Jersey #9: Kentucky's Journey

This is the end part of a poem I wrote a year or two ago.....the beginning part is kind of shit, but the end part feels pretty relevant right now...



Thus Fear will not impede mine striving
So much I love the beauty, pace, and pain
For it is still “The game they play in heaven”
Become I Eagle –
Or wingless self, remain.

Now that the emotional drama of Nationals is over, and school is (nearly) over, I've decided it's time to sort out where I'm going from here.

Well, let's make it official - I will be moving to Philadelphia after the U23 National All-Star Tournament and playing for the Philly Women!!! That's right, after some long hard decision making and much persuasion in many different directions from interested parties, I have decided to drag my redneck butt across the country once again, and replant myself in the city of brotherly love. This is all very exciting and extrordinarily terrifying at the same time. Let's list the positives and negatives...


Positives and Negatives of Moving to Philly:

+ I have a rugby team waiting for me
- I don't have a job waiting for me

+ I'll get lots of competition
- I might lose

+ I'll meet new people!
- New people are scary...

+ I get to live in a big city!
- Umm...hello!?! I'm a hillbilly...I might die.

+ Closer to friends and family from home
- Farther from friends from Iowa and the west

+ New challenge of playing for MARFU
- I really love playing for Midwest =(

...but in the end....

+ I'll become a better rugby player

...And that's the bottom line - Like I said, moving is scary and fun at the same time, but this is the best time for me to do it. I have no job, no prior committments, no romantic attachments - basically I'm free to restart life as I choose, and for now, I'm choosing Philly. Two years ago I made this same decision and moved to the middle of nowhere in Iowa. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made, and from that I've learned that you have to take risks to do anything in life. Anytime you get too comfortable, you're probably getting too lazy, and that is certainly not what I want - in rugby OR life.


So here I go - two more months of life in the Midwest before I take a big jump into the real world - *Deep Breath*

Here I go....

So as you probably know, my team traveled to DI Nationals in Florida last weekend and made it to the elite 8. We fell in the second round to a determined UC Davis side, and despite the disappointment of losing, it was an overall great weekend. I am officially done with college rugby now, and will be looking forward to my move to the world of "big girl" in the fall.....more details to come on that, but in the meantime, here are some pictures from Florida, and also from Midwest LAU's.....


This one is from LAU's vs. Wisconsin......I'm loving the cool angle on the photo, not sure how I never saw the photographer out on the field, though.

Pre-game huddle in Gainesville.

Ummm...I look pissed off and tired.

Here I am enjoying my favorite hobby - scrumhalf hunting =)

Photo after UNI's first win at DI Nationals over Appalachian State. I'm in front doing a totally awesome cheerleader pose with Mulf.

I had a couple of good games this weekend. Nothing spectacular, except that I felt like my conditioning has vastly improved. I was able to talk and direct the whole time without getting winded, as well as making it to the rucks, make my passes, tackle, and have a few runs. It felt good to be out there in some dry weather and really see what I could do - but I know I have a ton of work left...so no celebration here.

Nationals is up next. I have just 3 workouts (2 if I don't make it to the gym wednesday morning) and a practice to fine-tune myself before leaving for the big dance.....so, I guess you could say I have my work cut-out for me. I'm planning a strength workout for tomorrow, with some crossfit "metcon" workouts on tuesday and wednesday morning. I also want to get some passing sessions in everyday - a little work with the weighted ball might be good too.


This is kind of a short, straight to the facts sort of post, but there are a lot of things on my mind right now and I'm feeling a bit subdued. There is just so much work to be done it's all a bit overwelming. I'm trying to set some goals and see where I can go from there, only time can tell I suppose.

Love Song


My boots play a symphony of clicks,
Singing
An insatiable thirst
For freshly painted Earth.

As they reach the threshold,
They drink the sky first;
Snagging pieces of the blue on their way down,
Till their teeth
Slice against green blades
And chew the face of springtime
Into a mess of sweaty bliss.


The aroma of battle glistens on their fervent faces –
Waiting, waiting, waiting…

Till the whistle blows,
The ball flies,
And those boots of mine give chase to tell me:

We are in love.

So we finally know all the teams in our pool!!!

Saturday, April 21st, Gainesville, FL:

Univ. of Northern Iowa vs. Appalachian State

and

Virginia vs. UC Davis


I've never played against any of these teams, so I really don't know what to expect, except hard fought rugby. It's certainly a decent pool, now we just have to see what we can do with it...

