The Return

I was sick all last week and wasn't able to attend any MMA classes. Today was the first day back. I participated in all 3 hours of jujitsu. We worked on triangle chokes, foot locks, and guard escapes. We also rolled for quite a bit of the time. My last roll of the night was with Walter. We were both un relenting in our submission attempts. He got me in the end with a head to shoulder choke. It took him almost 20 minutes to submit me though!

Liking the Roughness

Morning Muay Thai class was excellent today. We worked on slipping the oncoming jab and answering back with the cross hook combination. Alternately, we slipped the oncoming cross and answered back with the hook cross combination. We also did that with bobbing and weaving. I paired up with Todd. He doesn't mess around. He'll fake you out and then come at you with the jab, and if you don't slip it you get nailed. So you really have to be on your game. And I was for the most part. Mainly I just didn't want to get my lip split open again. I'm still recovering from that. We conditioned with sit-ups between rounds. We also did a round of bear-crawls and push-ups. I'm a weakling when it comes to arm strength. I kept hearing Rob from the sidelines telling me to bend my elbows and actually do the push-ups the correct way. Ok, ok, I will. I will.

An hour and a half of jujitsu class after Muay Thai. We worked further on the knee-on-belly position. This stuff takes a ton of practice. Over and over and over again. I drilled with another guy named Todd, who was riding my kidneys so hard whenever I tried to get to my side. It felt like a torturous massage.

Three and a half mile run after class at the gym. I need to get some more miles in to really be ready for the Wasatch Back. (Lydia-I'm so happy that you and Mike are participating in that. What's your teams name? We are the Nelson Lab Staph. And I am runner #3. I probably won't see you since I am in van #1. Good luck to both of you!). I also need to run outside some more. It just seems like it's always raining or cold. I definitely am a fair weather runner.

I have an entire dresser devoted to just workout clothes. One drawer is entirely underwear. Another is all sports bras. The one under that is stuffed with only socks. Then there's a shorts drawer, a sweat pants drawer, a tank top drawer, T-shirt drawer, and long sleeved mointure-wicking shirt drawer. Plenty of options to work out in, right? Wrong! I run out of workout clothes constantly. I wear a set in the morning when I run. Then there's a set to do Muay Thai in. And then after Muay Thai I change my sweaty bra and underwear and shirt again before I get in my gi. I can't keep up on all this laundry! It seems like I'm running loads every other day. It's a beautiful thing that I own my own washer and dryer. If not, I'd be the smelliest kid in town!

Busted Up

I was supposed to do a longer run this morning before work. I woke up for it, but opted to stay in bed and read. It was dark and rainy! Reading in bed with a bowl of Cheerios was the perfect way to start the day.

I went to Absolute after work and participated in three hours of jujitsu. We drilled getting knee-on-belly position from cross-body position. Then variations of attacks from knee-on-belly. We received some very cool instruction from Rob. We practiced basing ourselves while having knee-on-belly. Also how to direct your opponents movements by putting pressure from your knee in different positions on their body. This stuff is the incredible. I love learning. LOVE IT.

We rolled for a bit and then we drilled guard escapes. We line up on the wall and three people get on their backs in the middle of the mats. Three others from the wall get into their guard and try to pass the guard. If they pass they get to have the spot on the mat and the next person on the wall gets in their guard. If the person on the bottom reverses the person in their guard or gets a submission, then they get to stay on the mat. It's a great exercise. I remember when I first started, I barely lasted 10 seconds before I was submitted. Now I'm lasting quite a while. I occasionally take someone place on the floor. It's nice to see progress once in a while.

I split my lip open pretty good while rolling tonight. I didn't realize it until after I was done. I looked down and saw all this blood on my shirt. What the...! Then I tasted blood. Sick. It should look awesome in a couple of hours.

Rolling Through The Rounds

My only workout today was an hour and a half of jujitsu class. We drilled mount escapes for quite a while. I paired up with Ben G. who is an exceptional grappler. He was a big help in explaining the progression to the escape. After drilling we rolled for quite a few rounds. We switched partners every round. Each round is 5 minutes long. Ben and I were pretty intense because it seems that we rolled right through the bells and through a few rounds. My main goal was not to be submitted by this guy. I was really proud of myself for the way I was moving out of his submission attempts. He remarked that I was improving drastically. It's so exciting.

I had to leave Absolute a little earlier than usual to make it to my company's softball game. I'm counting my TWO trips to home plate as a workout. Because I had to do all that running to get there. Hello!

Let Me Make Myself Clear

I'm totally going to achieve my fitness goals.

Today the workout consisted of a four and a half mile run in the morning. I went to Gold's gym and ran in their cardio theater. The Bourne Ultimatum was playing. The camera work was totally making me fall off the treadmill. I kept hitting the rests on the sides of the belt. It looks as if the camera man was drunkenly running while filming this movie. And when you run while watching the unsteady motion, you set yourself up for death.

I also went to Absolute after work for about an hour and a half for a Muay Thai class. Ten minutes of jump-rope and ten minutes of shadow-boxing for warm up. We did 6 rounds of one for one combinations. I paired up with Vasily (the Russian), and we kept up an intense pace throughout the rounds. We conditioned abs between rounds. Class ended with about a billion push-ups. Ok, maybe not a billion, but a couple hundred. Fine, it was only about 150 for me. Upper body strength is not a big attribute of mine. But I've improved significantly! And that's what matters. Right? Right.