Jun 23, 2010

Today was my first day back of real training since March 25th.  My spinal issues aside, I felt pretty good.  My back was a little shaky and I was worried that it would not hold up.  But I made it through technique class and felt good enough to make it through almost all of live training.  Now back home, a shower and some stretches and I am feeling pretty good.

My cardio is shot, and I felt like I had to relearn so many things.  I felt good during live training and things felt semi-natural, but not quite right.  My body did not respond as it used to, my reaction times were slower.   I got winded much faster than usual and I managed to pull guard (something I dislike) in a drill that was specifically meant for top game practice.  I never pull guard. But I did it and immediately thought, “What was that?”  And I can only come to the conclusion that I was attempting to rest.  I didn’t want to struggle and guard seemed like a good place to rest.  I am so glad that, by the rules of the drill, I instantly lost and had to rotate back in the line.  Not because I got to rest, although that was nice, but because it made me realize I should be paying more attention and not doing random things that were out of character. I don’t like to spaz out and I don’t like just pulling guard out of desperation, and I managed to do both to some extent.

Mauro, a monstrous Draculino black belt, gave me a lot of advice about coming back from injury and how hard to push.  He told me he takes off at least one month a year, to heal his body and that he re-assimilates himself into class over a span of about two weeks.  Since Mauro is an awesome black belt, and myself, a lowly blue belt,  I have decided that I am going to give myself double that time to get into a consistent training schedule. Four weeks and I hope to be back to where I was when I took off, or if I am lucky, blowing past the abilities/dedication of my old self.

I am really excited about being back, I just have to remember to train smart. I hope that my back holds up, and I guess I will find out tomorrow.

I will say optimistically that I can’t wait for Thursday, when I get the chance train with Draculino and Mauro again!

~Kyle