We have Midwest U23 LAU's this weekend in the COOOOLD. Not the best thing to prepare for 85 degree heat, but that's life I suppose. I'm excited to see some of my friends from Kentucky and Ohio as they travel up to Iowa Falls this weekend for the U23 event...and then excited to see even more friends down in Florida next weekend!

As for my whole crossfit/nutrition approach, I'm feeling great right now! More details on my workouts and progress to come........

That was pretty random, I know. But I have had a very inspiring past few days, and I would like to share my inspiration with the masses.

First of all, to report on my condition after having completed crossfit workouts on Thursday and Friday, I would like to say that I am still slightly sore, but feeling as strong and healthy as ever. Tonight, I am going to do a workout of theirs styled slightly different than the others -

Crossfit warmup:
3 rounds of 10-15 reps of
Samson Stretch (do the Samson Stretch once each round for 15-30 seconds)
Overhead Squat with broomstick
Sit-up
Back-extension
Pull-up
Dip

Then, the workout:

15, 12, 9 rep rounds of
backsquat
handstand pushups (I can't do these the right way, so I will prop my feet up against the wall)

In order to keep up with my speed training, I will do the agility, speed portion of my footworkcamp workout before the crossfit thing.

I've also decided I'm going to do at least the crossfit warmup on Tuesday mornings before I do my shuttle training, and then on Wednesday I will do a more traditionally styled workout involving olympic lifts, front squats, bench press, etc. As well as some of the "ass-fire"moves I learned at footworkcamp.

Then Thursday I will only do short sprint training in order to not remain sore by Saturday.


The key to all of this, of course, is not to overtrain - a chronic problem of mine. However, upon being completely honest with myself, I've realized this:

I have never trained too much, I've only rested too little. And that's my fault. Wasting time on things like television, internet, going out when I shouldn't, etc - just generally drain my day of productive time. What I SHOULD be doing is getting the real life stuff out of the way so that I can have a real estimate of how much time remains for things like training, resting, spending time with friends and recreation. Easier said than done, but I am going to really work at it over these next few weeks and see if it can help me get through Nationals without completely draining myself.

Hence my motto of late,

"Less obsession, more focus"


I obsess A LOT. About a lot of things. Which is fine, sometimes - it can be a catalyst for working harder and concentrating on my goals. But overdone, it prevents me from stepping a way and giving my brain a rest in order that I get the other things done in life that allow for me to attain my goals. When I suddenly hit a brick wall that forces me to confront real-life obstacles, I stress, forget about nutrition, rest, and training, and just generally self-destruct. On average, it takes about 1-2 weeks to recover from such disaster. This type of cycling just CAN'T happen.

I've also realized something else about myself. I love training. I would love to help other people train. So, why then, am I looking for jobs behind a desk that would entail me doing more of the things I hate on a daily basis, wearing clothes I'm uncomfortable in, and talking to people I'm uncomfortable around??? WHY? Well, because I have a degree that says "English" on it. But so what, I'm educated - great. I will always love to write and I hope that I can eventually find a way to make at least a supplementary income off of it. But I've decided I'm going to take seriously the possibility of working as a trainer as a source of income. If you're good enough, you'll get paid enough. So I guess my goal is to get certified, and get my own personal fitness at a place where others will BELIEVE I'm good enough.

This is all a lot of ranting and raving - and I'm sure a lot of the spunk I've got in my step will subside with Monday morning blues. But as my graduation date creeps closer, I've realized I don't want to be stuck in any kind of rut for the rest of my life. I'm sick of doing what mommy and daddy and friends expect me to do. I don't want to "follow the path of least resistance". I want to make enough money to support myself and my rugby "habit", and I want to be happy. If that requires working behind a desk at times, then so be it. But I want to be writing things that I believe in, and I want to help other people improve their lives through athletic pursuits.

Following along those lines, I recommend everyone check out the site, http://www.gymjones.com/ . Particularly, the "Knowledge" section. I discovered through a search as to how the actors of the movie "300" acquired their level of fitness, and my search led me to Gym Jones. Don't get too excited, however. This gym is apparently not open to the public, and only trains people by invitation only. They use the same techniques found at Crossfit, but apply their own self-proclaimed "fight club" philosophy to it. The founders are mostly mountain climbers, and they know what it means for your life to depend upon fitness. I find their dedication inspiring, and their refusal to conform, refreshing.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Till then, Rugby Love

-KY