Young, Wild & Free

we traveled home monday afternoon and somehow my plane took me to california. so weird. i was happy to spend time with ruggers once we landed because the drop off from tour to home/real life is usually hard. it still baffles me that my life is rugby.

next week we welcome our 8th housemate and contract member. although we'll have to convert another non-room into a bedroom (i hope the canopy works!) i'm really excited! JPP! welcome to cali!

pre-game

although i'm tired and ready for a nap, ive decided to post-for my friend/rugby dad. today, we enjoyed a short morning training session followed by the usual ice bath recovery. after having a quick lunch, we hopped in the van and had geno, one of our liasons, drive us to the pitches to watch a few of the women's matches. none of today's games are played in the stadium, nor are tomorrow's women's international matches..

it was hot. very hot. and the sun was bright. very bright. it was nice to watch a few games and to see some friends playing. i used to play rugby for philly women, so i watched one of their games. i only recognized two players-i guess it's been awhile.  i was ready for my  nap around 2:30 and still had an hour to wait. we found a good spot in the shade, that kept moving, and watched a few more matches.

now, back in the hotel-and in my bed-i'm getting rested for the rest of the evening. we have an opening reception for the women's tournament. this is nothing compared to what the men are doing-parades, parties, signings, etc. our reception lasts 30 minutes and will likely only include people who are playing in the tournament. after the reception we have dinner and our jersey ceremony-always a great event. i haven't worn a usa jersey for 7s in almost a year and i'm anxious and very excited to receive mine :) this is also the first jersey i will wear as a professional athlete--mind blown!

tomorrow is the big day! i'm really excited to play-to make the first hit, first run, first ruck--all of it!

watch the usa play via streaming video here: Vegas Women's 7s. The USA plays at 9am, 12pm, and 3pm (Vegas time). The Stars & Stripes (2nd US team) play at 8am, 11:20am, & 2pm. GO USA!

practice, practice, practice

today is our second full day in las vegas. yesterday, we had 2 practice sessions. i took a nap between them and realized, upon waking, why i was so cranky in the morning session (sleep is a powerful thing). both sessions were productive. the stars and stripes played some touch scrimmages with team germany while we went through situational play. we played rugby tennis in the afternoon, after our regular training, and the team i was on won..too many grubbers out of bounds by the other team : P


after our dunk in the ice pool (**ryan actually went underwater!), we had dinner, and enjoyed a team bonding game/meeting. i wrapped my evening up with a continuation of phase 10 with a few of the other girls, amy didn't fare so well last night. after reading for about an hour--Open is so good!--i passed out to the sounds of my dear lady and lillian. nyc isn't so far away on speakerphone :)

today we have 2 training sessions and a meeting. i'm working on my mental game this week before the tournament starts. my friend sent me a perfectly timed email that included an even more perfect video. just as she will be using it for motivation in her rugby endeavors, i too will use this video's words as inspiration to do what i say i want to do.  How Bad Do You Want It? 

Las Vegas baby!

after our 7 hour bus ride, we safely arrived in smoky las vegas! i'm happy i took in a few extra breaths of oxygen back in california because there's not a whole lot to spare out here. we're stuck in a hotel that fines for smoking in the rooms, but passes out ashtrays once you step into the hall.

our first duty upon arriving was to jump in the pool and loosen our muscles a bit. as we walked past the man smoking something that was not a cigarette we climbed into the icy water and tried to move around. this pool was colder than the ice plunge at the otc!(no complaints--"if you're in a cold pool it's still water, so enjoy the water")

of few of us played phase 10 after dinner--amy naber rocked us, but i'm ready for a comeback tonight! unlikely. after reading Open for about an hour i called it a night. as i awoke with a slightly sore back, but a rested mind, im ready to take on the chilly day and our 2 training sessions.

las vegas is no chula vista

..and i'm reminded with every smoke-filled breath i take.

too..much..chewing

i'm so tired of eating! i know it's the lamest thing to complain about, but eating has become such a chore! i guess i didn't eat all that much when i was back in nyc, so being here and training all the time/eating all the time has been quite the challenge i didn't anticipate.

wake up-have fruit on the walk to the otc. arrive at the otc-eat breakfast: eggs, oatmeal, fruit, yogurt. practice: have a shake. lunch: not hungry-force feed chicken sandwich or some other chicken filled meal, along with veggies and more fruit. practice: have a shake..again. dinner: hopefully beef, maybe more chicken or fish, veggies, maybe more fruit if my mouth will continue to work.

now, don't get me wrong-the food at the otc is fantastic! things are made with flavor (unlike what i made at home) and care and it shows. i also enjoy breakfast quite a bit and when breakfast was served for dinner yesterday i had no complaints about stuffing that in my mouth. i'm very grateful for the food i have here and the fact that it is prepared for me!

that being said, i'm just really tired of eating. it's exhausting! i'm trying to work out what to eat/not eat after practice so that i can be more hungry when i arrive at meal time, but it's a slow and mostly unsuccessful process. i think i'll have to tailor one of my goals for the next few weeks around learning to like eating.

.exhausted.

my teammates told me it was okay not to blog. i was happy for the words. my body and mind have been so exhausted these past two days that i couldn't muster the strength to write. i have a surge of energy now that all the girls are here preparing for vegas, so here goes.

we fitness tested on monday. this included a 40m sprint, vertical jump, maxing out in squats, bench press and pull-ups, and the yo-yo. the yo-yo is like a new and improved version of the beep test. you run out 20 meters and back within the time frame then walk 5 meters and back to the start line. "it's important that you come to a complete stop before beginning the next level," says the recorded british accent running the test. why our trainer has the yo-yo programed into his phone was beyond all of us. fitness day was not as bad as i expected it to be. although i didn't get as far as i would have liked on the yo-yo i did get past my minimum standard..not telling what that was.

tuesday we had another 2 session day. we played a lot of games and ran a lot-the usual. we tackled quite a bit in the afternoon and we were all pretty tired and a little banged up from it. i wanted to go home right after my ice plunge, but that lady of mine made me stay for dinner. the power she has from the east coast is phenomenal!

after force feeding myself, i walked home, layed on my bed for too long, showered and enjoyed a puzzle session. it was lunde's birthday, so we listened to one of her birthday mixes (thanks for the tunes sylvia!) while she did arts and crafts and i puzzled (is that a real verb?).

one of the otc interns, a new friend, decided it was a good idea to sneak into our back yard and leave lunde a birthday gift. she knocked on the window and hid (something only murderers do). of course i freaked out and ran away while lunde walked right into the murderous trap set up in the back yard! fortunately, she found a bag full of birthday goodies instead of a shank to the stomach! **luckily no one saw intern kate wearing the scary white mask she had or she really may have been killed (not by me, i'd still be hiding). after the hour it took me to settle my nerves it was bed time-what a day!

now..20 of the 24 traveling girls are here at the otc. we train until sunday and head to vegas on monday. i'm excited to have lots of friends in town and to play some real 7v7 games! ..off to session 2 : )