Saturday, May 16, 2009

COMPETITION JOURNAL, 2009:7

Day 41 (May 9)
Training: Open mats was pretty good today, I’m messing about more with my open guard game and I can see clear signs of improvement, which is very encouraging.

Day 43 (May 11)
Conditioning: Chelseas x14 sets – Was halfway through set 15 but some people walked in and asked me about classes. Oh well. Decided to track my progress with the skipping rope, I’m averaging 140-ish reps in a 60-second period (high of 164).

Day 44 (May 12)
Checked the competitor list and now there’s 11 guys in my division. Around 3 weeks to go and it’s already almost the biggest division I’ve ever been in (12 guys in the 2007 Machado Nationals). But the divisions right above mine are pushing 30 guys. Yow.

Training: BJJ class was fun, no big surprise there. Afterwards I rolled with Ivan, not sure for how long, but it ended when I tried to pass his guard at the same time as he pulled me forward for a scissor sweep and we headbutted each other. We didn’t get cut but I was just happy that his forehead missed my eye. Spent the next 15 minutes chatting and holding cans of 100 Plus to our faces.

Day 46 (May 16)
Training: Open mats today was really good. 6-minute rounds with Ivan (82-ish kilos) and Greg (87-ish kilos but he used to play high-level rugby and is huge to boot) rotating, and a short break in between rounds (never more than 5 minutes). I went 11 rounds which doesn’t seem like much I know, but what can I say…they’re big, strong boys.

In 2 weeks I’ll be off on my biggest BJJ adventure yet: the Mundials. It kind of doesn’t seem real that I’m actually competing in the world championships (but if this swine flu thing gets much worse it may still not be). I feel pretty good, and should be good to go. I’ll have a few days in LA before the competition so I may be able to get away with another two nights of good rolls before I have to be on my way.

Weight check: (before open mats) 67.5 kilos without gi, (after open mats) 67 kilos without gi. Maybe I should start slowing down my fiber intake. Where did I put that loaf of white bread?

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