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Saturday, March 19, 2011

I am PanAm ready. Too bad I'm not going. lol

I don't normally go to Open Mats. They're usually on every other Saturday morning, but with so many people training for the PanAms, Fabio has been having Open Mats every Saturday. I have been to the last few and have gotten a lot out of them. I get a lot of great cardio at Open Mats because there is no time limit on the grapples and people generally don't go submission crazy, so there is a lot more flowing and moving.

On top of that, I have been going to T.O.P. Wednesdays. "T.O.P Wednesday" stands for "Tap Out Paul Wednesdays." ;) It's a day where several of the people who want to get in some extra mat time. They jokingly say they are trying to get a leg up on Paul, who was recently promoted to black belt and is the guy everyone in the gym dreams about one day tapping out. He is a scary beast, though, so I don't think that will happen any time soon. lol

Also, at Open Mats, we've been doing a lot of shark pits. The guy who is going to the Pans gets in the middle and a bunch of people go in three minute spurts, switching out with someone fresh after the time is up. Sometimes, I am on two rotations at a time. I get off one person and jump on another one. Or I go from a normal grapple, to a shark pit, back to a normal grapple.

With all the PanAm prep, a big focus in the gym has been cardio. I've been grappling the two girls who are going from our gym 5 or six days a week. And some of the guys who are going too. We have been doing longer grapples with a focus on constant movement.

It has been GREAT! My cardio has gotten a lot better. And, even when I am out of gas, this has forced me to keep moving and pushing through even after my muscles are jello.

Because of the buzz about dieting, I decided to focus on eating healthier...just because. It's almost bathing suit time, after all. ;) As a result, my weight is perfect for competition. I feel good. I wish I was competing!! I mean, I have no illusions that I would be able to go to the PanAms and place or anything. But I feel like I am in better shape right now than I ever have been and would have had a great time.

Unfortunately, there is just no way I could afford to go the PanAms this year. There's always next year, I know. I just wish I could have gone with my team this year. I will be rooting for you guys from home!! :)

All of this has gotten me to think more about keeping my body in better condition in between tournaments. Getting into good habits so that getting ready for tournaments isn't such a shock on my body. I know I can't train hard ALL the time. But the two main things I want to keep-up with are my eating habits and my cardio. We will see how it goes.

3 comments:

Junior Familia said...

shoot!
Sounds like training is awesome!
wish u could go! would of been great to meet ya!
keep training hard allie!

Georgette said...

Allie, tell your peeps if they see a short redhead curlytop working as ring coordinator (Thurs/Fri) or scorer (Sat/Sun) to come say hi! I would love to meet your teammates!

And for Mundials, you need to talk to me, I will happily connect you with the staffing people at IBJJF. I couldn't afford to go to this either unless I was working there.

Since you're not competing, can I just send you a couple extra pounds till Friday? :)

Megan said...

Man...everything happens for a reason, but I bet that's tough. next time!